Sleepwalking by 15-16 Puzzle

15-16 Puzzle has great lyrics and Sleepwalking makes it easy to hear every word perfectly. Gems like "the shit that people like about me, that all comes from you."

http://www.newzeromusic.com/ne3/15-16puzzle_ne3_sw.mp3

Birthday Of Life by Uncle Owen Aunt Beru

Birthday of Life shares a lot of features with other songs from Spaces in Time: lo-fi folk mixed with bird calls and other nature sounds.

http://www.archive.org/download/birdsong019/06-birthday_of_life.mp3

Hold On Hold On by Neko Case

A darkly beautiful country song by Neko Case, Hold On Hold On starts with the confession that she feels more kindness to strangers than family and moves on to describe several of the devils she love.

http://www.anti.com/media/download/540

Nuut by Sleepy Town Manufacture

If you like IDM, just go download Nuut and the rest of the Miss EP.

http://www.archive.org/download/mtk075/mtk075-stm-miss-ep-03-nuut.mp3

Things Just Happend by Daniele Torelli

A slightly ominous repeating note progression runs through much of this one while Things Just Happen around it.

Whet the choice is available, I like to recommend ogg.

http://esaurito.yue.it/torelli_songs/daniele_torelli-things_just_happen.mp3
http://esaurito.yue.it/torelli_songs/daniele_torelli-things_just_happen.ogg

So India Says To This Upstart Kid Named America by Brother Machine

It's got a Brother's drunken rambling and an verse played in reverse, but So India Says To This Upstart Kid Named America is a poppy Brother Machine Tune throughout. It was entered for the I Don't Believe You Song Fight! under the name Sassy Molassy.

http://www.songfight.org/music/i_dont_believe_you/sassiemolassy_idby.mp3

Swedish Boy by Obi Best

Aurgasm featured Obi Best twice, once on their own and once as part of their SXSW coverage. Swedish Boy is such a delicious pop piece that it deserves a second mention just to make sure you didn't miss it the first time.

http://aurgasm.us/music/michelle/Obi%20Best%20-%20Swedish%20Boy.mp3

Mr. Long Arms by The Apartment

Mr. Long Arms is the most perfect hallucination: long long arms. This and other absurdities await you when you experience music of The Apartment.

http://www.gondolamusic.com/mp3s/slicecon/16%20mr.%20long%20arms.mp3

The Voices by Josh Woodward

The Voices is my pick of the songs of Breadcrumbs, Josh Woodward's newest album. The record has some epic song, but the shuffling drumming and dynamic composition put it above the rest.

http://www.joshwoodward.com/mod/song/force-download.php?file=/mp3/Breadcrumbs/JoshWoodward-Breadcrumbs-10-TheVoices.mp3

The Call by Podington Bear

For a while The Call sounds like your typical pretty and playful Podington Bear track. And it is that throughout, but in the middle it just busts out some distorted electronics, shifts to birdcall noises, and just plays around with a whole zooful of shifting sounds until it stops.

http://podingtonbear.com/podcasts/JuneOriginal/TheCall.mp3

Travel by Portland Cello Project featuring Justin Power

I wouldn't recommend seeing Portland Cello Project live. They didn't mic their cellos, and in a bar where people are talking, nobody could hear them at all. Their studio recordings sound great. Travel maintains a beautiful simplicity despite employing a pack of several cellos, a lavish setup for most pop music.

http://krs5rc.com/krs/bands/portlandcelloproject/audio/Travel.mp3

Open Doors by Kira Neris

It's another sample of downtempo jazz from Aurgasm and Kira Neris. This time Open Doors invites you to find some space and enjoy six minutes of jazzy instrumental hip-hop.

http://aurgasm.us/music/kyle/Kira%20Neris%20-%20Open%20Doors.mp3

Dirty Chucks by Puce

The first Puce I ever heard was Dirty Chucks, and it left me wondering if that could possibly be just one person singing. And while the vocal performance is definitely what stands out, it's also solid, striking amateur electronic rock.

http://www.songfight.org/music/dirty_chucks/puce_dc.mp3

Front The Most by MC Frontalot

If you think MC Frontalot does not do enough fronting, he wants to assure you that he is the rapper who will Front the Most.

And because he's a nerd, he knows the value of ogg vorbis.

http://frontalot.com/media.php/62/mc_frontalot_-_front_the_most.mp3
http://frontalot.com/media.php/104/mc_frontalot_-_front_the_most.ogg

Claxxon's Lament by Blackout Beach

If you like Frog Eyes you'll find Blackout Beach instantly familiar. Claxxon's Lament has Carey Mercer's distinct warbling singing, but the song is more stripped down and muted than what you get from his other bands.

A warning: the song is only 160kbps. It sounds good in speakers but it's only tolerably listenable in headphones. If you're like me you'll hear mp3 compression artifacts that may make you cringe.

http://www.softabuse.com/mp3/SAB016%20Claxxon_s%20Lament.mp3

Dropping Out Of School by Brad Sucks

The difference between a Brad Sucks demo and it's finished cut on Out Of It can be striking. The low end on Dropping Out of School rumbles satisfyingly and the whole thing sounds crisp.

http://media.bradsucks.net/albums/ooi-128/01_-_Brad_Sucks_-_Dropping_out_of_School.mp3

The Egg And You by Yoko Kanno

It's another Cowboy Bebop jazz tune. The Egg and You is a cute little piano number.

http://aurgasm.us/music/Yoko%20Kanno%20-%20The%20Egg%20and%20You.mp3

Frostbite by State Shirt

Frostbite is a gorgeously epic Song Fight! entry from State Shirt. He also put together a video song for it. The rules:

"1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds)."

It lends an interesting insight into exactly what you're hearing.

http://www.stateshirt.com/audio/videosongs/stateshirt_frostbite.mp3

Don't Be Afraid To Run by Greg Graffin

The thing that strikes me most about Don't Be Afraid to Run is how similar Greg Graffin makes old-timey style folk sound similar to Bad Religion's punk rock.

http://www.anti.com/media/download/533

Dry Spell by Future Boy

For Danny Boyd, perpetually crushing exactly like a schoolboy. Dry Spell is short and charmingly underproducced.

http://www.songfight.org/music/dry_spell/futureboy_ds.mp3

The Way Things Go by The Octopus Project

The Octopus Project has a goldmine of excellent post-rock/electronic music on their website. They put out plenty of free songs to entice new fans, which just ought to be The Way Things Go.

http://www.theoctopusproject.com/mp3s/waythings2.mp3

Smiger by Kaada

Smiger is part of a soundtrack for a movie that does not exist, perhaps made for a moment of solace for our protagonist, a moment that moves our hero closer to a favorable resolution.

http://aurgasm.us/music/julija/Kaada%20-%20Smiger.mp3

Love Is A Battlefield by Freeway

Apparently Love Is A Battlefield "touches on the hype going on about Beanie Sigel’s attack on Jay-Z". I notice the great production and the MC's energetic delivery.

http://rhymesayers.com/radio/get.php?web=01_Love_Is_A_Battlefield.mp3

The Sun by We Vs. Death

I've come to realize that what get's my attention best in a song is an interesting rhythm, and The Sun, and most We Vs. Death, is all about interesting and changing rhythms.

http://www.beepbeep.nl/wp-content/music/we-vs-death/a-black-house/03%20-%20We%20vs.%20Death%20-%20The%20sun.mp3

Hotel by ADD

Hotel is short, simple, guy and guitar melodrama.

http://actdead.com/mp3s/sf_19_hotel.mp3

Lost Wax by Tiny Creatures

Lost Wax decorates a slow moving guitar (or maybe banjo?) loop with with fuzzed out vocals and various other effects. It makes for a simple and charming tune.

As always, when you get the chance, take the vorbis version.

http://www.archive.org/download/birdsong024/09_lost_wax.mp3
http://www.archive.org/download/birdsong024/09_lost_wax.ogg

Anticlimax by Kat Flint

Anticlimax is full of folkisms: driven by a girl-and-guitar core with strong lyrics, surrounded with handclaps, some lovely harmonies, and accmponied at points by a harmonica and even some kazoos.

http://aurgasm.us/music/julija/Kat%20Flint%20-%20Anticlimax.mp3

A Touch Of Honey by General Fuzz

Sometimes A Touch of Honey can help soothe a weary soul. General Fuzzy has one for you.

http://www.generalfuzz.net/mp3/General%20Fuzz/04%20touch%20of%20honey.mp3

Whirlwind by Rancid

Whirlwind is classic Rancid from 1993. The basslines stand out gloriously clearly in the mix.

http://www.rancidrancid.com/music/whirlwind.mp3

Green Eleven by Chthonic Chthock

Green Eleven sounds like a super happy party time. It'll make you want to stay on Earth in factories and be a slave too.

http://www.songfight.org/music/green_eleven/chthonicchthock_ge.mp3

Let's Get Bloody by Torrentz

Torrentz managed to deliver the absurd over the top violence I expected of Let's Get Bloody, and for that, Song Fight gave them a win.

http://www.songfight.org/music/lets_get_bloody/torrentz_lgb.mp3