ATWN: Free Track of the Day - Ra Ra Riot "Beta Love"

I like getting stuff for free.  A few years back my wife and I packed up our lives in Boston and headed back to my home turf in Vermont.  The transition was easy for me but not so much for my wife.  She'd spent the best part of eleven years in Beantown and, where I am a ridiculous introvert, she is an extrovert and was being asked to leave behind a fairly massive social circle.  It was all very Green Acres.  To help guide her through those first few months of social isolation she picked up the hobby of wasting time on a website that was, basically, a clearing house for sweepstakes.  It was all there.  Good Housekeeping was giving away a year's supply of Clorox to the person who could explain in 500 words or less what "clean" really meant to their daily lives.  Give Nike access to your email address and you could win a trip to the Olympics.  My wife was hooked for a while and, much to my surprise, her efforts were rewarded.  We won trips, concert tickets, t-shirts, and this crazy prize package that included the greatest thing we were ever given for free - a Roomba.

Now, we here at ATWN can't exactly hook you up with a robotic vacuum.  We can however scrounge the internet and find free tunes.  This next one comes from the chamber pop outfit, Ra-Ra-Riot.  Here's a taste of what you can get your filthy little fingers on if you click the link below:

The free-track comes courtesty of NPR's "All Songs Considered" so Clicky-click-click-right-here and head on over there and get your well-deserved free stuff.

Paul Adams spends his time in the wilds of Vermont fighting bears to protect his wife and two kids.  He teaches English at a local high school, writes MG/YA stories, embarrasses his family on a regular basis, and lets his geek-flag fly proudly.  He dreams of being a member of the Pixies. 

ATWN: Free Track of the Day - Wake Owl "Gold"

We at ATWN realize that we may have taken for granted that our readership were aware of the "freegan" movement.  It was rude and it would seem that the only way to make it up to you is to a) let Carrie and Fred from Portlandia give you a taste of what the freegan movement is all about and b) give you some more free tunes.  Let's get that first part out of the way:

Now, as to that "free" stuff we're always going on about around here.  Today's free track comes from Vancouver's own Wake Owl.  Now, once again, we find ourselves apologizing but this time it might not be our fault.  As we know, international music rights are tricky.  We found this track while checking out what iTunes was offering for free this week.  Now, this song might be free in the United States (which is where I'm currently typing) and you might live in Canada.  Maybe you live in the UK?  Whatever.  It doesn't matter.  You might find that our little nugget of musical goodness isn't actually free in your country.  If that's the case, find a friend in the US and have them grab it for you.  You do have friends, right?  Clicky clicky this link right here and get yourself some love.

Paul Adams spends his time in the wilds of Vermont fighting bears to protect his wife and two kids.  He teaches English at a local high school, writes MG/YA stories, embarrasses his family on a regular basis, and lets his geek-flag fly proudly.  He dreams of being a member of the Pixies. 



ATWN: Free Track of the Day - Local Natives "Breakers"

We love free music here at ATWN.  We're just a bunch of dumpster-diving internet freegans at heart.  Lucky for you, we're not interested in serving you a cup of joe with a splash of expired half n' half and a four-day-old donut we found behind some mini-mart.  We're music hounds and we want you to beef up your library with a few free tunes.  Today's free track comes from Los Angeles' Local Natives.  Their first album, Gorilla Manor, introduced listeners to a unique sound that relied heavily on the groups use of vocal harmonies and the wonderful ability to carry a groove.  Imagine the offspring of a one-night-stand between Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend and you've probably got a pretty good understanding of what you're getting yourself into.  The band released their second album, Hummingbird, on January 29th.  Their first single, Breakers, has a beautiful rising build and is driven home by those pre-mentioned harmonies.

If you'd like to get your grubby little hands on this track for the exorbitant price of nothing, swing by the band's website (clicky right here people) and join their mailing list.  Poof.  You've got a new song.

Paul Adams spends his time in the wilds of Vermont fighting bears to protect his wife and two kids.  He teaches English at a local high school, writes MG/YA stories, embarrasses his family on a regular basis, and lets his geek-flag fly proudly.  He dreams of being a member of the Pixies.