Reviews for free music. Short articles pointing out foobar2000 usage.
Punchy breakbeat from Germany. Kicking drums and pulsating synth pads for glory!
This album popped up at Jamendo when I was searching for free Breakbeat music. This genre is most prominently occupied by artists like The Chemical Brothers or The Crystal Method. While there are some similarities, the obviously German artist of this release has his own characteristic style. The essentials are all there: punching drums, ultra-cool bass riffs, synthetic sound effects. But as I said, something is different: Continue reading “Hallo Peter – [2008] Gutz of Glory”
Essential IDM remix album. Timeless classic with carefully produced soundscapes.
This week’s release comes from the netlabel Sutemos. It features experimental ambient electronic music. This remix album contains several versions of some very good songs; overall, the sound is calm, blended with long-stretched instrumental samples. Well produced vocals with whispered voices seem to be the label’s signature move. Continue reading “Leon Somov, Jazzu – [2008] Offline Remixed”
Excellent indie rock. From Lower Bavaria. Who would have thought?
One of the best moments during music discovery is the one when you hear an album the first time and instantly are addicted to it. To know that you will hear it over and over again, that after hours of mediocre or boring music you found a new pearl in the ocean of music.
The independent rock band Pandoras.Box from Lower Bavaria with their album Barriers gave me the last incarnation of such a moment. The album could as well be sold on CD, the quality of song-writing and production does not need to hide behind commercial releases. I would be surprised to not see their next release in stores. Continue reading “Pandoras.Box – [2009] Barriers”
![Kenny Beltrey - [2008] Yako Emulator](https://www.ojdo.de/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/folder.jpg "Kenny Beltrey - [2008] Yako Emulator")
Here is one more of the musical treasures from the depths of the Kahvi netlabel. Though its recent release date this album sounds more like a disco dance release from the early 90’s. I like it much because of its “kicking” beats. The production is of high quality and sounds fresh. Some vocal samples are woven in and harmonise well with the synthetic chords. Continue reading “Kenny Beltrey – [2008] Yako Emulator”
Fully radio compatible pop music is not easy to find in free music sources. So I am very happy to have found this little gem on Jamendo. The album features relaxed Pop music with emphasis on piano and melancholic vocals. Continue reading “Steven Dunston – [2003] To Get Home Before Night Comes”
Much of the free electronic music available these days is quite minimalistic, experimental or both. This album is – surprise – different. Although being produced entirely electronic, it is enjoyable also by the non-hardcore electronic listener. It features groovy rhythms, catchy melodies and harmonic, erm… harmonies. Continue reading “General Fuzz – [2008] Red Balloon”
Icy cinematic orchestral soundtrack. Calm instrumentals with electronic ambient influence. A Kahvi classic (pun intended).
I will start my (hopefully long and prospering) series of music reviews with a very unusual piece of music, considering that it is released at Kahvi, a Netlabel for electronic music.
It is unusual because this album consists purely of orchestral and piano music. Both technical and musical quality are astonishing. In total, it sounds like the O.S.T. to a film playing in Siberia. Don’t evaluate this album based on the performance on laptop-speakers. This music needs headphones or real speakers to not get destroyed by distortions. On my laptop it sounds awful… Continue reading “Coax – [2008] The Ice Garden”
foobar2000 is probably the most flexible audio player for Windows currently available. Its most obvious difference from other widespread applications like Windows Media Player, iTunes or WinAMP is its unskinned user interface using standard controls. This lack of skinning makes it possible for the user to interactively design his/her own layout consisting of so-called UI elements. Among them are (tabbed) playlist views, an album art viewer, text display and several browsers for the internal media library. Continue reading “foobar2000”
