In the meantime, here’s a really stunning song, one of the most affecting, gutsy pieces of music I’ve heard in an age — and, I’m pleased to say, a Salon Exclusive Free Download (thanks to Secretly Canadian Records).

“Hope There’s Someone,” Antony and the Johnsons, from “I Am a Bird Now”
“Hope There’s Someone” completely flipped my perspective on Antony, New York chamber-pop cabaret performer and budding gay icon. I’ve known his music for a while now, and always appreciated the songwriting, but I’ve been unable to get past the gratuitous vibrato in his voice, his sticky, overflowing, campy shtick. Then I heard this song, and all my reservations were overwhelmed by the power of it. This is the work of a profound and fully formed performer, and what I had heard as lazy eccentricity I now hear as part of a perfectly realized, sometimes uncomfortably intimate artistic vision. He sings like Bryan Ferry with the warble taken past affectation to the level of confrontational, punk defiance; he sings like Little Jimmy Scott, the most angelic of vocalists; he sings, most daringly, like Mahalia Jackson, with a rich gospel contralto that should be laughable, but hits you in the gut with pain, not laughter.

Antony has loaded his upcoming record, “I Am a Bird Now,” with big-name cameos, including appearances by Lou Reed, Boy George and fellow warbler Devendra Banhart. But with the exception of the lovely “What Can I Do?” sung by Rufus Wainwright, the guest spots barely register: The stars aren’t here to add anything musically; they’re here to, by dint of their fame, help leverage Antony into the stardom he deserves. Here’s hoping it works.
Salon Exclusive Free Download: “Hope There’s Someone”

I can’t find much information about Tori Alamaze, except that she used to be a makeup artist. Her strange, sad and astonishingly good debut single, “Don’t Cha,” was produced by the consistently brilliant Cee-lo.

“Hills/Mulqueen’s,” Nightingale, from “Three”
Nightingale are a trio from Vermont who play a smooth, stealthily modernized kind of folk music, borrowing ideas and repertoire from Ireland, Quebec, New England, France and more, and weaving them seamlessly and cleverly together with an extraordinary blend of poise and passion. This song, the words of 1940s Vermont poet laureate Arthur Guiterman set to music by Pete Sutherland, is the opening track of Nightingale’s third and latest record, “Three.” The arrangement is simple, economical and delicately executed, with violin and accordion winding sinuously, seductively around Keith Murphy’s lonely tenor. Salon Exclusive Free Download: “Hills/Mulqueen’s”

“Dream Awake,” The Frames, from “Burn the Maps”
I first experienced the Frames live last month, and left intrigued and impressed but far from wowed. Since then, their upcoming “Burn the Maps” has steadily insinuated itself into my consciousness. The Irish band plays overtly dramatic, emotionally over-the-top music that often seems to be reaching for the grandeur and sweep of U2. But frontman Glen Hansard doesn’t have a Bono superman voice, he has the voice of a normal person and knows it, and he keeps the music on a very human, intimate scale. The band’s new record’s opening track, “Happy,” might be my favorite song of this young year (and I’ll be reminding you to download it as soon as it’s made available on iTunes), but “Dream Awake,” which moves from whisper to wail and back to whisper again, will work just fine as an introduction to the Frames. Free Download: “Dream Awake”

“Cudna Zena,” Kocani Orkestar, from “Alone at My Wedding”
The chaotic music made by Macedonian brass band Kocani Orkestar and other similar Gypsy Balkan brass bands, largely exposed to the world through the astonishing films of Emir Kusturica, is, for me, some of the most viscerally emotional in the world — from frantic, crazed, drunken elation to tearful, almost inexpressibly deep (drunken) sadness. I’ve found three tracks of theirs for download, through the excellent Belgian label Crammed. “Usti Usti Baba” (free download) and “Mi Bori Sar Korani” (free download) include vocals. I prefer the unadulterated brass experience of “Cudna Zena.” Free Download: “Cudna Zena”

“Home,” Six Organs of Admittance, from “School of the Flower”
Six Organs of Admittance are a California band led by repetition-obsessed John Fahey acolyte Ben Chasny. Their droning, neopsychedelic raga-rock, with lots of sincere strumming and eyes-closed improv, is entrancing if you’re in the mood, snoozy if you’re not. This track is made by the painfully expressive, beautifully degraded, disintegrating electric guitar sound. Free Download: “Home”

“Figaro (Stones Throw 101 Remix),” Madvillain, from “Stones Throw 101 Mix CD”
This is a brilliant remix of one of the best tracks on “Madvillain,” 2004′s best hip-hop record. An odd-meter African (Malian?) sample is tweaked just enough to fit in with a super-square beat, but not so much that the interplay among sample, beat and MF Doom’s wayward drift isn’t fascinating. Free Download: “Figaro (Stones Throw 101 Remix)”

The resounding, unavoidable answer: A whole lot of people. And they care for a whole lot of different reasons. There are the disillusioned fans who feel betrayed and the more loyal fans who rush to the defense of their beleaguered idols. (“Everybody lip-syncs!”) There are the people who heap scorn on those same fans for having been “duped” by these “frauds,” and suggest that the hapless tweens seek out some “real” music (usually Wilco). And there are the people, thousands upon thousands of them, who eagerly watch the embarrassing clips and soak up the delicious schadenfreude of it all.

All of those responses are, to varying degrees, silly, but none of them is as hard to take as the combination of self-righteousness, condescension and misplaced activist zeal displayed by those who feel that just laughing and moving on aren’t good enough. Take H.O.P.E. (Horrified Observers of Pedestrian Entertainment), which has gone so far as to set up an Ashlee Simpson CD Exchange, “offering the good people of America who have been duped into buying Ashlee Simpson’s CD” an opportunity to trade it in for “one of higher entertainment quality,” by artists like Elvis Costello, Neil Hamburger and Mr. Bungle. (The group’s Web site also includes this gem: “When one looks at the actual sales figures, Ashlee Simpson’s triple platinum-selling debut album sold to — at best — 1 percent of the population. No matter how much the publicists spin it, the fact is that 99% of the population is not particularly interested in Ashlee.”) These people need a sense of humor, a sense of perspective and, perhaps most important, a better name.

They should also check out Simpson’s CD, which isn’t half bad. Can she sing? Of course not! But only a fool would listen to her (or Britney, Lindsay, Hilary, etc.) for vocal prowess. We’re talking about glossy Top-40 pop music, at a time in its history when nearly all recorded vocals are so thoroughly sonically airbrushed and autotuned as to bear almost no relation to the original performance. A bad singer just means more work for the engineer (and, mercifully, fewer of the obnoxious melismatic flourishes compulsively used by “good” singers like Christina Aguilera; Ashlee’s big sis, Jessica Simpson; and assorted “American Idol” contestants).

It’s hard to feel as if it’s worth spending too much time defending Simpson and Lohan, who have handled their respective fiascoes so gracelessly and arrogantly — Lohan by publicly vowing never to lip-sync and then denying that she had even after she was caught; Simpson, classy as always, by blaming it on her drummer and then on acid reflux. But it’s also hard to feel as if they’ve done anything all that bad or shameful, or that the furor of the response they’ve received is in any way commensurate with the gravity of their crimes.

In the end, the whole thing strikes me as very much like — but even more trivial than — baseball’s recent doping scandals. It seems clear that a significant percentage of top athletes use performance-enhancing drugs, just as it’s obvious that most pop stars lip-sync, or at the very least use prerecorded vocals to bolster their live performances. But whenever an athlete or musician is caught in the act, he or she is met with reactions of shock, outrage and betrayal.

Even if this were all that important, even if it were a major artistic travesty worthy of our attention and outrage, it seems to me that the focus of that outrage is being seriously misplaced. Ashlee, Britney, Christina, etc. are not artists, they are just faces being used to sell these products, these songs. The products can be good (Ashlee’s “Pieces of Me,” Christina’s “Beautiful”) or even great (Britney’s “Toxic”), but the “artists” have very little to do with how they turn out. Any scorn or appreciation you feel for them should rightfully be distributed among the teams of producers, songwriters and managers who have steered these women to stardom. Whether you love or hate Linda Perry, Joe Simpson and production team the Matrix, don’t waste any adoration or loathing on Ashlee or Britney.

Why do people care so much? Jealousy might seem like too easy an answer, but in this case I think it’s the right one. We want our celebrities to be famous for a reason, to be especially beautiful, especially talented, especially special, and it rankles when they’re not. That’s why Ashlee Simpson and Paris Hilton, two unattractive, untalented women who happen to have become very, very famous, are so widely loathed.

It is, of course, absurd to think that fame is based on merit any more often than it is based on ambition, connections and dumb luck. But it would be nice to be able to pretend.

And then there’s all the free music, which is what I’ll be tracking down for you. I’ve got a bunch of exciting tracks lined up already, but as always, I’d like suggestions. So if you know of a free and legal download that you think would be right for this column, post it on the Wednesday Morning Download Table Talk thread, or e-mail me.

“My Friends Have,” Marianne Faithfull, from “Before the Poison”
The majority of Marianne Faithfull’s new album, and ANTI records debut, was written by either PJ Harvey or Nick Cave (five and three tracks, respectively). Faithfull’s decision to have the two not just write songs but also produce them and provide instrumental accompaniment was both gutsy and canny. Gutsy because she’s inviting direct comparison with two such forceful, unmistakable artists; canny because it pays off so well. The Harvey tracks, performed with her longtime drummer, the brilliant Rob Ellis, and Portishead’s Adrian Utley, are especially effective, her guttural, punky songs suited perfectly to Faithfull’s cragged, desperately sad voice. Free Download: “My Friends Have”

Jens Lekman, Department of Forgotten Songs
This is a real treasure trove, a biweekly updated collection of unreleased demos, rarities and b-sides from Swedish wunderkind (and WMD reader favorite) Jens Lekman. His precocious baritone and ambitious lyrics can sometimes come off as a tad too self-conscious, but Lekman’s home-studio genius is astounding. Track after track combines samples, sequencing and a variety of live instruments in such unexpected but delightful ways that I think the young man has already surpassed the production skills (if not the songwriting) of his musical father, Stephin Merritt. My favorites from the current batch of songs include “Pretty Shoes,” “Bois-bis-o-boisa,” “Pocketful of Money” and “At the Department of Forgotten Songs,” but everything here is worth a listen. Free Download: “Department of Forgotten Songs”

“Ditshe Tshiekutala,” Konono No. 1, from “Lubuaka” In order to achieve success in the lucrative world-music market, it helps to be either slick and Westernized or rustically, sloppily traditional and “authentic.” That’s a shame, because it’s so often music that falls somewhere in the middle — rooted in tradition, but not dogmatically so — that is the most exciting. Konono No. 1 is a Congolese group that is driven by three thumb pianos, or likembes, amplified to the point of distortion and playing trancey, repetitive loops, surrounded by a cacophony of junkyard percussion and shouting voices. I fear they’re neither smooth enough for Starbucks nor primitive enough for trad-music fetishists, but they sure are fun to listen to. This link comes via Fat Planet. Free Download: “Ditshe Tshiekutala”

“The Matter (of Our Discussion),” Boom Bip, featuring Nina Nastasia, from “Blue Eyed in the Red Room”
Although it’s not going to be released until mid-February, there are already two mp3s available from hip-hop producer/electronic music composer Boom Bip’s upcoming “Blue-Eyed in the Red Room.” “The Move” (click here for free download) is a hugely satisfying feel-good mélange of analog burbles, digital clicks and woozy synth string sounds. In “The Matter (of Our Discussion),” Nina Nastasia gives a typically clear-voiced, understated performance over drifting, slow-moving clouds of harmony. Free Download: “The Matter (of Our Discussion)”

“You Better Run,” Iggy and the Stooges, from “Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough”
Junior Kimbrough, who died in 1998, was one of the great modern bluesmen — but to call him a “modern bluesman” feels wrong, as Kimbrough, with his haunted, modal blues and obvious but apparently unconscious ties to African music, seems so much the product of a shadowy, mysterious past, keeping the enigmatic air that surrounded early bluesmen like Skip James alive well into the ’90s. Now Fat Possum records is preparing to release a tribute record, with versions of Kimbrough’s songs performed by artists like the Black Keys, Spiritualized, Mark Lanegan, Jim White, and the Fiery Furnaces. Although Kimbrough certainly deserves wider recognition, the idea of a tribute album is, in this case, a questionable one, because his greatness was so completely in performance rather than composition. Iggy and the Stooges’ punkified version of “You Better Run” is fun, though, especially with Iggy substituting his own name for Kimbrough’s in spoken sections: “On the way home I said, ‘Baby! You might still get raped.’ She said, ‘Oh, Mr. Pop!’” Free Download: “You Better Run”

Most overpraised record of the year:
Brian Wilson’s “Smile”

Musical innovation I’m most eagerly awaiting:
An intimate, voice-inside-your-head, talking-to-himself rapper, the Cat Power of hip-hop. It’s the logical next step.

Most astounding gap in quality between two records from a single artist:
From the thumb-twiddlingly boring, hubristic depths of Elvis Costello’s maiden orchestral voyage “Il Sogno” to his pretty damn good rock record “The Delivery Man.”

Most embarrassing live TV moment:
No, not Ashlee Simpson on “SNL,” poor girl. It was Hoobastank butchering their already horrible hit single “The Reason” on the MTV Music Awards. At least Simpson knows she can’t sing, and had the good sense to use pre-recorded backing tracks.

“Christmas Time Is Here,” the Silent League, single
Wow, Christmas music that’s actually really good! And not just in an “Oh well, that’s pretty good for Christmas music” kind of a way, which is usually all I can muster. The original Vince Guaraldi song, written for “Peanuts,” is a classic, of course. But this cover, by WMD favorites the Silent League, is astonishingly beautiful, reverently faithful to the original, but wrapped in a blanket of diaphanous, pellucid sonic fabric. Free Download: “Christmas Time Is Here”

“Have a Merry Christmas, Rickie Lee Jones, Internet-only single
Free Christmas music from Rickie Lee Jones: “Oh Holy Night” (free download here) is all goofy and Celtic/baroque, with a harp, a harpsichord and a bagpipe, and “God Rest You Merry Gentleman” (free download here) is a bit too much in the finger-snapping smooth-jazz/soft-rock direction that Jones has fallen into in recent years. But even, or perhaps especially, as she becomes more and more mannered, now sounding like she has a permanent head cold and stuffy nose, Jones remains a captivating singer. She has developed into a brilliant interpreter of standards, and her “Have a Merry Christmas” is a sweet, simple rendition of the song, accompanied by just guitar and bass. Free Download: “Have a Merry Christmas”

“A Singular Christmas,” Brian Whitman
This is, at least conceptually, the ultimate Christmas music. Brian Whitman has written a computer program called Eigenradio, which, as best as I understand it, processes large amounts of music, isolates the essential elements, and spits back out tracks that synthesize them. He fed it a huge amount of Christmas music, and out came this 16-track record, which in theory should contain the essence of Christmas music, but in reality sounds like an only mildly diverting experimental electronic/ambient record. The whole record is available for free download here.

“Windows,” CMA, “All Over”
CMA (Cool Man Association) is Grouch and PSC, two MCs from the Living Legends, the Southern California crew that also includes Murs. Like all Living Legends releases, CMA’s new “All Over” is self-released — one of the most impressive things about this crew is the level of success they’ve had while remaining completely independent from the label system. The record’s first single, “Windows,” is a sweet, slightly sentimental retelling of childhood pains and triumphs, with touches of surreal wit: “I remember the rainy days/ Mom used to drop me off at school in a bucket.” Free Download: “Windows”

“Birthday,” Junior Boys, “Last Exit”
Plenty of people (a number of them featured in this column) have tried out the idea of wimpy indie-style vocals over electronic beats. The Ontario-based trio the Junior Boys have executed it better than anyone else yet — partly because they’ve absorbed and sublimated (sans big booty bass) some of the skeletal rhythmic ingenuity of recent mainstream hip-hop. These guys have lit the blogs and Internet zines on fire, eliciting rapturous reviews that try to explain how perfectly the Junior Boys combine fragility and funk. (“Talk Talk produced by Timabaland” is my favorite formulation.) “Birthday” was originally released last year on an EP of the same name, but it also appears on Junior Boys’ recent full-length debut, “Last Exit.” Free Download: “Birthday”

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Have an opinion about this week’s downloads? Check out the Wednesday Morning Download thread on Table Talk.