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Daytrotter not the average music site

Exclusive one-of-a-kind tracks offered daily, for free
November 26, 2009
By Maddie Leznoff

If you’re looking for your daily indie music fix, look no further than daytrotter.com.

Daytrotter offers “one band a day, every day, 28 Daytrotter session songs each week.” Bands of the folk and indie genres, ranging from Bon Iver to Death Cab for Cutie, make pit stops at the Daytrotter recording studio in Rock Island, Illinois to record raw acoustic, minimally edited tracks for the website.

The recordings — stripped down and sometimes flawed — are covers or versions of a band’s  own songs.

The best part about Daytrotter? The songs are all free and easy to download.

Many of the recordings have an intimate feel and are almost better than their perfected CD versions. As stated on the Daytrotter website, “these songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour — dirty and alive.”

The recordings are accompanied by cartoon images of the band, as well as an in-depth article written by Sean Moeller, the creator of Daytrotter.

The aesthetics of the website are a huge factor in its appeal. Bright cartoon sketches, cursive font and a simple layout gives Daytrotter a light-hearted and whimsical feel.

Overall, the website is simple to navigate and enjoyable to browse. The homepage is conveniently divided into sections — it’s easy to find recent sessions, newly uploaded sessions from that day and a list of the most popular sessions, which at the moment includes Deerhunter, Andrew Bird and Of Montreal.

It also offers CD reviews, live concert videos, concert listings, a daily comic and an archive of all bands that have stopped by to record a session, organized either alphabetically or chronologically.

Exceptional tracks include Bon Iver’s subdued version of “Flume,” Gary Jules’ “Wichita” from a recent session and Fleet Foxes’ a cappella harmonies on “White Winter Hymnal.” They can be played directly off the website, or downloaded free of charge.

Daytrotter is a great website for discovering new artists or finding rare tracks from old favourites. Either way, the website is an indie music cyber-heaven that will undoubtedly be responsible for an expanding music library.

Check out the website www.daytrotter.com or receive up to the minute news on artists passing through the Daytrotter studios by following Sean Moeller at www.twitter.com/DayTrotter.

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