Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Neil Young, Deerhunter, John Legend & the Roots, Chromeo, More

Above: Deerhunter playing at New York's RiverRocks festival last month. Their new CD "Halcyon Digest" is streaming free on NPR Music. 

It's been too long since I've written about new albums that are available for free streaming, but with today's post I'm hoping to make it a regular weekly feature again. There are some great new CDs out or almost out that you can preview for free now, which motivated me to resume this feature.

As always, the Spinner and AOL sites don't indicate how long the free streaming is offered, while NPR Music and KCRW do tell when the streaming ends.

Spinner.com's Listening Party currently features more than 15 albums including:

* "Mobile Chateau" by Matt Costa

* "Buzzard" Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

* "The Sound of Sunshine" by Michael Franti and Spearhead

* "The Place We Ran From" by Tired Pony (haven't heard of them, but the description says "The music project is collaboration by members of R.E.M. and Belle & Sebastian with guest spots from She & Him, Editors, Snow Patrol, and more."
* "Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride" by The Black Ryders

* "Out at Sea" by Magnetic Island (haven't heard of these guys, either -- Brooklyn band less than a year old)

* "Imaginational Anthem v 4" by New Possibilities (compilation of acoustic guitarists)

AOL Music about 15 free album previews, which have some overlap with Spinner: 

* "You Get What You Give" by the Zac Brown Band

* "Guitar Heaven" by Santana

* "Audition" by the Cast of Glee (five-song EP from the first episode of Season 2)

* "Imperfect Harmonies" by Serj Tankian (former System of a Down singer)

* "Available Light" by James McCartney (debut EP from the son of that-guy-from-The-Beatles, & co-produced by the Dad)

* "Taken" by Rhonda Vincent

* "Killing. Mourning. Love" by Victory in Numbers

* "Bring It On" by Kaci Battaglia

NPR First Listen:

* "Le Noise" by Neil Young (streaming until Oct. 5)

* "Wake Up!" by John Legend & the Roots (until Sept. 28)

* "Halcyon Digest" by Deerhunter (until Sept. 28)

* "Business Casual" by Canadian hip-hop duo Chromeo (until Oct. 4)

* "Epic" by singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten (until Sept. 28)

* "Good Things" by soul singer Aloe Blacc (until Sept. 28)

KCRW Album Preview: 
* "Station to Station" by David Bowie (special edition reissue of his 1976 album) (until Oct. 3)

Kristin Hersh Holds Online Chat About her Memoir "Rat Girl" Tonight

Kristin Hersh, co-founder of the highly influential band Throwing Muses, has never been one to take the conventional path in her musical career. She came out with a memoir a few weeks ago and, not surprisingly, it's not your conventional rock-and-roll autobiography.

In fact, "Rat Girl"looks at just one year in Hersh's life, but it was a critical one: she was 18 years and and Throwing Muses was starting to get noticed, but Hersh was suffering with systems of bipolar disorder -- and had gotten pregnant. Her psychological condition led her to create lots of amazing, creative music, but also took a huge toll on her day-to-day life.

I've been a big fan of Hersh ever since I first heard of Throwing Muses in the mid-1980s, and have always enjoyed the twists many her music has taken over the years, whether with the Muses, her solo albums, or her most recent band, 50 Foot Wave.

I haven't read "Rat Girl"yet, but hope to soon. In the meantime, I hope to check out an online chat she's doing today at the website of Penguin, her publisher. The Kristin Hersh online chat will be at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

Hersh continues to put out music in various forms. She still records songs with 50 Foot Wave, regularly releases new songs and demos on her website, and last week said on her Twitter feed that she had been recording new Throwing Muses material.

If you're not familiar with Kristin Hersh or Throwing Muses, I'd definitely recommend checking out their music.

I was out of town when Hersh did a reading and appearance for "Rat Girl"at Barnes & Noble in New York the day the book was released (Aug. 31st), but hope to catch her when she returns to New York for a book tour event on Oct. 28th. (See Kristen Hersh "Rat Girl" tour dates at the Penguin website.)

Read the Introduction and first three chapters of "Rat Girl"
Listen to a Kristen Hersh interview about "Rat Girl" on NPR (also includes an excerpt from the book).

2010 Polaris Prize to be Announced Tonight

The winner of the 2010 Polaris Prize, recognizing the best album of the year by a Canadian musician, will be announced at the gala ceremony in Toronto tonight. The nominees and winners are "selected solely on artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation."

The awards ceremony will be shown live online at Much Music at 8 p.m. Eastern time, and televised on the network on Saturday, Sept. 25th at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can also listen to the proceedings on the CBC Radio website, CBC.ca and on Sirius satellite radio channel 86.

Here are the nominees on the final "short list" (you can find profiles of the Polaris finalists at Much Music). The short list was winnowed down from a "long list" of 40 albums.

• The Besnard Lakes, "The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night"
  
  
• Broken Social Scene, "Forgiveness Rock Record"
  
  
• Caribou, "Swim"
  
  
• Karkwa, "Les Chemins De Verre"
  
  
• Dan Mangan, "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  
  
• Owen Pallett, "Heartland"
  
  
• Radio Radio, "Belmundo Regal"
  
  
• The Sadies, "Darker Circles"
  
  
• Shad, "TSOL"
  
  
• Tegan And Sara, "Sainthood"
  

Broken Social Scene Rocks Central Park

The sprawling Toronto music collective Broken Social Scene took over Central Park's Rumsey Playfield last night for a sold-out show that featured many new tunes (and a few new members) but maintained the band's characteristic sound, with a horn section, flute, and plenty of electric guitars.

Kevin Drew announced at the outset that the band was going to just play for two hours, and he was true to his words. Aside from occasional pauses to introduce songs or various band members (and to send several of them crowd-surfing into the audience), the group went through one song after another.

As expected, there was an emphasis on its latest album, "Forgiveness Rock Record" (which came out in Spring), with the band performing songs including "Texico Bitches," "Forced to Love," "Art House Director," and "Water in Hell." But BSS played many of its older favorites as well, including "7/4 (Shoreline)," "Fire Eyed Boy," "Superconnected," "Looks Just Like the Sun," and "Lover's Spit."

Above: Andrew Whiteman (left), who also performs as The Apostle of Hustle, performs lead vocal on a song.

As always, the band included its founders Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, along with longtime BSS  core members Andrew Whiteman and Charles Spearin. Lisa Lobsinger is now the lone woman, singing the female vocals that were performed in the past by Leslie Feist, Amy Millan (of Stars), or Emily Haines (of Metric).

Drew remarked that the band had been together for 10 years, and several times thanked the audience for being fans and for coming out to see them over the years. He also thanked the crowd for coming out to the night's show, saying that they knew that there were many concert options in New York City.

Above: Several members of Broken Social Scene crowd-surfed into the New York night.


Broken Social Scene's tour continues through mid-December with dates in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico. 

The Watson Twins & Laura Veirs at NYC's Bowery Ballroom, Sept. 14th (PHOTOS)

Above: Leigh (left) and Chandra Watson at Bowery Ballroom.

Here are some belated photos from Tuesday's Bowery Ballroom show featuring The Watson Twins and Laura Veirs. Although Veirs was the headliner and the better-known act, I was at the show to see the Watsons, who I've been fans of since I heard of them in 2006. That was the year that Leigh and Chandra, identical twins from Louisville, Kentucky, made the "Rabbit Fur Coat" album with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, which was one of my favorite albums of that year (an opinion shared by many music critics).

That same year the Watsons, who now reside in Los Angeles, came out with their debut recording, the excellent EP "Southern Manners." The sisters have since come out with two full-length albums, most recently the soul-inflected "Talking to You, Talking to Me," which came out earlier this year.

The Watsons are currently on tour with Veirs as a three-piece outfit (the sisters plus a keyboardist). Their voices are lovely, and as you can imagine their harmonies are gorgeous, reflecting a lifetime of singing together. (Check out the video below.)

Below, the Watson Twins and band perform "The Devil in You" (from their latest album) live in the studios of KCRW Radio.

I've heard various tunes from Laura Veirs (below) over the last few years, but only at Tuesday's show did the range of her music become apparent to me. Her songs can be simple, stripped-down acoustic Americana with Veirs on banjo, or folk-influenced indie pop.

Spoon, Robert Randolph, The Zombies, Suzanne Vega, & More Rock the Union County Music Fest (PHOTOS)

The Union County Music Fest in Clark, NJ has got to be one of the best-kept secrets in the NYC area as far as free music festivals go. As I wrote the other day, the 2010 UC Music Fest this past weekend had a great lineup, and I caught Sunday's show with Spoon, Robert Randolph, The Zombies, Nils Lofgren, Suzanne Vega, and more.

One surprisingly good act was the first one I saw Sunday, the Nils Lofgren "acoustic duo." I've long been a fan of Lofgren (above), but wondered if a two-man acoustic lineup could convey the power of his more rocking tunes.

Not to worry: Lofgren's guitar playing and voice did the songs justice, and his sideman (whose name I didn't catch) did a fine job not only on keyboard but on percussion: tap dancing on a wooden platform. Nils also took a couple turns hoofing it on the boards (who knew Lofgren could tap dance?)

I've seen Suzanne Vega (above) in concert more than almost any other performer, and part of the reason is because she never disappoints. Her UC Music Fest set with longtime collaborators Mike Visceglia (bass) and Gerry Leonard (guitar) was no exception.

It showed her range from moving stories in spare acoustic arrangements in several songs from her first album, "Suzanne Vega" (which came out 25 years ago), to the bossa nova of "Caramel," the industrial sounds of "Blood Makes Noise," and her collaboration with Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse, "The Man Who Played God."

The Zombies (above), that influential rock band from the 1960s, are still around? I had no idea until I saw them on the Music Fest's lineup. They're celebrating their 50th anniversary and are even working on a new album (due in 2011). They put on a good set of original Zombies songs and tunes the band recorded, as well as songs by keyboardist Rod Argent's group, Argent (including the hits "Hold Your Head Up" and "God Gave Rock and Roll to You.")

New Jersey's own Robert Randolph (above) and the Family Band got the crowd moving and shaking off the chill of the cool, wet afternoon. Randolph said it was good to be back home, and to know that the Giants won that afternoon. Yes indeed.

Austin's Spoon was back in the tri-state area to close the festival (above: Rob Pope and Britt Daniel). This was the band most people came to see (though Robert Randolph had a good-sized crowd, too). Spoon played a one-hour-plus set that included many of the same tunes as their recent sets at Madison Square Garden (opening for Arcade Fire), with an emphasis on their latest album "Transference" and its predecessor "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga."

The Music Fest featured a smaller stage for up-and-coming acts, and I liked the one band I saw: Brooklyn's A Million Years (three of four members above). (Unlike many Brooklyn bands, most of these actually grew up in the borough). They've been playing together for many years, it seems, and it showed. They had a solid, tight sound as they played tunes from their debut album "Mischief Maker," including the catchy title tune.

A Million Years will be playing a couple of gigs at next month's CMJ in New York and a show with Jesse Malin in the East Village.

The Union County Music Fest offered an amazing lineup for a free show, and getting in and out of the even was surprisingly hassle free. This is an event I'll definitely put on my calendar for next year.