Now Streaming: Hear New CDs from The Flaming Lips, Iron & Wine, Todd Rundgren, & More

One of rock's most legendary musicians/songwriters/producers, Todd Rundgren, has a new album coming out, and that's just one of the free streaming albums available for you to listen to this week. The Flaming Lips haven't been around as long as Rundgren (they have a mere 30 years of music making under their belts), but they also have a new album that's attracting a lot of interest.

Also of interest this week is the new album by singer-songwriter Iron and Wine, the latest from the rocking Portland trio The Thermals (who are great in concert), and a 10-year retrospective from Canada's Arts and Crafts label, a double album featuring songs and artists that have put that indie company on the map: Broken Social Scene, Feist, The Stills, Stars, The Dears, Dan Mangan, and Ra Ra Riot. (See the full track list here.)

And there's a disc by The Shouting Matches, the blues-rock side project by Bon Iver's Justin Vernon.



Pitchfork Advance: 
"Desperate Ground" by The Thermals
"Floating Coffin" by Thee Oh Sees

NPR First Listen:
"The Terror" by The Flaming Lips
"Inspiration Information/Wings Of Love" by Shuggie Otis
"Grownass Man" by The Shouting Matches
"Ghost On Ghost" by Iron and Wine

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"State" by Todd Rundgren
"Beyond Was All Around Me" by Young Man
"The Boat of the Fragile Mind" by Belle Mare
"Henry Blak" EP by Henry Blak
"Electric Sounds" by Sad Baby Wolf
"Arts & Crafts: 2003-2013" by various artists

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"42: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" by various artists
"Stars In Stereo" by Stars In Stereo
"Talking Underwater" by Kree Woods

South by Southwest 2012: Free SXSW Downloads, Podcasts, Streaming Shows, & More

See what's happening the the SXSW Music Festival below.

The music portion of this year's South by Southwest festival starts March 13th (running through the 18th), and as usual there are plenty of ways to sample music by the artists involved and the actual concerts down in Austin. Here are a few (I'll add more as I come across them):

NPR Music's SXSW coverage grows each year, with live webcasts of concerts, podcasts, and more. Stream or download their SXSW preview podcast here, which notes some of the musicians they're most interested in seeing. Check out their "Austin 100" playlist of songs, see their full SXSW broadcast schedule, and visit the NPR Music SXSW home page for all the latest news, streams, and downloads.

SXSW coverage from L.A.'s KCRW radio includes news, reviews, and tracks to listen to, including those from its own nightly showcases, such as Oberhofer and Temper Trap.

The Alternate Side and its parent, WFUV, have SXSW coverage including Bruce Springsteen's keynote address (1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 15th) and live and recorded music sets from Sharon Van Etten, Alabama Shakes, Shearwater, The Magnetic Fields, and many more.

Spinner.com takes a look at the breakout bands of SXSW 2012, as chosen by music bloggers and writers including those from Billboard, Spin.com, Rawkblog.net, and Consequence of Sound.

Spin.com has a free download of songs from 30+ artists who'll be getting lots of attention at SXSW this year; this "Austin Power" collection has tunes from Hospitality, Sharon Van Etten, Screaming Females, Pujol, The War on Drugs, Widowspeak, and more.

Concert listing website Oh My Rockness has a guide to SXSW music featuring its 10 must-see bands, a guide to free shows, listings of what it considers the best unofficial SXSW gigs, and more

Canada's Arts and Crafts record label has a Soundcloud sampler of songs from its artists, including Dan Mangan and The Darcys.

Fellow music blogger Andriana (Dre) at Gluttony is the New Black has her own SXSW Soundcloud page with picks of musicians she wants to see, including Matt Easton and Fanzine.

Hear "How Come You Never Go There," the First Single from Feist's New Album

It's been quite a while, but Feist has released the first single from her forthcoming album, "Metals" (which drops on Oct. 4th). She put out the song, "How Come You Never Go There," on her YouTube page a couple of days ago; I came across it on NPR Music.

This is Feist's first album since her breakthrough "The Reminder," which was way back in 2007. According to her record label, Canada's Arts and Crafts, "Recorded between Toronto and Big Sur, California and co-produced by longtime collaborators Chilly Gonzales and Mocky, as well as newcomer Valgeir Sigurðsson (Bjork, Bonnie "Prince" Billy), Metals marks Feist's celebratory return to the world stage."

Although this is the first full-length song from "Metals," Feist has been releasing a series of teasers (there are to be 12 in all) with snippets from various songs. (It appears a new one is to be released Monday, Aug. 15th, according to her website.) See the track listing for the new album at the end of this post.

Two of the "vignettes," as they're being called, are below. The snippet called "#1" has a techno sound, with drumming playing over time-lapse photography. In "#3," Arts and Crafts says, we see "Feist, Gonzales, Mocky, and Sigurðsson at work on the album," with a string section. (See the Feist YouTube page or her website for more video snippets and information.)








The "Tour Dates" section of her website is empty, but the site does show the track listing for the album (which is available for pre-order through Amazon.com):

"Metals" – Track listing:
1. The Bad In Each Other
2. Graveyard
3. Caught A Long Wind
4. How Come You Never Go There
5. A Commotion
6. Bittersweet Melodies
7. Anti Pioneer
8. Undiscovered First
9. Cicadas And Gulls
10. Woe Be
11. Comfort Me
12. Get It Wrong Get It Right

Feist has always experimented with different sounds and genres on each album, so I can only imagine what surprises she's got cooked up with four years to work on a new release. I'm looking forward to it.

Feist's "Reminder" Gives Her Label a Lift

Here's a rare good-news story about record labels, the business that everybody loves to hate. But there are some good labels out there, and Canada's Arts & Crafts is certainly one of them. That's why I was glad to see this Billboard article saying how Feist's latest album "The Reminder" had given the label its biggest hit ever.

"The Reminder" has sold more than 200,000 copies in Canada according to SoundScan, and the use of the single "1-2-3-4" in an iPod commercial made the song ubiquitous on TV for a while. (The album has sold 600.000 copies in the U.S., but A&C doesn't hold the rights there.)

The article quotes an Arts & Crafts co-founder as saying the the album's success "Has allowed us to build out our infrastructure ....We now have all the tools at our disposal that any much larger label has. We can do things that were previously outside our scope."

Arts & Crafts is also the home of respected Canadian indie artists Broken Social Scene, Stars, The Dears, and The Stills.