Category: Audio

Reviews for free music. Short articles pointing out foobar2000 usage.

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Wed, 23rd Nov 2011
Various Artists – [2008] The Silent Ballet: Volume 9

The netlabel Lost Children specialises in Progressive Rock and related music genres. They offer a magnificent collection of free music compilations called The Silent Ballet. Here I present my favourite release of this series, being on the quiet and ambient side of the musical spectrum it offers. Volumes 1, 5 and 6 are my next…

Tue, 15th Nov 2011
Colida – [2006] Eyes Shut and Ears Wide Open

Colida is a hard alternative rock band. And pretty good at it. This release at the German netlabel analog und ehrlich was recorded in 2005 in Oldenburg and is Colida’s third album. It only has four tracks, but those are worth the download. Fast, driving riffs, dry drums and a great voice — what else…

Sun, 2nd Oct 2011
Derek Clegg – [2011] Beautiful World

This album is so conventional that it’s almost boring. It has the default Pop-Rock instrumentation, that familiar singer-songwriter sound and unsurprising song structures. But hey, that does not have to be bad. Especially when it sounds as good as on this release by DIY Musicians. Like always, two commented preview tracks await you below, together…

Sat, 17th Sep 2011
Carlo Serafini – [2011] Gammatar

Why always stick to the boring, twelve-halftones-per-octave, well-tempered diatonic scale? That’s what Wendy Carlos (creator of the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece Clockwork Orange) might have thought when inventing his muscic scales Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Carlo Serafini took the Gamma scale, tune his guitar and recorded nine songs with this tuning. The sound…

Sat, 17th Sep 2011
Pretty Lights

Usually I only write reviews of music that is hosted on the Internet Archive, from time to time I have to make an exception to this self-imposed rule. Remix artist Pretty Lights from Colarado, USA, has distilled a glitchy style of sampled instrumental hip hop with disco attitude. Fortunately, I found two of his tracks…

Wed, 6th Jul 2011
IlKobra – [2010] Cogito Ergo Beat

This week’s release is unusually hard electronic music by released last year at the Sostanze netlabel. It features monotonic, stomping, pure Breakbeats or Drum & Bass — I’m not so sure about the exact classification. Six tracks with well chosen names like Preludio or Santo Hertz await to thrill your nerves and your neighbours if…

Wed, 23rd Feb 2011
How to find free music

20 years ago, when you wanted to find new music, you went to a record store or switched on the radio. Things have quite changed since then. In this post I list starting points for searching good free music on the internet.

Wed, 2nd Feb 2011
Various Artists – [2010] The Best Creative Commons Music Moments 2010

Huge multi-genre compilation. Electro, dance, acoustic vocal pop, all represented in exquisite detail. A good year to choose from.

Wed, 19th Jan 2011
Paper Plane Pilot – [2009] This Place

Cute. Pop. Music. That’s this EP in a nutshell. Sweet like early child memories, with a faint glimpse of melancholy. The netlabel Corporate Identity serves this yummy musical candy. What a pity that it only has two tracks. Like usually, I strongly suggest to listen to the samples below and to download the release. This…

Wed, 1st Dec 2010
stockfinster – [2005] All becomes music

Great ambient shoegaze Electropop like AIR. Hm… that’s stockfinster in a nutshell. What else to write? Of course they don’t sound exactly like them, they seem to have taken up influences by Zero 7, too. They are more difficult to classify as purely easy-listening, a little bit of Trip Hop is in the mix. 10…

Wed, 24th Nov 2010
Cam Butler – [2004] Dreamland EP

Cam Butler would easily win any “Be the next Ennio Morricone” contest, the composer of well known italo-western movie soundtracks like Once Upon a Time in the West. Cam Butler’s music sounds just like one of those soundtracks, but much happier. Guitars and violins ride into the sunset, riding on a chivalry of classic march…

Wed, 17th Nov 2010
Khonnor – [2003] Lost Pets

Early CC music smash hit. One of the most-played and -remixed EPs.

Wed, 3rd Nov 2010
Younnat – [2010] His Name Is Radar

The Japanese netlabel Bump Foot is a great source for a wide range of free music. His Name Is Radar is a very organic sounding Pop Funk release. Younnat’s other album The Duct, released in 2007 at the same netlabel, is among the Top 10 of most downloaded releases. He also has released some tracks…

Wed, 27th Oct 2010
Yasahi – [2005] When Earth Fell On The Moon EP

A well mixed one-file EP comes from Yasahi, released at the netlabel Sublogic Corporation, which specializes in electronic dance music. This release is a solid breakbeat breakfast. Five songs with a total playtime of 17 minutes wait to be discovered. In this case, both download and this preview contain all tracks in a single file.…

Wed, 20th Oct 2010
Various Artists – [2008] Cologne Commons Compilation 01

Cologne Commons is an annual conference and festival for digital culture that takes place in — surprise — Cologne in Germany. Unfortunately, I have never attended so far. YouTube enabled me to watch some conference talks online. Fortunately for me as music collector, a colourful music compilation is released for each conference. This album is…

Wed, 13th Oct 2010
Chenard Walcker – [2005] Archisex

Obscure 70s funk samples, harvested from a supposedly vast record collection, are mixed together to create a strange, groovy sound. This album consists of ten tracks with a total playtime of 25 minutes. Creator of this album is Chenard Walcker, a sampling artist who has released a lot of albums on the Internet Archive in…

Wed, 6th Oct 2010
The Kyoto Connection – [2010] No Headphones Required

I found this synth-pop album through the Free Music Charts, a monthly show presenting great free music, mainly from Jamendo. The Kyoto Connection reminds me of La Roux due to the lead singer’s voice and the yummy electronic pop harmonies. This album consists of 11 varied songs, all well mixed and produced.

Wed, 22nd Sep 2010