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

Texture is a member of the Scottish spoken word/hip-hop ensemble The Chemical Poets. He has three relatively short but intense EPs off of the Black Lantern Music netlabel which are freely and legally available through the Free Music Archives. The three albums are Aphasia, Parasomnia, Synaesthesia. They all have a dark urban feel combining aspects of hip-hop, dub step and post-modern electronica. Somewhat foreboding but hypnotically attractive, these three EPs are a good bet for the nihilists in the crowd.

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Aphasia
Parasomnia
Synaesthesia

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

Joshua Watkin’s collection of hip-hop ballads titled I Hope You Love Me is meandering, slowly paced and sentimental. In fact, I think that is the point of this dreamy but down-to-earth album. Watkins delivers his rap is a lovely direct style that is soft and bittersweet. I especially like the title track and “A Love Like This”. This is a different hip-hop recording from a refreshingly casual performer.

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Once again I run into the question of how do I review a rap album when I do not know the language. 51% is an Israeli group out of Tel Aviv. Its members are Taboo+, Jozeph, Shai Fishman , Avi Ashkenazi (Big Avi) & Avi Golzman (Small Avi). The other related question is simply: Can I feel it without know the lyrics? The answer in this case is a resounding yes. 51% has a hard driving sound which is on the tense side. The vocals are intriguing in their emotion and the beat is relentless. They have two albums, the self-titled 51% and Zehu which is translated to “That’s It”. They seem to be full collaborations, meaning all group members appear to be participating fully and equally. The tracks on both albums lean to a soulful hip-hop sound with a very strong American urban soul influence. A third album titled Songs From The Boidem are individual tracks by the group members henceforth showing a bit more variety from electronica to soul to Israeli traditional music influences. Overall, an interesting hip-hop project utilizing lots of funk, soul and world music.

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51%
Songs From The Boidem
Zehu

The nice thing about having your own blog is that you can break your own rules. Of course you can’t do it all the time because then they wouldn’t really be rules so you couldn’t really be breaking them. The no less than 15 minutes album duration rule is one I occasionally make an exception to for exceptional music and the hip-hop on this 11 minute EP titled The Amazing Adventures of Quick Draw McGraw and Huckleberry Hound is rather excellent. However, the real reason is because the guys that make up Exact Opposites are local dudes from my hometown of Blythe, California. If I can’t help out local dudes, who can I help out? Mekanism, I.Fit.The.Description, and Jae Raw.kwell have strong urban sensibilities that belies their rural routes for, as they say on their “Fertile Roots” video, “Because you’re from a small town doesn’t make you small town”. The featured EP use the concepts of a old cartoon series to illustrate modern cultural issues and their own musical mission. It starts out a little jokey but once you get to the last and best track, “Final Showdown” the tension is pleasantly high. Exact Opposites is a welcome addition to the still developing genre of hip-hop.

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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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MC Cullah comes out of Milwaukee, not exactly the first town that comes to mind when hip-hop is mentioned. Yet MC Cullah has his own thing going, a mid tempo hip hop wth generally inroverted lyrics and a personal rapping style. He also has a nice touch with samples and electronic backing. Killah McCullah may be the best bet for those who enjoy more mainstream hip-hop. However his creativity comes through in tracks that utilizes such things as accordians and African folk melodies. And is that Gracie Allen opening “Electronic Smurf”? There’s a lot of variety on this recording.

E=MC Cullah is an interesting mix of down-tempo electronica, hip-hop, and psychedelica. It is more of a concentrated listening experience than the earlier album. What it tells me is that this artist has a lot of imagination and should be surprising us for a long time.

Both albums can be found on his web page download page or through the links below from The Free Music Archive.

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E=MC Cullah
Killah Cullah

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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Just Plain Ant continues to make some of the best hip-hop albums available online. Some of them come from his Just Plain Sounds net label but this gem is his second and newest off another great netlabel, Blocsonic. Ant uses all his smooth moves on this album titled Rumble, Young Man, Rumble making this another urban soul drenched journey into beats and samples. He is joined by many of his usual suspects including Sleaze, Braintrust, and Joey Ripps. There are also some new partners in crime like Black Liquid and Mic Jordan. All of these collaborators add enticing lyrics and on-target rapping. But the big news is the addition of Chuck D of Public Enemy on “Way Back When”. It is a nice surprise and a great track but, then again, they are all great tracks on this must-listen album of progressive hip-hop.

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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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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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Pearl Taylor’s Grandbaby is the musical alter-ego of multi-talented artist Carlton Mackey. His free album is a loving tribute to his grandmother. Before you groan, just give it a listen. Things My Grandma Taught Me is a warmly produced effort of hip-hop and soul that is totally likable and frankly irresistible. The highlight is “Never Be Another Day” yet the entire album radiates grooving vibes and emotional lyrics. Most of the album has a mellow hip-hop feel that reminds me just a little of Wyclef Jean. Certainly there is a sense of intimacy and optimism. There is also a strong influence of gospel that is best heard on “One More River”It is a nice and somewhat unusual album that should not be missed.

The album is availble in various formats from Bandcamp through the link below.

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This is hip-hop? Never mind that I can’t understand a word he is saying. True, he is rapping in Spanish. I understand Spanish when it is spoken very slowly but this guy goes so fast it might as well be Mandarin. But should hip-hop be loaded with walking bass lines, boogie keyboards, tap dancing turntablism and jazz horn riffs?

That’s what you get with Menuda Coincidencia’s album off of the Delhotel netlabel titled Ai con Permisito. Even if you don’t understand Spanish, it is hard not to like the rapid-fire recitation that fills this album. It is more in the line of Tom Waits’ early Jazz poems than hip-hop but who’s keeping score? It’s fun and that is what matters.

The album is available in 320kbps MP3.

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Tab is from New Jersey and has a hip-hop style that is a bit spacey but still sounds as it comes from the streets. There is an unavoidable influence from Eminem but I still find that his grooves and beats have their own trademark. The three albums available through Jamendo are all enjoyable.

Traveling in Stereo appears to be the latest. “Peace Pipe” starts the festivities with a typical mix of mellowness and streetwise raps. “Booze Infused Wisdom” is the funkiest of the tracks. There is actually quite a bit of variation in the tracks which makes for a more successful album.

Chasing Rabbits shows off Tab’s ability to tell stories and to tackle a variety of themes. The title track is awesome and is the highlight of the album. I love the way Tab can be both hip and mellow on some tracks yet blow out the breaks on the jazz infused “Cheap Disguise”. “The Elmer Fudd Theory” is good for a giggle.

Poet in The Dark shows off some Latin and reggae influencea yet still remains in the down tempo hip-hop style of the other albums. Good tracks include “Sun Goes Down”, a reggae “Dream World” and the strange rock detour titled “White Flag”.

There is also a short (19 minutes) EP titled Nightmares Daydreams (A Silent Film). It is almost entirely instrumental with a few tracks having vocals mostly for the background. It was meant to music to accompany a equal amount of videos. Although the project is yet to be completed you can see three of the videos here.

The album are all available in VBR MP3.

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Traveling in Stereo
Nightmares Daydream {a Silent Film}
Chasing Rabbits
Poet in The Dark

I don’t know when I had so much fun listening ot a hip-hop album. Bi-Polar Bear’s album titled Today I Found Happy is a celebratory collection of funky samples and hot hooks. The lyrics range from gratuitously bawdy (”Fuck Her”) to romantic (”Her For Him”) to philosophically reflective (”NPFJ”) yet the arrangements and beats remains outright irresistible. I also like the title track and the explosive “Party Girl”. This is a party album with substance.

The album is available from SettingWorld records in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artists by buying the CD…or buy one of those cool T-shirts.

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A while back, I said an unkind thing about a cut on another album that featured rap artist Sleaze. Well, not exactly unkind but certainly not favorable. The artist replied with grace and class and invited me to listen to this free and legal album titled Summer Fresh. I finally got around to it and learned never to rate an artist on one song especially one that wasn’t all his. Summer Fresh is a mellow hip-hop affair that flows with the summer feeling of warm urban nights. Some of the tracks like “Frantic” and “God Damn” has their share of tension and dense commentary but other tracks like “Evolve” and “Time of The Essense” have a mellow cool feeling amongst the still socially relevant lyrics. So Sleaze… Forget what I said before..I dig your music!

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BlocSonic continues to score big points with its NetBloc series. Volume 25: From Darkness Cometh The Light makes it out of the starting gate for the end of 2009 and it is another winner. Every volume of this excellent retrospective of the best from the netlabels is worthwhile but number 25 outdoes itself. There are excellent songs from Free Album Galore favorites Josh Woodard and Just Plain Ant but there are some newly discovered artists that are just as worthy of your time. Hip-hop artist Gates is great on “I Remember When” while Tab & Anitek raps rapturously on a “House of The Rising Son” that is nothing like anything your dad may remember from that song title. Add some unique tracks by Pearl Taylor’s Grandbaby, Fourstones, and Nic Bommarito and you still have only a taste of the nice cuts on this excellent compilation. If you like this album, you should back to check out the other 24 albums in this series.

The album is available in MP3 and FLAC format.

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I’m not a big turntablism fan but I must admit the artistry of Manuele Atzeni is quite appealing. Sporting a urban soulfulness and a lounge style hipness, The Miyazaki Tour EP is a nentertaining five track collection of hip hop and electronica laced with a lot of jazz and funk. Atzeni, aka Miyazaki, comes from Florence, Italy and is apparently a major influence in the hip/hop & dance scene of that area. This is a nice mellow mixture of the hip and the cool.

The album is available from WM Recordings in 320kbps MP3.

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Richmond hip-hop producer Just Plain Ant has a good thing going for him with his new netlabel Just Plain Sounds. Unencumbered by the demands of the corporate music machine, JPA can go ahead and release something like The New Black, 50 minutes and 30 less than 2 minute tracks of music borrowing from classical, urban soul, reggae and anything else the artist can fit into his urban soundscape. This is the fourth album I’ve featured from JPA and he just seems to get better each time. I especially like “Della Reese” because it is sassy and classy like its namesake. The entire album has the unavoidable problem that brief track albums have. I get into the beat and…Wham!…off to something else. However the overall album holds up well as a continuous listen. It may be hip-hop for the ADHD music fan but I still dig it.

The New Black is available in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format

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In a genre where “keeping it real” is interpreted by rappers as massaging their own egos it is always nice to find a hip-hop artist who knows that music is an art and a way to express reality as he sees it. Shape is one of those artist and his new Glass House EP is a good example of the marriage between hip-hop beat and meaningful lyrics. There are a lot of good cuts on this album including the title track, “Ruthless” and “Sadder Lights”. If there is any weakness, it is in the non-varying beats that slows the excitement a bit. Yet this is a consistently good hip-hop effort.

Glass House is available in 160kbps MP3.

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The Overcast Project by British hip-hop producer Formula is a moody piece of hip-hop accented by tight rapping by some gifted rappers including Zack S. Byers, Aynzli Jones, and Dabbla. The introductory track, “Ebony Shards”, gives you a nice preview of the atmospheric mix of beats and samples. It is followed by a hot track titled “Shipwrecked” with Zack S. Byers, a quick tongued rapper that has charisma and wit. All the tracks are of high quality yet there are a few that are quite unique such as the klezmer influenced “Weebles”. The instrumental “Poster Boyz” adds an industrial tint to the hip-hop. Overall, I found this an enjoyable album bearing up well over multiple listens. Another top-notch release from the Blocsonic crew.

The album is available in MP3 or FLAC format.

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I never claimed to be a hip-hop expert. After all I’m in my late 50s. Asking me to be a hip-hop expert is like asking Gary Coleman to play center for the Lakers. Yet I do pride myself in knowing good music that surpasses all genres. This classy album by Luck & Ripps is titled The Catastrophic Connection is good music however you label it. The sound of Luck & Ripps is especially accessible to all music lovers due to their preferences to samples that reminds me of the silky smooth soul styling of the 70s and very smooth jazz. The 15 tracks are brief, none over three minutes, but they are so nicely arranged that you rarely notice the change. But you will definitely notice the chilled-out quality of the music and the raps. This exceptional effort is another great release from the BlocSonic net label who has graduated from great CCL compilations to some of the best online urban soul albums on the internet.

As usual for BlocSonic, the album is available in both MP3 and FLAC format and comes with a downloadable 52 page book of liner notes and lyrics. One classy album by some classy artists released by a classy net label.

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Oxytocin is a musical cooperative of developers who work at Harmonix. If you are familar with Harmonix it is probably because they are the wizs behind popular music video games such as the Guitar Heroes series and Rock Band. Yet Oxytoxin is totally different. The emphasis here is not rock or metal but hip-hop and it is hip-hop with high production values and professionalism that you usually do not see on free and legal internet hip-hop albums. Of the artists on this album, M-Cue seems to be the focus with two solo tracks and four collaborative tracks. He has a tight urban sound with good lyrics that come together quite well on “True Praise”. Ligeri and Inner Dialogue offer a haunting dialogue with soulfully goth background on “Perfect”. But I am totally nuts over Nay’s breathy contributions on “Do It For Me”, “Sarah”, and “Fail Fail”. Other tracks on this consistently good album are by Rob Lynch, Patrick Balthrop, and Kedaar. ‘Leb, Chili, and Tarashi joins M-Cue on the collaborative tracks. We could use a lot more internet albums, hip-hop or otherwise, of this high quality.

The album is available in 256kbps MP3. Be aware that there are some explicit lyrics and parental discretion is advised.

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Teren Delvon Jones aka Del The Funky Homosapien wasn’t happy just writing lyrics for his cousin Ice Cube. He went off on his own career in alternative hip-hop and if he isn’t necessary a household name, he still managed to put out seven good hip-hop albums with his own singular style. His new album Funk Man, subtitled “The Stimulus Package” is available as a free and legal download from the Bandcamp web site.

There’s not much I can say about this album. It is a immaculate effort with dense but tight production values unfortunately marred with violent, hateful and ego-centric lyrics. Hardcore hip-hops fans will dig this but I don’t think it says very much to anyone else. Still, Del is a talented rapper with a gift for lyrics that is hard to ignore so I offer this on Free Albums Galore for others to check out and make up their own minds.

Funk Man is available in 32okbps MP3. If you like the music, support the artist by buying his CDs.

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