Party People in a Can - Way Off, Where The Spirits Are
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.
When it comes to odd music, I don’t shock easily but
Here is a unusual and interesting “electronic” album. Perhaps the moniker “field recording” would be a bit more accurate. Blood and Water was created at the haemodialysis unit in King’s College Hospital serving the South London area. The sounds are all from dialysis machines. The sounds of the “unit environment, the dialysis machines and the all important water treatment facilities” are shaped by Tom Wallace into this soundscape. Aside from the introduction of the process and unit by Sister Rachel Mwansa, all sounds are from the machines that are allowed to create their own narrative. It is a very unique composition that manages to hold its own and provide a fascinating 18 minutes.
There is a sort of Alice in Wonderland beauty to the music of Ödland. Their new online album on Aerotone titled The Caterpiller is an all acoustic journey into the rabbit hole. The five tracks on this album have an innocence and wonder that is highlighted by the lead vocalist’s child-like narration and singing. The group’s enchantment with 19th century music is obvious but there is still a post-modern but very melodic sense to it. The opening title track and the following “Les Yeux de L’Loiseau” waver between new age and classical chamber music but the result is an unique dreamscape of its own. “Le Chanson du Parasite” and “Sur Lews Murs de ma Chambre” are beautiful if slightly surrealistic torch songs. “Mathilda Rossignal” is atypically jaunty and a fitting way to end this different but exceptional collection of Chansons.
The exotic percussive beats of Humberto Luis Schenone’s Un Puerto” A Percussive Trip, another great find from the
The unofficial sub-title of this blog is “Free and legal albums I like”. However sometimes I find an album that I do not like but think it is just too unique or weird to ignore. These two out-of-print albums, now available through
It’s nice to see 
While I enjoy exposing the unwitting public to experimental music, I occasionally get strange e-mail that basically states “”WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?”. I understand that music created solely from
Normally I like to write my own review but WM Recording’s description of Wal*Mart Approved Music is too entertaining to miss, Here it is in its entirety…
The free and legal album Lost Memories is a showcase for the talents of Serbian singer / composer / guitarist Daameer Stone. I use the triple description deliberately as this talented artist is attempting to display all of these attributes in this recording. Unfortunately it ends up somewhat uneven. Hip-hop influenced pieces are paired with cinematic soundscapes. Acoustic folk music is mixed with more modern pop oriented material. While Daameer is equally adept at all, the album becomes a bit muddled and doesn’t really focus on what is his particular strength.
Chimney Fish is a musical project of Annie Culver. Her trademark is her solo voice, overdubbed and accompanied by viola and/or electronics. This is very melodic but basically ambient music. The feel is tentative, warm and cerebral. Her 39 minutes EP Drown, Sailor, Drown is a good example of all the various colors and emotion she can get from her deceptively simple arrangements. I especially like her compositions when it is nothing but layered voices as on the Judds cover “Love is Alive” or her original “Fourth Month”, Occasionally the beat becomes more pronounced as on “Marble Glitter” which has an early Enya sound but Chimney Fish is most original when the voices and electronics floats and seduces as it does on “Let our Hair Down”. This is odd, serene and addictive music.
Tracing Arcs has an unusual but pleasing sound. While trip-hop in design and jazz in concept, there is a sense of free association in their album titled Fin. Luscious female vocals almost ramble in their lyrics and often the song ends abruptly rather than resolve. The result is a dream-like soundscape that lulls you into a trance, and a pleasant one at that. One of the more interesting aspect of the band is the use of an acoustic bass that gives a jazz-like grounding to some tracks. It works especially well on “A Pig & a Cow” and “Desperate Measures”. Another favorite track is the rather heady “Crytalk”. This is an exceptional album of sensuous sounds.
It’s a little late for Inaugural Day and too early for The Fourth of July. However this fine album of patriotic compositions played by
Compared to some of
One of the most exciting net labels to show up recently is
Does anyone know how the Netaudio festival in London went down? If the album is any indication, it must have been interesting at the least. The compilation titled Net Audio London 2008 Showcase was released before the show to highlight the bands that were going to appear. It is a nice collection leaning toward the techno side with a hearty sampling of electro-punk, ambient, experimental and other side dishes of the electronic genre. Favorites tracks range from a beautiful soundscape from the alway fascinating D’Incise to the tongue-in-cheek techno-exotica of Disrupt’s “Samauri Showdown” to the industrial punk “Hello Africa” by Indian Jewelry. But the show stopper comes at the beginning with A.R.E. Weapon’s “Don’t You Fucking Die on Me” a stunning piece of electro-punk that manages to channel both Iggy Pop and The Doors. You might not like every track on this album but there is a good chance you will find enough to make the download worth it.
It was once said about Thelonious Monk that even his wrong notes sound right. While I am surely not saying Michael Ace aka M.Ace is comparable to Monk, or for that matter not even in the same stature as his evident musical influence John Fahey of which the same could be said, there is a certain similarity in that statement to this odd and different guitarist. What M.Ace has is a clear vision of what his music is to be and just enough technique and more than enough imagination to pull it off. This second album shows an improvement over both his ideas and guitar playing. The opening “Mysterion” and “Cockroach Stomp” are quite representative of his work. “Anarchist Circus Monkey” is one of my favorite tracks sounding like a cross between Stravinsky and a barn dance. “Chain Dance” is one of the more conventional compositions and it is quite impressive. I enjoyed 
Indonesia’s internet record company
When we join special agent
I’m really excited about WMFU’s
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
The 
