Google Music Beta has a blog: Magnifier

Just came across this: Google Music Beta, a service i'm using all the time now, has a blog with free songs, called Magnifier. If you have Google Music (it's still invite-only, though I think anyone who applies will likely get an invite a couple weeks later). Every day, Magnifier will offer free songs from featured artists.

If you haven't heard My Morning Jacket's new one, head over now and get "Holdin' on to Black Metal" and  "The Day is Coming (live)" right now.

Mister Heavenly finds the strange crossroads of doo wop and indie rock

Kattner, Thorburn and Plummer are Mister Heavenly.

The idea behind Mister Heavenly's Out of Love sounds both preposterous and pompous. The trio -- a veritable indie rock "super group" composed of Man Man's Ryan Kattner,  Island's Nick Thorburn and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer -- has called the effort "doom wop," a dark indie rock record inspired by vocal doo wop bands of the '50s. Sounds nuts, doesn't it?

After my initial reaction -- "holy crap this is weird" -- I found the songs on Out of Love to be much more than intellectual exercises or sound experiments but actual, enjoyable songs. True to the concept, a lot of the music has some of the indie rock weirdness you'd expect from a band like Modest Mouse or Man Man, but then, after a good verse of thumping, guitar rock, the band will veer into a Phil Spector-style chorus full of background harmonies and swelling, wall-of-sound-sized key accompaniments.

The real crazy thing is it works.