The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

US Music

US: Radio Nowhere by Bruce Springsteen
Free.

US: Alright by Ledisi
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Ledisi is a well-known name in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she has been performing and recording for years. Her quietly explosive voice delivers on "Alright" - a track from her new album on Verve Records. She keeps things mellow here, delivering some slick soul with a jazzy boom-bap beat that keeps your head nodding along.

US: Nod Your Head by Paul McCartney (song AND video)
Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full is driven by some remarkable songs that touch on nostalgia and mortality. In between those two points, you'll find "Nod Your Head," a grinding, mid-tempo rocker highlighted by some piercing piano with Sir Paul encouraging everyone to do nothing more than, you guessed it, nod their heads. The rhythm is strong, steady, and uncharacteristically noisy but the lyrics are textbook early rock 'n' roll. Find a catch phrase, create a dance craze . . . and repeat. But as if new material from Paul McCartney wasn't enough of a good thing, iTunes has both the video and the single available - for free. Enjoy.

US: Nuevo Mundo by Crisantes
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Canción de la Semana. Crisantes is a young songwriter who grew up alternating between homes in the U.S. and Mexico. But it's the influence of the music of the former that weighs heaviest on the songs on his debut album. The track "Nuevo Mundo" has all of the trademarks of a 21st century punk-pop song. Heavy with thick, choppy guitar lines, and a powerful, raging chorus that sounds like a lost Foo Fighters song, Crisantes shows he has the dynamic between melody and fist-pumping rock mastered.

International

Australia: Red Version by Ghostwood
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band we've been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. This track from Sydney's Ghostwood has a nervy undercurrent that might call to mind the earliest, darkest work of the Cure. While the drumming maintains a more frantic pace, the processed sound of the guitar and the airy vocals give off a vibe of dislocation. Bleak, but with an underlying degree of hope, Ghostwood sound like they've got something in store for us all.

New Zealand: Red Version by Ghostwood
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band we've been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. This track from Sydney's Ghostwood has a nervy undercurrent that might call to mind the earliest, darkest work of the Cure. While the drumming maintains a more frantic pace, the processed sound of the guitar and the airy vocals give off a vibe of dislocation. Bleak, but with an underlying degree of hope, Ghostwood sound like they've got something in store for us all.

Canada: Lions for Scottie by Hey Rosetta!
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band we've been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Are Hey Rosetta! Newfoundland's finest? Who knows! But they are most certainly Newfoundland's finest punk-rocking pop band that also utilize a cello and violin. "Lions for Scottie" is a bleary-eyed run through vocalist and songwriter Tim Baker's emotional state, pumped up by blazing guitars and a unique sensitivity to melody. Just after the song breaks down and appears to stop, it builds up into a more baroque emotional climax. Unpredictable, and that's alright by us.

France: If This Ain't Love (Don't Know What Is) by Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators
Si vous aimez ce morceau, obtenez l'album ici.Avant de rejoindre le groupe funk finlandais The Soul Investigators, Nicole Willis a officié dans les Brand New Heavies, joué avec Curtis Mayfield, enregistré pour Mo'Wax et co-fondé Deee-Lite. Difficile donc de remettre en question ses références funk. « If This Ain't Love » est extrait de son premier album complet, Keep Reachin' Up, et c'est une véritable bombe, de la pure musique soul avec un son Motown enjoué, le tout emmené par la voix de Willis.

UK: What's a Girl to Do? by Bat for Lashes
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band we've been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Natasha Khan is the voice and songwriter behind Bat for Lashes. "What's a Girl to Do" is a track from her debut, Fur and Lashes, and it captures the sort of dark, cinematic grandeur that she excels at - and it's a Bruce Springsteen song, but it's set against a musical backdrop that could be the gothic version of a Shangri-Las' tune, Khan alternates a spoken narrative with a sung, ghostly chorus. Melodramatic? You bet. Totally compelling? Even more so.