It’s the Ides of May – Music Alliance Pact (MAP)

     As noted in previous blog entries, on the fifteenth ("Ides")  of each month the Music Alliance Pact (MAP) makes a collection of songs available for free and legal download. MAP is a collective of 36 blogs (at least) in an equal number of countries.  Each blog chooses a song by an artist from its home country for the monthly post.  Approval from each artist is a requirement. This month, there are 36 songs in the MAP collection.

           There are three options:

1. You can merely listen to the 36 songs at one of the MAP authorized sites. For example, the Scottish participant is The Pop Cop, and the MAP page is accessed by CLICKING HERE.

2. You can selectively download the songs by going to one of the MAP authorized sites and using the "Save as" capability of your web browser.

3. You can download all 40 in a ZIP file at CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ZIP SITE.

     For the May collection, our recommendations are:

"Out of the Blue" by Prides (the contribution from Scotland). This is a band from Glasgow. While they have gained a large following in the U.K., they have received very little notice in the U.S. "Out of the Blue" includes a synthesizer that has the MGMT sound, but the Prides have their own signature.

     "Out of the Blue"

     "Kids" by MGMT - WARNING - this is not within the MAP offering, it is included only to compare the Prides' synthesizer to the MGMT sound at the 2:26 mark of "Kids."

"Behave (From Now On)" by Fijuka (the contribution from Austria). According to their Facebook page "fijuka are ankathie and Judith Filimonóva. This Austrian-German duo met in art school in Vienna and soon discovered, through a lot of hanging about in sinister dive bars together, their shared vision for pop music with a dark but humorous twist."

"Waiting" by Program (the contribution from Canada). This is a good song for fans of "a wall of sound."

"Kane" by FAUVE (the contribution from France). Our sense is that the song is a "grows-on-you" type track.

"Avahuasca" by Carousel Beach (the contribution from the United States). Currently, this song is not on Souncloud.

As a bonus (not on the MAP offering) here is a second song by Carousel Beach - "Phosphorescent Green."

"Alto" by Andreazulado (the contribution from Venezuela).