A Tiny Window - BeesBirdsSaz
Attempts to mingle man made music and the music of nature is nothing new. Field recordings like Emil Klotsch can meld the sounds of nature with electronics effect nicely to make interesting ambient recordings. More organically, Paul Winter ’s duets with whales and wolves are fascinating new age experiments hinting that the organizing of tone and rhythm are not exclusive to humans.
Matthew Lundy, a member of Children of The Drone and recording here under A Tiny Window does something similar to the Winter experiments. BeesBirdsSaz is a collection of recordings performed in a East Kent meadow along with the sound of birds and the swarming of bees. They are delightful pastoral improvisations whether alone or accompanied by chickens. Occasionally human generated sounds like planes or cars intrude but it only emphasizes the interconnectedness of the music and the environment. Matthew’s instrument of choice is the saz, a form of Persian lute. It is an intimate sounding instrument. The birds seem to have liked it.
BeesBirdsSaz is available from the Internet Archive in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis format.
Composer Inna Breeze’s composition titled Stairway To Heaven is unusual in that it is one of the very few, if not the only, symphonic work to be released on an internet record label. The symphonic poem, which has no connection to the Led Zeppelin song, was performed in 2008 at the Moscow Composers Centre by The Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sergey Kondrashev. The soloist on pipe organ is Tatyana Karamysheva. It is a lush work that should please all ears. Inna Astakhova aka Inna Breeze, unlike many modern composers, has eschewed cacophony for “beautiful melody, positive mood and lack of internal conflicts”. Her focus appears to be in awakening the soul of the listener. In this sense, her music could be called new age. Whatever it is classified the artist has a distinct talent in orchestration and a knack for creating a sense of spirituality out of an array of sounds. This is an interesting and beautiful composition.
Beyond Absence is an acoustic jazz duo consisting of pianist Gustavo Caldas and guitarist Mauro Longordo. This is jazz of the pastoral and serene. Their album titled Complacency is a peaceful improvisational journey that can be as light as a feather yet deeply moving. The melodies often move in slow motion yet the playing of this duo remain fluid and translucent. This album is an highly recommended listening experience for anyone who appreciate the art of music.
The music of Zeptosound doesn’t sound all that well structured or thought out and it appears that is the way the artists like it. Described as “an informal group, producing music that’s not put together that carefully”, these musicians still place a lot of love and energy into the tracks of their self-titled album. There are many influences here: new age, jazz, classical and ECM styled improvisation a la 
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.
I’m not sure how to describe this album. Sitarist Mender Banah is an excellent musician and appears to be quite versed in Indian music. However the six tracks on Bab Rag Terra, despite the alluring sitar lines and contagiously foot-tapping tablas, sound a bit Western to me. Since I am nowhere near an authority of Indian music I may be totally off base but Mender Banah seems to be playing a Western/Eastern hybrid. But this is just an opinion and it no way diminishes the quality of this album. The catchy beat and hypnotic sitar melodies remain enjoyable throughout this 20 minutes sound fest. I especially like the upbeat tempos of “Dome” and “Baetulus”. Whether this music is traditional or global fusion, world music fans of all kinds will enjoy this album.
Immersions is more of a name for a performance than an artist or group. Emile Tobenfeld is a video artist who uses multiple DVD players to create improvisatory works. For this performance entitled Immersions: Water Muisc and Other Improvisations, he enlisted the help of his friends, some from bands like 
Choose To Find is actually a jazz quartet with influences as diverse as Bjork to Reich to Jarrett. This particular album is Titled Choose to Find Duo Live and features only two of the group members in a 45 minute performance from the 2008 Somerville music festival. Pianist Todd Marsten and guitarist Colin Sapp plays improvisations that are subtle and pastoral. The first improvisatory track shows a strong 
Xera’s free online album Lliendes is one of the most unique blends of Celtic and electronics I have heard. Traditional instruments such as bagpipes and violin soar over a dense electronic layer of beat and sounds. Xera manages to respect the Celtic tradition while adding a 21st century slant. I especially like “Elexia” which pits a violin against a increasingly tense percussive background. This also may be the first album on Free Albums Galore that features bagpipes but in a way that should win over ever the most fervent bagpipe hater. Also check out the epic sounding “Valdescabre” and the closing track “Trasmerna” which provides one of the few vocals on the album. This is a exhilarating effort.
Fiktion’s mixture of guitars and electronics can get addicting. Fiktion is the brainchild of Gustaf Erik Lundh. His music can be ambient yet intellectually stimulating, slightly poppish yet experimental and certainly relaxing to listen to. He has quite a bit of music to listen to; 3 full albums and three EPs. I decided to concentrate on the full albums and found them to be very enjoyable. Morfint is the latest release (2007) and is full of odd and beautiful sounds of a down-tempo and ambient nature. Gryning & Skymning is also from 2007 and quite similar in its music. I especially like the opening “Det Kanns” which has a reverberating guitars dreamingly floating over a series of electric pops and glitches. Finally, Leftovers features orphan tracks from 2005 to 2007. The quality is little less than the first two but there are still some splendid moments. These albums will please those people into a sparse ambient sound and calming but intelligent music.
This is one of those projects that just doesn’t fit tightly in any genre. Bordering new age, jazz and classical, there is a fresh sound from this trio of violin, bass and percussion. Morning Zephyr offers all three of their albums free and online. The first, Advocates, sounds a bit floundering and, to be frank, is not that well recorded. However, Empire Builder and Proof and Content rises to the challenge and are my Free Albums Galore picks of the day.
There is no doubt that Ken Verheecke’s solo acoustic guitar album A Place Called Home is as soothing and relaxing as a new age acoustic work should be. However a closer listen reveals that Verheecke has a talent for making his rather prodigious technique seem simple when it isn’t. Your calmed attitude might also neglect to notice that these original songs are imaginative and immaculately structured compositions. The guitarist/composer makes it all look easy. The tracks on this album are not only calming but stay with you after the first listen. Highly recommended.
Fanfare please.
The French duo 
French pianist and composer 
The Serenata Chamber Musicians are 17 artists from the Greater Boston area who play classical chamber music. A few of their concerts are available as online albums from 
One of the best places to find music by independent artists is at 
The first thing noticable with the musical entity My First Trumpet is that there are no trumpets. What you get instead are lullabies of electro-acoustic sound ever so slightly accented by soft beats. The opening tracks “Pawlow” and “Digital Contact” exhibit the delicate arrangements on this very listenable album. Kevin Hamann is the brain behind My First Trumpet. Throughout Frerk there is a perfect mingling of a mature musical mind and a childhood innocence.
Mark.Nine’s four online albums are freely available on the 
Arrial creates soft pastoral sounds with quiet beats. For The Love features primarily acoustic guitar with gently accented electronic support. This is a nice marriage of acoustic with electric that is especially pleasant on tracks like “No Good (Start The Chat)” and “Tomorrow I Start My Homework”. There may be nicer ways to begin your day than with Arrial on your Ipod but right now I can’t think of any.
Gentle piano driven melodies are the order of the day on Nest. The duo of Otto Totland and Huw Robert creates soothing electro-acoustic music that often sounds cinematic. My favorite track “Trans Siberian” evokes aural visions of trains and barren landscape. Very impressionist and sometimes minimalist, this album is a work of contemplative beauty.
