Freebies From the Archives: Downloadable Bandcampers - Phase 1

We prowled back through the Powerpopulist Archives and found a bootyload of free powerpop, janglepop, indiepop, and other hooky melodic pop favorites still alive and ready. At post-time, all of the 50 songs below are available for free download. Clicking /////bc will take you to the Bandcamp page where you can download the song. If you find a pricetag attached there, click either a) Buy the Full Digital Album or b) the album name just under the song name at the top left of the page. We tested all 50 songs just before posting and found them still to be either Free Downloads or Name Your Price (in which case, simply type "0" in the price box). Oh, and if the widget below feels a bit cramped, here's the full-size page at Playmoss. We've got more to say but are saying it below the widget.

We already got too wordy up there but wanted to say a little more.

We started this "From the Archives" feature in the early days of Powerpopulist. New visitors kept arriving, and we wanted them to be able to hear freebies we'd already posted that they might like to hear and/or download. We did the feature fairly regularly, but once the Age of Widget took hold, we for some reason let the feature slide.

So we've just spent--and are still spending--many hours combing back though old posts and frankly feel rather well-groomed. There's still tons of tuneage that continues to please us and might well do the same to you. We've picked up quite a few followers and visitors via Facebook, and many of them probably aren't a) aware of how much music we've posted or b) enthusiastic about digging back through twelve years of posts to see what's there.

We've found it to be an endeavor pleasing, yes, but not for the short-of-patience or faint-of-heart. Along with the pleasure came much pain. Cherished favorites had dropped their links or (gasp) completely disappeared from sight. Embed codes had been scrambled so as to create chaotic visuals and deformed widgets. . . . Sorry, just give us a minute. . . . All right, we're okay now. We'd say more but it's just too fucking painful. And fortunately, there is the music that lives on.

Historical Footnote: After posting here a number of our Playmoss playlists, this is the first in which every single song is clickably and easily, freely and legally downloadable. We like that. It takes up less space and it gives you the chance to click through quickly, listen at length if you like, and grab the ones you want for your music library. We're gonna do more of it. (See below.) So, like, TA-DA!

Yes, we've got more of these From the Archives posts coming in the near future. After one or two more Bandcamp-based posts, we've got one coming of SoundCloud freebies, plus one or more of the old-fashioned word-based mp3 links that were the staple of this and other music blogs earlier in the century. Then came the Age of Widget, at Powerpopulist on Monday, May 16, 2011. (So bravo for M. Thibault Stillinrock, who carries on the venerable tradition over at . . . Still in Rock!)

We've said this many times before, but in case we didn't include songs that plunk your particular twanger, clicking /////bc will often take you to other songs and albums by the artists that might suit you better. In the case of compilations, you'll be exposed to oodles more artists, as well.

We also say it ad infinitum but ad reallymeanitum: Abundant thanks to the artists who made and continue to make their fabulous music available, whether for free or for purchase. Because, yeah, we do purchase quite a lot of music, as you can see here (another feature we perhaps need to revive) and at Bandcamp. We also buy from labels, online stores, Amazon and, as a last resort, iTunes.