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.

*

-- CASEY DOLAN

*

“Charlie Parker”

Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young and others

www.dailymotion.com/alternativa/video/53031

There is not much of Charlie “Bird” Parker extant on film. Indeed, the only known screen appearance had been Bird and Dizzy Gillespie from a televised 1953 Downbeat Awards ceremony. So get ready for this recently discovered segment made for Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic Troupe in 1950. It may not be from the Three Deuces or Birdland, it may even be mimed -- or just poorly synchronized -- to the audio track in places (watch drummer Buddy Rich), but it is still an important document. Bird hardly moves during his solos, offering shimmering cascades of notes. The respect Bird had for Hawkins is evident. The ensemble is rounded out by pianist Hank Jones and bassist Ray Brown. The two numbers they play on are generally known as “Ballarde” and “Celebrity.”

“Silence”

Gomez

www.rhapsody.com/gomez/videos/silence

This basher from Gomez is a testament to the glory of the electric guitar. The clip has the group playing in a Pepperland environment, veering somewhere between a late-’60s psychedelic TV special and a cartoon landscape where palm trees turn into whirligigs. The lyrics are somewhat grim, though tongue-in-cheek -- “Please leave me to die of boredom / Everyone ‘round here lives in silence” -- but the overall tone is celebratory, befitting this year’s centennial of the birth of Dr. Albert Hofmann, the man who invented LSD.

“Postcards From Italy”

Beirut

www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/archives/000566.shtml

This group’s 19-year-old singer, Zach Condon, has a sleepy, plaintive voice, but the inventive accompaniment keeps the propulsion going, from the sparse ukulele at the top through the almost-New Orleans stagger beat to the triple-trumpet mariachi touch. Music bloggers are picking up on the just-released album, “Gulag Orkestar,” and other tracks reveal an equally eclectic mix of Middle Eastern melismas and northern English silver brass bands.

“LDN”

Lily Allen

www.stereogum.com/archives/002560.html

Allen indefatigably bicycles around London, almost getting rear-ended by one of those newfangled buses in the process. Aficionados of the merry city will recognize the view south from the top of Hampstead Heath, a visit to Buckingham Palace and the obligatory Tube ride. The music is a cheerful mix of moony-faced rap with a sing-songy chorus and a horn section mixed low in the track.