You know what I love best about the music industry, post-Radiohead’s crazy In Rainbows stunt? The surprise album release. It only makes sense that it would take off, given the rampant, months-early album leaks that plague traditional releases, and as a fan, there’s nothing quite as thrilling as flicking on your computer and reading that your favorite band is dropping a record in two days.

That said, Bloc Party’s fans must have shat a proverbial brick this week when the band announced via web chat that they’ll release their new record, Intimacy, for download tomorrow (August 21st). $10 will get you high-quality digital files delivered tomorrow, and $20 will get you tomorrow’s digital copy, plus a physical disc on October 28th.

If you’re interested in a sneak peek (er, listen), head over to NME to hear the single, “Trojan Horse,” in full.

-Melanie Donnelly

Bloc Party

NME recently named Girl Talk, AKA Greg Gillis, as one of the most exciting bands in America, and the “nerd by day, mash-up king by night” recently dropped his new record, Feed The Animals, at a pay-what-you-wish rate. The album is available for download at Illegal Art, and here are the details:

any price grants the download of the entire album as high-quality 320kbps mp3s
$5 or more adds the options of FLAC files, plus a one-file seamless mix of the album
$10 or more includes all of the above + a packaged CD (when it becomes available)

Word as to when the physical CD is due vary; most reports say late September or early October.

-Melanie Donnelly