It’s Friday, which means another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week we get all excited about the arrival of a new Liars track via Adult Swim’s Singles Program — and there’s also an unreleased Marissa Nadler song, a free track from Dan Deacon’s new album, the return of Jean Grae and Efterklang, How to Dress Well going for full-fledged pop R&B thrills, and plenty more. Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump.
Liars — “Point Your Pistols to the Sigh” We’ll permit ourselves a rousing cheer at this point, as Liars’ WIXIW is one of our favorite records of the year, and any new Liars-related material is generally a cause for celebration. This outtake from the WIXIW sessions marks the triumphant conclusion to Adult Swim’s Singles Program, which has given us a heap of interesting material over the last two weeks. Get it here.
Marissa Nadler — “Save Me a Place” There are certain artists who it’s worth following on SoundCloud, and Marissa Nadler is one of them — she occasionally sneaks out otherwise unreleased tracks like this one, which is a rather lovely cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Save Me a Place.” You can download it here.
Dan Deacon — “True Thrush” If you can get over the mental association of Dan Deacon and thrush, this is a worthy download, built around a driving beat, sing-song melody and Deacon’s trademark bazillion-layered production. It’s available for today only via KCRW.
Jean Grae — “Kill Screen” A new Jean Grae track based on Donkey Kong samples? Absolutely.
Efterklang — “Apples” A reflective and rather sedate new single from Efterklang, who seem to be mellowing more with every album — this is a world away from the glitchy weirdness of their rather appropriately titled 2004 debut Tripper. “Apples” does have its subtle charms, though — get it via 4AD’s Australian distributors Remote Control.
The Gaslamp Killer feat. Daedelus — “Impulse” In a prime example of amusing understatement, XLR8R — who are hosting this download — note sagely that LA producer and Flying Lotus affiliate The Gaslamp Killer’s tracks “[aren’t] playable in an average club.” Well, no — although we’d definitely be up for visiting the sort of club where they are playable, if only to see what sort of outlandish futuristic drugs everyone there is taking.
How to Dress Well — “& It Was U” In which Tom Krell gets all New Jack Swing on us. Crikey. Get it via Stereogum.
Lulu Gainsbourg feat. Scarlett Johansson — “Bonnie and Clyde” Unlike basically everyone else on the planet, we rather liked Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits record, and while we weren’t so big on her work with Pete Yorn — aka the most appropriately named man in music — we were interested to hear what she’d do next. The answer appears to be “record a cover of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ with Serge Gainsbourg’s son Lucien.” She doesn’t attempt the French lyrics of the original version, singing in English, and the orchestration is basically a less interesting version of what Serge recorded first time around, but still, it’s not terrible — get it via Spinner.
Richard Reed Parry — “I Believe in You” We’ve always thought Talk Talk were one of the great overlooked ’80s bands, so it’s gratifying to see them getting some attention in the form of upcoming covers record Spirit of Talk Talk. This cover of “I Believe in You” by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry is taken from that album, and it’s pretty good — Parry has a rather pretty voice, and his sparse take on the original works well. Get it via RCRD LBL.
Claire’s Diary — “Girl Next Door” And finally, a two-and-a-half-minute blast of bracing and thoroughly likeable pop-tastic punk from Brooklyn band Claire’s Diary. If you like Tacocat or any of the other great bands on this list, you should give it a listen — you can download it from the band’s Bandcamp page.