Bob Ostertag - Motormouth

Nothing excites me more than a new Bob Ostertag album. The acclaimed electronic music composer started in the analog days and is still in the forefront of electronic and avant-garde composition. The fact that he now releases all of his independent albums free through a Creative Commons license is even more laudable.

His newest album goes a little retro as he plays exclusively on a Buchla 200e modular synthesizer. As described from the Free Music Archive page, the 200e is “Don Buchla’s recent reincarnation of the Buchla 200, which he created in 1970, which was in turn the heir to the Buchla 100 he created in 1963.” It is a somewhat percussive instrument, at least the way Ostertag plays it here, yet also light and playful. This is a straight performance with no overdubbing or sampling. This is quite a pleasant listen without the socio-political overtones in many of Ostertag’s other works.

The link below is the download page from the Free Music Archive. However, you can also go to the composer’s web site to download not only this album but all his others which includes some nice collaborations with Faith No More’s Mike Patton.

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Astma - There Will be a McDonald’s

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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Bing Satellites - thirteen albums

Bing Satellites classifies his music as ambient shoegaze which is a good a label as anything. Whatever the label, the sounds emanating from his thirteen free and legal online albums is easy on the ears yet meditatively stimulating. This is music for calming down after a stressful day, The overall feel of each album varies from a jazzy new age chill (Summer Night) to ambient drones (The Twilight Sessions) yet each album is quite accessible. Bing Satellites puts a lot of work into his creations.

The first few albums have more of a new age lounge chill to them. Summer Nights certainly fit that category. Forever has some lovely acoustic piano on the first two tracks. Slow Motion is a collection of remixes of other musicians’ works. Little Waves concentrates on the ambient side of Bing Satellites with a very experimental fling in the track titled “Good Morning”.

Lines in the Sky collects collaborations with Manchester DJ OnSpiderPark and is on the glitchy side of electronica. Nothing For Miles is notable for the use of guitar and fretless bass on all of the tracks and it is my favorite of the albums. Experimental Music Vol. 1 is clearly what the title says it is and focuses on long ambient drones. Piano Cascades is the first release of 2011 and is a series of piano pieces with electronic backing that are, as described by the artist, “based around generative loops where each note is played on a loop, the length of that loop varying according to its pitch”. It is a bit more post-classical in style than any of the other recordings.

Finally there are the five Twilight Sessions which are live improvised performances. All the albums tend to be about an hour and a half long except for volume 5 which is over three hours of music. They are long ambient pieces which are perfect for extended listening or even soothing background sound.

All of these albums can be found at the artist’s website or you can go to the album page linked below.

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Summer Night
Forever
Slow Motion
Little Waves
Lines In the Sky (with OnSpiderPark)
Nothing For Miles
Piano Cascades
Accidental Music Vol.1
Twilight Sessions Vol. 1
Twilight Sessions Vol. 2
Twilight Sessions Vol. 3
Twilight Sessions Vol. 4
Twilight Sessions Vol. 5

Andreia Dacal - Afirmativa

Andreia Dacal is a Brazilian vocalist and songwriter who uses influences from reggae, dub, rap and Brazilian music to create her Latin-soul dub-based music. Her second album is released on a creative commons license through the Fresh Poulp netlabel. She uses eight different producers, mostly Eastern European. The result give the tracks a varied sound but Dacal’s own creativity is still dominant in these urban songs. This is a fascinating album well worth the download.

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Adern X - four albums

The XeVoR netlabel tells us to “Worship the loop.” If you are going to take that advice you can’t go wrong with these four albums spearheaded by sound artist Adern X. His albums are loaded with loops and samples that incorporate both electronic and field recordings. They tend to be challenging while bordering on the industrial but they are always interesting. All of them are live fully improvised performances. There are four albums with two being solo efforts, Polaroids and Concept Building. Slicer is a musical project of Adern X and Luca Privitera. The album titled Ricordi di un’Apostasia mai Avvenuta is also a live performance. ATX is a duo consisting of Adern X and Tomaso Azara. Again improvised live, the music is described as a “clash of two esthetics based on samples, where meaning arise in the crossroads of sound, melody and noise.” These are truly fascinating sound experiments and well worth your time.

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Ami Dang - Hukam

The Free Music Archive describes Ami Dang’s album titled Hukam as World Music which begs the question, “Which world?” At first, the strains of the first tracks sound a bit alien. However, the sweet sitars merges into the electronics and Dang’s chanting voice to reveal a mix of traditional Indian music, a trace of Bollywood, and more modern influences of house techno and post-classical minimalism. Yet it retains a pop sensibility making it a form of experimental pop music. I could get very used to a world that has pop music like this. One of the highlights is a very accessible dance tune called “A Strange Community.” On the other hand, “Amorphous Matter” has a “Laurie Anderson meets Bollywood” minimalism to it. Ami Dang has created one of more intriguing pop hybrids that you will hear. Love it or hate it, this is a must-listen.

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Wasaru - four albums

The music of Wasaru is a mix between new age ambient and trip-hop. It is generally downbeat and sometimes melodically repetitive but it makes up for this with lush and fragile arrangements using both acoustic instruments and electronics. The first three albums are mostly instrumental. Prisoners of State is the first album. It is brief at 14 minutes and is mostly a chilled-out dance club effort. Fragments of Stories changes this. This album uses more acoustic keyboard. It has the feel of a film soundtrack. The same can be said for Undefinable States In fact, most of Wasaru’s music take on a cinematic atmosphere . Undefinable States also exhibits more hip-hop influences.

But the best is Wasaru’s latest ear-feast, Imperceptible Memories. The artist invites some guest vocalists to participate and it gives the music a new dimension. Trip-hop dominates and there is a nice balance between down-tempo and hip-hop. The guest artists include the Dada Weathermen, Gracielita, and [mUE]. I especially like [mUE]’s two contributions, “When I’m a Boy” and “Recall”. This is the album I would recommend to download first. But if you like it you will enjoy the rest too.

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Fragments of Stories
Imperceptible Memories
Prisoners of State
Undefinable States

LeVant - Naked Light

Levant uses Vangelis styled electronic, choirs, and orchestral texture to create a music that is part symphony, part world music, and a bit spacey. It is relaxing and inspiring. A good bet for those who live new age symphonic sounding synth music.

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Mach FoX & Baxandall IP - Western Hills and the Copper Sun

The problem with collaboration albums is that it is sometimes hard to tell how much the artists contribute to the final results. I am somewhat familiar with Mach FoX as I have reviewed some of their albums but Polish soundster Baxandall IP is new to me. The credits of “Music by Baxandall, Vocal/Credits by Mach FoX” certainly helps. The music on this addictive album titled Western Hills and The Copper Sun reeks of nightclub, but more of a Eastern European darkwave club than American Mid-East Electro-Punk club. However, since I’ve never set foot in either type of club, what the hell do I know?

Let’s just agree this is catchy pulse-driven music that can be intoxicating noise (a plug to the distributing net label Intox Noize). While I like all of the tracks I find those which are more vocally minded such as “A Void” and “Nu Future” a bit more exciting. The entire album is a trip.

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The Kyoto Connection - No Headphones Required

The Kyoto Connection claims they are on of the most successful Creative Commons bands on the internet. I’m not sure how someone verifies that but I have previously reviewed their first two albums on Free Albums Galore and would say that the honor, if true, is deserved. Their third release is their most commercial effort yet. The Asian connection is very minimal in this recording. This is very commercial, very glossy pop dance music. Yet it is very good and it is hard to discount its irresistible appeal. There is a good mix of electro-pop, disco, and techno in these tracks. Some of the highlights include “Take on Me” (not the old Ha-Ha song), “Blinded by The Lights of Tokyo” with just a little of that Japanese touch (and no Springsteen), and the instrumental closer, “Vista Panoramica”. This is one of those albums that should have a broad appeal.

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Mo-seph - three albums

Dave Murray-Rust aka Mo-seph is a electronic music artist who gets it. He creates sounds and music to tickle that inner part of you that wants joy and serenity and actually manages to bring it to you even if only for the duration of his two serene, ambient albums. Mo-seph says he makes music that makes him smile and it does that trick for me but in a down-tempo, chilled-out spacey sort of way. Two of the albums are delightful soundscapes and they are titled Growth and Form and The Other Place. Speaking of The Other Place, if you like your techno chill-out a little funkier, you will love “Ubervamp” by Mo-Seph and Ariel. SOMOS NANAS is a collection of tracks that are collaborations between Mo-Seph and Josie Davis. They are a bit glitchier to my ears than the other two albums. But I enjoy all three and think you will too.

Mo-seph’s albums are available through Black Lantern Music or you can get them at his Free Music Archive page. Or, of course, go to the album page linked below and download from there.

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Growth and Form
The Other Place
SOMOS NANAS

Digi G’Alessio - four albums

I hear Digi G’Alessio has a bit of a reputation as the king of Italian electronic dance music. I can believe it after listening to the four Creative Common licensed albums available from the Free Music Archive. They are made for the dance floor yet carries a lot of wit and imagination. If I had to pick a subgenre for this kind of electronic dance music, I would say Dubstep. Each of the four albums have their own mood. Love, Beats, and Pina Coladas has a tiki bar environment going on, sort of a martini drenched techno thing. L’Attentato ai Mondiali starts with a middle east world beat and alternates between that and straight dubstep. The Cinar Session is his first album on the Bedroom Research netlabel and borders on the “glitches and beeps” / industrial line, yet it stays danceable and perfect for those who like their dance beats heavy and with plenty of electronic effects. The Rain Book has a more down-tempo side than the previous efforts but is still focused on the dance floor. If I had to pick only one album to download I would go for Love, Beats and Pina Coladas due to the lounge vibes but if you are into wonky dance music, go for all of them.

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Love, Beats, and Pina Coladas
L’Attentato ai Mondiali
The Cinar Session
The Rain Book


Rho - two albums

Steve Setzepfandt and Josh Wittman are the masterminds behind the electronica project called Rho. They have two albums on the No-Source netlabel titled October Turnout and Cedarleaf. The music sounds to me like a cross between Jean Michel Jarre’s symphonic electronica and the IDM soundscapes of Boards of Canada. I find Cedarleaf the better of the two mainly due to the variety of the tracks and a certain unpredictability as to where the artists are going in each song. Give it a listen.

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Cedarleaf
October Turnout

Various Artists - 36 Feet Under

The 36 ambient electronic tracks on Pavilon36 Recording’s 3 hour long compilation album titled 36 Feet Under could almost be described as “Old School”. There are lot of beeps and glitches, smoothly flowing lines and chilled beats. Some of this could easily find it way to a dance floor, albeit a super hip dance floor. IDM, drum & bass, down tempo, and breakcore are all here by artists who know what they are doing. Some of the more memorable tracks include Nomina’s “Foreign Chomsky”, Olympic Smoker’s “Japanese Airline”, the very non-ambient “C’Est Moi Qui Ai Fait Ça” by Salabalek and the frantically catchy “Hamsterdamage” by Duran Duran Duran. Actually there is pretty much something for any electronic music lover’s taste on this album.

You can find this album all along with everything else from this prolific net label here or you can download from the link below at the Free Music Archive.

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Shigeto - What We Held On To

Brooklyn’s Zach Saginaw aka Shigeto has a new EP titled What We Held On To. It is in that nether land between ambient and electronica. While there are plenty of glitches and beeps that I relate to abstract electronic music, it doesn’t detract from the soothing nature. “After The Smoke” and the title tune are the two highlights but all of it is chillin’.

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Mobius - two albums

You can find DIY synth music all over the internet but you won’t find it as enjoyable as the tracks for Mobius’ two free and legal albums from the Bumpfoot netlabel. Persona Non Grata is catchy and upbeat throughout while Advotus Diaboli is slightly darker. I am always delighted with what a true artist can do with a laptop and a few homemade synthesizers. Mobius is no exception.

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Advotus Diaboli
Persona Non Grata

Garmisch — Garmisch

Garmisch is one of the best band out of Sweden I’ve ever heard. How good are they? Well, let’s just say they can certainly kick Abba’s ass. It is amazing the this band is putting out an legally free independent album like this (from our friends at BlocSonic) and I would say you should grab it before some rich music producer gets wise and sign them to a contract. If you think I’m over doing it just listen to the first two tracks on their self-titled albums, “Facing The Sea” and “Try 01″ and I think you will be convinced. However the money tunes are the infectious “Laughing Track” or the dreamy exotic “Glimmer”. I also love the trippy-hoppy “Courtesy of Stephen Wright”. The influences are varied but what comes through is a unique and intelligent pop music.

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Hugo pieR – Hugo pieR

Hugo pieR is actually two people. Hugo is a French rapper and pieR is a electronic musician adept in all sort of electronic mischief. This is their debut album.. Fun, catchy and always listenable even for one who does not understand a word of French. My wife does speak French and she likes this. A huge complement from my classical music loving wife who usually hates rap. So take our tip and give this free and legal on-line album from the Fresh Poulp netlabel a listen

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Eddie Entropy - two albums

Eddie Entropy is a Minneapolis electro-punk music project that lives on the dark side. Their music is eerie, multi-layered and beautiful in a post-modern dark-wave way. Their new full-length album is a free download from the Dark Winter netlabel and is titled Blot Out The Sun With Sex. They don’t come much darker than this yet there is almost a symphonic feel to the use of electronics and vocal recitation that work so well on these tracks. Highlights include the title track and “Afterlife”.

Also available is the EP No Tomorrow consisting of four tracks that continue the deep darkness. On the same download page for this EP are two singles including an interesting cover of Beck’s “Teenage Wastebasket”.

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Blot Out The Sun With Sex
No Tomorrow

The Hyperonic Resonator - two albums

The Hypersonic Resonator presents a sort of vintage electronic sound wrapped up in a 21st century techno package. Lots of soulful riffs, vocal sampling, and electronic lounge meld together in two intriguing albums titled Prototype (2008) and Blind Man’s Bluff (2010). Both albums are from the Terminal Station netlabel.

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Hox Vox - eight albums

Hox Vox is from Venice, Italy. He is a composer of complex electronic compositions that can be vaguely categorized as progressive rock but chiefly defies musical classification. The eight albums featured here can also be found on his Jamendo page and they are interesting conceptual efforts that will keep you entranced.

The Dada EP is a sort of an electronica symphonic suite titled after artists of the Dada art movement. The four tracks, while certainly experimental, are quite accessible to the ear. A very enjoying short album.

The Wanderer is a bit more hectic. It is an aural journey of a killer looking for its victim. While you might not like the premise, the soundtrack is exhilarating, especially the Latin-jazz “La Posada de Joaquín Ortega” and the three minutes of manic energy titled “Gotcha”.

Hox Vox labels Mjolnir as “avantprog”. It is a series of musical portraits of the Norse gods.

Hurry Up Harry Part 1 is also a bit manic. It appears to be a sort of musical travelogue of a rebellious character named Harry. There is plenty of funk, urban breakbeats and trip hop for the intrepid listener. There doesn’t appear to be a part 2.

The artist describes Etoulie as a “concept album about stars - both intended as prima ballerinas and celestial bodies - and their issues.” there are elements of math rock, avant rock, and neo-classical all rolled together. While this is not my favorite of the albums, it is certainly one of the more involving and unpredictable.

“Das Chamäleon” is a short EP of 18 minutes duration. There no real concept here but these five tracks are quite good and gives the listener a good idea of the eclecticism of Hox Vox.

Outskirt is a geographic journey ranging from Reidsville, N.C. to Antares. It’s a bit spacey in part with a rock fusion center.

Finally Eight-Bit Deboned looks to be the earliest of the albums. It’s a bit lo-tech but it is really interesting to see what Hox Vox can do with lo-tech.

As mentioned, you can find all of these album on Jamendo. Just follow the links below.

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Dada EP
The Wanderer
Mjollnir
Hurry Up Harry Part 1
Etoile
Das Chamaleon
Outskirt
Eight-Bit Deboned

Various Artists - Error Broadcast presents Bag of Nothingness

Error-Broadcast is a new net label that is ushering in experimental hip-hop for the 21st century. Error-Broadcast Presents Bag of Nothingness is a sampler of seventeen tracks. These new artists all deserve a listen. They tend to eschew soul and funk samplings and instead lean heavily toward electronic sounds and synthesizers. For that reason the tracks often come across as much in the territory of techno and down-tempo as in hip-hop. Nonetheless, there is some tantalizing music here for the beat oriented.

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Leerless Feeder - two albums

Leerless Feeder is the incarnation of Maine musician Doug Porter. While Porter appears to be very busy with other bands in the area, this project is his main outlet for his more experimental works. But do not let that adjective scare you. He has an intimate melodic style that overlaps in genres but stays mostly in a downtempo mood. The two albums Leerless Feeder and The Modias Project Part 1 are released on the Entertainment Experiment net label and represents his work from 1998 to 2000.

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Leerless Feeder
The Modias Project Part I

M.W.D. - Singing Forest

If you are looking for tasty down-tempo style electronics and sampling. there is no better place to search than the Budabeats net label. Their latest find is M.W.D. in the form of Singing Forest, an online album of complex rhythms loaded with interesting samples. The title track kicks it off in an exotic traffic of beats and sounds. The second track is a lazy jazz fog that is just the right amount of mood and groove. Every track has its joys. This is a nice choice for background listening but with enough going on to be interesting for more attentive ears.

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Suhov - Symphaty Modul EP

Suhov is one of the newer artists on the ever groovy Budabeat net label. his EP titled Symphaty Modul is a chilled out mixture of beats and samples that hover between down-tempo and lounge. Let’s call this electronic lounge just in case we don’t already have an adequate supply of musical labels. Whatever you call it, the music is quite relaxing with its jazz influenced vibes. Check out “Funny” and “Moonhill” to get a hip taste.

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