Free Music For American College Students

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I'm not sure how many people can use this, but I thought I'd pass it along: Ruckus is a website that offers free DRMed WMA downloads to anyone with an e-mail address from a college in the United States. They have a surprisingly wide selection, and they get new releases each week from most of the indie labels and major labels. Give it a shot if you can, it makes following music much more affordable (or at least more legal for you pirates out there).

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Free Christmas Album from Nettwerk!

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I just found out about a free Christmas album that Netwerk has available ONLY THROUGH THE END OF TODAY. Many of these songs are highlights from the artists' respective Christmas albums. You can download it at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/seriously_westcoast/index.html . Here's the tracklisting:

• 01 - Barenaked Ladies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• 02 - The Weepies - All That I Want
• 03 - Sarah McLachlan - Silent Night
• 04 - Matt Wertz What Child Is This
• 05 - Liily Frost - Skating On The River
• 06 - Oh Susanna - Go Tell It On The Mountain
• 07 - Medieval Baebes - The Holly & The Ivy
• 08 - The Be Good Tanyas - Rudy
• 09 - Barenaked Ladies - Elf's Lament
• 10 - Melissa McClelland O - Holy Night-MST
• 11 - Jars Of Clay - Hibernation Day
• 12 - Jenny Owens Young - Things We Don't Need Anymore
• 13 - Martha Wainwright - Merry Christmas And Happy New Year
• 14 - Kyle Andrews - Under The Misteltoe
• 15 - Leigh Nash - The First Noel
• 16 - Sarah McLachlan - The First Noel_Mary Mary (DJ Shah Remix)

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News: New Album Streams

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A few fairly exciting new albums can be streamed in full online (legally and fore free, of course) right now. They all have Flash players, but most of the hip kids seem to not mind too much. Here's a few that have graced my speakers lately, and some brief thoughts on them:

• The New Pornographers - Challengers
  I'll be honest - I haven't given this one too much time yet. It seems like an enjoyable little disc, though. The New Pornographers tend to be a band I have to listen to a few times to really "get" though - so I won't so much else about this one for a while. You can hear their new album in its entirety at myspace.com/thenewpornographers
  


• Eisley - Combinations
  I'm not too much of a fan of Eisley - which is strange considering how often people compare them to bands that I love (Sixpence None the Richer seems to be an all-too-common reference point). Their new album is an interesting ride though - there are a few interesting musical turns, some decent rockers, and even some moments when those harmonies sound less creepy and more heavenly. It's a bit short at 30 someodd minutes, but it's an enjoyable listen. You can check it out at myspace.com/eisley


• Over the Rhine - The Trumpet Child
  This is a very solid album - my #1 pick for the year so far, actually (although, to be fair, in the time that the 'Bloom has been dormant, I have substantially cut back my new music intake). You can listen to it entirely at http://www.overtherhine.com/recordplayer/recordplayer.html or find out more about it at OverTheRhine.com . This is quite unlike any of their other discs - it's a very jazzy affair. Lots of very organic and retro-feeling horns on this one. The songwriting is up to Karin and Linford's usual excellent standard as well. It's actually very hard to pick highlights here - it's uniformly good and spread out across a variety of styles. One standout is "Don't Wait For Tom" - a clever tribute to Tom Waits. The album is worth hearing at least a few times the whole way through, though, if you get the chance.
  

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Belated Jenny Lewis Downloads

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Because we are terrible, terrible people here, we didn't post about Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins last year. Most of the album can be legally and freely downloaded from her record label at http://www.team-love.com/headphones/releases/tl08/ . Be warned though, they use an annoying Flash thing to serve up the mp3s. It's a fairly good album - nothing truly amazing or innovative, but a catchy set of songs sung with Jenny's intoxicating voice and some subtle harmonies from the Watson Twins. The music is a soft mix of folk and country, with acoustic guitars in various tunings, slide guitars, some keys, bass, and drums. The most unusual thing about it is that the album's lyrics are almost entirely about Jenny's musings on religion. Not that we're complaining. Jenny, of course, is the lead singer of critically-acclaimed indie rock darlings Rilo Kiley.

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Steven Delopoulos - Work to Be Done EP

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For those of you who haven't gotten the Steven Delopoulos bug yet, and for those of you who are patiently awaiting his second solo album, there is good news. An EP entitled Work to Be Done and available free online has 6 tracks: two all new tracks, two highlights from the critically-acclaimed solo debut Me Died Blue, and two live performances from his old band, Burlap to Cashmere. It's a decent overview for those just getting into him, and it might help to tide us fans over while we wait for his next release.

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