Each time Paste Magazine arrives in my mailbox I go directly to the free compilation disc inside. This is so much better than the toys I used to find inside cereal boxes.
The current release, Paste Magazine Sampler 31, features 21 tracks by bands I know–The Hold Steady, The Avett Brothers, Dinosaur Jr., The Greyboy Allstars and Mary Chapin Carpenter–and even more from bands I don’t. It’s the artists that I don’t know well, and in many cases have never even heard about, that provide the real value. It’s hard to put a price tag on discovery.
For me, Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts is a particularly nice find on Sampler 31. The band has a new album out as of Tuesday. Let’s Just Be, not yet stocked at Amazon, is now playing on my desktop thanks to iTunes. And it’s one of the better new albums I’ve heard this year.