The Score: Best Free Downloads This Week

1. Has to be the taper bootleg of Nine Inch Nails at Terminal 5 this past week, in what is supposedly the final NIN show ever. It's a damn good set. Peter Murphy of Bauhaus joins Reznor on stage and to end the set, and possibly the life of NIN, they cover Pere Ubu's "The Final Solution." Pretty awesome. RIP NIN.

2. South African masterminds Blk Jks did a Daytrotter session last week with a few previews of what you can expect to hear on their debut LP After Robots. It's easy to expect great things after their high-energy debut splash Mystery EP. The Daytrotter session gives some credence to my suspicions that After Robots is going to be great.

3. The Rural Alberta Advantage did a special session at Luxury Wafers, performing some slightly stripped down versions of tracks from their great new disc Hometowns. The band have endlessly been compared to Neutral Milk Hotel, a somewhat just comparison as vocalist Nils Edenloff bears some striking similarities to Jeff Magnum's nasal belt. Yet, TRAA have something special in their orchestrations, a reserved quietude, that make each song epic and enjoyable in their own way.

4. Empty's Tapes posted a recording of Vampire Hands performing at The Turf Club in St. Paul for their "Hannah in the Mansion" CD Release Show. The recording isn't crystal clear, but Vampire Hands are so great that it doesn't even bother me.

5. This past week The Antlers had a CD release event in NYC at The Mercury Lounge to celebrate the re-release of their great new disc Hospice, which was just re-released through Frenchkiss Records. Download this, then buy Hospice, and thank me later.

What's New This Week?

BOOKS:
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton [Granta]
+ This book has gotten only positive buzz so far. Joshua Ferris called it "a glimpse into the future of the novel itself."

Behind My Eyes: Poems by Li-Young Lee [W.W. Norton & Co.] (reprint)
+ Lee's fourth collection is a beautiful book that is surprising and sometimes dark and funny.

MUSIC:
Bowerbirds - Upper Air [Dead Oceans]
+ Another full length from one of the best groups doing folk. Bowerbirds have managed to make folk beautiful and surprising again.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns [Saddle Creek]
+ Saw these guys play a couple weeks ago in Minneapolis with InDigest founding editor Chris Koza, and they were fantastic. A revised Neutral Milk Hotel.

Oneida - Rated O [Jagjaguwar]
+ Oneida is releasing a three disc concept(ish) album, and if the preview tracks have been any indicator this may be the first three disc set you'll be able to sit through.

Tiny Vipers - Life On Earth [Subpop]
+ Tiny Vipers' gorgeous, haunting down-tempo tunes feel lost in time. They could have been written yesterday or a century ago.

DVD:
Stanley Cup 2008-2009 Champions: Pittsburgh Penguins [Warner]
+ No, I'm not kidding. This was the best Stanley Cup Playoffs in so long that I had to put this up as one of the best things going on this week. This was an amazing year in hockey. Whatever, forget it then.

THEATERS:
Humpday (Lynn Shelton) [Magnolia]
+ Two college buddies, an artist and a family man, decide to one up each other until they have decided to have sex together in a porno contest. Really.

Soul Power (Jeffrey Levy-Hinte) [Antidote]
+ A documentary about the legendary soul concert in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974.