Free Album Streaming: New Music from Florence & the Machine, Laura Veirs, Meshell Ndegeocello, & More

"What the Water Gave Me" from the new Florence and the Machine album

The new Florence and the Machine album heads the list of interesting new albums available for streaming this week. Called "Ceremonials,"the album is streaming at MySpace Music, a source that I hadn't really thought of for playing full albums. Although MySpace has been shedding users, it does offer some good album streams, so from now on I'm making it one of the sources that I check weekly.

Also streaming this week are a children's album from Laura Veirs, an EP of outtakes from the "King is Dead" sessions by Veirs's sometime collaborators The Decemberists, and a new album by bassist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello. And if you missed last week's NPR preview of the new Girl in a Coma album,it's up on Spinner this week.

For those interested in classic rock and pop, there's a 40th-anniversary edition of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung"and the official release of "Smile" by the Beach Boys—the 1967 album that had never fully seen the light of day until now.

There's also the first album by filmmaker David Lynch ("Eraserhead," "Blue Velvet") and, for fans of jazzy vocals, "Brainchildren," the new albumby singer and trombonist Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalen, who performs under the name Elizabeth.

MySpace Music:
"Ceremonials" (Deluxe Edition) by Florence and the Machine

NPR First Listen:
"Tumble Bee" by Laura Veirs
"Crazy Clown Time" by David Lynch
"Weather" by Meshell Ndegeocello

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Long Live the King" EP by The Decemberists
"SMiLE" by The Beach Boys
"Nightlife" by Phantogram
"Aqualung" 40th Anniversary by Jethro Tull
"Exits And All The Rest" by Girl in a Coma

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 Album Streaming: New CDs from The Decemberists, Abigail Washburn, Wire

"The King is Dead," the new album by The Decemberists (shown here in Vienna in 2007), is streaming until Jan. 18). Photo: negotiable_me

The new year is starting off slow for album streaming, with KCRW not offering any new CDs in the last few weeks, and album previews for Spinner and AOL Music consisting mostly of Christmas music. But there are a few choices available now:

NPR First Listen:
"The King is Dead" by The Decemberists (featuring Gillian Welch and R.E.M.'s Peter Buck) (streaming until Jan. 18)
"Red Barked Tree" by Wire (until Jan. 12)
"City of Refuge" by Abigail Washburn (until Jan. 11)

Also, NPR Music has an 18-minute live set of Abigail Washburn performing in NPR's offices.