There’s a fine line between being influenced by an artist and being derivative of an artitst and Picture Atlantic is staggering along that tightrope. The Oakland, California based quintet seems to be managing pretty well so far. They recently got the chance to open for Brit-pop brontosaurus Coldplay in California, but while Picture Atlantic’s influences clearly [...]

Picture Atlantic - "Slip Into The Sea" [2:33m]:
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Head of Femur - "Great Plains" [2:44m]:
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As you very likely know, Dr. O’C has taken on a chunk of the writing duties here at A Free Man while your underwhelming correspondent is burning the employment candle at both ends. What you may not know is that she’s largely taken over the photography duties as well. Pretty much any photo of Baby [...]

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "I See A Darkness" [4:50m]:
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Johnny Cash - "I See A Darkness":
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About the only two things that Tropidelic and Tafra have in common are the first letter of their names and the fact that I’ve had their records in my hands waiting for a review for far too long. Actually, one other thing that these two acts share – A Free Man digs them.
A reggae band [...]
03 Jul 2008 at 11:13
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80's music, American artists, Americana, Australian Artists, Britain, British Artists, Hip-Hop, Indie Pop, MP3 of the Week, Portland, folk
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The Chapin Sisters, two of whom actually are sisters, are based out of L.A. They got a bit of attention with a cover of “Toxic” last year. What I’ve heard of their new LP “Lake Bottom” sounds pretty good – twisted Americana a la The Be Good Tanyas.
MP3: The Chapin Sisters – “Washed Away”
Speaking of [...]
Well, not Mario Ishii Hernandez nor his bandmates, but a luscious prize pack including a beautifully designed t-shirt, a button, a signed poster, and CDs of From Bubblegum To Sky’s two previous releases “Me and Army” and “The Two French Boys and Nothing Sadder Than Lonely Queen”. In celebration of their latest release “A Soft Kill”, [...]
I was listening to Damien Jurado’s fantastic 2003 album “Where Shall You Take Me?” at work today. So, when I got the news that he’s playing some dates in the UK this summer, I became a little bit wistful for old Blighty. Here’s hoping he makes it down here to Oz in the not to [...]
The older I get, the more I appreciate the darkly twisted Nick Cave. He and his Bad Seeds have a new record out, “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!” which is just pure art. Check out the title track for a glimpse.
MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!”
London based singer-songwriter Owen Duff has [...]
Let’s kick it off with the vastly underrated Wolf Parade. The Canadian quartet’s 2005 debut “Apologies to the Queen Mary” was one of that year’s best albums that you might not have heard. Their sophomore effort, “At Mount Zoomer, is due out in North America on Tuesday from Sub Pop. What I’ve heard so far [...]
When you have a mountainous pile of music to get through, it often starts to sound very same-ish. Thus, often the only type of music that slips past the filters is that which is different in some way. Nothing is truly original, but every now and then a band does something that puts new twists [...]
Success! With this post A Free Man is caught up with all MP3s sent through over the long month that I was off line. What a great sense of accomplishment. What follows is my ten favorite tracks that I’ve received in one way or another over the last month or so. Some of them are [...]
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