Free legal albums!

The process for choosing the band and album to write my first review on this site about was a completely random one. It wasn’t until looking at a large image of the album cover that I noticed “LOOK OUT” was written in small letters. This is an inside joke, and approximatly 1-2 of you will see the humour in this.
Anyway, onto the musical side of things now- The Big Bang EP by Azoora consists of 6 songs. Well, 3 songs, but with 2 versions of each of them. The first 3 songs would be jammed somewhere in the acoustic-y folk rock genre…if such a genre exists.
The opening song, Cruise Control, is probably the standout track on the EP. Starting with soft, folky guitars and spoken lyrics, it builds up with the inclusion of some electronic-ish drums and a mighty catchy chorus.
The second song, Lying Back- Fire in Our Eyes is similar in format; in that it starts of soft and builds into another solid folk-rock song.
The final song of the first half of the EP, She’s Coming, is probably the weakest of the 3. But considering the praise i give to the first 2 songs, this doesn’t really mean much.

The second half of the EP is essentially a set of remixes of the first half. Well, sort of. The band have many tastes and ideas, and therefor deliberatly record 2 versions of their songs.
The 2nd half companion song to Cruise Control, Cruise Control Attacks!!!, is basically an electronic version, and is the strongest of these “2nd version” songs.

Overall, The Big Bang EP is sure to be an enjoyable addition to any music library.
You can download the EP here. If you enjoy it, other Azoora releases are availabe for FREE AND LEGAL downloading here!

Abscondo is a folk musician from the US who is currently residing in Slovakia. He is also part of another folk project, named Sungod Abscondo, and from what I gather they play very similar music – ie – acoustic folk music.

This is music by one man and his guitar, and it is both peaceful and emotive. His voice is very similar (in my opinion) to Brian Molko, the lead singer of Placebo, although Abscondo’s voice is somewhat softer.

The stand-out track for me here is the title track Stages, although everything on it is well-crafted music you’d quite happily listen to in a coffee shop or a similar relaxed, small venue.

Menhris Of Er Grah is a folk band (apparently, though I’m pretty sure it’s just one guy) from London. This is his debut album and the only free record he offer. It’s a gentle and peaceful acoustic record. It’s easily listenable due to it’s length, though personally I find it makes perfect background music, and it’s good for having a calming effect, since it’s pretty rather than interesting.

Seemingly this record has been downloaded over 40,000 times, which is pretty impressive for such a small “band”.