Promoting Independent Music
 

A couple of days ago I noticed a thread in the "Canada" section titled, Favourite Canadian Band. It got me thinking that most of the music I listen to is pretty obscure. I also noticed that many of the bands I listen to offer free MP3 downloads of some of their songs on their websites.

Now I love to listen to new indy music as much as possible, things that have not been tainted by big labels and such. My brother and I like to mail each other CD's filled with this stuff to try and stump each other. But I digress.

I would like this thread to contain links to artist's sites wherein we can download music from bands we might not otherwise hear about.

The rules:

**They have to be legit download sites. No illegal downloads, we don't want to get the TFP in trouble.
**There has to be at least one full song on the site (no 10 second clips).
**No realplayer streaming crap. It has to be an MP3 (or some other format) download.
**Tell us why you like what you are promting, this will save me having to download the next "Fitty Sent," or whatever.

OK, I'll start with 2 guys from Canada.

Wil - Calgary, AB Canada

From the site: "Wil came out into the centre of the room, guitar strapped around his neck and he stood in front of this old chrome microphone. And without a word, he began to belt out this song that just kicked me in the teeth and knocked me back in my chair. I mean he was beating the absolute shit out of his guitar. "And when he finished playing and cheers from the room finally died down, he stepped up to the mic and said, 'I always like to play that song just to get myself warmed up. What do you say we start the show now?'

Wil is a kick ass guitarist in the Blues/Rock genre. I have seen him live countless times and have never been dissappointed. He does a live version of Dave Matthews' "Crash" that will make your heart ache. On this link you can find a bunch of his songs, my personal favouite is "Both Hands."

http://www.ibreakstrings.com/sights.asp

Also:

Nathan Wiley - Prince Edward Island, Canada

I first saw Nathan Wiley when he opened for ethereal singer/songwriter Sarah Sleen. Sleen was fine, but it was Wiley who really tore things up. I think he's all of about 23 yrs old but seems to have a depth of songwriting and technincal skill with his guitar that will make you wonder where it comes from. Download "Bottom Dollar Baby" from here:

http://www.nathanwiley.com/music/index.php

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Well I guess no one likes Indy Music. Weird, I had no idea that Britney Spears and her ilk were that popular here.

Live and learn

Here goes my contribution.
www.revelaria.com
The band's called Revelaria I cam about hearing them because of one of the members John Frusciante sites. www.beeninsane.com I figured someone so much into the Fru could do well playing music. They have three tracks available for download. They're worth checking out.

A little band called the Youngblood Brass Band. Some crazy stuff coming out of these guys, and their site has some MP3s for download. I definitely recommend them.

http://www.youngbloodbrassband.com/

http://www.awolone.com/avindex.html

awol one, underground hip hop, has some wierd lyrics, not just im a ganster blapblapblap

http://www.definitivejux.net/av/

Nearly everyone on this label is good for me, go for aesop rock esspecially

Not specific bands but many sites the came up after the fall of mp3.com:

www.hxcmp3.com
a great resource for people to experience hardcore music. Though an aquired taste, some may find it interesting

www.soundclick.com
another great resource, much like hxcmp3, many bands, signed or not, can join and post their music for download. Contains many different genres. My band Hyline has a few songs avaliable for download here.

www.purevolume.com
same as the two above but also have many signed bands for download as well.

tilly and the wall

www.team-love.com

local favorites My Sister Kate - www.mysisterkate.com
and the Long Drive Home - www.thelongdrivehome.com

Westminster, MD represent!

Mod Flanders Conspiracy. They're an extremely good band with an original sound. They blend so many different styles into their music that they can make seemless genre transitions that leave their listeners astonished and entertained. Their skill and ability to laugh at themselves makes for a great live show as well - there's almost always some sort of dildo action at every show as well as costumes...

Mod Flanders Conspiracy's HXCMP3 Site
Offical Site

Shameless self promotion:

www.chessclubrocks.com

more shameless self-promotion

www.clairaudient.org

lots of new recordings (9-10) under the section "stuff" (dont bother with the 2 oldest chronologically--tech trouble)--an older performance under the obvious link.

Pitchfork
 

www.pitchforkmedia.com

In addition to being an indie review and news site, they also have a fair amount of MP3's for download

Oops! Hit the enter button on accident. There are a number of MP3's available. This is my son's band, I know, I know, shameless, but...you just might like it. By the way, these guys were on Mark and Brian on Tuesday the 17th for almost an hour.