Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Willie Nelson, Kimbra, Santana, Meiko, & More

From the 79-year-old Willie Nelson to the 21-year-old Kimbra (who's become an internationally known for being the female vocalist on Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know"), there are plenty of interesting new albums for you to stream online this week.


Above: Willie Nelson singing with two of his sons. 

"Heroes," Willie Nelson's latest, features classic country tunes as well as new songs from the Red-Headed Stranger. (One of the non-country selections is Nelson's version of Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe.") The album features new songs as well as country classics, and includes guest vocalists such as Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joe Shaver, Sheryl Crow, Jamey Johnson, and Snoop Dogg (yes, you read that correctly), and two of Willie's sons, Lukas and Micah.

(Update: See Willie Nelson & band perform "Just Breathe" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.)

Most people who've heard Gotye's ubiquitous, infectious hit have been wondering: Who is Kimbra, the female singer on the track, and what else can she do? You can find out by listening to her debut album "Vows" at NPR Music below. Stephen Thompson of NPR Music calls the collection "a huge, brash showcase for Kimbra's voice, which soars, squeals and coos over whiz-bang arrangements that fuse modern pop, old-school soul and slick R&B." But he adds that the native New Zealander "hasn't yet perfected the art of nuance, which can make "Vows' exhausting in large doses."

Kimbra will be playing three shows in New York in the coming weeks, all on a bill with Foster the People, all in Central Park, and all sold out (May 29th and 30th, and June 11th).

Also this week: the new albums by Santana, Meiko, Cornershop, and Tenacious D, as well as second chances to preview the well-reviewed new releases from Best Coast, Garbage, and Beach House, which were streaming elsewhere last week.

NPR First Listen:
"Vows" by Kimbra
"Clear Moon" by Mount Eerie

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Heroes" by Willie Nelson
"The Only Place" by Best Coast
"Bloom" by Beach House
"Not Your Kind of People" by Garbage
"Rize of the Fenix" by Tenacious D
"The Bright Side" by Meiko
"Night and Day" by Andre Williams and the Sadies
"Urban Turban" by Cornershop

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Shape Shifter" by Santana
"Perlas" by Josephine Foster & the Victor Herrero Band
"Pins and Narwhals" by Little, Big
"Jail House Bound: John Lomax's First Southern Prison Recordings, 1933" by Various Artists

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Best Coast, Beach House, & More

Just in time for summer, there are new albums from Best Coast and Beach House up for online preview this week. NPR Music says that on "The Only Place" Best Coast "doesn't just advance the band's irresistible garage-pop formula; it perfects it." I've only listened to the album once, but I also enjoyed it, and was glad to hear that they've added some new textures to the simple sound found on their debut album.


Above: Best Coast plays a new song, "Last Year," at the 35 Denton Festival.

Another popular group that made a splash a couple of years ago, Beach House, is back with a new album, "Bloom," and a reviewer from KEXP radio in Seattle calls it "a masterfully crafted set of expansive dream pop that rivals their 2010 breakthrough album 'Teen Dream.'" I haven't taken to the dreamy, layered-synth sound of Beach House the way many other people have, but I'll definitely give "Bloom" a listen and see if it gets me into the band.

Also streaming this week: Spinner has "Neck of the Woods" by Silversun Pickups (which was streaming on MTV's website last week); a four-song EP by S. Carey of Bon Iver; the new album by Animal Kingdom, and "Dr. Dee" by Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, a soundtrack to an English opera about a 16th-century sorcerer who was a royal adviser.

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune and "Sound Opinions" liked the early songs on "Dr. Dee," but says it fades from there, noting that it's "peppered by stuffy opera singers, slow-moving elegies, and unintentional silliness...."

In addition, Garbage announced online today that its new album, "Not Your Kind of People," will be streaming later this week. I'll post details on that when I hear them.

As always, the albums shown below are just a few of the many releases streaming each week; visit the websites to see the full listings.

NPR First Listen:
"The Only Place" by Best Coast
"Bloom" by Beach House
"Passage" by Exitmusic

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"The Looking Away" by Animal Kingdom
"Neck of the Woods" by Silversun Pickups
"Dr. Dee" by Damon Albarn
"Hoyas" EP by S. Carey
"Fading Light" by Justin Jones
"Journey Through the Shadows" by The Parlotones
"Secret Handshake" by Anthony Da Costa

Free Music Tonight For Fashion's Night Out: Best Coast, Joss Stone, The Roots, & More

Get More: MTV Supervideo, Music, Best Coast

Above: Best Coast's video for "Our Deal," directed by Drew Barrymore.

Tonight is annual event known as Fashion's Night Out, and in New York that means plenty of free music gigs around town amid the fashion shows and late-night shopping. See the listings from Brooklyn Vegan and Oh My Rockness to see what bands are playing where and when. You can try using the search at the Fashion's Night Out website, but there doesn't seem to be a way to view just the music events, so you pretty much need to search the site by location (searching by band name doesn't work).

Here are some of the events, according to the above sources:

• Best Coast at Helmut Lang, 6 p.m. (event listed as running till 11 p.m., but it's not clear what time Best Coast is playing)
• Ronnie Spector, Lypskinka, and many others at Bergdorf Goodman, 6:45 p.m.
• The Roots at John Varvatos, 9 p.m.
• Real Estate at Ash Footwear Soho, 6 to 10 p.m. (playing acoustic at 8; DJ'ing the rest of the time)
• Kelly Rowland (Destiny's Child) at Macy's Herald Square, 4th Floor, 7 p.m.
• Joss Stone at Macy's Herald Square, 7 p.m.
• Justin Townes Earle (doing songs from the "Rave On!" Buddy Holly tribute album) at Partners and Spade, 6 p.m.
• School of Seven Bells (acoustic) at Treasure & Bond, 8 p.m.

Totally unrelated to Fashion's Night Out, Patti Smith is playing a free concert at Webster Hall. No ticket required, but you'll need to RSVP to get in.

Free Music: Live Streaming Concerts by Best Coast & Wavves, The Decemberists, Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer (show here at the last year's Vancouver International Folk Music Festival) has a recent free concert available for download from CBC 2. Photo: Penguinstorm

A few recent live concerts are now available for streaming (and download, in a couple of cases). One is by the acclaimed new surf-rock revival group Best Coast, another is by The Decemberists, and the third is by longtime Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, who's long been a favorite of mine. (By the way, if you like Best Coast, the MP3 version their album "Crazy for You" is only $5 at Amazon.com for the rest of Jan. 31st (you've got until 3 a.m. Eastern time on Feb. 1st).

* Best Coast and Wavves live from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Available for streaming and download.

* The Decemberists live in their hometown of Portland, Oregon earlier this month. Audio and video streaming.

* Sarah Harmer live from Massey Hall in Toronto. Available for download and streaming (song by song or entire concert)

* as a bonus, here are twin singer-songwriters The Watson Twins doing a three-song live mini-set for Daytrotter.com (including a cover of Sade's "Sweetest Taboo"). Streaming or download.

Free Music: KCRW Live Streaming Sets from School of Seven Bells, Pete Yorn, Best Coast, & More

KCRW's great in-studio performance program Morning Becomes Eclectic has a new podcast up of a live set with School of Seven Bells, the project that features Benjamin Curtis of Secret Machines with the twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza.

I first heard of them in their previous visit to Morning Becomes Eclectic, but while the music in that performance was more electronic and dance-oriented, this latest appearance has a more stripped-down, acoustic sound. The band plays tunes from its latest album, "Disconnect from Desire," which came out this summer. You can download the School of Seven Bells live set here, or through iTunes.

School of Seven Bells will be playing live in New York at the Zero Film Festival in Brooklyn on Sat., Nov. 20th and at Terminal 5 on Thurs., Dec. 2nd (supporting The Walkmen).

Other recent MBE performances that you can stream (but not download) include: Pete Yorn (from Nov. 19th), Best Coast, Clinic, and KT Tunstall.