The Grammy recordings keep on coming. iTunes now offers “Cry Baby/Piece of My Heart” by Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone, a tribute to Janis Joplin from the 47th Grammy Awards. All proceeds go to City of Hope and Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.
The Shout Out Louds, a five-piece band from Sweden, crank out good indie rock (even though they’re signed to Capitol Records in the U.S.) that wouldn’t be out of place in the Pacific Northwest. iTunes’ exclusive section just added the band’s “Very Loud EP.”
Remixes are all the rage, aren’t they? Verve and Blue Note have let producers dig through their vaults and recreate their classics for a new generation. Now Rhino Records gives us Mayfield Remixed: The Curtis Mayfield Collection —now exclusive to iTunes.
Also exclusive to iTunes is the “Alright, Already (Live in Montreal)” EP by Rufus Wainwright. The six songs, both old and new, were recorded last December in an intimate recording studio “during Montreal’s first snowstorm of the year” says his website.
One iTunes pre-release that merits your attention is “Banquet” by Bloc Party. The British four-piece has been hyped as the next big thing ever since they briefly came to the States last year and wowed jaded music fans with their blistering live show. The full length album, Silent Alarm , will be released on March 22nd, and it does more than live up to the hype. “Banquet” is just a taste of a band that should explode in 2005.
Another notable pre-release is Toby Keith’s “Honkytonk U” single (previously available at Wal-Mart’s music store). It’s taken from his upcoming album Honkeytonk University , out May 17th.
iTunes’ free download of the week is “Someday” by Flipsyde, an unconventional three-piece rock/hip hop group from the Bar Area. It’s from the upcoming debut album We The People to be released on Cherrytree/Interscope, and is definitely worth a listen.
Exclusive to Rhapsody is In The Clear , the latest sultry pop album by the New York City-based trio Ivy.
Now on Rhapsody are Garbage’s new single, “Why Do You Love Me,” M. Ward’s new album “End of Amnesia,” and a bunch of albums by dub legend Mad Professor ( Black Liberation Dub , Beyond the Realms of Dub , Escape to the Asylum Dub , The African Connection ).
Rhapsody also now has Wilco’s five-track A Ghost Is Born Tour EP . In on the day of release was Everything But The Girl’s Adapt or Die: 10 Years of Remixes that was just released by the kings of catalog, Rhino Records.
Wal-Mart has a good exclusive. They just added the G Unit Remix of 50 Cent’s “Hate It Or Love It.”
Napster added The Donnas’ five-song The Acoustic Sessions EP. Tracks are $0.99 each, or you can can hit the “buy album” button and pay $9.95 for all at once. That’s right, watch out or you could pay $1.99 each if you buy the bundle.
Better to get at Napster is the NapsterLive – August 19, 2004 EP by rising singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne.