Pitchfork first created an MP3 page back in the autumn of 2001. But until a couple weeks ago when they rebranded it as Forkast, the mp3 page was strictly an ad revenue channel, just like the free CD that comes with Magnet magazine. Bands and labels paid Pitchfork to post their mp3s. The small print at the bottom of the page disclaimed: “Paid promotion. No critical endorsement of these songs by Pitchfork should be assumed.”
Who knows how bands and labels get their mp3s posted on the new Forkast, but so far they’ve given out some pretty interesting tracks. We’ll try to give a regular round-up of the best stuff that isn’t available elsewhere, or at least the stuff we think you ought to hear.
• Bright Eyes: “Tourist Trap” from the Four Winds EP, due March 6 on Saddle Creek.
• Charlie Louvin [ft. Jeff Tweedy]: “The Great Atomic Power” from Charlie Louvin, due Feb 20 on Tompkins Square.
• Andrew Bird: “Heretics” from Armchair Apocrypha, due March 20 on Fat Possum.
i just discovered this the other day too, but i thought it had been around forever and it was just my sporadic ‘fork viewing that made it new to me. the patrick wolf and los campesinos tracks are worth sampling too.
So is the Air France track “Beach Party.”
By the way, that new Andrew Bird album rocks the shit.