Free Download Friday #80: Papa Roach (and possible Christmas bonus)

Another sponsored free download this week - from Zippo Lighters no less!

016 Kobetasonik 2009 Papa Roach

Originally uploaded by Dena Flows

I suppose Zippo want to be associated with "wave your lighters in the air" moments at concerts and so have created a music site called Zippo Encore. To be honest though, the last concert I was at where that sort of thing happened, it was mobile phones that were waved in the air rather than lighters - is this a side effect of the smoking ban?

Currently, Zippo have three tracks for download on their Encore page: All Lies from Quarterfly; Live Like TV from The So So Glos; and the one that really caught my eye, Burn from Papa Roach.

I pretty much associate Papa Roach with the Nu-metal and Rap Metal style and still love their first album - Infest. I am not so familiar with their more recent output but it seems they have moved more towards a more Hard Rock style. Perhaps this explains the report on the Zippo site that they were not entirely happy with their old record label releasing a greatest hits package that (inevitably) doesn't reflect their newer sound.

Certainly, Burn is a belter of a Rock track. The opening few seconds sounds a bit Linkin Park-ish, then the vocals and the rest of the band kick in and the track takes off. I especially like the chorus and I can see fans at gigs punching the air and bellowing out "Burn!" along with Mr Shaddix. (And I suppose Burn is a suitable title for a Zippo sponsored download!)

So zip over to Zippo's site now (sorry, I couldn't resist) and download a great Rock track now. (Although I should probably issue a Parental Advisory on the lyrics!)

Christmas Bonus (if you're quick)

Paul Simon is currently offering Getting Ready for Christmas Day as a free download:

I am hoping to do a Christmas themed download on the four Friday's before Christmas and would like to have held this track until then but I think this one is only available free for four days, so get it while you can.

Finally, although I am aiming for four Christmas downloads, Jeff has already started over at Free Christmas Music and hopes to do one a day on the run up to Christmas! I really like the first couple he has posted, so if you like Christmas music, go and check out his site.

Free Download Friday #79: Middle Class Rut

In general, I ty to feature artists here that I have some knowledge of and some previous listening history. This week, all I know about the band is what's in Wikipedia and all I've heard is the two free downloads I'm linking to here.

MC Rut

Originally uploaded by f minus

The band is called Middle Class Rut and like The Black Keys there are only two of them in the band but despite this they manage to produce an incredible racket! Their sound is out and out rock. And raw, visceral rock at that!

One track can be downloaded from the Bright Antenna site and is called Thought I Was. In exchange for your email, you get to download four minutes and thirty-eight seconds worth of full on rock... well full on apart from the quirky bit at the end. Currently, their record company is giving away this free track in exchange for your email.

This next track was featured in an NME Daily Download post last year. It is called 25 Years and is four minutes of screaming vocals, noisy guitars and pounding drums. What's not to like?

As I said, this is a band that I know next to nothing about but on the strength of these two tracks, it is a band that I will actively pursue from now on.

Motörhead update

Friday afternoon, the beer people announced they had made another 10,000 copies of the Bluesed up version of Ace Of Spades available for download - see Free Download Friday #76: Motörhead play the Blues for details.

Go get one while stocks last!

Update on the update: That's them gone again! If you have Spotify though you can hear it in full there: Ace Of Spades (Slow Version) or you can listen to the Beer company's Slowed Down Tracks playlist.

Free Download Friday #78: Beady Eye

There is a long history of Rock siblings falling out with each other but the Gallaghers of Oasis are probably beaten only by Ray and Dave Davies from The Kinks on the battling brothers front!

When Noel walked out, the remains of Oasis, with a few additional personnel, formed Beady Eye. Their first public output is a track called Bring The Light and it is currently available as a free download (along with five graphics):

The Oasis lineage is clear (which is a good thing in my opinion), it belts along at a good pace and Liam's vocals are at his snarling best. I like it.

What do you think? Does Liam without Noel work?

Free Download Friday #77: Apocalyptica

Just last week, this would have been a When Musical Worlds Collide post. This week, thanks to those nice people at Rock Radio, it is a Free Download post instead because I won tickets to a Secret Session they hosted last week.

I have won tickets to Secret Sessions before (see the Secret Session tag), so I knew how they worked. There is an intimate venue, a small but select audience and a band playing a short unplugged set. This time, the band in question was Apocalyptica. If you have never heard of them, try to imagine three classically trained cellists from Finland playing Rock and Metal. Struggling to imagine it? Then have a look at this video from the band's website:

Their secret session was outstandingly good! They only played four songs, two with a vocalist and two where it was just the three cellists. The stripped back nature of the Secret Session and the intimate (i.e. small) venue allowed you to concentrate on the music and the musicianship... and both were excellent. Even the drummer sounded great and his "drums" were the box he was sitting on!out

Rock Radio videoed the event, so you can see and hear for yourself what it was like.

So when are we getting to the free download I hear you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked because when I won the invite to the secret session, I had a look around to see what I could find out about Apocalyptica. One of the things I found was, that in exchange for signing up to their newsletter, Apocalyptica are currently offering a free download of At The Gates Of Manala. So sign up, download, enjoy!

Free Download Friday #76: Motörhead play the Blues

Last week it was cars (see Free Download Friday #75: Green Police). This week it's beer. I wouldn't normally combine drinking and driving but in this case, I'm making an exception.

Mr. Lemmy Kilmister
Originally uploaded by Edvill

I am, however, sorry that this is the second advert associated free download in a row but this one was too good to miss. Motörhead have re-recorded Ace Of Spades for a beer commercial... and it sounds awesome.

They have slowed it right down, taken out the bass and added a harmonica. It has gone from a 90mph rock classic to a down and dirty Blues track. Lemmy's growls his way through the lyrics and sounds better than ever.

There has been a change to the lyrics too. After he sings, "I don't want to live for ever", there is a pause before he adds, "But apparently I am!"

Since it is being used in a beer advert, to get the track you have to enter a date of birth as well as giving a valid email address but it is a small price to pay to get access to this re-imagining of a classic!

I would love to hear a whole album of unplugged Bluesed-up versions of classic Motörhead tracks. I suspect it's not likely to happen but it would be fascinating if it did!

{Public health warning: If you are interested in living for ever; Lemmy is probably not the best role model!}

Update: A message from the beer people on the YouTube channel says:

"We've run out of downloads for the slow version of Ace of Spades! Working hard to get some more. Thanks for all your support and for digging the track. Follow us on Twitter @k1664slow for updates."

Well that's poor! I guess they completely underestimated how many people would want to download it. Silly Billies! You can still watch the ad on YouTube but it's not the same as getting the whole track for download. Sorry, clearly this is not my best ever Free Download Friday!

Update 2: A Twitter message posted Friday 12 November said they have made another 10,000 available. Go get one while they last!

Alex The Actor

I've been meaning to post this for a while. Isorski, on his Isorski's Musings site drew my attention to the following video in his Alex Lifeson's Acting Debut - Video post.

Alex seems to have adopted The Beatles they're-gonna-put-me-in-the-movies style of acting; that is, he's just acting naturally! The Internet Movie Database lists Trailer Park Boys: The Movie as his first movie and the character he plays is "Cop 2" - is he getting typecast?

{P.S. If you're not sure what this post is doing in a music blog, shame on you! Alex Lifeson is, of course, the guitarist in the greatest band in the world and therefore deserves to feature here for services to Rock even if here he's acting rather than rocking!}