Clinical Archives Mix is a new monthly series of online albums featuring selected music from the huge selection at Clinical Archive. At the time of this posting, there are three compilations for January, February, and March of 2011. Each collection offers choice tracks from the albums released by the prolific netlabel for that month. This is a great way to sample the music coming out of the best netlabel on the internet. January gives us music by Zack Kouns, Ugol Ratmanova, Pamba,and Sandro Marinoni & Stefano Roncarolo. February features even more musical treats including tracks from two of my favorite Clinical Archive artists, Melting Clouds, a post-rock ensemble from the Ukraine, and Argentinian guitarist Claudio Nuñez. March wraps up with a equally international cast of innovative artists that includes among others, The Cruels from Italy, Say ‘Kiss Me from France, and dmyra from Costa Rica. Each month should bring us a collection of music that will bend your ear and tickle your mind.

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Clinical Archives Mix: January 2011
Clinical Archives Mix: February 2011
Clinical Archives Mix: March 2011

I recently reviewed a netlabel series titled New Weird Australia in which the non-commercial sounds of various Australian artists was featured. The new compilation titled The Sounds of Young Canberra is their first collection that spotlights the musicians of a single Australian city. Like its predecessors, it shines a light on an area that is not usually in the listener’s mind when thinking of hot music destinations. Yet there’s some intriguing sounds on this 12 track delight starting with Pollen Trio’s Phillip Glass influenced soundscape called “Paleburst” and ending with Bum Creek’s musical hiccup titled “Bollywood”. There are a lot of different sounds in between but I especially enjoyed the metal punk “Assasin88″ by Scanners, the dronishly pretty Goth ballad “Doomed in Love” by Johnny Telefona, and the indescribably ghostly “Out of Breath” by Shoeb Ahmad. Like the preceding compilations, the music on The Sounds of New Canberra is independently non-commercial yet quite accessible to even the most casual listener.

You can grab this album at the netlabel’s web site or through the link below at the Free Music Archive.

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In my never-ending search for worthwhile independent music, the last place I thought I would journey on the internet to was Indonesia. But there appears to be a burgeoning music scene. There is a wide variety of sounds ranging from avant-garde to post-modern traditional to indie rock and beyond. So I was delighted to see that various Indonesian netlabels have teamed up to release five compilation albums in order to showcase the best of Indonesian independent music. The four netlabels are Yes No Wave Music, Hujan! Rekords, Inmyroom Records, StoneAge Records, and Mindblasting. The five on-line releases were unveiled simultaneously on January 1st, 2011 and will give you over three hours of mind blowing sounds you will not hear elsewhere.

Yes No Wave Music has already been well represented on Free Albums Galore with two volumes of Music Beyond No Borders. This is Volume 3 and it is as varied and genre-busting as the first two volumes. It is also the most challenging and ear bending of the compilations. Some tracks like the ones by Rully Shabara & Wukira Shiryadi, Kastrasis, and Terbuturkaku owes much to traditional roots. Other tracks all close to noise, thrash and very experimental but just when you reach the limit you hear something like Frau’s sweet “Rat and Cat. Another great addition to the Music Beyond No Borders series.

Stoneage Records presents their album titled simply Indonesian Netlabel Compilation but subtitled Riot in the Internet. Their forte appears to be punk and post-punk yet some of these bands show a great ability for merging their world music into the punk genre. I especially like the shockabilly influenced Coffin Cadillac, the strange and hypnotic Belajar Membunuh, and the hardcore punk wonder Nervous Breakdown.

Inmyroom Records Mixtape Vol. 1 starts with a cute indie track by the irrepressible Shorthand Phonetics. In general, Inmyroom Records deals with more accessible artists well versed in melody, beats and a Indie quirkiness. Best bets? Try Belkastrelka’s “Fiksi Pencuri Mimpi” or The Wispy Hummers’ folky but bittersweet “For Now”.

Perempuan means woman and Hujan! Rekords’ impressive collection of tracks exclusively feature female-fronted bands. The quality is so high that it is hard to choose favorites but I really like the trip-hop soaked “Hyp” by The Analog Girl, Sarin’s pretty post-rock instrumental titled “The Tears Never Stop Til I Close My Eyes”, and The Frankenstones’ great bow to 80s punk titled “Uncommercialized Prostitute”. A special treat is the terminally cute “Distance” by Peewee in the Garage.

Last but not least is Mindblasting’s Pop is Dead: Indonesian Netlabel Mixtape, a exhilarating mix of indie rock and pop from many different genres. You’ll find everything from thrash metal (Social Black Yelling) to strange breakbeats (Bersekutu Dengan Disco), to rockabilly bumble-gum (The Classic Clusters) to unclassifiable “dream-pop” (Etza Meisyara). The album ends with an amazing hip-hop showcase by Karbala Bukan Fatamorgana that illustrates how these excellent Indonesian musicians put their own trademark on every genre.

The five albums can be found at the Free Music Archive either here or individually through the links below.

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Music Beyond No Borders Vol. 3
Indonesian Netlabel Compilation (Riot in the Internet)
Inmyroom Netlabel Mixtape Vol. 1
Perempuan
Pop is Dead: Indonesian Netlabel Mixtape

When I downloaded the six volumes of New Weird Australia, released by the netlabel of the same name, I dreaded the idea of listening to hours of outsider music and marginally thin ideas. I could not have been more wrong in my assumption. With the very first track of volume one, which was “If at First You Don’t Secede” by Anonvmeve, I was treated to a sound that reminded me of a magical mix between John Fahey and Teri Riley. The rest of the tracks on all six volumes of this compilation confirmed my new conclusion that this is serious music by serious artists. What it isn’t is mainstream or commercial. Yet many of these contributions are quite pleasing and accessible to the casual listener. Much of the music is centered in electronica, avant-garde and sometimes ambient. Volume two is especially heavy on the ambient and drone-ful side. Yet each volume has a good variety of sounds and they all are rewarding.

This series and many other albums can be found at the New Weird Australia web site or the netlabel’s page at the Free Music Archive.

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Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6

When it comes to outsider music, it doesn’t get more outsider than this. Ken Edwards aka Carnivorous Birds, the self-acclaimed musical genius of Aberdeen, North Dakota, makes Daniel Johnston appear commercial and polished. A good portion of his musical output is available on two free and legal online albums from Pleonasm Music. While we can debate the quality of the music. it is more fun to sit back and marvel at the overall weirdness which is high on the Bizarro Richter Scale. You will never hear me say this is good music but it makes me laugh and in these trouble times, that’s a good thing.

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Life Metal 1997-2003
Space-Time Transients Through Hidden Events In The Transpersonal Libido

I don’t do year-end best lists. While I like to read them, I find myself uncomfortable in choosing the best music albums since I could never hear everything and I am afraid I will leave out a worthy choice that I simply never discovered. And this is from someone who listens to scores of netlabel productions every week! In fact, January usually becomes a catch-up game in which I try to post on all the worthy albums that I missed in the previous year. Since I choose only those albums that I find exceptionable, it’s best to look at my last year’s posts in itself as a “top 365 albums” for 2010.

Having said that, here is a “best-of” album that makes sense. Six of the internet’s most original netlabels, Ego Twister, WM Recordings, Peppermill Records, Cock Rock Disco, UpitUp Records, and Proot, each picked three of their favorites tracks from their labels, not all are from 2010, and placed it on this collection called Greatest It. All six of these labels have a deliciously off-centered sense of humor and the music bear this out from Silencide’s Euro-movie parody “Sirba” to Tracky Birthday’s satiric hip-hop to Le Rok’s funky “Le Rokford Files”. Other groovy picks are from The Rabbits, Happy Elf, Okapi, Thiaz Itch, and others. All of these tracks carry a tongue-in-cheek quality that will perk up your day. After listening to these album, make sure to check out the other free online albums on these six interesting netlabels.

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This is one of the biggest surprises of 2010. Guitarist Ottmar Liebert, oud player Rahim Alhaj, bassist Jon Gagan and percussionist Barrett Martin team up for this beautiful album titled Under The Rose. It is ten tracks of word fusion that transports you into new realms. Liebert’s Nuevo Flamenco style is joined with Alhaj’s Iraqi traditional roots resulting in a joyous listening experience. Gagan and Martin set the rhythmic foundations expertly. The title track is the perfect introduction but every track is a gem. The album is a free download but it is presented through the auspices of The International Committee of the Red Cross. You can show your appreciation by either buying the CD, of which part of the proceeds go to the Red Cross, or by simply make a donation.

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Satan Starship, a side project of Mach FoX and Joe ‘Jobot’ Bartuski, is offering this 23 minute single track on-line album as a Halloween treat. They describe it as ” a good listen when you have a high fever”. I describe it as a creepy industrial / noise rock bad dream . In other words, perfect for a 21th century Halloween bash or scaring the hell out of your roommate at 3 AM in the morning. Happy nightmares!

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The Just Not Normal netlabel recently released one of the best experiment music compilations I’ve ever found on the web. It is call No-R-mal offering four CDs full of interesting music and was recently reviewed and featured here at Free Albums Galore. However, it appears the Just Not Normal people are not resting on their laurels. They followed up with no-r-mal II, stretching the length to six CDs of equally fascinating, but often challenging music. There are 71 artists, 71 tracks and over seven hours of sounds. The six CDs are grouped in six atmospheric categories titled from CD1 to CD6 as Warm Voices, Dark Places, Strange Paces, Ca-Dance, Art Sounds and Outta Here. There are a few already raved about artists here like Phillip Wilkerson and Mystified but most are brilliant musicians languishing in obscurity waiting for the adventurous listener to discover them.. That adventurous listener just may be you!

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The terms no wave, noise, and experimental pop comes to mind while listening to this self-titled album by Jim Morrison Mon Cul. So does the term “WTF?” Translated from French as “Jim Morrison My Ass” this bizarre mix of alternating chanting and shrieking vocals plus strangely played instruments somehow manages to pull you down the rabbit hole into a wonderland of weirdness. It is another odd offering from the French netlabel Los Emes Del Oso.

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Here is another odd but amazing compilation album from the Los Emes Del Oso netlabel. This one features music from Chile and Argentina. Unlike the previously featured Ulqutushuy which collected folk music from Peru and Bolivia, Gauchito Gil contra Colocolo has a hodgepodge of different styles and sounds from tradition to progressive rock to noise to rap to just plain strange. The tracks range from a harmonic folk gem titled “No Hay Choristas” to a weird Bauhaus influenced “Wendy Carlos” by Onda Bidon. There is also some interesting street-side rap by Manueljgrotesque and a garage rock track titled “Old Man” by Kellies. The album is a grab bag of sounds which is the way I like my compilations. Again the sound is inconsistent ranging from OK to field recording passable. Yet you are not going to hear very many collections like this anywhere else.

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Sound manipulator Lezet appears to welcome the comparisons to Avant-garde music pioneer John Cage. After all, his new album from suRRism-Phonoethics net label is titled Caged? and is a collection of work for prepared piano. Certainly the playful experimentation with sound and the love for randomness is in both of their works. Lezet’s prepared piano compositions are certainly interesting. For the most part, they are brief, under a minute, yet the mix of sound and percussion is quite enjoyable. Solely based on this single album , Lezet is a composer and musician to watch out for.

Yet we do not need that one album to make that assessment. The Headphonica netlabel offers Characters, a project with its own unique conceptual turn. Lezet uses “a typing computer keyboard as the sound-delivering device where each letter is represented by a distinct note.”. The result is a surprisingly tonal work of brief pieces that are interesting, and often charming in their sound and application.

Both album are available from either the netlabels’ web site or the link below from the Free Music Archive.

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Characters
Caged

Every so often I like to feature an album that is “not for everyone”; Something that will appeal to a small population of listeners. The anthology Windpipe Moods fits into that area. This is a collection of sound poetry. All tracks uses the human voice, often electronically altered or looped. Some are wordless while others use words but are chopped up or “pasted”into a montage. Others, as in Ambrosia Rasputin’s “Chutz”, are presented as nonsense lyrics. Irene Moon & Sara O’Keefe’s “Flightless For Candy” is a clever vocal montage. Penn Kemp & Anne Anglin’s “Re Solution” is a cute piece of altered voice that made me smile. These seventeen tracks range from interesting to delightful and are recommended to those who like their musical excursion to be on the path less traveled.

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Asides from being that evil organization that plaqued James Bond (pre-SPECTRE), Smersh is also a studio of evil geniuses, aka Mike Mangino and Chris Shepard, that spent their time from 1981 on by releasing tons of experimental cassettes. Their efforts, some now available on the Smersh Library Sampler from the Free Music Archive, range from experimental electronics to electro-punk and beyond. The 15 tracks on this sampler are quite heavy in the industrial genre and reminds me of Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and especially Psychic TV. There some interesting sounds here. Not all of them successful but isn’t that the meaning of experimental?

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Clinical Anthology (2006-2009) is an massive survey of the first three years of what may be the finest net label around. Clinical Archives has enmassed hundreds of online albums within those years spotlighting a large range of artists and genres. Their focus is primarily on experimental music of all kinds but their “eclectic and illogical” attitudes reached out to practically any type of sound you can think of. On this set which is the equivalent of five CDs you can find music from across the globe by Keith Morris & The Crooked Numbers (Alt.country), Pandoras.Box (Indie Rock), Phillip Wilkerson (Ambient) Sandro Marinoni (jazz), John Ellis (fusion), and Humberto Luis Schenone(world percussive). Of course, there are plenty of strange sounds to be had from other more unconventional musicians like Pigeons & The Insane Porridge Makers, Zn’shñ, and H Stewart. Some new discoveries I have made on this collection include S’ur, Trio Antimanierista, and Yoko Absorbing. The quality of these tracks remain consistantly high throughout. This is the best introduction to Clinical Archive’s artists you will find.

The Anthology is available in 320kbps MP3.

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Of the many musicians that focus on the internet for distribution of their art. Lee Rosevere of Happy Puppy Records may be one of the more whimsical. Even at his most serious, I always believe he is hinting of a smile somewhere in the music. And at his not-so-serious, the fun and cleverness is quite irresistible.

So it makes sense that he would turn is talent to immortalizing art for the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA), a real museum existing in Massachusetts. Rosevere finds something worthwhile in these dreadful paintings. He even provides a slide show of the art so you can compare it to the music. Needless to say, the music is much better than the art. “Aroura Borealis” is serene and calming while the tracks “Blue Pesto” and “Retch Like An Egyptian” are full of that whimsy I was talking about. “In the Cat’s Mouth” is a jazz based piece hinting of malevolence. The strangest track may be “Jarez The Clown”; truly disturbing music for a truly disturbing painting. There are 21 compositions in all. Some are quite brief. Yet they are for the most part, impressive sound vignettes that can amuse and surprise. Is this a Pictures at an Exhibition for terrible art? No but how I could I possibly pass up the comparison. My contribution to this little project is mediocre writing with a bad analogy for good music about bad art.

You can download the album in 192kbps MP3 from the Happy Puppy web site from the link below.

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Peppermill Records is a quirky little netlabel with quirky artists. Their records are usually a lot of fun to listen to and the crew can be relied on for some unusual projects. One of these is the 52 weeks project is which 52 artists creates one track a week. Each artist took a headline from that week’s news and used it as the title and inspiration for their contribution which had to be completed in seven days. Each artist took off when the other one left, creating a continuity from track to track. The efforts were then separated into 4 albums with each album representing a season: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. There is a sense of unity in these albums with each having their own personality. Winter is the most varied of the four yet may be a little more urban and hip-hop than the rest. Spring has a more laid back feeling and is slightly more acoustic. Summer is rhythmic and full of activity. Fall ends the annual countdown with a variety of sounds. Most of the cuts on these albums are worth listening to but the sum is definitely more than the parts. This four album project is a nice way to end this years roll call of free and legal albums.

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Fall
Spring
Summer
Winter

Performance art appears to be alive and well. While this is an audio representative, it doesn’t take much imagination to see the music on Le Voyage as something that was meant to be seen and heard. Pigeons and The Insane Porridgemakers (I wonder if the original Russian sounds just as weird) is a cooperative of 10 artists bringing everything they know into this odd but irresistible project. Bits of Folk, electronica, avant-garde, spoken word, jazz, psycho-drama and rock don’t always meld together but weaves in and out like a compulsive eater in a international smorgasbord. There is a strong amount of psychedelica in these performances and I suspect the whole thing brings out a sort of a Rorschach Test reaction in the listener. It is certainly something different and something different goes a long way in getting a thumbs up at Free Albums Galore

The album is available from Clinical Archives in 320kbps MP3.

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While listening to her four free and legal online albums, New Zealand musician Jordan Reyne reminds me of a number of artists yet still manages to be uniquely herself. The first comparison is the most arguable, Reyne’s atmospheric background and her plaintive Celtic vocals hints of Enya yet Reyne is more darkwave than Enya could ever be. More accurate might be the Gothic renderings of Dead Can Dance. I also hear the epic combination of rock and electronic of Peter Gabriel especially on the two later albums. Yet the comparison game can only go so far, Jordan Reyne has clearly carved out a niche of her own.

Passenger (2004) is dark and hypnotic. Reyne remains a haunting vocalist throughout. The title track and “Waiting For The Sun” are stand-out tracks. I do hear that Enya influence, perhaps Enya by way of Brian Eno?

Birds of Prey (1997) is my favorite of the four album and the most accessible. The title tracks gives you a good example of the Peter Gabriel influences. Reyne in a bit sharper in her vocals on this album which rings best on the harder edged tracks like “Perfidity” yet milder songs like “Long Way To Climb” are quite impressive too.

While marked as albums by Jordan Reyne, The Ironman (2000) and The Loneliness of Creatures (2002) appears originally released under the name of Dr. Kevorkian and The Suicide Machine. Changing the name was a good move. Yet these two albums are very different from the artist’s other two efforts. These are dark ambient bordering on drone music. The albums convey a dark and disturbing musical environment. I prefer the other two CDs but these will have their moments for those into dark ambient.

All albums are available in 128kbps MP3. If you like the music, you can also purchase Jordan Reyne’s latest CD, How The Dead Live.

Update: The albums are still available but now require e-mail registration to download.

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I’m still trying to get a grip on this self-titled manic album by Banda Tre. dance music, party music, out-of control techno dub, but mainly just totally fun reggae and world beat. It is a bit cartoonish but the fast-based beats are certainly contagious. I think kids would like this music but I have no idea if the lyrics are suitable as they are in a language I do not understand, They are certainly fun to hear. “Reggae-Brazil” has the heaviest rock beats and is my personal favorite. “Stare Kwasy” is the most traditional reggae track and still somewhat outrageous. Also worth a listen is “Nowe Zasady” which sounds like a bizarre version of the Macarena. Let’s see…fun, dance, outrageous, contagious…you get the idea. Give it a try.

The Album is available from Afterbeat in 192kbps MP3.

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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.

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When it comes to odd music, I don’t shock easily but Diablo Swing Orchestra got even me off guard on its first listen. This Swedish ensemble has one of the freshest and most exciting sounds I’ve heard in a long time and they manage it through an insane combination of heavy metal, swing jazz, a traditional European music smorgabord, and a classical soprano voice that probably broke wine glasses in the studio. By the time I got through the first two tracks, I considered going to the emergency ward for the possibility of impending head explosion. There is an operatic feel throughout the tracks and an intensity that hold up marvelously through every musical twist. There are actually two vocalists, male and female, and these two work to good effect on “Rag Doll Physics”, a weird cross between Wagner and Ozzy Osbourne. Just about when I thought my head might explode, soprano and guitar make love on the gorgeous ballad “D’Angelo”. However if you really want to get the sense of this album start at the first track with “Balrog Boogie”, a full-assault barrage of swing and metal that has to be heard to believe. Other tracks all have their surprises like the Raga influenced “Gunpowder Chant” and an epic “Zodiac Virtues”. Finally, in case, you haven’t received the message that no limits are spared, Diablo Swing exits with a marvelous “Pink Noise Waltz” that offers flute and violin solos among the metal barrage, swing overtones, and the operatic power of the vocal. This soars to the top of my best free online albums of 2009 list. Actually it may be one of the best albums of 2009 of any type.

The Butcher’s Ballroom is available in VBR MP3 from Jamendo. If you like the music, support the artists by purchasing the better sound quality CD or their newest release.

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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.

The album is available from the Internet Archives in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis formats.

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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 Caterpiller is available in 320kbps MP3.

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The exotic percussive beats of Humberto Luis Schenone’s Un Puerto” A Percussive Trip, another great find from the Clinical Archives, can be mood altering. Play this album on your Ipod for a quiet day (rainy days work well) and you are instantly transported to the jungle or the pampas or wherever your mind takes you with these primarily South American rhythms. This solo album is all percussion with a blend of world beats and somewhat post-modern leanings. “Child Dreaming” has a consistent beat and melody while “Pachangachula” sounds a little like Harry Partch…if Mr. Partch was an Amazon tribesman. Despite the heavy percussive environment this is actually a very ambient setting that will lull you into different worlds.

The album is available in 320kbps MP3.

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