Music downloads
The Ill Crate is now offering Weed® files for your downloading and listening pleasure. Most popular software that supports Window Media files can play these (read more).
TIP: You’ll probably want to download and save these before playing them. Use your browser’s “Save link as…” or “Save target as…” command. If you’re using a graphical browser in Windows, click on links with the right-hand mouse button.
Her Majesty’s Finest
LG calls them the latest thunder from down under. Catchy, hook-y, energetic rock reminiscent of the Hives. All of these songs are from the Sgt Speedway EP.
- Let Me Breath [sic] (3.3 MB, 3:32)
- Hyperbolic Stereo (2.6 MB, 2:47)
The Gordon Experiment
Little is known about this band, other than the fact that they will remind you of practically every power-pop band you ever heard in the late ’80s/early ’90s. You decide whether that’s a good or bad thing. LG thinks it’s a good thing, at least in this case.
- Spirit of Science (4.5 MB, 3:55)
The Reverse Engineers
“Are They the Next Rush? (Well, no one’s that good.)” Couldn’t be said much better than that, quoting TRE’s own Google ad. They’re about as close as a band can get to a Rush tribute without actually playing any Rush songs or singing like Geddy Lee. At the same time, as their name suggests, they’re very geeky, especially in “Max Q,” their rock-operetta homage to the Space Shuttle.
- Max Q (11.2 MB, 8:06)
WTF is Weed?
Weed enables you, the fans, to download full-length, high-quality audio tracks that you can play for free (up to three times), then decide whether to buy them. If you do buy them, you’ll be directly supporting not just the artists but us here at the Ill Crate as well. Best of all, you can take the music, share it–put it on your Web site, e-mail it to friends, throw it on a P2P network, whatever–and get your own cut of the sales from doing that.
Do you need special software for Weed files? Well, yes and no. Currently they are in Windows Media format, which of course is Windows-centric. But if you are running Windows, you may find that you already have the software necessary to play the files. Supported software that we know of:
- Windows Media Player (version 7.1 or newer)
- RealPlayer
- WinAmp (version 5.08 or newer)
- MusicMatch
If you have a Macintosh, the Weed people promise (as of June 2005) that Mac support is coming Any Day Now. Sadly, we know of no other platforms that Weed plans to support.
Be wary of sites that claim that you can get $5 for free just for singing up for the Weed service. As Weed’s signup page states, “we’ll start you off with a $5 credit when you buy your first Weed file” (emphasis ours). But you will get the credit pretty quickly after your first purchase; LG can vouch for that.