Downloads

Surfing the Web for new music, video and MP3 downloads can be a serious time investment. Picks from Times staff and contributors will help take the drag out of click-and-drag music choices. Some downloads may contain explicit lyrics. All are free, except as noted.

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-- CHRIS LEE

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“Thunder Road”

Tortoise & Bonnie “Prince” Billy

www.iTunes.com

In their deconstruction of Bruce Springsteen’s 1975 signature anthem of longing and highway liberation, Billy (an alias of indie crooner and Louisville native Will Oldham) and Chicago experimental noise specialists Tortoise invert the Boss’ adolescent brashness to articulate a haunted 3 a.m. take on foiled dreams. Cost: 99 cents.

“Long Walk to Freedom”

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

www.headsup.com/videos.html

Oral history never sounded so buttery. The Soweto eight-man choral group rocks it a cappella on the title track from its new LP. (The song is inexplicably billed as “Halala” on this website.) Recounting 1993’s Oslo negotiations that effectively ended apartheid, the group sings, “Congratulations, South Africa,” just as the video changes from images of tribal idyll to footage of Nelson Mandela, “you’ve reached democratic elections!”

“Hate”

Cat Power

www.napster.com

Although it might sound like a lyric culled from the Kurt Cobain songwriting academy -- “I hate myself and want to die” -- the artist also known as Chan Marshall brings a Southern Gothic solemnity to those murmured words. The glamorous melancholy is enhanced by her choice of accompaniment: lonely strumming on a lonely guitar. Cost: 99 cents.

“Not Rich, Still Tryin”

50 Cent

www.allhiphop.com

On this deliberately sensationalist DJ Kay Slay-produced mix-tape, the rapper with the monetary moniker offers his retort to the Game’s “Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin” -- a broadside swipe at 50 Cent. Mocking the Game’s gravel-tinged growl, 50 details his rival’s creative travails, family problems and managerial issues. Ultimately, however, 50 undercuts his own macho posturing -- is it just us or does 50 sound like a giggly little schoolgirl at the track’s close?