Dynamoe - five albums
The music group Dynamoe appears to be quietly but steadily doing the free and legal thing for awhile now. They have three full albums with the earliest going back to 2001, and two compilations of unreleased materials. I figured it is time to give these guys their due. They have a solid professional sound that ranges from electronica to trip-hop to soul jazz and are deserving of a bigger audience.
The interesting thing to me is how each album has a distinct sound. Jump Start is from 2001 and is clearly a electronic music album clearly in the Techno / House tradition. It is purely instrumental, heavily percussive, and sounds like it should be played onthe dance floor. Not my cup of tea but good for what it is.
Coming Home is from 2004 and more to my taste. The opening track”Absent” is out of the acid jazz/jazz fusion arena and features a soulful vocal and great Richard “Groove” Holmes styled organ. Most of the album stays in the groove with jazzy solos and urban beats. “Geneve” is an especially tasty instrumental with a good sax solo and some nice arranging. “Mistress of Spice” has a nice female vocal paired with a slow-tempo blend of soul and trip-hop. The entire album sets off a calming but groove-filled atmosphere. This is the one I would recommend most.
In the Wake of Time is the latest and was released in 2007. The band has now shifted to a more commercial sound of smooth jazz and trip-hop. Vocals are now in the forefront giving a decidely mainstream feel. Yet there is still a tight interaction with the band members. and good arrangements throughout. “You Convinced Me” has a Tricky influence while “Rita Come Here Quick” is a track ready for prime time. This is a good album for easy listening; not as good as Coming Home but more my type than Jump Start
Rounding up the pack are two compilation albums of unreleased materials from 1998-2000 and 2001-2003. Mainly electronic dance music, the first collection does have some really funky tracks. I especially like “Chinese Food” and “Yellow Cab”. The second collection has a lot of soul and jazz oriented materials such as the trumpet sampled “If it Twinkles Snatch it”. Like most collections of unreleased material there is an unevenness but still plenty of good tracks.
All albums are available from Dynamoe’s web site in either 128kbps or 192kbps MP3 format. If you enjoy the music, be sure to support the band by sending them a donation.
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I asked my wife what she thought of Le Chatmou’s two free and legal online albums. She hesitated and then said “Very French”. It’s hard to elaborate on that response but I’ll try. Jerome Hoffman aka Le Chatmou makes music of a cinematic quality that would sound perfect in some French films, perhaps a 
Jopy’s meditative music is a cut above a lot of the ambient / electronic music that is freely available over the internet. The three albums on his web site are lush soundscapes that flirts with the lyrical but never quite surfaces into melodies. Long drones, found sound, and barely decipherable voices all play a part in these hard to resist ambient sound waves. There are occasionally some noticeable beats as on Bojihanga’s “Piti” but even then they tend to become lost in the layers of sounds. Bojihanga is a good place to start due to the quiet and spacey vibes it sends out. I’m not sure if it is intentional but there is an eerie similarity to the Indian devotional music called 
Tracing Arcs has an unusual but pleasing sound. While trip-hop in design and jazz in concept, there is a sense of free association in their album titled Fin. Luscious female vocals almost ramble in their lyrics and often the song ends abruptly rather than resolve. The result is a dream-like soundscape that lulls you into a trance, and a pleasant one at that. One of the more interesting aspect of the band is the use of an acoustic bass that gives a jazz-like grounding to some tracks. It works especially well on “A Pig & a Cow” and “Desperate Measures”. Another favorite track is the rather heady “Crytalk”. This is an exceptional album of sensuous sounds.
Philadelphia’s 
The Kyoto Connection plays chilled out electro-pop mixed with a generous amount of Japanese sounds. Their 2008 release titled The Kyoto Connection II is now free and online. While the Japanese influence was not quite as dominant as I expected it to be, their music is still full of unexpected surprises in the engaging electronic arrangements. I find “Painting With Lights” especially intriguing for its trip-hop vocals and Oriental background drones. “Voyage I - Let The Light In” is the kind of pretty new age track that is both delightful and soothing while “The Prisoner” has a dance-pop quality that is infectious. All three of the “Voyage” tracks are quite beautiful. I played this at a gathering of people who had very different tastes in music and almost everyone was asking me who it was and where they could get it. This is very engaging music that should be enjoyable to a large audience. The album is available from Jamendo in VBR MP3 format.
Drone albums are esy to come by on the internet. Good drone albums are difficult to find anywhere. Kalte has released The Lanthanide Series and it is an exceptional display of minimalist drone-based soundscapes. Kalte is a duo consisting of sound artists Deane Hughes and Rik MacLean who seem to like cold and icy tones that hang and echoes in your ears. Since they state that this album was inspired by the barren Canadian winters, it sort of makes sense. The overall mood is bleak and solemn but there is still plenty of beauty in this music. This may not ever crack Billboard’s top 40 but I suspect its haunting sounds will stay with you a lot longer than anything on the hit list.
I have always been partial to collections that portray the musical pulse of a city or region. I’ve featured a few including sound snapshots of 
For the most part, the musical project S.N.O.W. is a quiet affair. Sound artists Federico Mosconi and Mauro Graziani creates sculptures of tones and noise. They describe the music as “sonic representations of experience and dream, expression of a moment, through life memories and towards an imaginary future” which gives a good idea of the complexity and drama that these seven tracks can deliver. Most of the music is ambient in nature but occasionally a track like “Crashing in The Snow” provides a good amount of industrial-like tension. This is an exceptional example of electronic experimentation that straddles the border between calming music and the avant-garde.
Dub One! has a unique global sense of musical madness. The five tracks on Dubplates From The Madhouse orignates from Berlin but teems with the sound of Jamaica. Hip-Hop, Techno and Reggae are shaken not stirred into a mesmerizing soundscape. “Jack Pot” and “Odd Man’s Planet Dub” turn out mellow and urban funky at the same time. However my favorite track is the raga/reggae “Sitar Sensi”, a hip-hop global contender if I ever heard one. Dub albums are usually not something I listen to regularly but this one may stay in the Ipod for quite a while. 
The primarily avant-garde 
Degiheugi loves his samples. He tends to take old and usually familiar material, surrounds them with rich beats and manipulates them until they are his own. Then he’s off to something else. This makes his free online release titled Aquilon somewhat disjointed often sounding like wandering but conventional House. But when it gels, like on “Commes un enfant sans mere”and “My Rickety Piano”, it can really be a treat. I especially like the reconstruction he does on Nina Simone with the track “My Baby Don’t Care For Shows” and the very hip-hop / dub “Soldier in The Sky. Most of Aquilon falls into the trip-hop genre but it is quite an unique effort. Definitely worth a try.
Does anyone know how the Netaudio festival in London went down? If the album is any indication, it must have been interesting at the least. The compilation titled Net Audio London 2008 Showcase was released before the show to highlight the bands that were going to appear. It is a nice collection leaning toward the techno side with a hearty sampling of electro-punk, ambient, experimental and other side dishes of the electronic genre. Favorites tracks range from a beautiful soundscape from the alway fascinating D’Incise to the tongue-in-cheek techno-exotica of Disrupt’s “Samauri Showdown” to the industrial punk “Hello Africa” by Indian Jewelry. But the show stopper comes at the beginning with A.R.E. Weapon’s “Don’t You Fucking Die on Me” a stunning piece of electro-punk that manages to channel both Iggy Pop and The Doors. You might not like every track on this album but there is a good chance you will find enough to make the download worth it.
If there is anyone who can be called a Creative Commons License superstar it has to be 
L’eau de Robinet is a project from Polish electronic music artist and producer Cristopher Pokora. Being a rather eclectic listener of music, I really appreciate the creative sampling and arranging of varied sounds throughout this album . The sampling of jazz motifs, turntablism, spoken dialogue and more are manipulated into an adventurous but very easy going session of jazz, lounge and even a little hip-hop . His album titled Tap Water Drinkers is light enough to be background music but will still give you surprises with each attentive listening. Try “C’tait Don” for a witty duel of flute and vocal samples or “L’ile Desert” for a wilder but still jazzy treat. 
