Free Manchester Music : February

White rabbits! The first of the month naturally brings about another chapter in the calendar, another sizable amount of cash disappearing from your account and, of course, another host of free music.

We’ve come across a heap of stuff from local bands this month, so it’s all about them. Let’s roll!

The ridiculously young and hype-fueled Egyptian Hip Hop are celebrating the release of their new single this week with a launch gig on Friday at the Deaf Institute. Named number 4th on NME’s ‘Ones To Watch : 2010′ list, you can get your hands on the first track that we heard way back in the early months of last year, ‘Radd Pitt’. http://www.dummymag.com/file_download/58

With my favourite new band name of last year, Deaf To Van Gogh’s Ear have firmly established their sound and head into February with a few local gigs lined up (21st @ Joshua Brooks and 23rd supporting Xiu Xiu at Islington Mill in Salford). You can grab a few freebies from the art-pop quartet before going to see them live, yeah? http://www.deaftovangoghsear.co.uk/

May68 are right up there with the Egyptian Hip Hop boys with regards to being the next buzz band from our concrete jungle. Having already made lasting impressions down in the capital and being one of the highlights of last year’s In The City, May68 sound like Karen O fronting The Gossip, with a touch of European glitz. Sign up to their mailing list for a free track. http://www.myspace.com/may68uk

Lightning-fast punks Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man are still getting great reviews from the underground and alternative press for their Partridge-inspired full-length ‘Make Pigs Smoke’. Those of you on Last.fm can download a free mp3 from the album here – http://www.last.fm/music/Revenge+of+the+Psychotronic+Man/Make+Pigs+Smoke/Needles+to+Say. And if you’re not on Last.fm, why the hell not?!

While we’re on that genius site, here’s a few more for your ears.

• Their single now delayed until March 2nd, With That Knife have allowed their interpretation of Riff Raff’s ‘U-Shaped House’ to be nabbed for nowt. http://www.last.fm/music/With+That+Knife/_/You+Shaped+House
• Dark electro-popsters Tidy Hooker have altered their sound over the past year, with the addition of a female vocalist in the summer a quite notable twist. Ahead of the release of their next EP in March, here’s a sampler to whet your appetite. http://www.last.fm/music/Tidy+Hooker/_/Because+She+Said+So
• Slowly biding their time in an almost ominous fashion, Lost Knives will be found by music lovers worldwide in due course. Their atmospheric indie-rock is genuinely exciting and fresh, and they’ve got something secretive planned for February 17th (my birthday – huzzah!). I’ll try and dig to find out just what that is, but in the meantime, you sit back and enjoy the 3 gifts available here. http://www.last.fm/music/Lost+Knives

We’ll conclude with two free full albums of wide variety. Firstly, a tongue-in-cheek rap LP from MC Rohpypnol. Witty like Bloodhound Gang used to be, and with the give-a-shit attitude of the mic champs of today. Funny lyrics, offensive rhymes and a fast-paced 15 tracks. Lighten up, listen and laugh. http://rs701.rapidshare.com/files/331299662/Hide_Your_Fire.zip

And lastly, Americana-esque folk-punk from The 255s. Comfortably fitting somewhere between Weezer, The Weakerthans and The Hold Steady, we really like this numbers band. Like ‘less than 3′ like. http://www.roidh.co.uk/mp3/broadcasting2009.zip

Right, that’s yer lot. Get out and enjoy that February sunshine. No, seriously, it was there earlier…