Video Spotlight: Melissa Pierre-Louis - "Earthquake Song" (for Haiti)

This post will be a little different than my normal posts, in that there is currently no freely downloadable version of the song that it focuses on, but I think it's understandable given the circumstances.  I'm certain that you are aware of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti last week, and also of the numerous relief efforts that are currently underway.  Haitian-American artist Melissa Pierre-Louis has rewritten the words to "Touch Someone", an original Christmas song that she released last month (and which I actually posted about on my Free Christmas Music blog - please see that post if you would like to download that version of the song).  The new version, called "Earthquake Song", can be viewed on the Operation Touch YouTube channel.  It is hoped that this song and video will help people to reach out to the people of Haiti.  I am sure that anything you can do, whether it be making a donation or just sharing this video with others to help increase their awareness of the situation, would be greatly appreciated by those who need it.  Please do whatever you can to help!

Song Spotlight: Paul McCartney - "Let Me Roll It" (plus a video for "Highway")

Paul McCartney is giving away a pair of free songs from his upcoming live CD/DVD set, Good Evening from New York City.  "Let Me Roll It" is a high quality (320 kbps) MP3, and "Highway" is a .m4v video file.  I've never posted about a free video giveaway here before, but if Music Musings can do it, then so can I!  In this case, though, the audio and video files actually come in a single zip file, so there's really no way to get one without the other.

 

I must say, it's very cool to see more and more artists embracing the idea of giving away a track or two in order to promote releases.  A release like this would normally go pretty much unnoticed by me, as despite being a pretty big Beatles fan, I am not very familiar with the post-Beatles output of any of the members.  But I find free music awfully hard to resist, and now Sir Paul has a potential sale while I browse the album's site and wait for my download to complete.  Even if I don't end up buying the album, at least Paul McCartney's music has made it onto my computer, and who knows, maybe I will end up checking out some more of his music as a result of this.

 

I don't think I have ever knowingly heard "Let Me Roll It" before, but it has quite a familiar sound to it, so it's likely that I have heard it at some point and just didn't take note of it; in any case, it's a very cool song with a great bluesy feel.  "Highway" sounds less familiar, but my 2-year-old son and I really enjoyed watching the video together - it's a very upbeat and catchy song.

 

The 39.4 MB zip file is available from the Good Evening from New York City website in a little widget near the bottom of the page that says GET A FREE VIDEO + MP3.  An email address is required; the download link will be sent to the address you entered.  Happy listening!

 

URL:

http://www.paulmccartney.com/goodeveningnewyorkcity/