Some could argue that free music needs no review. After all, like a flyer at a concert or Chick Fil-A in the mall, it's there for the taking. If you don't want it, just walk by. However, where it comes to Todd Snider's EP Peace Queer, some things are actually good enough for us to take the time to remind you why it might be worth yours.

As music has expanded in a renaissance of honesty, controversy and apathy, humor might be the rarest commodity of all in songwriting. Snider, a 42 year-old Portland, Oregon native brings it alive in his Alt-Country, Folk aesthetic. "Stuck On A Corner" is a rally-cry to the disenfranchised blue collar worker. The song channels Traveling Wilbury's sorts of '50s-meets-'80s Americana, but it's minuit details like Snider's description of his boss, his choice of words, and the way both are stuffed into a really catchy melody that make him prolific in his craft. Yes, the seriousness and the resonance of the issue might be challenged a tad, but aren't we given enough slow, dreary and all-too-serious songs of caution?

Snider can be serious though. He does entirely the opposite with his cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son." Although the song smartly alters the original's title, the sparse, slow and cold texture Snider uses revisits the Vietnam War outcry and makes it 2008's. Whether the song is aimed at anyone specific, perhaps a red-tied politician presently depicted in the movies, is tongue-in-cheek, and again, is the difference between Snider and his peers.

With major label albums under his belt, Snider's gift to fans is hardly a MySpace artist looking for attention or a Budweiser bar singer Googling for gigs. Peace Queer is intelligent music, with varying soundscapes, that appeals to several audiences, with a constant, active-listener aesthetic that's so rarely lost in today's music. When he's not making you laugh, Todd Snider makes you think.

You can download this album, free of charge from his website until October 31, 2008.