Each week, Playlist’s Glenn Peoples looks at special tracks offered by the iTunes Music Store and other select online music merchants. Here are the selections for the week of August 10th.
Death Cab For Cutie’s new single, “Soul Meets Body,” has been added to iTunes and Rhapsody. It’s from the upcoming album Plans , out August 30th on Atlantic Records. That’s right, they’ve left indie Barsuk for the broader pastures of a major label. “Soul Meets Body” adds a few new wrinkles to the patented Death Cab sound. It’s the kind of song to elate old fans and enchant new ones.
Pre-order the new Rolling Stones album A Bigger Bang at iTunes and you’ll get an exclusive video that shows the band at work on its first new studio album in eight years. A Bigger Bang will be available for download and in stores on September 6th.
Bjork composed the soundtrack for the Matthew Barney (known best as a visual artist) film “Drawing Restraint 9.” Fans of Bjork will want to visit iTunes to download the album and the bonus audio booklet that comes with it. The soundtrack will be in stores on August 23rd. It’s an adventurous soundtrack—to be expected from Bjork—the features cult artist Will Oldham as well as some Tuvan throat singing!
One of the hottest underground production teams in the country occasionally peek their heads above ground. One example is the DFA remix of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hand That Feeds” that is available exclusively at iTunes. There’s nary a trace of Trend Reznor’s meticulous production. The song has been completely DFA-ied and turned into the kind of post-punk dance song the duo’s admirers have come to expect.
Frank Zappa’s catalog has been added to iTunes—52 albums in all!
iTunes’ pre-release section is filled with singles by big names. “Girl Cash Cars” by Cam’ron is available for the taking. “Welcome Home” by Coheed and Cambria is also available. Trapt’s “Disconnected” is there as well; it will be on the upcoming album Someone in Control . Two more: Kirk Franklin’s “Looking for You” single and Ryan Cabrera’s “Shine On” single.
iTunes’ free download of the week is “Stop the Music” by P-Money & Scribe, a duo from New Zealand. P-Money raps and Scribe produces. The whole of the song may sound unfamiliar to American listeners, but parts of it are obviously taken from U.S. hip hop and rock. There’s a hint of Kanye West in the production, an Everclear influence in the way an acoustic guitar sets the mood and—no joke—the heavy metal guitar shredding that recalls nu-metal’s incorporation of rapping and scratching. Definitely an interesting song. It’s free, give it a shot.
Rhapsody has an exclusive seven-song Warped Tour ‘05 EP by The Starting Line that was recorded at a tour stop in Long Beach, CA, on July 1st. The sound quality is decent and the band sounds better than most in its emo/pop punk peer group.
Also notable at Rhapsody is the recent addition of Kaney West’s new single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.” This one is the remix that features Jay-Z. Popular hip hop finally has a conscious again. Listen up. It’s available at Sony Connect and MSN Music as well.
Speaking of Sony Connect, did you know they borrowed a trick from old FM radio stations and started a “Two for Tuesday” promotion? Through September 27th Connect will reward the purchase of an album with a coupon for a free album.
eMusic will give away 50 free downloads as a free trial. “You won’t be billed” says the page. “Cancel anytime.” Those downloads are DRM-free MP3 files.
eMusic editors list their Top Albums of 2005… So Far. Among them are Cosmic Game by Thievery Corporation, Gimme Fiction by Spoon, Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues by Lewis Black, I Am A Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons, Live at Stubbs by Matishayu, Tony Bennett Sings The Rodgers And Hart Songbook by Tony Bennett and Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady.
Dancehall star Shaggy is previewing songs from his upcoming album Clothes Drop at his MySpace.com page. It’s odd to see a Verve Forecast artist with a MySpace.com page — the label’s audience skews older than the average user of the site—but Lizz Wright has a page and visitors may like her Norah Jones-like style of pop jazz and R&B.
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