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

     As noted each month, on the fifteenth (the "Ides") of the month the Music Alliance Pact (MAP) makes a collection of songs available for free and legal download. MAP is a collective of 27 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 27 songs in the MAP collection.

         There are three options:

     1. You can merely listen to the 27 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 27 songs in a ZIP file at CLICK HERE.

         We look forward to each collection of tracks from MAP, because of the promise of discovery. With certain songs on our personal playlists of favored music, we can identify a single instance that brought awareness of the song. That is, if not for a specific blog, concert or television program, it’s possible that we would be unaware of the song. More than once, the awareness stems from the MAP monthly offerings. The December collection has some promise.

     The contribution from the England-based blogsite is “Green and Gold” by Lanterns on the Lake. We enjoy the song, but prefer other songs by this "gentle" U.K. quintet. So, we are embedding songs that are not offered in the MAP download. 

      “Green and Gold” by Lanterns on the Lake - This is the MAP offering.

         “Another Tale from Another English Town”   by Lanterns on the Lake - This is NOT a MAP offering.

         “Lungs Quicken”   by Lanterns on the Lake - This is NOT a MAP offering.

     From Finland, the contribution is “Ghosts” by the singer/songwriter Robin Pahlman. Add this to the large 2013 collection of quality songs related to the term “Ghost(s)” It is an acoustic version with some echoed vocals and a simple but interesting banjo work.

     “Ghosts” by Robin Pahlman

     Then, there are a number of songs that have potential, but we need to hear them a few more times. They are embedded below.
     Hella Comet – “Tinker Boat” by Hella Comet – from Austria

     “Necessidade” by Castello Branco

     “Laberinto” by Laura y La Máquina De Escribir