I’ve been holding out on posting this one…holding out for the day when L.A.O.S.’s brilliant (not to mention educational!) “Panda Style” single becomes available to the masses—or to me, at least. Alas, it’s not widely available in any format and I can’t, according to the 3hive Oath, keep awesome free MP3 downloads to myself. L.A.O.S. (Large Amount of Soul) are a drum ‘n’ bass trio from Helsinki with a great ear for deep hooks, cheeky samples, and beats that won’t quit. “Drowning Deep Inside Your Soul” is a good taste of their sound. However, if you want to hear “Panda Style” you can stream it from their MySpace page, or download the DJ Abraham (1/3 of L.A.O.S.) mix from their old school site where it sits alongside some other killer dubplates. Also, if you don’t mind voiceover—and in this particular case I really don’t—I’d recommend the thrilling Hospital Records podcast where I first heard “Panda Style” (thanks Moodmat!). Rumor has it, L.A.O.S. will release at least one title on Hospital in the near future. Fingers crossed it’s you-know-what…
Beat Hive
 We’re pushing three years serving music fans by “sharing” from artists and frankly it’s time we give back to the music makers. Introducing BeatHive.com (no relation to 3hive). BeatHive is an online marketplace for musicians to buy and sell loops. They currently have producers from the US, UK, Spain, Argentina and Canada, offering their best loops in Apple Loop and Acid formats, which work in programs like GarageBand and ACID. This means even uninitiated songwriters can grab some loops and start banging out the hits.
We came across BeatHive and thought it was the coolest thing since curly fries, so we asked them if they’d be willing to share some free loops with y’all. They said yes! Both WAV and AIFF formats are available and all the loops are 100% royalty free. Mouse over the handy buttons to hear each of the loops. The download links are just below. 3Hive 12-pack Contents: |
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| Drums 1 | Synth 1 | ||
| Scraper | Guitar 1 | ||
| Triangle | Drums 2 | ||
| Guitar 2 | Pedal Steel | ||
| Electric Bass | Synth 2 | ||
| Drums 3 | Bass Synth | ||
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Download Apple Loop AIFF Format Here Download ACIDized WAV Format Here (Not sure which format to use? Click here.) CONTEST: Make Stuff from BeatHive, Post it on 3Hive! | |||
The Black Antipodes
Is Denmark the new Sweden? But borders aren’t important. We here at 3hive love all Scandanavians, especially the ones who have a way with a guitar. The Black Antipodes claim Sonic Youth, The Stokes, and Interpol, among others, as influences, and it’s easy to hear all three in “Black Coffee and Pie.” My grandmother-in-law, a full Dane, if she were still here, would be so pleased.
Millimeters Mercury
“Her hips were sharp in the dark / in a park on N. Clark”
Millimeters Mercury, “Not Too Fast”
When a bunch of my old students went off to college in Chicago — hi Katherine, Jared, Mia, Jen L., Tom G., etc. — I really wanted to make them a good Chicago mix, but it just didn’t work out. I had Sufjan Stevens and Ryan Adams, Liz Phair and Rhett Miller, Wilco and Soul Coughing. But I still hadn’t come across Canasta or Millimeters Mercury (mmHg, for my wife and her Ph.D. science friends) — especially “Not Too Fast.” What a great song! Part of the Mr. Hyde Records crew, the now-defunct Millimeters Mercury has since split into a bunch of other bands, like Cola Wars. Check out the band’s website for their math rock discography, including about 30 additional free downloads.
Clare Burson
Clare Burson is often compared to Lucinda Williams, so clearly she’s got something good going on. The Nashville-based Burson’s very personal tales, often of searching or longing, are hypnotic and gritty and completely endearing. As evidenced by the number of free downloads, she’s a generous soul as well, offering up for easy access about half the body of her recorded work. My favorites are from her full-length album The In-Between, on which her country roots are most obvious. Like several other 3hive picks, Burson’s music has been used in a hip TV show (Six Degrees on ABC? If it’s not Dora the Explorer I don’t know about it) so we wish her luck in landing a big fat record deal and implore her to remember the good old days of sharing the sharing.
She, Sir
Austin-based quartet, She, Sir recently built a lovely wall-of-sound EP, stacked with layers upon layers of guitars, modal harmonies, and hushed melodies. With the subtle hooks and deep atmospherics of Who Can’t Say Yes, She, Sir drop pop music to an even vaguer level than Loveless. She, Sir beautifully fractures music for the next generation of dream-pop connoisseurs.
Nom De Guerre
Not only do Nom de Guerre play some wonderful pop music, but they offer perhaps the best band shirts ever offered for sale by a band: tailor-made, double cuff dress shirts designed by the bassist for measley 70 euros! Other offers available for purchase include your name in a song, an entire song about you, and even an entire album about you. If only I were the Russian billionaire with some spare cash whom Nom de Guerre is hoping to court, I’d buy Blackburn Rovers, then buy half the Chelsea squad (and no, not Lampard) and have them warm the Blackburn bench cause that other Russian billionaire must be getting bored by now, and then have Nom de Guerre write albums about each member of my family. But in laying out the required payment, I would insist on the formula of “So Long Sister”: dirty bass, swliring keyboards, and plenty of la la’s and other sing-along harmonies. Oh, and some of those dress shirts. What is the dollar-to-euro exchange rate these days anyway?
Princeton
Princeton is not from Princeton. I have my doubts that the floppy-headed Santa Monica twins and their best friend, who recorded their first E.P. in London while on study-abroad programs, have ever set foot in New Jersey. They claim such classic Brit-pop songwriters Ray Davies and Rod Argent as influences, and their four-track stylings, carefree lyrical associations and bookish sensibilities also bring to mind Ben Lee, Lou Barlow, Stephen Malkmus, and Jonathan Richman. It takes more than cleverness to write a song about a pirate that doesn’t sound like a Broadway musical, or to sing a travelogue of an Asian city that doesn’t descend into kitsch. But Princeton does it well — with organs, acoustic guitar, and sweet, youthfully knowing vocals. Just don’t ask me which twin is singing.
Perpetual Dream Theory
Blissed-out ambient pop from Vancouver. (How many times can we say that it seems all good things come from Canada?) I don’t know if there really is a scientific perpetual dream theory, but if you come up with some ideas of what the soundtrack to it would be, the band probably comes close. If you like what you hear and want to grab more free stuff, you can download their whole Tiny Hands EP for free. Thanks to Sarah for the suggestion!
Firecracker Jazz Band
I won’t bog you down with personal details, but I recently hit a speed bump in the road of life. No sympathy, please. It’s just one of those things that absolutely blows now, but with time will seem insignificant and trivial. Still, it’s got me feeling down, and these tracks from the Firecracker Jazz Band (featuring members of Squirrel Nut Zippers) fit the mood perfectly. The comic melancholy of the wa-wa trumpeting, horse clomping, and playful tickling of the piano keys leave me no choice but to laugh at myself and move on. So for anyone who’s been dealt a bad hand the Firecracker Jazz Band is here to tell you, no, really, it’s gonna be OK.