Download new album from the Motet free

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Boulder-based jazz/afrobeat/electronic (and it's no coincidence that those initials almost spell "jam") outfit the Motet are releasing their new album Dig Deep for free. The impetus behind this altruistic act is simple, according to drummer/bandleader Dave Watts: no one is buying records anymore, so you may as well give them away. "I think we have entered a new era with recording and releasing music. I believe this is going to be the new paradigm for most bands, perhaps indefinitely," he says. "There is nothing worse than slaving over the recording of an album for months and months just to see it sit on the shelves getting dusty."

The flip side of that economic equation is that recording music is cheaper than it has ever been before, and a professional-sounding recording is possible with just a few hundred dollars worth of equipment. "I pretty much made the whole thing on my laptop in my living room, something which would have been impossible just a few years ago, so it did not cost us anything," Watts explains. "Because of this, we are not in debt and are not pressured to sell discs to pay it back."

MP3 Freeloader: Speakeasy Tiger tomorrow night at the Marquis

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Speakeasy Tiger has made quite a name for itself this year since first being included in the Class of 2009 column earlier this year and playing an early installment of Soda Jerk and Mile Hi-Fidelity's Bands You Need to Know series at the Marquis this past February. And judging from the sizable crowd gathered at La Rumba last month for its breakthrough set at the Showcase and from the positive notice they received earlier this week on AbsolutePunk.net, Kyle Simmons and company are in the midst of a swelling buzz. Tomorrow night at the Marquis, the band, profiled in this week's paper, will unveiling their new album, The Public, in the company of Roe and Vices I Admire. To commemorate the occasion, after the jump, we've posted a track from the new record for your Friday freeloading pleasure. Enjoy.

MP3 Freeloader: The Battleship Agenda, tonight at The Bluebird

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As the scene continues to expand into new genres, we'll openly see areas of focus becoming saturated as they becomes popular. Dance rock? Check. Synth rock? Check. Butt rock...well no, but any takers? While we haven't reached critical mass yet with female fronted bands, we have noticed an influx of women stepping to the forefront, showing they can rock just as much as the dudes can, sometimes harder.

Case in point, the Battleship Agenda. The guitar riffs are catchy, the breaking points create the needed intensity and the vocals hold a mild-rasp of innocence, compliments of Kat Barnes, a one time singer for Random Hero. Imagine a finely tuned composite of Pat Benatar and Fefe Dobson (wow, what happened to her?) tackling post-punk inspired themes. With that formula on the table it would be hard to not expect a few ballads in the future.

 

MP3 Freeloader: Sample new Scaffolding release with "Mass"

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The latest release from Scaffolding, a Denver-based electronic stylist, aims at fusing elements of IDM to minimal techno. To help spread the word about the release and wht your appetite, Plastic Sound Supply are giving away "Mass," an intriguing, accessible track that meshes abstract, tweaked-out synth patterns (the IDM side) with a beautiful bassline and nice steady four/four pulse (the minimal techno side) -- and throws in an a crazy-ass breakdown almost halfway through to sweeten the deal, before devolving to a weird, ponging, slightly choppy breakbeat to wrap things up.

In all honesty, it's probably the best track I've heard from Scaffolding yet -- his stuff has always struck me as more interesting than engaging, but this one hits all of its marks. Success! If you need more enticement, you can also listen to snippets of the rest of the album and download a free hour-plus long DJ mix of minimal techno and IDM that includes tracks from Matthew Dear, Booka Shade, Trentemoller, Ellen Alien and more. Get it all on the PSS release page for Narratives by Scaffolding.

DJ Vajra announces new project, offers free mix for download

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After a surprising and impressive performance at the Red Bull Big Tune beat competition last month (check out the battle with T-Mos here), DJ Vajra has even more things up his sleeve this summer. The superstar DJ announced that he and Othello (of Lightheaded and the Hip-Hop IS Music label) that they will be releasing their collaborative album, The Required Taste, this coming fall. The duo just a signed a deal with Colemine Records for U.S. distribution and Mic Life Records for release in Japan. In addition to that, Vajra also contributed scratches and cuts for the track "Patience," from the album Soul Power, the latest effort from Raashan Ahmad of Crown City Rockers. Don't have cash to cop any of these projects? Rest easy. Vajra is giving a free mix he did a while back called Satellite Radio. Download the free mix after the jump.

MP3 Freeloader: The Nautical Mile Sunday, July 5 at hi-dive

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Abbi McCoury
There is definitely a critical mass of precocious radio-friendly pop
rock bands along the front range. Add Boulder-by-way-of-Ft Collins band Nautical Mile to the rapidly expanding roster of bands vying for your attention. Featuring Rachel Cummings providing the frontman, er, frontwoman duties (and doing a damn fine job I might add), along with the young but refreshingly polished supporting cast of guitarist James Anderson, drummer Austin Rosen, guitarist Jake Putnicki and bassist Zach Flower.

Rabbit is a Sphere giving away entire discography

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Rabbit is a Sphere, Denver indie rock iconoclasts, have decided to give up on the whole idea of selling their music. The quartet has posted its three records -- 2006's Laps in the Sleep Saloon, 2008's Hope is a Cinder That Blinks Quietly Until You Die and a brand new record, The City and the Sway -- as easy-to-download ZIP files on bassist Georgina Guidotti's website. Grab all three and immerse yourself in this original Denver band's weird brand of cool.

Download a track from Breathe Carolina's new album

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Matt Vardy

Fearless Records, the new home of Breathe Carolina, has made a brand new song available for download. The track, "Welcome to Savannah,"which is slated to appear on Hello Fascination, due out on Tuesday, August 18, also appears on Fearless's free Summer Sampler (see artwork and full tracklist after the jump), which you can download for free directly through the imprint's website. Don't look for any big derivations; "Welcome to Savannah" follows the act's electropop template pretty closely -- well, minus the larnyx-shredding backing vox. Breathe Carolina, which covers a Miley Cyrus song (parts of which sound vaguely like "Sunglasses at Night," or am I crazy?) on Punk Goes Pop Volume Two, just set off on the Warped Tour , which hits Denver towards the end of the summer on Sunday, August 9.


Alert offers limited time free downloads of latest EP

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Just got word of another free, limited-time download from local dubstep producer Alert. This EP is cleverly titled Glass House on the Left and it's made up of three dark, atmospheric tracks of spacious, shifty dubstep goodness. It kicks off with "Badvibe," the most energetic of the three, before shifting into a darker, moodier feeling with "Facebreaker," which features some great growling bass tones and metallic synthesizer sounds. Finally, the whole thing wraps up with my favorite of the three, "Smug Addicts," which sort of shifts between the two moods and feels like a science-fiction horror movie soundtrack gone horribly right. I'm still not sure I get dubstep as dance music, but I am beginning to love it as atmospheric listening music -- this is some good stuff.

The EP is free to the first 500 downloaders or for the next two weeks, whichever comes first. The tracks are all high-quality, 320kpbs MP3s. To get them, click on the track names above to visit their respective download pages.

Download FOE and B Blacc's Return of the Drama Kings for FREE

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Jewell Tyme Music has made FOE and B Blacc's latest Joe Thunder-presented effort, Return of the Drama Kings, available for free download. The imprint, which is home to F.O.E., 800 the Jewell, Karma, Savier, Street, Young Fame, Hood and Lil Trouble, has also made a number of other release available for free download, including FOE and B Blacc's original platter, Drama Kings, FOE's King of The Mountain and Jewell Tyme Music's The Leak. Bless yourself with some new music from the purveyors of some of Denver's finest hip-hop.

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