Friday Freebie: New Aura, Ed Balloon, and Damon & Naomi

We're back with Friday Freebie, a collection of free music downloads we've recently discovered. We have four truly great groups of offerings for you, and I think you'll all agree and love them all. As always, if you do download these releases for free, be sure to at least track them down on social media and give them a follow.

New Aura - New Aura
Hailing from Boston, New Aura have recently released their debut self-titled EP. We noticed them since they share at least one member of another of our Boston favorites, The Magic Shoppe. While they share a psychedelic sound with The Magic Shoppe, they have a self-described sound that is a throwback to "... the old 'Bosstown' sounds that dominated the city's radio waves in the late 60's and 70's." What's great about them is they're psychedelic without being weighed down by the hippie label, and they're not part of the hard rock leaning psychedelic sound you hear a lot of in modern music. It's a truly unique vibe that they seem to have mastered in their first EP. You can get New Aura for free on the band's Bandcamp.

Ed Balloon - Flourish
For someone who spent the majority of his junior high and early high school listening to (and obsessed with) top 40 and R&B, I listen to virtually none of it nowadays. Anything that could be considered R&B now sounds exactly as it did back in the late 90's. Even when I hear about someone who is considered "dark" or "edgy," I just hear Britney Spears when I try to listen to it. Ed Balloon breaks all of that. The Boston up and coming alt-R&B artist, has this incredibly original sound that merges the edge of 90's alternative rock with a modern nearly top 40, if top 40 had the minimalism of post punk. It's not ballads and it's not dance music. It's not smooth and pretty, but it's not completely discordant. This is 100% worth your time, even if you think it might not be for you. You can get Flourish for free on Ed Balloon's Bandcamp.

Damon & Naomi - Complete discography (?)
Part of my feels like I should give this one it's own post, but I wanted to get this one out there ASAP. Damon & Naomi are Boston music scene legends, ever since forming Galaxie 500 over 30 years ago. If you're like me and have been a Galaxie 500 fan for years but weren't quite sure where to start since they've been making music since 1991 and have at least ten official releases, Bandcamp might be the place to start. I somehow stumbled on theirs recently, where they have thirteen releases available for free. Some are live albums (Everything Quieter Than Everything Else (Live in Japan), Song to the Siren (Live in San Sebastian) and a B-sides collection (Spirit of Love), but you also get releases like More Sad Hits and The Earth is Blue. Like I said, I'm pretty sure this is everything they've ever released, all on their Bandcamp for free.