Wednesday, August 27, 2008

We7 – a new kind of music site

Speaking of Peter Gabriel, he’s a key investor in a new music-delivery service called We7. It offers high-quality MP3s for free... with a catch: the free tracks include a 10-second advertisement at the head.

Interesting concept. I decided to get in on the beta testing of We7.

I registered at the site, providing a minimum of personal information, and then commenced to shopping.

Right away, I spotted the 2007 Chuck Brown album “We’re About the Business.” (D.C. represent!) What better way to begin my test drive?

I downloaded a track called “Funky Get Down.” To my surprise, the track did not start with a 10-second ad. Just a little “We7” sonic signature. Heck, I can put up with that. (I was expecting to have to use my GarageBand software to slice off the commercial.)

Click here and hear the whole track on my Vox blog. Sounds good to me.

Next, I went for a little jazz: Cecil McBee’s 1997 album “Unspoken.”

I downloaded the track “Sleeping Giant.” Again, no commercial... just that whispery “We7.” Click here to check it out.

We7’s database of available music isn’t huge. But I’m bound to find more stuff I like.

UPDATE (08/28/08): Found another goodie: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown’s “Deep Deep Water” – 10 minutes of thick-rooted blues, recorded in the early ’70s. Free and legal... with only that little “We7” tag at the front. I’ll take it.

Click here to spin “Deep Deep Water” on my Vox blog.

And also a 1973 Manu Dibango cut called “The Panther.” Click here to listen.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

...Wind me up Chuck,

...the South East crew's in the house tonight ya'll!

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Great stuff!

Anonymous said...

...Gatemouth, a great guitar and fiddle player. Used to pluck a big Firebird with his index finger and thumb - wild. Some of his faster riffs had a swing feel to them.

Peace

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I'm playing catch-up. Filling some gaps in my knowledge base.

Thanks for the feedback.

Anonymous said...

WE7 is quite great, but the problem is that there are only independent artists. I quite prefer http://www.deezer.com/en where you can find both independent artists AND chartbusters! Don't you like Deezer??