MPFree: Jihae, Tricky, Teddy Thompson, Wild Sweet Orange, Jason Tyler

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Christopher Porter's inbox is inundated with MP3s, and the sheer amount can be overwhelming — and disheartening, at least when you listen to a half-dozen terrible songs in a row. But Porter held his nose and opened his ears and picked five recent (and legal) MP3s for your downloading pleasure. PC users: right click on the song title and "save as" to download; Mac folks: click and hold on the song title, then "save as."

BAND: Jihae
SONG/ALBUM: "Simple Man" | "Afterthought" EP
SOUNDS LIKE: Aimee Mann backed by downtempo electronica rather than geeetars.
D.C. BOUND: Doesn't look like it ... but then, I've been too busy staring at her photo to really check. (That sounds much creepier than I actually mean it. HEY NOW!)
GET MORE: Web site | MySpace | Facebook

BAND: Tricky
SONG/ALBUM: "Council Estate" (Drums of Death Remix) | "Knowle West Boy"
SOUNDS LIKE: A grime-jungle version of the original, which you can hear (and read about) here.
D.C. BOUND: Album doesn't come out until Sept. 9 in the U.S., so no tour's been announced yet. Anybody remember his 9:30 Club show from about 10 years ago when Tricky wouldn't stop playing and the venue eventually flipped on the house lights and cut his power? Good times.
GET MORE: MySpace | Label | Preview the whole album

BAND: Teddy Thompson
SONG/ALBUM: "In My Arms" | "A Piece of What You Need"
SOUNDS LIKE: His father and mother's son — English folk-rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson — mixed with pristine power-pop (Badfinger, Matthew Sweet, The Raspberries, Nick Lowe).
D.C. BOUND: People tell me Charlottesville, Va., is pretty much in Mexico, so no — but T.T. will be there on Aug. 20 at the Gravity Lounge.
GET MORE: Web site | MySpace | Wiki

BAND: Wild Sweet Orange
SONG/ALBUM: "Ten Dead Dogs" | "We Have Cause to Be Uneasy"
SOUNDS LIKE: An Americana version of Radiohead circa "The Bends."
D.C. BOUND: Sept. 8, Fletchers, Baltimore
GET MORE: Web site | MySpace | Label

BAND: Jason Tyler
SONG/ALBUM: "Run Around" featuring Sam I Am | "Modus Operandi"
SOUNDS LIKE: Chicago hip-house gone grimy electro-jungle. Damn, that's a lot of subgenres, but you feel me, right?
D.C. BOUND: Album comes out Sept. 19, so maybe after that. ... Ha ha, right.
GET MORE: Web site | MySpace | Label

Photo credits: Jihae and Teddy Thompson courtesy Sneak Attack Media; Wild Sweet Orange by David McClister; Tricky courtesy Domino Recording Company; Jason Tyler courtesy Press Play PR