I never really know what to do with pre-release mp3 teaser thingies on this site.  I don’t like just slapping them up on the blog without any thought, as a great many mp3 bloggers do.  It seems a bit of a waste of my time, and bit… well, a bit thoughtless I suppose.  As if suddenly the site would become a mindless news aggregator, which is not really fair, but it does feel a bit like that.

So I decided a little while back that I would use the podcasts for popping in new mp3s I had been emailed, but which didn’t have a home within a proper review of any sort.  That makes good sense, but then a lot of people don’t listen to the podcasts for varying reasons (no, not just because they’re shit), so it feels like there should be a way to pop the things up on the blog as well, for you other lot who heartlessly ignore all the hard work and effort that goes into the loving creation of a weekly podcast.

Anyhow, here are some things, most of which have been featured on every blog in Christendom already, and have also appeared on my own podcast already, but erm, I figured that non-podcasters deserved some fun too.

Sara Lowes may be best known for her work with the Earlies and Micah P. Hinson, but she is a fantastic solo artist in her own right, and this song is a teaser from a her new album Back to Creation, out, erm, soonish.  It has quite a lush pop sound, but for a change I am not going to complain about that.  Instead I am going to embrace it and say that I rather like it.  How’s that for an old dog learning a new trick then, eh?

Sara Lowes – Night Times

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My friend Phil and Little Matthew who helps with Toad Recordy things (as well as being a smart arse in the comments section) both love Eluvium, so I find myself really rather looking forward to their new record.  This teaser track sounds extremely promising, too.  The album is called Similies, is out on about the 15th Feb or so, and can be pre-ordered here.

Eluvium – The Motion Makes Me Last

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The new Eels album, frankly, ain’t really doing it for me just yet.  It’s a touch Eels-lite, but there are some good moments.  Little Bird is the official teaser for the album, End Times, which is out on Monday I think.

Eels – Little Bird

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Sam Amidon has also released an mp3 from a new album called I See the Sign.  It’s out in March sometime, and when I put it on the last podcast I remarked that it sounded a lot more like the Doveman stuff he does with his friend Thomas Bartlett, and speculated that perhaps Thomas had a lot to do with the new record.  Apparently this isn’t really how Bedroom Community (his label) work, so I may well be wrong, but I’m going to see him play in London in a week or two and I’ll ask him then.  Until then, this is How Come That Blood – nothing like the Sam stuff we know and love, but still brilliant if you ask me.  I’m really looking forward to this album.

Sam Amidon – How Come That Blood

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So, feedback time.  Do you have a preference for how to deal with this kind of newsy shite in future?  Should I have a way of just slapping up brand new mp3s sent by PR people to make sure you get your news on time, or does waiting for the review but sticking new stuff in the podcast make more sense to you?