Exclusive Download: Blondfire, ' Hide and Seek'

MP3 Download: Blondfire, ' Hide and Seek'

Click to listen to Blondfire's 'Hide and Seek'

After becoming the first unsigned band to reach Number One on iTunes' Alternative chart, Blondfire – the Brazilian-American sibling duo comprised of Bruce and Erica Driscoll – continue to build buzz for their dreamy, propulsive electro-pop. Their latest single, "Hide and Seek," is a wistful yet hopeful companion piece to last year's effervescent "Where the Kids Are."

Blondfire's forthcoming second album, Win the Game, is due out later this year from Tender Tender Rush. In the meantime, download "Hide and Seek" for free at Rolling Stone.

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Exclusive Download: Blondfire, ' Hide and Seek'

MP3 Download: Blondfire, ' Hide and Seek'

Click to listen to Blondfire's 'Hide and Seek'

After becoming the first unsigned band to reach Number One on iTunes' Alternative chart, Blondfire – the Brazilian-American sibling duo comprised of Bruce and Erica Driscoll – continue to build buzz for their dreamy, propulsive electro-pop. Their latest single, "Hide and Seek," is a wistful yet hopeful companion piece to last year's effervescent "Where the Kids Are."

Blondfire's forthcoming second album, Win the Game, is due out later this year from Tender Tender Rush. In the meantime, download "Hide and Seek" for free at Rolling Stone.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

Exclusive Download: JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar Cover Fugazi's 'Waiting Room'

JuiceheaD x Osaka Popstar, 'Waiting Room'

Click to listen to JuiceheaD x Osaka Popstar's 'Waiting Room'

JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar teamed up to record a cover of Fugazi's classic "Waiting Room" for a new single due out on Record Store Day. "I reached out to [Fugazi's label] Dischord about covering the song and eventually had the pleasure of speaking to [Fugazi singer] Ian MacKaye personally about it," says Osaka Popstar leader John Cafiero. "Conceptually it was intimidating, because talking to Ian MacKaye about covering 'Waiting Room' is like walking on metaphorical hallowed ground. But he's truly someone that lives up to his ethos."

"To me, 'Waiting Room' is truly a punk anthem and indicative of the indie music movement in general," says Cafiero. "I'm proud to have the chance to ignite a flame in its honor for Record Store Day. I don’t think the song, the artwork created for this release by Shepard Fairey, or the intention of everyone and everything surrounding this project, for that matter, could be any more perfectly suited to the cause."

JuiceheaD X Osaka Popstar's version of "Waiting Room" will be available at independent record stores on April 21st, but you can download it here for free.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar Cover Fugazi's 'Waiting Room'

JuiceheaD x Osaka Popstar, 'Waiting Room'

Click to listen to JuiceheaD x Osaka Popstar's 'Waiting Room'

JuiceheaD and Osaka Popstar teamed up to record a cover of Fugazi's classic "Waiting Room" for a new single due out on Record Store Day. "I reached out to [Fugazi's label] Dischord about covering the song and eventually had the pleasure of speaking to [Fugazi singer] Ian MacKaye personally about it," says Osaka Popstar leader John Cafiero. "Conceptually it was intimidating, because talking to Ian MacKaye about covering 'Waiting Room' is like walking on metaphorical hallowed ground. But he's truly someone that lives up to his ethos."

"To me, 'Waiting Room' is truly a punk anthem and indicative of the indie music movement in general," says Cafiero. "I'm proud to have the chance to ignite a flame in its honor for Record Store Day. I don’t think the song, the artwork created for this release by Shepard Fairey, or the intention of everyone and everything surrounding this project, for that matter, could be any more perfectly suited to the cause."

JuiceheaD X Osaka Popstar's version of "Waiting Room" will be available at independent record stores on April 21st, but you can download it here for free.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Download: Sugarman 3's Retro-Funk 'Rudy's Intervention'

Click to listen to the Sugarman 3's 'Rudy's Intervention'

Retro-funk group the Sugarman 3 will release their fourth studio album (first following a ten-year hiatus), What the World Needs Now, on May 15th. Group founder Neal Sugarman believes the group's comeback record might be their best to date.

"I am really excited about this record," he says. "Not only has it been almost a decade since the Sugarman 3's last recording, but without a doubt this feels to me like our best effort yet. The album was recorded at the Daptone Records 'House of Soul' studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn in just over three nights, and from the moment we all started playing together, sparks were flying."

The Sugarman 3's What the World Needs Now won't be released until next month, but you can download the soulful instrumental "Rudy's Intervention" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Free Download: Ane Brun, 'Neighbourhood #1'

Click to listen to Ane Brun's 'Neighbourhood #1'

Ane Brun strips down Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" for the May 1st release of It All Starts With One. The track will be appear on the iTunes deluxe version of the album, which has already gone platinum in Brun's native Norway. 

Brun distills the slow-burning rock & roll of the song's original seven-piece arrangement for voice and guitar, a kind of challenge she has always enjoyed as a songwriter. "I've always seen a challenge and a fascination in peeling out a great melody of a musical arrangement that at first listen seems far away from what I normally would perform," Brun tells Rolling Stone. "'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' is such a song."

A recent Arcade Fire fan, she has had her eye on "Neighborhoods #1 (Tunnels)" since discovering the band. "I've become a huge fan of Arcade Fire in the last couple of years," she says. "And this song in particular has been close to my heart.  There is something so magical about the lyrics, and of course I love the melody. I've had my version as a sketched demo for quite a while, and I finally recorded it this winter."

More covers are on the way on Brun's Do You Remember EP, due April 10th, which includes the first single from One plus covers of Antony and Built to Spill tunes. She tours the U.S. in May with supporting act Gemma Ray. It All Starts With One will be out in a few weeks, but you can download the her Arcade Fire cover here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Free Download: Ane Brun, 'Neighbourhood #1'

Click to listen to Ane Brun's 'Neighbourhood #1'

Ane Brun strips down Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" for the May 1st release of It All Starts With One. The track will be appear on the iTunes deluxe version of the album, which has already gone platinum in Brun's native Norway. 

Brun distills the slow-burning rock & roll of the song's original seven-piece arrangement for voice and guitar, a kind of challenge she has always enjoyed as a songwriter. "I've always seen a challenge and a fascination in peeling out a great melody of a musical arrangement that at first listen seems far away from what I normally would perform," Brun tells Rolling Stone. "'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' is such a song."

A recent Arcade Fire fan, she has had her eye on "Neighborhoods #1 (Tunnels)" since discovering the band. "I've become a huge fan of Arcade Fire in the last couple of years," she says. "And this song in particular has been close to my heart.  There is something so magical about the lyrics, and of course I love the melody. I've had my version as a sketched demo for quite a while, and I finally recorded it this winter."

More covers are on the way on Brun's Do You Remember EP, due April 10th, which includes the first single from One plus covers of Antony and Built to Spill tunes. She tours the U.S. in May with supporting act Gemma Ray. It All Starts With One will be out in a few weeks, but you can download the her Arcade Fire cover here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Download: Sugarman 3's Retro-Funk 'Rudy's Intervention'

Click to listen to the Sugarman 3's 'Rudy's Intervention'

Retro-funk group the Sugarman 3 will release their fourth studio album (first following a ten-year hiatus), What the World Needs Now, on May 15th. Group founder Neal Sugarman believes the group's comeback record might be their best to date.

"I am really excited about this record," he says. "Not only has it been almost a decade since the Sugarman 3's last recording, but without a doubt this feels to me like our best effort yet. The album was recorded at the Daptone Records 'House of Soul' studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn in just over three nights, and from the moment we all started playing together, sparks were flying."

The Sugarman 3's What the World Needs Now won't be released until next month, but you can download the soulful instrumental "Rudy's Intervention" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Free Download: Quakers' Rhythmically Ambitious 'Russia With Love'

Click to listen to Quakers' 'Russia with Love (feat. Coin Locker Kid)'

Quakers is a 35-member hip-hop collective centered on a core trio of producers – 7-Stu-7, Katalyst and Fuzzface, who is better known as Geoff Barrow of Portishead. "Russia With Love," a new track featuring Coin Locker Kid, was produced by Katalyst. "When I made this beat, I knew who to send it to," the producer tells Rolling Stone. "The track is in 7/8 and seemed like it might be a bit of a challenge, but Coin Locker Kid came up with the goods the first time round." Quakers' self-titled debut album is in stores now, but you can download "Russia With Love" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Giant Sand Becomes Giant Giant Sand on 'Forever and a Day'

Click to listen to Giant Giant Sand's 'Forever And A Day'

Giant Sand's Howe Gelb expanded his band to become Giant Giant Sand for their new album, Tucson. "We gathered for a quick album recording, attempting to start and finish over the Christmas holidays and master by mid-January with half the band in Tucson and half the band in Denmark," says Gelb. "We devised a way to concoct the same live-all-at-once atmosphere as we had done for the first session in Vevey, Switzerland a few weeks before. The rule was to play it all together live here in Tucson and then to ship all the songs over to Denmark for the other band half to do the same thing live in one afternoon with no overdubs."

Gelb describes "Forever and a Day," a highlight from the record, as a "yard sale of one man's life in flux, shoving all his stuff into the hands of anyone who will nab it." Tucson will be in stores on June 11th, but you can download the song here for free.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

Exclusive Download: Giant Sand Becomes Giant Giant Sand on 'Forever and a Day'

Click to listen to Giant Giant Sand's 'Forever And A Day'

Giant Sand's Howe Gelb expanded his band to become Giant Giant Sand for their new album, Tucson. "We gathered for a quick album recording, attempting to start and finish over the Christmas holidays and master by mid-January with half the band in Tucson and half the band in Denmark," says Gelb. "We devised a way to concoct the same live-all-at-once atmosphere as we had done for the first session in Vevey, Switzerland a few weeks before. The rule was to play it all together live here in Tucson and then to ship all the songs over to Denmark for the other band half to do the same thing live in one afternoon with no overdubs."

Gelb describes "Forever and a Day," a highlight from the record, as a "yard sale of one man's life in flux, shoving all his stuff into the hands of anyone who will nab it." Tucson will be in stores on June 11th, but you can download the song here for free.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »

Free Download: Quakers' Rhythmically Ambitious 'Russia With Love'

Click to listen to Quakers' 'Russia with Love (feat. Coin Locker Kid)'

Quakers is a 35-member hip-hop collective centered on a core trio of producers – 7-Stu-7, Katalyst and Fuzzface, who is better known as Geoff Barrow of Portishead. "Russia With Love," a new track featuring Coin Locker Kid, was produced by Katalyst. "When I made this beat, I knew who to send it to," the producer tells Rolling Stone. "The track is in 7/8 and seemed like it might be a bit of a challenge, but Coin Locker Kid came up with the goods the first time round." Quakers' self-titled debut album is in stores now, but you can download "Russia With Love" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Download: Hot Water Music Return With Volatile 'Drag My Body'

Click to listen to Hot Water Music's 'Drag My Body'

Gainesville, Florida punks Hot Water Music parted ways in 2006, but their breakup was ultimately short-lived. They're about to release Exister, their first album of new material since 2004, on May 15th. "Drag My Body" is the first track from the record, and it finds the quartet returning to their roots in aggressive, emotionally volatile music. "Sooner or later we all inevitably hit a wall, and lose steam and find ourselves in the vortex of self-inflicted torment," says frontman Chuck Ragan. "'Drag My Body' is a simple story of finding oneself at a point of no return, at the end of a rope and teetering on the edge of madness with the realities of failure looming. Just as well realizing the capabilties of pulling oneself up from those obstructions and simply carrying on." The record won't be out for over a month, but you can download the song for free now.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

Exclusive Download: Hot Water Music Return With Volatile 'Drag My Body'

Click to listen to Hot Water Music's 'Drag My Body'

Gainesville, Florida punks Hot Water Music parted ways in 2006, but their breakup was ultimately short-lived. They're about to release Exister, their first album of new material since 2004, on May 15th. "Drag My Body" is the first track from the record, and it finds the quartet returning to their roots in aggressive, emotionally volatile music. "Sooner or later we all inevitably hit a wall, and lose steam and find ourselves in the vortex of self-inflicted torment," says frontman Chuck Ragan. "'Drag My Body' is a simple story of finding oneself at a point of no return, at the end of a rope and teetering on the edge of madness with the realities of failure looming. Just as well realizing the capabilties of pulling oneself up from those obstructions and simply carrying on." The record won't be out for over a month, but you can download the song for free now.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »

Exclusive Download: Choir of Young Believers' Lush Track 'Sedated'

Click to listen to Choir of Young Believers' 'Sedated'

Danish orchestral pop group Choir of Young Believers is gearing up to release their next album, Rhine Gold, on April 10th. The album's latest track is the lush and hypnotic – and aptly named – "Hypnotic," a song which group founder, songwriter and singer Jannis Noya Makrigiannis explains might actually be an ode to one of his preferred pasttimes: sleeping.

"'Sedated,' I just realized, is about sleeping, I think. I love sleeping and like to do it for 10-12 hours a day if possible, and then I like to stretch out the moment where I'm, like, half-awake and half-asleep as long as I can," Makrigiannis says. "I like that space a lot. You feel all light and carefree and good inside. Sedated and free from it all."

Choir of Young Believers' Rhine Gold will be released next month, but you can download "Sedated" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Choir of Young Believers' Lush Track 'Sedated'

Click to listen to Choir of Young Believers' 'Sedated'

Danish orchestral pop group Choir of Young Believers is gearing up to release their next album, Rhine Gold, on April 10th. The album's latest track is the lush and hypnotic – and aptly named – "Hypnotic," a song which group founder, songwriter and singer Jannis Noya Makrigiannis explains might actually be an ode to one of his preferred pasttimes: sleeping.

"'Sedated,' I just realized, is about sleeping, I think. I love sleeping and like to do it for 10-12 hours a day if possible, and then I like to stretch out the moment where I'm, like, half-awake and half-asleep as long as I can," Makrigiannis says. "I like that space a lot. You feel all light and carefree and good inside. Sedated and free from it all."

Choir of Young Believers' Rhine Gold will be released next month, but you can download "Sedated" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Tim Barry Ponders Posers on '40 Miler'

Click to listen to Tim Barry's '40 Miler'

"40 Miler," the title track from former Avail frontman Tim Barry's fifth solo album, is named after a derogatory term used by freight train riders to describe a fake hobo. "For 20 years, I have toured and illegally ridden freight trains, but I've never been truly committed to either," Barry tells Rolling Stone. "I am a poser – a 40 Miler."

The track came to Barry after a long bout of writer's block. "The song was oddly easy to write," he says. "A strange thing happens to one's creative mind when an eternal 'nobody' becomes recognized in music. Suddenly, songs don't just belong to the writer. They belong to the public as well, making writing difficult. At what point does the intimacy of writing songs become clouded by the knowledge that you are writing with your listeners in mind? This is the point when all great writers become boring. '40 Miler' was a way of making fun of myself and acknowledging I am neither a great writer or interesting candidate for stardom. But I've accumulated many miles and many experiences while an active participant in the world of underground music, and I wouldn't take that back for anything."

 40 Miler will be in stores on April 10th, but you can download the song for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Blonds Revamp Radiohead's 'Talk Show Host'

Click to listen to Blonds' 'Talk Show Host'

New York duo Blonds approached this cover of Radiohead's "Talk Show Host," a b-side from The Bends era best known for its inclusion on the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, with great caution. "'Talk Show Host' is my favorite Radiohead song, but Jordy [Asher] was apprehensive to cover it at first because of his immense respect for the band," says singer Cari Rae. "He said it was like attempting to play with perfection. I begged him for almost a month, and I'm happy to say my persistence paid off."

You can download the band's substantially reworked, yet still rather faithful, rendition of the song here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Icky Blossoms' Dance Anthem 'Babes'

Click to listen to Icky Blossoms' 'Babes'

Earlier this year, the Omaha, Nebraska-based three-piece Icky Blossoms signed to Saddle Creek Records, and they are recording their debut album with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, to be released later this year. The album's first single is the girl-power dance anthem "Babes." "This song was written with images of powerful, tough women in our minds," Icky Blossoms' Sarah Bohling explains. "We wanted there to be a dance anthem about the almighty woman. Women of the world, take over!" You can download Icky Blossoms' "Babes" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Exclusive Download: Icky Blossoms' Dance Anthem 'Babes'

Click to listen to Icky Blossoms' 'Babes'

Earlier this year, the Omaha, Nebraska-based three-piece Icky Blossoms signed to Saddle Creek Records, and they are recording their debut album with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, to be released later this year. The album's first single is the girl-power dance anthem "Babes." "This song was written with images of powerful, tough women in our minds," Icky Blossoms' Sarah Bohling explains. "We wanted there to be a dance anthem about the almighty woman. Women of the world, take over!" You can download Icky Blossoms' "Babes" for free here.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Read more »