While listening to her four free and legal online albums, New Zealand musician Jordan Reyne reminds me of a number of artists yet still manages to be uniquely herself. The first comparison is the most arguable, Reyne’s atmospheric background and her plaintive Celtic vocals hints of Enya yet Reyne is more darkwave than Enya could ever be. More accurate might be the Gothic renderings of Dead Can Dance. I also hear the epic combination of rock and electronic of Peter Gabriel especially on the two later albums. Yet the comparison game can only go so far, Jordan Reyne has clearly carved out a niche of her own.

Passenger (2004) is dark and hypnotic. Reyne remains a haunting vocalist throughout. The title track and “Waiting For The Sun” are stand-out tracks. I do hear that Enya influence, perhaps Enya by way of Brian Eno?

Birds of Prey (1997) is my favorite of the four album and the most accessible. The title tracks gives you a good example of the Peter Gabriel influences. Reyne in a bit sharper in her vocals on this album which rings best on the harder edged tracks like “Perfidity” yet milder songs like “Long Way To Climb” are quite impressive too.

While marked as albums by Jordan Reyne, The Ironman (2000) and The Loneliness of Creatures (2002) appears originally released under the name of Dr. Kevorkian and The Suicide Machine. Changing the name was a good move. Yet these two albums are very different from the artist’s other two efforts. These are dark ambient bordering on drone music. The albums convey a dark and disturbing musical environment. I prefer the other two CDs but these will have their moments for those into dark ambient.

All albums are available in 128kbps MP3. If you like the music, you can also purchase Jordan Reyne’s latest CD, How The Dead Live.

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Tamerlan inhabits a musically dark area that straddles goth, folk, and ambient. Predominantly acoustic, it hints of darkwave and rock yet sounds very mystical, almost medieval. Their album is titled The Antiexistence and it is eerie and relaxing, sort of new age on the dark side. Highlight tracks include the only vocal “Beneath the Moonlight” , the tribal “Manipura”, and “Arcane Dreams”.

The album is available from the Ekleipsi netlabel through the internet archive in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format.

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If Party People in a Can is a reasonable example of what passes as party music in Portugal, I think I’ll stick to California. On the other hand, if you like your music in the nature of Bauhaus mixed with surf and lazy rhythms this super laid back band from the You Are Not Stealing Records netlabel may be your nirvana. Way Off, Where The Spirits Are is a bit of voodoo served up with panache and a little tongue in the cheek on the side. “Leaving The Home Tribe” has a low mysterious vocal that is paired with a roaming beat reminiscent of Wall of Voodoo. “Surfing With My 2 Little Brothers” is a light little surf homage of an instrumental and “Ayahuasca” definitely has Ennio Morricone in mind. A little surf, a little goth, and lots of atmosphere is what you get with Party People in a Can.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3.

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The Transister’s 2008 release is titled Under Control and it is a free and legal blast! The title tune starts this 25 minutes EP with a energetic riff that drives the equally forceful vocal. The energy of this danceable yet listenable album comes from a blend of punk, goth, darkwave, and electro-pop that is a more than a little hardcore yet has enough hooks and melody to entrap the most casual listener. I like “Walking in a Black Hole” and “JB is Dead” but the highlight has to be “Living Like a Superstar”, a smart and sassy number that is somewhere between Bauhaus and Disco. Goths, New Wavers and Dance freaks can all unite under this audacious album.

Under Control is available from AFmusic in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format.

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Leave it to Mary Shelly Overdrive to celebrate Halloween with class. They just released two EPs titled Shock Theatre and Bride of Shock Theatre loaded with their customized shockabilly / hardcore metal nuances guaranteed to rock you and shock you.

Actually Shock Theatre is a re-release, having first surfaced a year ago. This version is slightly re-polished with the most obvious change being a revamped vocal duet from lead singer Mark Wood and bassist Wyckedevil Jones on Rob Zombie’s “House of a Thousand Corpses”. The Rob Zombie cover is my favorite song on the EP but the other five tracks also deliver the goods . The recordings starts with a sample of the notorious Blood Feast trailer then glues the tracks together with samples of other horror/gore films. A great party game would be to try to identify all the films represented on this EP. I think I got 100 percent right but I’ve been a hardcore horror film fan since my childhood when I would sneak out of the bedroom to watch the forbidden Creature Features while everyone else was sleeping.

Bride of Shock Theatre uses the same technique of audio samples to set the mood. The songs are equally hardcore and spooky, all being originals except for three covers of songs by Blue Oyster Cult, Bauhaus, and New Math. The covers are good but it is the originals that really bring this EP to life…or should I say undead? The highlight of the EP is the pulsing “Lament of Janos Slorzeny”. Both of these albums are required for any respectable Halloween party.

The two albums are available in 160kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artists by purchasing their new self-titled full album…and thanks for featuring the blurb, guys!

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D-alternative is a Polish duo consisting of Dorota Wierzchowska on vocals and Andrzej Drelinkiewicz on keyboards and electronics. The primary genre is basically Darkwave or Gothic with a bit Medieval or New Age creeping into the mix. Some of the past listeners have compared them to Delerium or Dead Can Dance . That may be true in the electronically based tracks like “Awakening” and “Spring” but D-Alternative really comes into their own when acoustic piano and Dorota’s mezzosoprano voice either dominate the proceedings such as on the opening “Judith” or go on their own in the acoustic duo versions of “Up Into Silence” and “Miracle”. These twilight tunes are like a walk in a very dark forest.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3.

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The German darkwave/electro-pop band Curious has placed their 2004 full-length release The Intimate Stranger on Jamendo as a free and legal download. The band has a heavy synthrock sound that harks back to The Cure and OMD while also showing a distinct Goth influence. The lush but driving “Thought of Angels” pretty much sets the pace while “The Silent Voice” is a haunting darkwave ballad. After these two exceptionally strong starting tracks, it becomes a little redundant for the 50 minute album but music still remains intriguing with some well crafted songs like “Your Apology” and “A Thousand Sunrises”, the best rocker in the set. This album is a nice addition to your collection if you like your rock slightly Gothic or have an infinity for Cure styled electro-pop.

The Intimate Stranger is available in VBR MP3 from the link below. You can also download it in 128kbps MP3 from their Last.fm page. If you like the music, support the artists by buying their CDs.

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