Photo: James Minchin III

Blitzen Trapper frontman Eric Earley wanted Furr, his band’s fourth album, to capture the vibe of Neil Young’s gorgeous, haunting After the Gold Rush. The result is one of the year’s best breakthrough albums that is helping to bring the band’s home state of Oregon into the rock and roll spotlight. Check out a full profile of the band in the current issue of Rolling Stone, and in the meantime click below to download the title track from their new album.

• Blitzen Trapper — “Furr” (Right click and choose “Save As”)

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Photo: Gichigi/Getty

Legendary crooner Tom Jones‘ new album features a Springsteen cover — for real — and a smooth new tune called “If He Should Ever Leave You.” Get a first listen to the latter over at the Breaking Blog.

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In Rolling Stone’s recent review of Lou Reed’s Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse, Barry Walters writes, “The Kurt Weill-like class commentary of ‘Men of Good Fortune’ gains severity: Guitarist Steve Hunter embodies privilege with flashy heroics, and Reed represents unskilled labor via blunt six-string bursts.” The album is out digitally now via iTunes and drops on disc November 4th, but we’ve got a freebie download of that very track for you right now. Plus, check the next issue for an interview with Reed, and click below for David Fricke’s review of the Brooklyn show that’s documented on the new album.

• Download Lou Reed’s “Men of Good Fortune” From Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse

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Trey Anastasio has been added to the lineup of this year’s inaugural Rothbury Festival, joining already-announced headliners Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Widespread Panic and Phil Lesh and Friends on the bill — and stoking rumors that a Phish reunion could go down at the Michigan event. Rothbury will be held July 3-6 in Rothbury, Michigan, at the Double JJ Ranch. Anastasio also has a new live album coming out on June 10th called Original Boardwalk Style. The show was recorded over two nights at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and features the Anastasio-led band the Undectet. Download that album’s lively cut “Shine” below.

• Download “Shine” (Right Click and Choose “Save As”)

Poppy Brit rockers the Kooks are unleashing their second album, Konk, on April 14th. The record, named after the famed studios where the LP was recorded, finds the band recapturing their debut’s distinctly English charm with heavier hooks and Cheap Trick licks. To mark the release, Rock Daily is offering up an exclusive download: a live version of the band’s new single “Always Where I Need To” recorded in February at London’s Astoria.

And here’s a bonus: When the Kooks were in New York recently, our video cameras captured singer-guitarist Luke Pritchard and drummer Paul Garred playing one of eighty demos that didn’t wind of making the album, and dishing some dirt on what went on behind the scenes when they toured with the Rolling Stones. Keep reading for the band’s spring tour dates, too.

Click here to download the “Always Where I Need to Be (Live)” MP3 (more…)

The Ravonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner isn’t cryptic about the theme of his band’s new album Lust Lust Lust. “All the songs are about lust,” he says simply of the February 19th album, which is the band’s first with Vice Records (they recently parted ways with Columbia). Fans can expect a few more changes, too: Wagner programmed all the bass and drum parts himself, and he says the band has embraced their more cinematic interests, with Andy Warhol, photographer William Eggleston and filmmaker David Lynch among Lust Lust Lust’s primary influences.

Lynch is the clear inspiration for opener “Aly, Walk With Me,” where fuzzed-out distortion, always the Raveonettes’ most potent weapon, sounds more explosive and refined than before. Vocalist Sharin Foo coos about the most scintillating of the deadly sins on “Black Satin” and “You Want the Candy,” backed by the band’s trademark wall of buzz. “We’re one of the few bands that get away with having really nice harmonies but also more abrasive sounds,” notes Wagner. (more…)

Despite some interference on behalf of Homeland Security, Field Manual, the first solo album from Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, is set for release on January 29th, 2008, on Barsuk. Over the weekend, we covertly entered the U.S. Customs station in Blaine, Washington, retrieved Walla’s “suspicious” hard drive and smuggled it onto our computers so we can exclusively present Field Manual’s “Sing Again” for your free-downloading pleasure. (Actually, Walla’s people passed along the track, but we like our version better.) Is the song an upbeat, melodic rocker, or an audio document secretly promoting terrorism? Download it yourself to find out.

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Anti-establishment globe-trotter and New Music Tuesday honoree Manu Chao is back with a second single off his new album La Radiolina, out on Nacional Records. “Politik Kills” contains a powerful message Chao wants you to hear as you ponder the upcoming primary elections. To help spread that message faster, he’s letting you download the new single for free right here. More of his music will be available for download in the near future, too. On November 20th, several back catalog releases will arrive on iTunes, and in late January he’ll reissue those titles on CD, including 2001’s Proxima Estación: Esperanza, with bonus video clips.

Minnesota pop-punk quintet Motion City Soundtrack release their third album, Even If It Kills Me, next Tuesday, but you can download the disc’s first single, “Broken Heart,” for free from Rock Daily. The track showcases MCS’ signature tight, bouncy hooks and singer Justin Pierre’s sweetly sung vocals. Preview the track now, and check out the band this fall on their headlining tour.

Download “Broken Heart”

[Photo by Kentaro Kembe]

The brothers Hanson’s latest album, The Walk, arrives in stores today — it’s the second release on their self-run 3CG Records and the first following the ten-year anniversary of sugar-pop hit “MMMBop.” The Walk finds the harmonizing family crafting rock that’s more soulful (”Great Divide”), folky (”Watch Over Me”) and even funky (”Tearin’ It Down”). Sample this acoustic rendition of ’50s-tinged “Been There Before” and see how these onetime teen sensations are handling life in their twenties.

Download “Been There Before”

Photo: Getty

Eccentric British prodigy Jamie T will be touring the States this September and tickets for his shows go on sale later today. Want a free sample of the 22-year-old’s speak-sung slacker rock? Download “Calm Down Dearest” here, and read on to grab the tour dates.

Download “Calm Down Dearest”

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Just a few years back, Beatles mash-ups were all the rage (The Grey Album, anyone?), but the trend died down — until now. Enter Beatallica, a band that creates original tunes in the vein of Weird Al by melding melodic Beatles’ tracks with Metallica’s raw power. Their third album, appropriately titled Sgt. Hetfield’s Motorbreath Pub Band, comes out today and features tracks like “Blackended the U.S.S.R.” and “Helvester of Skelter.” Intrigued? Download “Revol-Ooh-Tion” for yourself to hear what James Hetfield might sound like fronting the Fab Four.

Download “Revol-Ooh-Tion”

Multi-instrumentalist Bryce Avary is The Rocket Summer, a piano-driven emo-pop band from Texas. The mid-tempo, hooky “Save” is from the act’s third album, Do You Feel (out July 17). Get the track for free now, and catch the Rocket Summer this summer on the Warped Tour.

Download “Save”

Photo courtesy of Island Records

A visit to Arts & Crafts’ page for Broken Social Scene co-founder Kevin Drew provides an endless loop of the bearded singer munching cereal. But the indie hearthrob has been far busier than that — his solo album Broken Social Scene Presents: Spirit If … comes out September 18, and if “Tbtf” is any indication, it’ll be packed with slightly lighter versions of the kind of lavishly arranged, horn-laden tracks the golden-voiced Toronto songwriter is known for. (Oh, and the title stands for “too beautiful to fuck”).

Download “Tbtf” (mp3)

[Photo: Getty]

Remember when we told you all about the badass rockabilly dude, Dan Sartain, who is opening for the White Stripes on their current U.S. tour? Well, he still rocks. For proof, check out Sartain’s rollicking accusatory rant “Thought It Over” right here.

[Photo: Jonathan Purvis]