He’s released a free album of tracks for Xmas which you can grab over at his blog.

Here’s a video of another track of his to give an idea of the style.

Banjo or Freakout – Left It Alone from banjo or freakout on Vimeo.

Oohh free album time.

Irish thrash act Gama Bomb are releasing their new album “Tales from the Grave in Space” on November 5th and are making the album freely available for download via Rapidshare.

I’d never heard of them but had a quick listen and sounds real old school thrash. Looks like they are building up quite a following and this should bag them some new fans.

There are also thrash band Top Trumps cards to download on the Earache site which would have been good but they forgot Xentrix!

Anyway head here for a free copy of their new album “thank you”.

The Backsliders (often capitalized as THe BAcksliders) is a rock and roll band from Dallas, Texas. Their third and newest full-length album, “Thank You”, is available for  free download on their website, www.thebacksliders.com as of May 2009.

Touring from coast to coast in the U.S. and winning both “Best Hard Rock” award in 2008 and “Best Blues” in 2007 from the Dallas Observer Music Awards, THe BAcksliders are fronted by:

Kim Bonner (formerly of Polygram recording artist, Vibrolux)
Chris Bonner (Sons of Sound) on guitar
Jason Bonner (The Vain) on bass, and
Taylor Young (The O’s, Young Heart Attack) on drums.

I don’t have much more to say on this one, I’m not a huge Coldplay fan unlike most of the rest of the world it sometimes seems but they do what they do well and I’ve enjoyed the odd song.

So head here for your free download.

I’ve listened to the E.P. (The Canvas E.P.)  and album (All That’s Left) available and am really, really enjoying them. It’s just great singer-songwriter style folk rock but stripped back to the basics without the horrible over processed sound you find on so many albums these days.

There’s also now a live album which I haven’t checked out but I’ll be sticking it on the player soon.

Great songwriting, great delivery, go check it out.

The South by Southwest Festival is a big entertainment industry festival held in Austin Texas. Each year there are loads of free tracks available from the various artists attending and some kind sould on the internet stick them all in big tasty torrents for everyone else to download.

Head over here for the unnofical collection of music in three big torrents, all free for the taking. I’ve had a quick scan through the first one and there are some decent tracks but it’s going to take a while since the whole lot comes in at over 1200 tracks.

Particularly nice is the fact they give you DRM free tracks with options for both mp3 and lossless formats.

There are now quite a few options for streaming music for free or at least “ad supported free” which I’m happy to put up with if the service is easy and quick to use and provides a decent selection of music to choose from. Spotify has the “easy and quick to use” part nailed. It really is a lovely interface and compared to the behemoth that is iTunes it runs like a dream, probably because it has taken an iTunes-like interface and simplified it down so that it does what it needs to do well and nothing else. You get a search box, a radio interface for creating custom radio channels, some playlist features and a little bit of artist info and thats about it, all wrapped up in a tidy looking grey GUI. The ad support so far is pretty inoffensive with ads cropping up only occasionally, whether this will change I can’t say.

Unfortunately the “decent selection of music” part is obviously still being worked on with some big names notable by their absence. Don’t let this put you off though, the selection is big it’s just lacking some names due to licensing issues no doubt and that’s a shame but I’ve still found plenty to listen to and I’ve seen quite a few big name releases so not everyone is dragging their heels.

Thoroughly recommend it for anyone who likes to stream music via their PC. I’ve only tested the Windows XP version but there is a dedicated OS X 10.4 or later client and it is possible to run it in Linux using Wine. There is also talk of a mobile client, which probably means iPhone but I’m hoping means other devices too even though I know iPhone makes most sense for them in terms of the success of this.

Currently the free ad supported version is only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain although I think it may be possible to sign up for the paid version elsewhere. I’ve a few (and I mean a few) invites if anyone would like to check it out but please don’t bother if you are not in the countries listed above, it won’t work though you may be able to sign up for a premium account directly.

It’s been a little while since I last reviewed a release form the Russian netlabel Pulsations For You though I really should keep an eye out for their releases as so they’ve usually been of a high quality.

So it’s nice to see the latest release from them, Pianochocolate’s Morning Coffee 2008 continues that trend with an album of easy listening piano based electronica.

There is a mix of styles on the album although there is a definite ’sound’ across most of the tracks which may have something to do with whatever they are using to produce the tracks. A little more variation in the sound of the drum and bassline would probably improve this in my ears but then I do have an ear for slightly odd glitchy electronica.

As smooth easy listening electronica goes though, this rates pretty highly and I’d definitly have it on in the background now and again. Whilst I prefer the piano heavy tracks, I also loved the sound on “Old Movies” which immediately made me think of graphics demos or a slightly retro video game which it would no doubt make a good backing track for.

It’s made me want to check out the rest of the Pulsations For You releases which I’ve missed so I may review a few more.

Pianochocolate is one of creative music implementations by Russian musician Mikhail Korumenko. Piano is a classic instrument, a symbol of perfect taste, timeless and yet interesting, while the chocolate is an instrument to bring happiness and comfort. PianoChocolate’s style range is vast. The base for all the tracks is a tune which can be easily combined with almost any style like Drum & Bass, Breaks, Chillout, Easy Listening, Jungle, Trance. The latest album Morning Coffee suits fine as for a background and for a thoughtful listening. Aerial piano sound with a chocolatecoffee flavor album.

http://starfrosch.ch/2008/11/26/pianochocolate_morning_coffee_2008

http://www.pianochocolate.com/

http://www.myspace.com/pianochocolate

http://www.archive.org/compress/puls18

I found it a while back whilst I was hunting around for some singer/songwriter type stuff to listen to and this one caught my attention almost immediately. Great songwriting, some great guitar work and a really unique sound. I can see it might not be to everyone’s taste but my rather eclectic tastes give this one a thumbs up.

Head over to Jamendo if you want to download it.

Debut album from Ruth Theodore. 13 tracks of beautifully twisted, political and personal mayhem.

“I assure you this is the real thing” – Sleeping With The NME

“Ruth’s ability to paint vivid pictures in your imagination is unparalleled in contemporary mainstream music.” – God Is In The TV

“Gorgeous. Words lack the power to describe this – just make sure you hear it!” – Is This Music?

“What we have here is an outrageously talented singer-songwriter” – Louder Than War

” …there’s a snappy sharpness to Ruth Theodore’s vocal delivery… Theodore skillfully plays with rhythm, pronunciation and phrasing… it’s very refreshing.” – The Fugitive Motel

Anyway go here where you will find 10 recordings on symphonies performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra which I’m told is pretty well respected. It certainly sounds good but I know very little about classical music apart from liking the sound of it occasionally…or trying to work out which advert I’ve heard it in

You’ll need to register to get the links but all you really need is a valid email address.

Starting on October the 15th you will be able to download a free recording of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra every day. The recordings are available until the 24th of November 2008.

Nothing particularly innovative, just the usual effortless beats they seem to churn out every so often. If you want some polished, easy listening you can’t go far wrong with this.

Free to stream or download with adverts at we7.

Go listen to it, download it, spread it around. He is clearly trying to get some recognition and publicity by giving his work away free and since it is damn good work the least I can do is recommend it.

OK you can’t download the album for free but they are providing it in it’s entirety as a stream with a nice embeddable player as you can see below. Obviously this gains them lots of free(ish) marketing but it also allow customers to listen before they commit to buying in a format that might be more useful to them.

I’ve always thought streaming music will be the way forward as bandwidth becomes cheaper and broadband coverage ubiquitous and we are just starting to see the beginnings of this with ad funded services such as SpiralFrog and We7. Illegal downloading will never go away no matter how much money the labels throw at combating it but if you make something easy to access, legally for zero (or little/ad driven) cost then people will use it and possibly even buy stuff if that is made easy, non-crippled and reasonably priced too.

Heres hoping eh.

If you’ve not heard MURS and you want something a little more intelligent than the normal chart crap they call hip hop, then you really should check this album for a taste. it’s got a nice laid back summer feel to it so great for chilling in the current heat.

Enjoy.

I’ve not listened yet and obviously being out of touch with “tha youth” I’ve not heard of half the bands on the playlist…although I’ve seen UNKLE. Feel free to join me in listening and tutting at what the young ‘uns call music these days

Neon Neon – Belfast
Neon Neon are the electro creation of Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys and producer Boom Bip. They play the Other Stage on Saturday

White Denim – Darksided Computer Mouth
There’s a buzz about these inventive Austin garage-rockers. They play the Queens Head Stage on Saturday

Mulatu Astatqé (Ethiopiques) – Yékèrmo Sew
Hypnotic jazz, soul and funk from the celebrated Ethiopiques artists
headlining the JazzWorld stage on Saturday

The Shortwave Set – White Lie
Dangermouse-approved London indie pop – catch the Shortwave Set at the Dance Village Lounge Stage midday on Sunday

CSS – Rat Is Dead
Sao Paolo’s smuttiest art-popsters headline the Park Stage on Saturday

Operator Please – Zero Zero
These Aussie power-poppers are great live. They play the Park Stage on Friday

Crystal Castles – Air War
Crystal Castles make the sound of your Sega Megadrive crashing sound tuneful. They forward-thinking 8-bit sound terrorists play the John Peel Stage on Saturday

The Brute Chorus – The Cuckoo and the Stolen Heart
Country-tinged guitar pop from East London, The Brute Chorus play the BBC Introducing Stage on Friday

Metronomy – Let’s Have A Party
Sonic visionary and remixer extraordinaire, Metronomy plays the Dance Village on Saturday

XX Teens – The Way We Were
XX Teens’ artful guitar noise can be heard in the Dance Tent on Satuday

Foals – Red Sock Pugie
Guardian/music favourites Foals bring their exotic math-pop to the Other Stage on Friday

Glasvegas – Be My Baby
Set for their first chart hit over Glastonbury weekend with Geraldine, this Spector cover was an early b-side for the Glaswegians. The band play the John Peel stage on Friday

Micachu – Curly Teeth
Existing somewhere between grime and classical, catch this hotly tipped Londoner at the Vice/Lock Tavern Tent on Friday

Yeasayer – Sunrise
The psychedelic Brooklynites twist Eastern and African sounds into strange new shapes. They play the John Peel Stage on Sunday

UNKLE – Heaven (featuring Gavin Clark)
UNKLE bring their moody avant-pop to the Dance East on Saturday

I’m no audiophile but I love the warm sounding recording and it’s just the sort of thing I like to listen to very late at night when working on the PC after a crazy day spent with toddlers.

I suffer from bad bouts of insomnia so I’m always on the lookout for quality relaxing albums which this  most definitely is….as opposed to say some new age twunt playing panpipes over some whale song.

He has some other work available so I’ll check that out soon.

I think as the music industry (very slowly) continues to evolve we will see more and more advertisment driven music sites and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. People want to listen to music, they will download it from somewhere else if need be but if record labels make it easy to do for ‘free’ then people will use it. The success of iTunes goes to show people will pay for something if it works and the same thing applies here with the payment being made in a large advertisment audience which at least doesn’t hit you in the pockets immediately.

With the spread of fast internet connections and always-on fast decent mobile tariffs, streaming is going to become a more and more commonplace method of listening to music so hopefully more of the large record companies will jump on board with ‘free’ advertising based streaming backed with a simple system to purchase downloads.

Anyway enough waffle, today We7 added over 500,000 tracks from Sony BMG’s catalogue, available to stream for nowt but some added audio advertising. Unfortunately I don’t think there is an option to download the Sony BMG tracks for free with adverts like some of the other albums on the site but I’m just happy to have such a large catalogue to choose from.

A really good move for the UK which has been badly served by music sites and hopefully not the last.

Whether it’s Take That, Mark Ronson, The Hoosiers or Leona Lewis that tickles your fancy, today is great news for all music fans because tracks from all of these artists, plus lots more, are available to be selected and listened to immediately for FREE at We7.com.

The new “on demand” music service, launched today at We7.com, gives fans access to over 500,000 tracks from Sony BMG and a wide variety of independent artists and labels, legally, safely and in a format they want.

Music fans can “listen now” to the music they want for free thanks to We7’s unique model which grafts a short audio advert onto the front of each track.

Unlike illegal file sharing sites, the artist and record label will get paid every time music fans listen to the track from the revenue generated by advertising. This provides a viable solution to music piracy and a win-win situation for music fans and artists alike.

In addition, tens of thousands of music tracks can be downloaded to be ‘listened to later’ on their iPod or MP3 player for free with the attached advert, which can be removed after a set number of listens, or an amount of elapsed time.

If fans don’t like ads they can alternatively buy it via We7 without the advert, giving consumers the choice to listen to music in the way they want it.

Music sharing with your best friends is encouraged at We7 as every play is paid for.

Steve Purdham, co-founder and CEO of We7 comments: “To date music fans have really only had two choices to get the music how they want it – buy or steal. Today we’re changing that by putting the fans and artists first to deliver a fresh new alternative. Simply fans get the music they want and now have the choice of paying with their money or paying with a small amount of their time. So everybody is happy”.

Jack Horner, co-Founder and Creative Director, FRUKT adds, “We7 is pushing the boundaries of music delivery to give fans greater access to the music they love whilst ensuring the artists get paid fairly too. Innovative approaches to the monitising of music in this time of change for the traditional music business deserve much praise and support. A major label partnership is a very exciting step forward in delivering a more mainstream offering to music fans.”

Initially, not all the tracks will be available to listen to in all the formats but We7 will continue to work with the music industry to break down the barriers to bring even greater choice to users in the coming months.

Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drums beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60’s soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a ‘B’ side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that ‘information wants to be free’- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law.

This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the “Amen Break,” a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music — a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison’s 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.

Head over to XFM who are providing the album as a zipped set of mp3 files or as separate mp3 downloads.

You’ve already feasted your ears on two phenomenal singles: title track ‘You Cross My Path‘ and ‘Oh Vanity‘, and now the time has come for the whole album ‘You Cross My Path’ to be made available to download for free. Yes you did hear us right, the album to have and to hold for nowt, zilch, zero, zip.

Speaking to Xfm frontman Tim Burgess revealed “We always knew this album was gonna be given away for free, even before we started writing so we wanted to make it the best album we’ve ever made. This isn’t a case of left over tracks and b-sides, we wanted to give our fans a quality record.”

Manager Alan McGee agreed: “I completely mean it when I say this is their best record in year, their best since ‘Telling Stories’. I think for ten years they’ve been a brilliant band but they haven’t fulfilld their full potential until now.”

I’ve not listened yet but the first one was better than expected, and you’ve just got to love the idea of porn ‘wakka chikka’ inspired music.

WM Recordings has gladly agreed to host Volume 2 of Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka – Porn Music For The Masses on it’s website, which means that once again; people all over the globe will be able to listen to and enjoy the soundtrack to their innermost fantasies.

Since the 2004 release of Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka – Porn Music For The Masses Vol. 1 (with over 232,900 downloaded files to date!) on Comfortstand.com, the needs of the masses for new and exciting porn music tunes produced by artists from all over over the world has been temporarily met. Now the people have a new dose of “Porn Music Magic” to swing to/by. 20 tunes of porn groovieness and 1 bonus track with a ‘Behind The Scenes’ look at the industry will be sure to titillate even the most repressed listeners. It’s time to turn those lights down low again, and get it on – Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka!

This one is Stud – LSAD [puls07] and was originally released on the Dars records label in 2005 and has now been re-released for free on Pulsations For You at the kind request of the artist Alexey Devyanin.

The album is a nice chunk of electronica/IDM with a rather dark, even melancholic feel to it at some points. There are lighter moments but it is generally quite a slow, moody album which works very well on a decent set of headphones. Two thumbs up, loving track 2.

More About Stud

Stud aka Alexey Devyanin is a recognised name on Russian IDM scene,
mostly by his releases on several net labels (Kikapu, Kahvi, etc).

He’s also released electro-acoustic albums on the famous Swiss net
label Autoplate (sub label of Thinner) and Lampse, Miasmah on CD under
the name of Gultska Artikler.

Although Alexey has been making music since 1998, this is his debut album
release on steadily developing Dars Records, who have already released a
couple of Stud’s tracks on their compilations.

LSAD is a solid IDM album, and you can definitely feel that Alexey is
not a novice in the world of electronica. Those who closely followed
his work might recognise a few tracks from his demos and it’s a real
pleasure to finally hear all that material compiled as a finished and mature album.

First thing you notice is Stud’s crafty work in audio space – all the sounds
and patterns are arranged like blocks in a 3D game. For the most part, the album is rather sad and even dark, due to the prevailing melancholic melodies and scary ambient pads (Mauvaise Honte, Novapt). At some points the music becomes more positive and reminiscent of Boards of Canada’s childish nostalgia (Sunset Variations).

Most of the tracks are based on deep ambient atmospheres surrounded by complicated IDM rhythms, sometimes melodic, sometimes minimal, but always emotional and touching, uncovering new details every time. Good music for deep thinking, soul-searching, or even crying.

I’ve had this one playing in the background and it’s a very relaxing mix if you fancy something a bit downtempo to listen to.

You can find it here at Mixotic which is a netlabel specialising in free DJ mixes, I’ll have a hunt around there soon and see what else is worth listening to.

Anyway, stick this one on and chill for a bit.

Mixotic 119 – Kudu – One Winter Day

This DJ set is mixed by Kudu and downloaded from the netlabel www.mixotic.net.

Playlist:

01 – Nest – Charlotte
Serein 013 (www.serein.co.uk)
02 – Kaminari Synthesis – It Is Always A Good Time To Smile
Camomille 061 (camomille.genshimedia.com)
03 – The Stringed Theory – Equivalence
Gruen 022 (www.stadtgruenlabel.net)
04 – Weigl & Hoffmann – Winters Tale
Autoplate 048 (www.autoplate.cc)
05 – Herwig Holzmann – … My Head From Hurting
Autoplate 046 (www.autoplate.cc)
06 – Vladislav Delay – Lumi
Sutemos 019 (www.sutemos.net)
07 – Eric Delay – Old Wooden Bridge
Eko 016 (www.semlabel.com/iod/back.php)
08 – Mastra – Metamorphose
Eko 016 (semlabel.com/iod/back.php)
09 – Neuf Meuf – Zul
12rec 031 (www.12rec.net)
10 – Daniel Maze – Lang Park (Cherry Blossoms Falling On Pavement)
Eko 016 (semlabel.com/iod/back.php)
11 – Alexandr Vatagin – End Of The Community
Zymogen 015 (www.zymogen.net)
12 – Peter – Plume
Eko 016 (semlabel.com/iod/back.php)

This mix is free to download and use under the terms of a Creative Commons License. (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0)

Dubmood’s latest release “Atari-Ska L’Atakk” is a chiptune album of Ska covers and remixes, it is both nuts and brilliant in equal amounts. Just loving that Monkey Island tune.

UPDATE: Whilst most of the tracks are covers, the last is an original/collaboration and another is based on some folk music rather than a direct cover. It’s also an EP rather than an album but it is still rather brilliant!

A smashing ChipDub-Ska-EP coming here from the ATARI tracker legend Dubmood.
Six tracks full of love for the rough Ska classics of old, bursting with sheer
virtousity and an obession for funky details. A sure winner full of hits, this
grooving beauty is bound to make you dance while grinning from ear to ear.

The EP starts off with a great version of the Skatalites-classic “Exodus” (who in turn took the theme from E. Gold’s oscar winning movie score), followed up by a fine Liberators-cover. A top “Monkey Island” dub, featuring the legendary title theme by Michael Z. Land, is around too. The Maytals’ “Pressure Drop”, later covered by punk-rocker icons The Clash (among others), is followed by the highly addictive “VodSka-Dance”, featuring some popular Russian folk lore.
Most notably THIS alltime classic. A tune you’ll whistle along for days – so beware! The final track is a collab with chiptunes roots rocker GOTO 80, a remix of it can be found on his “_2_4×4″-EP over HERE. See all details below.

For the technically interested: all songs were tracked by Dubmood on the
Atari 1040 STfm in maxYMizer, made by gwEm, using the YM2149 soundchip. That is, 4bit sound on 3 channels, one squarewave generator and one noisegenerator on a 16bit 8mhz machine with 1mb of RAM and no samples used!

It’s a strange blend of electronica and jazz with a whole load of other influences chucked in, all in a very playful, light-hearted manner which I wasn’t really expecting from Russian electronica.

It’s oddness but very well done oddness, if you have a taste for the unusual you might just like it.

In this long waited release of the promising musician Alexander Ponkratov you will find versatile music incorporating elements of Jazz and Electronica with a perfect mix of acoustic and synthesized instruments. Remarkably performed and flavored by a complex gamut of human emotions it precisely conveys the mood purposed by the author.

Sometimes cheerful and bright and sometimes sad, this music reminds of the good old Soviet films and surrealistic cartoons. The artful design of melodic lines, harmonies and rhythms is unpredictable, but at the same time it keeps out of too complex improvisations maintaining thus the perfected parity of modern arrangement.