I supsect that a lot of people on my FList are already hip to Blue October (the band from Texas and not the techno-ambient band from the U.K. which has the same name) and their new release Foiled. I figured I might as well pimp some of the band's back catalogue 'cause if all you have is Foiled, man, you are missing out.

I decided to do my little salute to Blue October in anticipation for getting my grubby paws on their latest CD, Foiled (Amazon tells me it's en route). Since I have every CD they've released through Universal Records, I figured I'd give everyone a mega retrospective all in one go. (I should add, no, I do not have their independently released debut album The Answers in my collection. Just their major label releases.)

As a result, there are a ton of MP3 samples for you to try out from this band. I'm very sure that at least one MP3 (pointedly does not look at 'Balance Beam') will not only get you hooked on Blue October, but will send you running to Amazon to snap up all four of their CDs without another thought.

( Blue October...Because Every Rockin' Texas Band and Needs a Violin )



Now Playing:

I love it when I get a lovely surprise. In this case, a CD that completely lives up to its billing of awesomeness.

Below the cut, KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope and my usual MP3 sample downloads.

( My favorite Scottish import next to Lorna Doone cookies )



Now Playing:

My favorite kind of reviews: Demos from unknown artists who were supposed to be the Next Big Thing, but never managed to make it out of the jewel box.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present (the new) CW Network Soundtrack Wanna-Be Staple...Binocular!

Give it up y'all and then download the tunes herein for a little entertainment.

( The Amazing Disappearing Binocular )



Now Playing:

This LJ will now return to its usual frivolous programming.

And what better way to start than to continue with the herculean task of listening to every single CD in my collection. Thanks to my years living in the the Bordersverse — which meant more free demos and discounted tunes than you can even imagine — as well as my deep love for used CDs stores, I'm faced with the prospect of listening to more than 2,000 discs. (Most of which were...believe it or not...free or insanely cheap.)

Needless to say, I'm not even close to the end of this job.

Today's MP3 downloads are from Big Country. I blame speakr2customrs for putting a reference to this very CD in a fanfic for the happy bounce I experienced when I threw it on the CD player.

( Big Country In a Big Country )



Now Playing:

Random observation: 5-and-a-half-hours to Bruce!

Just sayin'.

Today we're sort of back in the land of the single-artist CD. My lone Better Than Ezra CD makes its public debut. Too bad it's paired up with a compilation CD of some classic Motown tunes aka The Big Chill Original Movie Soundtrack.

Yeah. That's not at all an awkward transition.

Just FYI:
For those you who are interested, I've started "ghosting" these reviews over on my Vox Blog. Let me make this clear: I will not be moving these CD reviews over to my VOX blog nor do I have any plans to make the reviews exclusive to there.

The reason why I'm mirroring the reviews at VOX is because VOX gives me the ability to "stream" the MP3s I offer for download here. In addition, those streaming files will be available to listen to long after the downloadable files I offer through this LJ are long gone.

Now, on to the reviews and the MP3 downloads,

( The Big Chill of Better Than Ezra )



Now Playing:

Now, that's much, much better.

Here's a most excellent CD with some most excellent downloads for you to enjoy.

You can't resist Mary Black, John Stewart, Joan Baez, Catie Curtis, and Cliff Eberhardt. Click on the cut for more. You won't be sorry.

( Good Contemporary Folk Music from Putumayo )

Nothing makes me more sad than two bad CDs for my little reviews.

In looking ahead, however, tomorrow promises to be much, much better.

In the meantime, let's savage a couple of CDs, shall we? We will be making fun of an 80s music compilation CD and a dance club tune compilation CD. I promise I didn't throw the worst tracks up for MP3 downloading. They're actually the best tracks. Really.

*beams innocently*

( Hard Time in Compilation Hell )

Hat-tip to the_red_shoes and waterstrider

It appears that Toronto-based pop/folk/christian/operatic/idiosyncratic singer Jane Siberry has apparantly flipped.

It appears that she's giving away just about everything she ever recorded for free.

You can choose to download entire albums or you can choose to download individual tracks instead. Once you choose what you want, go to the drop-down menu and choose one of the following: "Gift from Jane" (i.e., FREE), a standard price, or an amount of your choice that you can pay now or pay at a later date.

Be warned. You will have to register contact information with the store if you choose to "shop" or "accept a gift," so if you don't want to give personal information away in case Jane recovers her senses just be aware of this.

No. I have no idea what's promped this, but I'm not going to say no to 'Mimi on the Beach' from No Borders Here.

Apparantly Jane has basically gone do-lally. She's changed her name to Issa (fer sure, it's even on her Web site) and has sold all her earthly possessions. Ummm, yeah...

o_0

Anyway, Jane Sibery has a gorgeous voice backed by her classically trained piano playing. She easily adapts to whatever genre she sets her sights on. While I'm not a huge fan of hers (I have to be in a mood for her voice), it's definitely worth sampling a track or two if you've never heard of her or her voice before.

But just be warned, her style changes album to album (and sometimes song to song), so don't judge based on a handful of tracks.

Oddly enough, I actually felt guilty snurching the less-than-a-handful of tracks I did. I may go back and actually pay some cash for a couple of the full-album downloads because...damn she's giving away her life's work.

Yeah. I'll be over here pondering that for awhile.

Now, I'll be crawling to bed since I've been working 12-hour days all week.

Now Playing:

Soopah Sekrit to Certain People:

Here's Stairway to Heaven by Dolly Parton available for download. Definitely one of the most awesome covers you'll ever hear. I mean, c'mon. Bluegrass. Gospel choir. Enjoy!

Also, for those of you who are still searching for tunes, I still have many, many MP3 download links that are still live. As in 132 MP3 files' worth.

From the oldest to the youngest:

If I Should Fall from Grace With God by the Pogues is still live and available. Considering this file was uploaded in May and is still being donwloaded which is why it's still live, I can only conclude that you guys must love The Pogues.

Click here for my review and links to download the complete virtual mash-up album American Edit by Dean Grey, as well as a companion review and 5 MP3 downloads from Green Day's American Idiot.

My 10-song EP Upon Hearing About the Death of Sunnydale is also still live and available for download. If you want to skip the fannish notes for the soundtrack, you can just go directly to the project page for the tunes.

Also, all files for my Multi-Fandom Character Mini-Soundtrack Project are still live. That one includes 114 MP3s for 38 characters across 16 different fandoms. Try a few new tunes on for size since they're free and fun.

Finally, there's Waiting for the World to Change by John Myer. This one is well worth the download for its 'People Get Ready' vibe and catchy lyrics.

Please comment if you grab anything. Thanks.


Now Playing:

Total Statistics for the Multi-Fandom Character Mini-Soundtracks Project
Total Soundtracks Completed: 38
Total Songs Uploaded: 114

Note: All files will be available for download until at least August 31, although many files will most likely be available for longer than that, depending on downloading patterns.

Once the links expire to the files, I will not refresh the files. I will post periodic reminders that these soundtracks are here until the files begin to expire.

All are welcome to take the files since they are all now publically available for download.

Feel free to spread the link to this post around LJ. There are no limits on downloads from SaveFile, so the files can be grabbed often without blocking anyone else from grabbing them.

Also, Please comment if you take. Multiple comments from people as they download new soundtracks are both appreciated and welcome.

Challenge officially completed on July 8, 2006, 10:30 p.m. DST

Angel the Series
( Angel Mini-Soundtrack )

( Lorne (Krevlornswath of The Deathwalk Clan) Mini-Soundtrack )

( Wesley Wyndham-Pryce Mini-Soundtrack )


Babylon 5
( Michael Garibaldi Mini-Soundtrack )

( G'Kar Mini-Soundtrack )

( Susan Ivanova Mini-Soundtrack )


Battlestar Galactica
( Gaius Baltar Mini-Soundtrack )


Buffy the Vampire Slayer
( Alexander 'Xander' Harris Mini-Soundtrack )

( Buffy Summers Mini-Soundtrack )

( Daniel 'Oz' Osbourne Mini-Soundtrack )

( Faith Lehane Mini-Soundtrack )

( Rupert Giles Mini-Soundtrack )

( Willow Rosenberg Mini-Soundtrack )


Dead Like Me
( Daisy Adair Mini-Soundtrack )

( Mason Mini-Soundtrack )

( Roxy Mini-Soundtrack )

( Rube Sofer Mini-Soundtrack )


Discworld
( Sir Samuel Vimes Mini-Soundtrack )


Doctor Who
( Rose Tyler Mini-Soundtrack )

( The Ninth Doctor Mini-Soundtrack )


Farscape
( Aeryn Sun Mini-Soundtrack )

( Chiana Mini-Soundtrack )

( Harvey (Scorpius's Clone in John's Head) Mini-Soundtrack )

( John Crichton Mini-Soundtrack )


Firefly
( Jayne Cobb Mini-Soundtrack )

( Malcolm Reynolds Mini-Soundtrack )

( River Tam Mini-Soundtrack )

( Zoë Washburne (shippy with Hoban 'Wash' Washburne) Mini-Soundtrack )


Harry Potter
( Draco Malfoy Mini-Soundtrack )

( Luna Lovegood Mini-Soundtrack )

( Neville Longbottom Mini-Soundtrack )

( Ron Weasley Mini-Soundtrack )


Homicide: Life on the Street
( Frank Pembleton Mini-Soundtrack )


House
( Dr. Gregory House Mini-Soundtrack )


Peanuts
( Charlie Brown Mini-Soundtrack )


Stargate Atlantis
( John Shepherd Mini-Soundtrack )

( Rodney McKay Mini-Soundtrack )


Superman
( Superman Mini-Soundtrack )

Know what I need?

A cheer-up.

Know what that means?

Music time!

Yes, I will be under the headphones all day working my heart away. I absolutely refuse to look at the news today. My blood pressure can't take it. Neither can my brain. Reading the news today will cause my head to explode.

But you know what they say: Music doth soothe the savage beast.

To that end, I will be adding links to tunes all day, tunes that make me smile and cheer me the hell up. I'm trying a new service called Save File (Thanks to smashsc for pointing me to it!) which allows me to save all of the links to the songs on one freakin' page! How awesome is that?

In the meantime, keep your eyes on this particular entry right here. I will be editing it all day to add new songs to it.

Go here for all tunes: Music for a Rainy Day

ETA:FYI Note: All songs listed below the cut have been uploaded as individual song files that all happen to "live" on the same page. You don't have to download the whole list just to get one song. Click on the link above and you'll be able to pick and choose which songs you want to download. Awesome, no?

( Click Here for iTunes-Decided Song List )

Hunh.

Would you believe it? The Xander in Africa 2-CD set I posted almost a month ago is, in fact, still live on MegaUpload.

For those of you who missed it the first time around, here are the links:

(Xander in Africa — World on Fire)

(Xander in Africa — Alegria)

The two CDs are broken up into several zipped files for easier and (in theory) faster downloading.


Yikes! According to statistics from MegaUpload:

• The first CD has been downloaded 221 to 185 times, depending on the section.
  
• The second CD has been downloaded 151 to 138 times, depending on the section.
  

I should let you know, however, that only the MegaUpload links work. The alternative DL links have already expired.

Please feel free to grab the files as they're still available.

Ahhhhh, I forgot that Guster live is superior to Guster in the recording studio.

I'm now DL a live performance from a new (to me, anyway) band called Of A Revolution aka O.A.R. that's been getting high marks on the Live Music Archive site. A quick visit to their website makes me think this might be worth the high-hurdles to do it.

Plus, I should note, O.A.R. allows visitors to stream their albums on their web site, so yay! Nice to give a taste! I just may end up throwing money their way. Maybe. I haven't decided yet.

Three cheers for the Live Music Archive, even if DL and unzipping the files, and using multiple codecs to translate the files to WAV or MP3 can be a pain in the ass.

*sigh*

I visit the Live Music Archive enough that I decided to get a virtual library card.

I'm a sad, sad little girl.

Welcome to Disc Two of my Xander in Africa soundtrack, Xander in Africa: Alegria.

Again, I grant you (very readily) that not all songs are from Africa, but this CD is chock full of world music. I've posted translations for the lyrics whenever possible, but, alas, there are five tracks that remain untranslated. I did my best, but all my Google-fu skills over the past 10 months have come to naught. Truthfully, 10 months ago, the number of untranslated songs was a lot higher.

The songs on this CD are, in general, a lot more upbeat and, in some cases, downright playful, than the track selection on Disc One to reflect the generally more upbeat emotional design.

The CD opens by carrying on the more meditative sound of the first CD, even if the lyrics are notably more upbeat. [Interesting side note: the Gayatri Mantra is believed to be the oldest known mantra. Fans of the new Battlestar Galactica series will recognize it from the miniseries.] This is to reflect Xander beginning to let go of past baggage and learning to be comfortable in his own skin as he operates on his own.

The middle leg of the CD reflects a crisis that interrupts this happy interlude, one big enough that Xander and his allies have to fight it. It ends in victory, but as everyone celebrates around him, Xander himself has too much experience to really enjoy it since he knows there's always another battle.

The ending leg should (hopefully) illustrates Xander continuing with his work in Africa, but as the network and Slayers gain more confidence and experience, he begins to feel the tug back home to his friends. The overall arc ends with several Slayers accompanying Xander back to London where his friends are waiting for him.

Heh. Even in a soundtrack, I can't resist a happy ending.

Once more, applause for mara_sho who designed the gorgeous cover art for discs one and two.

Opens in new window: (Disc One: Xander in Africa — World on Fire)

( Disc Two: Xander in Africa — Alegria )

Welcome to Disc One of my Xander in Africa soundtrack, Xander in Africa: World on Fire.

I grant you (very readily) that not all of the songs are from Africa. The first disc has songs that are primarily in English. Disc Two (coming later this weekend) will have more world music on it.

The mix on this CD was specifically designed to have an overall mournful or meditative tone with bright splashes of optimism interspersed throughout the 18 tracks. These tracks were chosen to reflect a post-Sunnydale Xander attempting to make his way through the world for the first time without any safety net, a task made harder by the fact that he's still in mourning for everything he's lost. The bright splashes of optimism are external, the source being the Slayers and allies he picks up along the way. Harsher tracks are meant to evoke the struggle of trying to survive difficult conditions with little or no outside help. The disc ends on a vaguely hopeful note, with Xander both overwhelmed by his responsibilities, but vowing to keep fighting.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't give it up for mara_sho who designed the gorgeous cover art for discs one and two.

( Xander in Africa — World on Fire )

Opens in new window: (Disc Two: Xander in Africa — Alegria)

 

 

Please post your suggestion for a charity that can help Katrina survivors with their long-term needs.

The resolution to the "paperweight situation" is moving ahead. I will (hopefully) be going live at home again Friday or Saturday.

Anyway, I need help from my Flist. I am looking for 'Loch Lomond' by the Harvard Krokodiloes. The Kroks are an a capella group up here in Boston but I truly do need this song for my Water Hold Me Down soundtrack. They're a very good all-male collegiate vocal ensemble and I know there are a capella fans on my FList who could potentially help me out here.

If you'd like a taste of what they sound like, here's some MP3s from their page. (right-click save to get the file).

Runaround Sue

Danny Boy

Wonderful World

Shenandoah

MacNamara's Band

Tracks of My Tears


So, help me out here guys! 'Loch Lomond' is on every single CD these guys have released, but they haven't made an MP3 available of it.

I'm down on my knees over here.

Picture me giving you puppy-dog eyes until someone sends me the file.

Reminder: I'll be posting this later this week, once I'm done straightening out the computer at home.

Please post your suggestion for a charity that can help Katrina survivors with their long-term needs.

( The Last of BNL: Greatest Hits and Everything to Everyone )