Free (Ear) Candy!

I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for forgetting to blog about Orianthi's kick-ass new single "According to You," which was iTunes' Free Single of the Week... until today. I thought I was so over the whole tough-girl-with-guitar thing, but Orianthi's new single just drew me back in to that world of Kelly and Avril doppelgangers who think "I'm the girl with the worst attention span; you're the boy who puts up with it" is a well-written verse that contains two rhymes.

I also wish the song gave Orianthi more opportunities to showcase the guitar goddess skills her Wikipedia insists she possesses. ("Her style is often compared to other virtuosos such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eddie Van Halen." I am not making this up, I swear.)

Still, the song is catchy as hell (assuming hell is as catchy as a Hannah Montana song), and I would consider paying ninety-nine cents for it.

But since the single of the week is now the lackluster country ditty "Keep on Lovin' You," I feel like I should mention some more great free music.

Hellogoodbye is still giving away their "When We First Met" EP for subscribing to their mailing list. I subscribed a couple weeks ago, and so far, I haven't gotten any annoying emails from them, but I did get two adorable songs and a renewed love for Forrest Kline. Check it out. Then watching the song's too-cute video. I could watch that until my hair grows long...

Also, go snag a free download of DC indie rocker We Were Pirates' cover of "Thriller." Though Mike Boggs' nasaly vocals are far from Jacksonian, the cover has plenty of kitschy charm. In fact, today, Towermix's Bobby Tate had a nice little interview with Boggs. Tate accurately described Boggs as "a one man bandgasm of awesomeness," which pretty much says it all.

Oh darn, I should have mentioned that one last week, too, when it was, you know, Halloween...

(Oh, and speaking of kitschy charm, who else is dancing for joy now that the full Glee soundtrack has been released?)

Sweet Little 'Echoes'

I think it's part of my civic duty to help let the world (or at least the world wide web) know about DC's next indie folk sweetheart, Lightfoot. Lightfoot is the solo project of former (and possibly current?) member DC folk rock band Vox Pop, and the only thing more adorable than her nom de plume "Jess Because" is the demo for her song "Echo." "Echo" keeps a few folk touches from her Vox Pop days, but it's far more delicate than their usual twang. Although her MySpace is peppered with morose mentions of how she is at war with herself and music is cheaper than therapy, the song is anything but a downer.

Lightfoot has a couple of shows in Virginia this weekend, leading up to her "big public debut" at Rock N Roll Hotel on November 27th. In a show that should attract many Vox Pop fans, Lightfoot will be opening for rockers Loose Lips and folk band Typefighter at that show. Then, moving to the other end of the musical spectrum while staying in the DC area, she'll opening for ethereal electropop princess Lights at DC9 on December 12th.

She might only have 14 friends on MySpace and two fans on Facebook, I'd watch out for this lightly-treading folk sweetheart. She just might sneak up on you.