Over the past 12 years we have accumulated thousands of MP3s from bands all over the world. We thought it would be extra special to premiere some exclusive MP3s on our launch day as a way of emphasizing our return to the realm of cherry-picked free and legal music downloads.

We are running an impressive gamut of genres and geographical regions with our launch premieres, including tracks from our home base of Chicago (Bloodiest, Cast Spells, The Impressions) as well as Canada (Braids), Europe (Withered Hand, Autumn Owls) and the United States.

I've broken the list into two parts for easier digestion.

In alphabetical order, here are the first six exclusive premieres for Epitonic' s 12th anniversary relaunch:

All Smiles "Captives" – All Smiles is Jim Fairchild's (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse) musical canvas. This is the adventurous opening track off his upcoming album, Staylow and Mighty.

Autumn Owls "Spider (demo)" – Dublin post-rock dream-pop outfit offers a very early and extremely tidy demo off their upcoming album to be released later this year.

Bloodiest "Slave Rule" (Relapse) – Chicago heavy-post-metal supergroup featuring members of Sterling, Yakuza, 90 Day Men, and Atombombpocketkinfe.

Braids "Lemonade (Lemonparty Bliss Out Remix)" (Kanine) – Canadian art rockers get the remix treatment by fellow countryman and multimedia artist Landon Speers.

Cast Spells "All Brass" (Sargent House) – Maps and Atlases frontman and Chicagoan Dave Davison delivers up a track off a limited edition split 7" with Good Old War. Acoustic guitar virtuosity and a nasal croon is subtle yet underscored.

Closed Sessions: ATX featuring Esso and Scheme "For No One" (Closed Sessions/Decon) – Up and coming hip hop from Esso and Scheme produced by Tony Baines off the upcoming CS: ATX compilation. Courtesy of Ruby Hornet.