I’m really excited about WMFU’s free music archive which will open in November. Anyone who has listened to the radio station or perused its blog has a good idea about how much great music must be hiding in their vaults. The new Selected Sounds From The Free Music Archives may be just a teaser to what we can expect. Since it is volume one, we might get a few more of these which is fine with me.

Volume one will more than do for now. The offerings are split between cuts from indie produced albums and tracks from live studio performances. The 21 tracks range from punk to experimental rock to world music. In other words, the album is as far-out as the radio station. Most of the artists are obscure so I hope the archive will provide more info on these musicians. It’s hard to pick favorites but Fursaxa’s eerie “Song of the Spindle Berry” sent shivers down my spine which continued with Nautical Almanac’s bizarre take on the children song “Rolling in The Green”. Of the live studio takes, I especially liked New Bomb Turks, Kinski and Citay’s somewhat Celtic “On The Wings”. Of the others, Lucky Dragon does a good job mixing cute with bizarre while Food For Animals w/ Faust provides the only hip-hop track of the anthology. This album will certainly hold you over until the full archive is unveiled in November. Thanks WFMU!

The album is available in separate tracks or a full album zip in varying MP3 bitrates.

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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

The Rhaaa Lovely Festival in collaboration with The Silent Ballet brings us two exceptional compilation albums featuring artists playing at the the yearly event in Cortil-Wodon, Belgium. This is an idea that I hope other festivals adopt: a free and legal souvenir of what must have been an interesting gathering of indie rock bands.

The 2007 compilation offers 14 tracks by 14 bands. Many of the artists have a cerebral sound that lends to a pleasant and relaxing day. Matt Elliot’s “Our Weight in Oil’ sways along in what sounds like a gypsy melody. The opening track by Whisper in The Noise is between introvert indie and new age. Rothko is the only one of the artists I have heard before and has alway been one of my favorite Tortoise influenced groups. But all is not calming. Hard metallic sounds comes from bands like Pentak and Pelican while We Cut the Tape and Scatter has a disquieting but attention getting style that makes them a group I would like to hear more from. This Lovely Festival isn’t afraid to take chances.

The 2008 compilation has 12 tracks from 12 other artists. Magyar Posse has an symphonic sound while Youthmovies’ “Shhh! You’ll Wake It” has full-bodied indie rock credentials. “Floodwaters” by The . J. Boyd Sexxxtet provides a odd but beautiful setting of chorus and strings. M0re traditional rock sounds can be found on tracks by Dead Meadow and Mutiny on The Bounty but my favorite track is a complex fusion number by Sleeping People. These two albums are fine samplers of music by independent musicians out of the mainstream. Those who went to the festival will have a nice reminder and those of us who didn’t will probably be clearing our calender for next March.

Both albums are available in 192kbps MP3.

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2007 Rhaaa Lovely Festival Compilation
2008 Rhaaa Lovely Festival Compilation

Tellus was a bimonthly audiocassette “magazine” devoted to promoting new and experimental music. It was published from 1983 to 1992 and featured many of the most innovative artists in music, spoken word, and performance arts. Ubuweb has almost all 27 issues available as free downloads. Much of this music has rarely been heard while some tracks have been accepted as seminal works in this post-modern era. I will be featuring many of these albums through the year and I will start with the first two issues of this important “publication”.

Tellus 1, as with the second issue, spotlights artists and musicians from the New York area. For an album that promotes the avant-garde, the music is surprisingly diverse. It starts with a funky soul-jazz number by no-wave guitarist Jody Harris. However it isn’t too long before Sonic Youth shows their more extreme side on the live “Scream” while contemporaries Live Skull and Rat-at-Rat-R play a more typical version of Noise Rock. Brenda Hutchinson contributes a classic work of vocal manipulation in “Wordplay”. Joseph Nechvatal represents the state-of-the arts in the 80s electronic music scene with “Ego Masher” and Rhys Chatham, a regular contributor to this series, plays minimalist guitar music on “Guitar Trio” which is reminiscent of the work of Glenn Branca who can also be heard on this track. The other works are quite interesting if not always successful.

Tellus 2 continues this look at the music scene in New York of the 1980s. The Scene is Now’s “Bugged Out, Wigged Out” may be your only chance to hear avant-garde jug band music. Tony Papa’s “Water Works” is a clever and amusing mixture of moisture and melody. Spoken word is well represented by Mitch Corber’s “Budge, Budge, Budge The Budget” and Cardboard Air band’s “Little Rabbit”. Other favorites include David Garlans “No More Misty Night”, the hip hopish “2-4-7-9-11″ by John Fekner, and Dr. Telecom’s electro-funk “Phone is My Clone”. The rest of the tracks range from entertaining to incomphrensible.

The albums are available in separate tracks at 192 MP3. If you like these two issues of Tellus, make sure you check out the rest.

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Tellus 1
Tellus 2

Al Da Tosta aka That Crooner From Nowhere states that all sounds on This is Vocaltronics comes from his own voice. That may be only partially true as it is seems many of the odd and wonderful vocal sounds are electronically altered and looped. Yet it is still a fairly amazing album that would make even Bobby McFerrin do a double take.

The fourteen tracks on This is Vocaltronics makes almost an hour of listening time that moves from break beat to jazz/pop to even a near industrial send off. This is more varied than his impressive but brief first effort. I prefer the funky numbers like “Donamiao’s Fun” and “Fun Fat Fun”. “Oddio Overplay” is also a favorite track as well as being one of my favorite web sites. The tune would feel right at home in a Fellini film. “No Time To Die For” and “Distorted Wave” has that industrial bent. Other tracks appear to be an attempt to elicit an aural landscape (”Temple of Haunted Gods” or “Dubbio non Superato”). The bottom line may be that Da Tosta has so many ideas it is hard for him to stay grounded in one area. That is to our benefit as we enjoy this fascinating collection of vocal madness.

The album is available by separate tracks or full album zip in 128kbps MP3.

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The upright acoustic bass is the most steadfast of instruments, It has a consistent sound while it is plucked away in a jazz combo or bowed reverently in an orchestra. If the electric bass is a rowdy teenager the upright would be good old wise and reliable Grandpa.

But there is always a black sheep in the family and this one comes from the strange electronically altered contrabass of Vincent Guerin. The album Free Juke Box by Guerin’s project Schizoid Bass is full of bizarre and unclassifiable sounds coming from this Frankenstein monster of an instrument. Ranging from dark ambient to funky industrial and between, it never alienates the listeners but lulls them into these bizarre soundscapes. I’m never sure how much of these sounds are from the bass only and what is electronically added but that is part of the pleasure. To know where sound comes from is boring. To hear these combination of sounds and wonder where and how they originated is both the mystery and the joy.

The album is freely available from Dog-Eared Records in 192kbps MP3.

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Jaimina Johnston’s two albums on Jamendo, which I previously reviewed here, are the first two parts of a trilogy The third album of the trilogy has finally been released. Test of Time is just as much a wonder as So Many Songs and So Little Time. In fact, it is a more tightly arranged and intricate presentation. This is evident from the first track, “Viva Italia” which is a five minutes showpiece of her talents in acappello singing and choral arrangements. The second track, “Ni Una Solo Palabra” is also a delight. Her 90 years plus voice sounds stronger on this album but still manages to present an air youth and innocent. I am tempted to say ‘delicate as a flower’ which may sound trite but oh so accurate. Spanning classical music, folk, and popular, this album is a treat. I especially like her take on “The Way To San Jose” which comes along two songs after she deftly tackles ” Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder” from J. S. Bach’s Matthew’s Passion and before she goes funky on Jamiroquai’s “Feels Just Like it Should”. Just try to find any other vocalist that will take on those three songs in their lifetime, let alone on a single album!

The album is available in VBR MP3.

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Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka Vol.1 is one of the most popular albums on Free Albums Galore. I suspect it is partially because it comes up whenever some guy decides to google “Free” and “Porn”(Which incidentally just guaranteed this review to be a popular one). The fact that it is a fun and sexy album may have something to do with it too.

Now here comes Wakka Chikka Wakka Chikka: Porn Music for The Masses Volume 2. Like the first one, it is a loosely knitted tribute to the soundtracks from those icons of popular sleaze, the porn films. “Wakka Chikka” refers to the guitar sound that was prevalent in this music. The tracks on this album employs other sound effects particular to these films and if you have to ask what they are, you’re probably too young to listen to this album. Overall, the artists involved do a good job of redesigning the music. The Protagionist’s “Pink Fuzz” is my favorite track as it displays that dreamy sensuality that often made the music more memorable than the films that used it. Some of the other tracks tend to go more for the satiric such as Happy Elf’s “Paul” or the funky “Does That Turn You On?” by Lemon. The tracks are often more amusing than sexy and not always successful. Nonetheless, you should find it enjoyable.

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

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One of my favorite record labels is Anti. The label has an impeccable ability to pick high quality artists, new and old, and place them in the perfect environment. Anti has released a new Spring, 2008 sampler of their current stable of artists and it is a doozy.

Some of my favorite musicians are on this album and, in the meticulous Anti fashion, the tracks are not fillers or throws-aways but some of the best examples of the musicians’ artistry. The album starts with “Before The Money Came” a exhilarating auto-biographical song by hard-luck soul singer Bettye LaVette backed by Drive-By Truckers. It is followed by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in a rude and wonderful “DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!”. Michael Franti & Spearhead’s socially conscious reggae rock is always a delight to listen to. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová’s Oscar winning “Falling Slowly” is peformed beautifully by Hansard’s band, The Frames. The mesmerizing Lyrics Born is his usual funky self on “I Like it, I Love it” and The Weakerthans give faltering Indie Rock new life in “Night Windows”.

Those are the artists I am familiar with but there are a number of fresh new voices in this collection. Galactic and Cadence Weapon play top-notch hip-hop. There’s plenty of nice singer-songwriter tracks by Billy Bragg, Joe Henry and Bob Mould. Ersi Arvizu makes some nice latin sounds. The tracks by Islands, Man Man, and DeVotchKa (who sounds like the reincarnation of It’s a Beautiful Day) don’t grab me like the others but they are certainly worth a listen. This is one of the better record label freebies you’re going to find.

The album is available in a full album zip of 128kbps MP3. I’m not sure if this will be permanently hosted so you should get it while you can, If you find an artist you like, and you will, support the artist by buying their CDs.

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Nonagenarian Jaimina Johnson’s odd and beautiful albums are hard to classify. Her accappella choruses are led by her almost child-like voice and incorporates world music, classical choir music, and jazz into gentle harmonic gems.

So Many Songs and So Little Time are part of a trilogy of albums, the third to be released in the future. Many of the songs are in Spanish and the influence of Spanish/Latin American traditional music is quite noticeable. (While she was born in England she spent a good part of her life in Puerto Rico). On So Many Songs, the opening “Uno Queriendo Ser Dos” is a fine example of this. In all of her choruses, Ms. Johnson harmonic progressions are sometimes awkward but, like her often wavering voice, still retains a lot of charm. Her repertoire is wide, going from the folk and traditional to liturgical choir pieces such as “Bogoroditse Dievo” to “All I ask of You”from The Phantom of The Opera to “When You Get Caught” which is best known as “Arthur’s Theme” by Christopher Cross. All track are brought together by Johnson’s voice and her unique arrangements. But the most impressive turn is her solo rendition of Elton John’s “A Song For You”. I hope I can sing that well at 90. Come to think of it, I can’t sing that well now.

So Little Time continues both the variety and unique style of her first album. Of the twelve tracks, I especially am fond of the beautifully arranged “Ave Maria Immaculata” and the jazzy (and live) Strollin’. The album ends with a light and breezy cover of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “What’s in a Kiss”. Overall the vocal arrangements are much tighter, as are Ms. Johnson vocals, making this the better of the two albums. However, both albums make for a delightfully different experience. Some people might call this outsider music but I think it’s too accomplished for that moniker, I might prefer calling it “Aural Folk Art” or perhaps just good music.

Both albums are available from Jamendo in VBR MP3, around 192kbps.

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So Little Time
So Many Songs

Earlier in the year I featured the first volume of a continuing series from the BlocSonic blog called NetBloc. Its purpose is to present on a regular basis a showcase of music from netlabels and independent artists. Since then there have been 10 volumes, all of high quality with a well written booklet of liner notes. It is fitting that I would feature the latest of this series at the end of this year if only to remind you that if you haven’t been regularly checking these volumes out, you are missing a awfully large amount of great music.

netBloc Volume 10: Postmodernism is dead. Postmillennialism killed it… sorry Andy :( may be the best of the lot. As usual, it is an eclectic blend of mainly hip-hop, electronica, and indie pop served by an international cast. Ghostown starts the album with a very tasty rap offering. More hip hop is imported from Spain by El Klan Delos Dedete. Singer-Songwriter DavidBowman offers a classy hybrid of folk and electro-pop. If I had to pick a favorite I would go with the great techno-pop track “Munchen” by Garmish Partenkirchen. The best music to get totally lost in is the dreamy and jazzy “Valletta 1:27 a.m.” by The Incognito Traveller. Joijoijoi is minimalist pop while Shorthand Phonetic is Emo like you won’t believe. Most regulars of Free Album Galore will already know the joys of My First Trumpet and Surbuhar (You’re welcome, Mike!). As mentioned before, if you are missing out on this series you are missing some of the best of independent and netlabel music.

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You will probably find something you like on the online album No Flu Do Mundo by the Brazilian music artist Flu. Want a samba? You’ll find more than one. Like rock guitar? It’s there. Hip-hop? Try the title track. There a little psychedelica and jazz. In fact, it’s hard to pinpoint what style this eclectic artist is working in. What can be agreed on is that this is very likable music with a lot of wit and style. Each listening brings out something you missed before. It’s fun, snappy, but more complex than it sounds. In other words…it’s good.

No Flu do Mundo is available from the Bump Foot netlabel as separate files or album zip in 192kbps MP3.

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I had to take off an album for this month as it appears to be not as freely available as it was supposed to be. Here’s a bonus album for the day in order to keep my promise of thirty albums for November.

M.Ace describes his Steel-String Flat Top Sedition as “a web album of primitive acoustic guitar instrumentals”. I am not sure of the term “Primitive” but the fifteen solo guitar compositions do have a rough edge about them. This is, for lack of a better term, brief punk-folk acoustic instrumentals; Sort of Leo Kottke meet The Minutemen unplugged. Each track exhibits some very imaginative playing and is quite fun to listen to. I especially like “Pegleg Flamingo” and “Dinosaur Stomp”. Recommended for those who want something different in acoustic guitar music.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3. You will also find quite a few other online albums by the artist on his web site but nothing that caught my attention like Steel-String Flat Top Sedition. Browse through it. You might disagree.

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Chiaz Itch’s album of lo-fi electronica may be just the thing to start your Halloween party on a weird but fun note. The nine tracks that make up El Baile de Los Fantasmas manages to be eerie and cute at the same time. “Heute Mplon” sound like an evil Sugar Plum Fairy from a zombified Nutcracker Suite while “Trodjeu Hi Hi” could be Pacman on an alcoholic binge. Very humorous and sometimes perverse, this is an amusingly mischievous set of instrumental tracks.

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

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The music of 3Sachetti is a mix of genres ranging from klezmer to jazz to rock and everything in between. It always keeps you guessing with its eclectic improvisation and wit . The trio of guitar, violin and percussion has a surprising full sound. While it can get pretty wild, the artists never seem to lose track of melody and structure. 3Sachetti often sounds like a cross between Frank Zappa and The Residents. This album has become my favorite to unleash on unsuspecting guests and they almost always like it.

The album is available from WM Recordings in either separate tracks or full album zips at 320kbps MP3.

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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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WM Recordings’ write-up for The Necronomikom Quartett’s online album Input implies that the group’s music is close to free jazz or avant-garde. This may be true but for the most part Input is a highly accessible and listenable set of well structured pieces that exhibit high musicianship and a playful spirit.

The first two tracks are clearly endebted to the surf music genre. “Sofawende” rocks hard with its Dick Dale influenced guitar lines while “Wave Rider” evokes a 21st century Ventures sound. “Song of Tomorrow” is a light 60s romp that makes a case for the kazoo as a rock instrument.

Things are a little less clear in the next three tracks. “Tube Music Part IV” sounds like an extract of a film score. The guitarist contributes a jazzy but mysterious solo. The 6 minutes “Auf Stelzen durch die Wuerst” allows for a little stretching out and has some post-rock leanings. The last track “Future 03″ is the most experimental track of the six but its repetitive riff also makes it the weakest. Nonetheless, Necronomikon Quartett has given us an excellent album of creative sounds.

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

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Galdson is a composer of original piano compositions of exceptional beauty and grace. Roots is his debut album and has 16 tracks of easy listening yet exquisite piano solos. This is music for times of quiet reflection but also for romantic moments and dinner by candlelight. Galdson has a soft touch on the keyboard that reminds me of the neo-classicism of Liz Story but also reveals possible influences from the more introspective jazz pianists like Keith Jarret or the new age pastoral sounds of George Winston. This is a beautiful recording that calms and delight the senses.

The album is available in a full album zip of either MP3 (192kbps or 320kbps) or CD quality sound.

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Sethh comes out of Estonia and is both a treat and an assault on your ears. Ago Teppand is in charge of vocals and instruments with just a little help from his friends. His online album Elite Promo offers about 30 minutes of odd lyrics, frenzy instrumental solos, and unpredictable vocals that ends up somewheres between impassioned and screaming.

It’s quite hard to describe this music. “Azuzu” is a boppish melody with overlapping voicesl and hellish industrial backing. “AQ” starts off hardcore metal but the complex arrangement with clip of female vocals and acoustic guitar tells you there is more going on. For mellower but still unpredictable moves, “Tripelife” or “QI” may be your best bet. On all tracks, you get Teppand’s insane vocals. He has a fascinating voice that threatens to go over the top and often does. I also like how he frequently manages to use electric and acoustic guitars on the same tracks in a way that fits naturally. This music is a bit mad and I’m tempted to compare it to the wildness of Furious Pig. But while Furious Pig was a bunch of young kids who didn’t quite know what they were doing, Sethh has a method to his madness even at the most chaotic of times. In an age that popular rock music is so predictable and antiseptic, this is a refreshing bit of insanity.

The album is available as an album zip in 320kbps MP3. It should be noted that the the separate tracks on the left of zip link do not constitute the actual promo album. However the extra material is worth checking out, especially his bizarre cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back”.

No longer available

American composer John Phillip Sousa reigned as the March King throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century until his death in 1932. He left a legacy of military marches that are still with us to this day. Sousa’s Band recorded many of these and you can find these rare recordings in the Internet Archives’ “Collected Works of Sousa’s Band”.

Perhaps the most intriguing historical fact about these tracks is that none of them are directed by Sousa himself. He had an intense dislike for phonographic technology and refused to participate in these early recordings. He believed the phonograph would lead to the evolutionary extinction of the human vocal chords! The director was probably composer and trombonist Arthur Pryor as he conducted most of these sessions with the band until 1929.

As for the actual records, these 18 tracks date from 1895 to 1918. By today’s standards the sound is rather abysmal but it is a treat just to be able to hear these marches played as the maestro himself intended them to be played. “At A Georgetown Camp Meeting” (1902) has amazingly clean sound. The outstanding performance of “Stars and Stripes Forever” (1901) reminds us why it is an American classic synomonous with Independence Day. “Blue Danube Waltz” (1905) makes for a pretty change of pace from the syncopated marches. Not unexpectingly, the two later marches, “Hippodrome March” (1916) and “The Caissons Go Rolling Along” (U.S. Field Artillery March) of 1918 offer the best sound to assess what must have been one of the greatest marching bands in history. Whether you are a fan of military music or not, this is a collection that any music afficionado must hear.

The collection is available in 128kbps MP3 through either separate tracks or a full zip.

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That Crooner From Nowhere is the name of Al Da Tosta’s musical project of vocal overdubbing and just plain weirdness. Da Tosta uses a wide range of vocal sounds and shapes them into upbeat witty compositions. His online EP bearing the unfortunate title of Cumming Soon offers 14 tracks of vocals gone wild. With no lyrics or instrumental backing, these tracks rely on catchy beats, unpredictable turns, and clever harmonies to deliver the fun. This is Doowop on acid. Typical tracks like “Toasted Sushi Bar” are a bit jaw-dropping. “Gimme Something Nice” and “Hipsters on Oysters” (Are you noticing a theme?) are two of my favorites and provides a nice funky atmosphere to the madness.

The EP is available in 128kbps MP3 from the Mastertoaster netlabel.

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I must admit to a certain dislike for 8 bit music. In my opinion, it is comparable to playing Gene Krupa drum solos with one hand on wooden blocks. Occasionally though, as in all music, someone actually manages to make it into something exciting and worth listening to.

Take David Morneau’s dance score titled Abandoned Revolution. Morneau’s chosen instrument is a Nintendo Game Boy aided by a loop sequencer called Nanoloop. With this limited material he created a clever suite of compositons for Boris Willis’ multimedia work of the same name. After a Straussian introduction Space Invaders style, Morneau melds the simple Game Boy themes into catchy rhythms that keeps the listener’s interest. Stolen melodies from Strauss, Copeland, and others abound and blend effortlessly. “Martha Graham Cracker” is almost industrial while the sixth track “Abandoned Revolution” sounds like a chase scene involving Pacman and the Keystone Cops. Morneau’s own description of “Terry Riley vs. Donkey Kong” seems quite appropriate. This is a retro trip that even Mario will approve of.

The work is available as separate tracks in 192kbps MP3.

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Here’s something a little different. Songs of Humpback Whale is an out-of-print but much celebrated album from the 70s. The Avant Garde Project placed FLAC samples of this album on their site but Anablog was nice enough to convert them to 192 kbps MP3 files and that’s our link for the day.

The album delivers exactly what it promises; recordings of humpback whales conversing in their beautiful language. They were recorded by oceanographer Dr. Roger Payne. This is the sounds of nature at its most moving. The LP spawned a cottage industry of new age music incorporating whale sounds Most of the spin-offs were not very good although I would recommend Paul Winter’s experiments in nature sounds if you can find it. But every record collection needs one whale song and Songs of the Humpback Whale represents the first and the best.

No Longer Available: The Wildlife Conservation Society who owns the license to this album have asked me to remove any links to the material.

Want a scary Halloween for a change? Oddio Overplay sent out the call for “Halloween music frightening, damaging and disturbing”. The result is Calling All Fiends, a spine-tingling two hours of spooky and terror-crazed sounds. The tracks are divided into 3 parts; “Cinematic, Soundscapes”, “Rock, Dance”, and “Fiendish Songs”. If your idea of Halloween is “Monster Mash” and pumpkin pinatas you might want to pass this up. But if your perfect Spook Night is watching horror movies in the dark, you are going to love this twisted musical scare-fest. Listen to it tonight but don’t blame me if you have to sleep with the lights on.

The album is available in separate tracks or a zip file in VBR MP3.

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One of the strangest projects in the history of pop music has to be this long out-of-print 1966 effort to cash in on the popularity of the old Batman TV show. While credited to “The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale,” the musicians were actually members of Sun Ra’s Solar Arkestra and The Blues Project. WFMU’s Beware of The Blog has made this funky oddity available for downloading.

Sounding nothing like Sun Ra, Blues Project or even the Batman TV soundtrack, this album livens up classical melodies and old rock riffs into a punchy little soundtrack. It sounds part crime jazz and part surf music. All tracks are instrumental except for “Robin’s Theme”. The vocalist is uncredited but my guess is that it is June Tyson who sang on and off with the Arkestra at the time. The recording is little more than a fun novelty but the music is infectious and lively.

The album is available in 192kbps MP3.

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