Freegal Offers Free Music

Prince 

Prince Rogers Nelson was famously prolific, and he left a huge archive of unreleased music after his death, which his estate has been releasing slowly but steadily. The newest release is Timeless, 10 unreleased tracks which include an alternate (and, in my opinion, superior) version of “Tick Tick Bang” from Graffiti Bridge. Also, since his entire catalog is here, it’s worth exploring lesser-known releases like The Rainbow Children or his debut album, For You, made when he was eighteen years old. 

The White Stripes 

I’ve been watching a lot of baseball, so I’ve heard people chanting “Seven Nation Army” so many times that it haunts me in my sleep. It remains, though, a much-beloved garage rock song, and you can hear it by streaming the album Elephant. Since you can download three songs a week with Freegal, you can even make that song your ringtone, if you feel so inclined. Plus, you can explore Jack White’s broad-ranging, experimental solo oeuvre, since it’s all included here. 

Herman’s Hermits 

Does anyone know about Herman’s Hermits? That isn’t a rhetorical question. I really don’t know if other people know about Herman’s Hermits. When I was growing up, I thought they were pop music. One of the cassettes that would play constantly in our minivan was a greatest hits compilation of theirs, which is included in Freegal under the title No Milk Today. Their songs are constructed so perfectly, like the best power-pop is; no notes could be added or removed to make it better (the average song length is ~2 minutes). You may have heard some of these songs (or covers of these songs) in passing; they were an important part of the mid-sixties British Invasion. But their tight performances in songs like “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” directly influenced The Ramones, who quoted it in “Judy is a Punk,” proving that they were worthy competition for their fellow British invaders like The Stones and Beatles. 

Yellow Magic Orchestra 

You probably haven’t heard of YMO but they were basically Japan’s version of Kraftwerk, early adopters of synthesizers in rock and pop music in the mid-seventies. Check out their jazz-fusion-like self-titled debut, or for some great pop tracks that massively influenced video game soundtracks, listen to Solid State Survivor, their magnum opus. I also really like Naughty Boys for tight, bright synth-pop or the experimental Technodelic. Plus, each of the trio’s members have some of their solo output here too; You may have heard Ryuichi Sakamoto’s beautiful soundtrack to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, a film which he starred in alongside David Bowie. Haruomi “Harry” Hosono’s solo work is great, with albums like Pacific and Paraiso show off his unique blend of soft rock, exotica and city pop, and the viral hit “Sports Men” from his sampler-pop album Philharmonic is yours, free, as well. 

You can access Freegal for free with your library card, under the Digital Library tab, choose Stream & Download. For more information, check out this blog, too.

Alex Pyryt is an IT Systems Support Specialist at the Administrative Branch of the Howard County Library System.