Free MP3 Madness!! Amy Millan, Joshua Radin, Whitney Houston, Owl City, even a country tune & Spanish rap!

Hello fellow music lovers! This week I'm pleased to announce a nice smorgasbord of free downloads on Amazon, as well as a several other noteworthy contributions from iTunes, Paste Magazine, and others. To begin:

Amazon has showered us with MP3s this week, including a great sampler from the label Minty Fresh. I wasn't familiar with any of these artists before now, but I really enjoyed many of these tracks -- a fun range of music from some very promising talent... Cocoon, Drew Andrews, and The Aluminum Group were some of my favorites.

Another set of Amazon downloads that you need to check out, if for no other reason than because it contains a song from that gem of a person, Amy Millan, is the Arts & Crafts 2009 Label Sampler. Oh Amy Millan, how I love thee! To be perfectly honest, I liked her work with Stars better, but her more folksy solo stuff is great too. Friends, if you don't know Stars, you cannot call yourself a Music Lover. You definitely can't call yourself an Indie Music Lover, so don't even try. But even if you're just looking for new tunes to play on a road trip or during a workout, you'll still love Amy Millan; so go grab her song right this moment. Then, if you're a fan of Postal Service, make sure you also swing by and snag the Owl City track Fireflies... you'll be glad you did.

A great download currently available from Paste Magazine is a duet from Joshua Radin and Maria Taylor from the soundtrack of the new movie Adam. Frankly, this MP3 is awesome. You should download it. And since I've been a fan of Joshua Radin for a while now (his music was featured on the soundtrack from The Last Kiss, among other places) I can vouch for his music in general too... his sound frequently can only be categorized as "beautiful" and "heartwrenching." If this free track isn't proof enough for you, check out his song Star Mile, and then you'll know exactly what I mean.

For a dose of fun pop with a decent helping of personality, you'll probably want to download three free tracks from sisters Tal & Acacia. Sidenote: sometimes it seems as if all it takes to be a successful musician is a quirky name. Some of my prime examples would of course be Imogen Heap, Regina Spektor, Feist, and Lady GaGa. And, except for the last one, Tal and Acacia's website cites all those lovely ladies as inspiration for the sisters' sound. It might be a tiny bit of a stretch -- they're no Imogen or Regina quite yet -- but their music is still lively and fresh, and there's a possibility they'll get there eventually. Fans of Christian contemporary should also take note that their music is produced by the same fine gentleman who helped to bring us Caedman's Call and Third Day, and that the third track here is entitled "Yahweh." Hint hint. (thanks Frugal Girls for finding this one!)

There's a lot of great stuff available on Fingertips right now, particularly a track from one of my old favorites The Clientele. For smooth listening with an oldies vibe, The Clientele is just what the doctor ordered. You should also check out the track from The Mummers -- they're new to me, but the song is really catchy and playful. You might find yourself wanting to go hang out at a country fair.

Next, to prove that I'm not prejudiced against country music, I'll point you to a Borders download by an artist named Justin Townes Earle. But because I am actually prejudiced against country music, I don't really have anything to say about it. Sorry country fans, I just can't feel it.

Lastly, we'll glance at the iTunes free tracks. The only one that really interested me this week was La Cancion de La Semana, which happens to be a really cool rap from a female Castillian emcee. It's awesome, and you might call it Safe Rap because even after four years of college Spanish its still pretty unintelligible to me. So no chance of being offended! Additionally, you can find free show downloads this week (Degrassi, The Colony, and Ruby and the Rocketts) and even an audiobook (Paranoia) so that's always entertaining too.

Edit: Oooh lookie! A free track from Whitney Houston's new album, I Look to You. Just had to add that in... (Thanks Wise Bread!)

Enjoy your free music for the week! Let me know if you stumble across any new favorites. :) music