Each week Playlist’s Glenn Peoples looks at exclusive and featured tracks from the iTunes Music Store and other online music services. Check out these tracks for the week of April 11th.
If you’ve opened a newspaper or been on the Internet in the last week, you may have noticed that Mariah Carey has a new album, The Emancipation of Mimi . iTunes has an exclusive version with two exclusive songs: a David Morales club remix of her hit “It’s Like That” and a remix of “It’s Like That” that features Fat Joe.
Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Squeak E. Clean (a.k.a. producer Sam Spiegel) have an exclusive song now available on iTunes called “Hello Tomorrow” (Adidas Version). The song, soft and hazy and in the style of Lee Hazlewood, is being used in a Spike Jonze-directed Adidas commercial.
New York jazz group The Bad Plus has an eight-song album, Blunt Object Live In Tokyo, available exclusively on iTunes. It includes songs from both of the band’s studio albums, plus a few covers that are not on any albums.
Other iTunes exclusives: “Quit Actin’” by R. Kelly and Ray J and “Country Boy” by Tyra.
In iTunes pre-release section are Bryan Adam’s “This Side of Paradise” from his upcoming album Room Service , out May 10th. There’s also The Wrights’ Down This Road, out on RCA Nashville and in stores on May 3rd.
The free iTunes download of the week is “15 Beers Ago” by dEaf PEdESTRIANS. The band considers themselves to be an “All American Guitar Rock Band” (read about the band at its website ). With a repeated cry of “I don’t need you,” the song is a hard rock ode to alienation.
iTunes, Rhapsody, MSN Music and the usual stores have added Green Day’s “Holiday” single. Not that a single is a big deal when the album has been available for months, but this one comes with a smokin’ live verson of “Minority” recorded at NYC’s Irving Plaza.
New to Rhapsody are two albums by the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, A Todo Cuba Le Gusta and Distino, Differente . Scottish indie rock heros Belle and Sebastian’s If You’re Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk are new additions as well. Speaking of indie rock, four Buffalo Tom albums have also been added, including the high point of the cannon, Let Me Come Over .
Smithsonian has its own online music store. All files cost $0.99 and are in the MP3 format.
eMusic has just added the Old 97’s second album, Wreck Your Life , which came out on Bloodshot Records in 1995. Also new to eMusic is the latest full-length studio album by Thievery Corporation. The Cosmic Game has guest appearances by Perry Farrel, David Byrne and The Flaming Lips. Lastly, eMusic now has Antony and the Johnson’s I Am A Bird Now , out on the super hip/super hot indie label Secretly Canadian. The indie underground is abuzz over Antony’s smokey mix of cabaret dramaticism and folk storytelling.
New to Bleep.com is the Kaiser Chief’s “I Predict A Riot” single with the songs “Wrecking Ball” and “Take My Temperature.”
World music online store Calabash has a free download every week. This week’s freebie is “Missala Aduna” by Senegalese rapper Omzo. Omzo has a great flow, and with the song’s laid back vibe and crisp production, it makes for a great foray into foreign hip hop.