Wow, some of you have waited a while for a new FREE MP3 Musical Madness post! I appreciate your (involuntary) patience. ;) I have to be honest though, my relationship with music has evolved somewhat over the past few years... I recently found myself with a collection of almost 10,000 MP3s, and instead of that being awesome, it was kind of weighing me down. I could never just hit shuffle and be sure of hearing stuff I liked... never just load random stuff on my iPod for a jog without saying "wtf is that noise" at least once... it was rough guys, really rough. *coughfirstworldproblemscough*
So I did a massive overhaul of my music collection -- I literally listened to every single track in my library and it took FOREVER -- and decided what I enjoyed and what had to go. It has made for a much cleaner, happier musical experience. I hope to keep posting free-and-legal downloads on a regular basis going forward, but I'm going to be more choosy about what I keep for good, and I encourage you to do the same. Don't get bogged down by too much of a good thing!
I also will be posting free stuff that is available streaming (because when are we NOT online?) and posting reviews/recommendations of groups and albums whether or not they have free downloads, because if something's really good, it's worth paying for on occasion!
All that out of the way, here are some goodies for this week:
A free Macklemore download? Um, YES PLEASE! Cue the "awwwww," this track was dedicated to his unborn daughter. I love that Macklemore is a Hip Hop artist with both a sense of humor and a social conscience. If you know more like him, please comment with recommendations! His album The Heist
is my favorite "jogging" music... well worth the purchase!
The Language Of My Worldis my favorite "jogging" music... well worth the purchase!
is also fantastic. Note: Pay attention to clean vs explicit when downloading if you are sensitive to language.Maybe because I recently had a seismic move to a new city/state, but I've been craving hymns lately (if you're not a person of faith feel free to skip this paragraph, I won't be offended)... not the kind with the plodding funeral march beat, more Joy Beyond The Sorrow: Indelible Grace VI
style. Loving this free sampler New Old Hymns on Noisetrade! Well, love the first three tracks from Feast or Fallow and The Builder and the Architect (the last one isn't my favorite). Great music for contemplation or encouragement, or in my case, grounding. Heck y'all, I've been a bit of a mess since we moved...Also, downloads previewing the Rendezvous Music festival (Sept 11th and 12th if you're going to be in Colorado!), including Indigo Girls, Holly Williams, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Ivory Layne, John Oates, and Kylie Rae Harris. Mostly singer-songwriter, Americana, mildly country type tracks. My favorites are Tightrope by Drew Holcomb and Disappointed by Ivory Layne... Ivory Lane reminds me veeery slightly of Regina Spektor, only slightly more pop? Let me know if you disagree...
Streaming pick for this week: Big Sis by Sales. Not sure what the lyrics are about, but the dreamy vocals and strong guitar melody are really gorgeous. You can hear it and other tracks on their website, perversely named wearenotsales.com. Sure you aren't, guys, sure you aren't. ;P
This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday -- because I've found that free-and-legal music is an awesome way to explore new genres and build your music collection without draining your bank account... and I thought you might like that too! Check out the link-up for more tips and great ideas on all kinds of topics...
Note: Some affiliate links -- outta work teachers turned writers gotta eat! All opinions are my own.
That was a HUGE collection of MP3s. I'm glad you were able to whittle it down to a manageable size and get rid of the ones cluttering up your listening experience. Perfect timing btw, I've been feeling stuck in a music rut lately but too lazy to explore like I should. ;)
ReplyDeleteHymns feed my soul.
ReplyDeleteMelinda