From WXPN’s All About the Music blog:

Singer, songwriter and pianist Vienna Teng has been on the road touring in support of her new album Inland Territory, recently making a stop in Philly. Over the years since her debut in 2001, Teng has amassed an impressive fan base, sold lots of records and tickets to her shows; with good reason – she creates literate and thoughtful piano based pop songs that are sonically rich and . . . complex.

I would add that Teng has a beautiful voice and based upon this song, I hope to purchase her new album ASAP.

To listen to Kansas, click the link below.  To download it, click on WXPN’s blog link above.
Kansas – Vienna Teng

On July 10, 2007 the group Spoon released a new album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga on Merge Records, and one of the best songs on the album is The Underdog. I dare you to listen to this great little song and not tap your feet!

Listen to the song The Underdog

Download the free MP3 here:

The Underdog – Spoon

Technorati tags: Free MP3, Spoon, The Underdog.

This week’s free MP3 was featured on Spinner.com and features the duo Chris and Thomas.  “Take These Thoughts” is a beautiful song reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel, though Mike Spinella of Spinner compares them to Jeff Buckley and Red House.  All I will say is that if the rest of their album Land of Sea is as good as this song, I will be adding the album to my Amazon wish list.

Their MySpace page can be found here, and the MP3 can be downloaded here.  To listen to the song before downloading it, click on the play button below.

The lyrics of “Take These Thoughts” are as follows:

And all I want is all that you possess
And all I want is all that I can’t get
And I can’t breathe for the things I see
And the things I want and I long to be
And I crave much more than I’d ever need
And I take it all just the way I please

Take these thoughts
Put ‘em in your basement
Take these thoughts
They’re heavy and they’re old
Don’t let ‘em steal your soul

And all you got is all that you deserve
And all you got isn’t of real worth
And I can’t breathe for the things I see
And the things I want and I long to be
And I crave much more than I’d ever need
And I take it all just the way I please

Take these thoughts
Put ‘em in your basement
Take these thoughts
And send them down the track
Make sure they don’t come back

Take these thoughts
Take these thoughts
Take these thoughts
And if they come back ‘round
Just burn the whole place down

You can’t get music any more quintessentially American than bluegrass, and the Stanley Brothers are at the top of the heap when it comes to bluegrass musicians.  This week’s free MP3 comes from salon.com and features “Rabbit in a Log.”

As David Marchese of salon.com says,

“Rabbit in a Log” comes from a new Smithsonian Folkways compilation, “Virginia Roots,” and features breakneck banjo, fiddle and mandolin playing that would put many a heavy-metal shredder to shame. But as much as I enjoy the virtuoso bluegrass musicianship, my favorite thing about the song is Ralph and Carter Stanley’s close, clear harmony singing.

To download, click on the link below and then click on the button at the end of the post entitled “Song of the Day”

Song of the Day: “Rabbit in a Log,” the Stanley Brothers,  originally posted on
Wednesday, 04 July 2007 at salon.com.

Technorati tags: MP, free, Rabbit in a Log, The Stanley Brothers, bluegrass