I was never much impressed by the British punk group The Stranglers but the best thing about them was the testosterone loaded voice of founder and lead singer Hugh Cornwell. While the Stranglers are still around, Cornwell left in 1990 and recorded several solo albums. The latest album is titled Hooverdam and is available as a free and legal download from Mr. Cornwell’s web site.

Cormwell’s voice has mellowed out through the years. The music on Hooverdam is less aggressive than that of The Stranglers which is a plus in my book. There are some nice rock tunes here including “Please Don’t Put me on a Slow Boat to Plowbridge”, “Wrong Side of The Tracks” and “Delightful Nightmare”. My favorite track is “Within You or Without You” with its talking-blues styled lyrics and its Bo Diddley rhythm. Not every song is a winner but there are enough good times to merit a listen.

Hooverdam is available in 128kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music support the artist by buying the higher sound quality CD and check out his other efforts.

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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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PeerGynt Lobogris may be one of the most prolific artists to place his music on Jamendo. The Spanish guitarist and composer has no less than 25 online albums freely available. I have listened to most of these and found them to be well played examples of rock guitar mixed with imaginative arrangements bordering on progressive rock and new age. The most interesting ones are on the BlueMoon series of six albums and one sampler LP.

The first BlueMoon sets the stage. The tracks seems to alternate between frantic metal and progressive/new age pieces. All the tracks are well orchestrated but it is the guitar solos that really get my attention.

While the first album’s guitar work reminded me a little of Eddie Van Halen, Bluemoons II Dreams has Carlos Santana written all over it. Perhaps the best guitar solo of the series can be found on “Tongues Entwined”. Dreams is more fusion than metal and a bit exotic in feel. With tracks like the Enya-like “Enchanted Forest” and the blues drenched “I Still Have a Sigh”, this is my favorite in the series.

BlueMoon III Mystic Places is for the most part a return to metal. But even here, quieter tracks like ” Poison In Your Lips” and “Athena’s Challenges” throw subtle surprises at you.

BlueMoon IV Dreams Keeper stars out a bit mystical and is more new age than the others. You will still find some great guitar jamming on tunes like “Into the Wormhole”. For a quieter side with some Spanish influences, try “Remembering My Grandfather”.

By now you should have a good idea of what Peergynt can do, so it is probably sufficient to say BlueMoon V Forgotten Spirits and BlueMoon VI Freezone is more of the same. BlueMoon V is fairly upbeat with “The Wild Side” showing a good share of the fireworks. BlueMoon VI is the latest release and it has some nice flamenco styled playing on “The Alchemist” as well as the now usual mix of progressive and metal jams.

The length of these albums are between 21 to 48 minutes long. But if you don’t want to download every album, there is a 69 minute “Best of” compilation called BlueMoon 2007 offering some of the best tracks from Volumes I through V. For those not totally into guitar rock, it might be the best way to go.

All of these albums and much more from PeerGynt Lobogris are available from Jamendo in VBR MP3.

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Peergynt’s BlueMoon
BlueMoon II Dreams
BlueMoon III Mystic Places
BlueMoon IV Dreams Keeper
BlueMoon V Forgotten Spirits
BlueMoon VI Freezone
BlueMoon 2007 (The best of PeerGynt’s BlueMoons)

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

I’m afraid I’m going to have to plead ignorance when it comes to Russian bard music. As I understand it, Bard Music is sung poetry usually accompanied by a guitar. The lyrics are centered on Russian life or has potilical concerns. One of my readers was kind enough to point out these three free and legal albums by Ed Prizant, a young musician that stays in the tradition of this music. The web site is in Russian but with the help of the not-so-reliable Babelfish I’ve translated the album titles to Step From The Love (2007), Fire of The Large City (2004), and My Clownish Desire (2001). Any Russian speaking readers are welcome to give me the more accurate titles. These albums are difficult to review as the lyrics are so essential to this music and my Russian vocabulary is limited to “Vodka”. However I find Prizant’s voice quite expressive and have no trouble enjoying these very melodic songs despite the language barrier. Check out these three albums. You will not be disappointed.

Again we have albums available in lower than usual bitrate; 64kbps Mp3. However they still sound pretty good and shouldn’t distract too much from your enjoyment.

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Canadian singer/songwriter Allison Crowe’s latest release is titled Little Light and is in the same folk-pop mode as her other albums. Her voice can be as light as Norah Jones yet her original songs bring out a stronger and more personal character similar to Sarah McLaughlin or Joni Mitchell. Most of the album consists of original material but there are three good covers of tunes by Cyndi Lauper, Phil Ochs, and The Matthew Goode Band. However it is the originals that make this effort stand out. The first two tracks, “Northern Lights” and “Angel” are strong tunes in the folk/rock vein. “Disease” features Crowe’s tumultuous keyboard over an emotional vocal. I also greatly enjoyed the title tune, “Choose To Be”, and the excellent cover of Phil Ochs’ “When I’m Gone”. This is a good collection of songs by a talented songwriter and vocalist.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3. If enjoy the music, support the artist by buying her CDs.

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This bit of psychodelic punk psychodrama is brought to you from sunny Spain. Psicodelic FunKilljazz combines 60s psychedelica and 80s funk with a decidedly post-punk mentality. Sort of Country Joe and The Fish versus Funkadelic in a mosh pit. Their self titled album is a bit undisciplined but each track has a certain wild charm. The group sails through jazz riffs, flamenco, cabaret tunes, and screamed vocals with ease as if it makes perfect sense to them. Probably does. Fortunately they have the talent and imagination to get away with it. The four track suite “La Odisea de la Langosta” is the best showcase starting with a quiet mood and ending in hardcore chaos. My advice is to just play the damn thing and go with the flow.

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

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Mary Shelley Overdrive has all the attitude expected from a hardcore metal/post-punk group. From the name to the high velocity music to the gloriously exploitative artwork on their new free and legal EP, this is a band that is not afraid to look you straight in the face and sneer.

Their EP, Hideous Sexy, is a short 15 minutes album of cover tunes ranging from Bo Diddley to The White Stripes. There are also some nice versions of songs by Black Flag, Devo, The Vaselines and others. Some of the better tracks include The Vaselines’ “Molly’s Lips”, Blue Oyster Cult’s “This Ain’t The Summer of Love” and Black Flag’s “Wasted. However the real stunner is “Who Do You Love” in which the band manages to take the blues rocker by the late great Bo Diddley and turn it into a Gothic nightmare. This is a neat brief EP of cover songs that will please your inner punk.

Hideous Sexy is available as 192kbps MP3s in an album zip off the somewhat clunky 2shared web site (see the link below). If you would like hear some of Mary Shelley Overdrive’s original music, go to their Myspace page and listen or download a few tracks.

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If you have heard of John Wesley before, it is probably as the sometimes guitarist for Progressive Rock band Porcupine Tree. In his prolific career, he has graced a number of bands with his substantial talent on guitar and his powerful voice. He has also managed to put away a few solo albums, all offered for free on his web site. You can find five session albums and a live recording. The five studio recordings especially got my attention due to their strong songwriting, hence are featured on Free Albums Galore.

Of the five albums the best and most varied , in my humble opinion, is Chasing The Monsters. It is a tour de force that melds alternative rock, folk, and progressive rock into an interesting mixture. Much of the album reveals a strong Roger Waters influence in both the vocals and guitar but there is also much that is derived from American folk rock. The best tracks include the title song and the jaunty rocker “Who We Love”. I also enjoyed the moving ballad “Velvet Dreams”.

The newer Shiver is almost as good. Starting with “Pretty Lives”, this is a more dramatic album with a lot of tension. At times it feels a little over-produced but is still full of good songwriting and poignant vocals. I especially like “The King of 17″ , “Your Round”, and the title track.

The last three albums comes from the 90s and represented some of the earlier songwriting of John Wesley. The Emperor Falls, The Closing of The Pale Blue Eyes, and Under The Red and White Sky all offer superlative songs in electric and acoustic styles. My recommendation is to try Shiver or Chasing Monsters, then go for the earlier albums if you enjoyed what you heard. While I liked all of them, I expect Chasing Monster will be the one I listen to the most.

The albums are available in MP3 format of either 160 or 192kbps bitrate. If you enjoy the music support the artist by buying the CDs.

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In doing research on The Dead Bodies’ new album Cock Cock Cock Cock Xanadu Xanadu, I discovered that there appears to be more attention give to the album’s title than the music. The best explanation of the title is that it is a take off on the roman numeral CCCXX but that only makes me ask what is the significance of the number 420. It could also be a reference to the avian influences in John Hilton’s Lost Horizon. (You thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you?)

Now … about the music … I must admit I expected something totally different from a band called The Dead Bodies. The Detroit based artists have a sound that blend quirky beats with a gentle hearted lyricism. There is a slightly warped wit involved here, not that so much in the vocals but in how they mix all the elements of this music together. Spin.com’s description of “equal parts David Lynch and The Shins” seems fairly accurate. All of this comes through in a very accessible bittersweet way that is immensely likable yet still complex listening. I especially love “Deep Beauty Deep”, “Paddywagon (For Adults Only)”, and “Counting Sheep”, each following the other in a triple crown of superb songwriting. If this 18 minute EP is typical then The Dead Bodies may have a bright future ahead that will hopefully include someone who can advise them on better album titles.

The album is available in album zip either as VBR MP3 (about 252kbps) or FLAC format. If you enjoy the music, support the artists by giving a donation.

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Stellar Vector is a progressive/electropunk band out of St. Paul, Minnesota. their synth-heavy sound is reminiscent of Tears For Fear with a darker tint but there is also a very strong David Bowie influence. The five tracks on their 21 minute You Are Not Included are all strong efforts. I especially like the catchy opening track “Houston Complex” and “Love in A440″.

The album is available in Ogg Vorbis format or VBR MP3. If you like the music, support the artists by giving them a donation.

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Greg Ginn is best known as the founding member and guitarist of seminal hardcore punk group Black Flag and the owner of independent record label SST. He also has fronted quite a few bands and projects since his Black Flag days, one of them being the punk/jazz/funk instrumental ensemble of Mojack. Ginn has placed Mojack’s newest album, Under The Willow Tree on his website as a free and legal download.

Under The Willow Tree may be quite different than anything Ginn did with Black Flag but the attitude is still decidedly punk. Ginn’s guitar playing is hard edged but often leaning more toward avant-garde jazz than rock. Drummer Mike Lopez is hard and funky while the saxophone of Tony Atherton, formerly of Bazooka, adds favorably to both to the funk and the avant-garde aspects of this session. The eighteen tracks are all up-tempo howlers that causes the album to be a bit one dimensional and twice as long as it should be but there is no denying the exiting tension that they produce.

The album is available from the Mojack web site in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, buy the CD in higher quality sound.

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Rock/rock might be more accurately titled Rock/jazz; mostly rock but enough jazz technique to fuse it together. Nazzareno Zacconi reminds me at times of a young Jeff Beck with his lighting technique and his imaginative improvisation. These ten instrumental tracks will certainly have you blissfully air-guitaring,

Rock/rock is available from the Dharmasound net label by either separate tracks or an album zip in 192kbps or 320kbps MP3 format.

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The German darkwave/electro-pop band Curious has placed their 2004 full-length release The Intimate Stranger on Jamendo as a free and legal download. The band has a heavy synthrock sound that harks back to The Cure and OMD while also showing a distinct Goth influence. The lush but driving “Thought of Angels” pretty much sets the pace while “The Silent Voice” is a haunting darkwave ballad. After these two exceptionally strong starting tracks, it becomes a little redundant for the 50 minute album but music still remains intriguing with some well crafted songs like “Your Apology” and “A Thousand Sunrises”, the best rocker in the set. This album is a nice addition to your collection if you like your rock slightly Gothic or have an infinity for Cure styled electro-pop.

The Intimate Stranger is available in VBR MP3 from the link below. You can also download it in 128kbps MP3 from their Last.fm page. If you like the music, support the artists by buying their CDs.

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Trent Reznor never stops, does he? After releasing the four volume instrumental set Ghosts for free on the internet, he follows it with a another totally free Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip. This time it is typically awesome NIN complete with Reznor’s tight vocals and heavy industrial rock. And again it is free. You still have to give an e-mail address to download it but the creative common license clearly allows free distribution so you will probably start seeing it soon on fan sites, CC archives, and torrent sites.

I probably do not need to say too much about the music. Either you love NIN or you don’t. There’s little middle ground in their uncompromising music. “Discipline ” appears to be the ‘commercial’ cut. You can catch a very funny “official” video here. However other strong tracks include “Head Down”, “1,000,000″, and “Demon Seed”. There are also a couple instrumental tracks, “Corona Radiata” and “The Four of Us are Dying” that are more reminiscent of the ambient Ghosts. Overall it is an exceptional album, one of the best of 2008.

You can download The Slip from the official site in a variety of formats “including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE”. If you find any fan sites that have the album available without registration, you might want to mention it in the comments. And, of course, support the artists and buy their CDs.

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Downliners Sekt has resurfaced with their second full album, The Saltire Wave. Those who enjoyed the first album’s dark trip-hop may find the newer album substantially on the rougher side but will still find plenty of the complex instrumental interactions and nuances that makes Downliners Sekt so worth listening to. There’s more of a rock music vibe on some tracks, especially on “Point Omega”, “School Daze” and “Panic! Sonic Monk” but cuts such as “Kaidan” and “Blackstock News” reveal nice down-tempo interplay within the artists’ array of guitars and electronics. I especially like “Soltices” ending mixture of sci-fi electronics and fuzz tones that left me musically buzzed and waiting for more. While there is no one astounding track, like Statement of Purpose’s “Weather Underground”, the overall quality of Downliner Sekt’s new album remains high.

The album is available in 320kbps MP3.

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The Belgian band Moving Sand has a fondness for down tempo angst. The band’s best asset in this musical emo-fest is a female vocalist that is able to channel the folkish sparseness of Cat Power with the existential despair of the more rock oriented P.J. Harvey. The slow and sensuous pace of the group, especially on Gray Cells, also reminds me of an European Existential version of Cowboy Junkies.

Gray Cell is a sublime but disquieting collection of tracks. The title tune is a haunting song that hovers between ballad and chant. “Don’t Forget Happy Hour” is a beautiful duet of voice and guitar while “Even If God Saves Me” has a jazzy beat accompanying its somewhat pessimistic message. My favorite track “Should I” is a bit atypical with its exhilarating electric guitar solo.

Secret Garden is a little more as ease, even jaunty in parts. On some tracks like “Don’t Break My Head” there is a stronger jazz influence and some tracks reveal a fondness for Latin beats. . The opening “Global Hard Girl” shows off the entire band well. Yet there is still enough angst to make the emotionally obsessive happy. Both albums give us a nice taste of this talented but introverted band.

The albums are available from Jamendo in VBR MP3.

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Gray Cell
Secret Garden

Kansas City resident Erik Karlsson is a singer/songwriter whose music harks back to the golden era of 70s folk-rock. He is especially schooled in the storytelling tradition of modern balladeers such as Harry Chapin. Even with such a giant name looking over his shoulder, Karlsson still manages to place his individual mark of these well-crafted original songs. His album Forty-Something is freely available from his web site and is released on a creative commons license for all to enjoy.

Forty-Something has a light melodic sense throughout. Good lyrics and a joyous mid tempo beat dominate most of his songs. The title song is a nice sample of musical storytelling. The opening track “Angel” is a very likable indie rock song that sounds a little like a upbeat Counting Crows. I also like the wistful and folkish “Long Ways From Home” and a country road song titled “Reno”.

The album is available in 128kbps MP3. If you like the music, support the artist and buy the CD with better sound quality. Erik is donating all proceeds from album sales and tips to The Harvester’s Community Food Network.

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There must be something in the air of Glasgow, Scotland that fosters cheerful optimism. Although sounding nothing like that other Glasgow band, The Martial Arts still radiate a similar sense of fun and innocence. Their album, Your Sinclair is power pop mixed with some 60s British invasion styled rock. This is happy but hard rocking music that is so light-hearted you can forget how well constructed it really is. Try the opening track, “Murry and Audree” for a taste then follow it up with the infective “Don’t Want to Talk”, my favorite track on the album. “Mod Vai” is one of the more hard-driving songs while “Contemptuous Disdain” is a witty and exceptional number. If the Pop Gods are listening, this band should be going far in the future.

The album is available from Last.fm as separate tracks in 128kbps MP3. If you like the music, be sure to support the artists by buying the CD in better quality sound.

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Fresh Body Shop is one of the more interesting indie rock groups to show up lately. They have three albums on Jamendo, each one just a little different but sporting a signature sound.

Tasteless is the latest and my favorite of the three. Fresh Body Shop’s basic sound is somewheres between Indie rock, Emo, and Industrial. From the first few track, it is clear that Nine Inch Nails is a major influence. The first two tunes, “My Great Descent” and “The Game” show this influence well and are also two of the best on the album. The title track reminds me of Radiohead with its Yorke-like vocal and its polyrhythmic backing . This is the album to get if you have not heard this group before.

But Make This End isn’t bad either. In fact if you like your rock loud and intense, it might be a better bet. This is a more industrial, metal-tinted effort. “The Middle Line” starts it in a hard hork frantic style and it lets up only a little. There’s a few atmospheric soundscapes here, but industrial is the key word for this session.

Orgamilk does a 180 degree turn and goes acoustic. This is the album that allows the listener to enjoy the lyrics and the calmer mood. Pedro is the lead vocalist and this is primarily his showcase. It’s a peaceful album that features nice vocals and good songwriting. Whatever album you like, we can all agree that Fresh Body Shop has the chops to become a prime time player.

The albums are available in VBR MP3.

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Tasteless
Make This End
Orgamilk

John Frusciante is best known as the guitarist for The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is also quite active in putting out his own solo albums. He gives away a very generous amount of demo and acoustic tracks at his web site.

Currently he has three collections of free music available. One is a set of demos from his album Shadows Collide With People. These are rough, not fully realized tracks that are not necessarily to my liking. However, two other collections are definitely more in line with my preferences and therefore featured on the oh-so-ever-exclusive Free Albums Galore

Songs From Shadows offers acoustic versions of songs from Shadows Collide With People. These are tracks that John recorded in his living room and they sound like it, which is a compliment. The songs all have an intimate “recorded-for-friends” style that is not usually heard from an artist of his stature. John writes that he used to do these songs in an acoustic tour but is not planning to do any more acoustic tours. Let’s hope he changes his mind as this is delightfully personal music.

From The Sounds Inside is an internet-only album of previously unreleased tracks that are unlikely to see the light of commercial release. The collection of demos and experiments have an expected uneven quality but there are some nice tracks here, most being solo acoustic or acoustic with accompaniment. Some of the more interesting songs include “Three Thoughts”, “Dying”, and “Fallout”. Certainly, the fans of The Red Hot Chili Peppers will love these albums but I think even the non-fans will enjoy seeing this other side of John Frusciante.

Songs From Shadows (acoustic versions) is in WMA format while From The Sounds Inside is available in 160kbps MP3. If you enjoy the music, support the artist by buying his CDs.

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One of the requirements for inclusion on Free Albums Galore is for the album to actually be free. Not only does it have to be monetarily free but also free from any type of registration through giving your name, address, e-mail or any other information that can be used for mailing lists or whatever. I have never made an exception to this rule…until now.

Nine Inch Nails’ new album Ghost I is the first CD of a four album set, appropriately titled Ghosts I-IV and Trent Reznor is giving it away as a audio free download. However you must give an e-mail address to receive the download link. I made the exception because; A) it’s Nine Inch Nails and B) the album is Creative Common licensed allowing for its free distribution for non-commercial purposes. In fact, the album is available in bit-torrent seeds and it is rumored some of those were placed by Treznor himself.

As for the music, it is entirely instrumental. The nine untitled tracks are unmistakenly NIN yet varied in range from an opening track of acoustic piano over ambient electronic sounds to a poly-rhythmic third track to full-throttled industrial (track 4 and 8). My favorite track is number 5 which reminds me of a ultra-dark Ennio Morricon film score. Reznor is never boring and usually eye-opening in his creativity. This album is no exception to that rule.

Ghost I is available in a zip of 320kbps MP3. You can also buy the entire four volume set in either a download or a CD for a very reasonable price. I bought the set and I can attest that all four volumes are excellent and one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. So if you like Ghost I do yourself a favor and buy Ghosts I-IV.

Update: Trent Reznor has placed the entire Ghosts I-IV in the open source section of the Internet Archive. You can download it here. Thanks to Lizzbee who mentioned this in the comments.

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A little Mysterons goes a long way. Basically shockabilly, The Mysterons are loud, surfcore, coarse, and more comic book funny than scary or shocking. To put it another way, sort of like The Cramps without vocals. Mainly instrumental, the Mysterons often use B-Movie samples to set the mood. Not being a band that advocates moderation, the musicians have placed virtually their entire output on the internet for free for better or worse.

Wiki Wiki has 20 tracks, ranging from 1998 to 2002, of their typical surf rock spiked with a little rockabilly and campy horror. It is mostly guitar based in a Link Wray tradition. In fact, you can hear the ghost of Link all over this album.

Leftovers is just that, stray demo tracks from other sessions. Actually it is one of the most interesting of their albums because the 14 songs do not always fit into the usual Mysteron formula. Try a jammin’ “Boweavel”, the racetrack ready “Frenzy” or the disco friendly “Red Menace”.

Boozin’, Fuckin’ & Fightin’ may have a title meant to raise a few hackles but the music is some of their most straight forward surf rock and boogie sound. While these tracks sometimes sounds like riffs waiting for a melody you can’t deny the party mood in cuts like “Wheels” and “Chicken Skin Gravy”. One of my favorites is “El Santos” which shows a rather pretty side to this usually raucous band.

Velvet Walls was recorded in 1994. Many of these tracks sound like they come from some sleazy exploitation film soundtrack. I think it’s intentional. Certainly much of it, like “Bone Death and “Dance of the 666 veils”, is meant to be tongue in cheek. There’s a lot of wheezy organ in these early songs. I have a fondness for wheezy organs.

Golden Showers offer the first released tracks from The Mysterons. The horror movie theme is already in place and their fondness for surf music a la Dick Dale or The Ventures is unmistakable. These 15 tracks are pretty much straight forward party fun .

There is also a live set, a “prehistory” album, and a huge collection of throwaway demos. But these five online albums are probably all you need of The Mysterons. Here’s a tip. Put on a DVD of Plan Nine From Outer Space, turn off the sound and play Golden Showers for the soundtrack. It almost works!

The albums are available in MP3 with varying bitrates.

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Wiki Wiki
Leftovers
Boozin’, Fuckin’ & Fightin’
Velvet Walls
Golden Showers

I’ve been waiting months for this. The Charlatans have released their new album You Crossed My Path as a totally free download. This is not a collection of b-sides, demos, or throw-aways but a fully realized album of new material that is as good as anything they have ever recorded.

Available from the web site of radio station Xfm. You Crossed My Path is a lively example of The Charlatans’ signature sound. Blending elements of alternative, 80s new wave, and a little 60s psychedelica, the band still sounds as fresh as they did in the early 90s. “Oh Vanity!” moves along with a driving rhythm and a equally riveting vocal. The title tune is high intensity rock and roll and one of my favorite tracks. Except for the bizarre “My Name is Despair”, every track is an upbeat winner. It’s too early to say what the best album, free, online or otherwise, of the year is but this is certainly a contender.

The album is available as separate track or album zip in 192kbps MP3. If you like the music, support the band by buying their CDs.

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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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