While you’ve been secretly looking forward to Fridays and wondering where the hell our regular Free Track Friday feature had disappeared to, we’ve been busy busy collating another fine colleciton of tunes from across the planet that are being offered up to you totally legally – and totally free. So dismay no more, ’cause your Free Track Friday is back.
Downloading fingers at the ready…
• KYMBERLEY KENNEDY : What The Funk Mixtape
A warning on this 22 minute mixtape… It might very well become your soundtrack to the weekend. Great cover, great contents. We’ve been toe-tapping away, especially to the brilliant pumped up version of Marlena Shaw’s gorgeous ‘California Soul’ that kicks in around the 2:15 mark. It’s a little reminiscent of what The Freemasons have previously turned their hands to – and no less impressive. There’s an explosive mix of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ and a bit of Fatboy Slim’s ‘Rockafeller Skank’ to keep you grooving. For our money though, nothing goes past the spectacular ‘California Soul’ remix. Want now please. And your free mixtape HERE.
• BETTY WHO : Somebody Loves You
Lovely Nick over at Popmusicity shot this one through to us of late – and it’s not hard to understand why. Sydney-based Betty has unleashed a delicious pop gem, that’s laden with synths, good grooves and unashamedly retro pop melodies that will have you scratching your head as to why the devil she’s not signed to a major label. A debut EP is currently expected to drop next month, but for a super-sweet taste of what’s on your pop horizon, we strongly suggest you wrap your listening gear around ‘Somebody Loves You’ HERE.
• RIHANNA : Diamonds (Bliss Remix)
Though it’s not an official remix, Belgian-based producer Bliss has turned his hand to an alluring reworked version of Rihanna’s recent chart smash ‘Diamonds’. Kicking off with hushed synths, the remix bubbles to life via trippy beats, handclaps and electro production. Ri-Ri purists will be happy that he’s not tinkered with the singer’s vocals too much here, though they do get lost slightly beneath the soaring, epic production of the choruses. Bliss is working on a debut album that’s reportedly set for release sometime in 2013. Download his version of ‘Diamonds’ free HERE.
• JOY IKE : Everything You Have
If you’re in need of a little splash of sunshine in your step just before the weekend, enter Philadelphia-based songstress Joy Ike, who’s got just the thing you’re looking for with her latest single ‘Everything You Have’. Sunshiney bright, with a gorgeous soul vocal, ‘Everything You Have’ is lifted from the singer’s new album ‘All Or Nothing’, which was funded via a Kickstarter campaign. The album was released late in January and is available via iTunes here in Australia, but for a fine, fresh, free taster, get your mittens on ‘Everything You Have’ HERE. You won’t regret it.
• LUKE POTTER : One Day
What’s better than one brand new free track? THREE brand new free tracks. Now upcoming British singer songwriter Luke Potter isn’t completely loopy, of course. He’s given you the opportunity to throw him a little tip (a suggested tip of $3 for three tracks seems entirely reasonable), but it’s not mandatory. The singer aims to deliver music that’s more heartfelt and emotional than a lot of that currently plying the global charts – and he’s done so with three lovely acoustic pop numbers that point to a star in the making. Download HERE.
• EARTH WIND & FIRE : Shining Star (Featurecast Remix)
If you were around in the ’70s and ’80s, there was no missing US soul outfit Earth Wind & Fire. With more than 90 million albums sales under their disco belts and a string of well-loved anthems (‘September’, ‘Boogie Wonderland’ and ‘Let’s Groove’ among them), the band was unstoppable for more of the ’70s and early ’80s.
Now UK producer Featurecast has added his modern-day dance music touches to Earth Wind & Fire’s 1975 single ‘Shining Star’, dragging it from a slow-funk jam to a slick, spiky ‘now’ dancefloor stormer. Delicious it is too. And available free HERE.
• ALMOST CLASSY : I’m That Man
Strange name for a band? Yes. But the new single for Los Angeles-based quartet Almost Classy is a pretty decent pop/rock affair. ‘I’m That Man’ is lifted from the band’s forthcoming album release, which is slated for sometime next month and sees the gents delivering a track that treads on the rock side of the pop line, all infused with lashings of feel-good country. Brilliantly they’re also offering the track up as a free download for a limited time, so get your Southern California on by nabbing it for nix HERE.
• PATI YANG : I Am Ready
Polish songstress Pati Yang had started garnering plenty of attention throughout Europe late last year in the lead up to the release of her new EP ‘Hold Your Horses’. After being holed up in the studio working on her debut UK solo album (due for release later in the year), the singer has returned with another free download for us – a track called ‘I Am Ready’. It’s a slow-burning, echoed, downbeat, moody number which has been described by her publicity peeps as being considerably more “psychedelic, spacious and progressive” than the rest of the album. Download it free HERE.
Just in case you missed the post about the single yesterday, Melbourne duo Colour Bomb is offering up a free download of their excellent single ‘Beautiful Parade’. Find out what we’re banging on about HERE and nab the download via the link in the story. Is good.
And that’s your lot for another edition of Free Track Friday, but be warned… We’ve got a few more fabulous freebies up our sleeve for next week, so make sure you’re back here – same bat time, same bat channel… you get the drift. Have a BRILLIANT weekend.
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Anonymous says
i absolutely love that betty who song. cracking good pop that sounds incredibly polished. what a find!