Copulate with our ancient footwear! The weekend is nearly upon us and there’s a yellow coloured thing in the sky radiating heat. Un-Irish or not, we’re celebrating this curious phenomenon with another bursting out of its trousers Free Music Friday.

When not in comedian mode, Reggie Watts human beatboxes up a very funky storm, as evidenced by this session which can be viewed and then downloaded from [link]http://www.npr.org/event/music/155311057/reggie-watts-tiny-desk-concert[/link]

El Mariachi El Bronx – that’s LA punks The Bronx smeared in salsa verde – have the same deal running at [link]http://www.npr.org/event/music/155309965/mariachi-el-bronx-tiny-desk-concert[/link] as does the ledge that is Daniel Johnston at [link]http://www.npr.org/event/music/154589998/daniel-johnston-tiny-desk-concert[/link]

[link]http://www.npr.org/event/music/152902718/regina-spektor-in-concert[/link] also has the whole of Regina Spektor’s recent visit to NYC’s Le Posson Rouge to gawp at (yay!) but sadly not add to your iTunes (boo!)

Finally from our NPR friends we have this short, but very sweet [link]http://www.npr.org/event/music/151275999/now-now-indie-pops-new-threads[/link] footage of Threads who are going to be stoopidly huge by the time you sit down for your Christmas dinner.

Ditto Sylver Tongue, the Charlotte Hatherley one-woman band who has two songs previewing at [link]http://soundcloud.com/sylver-tongue[/link]
All that time hanging out with Natasha Khan has paid dividends!

To [link]http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/1[/link] now where you’ll find new album streams by R. Kelly, The Offspring, Kenny G and, ahem, the Broadway cast of Evita.

[link]http://www.noisetrade.com/thebegoodtanyas[/link] is home to a free The Be Good Tanyas album, though they wouldn’t say “no” to a few yo-yos; Foxygen do their very fine Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones impression at [link]http://soundcloud.com/jagjaguwar/waitin-4-u/s-Gp5xh[/link]; [link]http://soundcloud.com/gibbstack/set-yourself-on-fire-gibbstack[/link] finds Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard covering Stars with much resulting gorgeousness; Best Coast, New Pornographers and Billy Gibbons get their Fleetwood Mac on at [link]http://soundcloud.com/concordmusicgroup/sets/just-tell-me-that-you-want-me[/link]; Likewise Lykke Li at [link]http://soundcloud.com/deccarecords/08-silver-springs[/link]; Duke Ellington is the subject of Joe Jackson and Iggy Pop’s amorous attentions at [link]http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mp3-download-joe-jackson-and-iggy-pop-it-dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-got-that-swing-20120625[/link] and [link]http://thisaintnocowtown.bandcamp.com/album/this-aint-no-cowtown-vol-1-comedy-poetry-nsfw[/link] suggests Colorado could be the next American indie buzz state. They’ve got some fine comedians and poets too judging by this 22-track freebie.

The hip hop community is drooling over this new DJ Khaled song, which features heavyweight help from Kanye and Rick Ross.

Cavan residents Dead Can Dance have their Anastasis album streaming at [link]http://www.deadcandance.com/presaleassets/anastasisplayer.html[/link] ahead of its mid-August release and damn fine it sounds too.

Lana Del Ray and A$AP Rocky are getting very cosy! First, she gets him to help out on the Marilyn/Jackie O-inspired vid for ‘The National Anthem’, then he gets her to guest rap on, ahem, ‘My Bitch’ from his soon-to-be-released debut album.
[link]http://soundcloud.com/rodney_ramen/a-ap-rocky-ridin-feat-lana-del[/link]

Whilst they’re doing all of that, A$AP’s mate Clams Casino has a free instrumental album that can be accessed at [link]http://stereogum.com/1069572/download-some-more-clams-casino-instrumentals/mp3s[/link]

The Little Boots remixes keep on coming at [link]http://soundcloud.com/littleboots/little-boots-headphones-moon[/link] with this stomping version of 'Headphones'.

[link]http://www.soulculture.co.uk/music-blog/newmusic/public-enemy-f-bumpy-knuckles-get-it-in-new-music/#axzz1zB6SYVNh[/link] is where you'll find 'Get It In', another slice of politically conscious hip hop from Public Enemy, which features guest MC Bumpy Knuckles.

Muse have re-animated Freddie Mercury and stolen Brian May for the top rate cover of ‘Flash’, which got its first spin on UK radio this week. Hang on… no, apparently it’s the brand new song they’ve recorded for the Olympics. Either way it’s ace.

We’re mightily impressed with the 10-track American indie sampler loitering with much intent at [link]http://soundcloud.com/indiemusicreviewer/sets/indie-overdose-june-2012-from[/link]
Pick of the bunch is ‘Captive’ by Ume, who sound like a female-fronted Editors. The accompanying video makes us even more enthusiastic.

Our Hot Press Chatroom @ Forbidden Fruit-gracing chums The Rapture have a freebie [link]http://soundcloud.com/dfa-records/the-rapture-in-the-grace-of-6[/link] remix for your download delectation; [link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/jun/27/paul-heaton-8th-album-stream?newsfeed=true[/link] is host to a new album from ex-Beautiful South man Paul Heaton, soon to be getting on his bike in Ireland; Paul Banks gives away a solo tune at [link]http://www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/paul_banks/paul_banks_summertime_is_coming.mp3[/link] which is indistinguishable from Interpol. We're not complaining...; Get a sneak preview of the new single by Belfast's Seven Summits at [link]http://soundcloud.com/goodseedpr/the-worrier-by-seven-summits[/link]; and 4AD bods Purity Ring gift us something really rather beautiful at [link]http://stereogum.com/1070492/purity-ring-fineshrine/mp3s[/link]

This week’s eye candy section starts with The Second Second Coming, a spoof Stone Roses documentary, which features (sort of) cameos from Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie, Shaun Ryder and Bez – “his name is actually Ben but the fuckin’ ‘n’ fell over.” Laugh? We had to LUAS it back home and change our undergarments.

In the unlikely event that appetites need whetting for his impending RDS visit, Broooooce and the gang tore ‘Twist & Shout’ a new one last weekend on the Isle of Wight. We think The Big Man would be impressed by that brass section!

Ever wondered how Skrillex’s ‘Bangarang’ would sound performed a capella by a Dutch choir? Here’s yer answer!

Our admiration for Funeral Suits goes up another notch courtesy of the very fine promo for new single 'Colour Fade'.

Conor J. bought a cameraman with him to his Dolan's, Limerick and Spirit Store, Dundalk. The resulting 'teaser videos' suggest the new Villagers album is going to be awesome. Cop an eyeful at
[link]] and [link]]

And finally, Lady Gaga treats Australian fans to ‘Princess Die’, a new song that may or may not feature on her new album. Lyrically, it’s probably her finest work yet.

This edition of Free Music Friday is dedicated to Reekus Records co-founder Andy Foster and journalist Eugene Moloney, two of the music industry’s good guys who were sadly taken from us last week. Gentlemen, you will be missed x