I’ve said many silly things in the past few years while running Free Albums Galore and saying Death Grip is the Rage Against the Machine version of hip-hop may be one of them. But that’s exactly what I hear. The San Francisco based Death Grips is a one man hip hop project that uses lots of props from alternative and metal yet comes across with sort of an industrial hip-hop sound of his own. Powerful and very angry, there is no denying the intensity of this music. Whatever happened to the City of Love?

His two albums are titled Death Grips and Ex-Military. You can find them as creative common licensed online albums at the Free Music Archive as linked below.

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Death Grips
Ex Military

Jani Hirvonen is one of the most active musicians in the Finnish underground scene. He records under a number of projects including the past featured Paavoharyu. Recently he has been recording most prolifically under the moniker of Uton through his netlabel titled Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam.

The music of Uton can be called many things but often the name of Psych-Folk is used. It is a mix of avant-garde styling and ethnic folk music influences. The seven albums available from the Uton page of The Free Music Archive are challenging but ultimately fascinating. They are all a little unique. Holy Burnmay be the best introduction to this artist. Radio Olio Metaphysica! is the equivalent of two CDs with sounds ranging from drone ambient to space sounds to ethnic dada. Shiva Blues is described as “Free-drone-trance-noise guitar feedback improv”. I can hear traces of Glenn Branca throughout this festival of drones and reverb. Solar Spells is called “Psych-zone-noise” and is one of the more abstract of the albums. It is very spacy and sounds like world music from the edge of the universe.

Taivaan Joka Kolossa was Uton’s first release and is best described as experimental drone ambient. Tales From the Ancient Fires is comprised of two live performances from Copenhagen and Berlin in 2008. They tend to be more extrovert and industrial reminiscent of Throbbing Gristle or Dream Syndicate. Violin Massage is the equivalent of three CDs and is the weirdest of the albums. It is solely one violin played in strange distorted ways. It is interesting but too much of a strange thing can give you a headache.

Regardless, there is a lot of music and a lot of variety in these seven free and legal albums. check them out.

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Holy Burn
Radio Olio Metaphysica!
Shiva Blues
Solar Spells
Taivaan Joka Kolossa
Tales From the Ancient Fire
Violin Massage

Alexei Borisov is a shining tar of 21st century industrial/electronic music. Olga Nosova is the drummer and vocalist for the Moscow noise-core band Motherfathers. Astma is their collaborative effort into improvisatory noise rock and industrial electronica. I am familiar with Borisov’s earlier efforts, but on There Will Be a McDonalds, he has plunged head first into Noise Rock. The two artists have created a hard but enthusiastic effort in the world of distortion and noise for art ’s sake. The album is a total immersion into heavy guitar, pounding drums and strange vocasl (by both participants) that actually entertains even if it is a bit challenging. I like this album and hope Astma release more music.

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Litanies in Zero Kelvin is a 30 minute track by Gilrilal Baars that starts like a single vocal chant. It is slowly distorted with the use of vocal aerobatics, theremin, and electronics into a strange but mesmerizing litany of sounds. The artist likens it to folk songs and appears to be using many traditional songs, primarily Russian, in this work which he states is about death. Whatever his intention, the work is strangely fascinating to this listener and I recommend it to the anyone who likes the unusual.

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Recently I’ve become fascinated with the music of Indonesian musician Wukir Suriyada. I have already featured albums of collaborative works with Rully Shabawa and Ysuke Akai. Wukir’s new solo album titled Yehezkial is again off the incredible Yes No Wave netlabel and it increases the artist’s level of awesomeness. Wukir plays an instrument of his own invention called a Bambuwukir allowing him to create string and percussion sounds simultaneously. The two tracks on Yehezkial shows his virtuosity off splendidly. The music borrows heavily from Indonesian folk roots but adds influences from post-modern classical, rock, and even Phillip Glass styled minimalism. The build-up of theme and tension keeps the listener enthralled. This is a highly recommended download.

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Romanian musicians Felix Petrescu (Waka X) and Valentin Toma (Qewza) founded the experimental electronica project Makunouchi Bento (also a form of Japanese box lunch) in 2001 and it is still going strong. Swime is their newest album and it is available as a free and legal download. Their music uses both electronic and acoustic instruments. The sound is rather free-floating, using various and sundry sound elements while still having an apparent structure. That’s not to say their music is predictable. There is a feeling of exploration that is transmitted to the listener. Overall it is excellent electronic music, if a bit on the avant-garde side.

Milano Brothers IV seems to be part of a soundtrack for an imaginary movie. Created early in the formation of Makkunouchi Bento, it was thought to be lost but re-discovered in a basement. The four excerpts are , for the most part, very tonal and atmospheric. My guess is that this movie was some type of foreign crime syndicate idea but I may be wrong. Nonetheless, the movie is very beautiful and should be a good one for just chillin’ out.

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Swime
Milano Brothers IV

Joxfield ProjeX is one of the most consistently rewarding avant-garde/experimental music groups that I have featured on Free Albums Galore. The project is actually a duo by two musicians simply named Oax , who plays most of the guitars, and Yan who takes care of the keyboards. Both of them also contributes electronic effects and various other instruments to the mix . There are a few albums by them released on Clinical Archive. Yet Numbers and Letters is by far their best and most realized effort. It is also my pick for best online avant-garde/experimental music release for 2010.

One of the things that makes this album stand out is the addition of guest artists which seems to bring the best out of Joxfield ProjeX. There are just too many guests to mention but you can find them listed on the download page. However, two that tend to stand out for me are saxophonist Geoff Leigh and sitarist Håkan Almkvist. The album is over 2 hours long and is the equivalent of 3 CDs. Disc A is titled Abstract Numbers and it is a bit more introverted than the other two offerings. It is also my favorite precisely due to the quieter and serious structure that pervades through the tracks. Disc B & C are titled Concrete Letters: A-M and Concrete Letters: N-Z. They have an harder edge but still are entertainingly complex efforts. They may be a bit more challenging for the avant-garde music novice.

Those who enjoy more experimental forms of music will appreciate Numbers and Letters but the music is not so “out there” that more conventional music lovers will not enjoy it too. So download it and give it a listen.

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Yoko Absorbing is a Russian avant-garde duo consisting of Evgenij V. Kharitonov & Mikhail Lezin. Their music is forever evolving, alternating between soothing and abrasive . The most accurate description is probably Musique Concrete, a genre of music focusing on noise as art. However, Yoko Absorbing can surprise you with guitar and keyboard breaking through occasionally with hints of melodies. I especially recommend the two Clinical Archive released albums Museum of Modern Chaos and Vinyl but the six Proc-Records released albums are also suitable for the extremely adventurous listener.

As mentioned, the first two albums are from Clinical Archives and are linked below to their Internet Archive page. The other six albums are from Proc-Records, and are listed on the artists’ Myspace page.Those six albums are linked below for direct downloading.

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Museum of Modern Chaos
Vinyl
European Sea Level
Visual Vibrations
Roughly & Gently
Risk Iskr
Number 2
ElementyTechnicheskogo Risovaniya

The experimental project named Nonima celebrates both the cerebral and the disturbing. For instance, the title track of Karmadebt start with an idyllic chorale which soon become disquieting breaking down with metallic pulses and industrial sounds. Nonima keeps the listener perplexed, which is a compliment. They have three albums, all legally free for listening and downloading, from the Section 27 netlabel; Karmadebt, Scream Unheard, and Wrpdata. There are plenty of electronic based experimental projects on the internet but Nonima ranks with the best. All three albums are also available through the Free Music Archive either from the artist’s page or from the album pages which are linked below.

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Karmadebt
Scream Unheard
Wrpdata

The Artifacts/yclept community of Richmond, Virginia flourished in the 70s and 80s and was determined to stretch the boundaries of improvisational and experimental music. What started as a small record label still continues as an informal but wide-ranged collective of artists and musicians. The main outlet of the music in the beginning was a experimental group called Bomis Brendin but all of the members of the community made their own excursions into the odd and weird. The anthology album titled This Strange Little Cricket chronicles the best of these efforts. There are tracks by Brendin Bomin and, my favorite of the Artifacts/yclept bands, the Karen Cooper Complex. Other artists include Wm Burke’s Hideous Truth and the Tom and Marty Band. This is a fascinating journey back to the days of cassette music and independent art before corporate music started closing the entrances and the internet existed to reopen them..

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Untitled Strings is a collection of nine live tracks of free improvisation. Ysuke Akai is a guitarist from Brisbane, Australia whose playing is close to the avant-garde styling of such innovators as Derek Bailey. Wukir Suryadi is an Indonesian musician who plays the Bambuwukir, his own self-made instrument made from bamboo which serves as both a string instrument and percussion instrument. The resulting tracks are a fascinating mix of avant-garde guitar with a sound that is eerily close to gamelan music. At times the music is serious and dense but more often it has a very playful quality. This album is quite enjoyable and should please those into contemporary classical, free jazz, and world music alike.

The album is available from the Indonesian Yes No Wave netlabel or you can download from the link below at the Free Music Archive.

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The Nine Strings Trio is an avant-garde jazz ensemble playing both structured and improvised music. For the most part, the 11 tracks on The Sounding Table sound more improvised than structured. This is challenging music yet one can hear a good sense of musical telepathy between these players. The musicians are Daniel Barbiero on double bass, Jimmy Ghaphery on alto saxophone and wood flutes, and Gary Rouzer playing electric bass and contributing amplified textures. This free and legal online album is from the Music is Big Place net label.

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The Just Not Normal netlabel recently released one of the best experiment music compilations I’ve ever found on the web. It is call No-R-mal offering four CDs full of interesting music and was recently reviewed and featured here at Free Albums Galore. However, it appears the Just Not Normal people are not resting on their laurels. They followed up with no-r-mal II, stretching the length to six CDs of equally fascinating, but often challenging music. There are 71 artists, 71 tracks and over seven hours of sounds. The six CDs are grouped in six atmospheric categories titled from CD1 to CD6 as Warm Voices, Dark Places, Strange Paces, Ca-Dance, Art Sounds and Outta Here. There are a few already raved about artists here like Phillip Wilkerson and Mystified but most are brilliant musicians languishing in obscurity waiting for the adventurous listener to discover them.. That adventurous listener just may be you!

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The interaction between vocalist Agnes Heginger and electronic sound artist Karlheinz Essl can be called haunting, beautiful and slightly ethereal. Heginger’s voice reminds me a little of Meredith Monk with post-modern Joan LaBarbara sensibilities. The album Out of Blue is a four track excursion into minimalist improvisation. I especially like the almost spiritual chanting of “Action Riteulle: Duo”. This is a exceptional album for those who want something on the experimental but still calming side. Out of Blue is available onXS Records as a free and legal download which you can get at the Internet Archive from the link below.

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Cooper-Moore is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer. He originally started as a jazz pianist but now creates his own instruments and plays outside the boundaries of any one genre. Recently he placed a three volume retrospective of his previously unreleased music from 1990 to 2010 on the Free Music Archive. The works range from solo pieces (”The Forest” and “In The Morning”) to vocal experiments (”I Know How”) to experimental suites ( “Anyone Seen Marie Laveau”). I like the artist best on his compositions for piano. Set three includes three exceptional duos with Cooper-Moore on flute and Clayton Thomas on bass. Overall, A Retrospective 1990-2010 is a fine introduction to this amazing musician.

While you are at WFMU’s Free Music Archive, you can also find two live performances by Cooper-Moore. CM Live at the Brecht Forum 11-7-2009 is an over 30 minute exploration with the artist on many of his unique instruments. There is also a improvisational duo track with Elliott Sharp. CM Live at the Issue Project 9-8-08 is actually a performance of his composition “Music: Old and New Paths” which is played on his homemade instruments. the 39 minute duration gives you an excellent look at the totality of the artist’s talents.

As mentioned, all three albums are housed at the Free Music Archive. They are freely and legally available in MP3 format through Creative Commons licensing.

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A Retrospective 1990-2010 Set 1
A Retrospective 1990-2010 Set 2
A Retrospective 1990-2010 Set 3
CM Live at the Brecht Forum 11-7-2009
CM Live at Issue Project 9-8-08

Haunting, beautiful, and distinctly modern is Garth Knox’s solo viola effort titled Viola D’Amour. It is another excellent release from the unique SHSK’H net label which is always good for top quality post-classical music . Knox explores the outer boundary of his instrument and keeps the listener both in wonder of what he will do next. The album has both structured compositions and improvisations although it is a challenge to identify which is which. However the virtuosity of the artist is unquestioned and this is a good bet for those who enjoy classical, modern compositions or simply interesting music.

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Bill Altice, former musician in the Karen Cooper Complex, alerted me to another band he was playing in around the same time called Bomis Brendin. Originally recording in the 1980s, they are still together as is attested to on their current web site. However their first two albums Test and Phantom Limb can be found lurking free and legally under Creative Commons licensing at the Free Music Archive. Bomis Prendin appears to have been a collective of musicians experimenting under the auspice of the Artifacts/yclept record label in Washington D.C. The ensemble played a form of free rock improvisation that is similar to the music of Fred Frith, Pere Ubu and to a lesser degree, The Residents. Primarily instrumental, there is a real love of sound for sound’s sake in these tracks. There is always something going on to simulate the senses. Just another amazing look at the kind of great musical explorations going on in the outer territories of the 80s.

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Phantom Limb
Test

Seattle’s improv ensemble Aunt Jamamas Big Band Vigilantes may be described as avant garde but their liberal usage of wit and melodic structure makes them quite acceptable to those who tend to avoid the atonal. In fact, their improvisatory meanderings do not sound all that free-style at times, leaning heavily to both jazz and rock. The mix of acoustic ensemble with electronic sampling and effects keeps them interesting throughout this live recording. This is certainly worth a listen. Another fine album from the very eclectic WM Recordings.

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The Societa Anonima Decostrizionism Organici, more easily remembered as S.A.D.O., is a long standing Italian improvisational ensemble. The album titled La Differanza was their second album and was released in 2000. The netlabel Clinical Archive has released this again as a 10th anniversary tribute. S.A.D.O is an imaginative group of musicians that are well-versed in the art of avant-garde jazz and post-modern free playing. “Chaos part 1″ is, as its title suggests, chaotic yet the next track, “Sisem Sint Ianez”, is a more introverted offering showing some nice planning on the ensemble’s part. Yet the nest two tracks, “La Bomba” and “Teeshe”, really show the band at its strength which is a Frank Zappa styled wit. Highly recommended to the adventurous music fan.

You can find this album in 320kbps MP3 at the Internet Archive or the link below for The Free Music Archive.

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When I think of regions that abound in musical creativity and cities that welcome musicians that push boundary and encourage artistry in sound I always think of…Sacramento?. The same city in which the guvernator dreams of changing the constitution and running for prez while The Kings dream of being a basketball team? Antennas Erupts! is described by the WFMU Free Music Archive as a “free jazz/art punk combo who died much too young”. Perhaps if they weren’t in Sacramento…

But artists spring up everywhere, and Antennas Erupts! are certainly a fountain of energy and imagination. Their only album titled Magical Energy is a hyperactive array of improvisation with equal parts of jazz and punk. The Art Ensemble of Chicago meets The Three Stooges. The album is available though the Free Music Archive from the link below.

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Sound manipulator Lezet appears to welcome the comparisons to Avant-garde music pioneer John Cage. After all, his new album from suRRism-Phonoethics net label is titled Caged? and is a collection of work for prepared piano. Certainly the playful experimentation with sound and the love for randomness is in both of their works. Lezet’s prepared piano compositions are certainly interesting. For the most part, they are brief, under a minute, yet the mix of sound and percussion is quite enjoyable. Solely based on this single album , Lezet is a composer and musician to watch out for.

Yet we do not need that one album to make that assessment. The Headphonica netlabel offers Characters, a project with its own unique conceptual turn. Lezet uses “a typing computer keyboard as the sound-delivering device where each letter is represented by a distinct note.”. The result is a surprisingly tonal work of brief pieces that are interesting, and often charming in their sound and application.

Both album are available from either the netlabels’ web site or the link below from the Free Music Archive.

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Characters
Caged

The SuRRism-Phonoethics net label is one of the newer labels on the internet and one of the most experimental. It specializes in artists who wish to push the boundaries. One the musicians associated with this label is Jaan Patterson and his project titled Undress Beton is most interesting. It is a busy mix of electronics, field recordings and lord knows what else. It is a virtual playground of sounds. Some of the reviewers of this album call it playful and comedic. If that is true, it is dark comedy indeed. The album Tarentaliiogy Defloration is a good place to start. The sounds may not serve a linear purpose but the over all effect is like listening to a strange radio play designed for the subconscious only.

You can also find the one track composition Stuckhousing Quantum Gums (Hyocnemis Rhythms). I have a feeling Mr. Patterson may have planted his tongue firmly in cheek on this one. Ccmposed for Good Ship Glossolalia Series by ResonanceFm, it “is of 60 minutes in length & provides detailed research on Hypocnemis Rhythms”. Of course that begs the question; “What is Hypocnemis Rhythms?” What you get is more of Patterson’s clever but sometimes bewildering fusion of tape, sounds and noise. Both albums deserve a hearing and may just open your mind.

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Tarentaliogy Defloration
Stuckhousing Quantum Gums (Hyocnemis Rhythms)

Mexican electronic sound and performance artist Erick Diego is one of the unusual musicians that inhabit the experimental world of the SuRRism-Phonoethics net label. Diego’s forte appears to be a kind of tape music using pre-taped sounds formed into sound sculptures. They tend to be in slow-motion , drone heavy, and generally dark. This is a fascinating recording for careful listening.

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This live album recorded in Vilius, appropriately titled Live at Vilnius, is a good example of avant-garde improvisation. The four tracks are titled by the mode of instruments or ensemble that is featured. Therefore the first three tracks are improvisations by alto saxophone, piano and baritone saxophone respectively. Pianist Roman Stolyar and saxophonist Ilia Belorukov play together in “Duo”. Finally the two are joined by trombonist Skirmantas Sasnauskas and drummer Arkadij Gotesmanas for a 13 minute quartet improvisation. All in all, a fascinating excursion into the outer reaches of improvisation.

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Group member Bill Altice described The Karen Cooper Complex as “a band that played loosely structured, improvisational rock that was more Bitches Brew than Grateful Dead”. The album Shinjuku Birdwalk was released in 1981 but has made its way unto the Free Music Archive as a legal creative commons licensed download. This is a rare look at a very creative band that I doubt any of my readers have ever heard of. At least I have never heard of them until now. Yet Shinjuku Birdwalk reveals a group of musicians that were ahead of their time. The tracks show traces of Zappa, The Residents and Furious Pig in a cross between 60s Beat generation poetry and 80s No-Wave. Karen Cooper practically chants over jazz and rock riffs.. The music is eerily magnetic and should appeal to those who like to stray off the safe path. This is a must-download.

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