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.

“Cali Iz Active”

Tha Dogg Pound

www.youtube.com/watchvp_iLapTq8Fwsearchdogg20pound

Shot like a home movie, a barbecue in Elysian Park becomes a West Coast hip-hop convention with cameos by Ice Cube, Tyrese Gibson, Too $hort, Xzibit, Warren G, Yo-Yo and Dilated Peoples, among others. The video and track not only mark the reunion of Kurupt and Daz with Snoop, but makes a call for unity among West Coast rappers and acknowledges the rich history of the genre. Most entertaining is Snoop’s Cadillac DeVille, which defies the laws of physics ... and right on beat!

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“Woman (Avalanches Millstream Remix)”

Wolfmother

www.fluxblog.org/2006/05/like-ive-got-to-set-you-free.html

There is something wonderfully mischievous about taking a deconstructionist approach to a young band whose sound depends entirely on late-’60s and early-’70s hard-rock bands. Wolfmother apes, to the very last squeal, some of the most pedestrian bands of that era. Of questionable value the first time around; stage-stomping kitsch the second. Andrew Stockdale may be channeling Ozzy, but as if backed by ... yeeesh ... Spooky Tooth, Deep Purple, Nazareth! So, it is with a sense of prankster’s glee that this remix comes to us, a hodgepodge of shifting keys, stops and starts, beat-up acoustics, hemorrhaging Marshall stacks and tons of fun. We await the slicing and dicing of “Spinal Tap”!

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“Hooked On Your Love”

Lynn White

redkelly.blogspot.com

From the compressed gut-bucket Stratocaster to the horns that scream “Memphis” to the gospel piano pounding on those octaves to Lynn White’s understated and soulful vocal, this all sounds as if it could have been released in 1965. It was released as a B-side (to “He’ll Leave You for Her”) in 1987 and just drips church choirs, chitlins and ribs. Produced by Willie Mitchell in his Royal Studio, a definitive Memphis sound is crafted around White, whose career never took off beyond regional success.

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“Silent Shout”

The Knife

media2.7digital.com/motion/The_Knife_Silent_Shout_Med.mov

The Knife is a duo -- Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson -- from Sweden, and this haunting video is directed by Andreas Nilsson. Neon patterns pulsate to what initially seems like a standard electronica dance track. Eventually, a character emerges -- part alien, part Elephant Man, part 13th century Benedictine -- mouthing vocals recorded with a good old-fashioned Vocoder and in close harmonies. The lyrics are difficult to make out, thanks to the Vocoder. The band says that the video is inspired by the experimental animation work of Oscar Fischinger and Charles Burns’ graphic novel, “Black Hole.”

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“Africa Challenge”

Toumani Diabate and the Symmetric Orchestra

www.mattgy.net/music

This track is from the most recent album of the Symmetric Orchestra, an aggregation assembled from West African musicians of different nationalities. It’s an uplifting slice of Senegalese pop with hints of Cuban salsa poking through, but really comes to life when kora-master Toumani Diabate starts to play his heavenly and funky patterns. This website is one of the best for finding all varieties of African music. Matt Yanchyshyn, the blogger and chief proprietor, knows his stuff.