Recent Posts from Fingertips

Fingertips — If you've come to find the Fingertips blog, it no longer exists here on Blogger. You will be automatically redirected to the new site within about five seconds. If you can't wait, the link is http://www.fingertipsmusic.com.See you there... read more »

Fingertips — Anyone currently linking to Fingertips using this Blogger URL is encouraged to change the link to http://www.fingertipsmusic.com. This Blogger site is no longer being updated. read more »

Fingertips — This week's MP3s will be posted tomorrow. Just wanted to remind everyone that Fingertips is now one site rather than two; the new site, now live at http://www.fingertipsmusic.com, incorporates the blog and the RSS feed.Please change your feed URL ... read more »

Fingertips — The new MP3s this week are from Sarah Harmer, Light Pollution, and Sarah Jaffe. But you won't be able to read about them here, alas.Because the time has come to relieve Fingertips of its split personality and deliver one site where there used to b... read more »

Fingertips — "The Way to Canaan" - The King Left     Okay so noise is one thing. When you come right down to it, it's easy to make noise. Never understood what the fuss was about from the rock'n'roll primitivists who glorify sheer volume. I mean, okay--turn th... read more »

Fingertips — "All I Want" - Sarah Blasko     Nothing says "cinematic" better than a Morricone-inspired whistling introduction, but I like how down-to-earth and personal everything still manages to sound here. Often this kind of spaghetti western-ish styling op... read more »

Fingertips — "The Kiss" - Pallers     This graceful electronic dance-ballad unfolds with a New Order-like majesty, but minus the melodrama. Despite the quickly established synth-driven pulse, a gentle dreaminess prevails during the song's careful build-up. The... read more »

Fingertips — "Zebra" - Beach House     The appealing sense of gliding momentum that propels "Zebra"? It's due entirely to a rhythm based on three beats rather than four, but one which has nothing to do with either the waltzing rhythm yielded by a 3/4 beat or t... read more »

Fingertips — "The Mermaid Parade" - Phosphorescent     At once laid-back and expansive, "The Mermaid Parade" brings a slow-burning quality to its sauntering vibe. Singing this affecting if slightly mystical (or maybe just surreal) tale of love gone wrong, fron... read more »

Fingertips — "Becoming a Jackal" - Villagers     "Becoming a Jackal" is not necessarily an immediate smash hit; it insinuates rather than sweeps away. Never is it uninteresting, however, and I mean that quite literally, in a moment to moment way. Great hooks a... read more »

Fingertips — Some music free, certainly; all music free, noSteadily, over the course of the last 10 years, the idea that recorded music "has" to be free has been transformed from a radical stance taken by those adept enough to navigate the geeky interfaces of ... read more »

Fingertips — "Rio" - Hey Marseilles     Funny, if you think about it: the 21st-century to date has arguably contributed two abiding types of music to the rock'n'roll idiom, and they're kind of the exact opposites of each other. One is the music played by a two... read more »

Fingertips — "Afraid of Everyone" - The National     "Afraid of Everyone" starts spooky, slowly and surreptitiously picks up a pulse, then a driving beat, but even as it does remains tight and restrained. This juxtaposition of brisk and deliberate adds layers ... read more »

Fingertips — "Let the Record Go" - the Mynabirds     I cannot resist a repeat visit to the Mynabirds album, with this second free and legal MP3 now available (and also given what a great little set of music this comprises with the previous two selections). I j... read more »

Fingertips — As I'm working on this week's regular song reviews, I wanted to pop in and let you know there's a new Fingertips Commentary posted on the main site, entitled: "The Free Music Mirage." Subtitled: "Putting an end to a persistent illusion." Sub-subti... read more »

Fingertips — This month, the Fingertips Q&A--featuring, as always, five questions about the future of music in the digital age--talks to Greta Morgan, front woman for the Chicago-based band Gold Motel. The band's song "Don't Send the Searchlights" was fea... read more »

Fingertips — "The Best Things In Life" - The Silver Seas     Effortlessly enjoyable pop with a faux '70s-soul sheen. And I mean the faux part in a good way--after all, it's not the '70s anymore (by a long shot). It's far more fun to hear a group of 21st-centur... read more »

Fingertips — "Army Dreamers" - Patrick Wolf     I can count on one hand the number of cover songs I've posted here on Fingertips over the years; I'm not at all against them in theory, but I don't usually feel compelled to talk about them. It's more of a "Oh, t... read more »

Fingertips — "It Will Never Slip" - Marching Band     Marching Band is a duo. If you were Sherlock Holmes, that should tell you everything you need to know about this song, which engages and delights largely via a subtle, playful contradiction between the big ... read more »

Fingertips — "Blood" - The Middle East     Over a stately acoustic guitar noodle that wouldn't sound out of place on a mid-career Genesis album, "Blood" unfolds slowly yet engages the ear instantly. (That's an advanced maneuver in the rock'n'roll style book, b... read more »