E. Is Stable by Menomena

Menomena's webpage takes aggravating web page design to a horrible extreme. But if you poke it in the right place, it rewards you with a cute experimental rock song called E. Is Stable.

http://www.menomena.com/eisstable.mp3

Bloodletting by Saul Williams

Saul Williams is a poet, occasionally an actor, and sometimes a rapper. His lyrics involve a lot of wordplay and often advocate liberal politics and anti-war and anti-gangster views. Bloodletting is a hyper-literate rant against violence.

http://72.167.29.135/sw/sw_bloodletting.mp3

Systematic Panic by ADD

ADD has been in and around Song Fight! for quite some time. Systematic Panic is one of his most recent winning songs. It features a catchy beat and some fun production tricks.

http://www.songfight.org/music/systematic_panic/add_sp.mp3

Let Me In by Puce

My favorite internet musician has made it to the final round of Nur Ein. Of the songs he's made for the competition, my favorite is his qualifying song, Let Me In, a song about a desperate attempt to escape zombies.

http://www.forkbomb.ca/songs/demos/puce_lmi.mp3

Blue Glasses by Smokey Hormel with Miho Hatori

Smokey Hormel and Miho Hatori (of Gorillaz fame) were featured on Oddio Overplay's tunes in overplay. Blue Glasses is a bossa nova song with an ethereal feel lent by Hatori's singing.

http://www.midheaven.com/fi/audio/Blue_Glasses.mp3

Your Move by Blackalicious

Blackalicious sound like a history lesson in black American music aimed at today's audience. For their latest album, The Craft, Chief Xcel gives us funk inspired beats that always sound contemporary. In Your Move Gift of Gab delivers tongue twisting rhymes showing off his smooth rhythm and flow.

http://www.spokane7.com/music/mp3s/Blackalicious%20-%20Your%20Move.mp3

Driving by Brother Machine

A month and a day and I have yet to post any country songs either. Brother Machine helps fill this hole with his country-ish Song Fight! contender, Driving.

http://www.songfight.org/music/driving/brothermachine_driving.mp3

I Hate You by State Shirt

I've been doing this for a month now, and I've managed to include a lot of indie-pop, dance rock, some jazz, some hip-hop, and some idm/ambient music. But I haven't posted any metal songs. So to fix this, I return to State Shirt's Song Fight! archive and present I Hate You.

http://www.songfight.org/music/i_hate_you/stateshirt_ihy.mp3

Thousands by yes.no.yes

yes.no.yes is a noisy indie rock group. They cite Sonic Youth, Blonde Redhead, and Fugazi as just some of their influences. And you can hear it in Thousands, from their apparently untitled EP.

http://yesnoyes.us/music/EP/yes.no.yes%20-%2002%20-%20thousands.mp3

Airweight by Ochre

Ochre makes ambient music along the lines of Aphex Twin, with an emphasis on melodies over electronic beats. Airweight is one of his more succinct songs and it features some pretty bleeps and bloops.

http://ochremusic.com/mp3s/Ochre_-_Airweight.mp3

Thanks For Coming by The Sober Irishman

The Sober Irishman has made quite a few songs spanning a wide range of genres (and quality). Thanks For Coming is a fun little Irish jig.

http://www.songfight.org/music/thanks_for_coming/soberirishman_tfc.mp3

Mass Romantic by The New Pornographers

Mass Romantic, the first song from their first album, was my first New Pornographers experience. And what an experience. It's bouncy, energetic power pop, and Neko Case's voice makes the song sweet enough to cause diabetic shock.

http://www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/the_new_pornographers/new_pornographers_mass.mp3

The Thing Most Easily Forgotten by Merisan

Round five of Nur Ein is titled "The Thing Most Easily Forgotten". The challenge is to use vocals and guitar only. This round's winner is sure to be Merisan, who came up with one of the most gorgeous songs they've made.

UPDATE: Merisan did win this round as the unanimous top choice of the jury.

http://people.geneticmail.com/sam/merisan/merisan_ttmef.mp3

Snow Fort by Eight Legged Oedipus

From one of the dirtiest minds on Song Fight! comes a surprisingly innocent song about a battle in the snow. It really drives home the importance of holding a defensive position within the snow fort despite any injuries you may suffer.

http://www.songfight.org/music/snow_fort/eightleggedoedipus_sf.mp3

Need Stilts by A Kid Named Ace

A Kid Named Ace has a sort of indie/emo sound that you don't hear too much in the Song Fight! community. Unfortunately he hasn't entered many fights, which for a musician of his ability is a sin. So much so that he'll Need Stilts to get into heaven.

http://www.songfight.org/music/need_stilts/kidnamedace_needstilts.mp3

I Meant To Remember by Deshead

Deshead is a Canadian who puts out good old fashioned rock songs. He has entered and won himself many a Song Fight!, including I Meant To Remember. It's a fun, summertime song.

http://www.songfight.org/music/i_meant_to_remember/deshead_imtr.mp3

Doin' The Cockroach by Modest Mouse

This song opens with the line "I was in heaven. I was in hell. / Believed in neither but feared them as well." And that about sums up why I love Modest Mouse so much. That, and the fact that Isaac Brock manages to sound like a grizzled lunatic when he shouts "PLEASE SHUT UP".

http://www.uprecords.com/mp3/modestmouse_doin-the-cockroach.mp3

Como Te Quiero by El Círculo de Willis

From the depths of the internet archives one can find a great many treasures. One is the experimental/jazz group El Circulo de Willis. Como Te Quiero is a hopping electronic jazz song, packaged in a variety of convenient formats. As usual, I recommend the Ogg Vorbis version for those hip enough to not have Apple brand portable music players. If file size is no concern of yours, you should try the FLAC version (that's Free Lossless Audio Codec).

http://www.archive.org/download/Cuadrado/4CTQ.ogg
http://www.archive.org/download/Cuadrado/4CTQ.flac
http://www.archive.org/download/Cuadrado/4CTQ_vbr.mp3

No One Else by Abominominous

The last round of Nur Ein was titled "No One Else" and challenged contestants to not use a guitar in their songs. It brought out the best songs of the competition all around, but the winning song also happens to be my favorite song Abominominous has put out.

http://www.tartpop.com/tunes/abominominous-no_one_else.mp3

Tracks For Future Practice by Duboce Triangle

You may have heard the voice of Duboce Triangle in other, more famous internet music. One of the band's Song Fight! entries has me looking forward to the future, when we'll take perfection and track it down.

http://www.songfight.org/music/tracks_for_future_practice/dubocetriangle-tracksforfut.mp3

120 MPH by The John Benjamin Band

John Benjamin is not only a frequent Songfighter but also one of the fightmasters who keeps that site running. He is also one of the only fighters who has submitted a recording of just him singing with no instrumentation or vocal harmonies. He recorded a second, full version of the song, but it loses some of the nakedness that makes the Song Fight! entry so charming.

http://johnorama.com/songs/sensitive_pop/120_mph.mp3
http://www.songfight.org/music/120_mph/jbb-120mph.mp3

Adding Up Numbers by Kompressor

He has been described as the greatest industrial musician ever. And like an great German industrial act Kompressor understands the importance of math. He has focused his industrial power on letting everyone know about Adding Up Numbers.

http://www.kompressormusic.com/mp3/ADDING_UP_NUMBERS.mp3

You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son by Wolf Parade

If you read my comment about needing even more quirky rock music from Montreal and thought, "but I don't even know of any rock music from Montreal", you need to give a listen to Wolf Parade. They are unusual among my favorite Montreal based acts in actually having music available for download. So go over there and check out You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son.

While you're there, be sure to get a gander at the band's biographic entry. It's the best I've ever read. Any band who describes their music as "like a bullfight, only where the bull is a gorilla and the matador is a robot precariously holding a baby and all the spectators are eagles and whales with laser beams for eyes and everybody cries when the gorilla dies," is worth a good look.

http://www.subpop.com/assets/audio/2362.mp3

My Ghetto Noise by Ghetto Pony

Any band that would call their album Post Apocalyptic Bubblegum Music deserves a good look. And Ghetto Pony deliver perfectly on that title. My Ghetto Noise is one of the shortest tracks on their site, and it's catchy as hell, so it's a good place to start. And if you need more quirky rock music from Montreal, then it will just be the start.

http://zebox.com/artists/audio/ghettopony_-_My_Ghetto_Noise.mp3

Making Me Nervous by Brad Sucks

A one man band with no fans. Brad Sucks has whole album for you to download, and if you are feeling ambitious you can download the source audio and make your own remixes. The first song on this album is Making Me Nervous.

http://www.bradsucks.net/music/albums/idkwid-128/01_-_Brad_Sucks_-_Making_Me_Nervous.mp3

Failure and Regret by Lonbobby

Lonbobby has stocked the Song Fight! archive with a good deal of electronic music over the years. Among his best is Failure and Regret, which has his autotuned voice singing about how it got messed up and now he has to use a harmonica.

(And if you like the cover art, you should also get a look at the cover art for the Pass/Fail fight. They sorta go together.)

http://www.songfight.org/music/failure_and_regret/lonbobby_far.mp3

Imaginary Places by Busdriver

Busdriver shows us how to rap insanely fast over a flute of all things. He's just here to hold your hand when you die and show you around Imaginary Places.

http://www.midheaven.com/fi/audio/Imaginary_Places.mp3

Gallows Hill by Josh Woodward

Josh Woodward is a ridiculiously prolific songwriter. So if you're intimidated by his list of over 100 songs, I suggest Gallows Hill. You can give it a quick listen by just pushing play below.



http://www.joshwoodward.com/mp3/JoshWoodward-GallowsHill.mp3

State of Emergency by Bovine Recyclery

Twenty-five contestants have entered this year's Nur Ein competition. It's now round 3, the song title is "State of Emergency", and the challenge for this round is to include guest vocals in the song. Fifteen contestants are left. One is The Bovine Recyclery (he used to go by "The Cow Exchange", geddit?) and he teamed up with Bjam and Stueym to deliver a song about how his soap has low detergency. If that doesn't get him immunity for the next round nothing will.

Edit: It didn't get him immunity. But the song that did get immunity was my favorite of the bunch.

http://noise.dillfrog.com/audio/nurein2/bore_state_of_emergency.mp3

Half Jack by Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls seem to put an enormous amount of enthusiasm in everything they do (that'd be the "punk" part of "punk cabaret"). And one of my favorites of theirs is Half Jack. In the live versions of the song, Brian Viglione does an extended drum into that's almost exhausting just to watch. And Amanda Palmer's singing is fantastically earnest. My favorite parts are her delivery of the line "I'd sacrifice my body to get the Jack part ... out." and the way she growls "Run, Jack, run" at the end.

http://www.dresdendolls.com/media_site/downloads/HalfJack.mp3