I’m really not quite sure about The Juanitos. Their mixture of rock, disco, lounge, and Spanish music is odd but fun. The bottom line is that any music that makes me feel good is probably worth recommending. Their three free online albums, available Jamendo, certainly gives you a lot of music to help you feel good. This is essentially party music with no apologies and no strings attached.

Best of is not really a “best of” album as much as just their newest mix of fun sounds. The music ranges from funky to mariachi with a whole bunch of genres tripping over each other on the dance floor. I especially like the mariachi grind of “Do The Cobra” and the totally get-down-and -party “Latin Fever”. “Frankenstein in Shanghai” mixes a cheesy Chinese riff with reggae and funny vocals.

Exotica sounds a bit more balanced. The main thrust is Latin beats mixed with surf rock and lounge. Still a party album. Still a lot of fun.

It should not be a surprise to say you get pretty much the same thing from I’m Your DJ yet it is a bit different. It is the earliest of the albums and is more of a electronic dance album with some clever sampling on cuts like “Woman’s Liberation”, “El Loco Boogaloo” and “Pancho is a Bad Guy”. This is a straight forward dance affair that will appeal to many. But whatever album you choose to download, be prepared for some tongue-in-cheek amusement.

The albums are available in VBR mp3.

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Exotica
I’m Your DJ
Best Of

Tracky Birthday’s Animal Audition may be a bit of a joke but it is a very smart joke. Harboring a rap style that shouldn’t keep Kanye West up at night and borrowing lounge bits from Arthur Lyman, Tracky Birthday creates a funny disco lounge environment that comes off as a cross between Weird Al and The Streets. One of the things that make this “joke” successful is the variety of surprises Tracky places in these cleverly arranged tracks. Accordians, kazoos, bird sounds, and little snippets of samples keeps it interesting. My favorite track is the seriously hip “Balla!” and the exotically kitschy ” Free Dschimi”. This is a clever album mixing comedy with a serious musical aptitude.

Animal Audition is available in 192kbps MP3.

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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 Truffaut film or a Roberto Benigni comedy. Samples and electronics set up soundscapes that are a bit lounge in style but have a modern 21st century feel. Denrees Perissables starts after a exotic kitsch intro with a sexy number called “Lenteur” and then adds a bit of a disco mentality in “Dimlix”. The full environment is light but not forgettable, groovin’ but not beat heavy. “Un Dimanche Soir” is a briefer EP of 17 minutes that has a light breezy “Sunday Evening” feeling. “Galia’s Song” is film noir while “Danse Avec L’Ocean” is a beautiful and too brief atmospheric work. I think this EP has a bit more variety but I wish the tracks were a bit longer. All are under 3 minutes. Still it is another nice effort from Mr. Hoffman.

Denrees Perissables is from Vaatican Records and is available in 224kbps MP3. Un Dimance Soir comes from the Bumpfoot net label and can be downloaded as 320kbps MP3.

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Denrées périssables
Un Dimanche Soir

Crete Boom is an Irish Swing Revival / R&B group that benefits from a tight group of musician and a talented vocalist. Their main weakness appears to be the tendency to throw in too many influences and genres in their two online albums giving an uneven feel and a sense that they haven’t yet found their sound. The jazz and R&B based numbers are where this group blossoms. “The Choicest Cuts” on the album Navy and Grey is a joyous swing piece that shows off the band well. I also enjoyed “Broken Teeth”, a jazz rock jam that offers some nice improvisation in its eight minute duration.

The newer Ne’er Do Well has a similar unevenness but the artistry of these tracks still make it worth while. The opening “Sleeper” has a psychedelic influence while the following “Helpless” invokes Motown. The R&B is heavier on the EP which makes it my favorite of the two. The title track is a real joy, the kind of cooker that makes passive sitting and listening impossible and causes your whole body to move. The next two tracks do not fare as well but it all ends with a rousing “The Confidence Trick”. When Crete Boom is exploring its love for Rhythm and Blues, the group comes together like a well oiled machine. This band has a great sound but just need a more focused direction.

Both albums can be found on Jamendo in VBR MP3 format.

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Navy and Grey
Ne’er Do Well

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.

Still Dreaming is L’eau de Robinet’s second album. It’s another nice collection of calming soundscapes with just the right amount of beats. The tracks range from dreamy (”Forbidden Dreams”) t0 Jazzy (”Chicas”) to slightly dark and weird (”Cinematic Monkey”). Both albums will provide you with some good trip-hop styled vibes.

Tap Water Drinkers and Still Dreaming are available from Random Flow in either VBR MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.

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Tap Water Drinkers
Still Dreaming

More lounge than jazz, more laid back than beat conscious, Anthony Raijekov’s free online album Jazz U is a mellow musical spa of IDM and calming grooves. The twelve tracks all contribute a steady feeling of relaxation. While all the songs tend to be mellow and soothing, I especially like the bossa nova thing going on in “While We Walk”. If you are looking for a easy listening but groove conscious album for tough times, you could do a lot worse.

The album is available from Jamendo as separate track or full album zip in VBR MP3 (around 192 kbps).

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Sad Salamanders play retro jazz/lounge evoking images of martini lunches and cigarette girls. At first it may sound a bit like a joke but I can assure you this is fairly authentic to the stuff I was playing in smoky bars during the late 60s and early 70s even though the heyday for this sound was the late 50s. Sad Salamanders play it to the hilt with a seriousness that is matched by their talent on their instruments. Keyboardist Ed Martel can play with either the soulfulness of Jimmy McGriff or the exotic romanticism of Martin Denny. Accordion work is by the legendary Frank Marocco who may be the greatest accordionist in the world and certainly one of the most recorded. I also enjoy the saxophone of Don Markese which on the funkier numbers sounds like he’s looking for a bar table to strut on. There’s some nice variety here from the funky jazz “My Parents are Swingers” to the after hours title tune to the pretty and sexy “The Exotic Sandy Warner”. Whether you’re a lounge lizard or a party animal, these martini soaked tracks should lift your spirits.

The album is available from the artists’ last.fm page in 128kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music support the artists by buying the CD.

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One of the best ways to get a grasp on the variety of music that is available through netlabels is to browse the several compilation series that has been put together by music fans and bloggers. I have already reviewed a few of them including Netbloc and The Silent Ballet. A new kid on the block is the Netmuzyka.com, a humble blog presenting Niesencje, a creative series of online albums bringing what they consider the cream of the netlabel crop. Their focus is somewhat mainstream, meaning no avant-garde, but there is a wide assortment of electronic music, IDM, nu-jazz, dance, introverted folk/pop, and ambient . There are currently seven collections, all having a consistently high quality with all tracks well chosen and each separate album having a listening duration of 40 to 60 minutes. Quite a few of the artists have already been discovered and written about by yours truly including Umma Project, ST, Post Human Era, and Stockfinster. However I am also unearthing a number of other promising artists which I have made a note to check out more thoroughly. These include the new age Virculum, an urban-percussive Skarv, and a exotically Latin Trafficjam. There’s just too many interesting tracks on these albums. Suffice to say, I’m currently listening to Vim’s fairytale of a tune titled “That Smell of Spring Rain” while it is 114 degrees Fahrenheit outside and digging it. All in all, this is a very fine series, nothing too challenging yet all enjoyable and worth checking out.

The seven albums are available in zips of 192kbps MP3.

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Niesencje Vol. 1
Niesencje Vol. 2
Niesencje Vol. 3
Niesencje Vol. 4
Niesencje Vol. 5
Niesencje Vol. 6
Niesencje Vol. 7

Moosefrog is a two-man musical project from Finland that plays chilled-out down-tempo nu-jazz. The artists have four free albums on the internet. You can get two fairly brief EPs off of their web site but the big finds are the two more current and longer EPs released by the Lo-Kiwi netlabel.

The Come EP achieves an interesting mix of acid jazz, Thievery Corporation styled trip hop and a somewhat dark mood. Its seven tracks lays a even but soulful mood with some tracks like “You Don’t Know it Yet’ and “Six Shooter” threatening but never quite breaking into rock and roll. My favorite track is the mellower “Coffee With Cream”.

The latest album is the 43 minute Adrift. It is still a little dark and sometimes so chilled it’s frozen. Much of this album reminds me of the equally chilled Jaga Jazzist. Perhaps I could coin the genre “Tundra Jazz”. The boys do tend to heat things up occasionally as on “Strange Tree”. I especially like the trip-hoppish “Em La Oscuridad” and “New Life” featuring the sexy vocals of Anji Bee. Adrift is the more varied of the two albums and the one I would recommend. However all of Moosefrog’s offerings are worthwhile.

Come is available in 192kbps Mp3 while Adrift in is 320kbps.

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I approached the new WM Recordings collection titled Mystic Moods with trepidation. I remember The Mystic Moods Orchestra recordings from the 60s and 70s well. They were located next to my father’s Duke Ellington vinyls. But unlike the sophisticated sounds of The Duke, The Mystic Moods Orchestra was the lowest denomination of emotions. It was a loosely tied mess of lounge, dime store exoticism, and space age pretension. Listening to anything that implied a tribute to them is not my idea of a good time. Fortunately the artists involved in this effort were also quite aware of the Mystic Moods’ reputation. They turned the kitcsh into camp using the same effects for what is either a parody and perhaps just a vastly entertaining set of tracks.

The 20 tracks provide some interesting listening. You’ll find plenty of good samplings, lots of space sounds, and definitely some nice melodies. Daghoti’s “Percipience Fiction” is a good example of all of these things in effect. I also like the imaginative tracks by Desert Gears and Super Sonic Future. Phil Reavis’ “Pretty Dark” is a strange look at retro psychedelica. Low LiFi’s “Tiny Lights” is a both a surprisingly loyal look at the Mystic Moods phenomena and a wicked satire. Other interesting outlooks come from Lee Rosevere, Terry Douglas. and Happy Elf among many others. Maybe it is best to just get out your lava lamp and listen.

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Obsibilo presents a regrettably brief (15 minutes) feast of sounds that evokes film noir and sexy foreign movies. The opening number, “Sono Tranquile” has French film noir written all over it. “Commes des Orages” has a wonderfull funky beat and reminds me of a mellow version of Run Lola Run. “Soixante-B” returns to a sexy cinematic mood and makes it clear that Obsibilo has more than a little knowledge of jazz. The final track, “Daydreamer”, end the EP with another jazz funk tune peppered with a little crime jazz and good natured electronic effects.

The EP is available from Sub-machine.net in 320kbps MP3.

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It’s the last free online album for the year 2006! Coming out of the Sojus Record Network and Italy is LatenzaZero. Their album True Lounge Project is full of the chilled-out sounds of lounge and jazz. Co-conspirators Bernardo Di Sabatino and Stefano Cascioli layers acoustic and electronics into a relaxing groove that both pleases the senses and stimulate the intellect.

Of the nine tracks, “Barbera” is especially nice with its retro sound reminiscent of 70s crime films. The oddly named “Xmas” has a gritty urban feel and a eerie vocal. “Angus” has two takes. The first one is close to smooth jazz while the second one is remixed into a danceable rock track. LatenzaZero has a distinctive sound that will appeal to electronica lovers, jazz fans and lounge freaks alike.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3.

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Italian sampler and turntable artist Økapi does strange things with music. He uses a wide range of samples ranging from avant-garde musician Lester Bowie to Doris Day creating odd but likeable results.

The title tune sounds very much like a 60s Fellini soundtrack. “My Secret Love” starts with samples from the Doris Day hit then evolves something other worldly. “Lester Lounge” is my favorite being the most jazz-like and avant-garde of the tracks. “Ru-diculous”, with its weird rock & funk beats is a close second. The range of sounds Økapi has at his command is quite impressive.

The album is available as individual tracks or a full zip in 192kbps MP3.

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Lounge music is sort of a guilty pleasure for me. Sure it can be pure kitsch but in the right hands those cocktail beats and exotic sounds can be more relaxing than any ambient music. The Coconut Monkeyrocket and Martinibomb have good right hands. On this Comfort Stand release they split the tracks at three for each group, hence the title. What are these two bands like? For those familar with the genre, think Tipsy and Ursula 1000.

Martinibomb starts with a cha cha and a catchy one at that. The two brothers who make up Martinibomb mixes record samples with percussion, acoustic instruments, computer bleeps, and even toy sounds to make an amusing and sexy three tracks. I give it an 85. It has a beat and you can dance to it.

The Coconut Monkeyrocket is just a little funkier. One man band Jason Emmet keeps the tiki lounge vibes going but mixes in more dance rhythms. His three tracks have more of a cartoon feel and I mean that in a good way. My favorite track is the final one, “Bloops, Beeps, Bongos, and Brass”, appropriately another cha cha. Put on a tacky Hawaiian shirt, place a little plastic umbrella in your drink, sit back, and enjoy!

It is available in 192kbps MP3 as either separate tracks or a full album zip.

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KKFS spliced together samples from 50s and 60s pop and lounge LPs and added some effects and electronic instruments to produce this fascinating cutup of “experimental pop”. The download page even provides all the original samples for remixing purposes. Definitely one of the most interesting purely loop-crafted albums I’ve heard. Just don’t ask me how to pronounce the album’s title.

The Internet Archive hosts the album as 256kbps MP3s or a ZIP file.

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