It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. The most notable piece of action this week is one of the tracks from The Lost Tapes, the new Can compilation over which we’ve been salivating for quite some time. Elsewhere, there’s a potentially #seapunk track from Azealia Banks, a new Mission of Burma track, Los Campesinos! covering The Beautiful South, new work from Slug Guts and Laetitia Sadier, a Cold Cave rarity, and an entire mixtape from Charli XCX. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately.
Can — “A Swan is Born” New/old Can. For free. Need we say more? Click here and get downloading.
Azealia Banks — “Aquababe” First The New York Times runs a piece about seapunk, then The New York Times’ fashion section runs a piece about seapunk, and then Azealia Banks releases a track all about mermaids. Is the year’s most endearingly outlandish genre about to go overground? For real this time? Anyway, click here to hear Banks get all Little Mermaid-y on you.
Mission of Burma — “Second Television” Post-punk types, rejoice: here’s a new Mission of Burma track! We’re not entirely sure this is meant to be downloadable (its Soundcloud page includes a “Buy this track” link too, which appears fairly redundant at this point) — but hey, there’s a download button, so you can’t exactly be hold responsible for clicking it. You can investigate further here.
Los Campesinos! — “I Love You (But You’re Boring)” In which shouty Welsh popsters Los Campesinos! cover acerbic English songwriter Paul Heaton, and surprising goodness ensues. Click here to listen.
Laetitia Sadier — “There Is a Prince to Pay for Freedom (And It Isn’t Security)” Former Stereolab singer Laetitia Sadier appears to be making a late play for inclusion in our list of amusing song title exponents — she’s already released a song from her upcoming solo album entitled “Find Me the Pulse of the Universe,” and she raises the bar higher with the lovely “There Is a Prince to Pay for Freedom (And It Isn’t Security),” which you can download here.
Cold Cave — “Believe in My Blood” This is apparently an unreleased track from the Cherish the Light Years sessions, and it’s pretty much as intense, angst-ridden, and Depeche Mode-y as we’ve come to expect from Wes Eisold. Get it via Stereogum.
Slug Guts — “Adult Living” Speaking of angst-ridden, here’s a suitably angry piece of work from Australian noiseniks Slug Guts, who are signed to Sacred Bones and due to release their third album through that label — entitled Playin’ In Time With The Deadbeat — next month. This is the lead single, and it makes our head hurt. Click here to get it.
Echo Lake — “Wild Peace” Thank goodness for the soothing sounds of this track, then, to ease our aching ears. We don’t know a great deal about Echo Lake, beyond the fact that they’re a duo and they’re from London, but we like the slow, space-y stylings of this track a great deal. Check it out here.
Frank Ocean — “Pyramids” Are we all still pretending to like R&B? Yes? OK, here’s a new Frank Ocean track, then. Get it via the man’s Soundcloud page.
Charli XCX — Heartbreaks and Earthquakes mixtape And finally, here’s an entire mixtape from London pop starlet Charli XCX, which does rather stretch the definition of “mixtape” — it’s a bunch of her own work presented as one long track — but is worth hearing nonetheless. You can download it right here.