Free legal albums!

OK so this isn’t really the easiest album to give much in the way of background on. From what I know, it’s a music project from France. That’s about all the detail I can give you, I’m afraid. It seems to be one of the least well-known acts I’ve posted thus far on the blog, but that does not mean it’s worth any less, of course!

This isn’t music for everyone, yet it is in some ways for everyone. It’s perfect background/relaxation music. I doubt I’d be able to find something better to chill out to. It’s funky, relaxed jazz music. Entirely instrumental and far from exciting (hence it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea), but we all have times when we just want to lay back, relax and get that stress out of our heads. This is the perfect remedy. It’s extraordinarily calming, in fact. If you’re looking for instrumentally impressive music, this is not for you. From what I can tell, there’s an organ, a keyboard, a few instances with string instruments, a bass guitar and drums; nothing more. It’s basic music, but it has a strong effect on the listener. I feel good after listening to it, dammit!

Claire Hamil is probably one of the most well-known artists I’ve posted thus far. She has a Wikipedia page, even –

You can get any background you want on her from that. There’s no point in me going into it. She seems to have been pretty successful, although not hugely. She reminds me of Allison Crowe, although not for any more reason than the fact they’re solo female artists who have been around for a while.

The music on October is highly varied. It starts out sounding very jazzy, and it changes throughout. It speeds up and it slows down. We’ve got folksy stuff and rocky stuff in there. If you like variation, this is definitely a record for you.

Claire Hamil has a lot of music you can download for free. I’ve posted October here because it’s the only one I’ve got round to listening to and therefore know it’s a good one. If you enjoy it, feel free to have a look at her other stuff. I sure as hell well. Go here to download (or donate, hey, it’s up to you!).

Charts And Maps are a post-rock band from LA. For those of you who don’t know anything about post-rock, it pretty much contains no vocals, and this record is no exception.

But don’t let that put you off. I, myself, am anything but a big post-rock fan. The only post-rock I’ve ever even found myself enjoying until now was We vs Death, which I posted here a few months ago.

Charts And Maps are anything but generic. They have a real jazz influence going on, and the instruments keep the record interesting the whole way through. It’s a 4 song EP and lasts a total of 28 minutes, so it’s not filled with droney, overly-long epics of tracks. If you’re into the genre you’ll love it, and if you’re not, give it a chance anyway, I say!

Crete Boom are a jazz/swing band from Dublin, Ireland. This is their debut EP and it has had a fair bit of positive appraisal in their local scene.

I’d describe the record as largely a swing record (or neo-swing if that label makes you think of Sinatra and the like) but with some jazz thrown in there. There’s a pretty poppy feel to the record too, making it nice and accessible.

It’s 22 minutes long, so if you’re not into swing or jazz, I still recommend you listen to it. It’s more enjoyable than a lot of the modern swing I’ve listened to, and there’s plenty of good instrumentation in there to keep the interest level high (although be warned, there’s a rather long and boring end to the last track (Broken Teeth), filled with some ear-piercing improvisation. If the rest of the record wasn’t so bloody awesome I’d have been put off by this ending, but alas, it’s a great little EP, filled with fun and catchy songs. I’m glad I discovered it.

ODD.  Seriously odd. That’s the only way to describe this music. It’s a mixture of jazz and hardcore would you believe. When I first downloaded it I figured I’d find it to be shit, but I was intrigued enough to listen anyway, just to see if I could post something a little different. I’m glad I decided to do this, because it was so bizarrely enjoyable! It’s definitely not for everyone, because not everyone can appreciate a jazz/hardcore infusion with no real vocals, but there’s something about it…something smile-worthy. I can’t find out much about the band themselves unfortunately…I can’t even find out where they’re from. All I know is that they started out as a jazz band and progressed into what they are now later on.

It’s a short record (17 minutes) so I say give it a shot if you’re open-minded enough. It’s nice to experience new things, and this was a nice new thing to experience.