Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier is a collection of preludes and fugues for a solo pianist in all 24 keys “for the profit and use of musical youth desirous of learning and especially for the pastime of those already skilled in this study” - just like Chopin’s famous etudes (studies). The very first piece (BWV846) opens with one of Bach’s best-known melodies, and the entire collection is regarded as one of Bach’s most significant works. It was also ranked 8th on ABC’s Classic 100 Piano Countdown “pieces you can’t live without” survey.

The work is performed here by Daniel-Ben Pienaar, a virtuoso pianist signed with “not evil” record label Magnatune.

Because Magnatune only provides links for streaming their MP3s (128kbps) via M3U playlists, I’ve provided direct file links below to all 96 MP3 files. If you like this music, please support the artist and buy the album (1 2 3 4) in higher-quality files (including FLAC) or on CD.

Download (128kbps .mp3)
Book 1, CD 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Book 1, CD 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Book 2, CD 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Book 2, CD 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Mohammed El-Bakkar’s 6-CD “Music of the Middle East” series is sold on Amazon, but you can download all 6 albums in their entirety from his website. If you like exotic dance music, ancient instruments, and erotic album covers, this CD series is for you. I can’t describe why, but Music of the African Arab is my favorite and Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer is my least favorite. Decide for yourself.

All files are 128kbps MP3.

Download.
Port Said
Sultan of Bagdad
Music of The African Arab
The Magic Carpet
Dances of Port Said
Exotic Music of The Belly Dancer

The endlessly stunning Internet Archive hosts dozens of restored 78RPM recordings from the early 20th century. My favorite collection features Al Jolson’s ebullient pop vocals. The energy behind his singing always gets me; if you’ve seen The Jazz Singer, you know what I’m talking about. This compilation album collects 36 of his most popular tunes from 1911-1926 (including “Swanee,” “You Made Me Love You,” “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby,” and others). The sound quality is understandably lacking (coming from dusty 78s), but Jolson’s voice shines through.

You can download the album in a single ZIP file or as individual MP3 files of various bitrates from the link below.

Download

Martyn St-Michael is a guitar and flute player who uses “California Throatsinger” as his moniker for his Tuvan throat singing experiments. Throat singing is a difficult, precise way of using one’s vocal chords and mouth to create resonating overtones that blend together for an alien sound that hardly sounds like a human voice at all. This untitled album collects 10 of St-Michael’s improvisations in throat singing, sometimes a capella and sometimes with instrumental accompaniment. On “Oil Wars”, he sounds like a more extreme version of Captain Beefheart. Appropriately, “Energy” is the most aggressive track. Try “Overtoning” for a quick overview of what throat-singing is all about. Fascinating.

Downloads from the page below are in 128kbps MP3.

No Longer Available

In 2001, the 3D outer-space RTS Homeworld Game of the Year edition was shipped with a soundtrack CD for the game, which happened to be one of the coolest ambient albums of the past few years (here is my review). When the followup, Homeworld: Cataclysm was released, players were treated to another excellent ambient game soundtrack, but no CD. So, fans hacked the game files, extracted the audio themselves, and put the soundtrack on the web. Gotta love hackers. This is professional ambient bliss; don’t miss it.

The 62 brief tracks are in 128kbps MP3 format.

No Longer Available

You don’t have to watch porn to know (or enjoy!) the lusty “wakka chikka wakka chikka” of porno soundtracks. This album collects porn groove tracks from a variety of artists. Now you don’t need to settle with Barry White or Berlin to score your lovemaking sessions - you, too, can use what the pros use!

The first track, “Take Me Now!” is probably the most archetypal of the genre. Play it for guests and time how long it takes for people to get hot under the collar - whether they are porn fans or not. “The Love God” collects sampled quotes about sexuality over typical “wakka chikka wakka chikka” music. Some of the other tracks feature simple music and moaning female voices, while others I could never imagine playing during a porn scene, but they are thematically related to sex.

The album is available from the ever-awesome Internet Archive in 192kbps MP3, zipped or as individual tracks.

Download

My first exposure to Russian choral music was Basil Poledouris’s “Hymn for Red October” from the 1990 submarine flick The Hunt for Red October. I love the pounding vocal rhythms and assured, patriotic melodies. And Russian just sounds cool. I was delighted to find this entire album of similar songs. Almost every track sounds like it could be a national anthem for a Soviet province (anthems which are, indeed, also available for download from the same page). My favorite tracks are the bouncy “Varshavjanka,” the rousing “Our Locomotive,” the familiar “Worker’s March,” and the ethnic mini-opera “O Glorious Sea, Holy Baikal.”

This page shows translated track titles under the heading “Soviet Sounds” and has 192kbps MP3 files. The download link below has the tracks in 256kbps MP3. Here is the back cover of the CD, if you’re interested.

Download

Brian Jonestown Massacre (named after the Rolling Stones guitarist) are a psychedelic band featuring Anton Newcombe and a rotation of more than 40 artists through the 90s.

Methodrone, Spacegirl, and Their Satanic Majesties Second Request are sloppily recorded but reminisce over a broad range of shoegaze and psychedelia . Take It From the Man! is a more accessible retreading of the Stones, BB King, Bo Diddley, The Animals, Them, Jimi Hendrix, and others. The appropriately titled Give It Back further relives 60s rock, while Strung Out in Heaven is perhaps their most mature work, sounding more like The Byrds than the Stones.

Bravery Repetition & Noise is a darker, dreamier, more atmospheric album as much dependent on post-punk as the 60s, and And This Is Our Music is even prettier and more ghostly. Bringing It All Back Home Again is only 30 minutes long and country-tinged.

Brian Jonestown Massacre is definitely the “biggest” name I know of to post so much of their work on the Internet; here’s hopin’ others follow suit!

The albums (and other tracks) are available for download in zipped packages of 96kbps OGG files from the download page.

Update:: The BJM web site is down but the links below should still work. Eiron Page (see comments) has also provided me with the link for the album download page for all of the albums named below plus some new additions.

Download
Methodrone
Spacegirl
Their Satanic Majesties Second Request
Take It From The Man!
Give It Back
Strung Out In Heaven
Bravery Repetition & Noise
And This Is Our Music
Bringing It All Back Home Again

The Columbia University Orchestra hosts its recordings of several complete symphonies from big-name composers like Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and Dvořák, along with shorter pieces from other composers. Among the variety of complete works available for download on a single page are several major symphonic compositions:

Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, like all of his symphonies since “Eroica” (which has itself been called the single most important piece of music ever written), is considered a masterpiece. It took on even greater significance when legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein chose it as the last piece he would ever conduct, in 1990.

Brahms‘ 1st Symphony was called “Beethoven’s Tenth” by conductor Hans von Bülow because of the work’s similarities to Beethoven’s symphonies, the 9th in particular.

Mozart’s 40th Symphony is his most popular and recognizable, with catchy and assured melody.

Dvořák’s 8th Symphony is lively and fun, based on Bohemian folk music. His 9th Symphony, “From the New World”, is one of the most popular symphonies ever written.

Haydn’s 88th Symphony (he’s called the “father of the symphony” for good reason) “is a typically charming Haydn work, full of verve and innovation. Although the instrumentation is constrained by both convention and the available musicians of the Esterházy orchestra, Haydn finds new ways to use his resources, including adding brass and tympani in the traditionally restrained minuet. When confronted with his economical yet involved melodies, the listener can only bow in amazement that a single individual could so thoroughly set the stage for two centuries of development of the modern symphony.” (via)

Downloads are available in 160kbps MP3.

Download
Beethoven - Symphony #7: 1 2 3 4
Brahms - Symphony #1: 1 2 3 4
Mozart - Symphony #40: 1 2 3 4
Dvořák - Symphony #8: 1 2 3 4
Dvořák - Symphony #9: 1 2 3 4
Hadyn - Symphony #88: 1 2 3 4

In this cut & paste, remix & revive musical culture, nothing is dead, not even disco. With Circle EP, Cuebism has sown the head of The Bee Gees onto the body of a minimalist Xiu Xiu and not bothered to hide the stitches (the result it microhouse). The album’s opening electronic noise asserts digital surgery like the opening of Radiohead’s “2 + 2 = 5″ bares the recording process with failing cord connections. Every song is built with thinly sliced synth phrases and conspicuously cut-off samples laid atop a groovy beat. With so many uncovered incisions, it’s a good thing Cuebism knows what he’s doing; despite lacking guitars, vocals, and shiny vests, Circle EP is one of the catchier disco albums I’ve heard. The man clearly has a knack for the perfect fishhook that reels you in every time until you surrender to its funky hip-hurling rapture. As the ludicrous cover art suggests, the album isn’t about artistry or musical progress. It’s about sliding into the John Travolta finger point pose in nothing but wool socks on your linoleum floor. It’s about filtering the fun-loving from the freeloaders at your evening party; the hips don’t lie. It’s about replacing your dining room chandelier with a disco ball. Why not bounce-strut your way to work next time? It’ll help if you wake up to Cuebism.

The tracks are available in 192kbps MP3 or OGG.

Download

The bad thing about music today is that any schmuck with a sound card and a few software synths can record an album. The great thing about music today is that any schmuck with a sound card and a few software synths can record an album. Eureka Sön is more a compilation of the band’s best work to date than an album, but as a scattered collection of cheaply produced indie rock tracks you could hardly ask for better - or more varied. Album opener “Antes” is the atonal Spanish Pet Sounds track never recorded. “Centro” builds to a synth-buried Kenna chorus. “Reversible” belongs on a poor man’s Kid A. “Ti” is ripped from Now Here Is Nowhere. And don’t forget the aptly titled “Holey Foley” and the glitch-techno cacophony of “Ruido”. A dozen styles pepper Eureka Sön and most are pulled off confidently. They do occasionally fail, however: “Crei” and “Yoo” are bland 90s alt-rock ripoffs without the crisp production.

Files are available as 128kbps MP3.

Download

In 1997 I was a 12-year-old preacher’s kid brought up on the safe, derivative, contemporary Christian music of Carman, DC Talk, Audio Adrenaline, The Newsboys and their ilk. Then a friend played Metallica’s Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets for me at his house. I was instantly taken by the crushing riffs, aggressive vocals, blistering solos, and creative structures. Good grief, I thought, what have I been missing? I quickly expanded my musical horizons in search of more “secular” music as exciting and passionate as Metallica and found Dream Theater, Queen, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and others.

Eventually I discovered that there was more to The Beatles than their charming pop hits featured on so many soundtracks. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road gave me an entirely different perception of the band as rock’s most important innovators (an opinion since reversed by Piero Scaruffi’s persuasive arguments). Metallica and The Beatles remain two of my all-time favorite bands, and Master of Puppets my all-time favorite album. So what could be better than The Beatles done Metallica-style? Besides Michael Gordon done Radiohead-style, I mean.

Beatallica mash up Beatles songs and Metallica riffage with a convincing James Hetfield impression by the lead vocalist. The result is… well, buckets of fun. The lyrics and even the track titles (”Leper Madonna”, etc.) spoof the original material. A Garage Dayz Nite and Beatallica (or “The Grey Album”, a mix of Metallica’s “Black Album” and The Beatles’ “White Album”) elicited a strong response from fans and, unfortunately, Sony Records. Sony tried to sue Beatallica out of existence, but with the help of fans and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, the parody band survived and is once again playing shows and working on new material.

Both albums are available for download in 192kbps MP3, including “radio edit” versions of the second album’s tracks. There is also a torrent available for each album in lossless FLAC format.

No Longer Available

Welcome to Free Albums Galore, a full-album “mp3 blog” for listeners of eclectic music. What distingiushes Free Albums Galore from other mp3 blogs?

1. I post only complete albums, not individual or scattered tracks.
2. I post only albums with permanent off-site hosting, unlike other album blogs like Hepcatwilly.
3. I post only legally free albums, instead of blindly hoping copyright owners won’t mind me distributing their music.
4. I post at least one complete album per day.

I won’t link to files that require site registration before downloading, or to files with restrictive DRM. I also won’t link to albums with seperate tracks hosted as a single, inseperable MP3, even for genres like Deep House (at Fleep). From the classical music world, I consider any work at least 20 minutes in length to be a “complete album”, but there will be exceptions (ala Mozart’s wonderful 40th Symphony). This blog was originally hosted at blogspot until I tired of its meager features and abandoned it for a WordPress-enabled blog host. The ads on this blog support my gracious blog host, not me.

If you can recommend any online, free, legal, complete albums (or lengthy classical works), feel free to e-mail me at freealbumsgalore@yahoo.com.

To easily download all album tracks on a page or post in a few simple clicks, I suggest using Firefox (which is better than other web browsers for a multitude of reasons) and the DownThemAll extension.

EDIT: On January 1st, 2006, I handed over this blog to Marvin.