5 Great Bands You Should Know (& Their Free Downloads)

We all have different tastes in music, and I don’t pretend to think everyone should like the same artists I like. But maybe you’ll check some of these bands out and agree that you should be paying more attention to them.

Vib Gyor

Official site | MySpace | YouTube channel
They formed in 2004 in Leeds, England, and their 2006 single, “Fallen”, got a lot of airplay in England and the U.S. — particularly on the West Coast, where the song was popular in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Portland, especially. I saw them last summer when they did a brief West Coast tour (photos from Seattle). They’ve released a couple EPs and are working on their debut album right now. Free Music: Visit their Last.fm Profile and look under the Listen Now section. Highly recommend “Fallen,” a great rock song, and “Church Bell” is great, too.

Reamonn

Official site (English) | MySpace
Reamonn is a five-piece band from Germany, but with an Irish singer who has a terrific voice. They’ve been around for about 10 years, I think, and have a handful of albums and at least one DVD out already. Some of the songs are bit cheesy and melodramatic, but those are few and far between. They do mostly mid-tempo rock/pop songs, with a few high-energy rockers and a few ballads mixed in. Free Music: A top Reamonn fan site offers an acoustic version of their hit, “Supergirl” from a radio performance.

The Last Goodnight

Official Site | MySpace
You’ve probably heard the incredibly catchy “Pictures of You” on a TV commercial. The other stuff is good, too. This is a group of friends from Enfield, Connecticut, that originally called themselves Renata. The Last Goodnight now has their debut album out, Poison Kiss. It’s really good. Free Music: Sign up for their mailing list, and get a free MP3 of “Pictures of You”.

Beat Radio

Official Site | MySpace
Their official web site is straight out of 1995, and that’s surely on purpose. They wear the “indie rock” label proudly and call their sound “lo-fi.” I just call it pretty good — kinda quirky and interesting. Their debut album is called The Great Big Sea. Free Music: You can download the entire album (and several additional songs) on their web site. Recommended: “People Are Talking” and “Treetops”.

Agiven

Official Site | MySpace
An Irish band that I love despite/because they have very little U2 influence. In fact, more recently, they tend to be making music more in the vein of Dave Matthews Band, a band I don’t particularly like. But I like Agiven’s sound. They have a new EP coming out soon called Legible Words for the Morning, and a new web site, too. Free Music: To get some free music, you’re gonna have go old school. They used to give some songs away on the old web site, so use Archive.org and you’re all set. I recommend all three songs there, but especially “Forgive Yourself”. Great track.

Honorable Mentions

The Changes – “When I Wake”
Official Site | MySpace | YouTube
No free songs to download, but check out “When I Wake.” Good, bouncy pop song.

Foreign Born
Official Site/Blog | Myspace
No free songs to download, but check out “We Had Pleasure” or “In the Shape”.

Know of some other great artists that offer free music? Tell about it in the comments, please…

(I have to thank Cara, whose blog intro’d me to three of the above.)