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!

Truth be told, I’ve never paid Smashing Pumpkins any attention. For some reason, in fact, I always got them confused with Sonic Youth (until I got into Sonic Youth), but let us nevermind this; it’s irrelevant.

So yeah, I knew for a while Smashing Pumpkins had some creative commons stuff about, but I found so much other stuff to post here than I never bothered to seek it out. Alas, I have now decided to post it, because I became overly curious about what the band even sounds like (yes, that’s right, I didn’t know what one of the world’s most well-known bands sounds like).

This was the band’s sixth album, and was released for free online in 2000. It’s a pretty big collection of songs, so God knows how long it would take to download way back then!

The sound quality isn’t great, I admit. But the music itself is good and although I know nothing about the band, it certainly doesn’t sound like rubbish they simply didn’t want to put on a regular album.

The tracks on here were taken from a hand-made (whatever that means) vinyl record. They’re pretty rough and very lo-fi sounding, but to many fans, this is nothing other than endearing. To me, it’s not a big deal; you’ve just gotta turn your speakers up a little more.

It’s a long record – an hour and a half. There’s a crapload of material here and any fan of the band should check it out. Likewise, any fan of lo-fi or raw-sounding music should check it out too. If you’re none of the above, it’s still got something to offer – because the songs are actually good, and as someone who has never listened to Smashing Pumpkins before, I am becoming turned on to them.

It’s always great when a popular band releases something for free. So yeah, check it out! It’s atmospheric and varied – I don’t think too many people could hate it.

Catch-It Kebabs are one of the best ska bands I’ve discovered this year, free or otherwise.

They’re a British ska band and have all the trademark thing that make British ska more interesting than the American stuff. They have two albums available for free download, but this is what I’d say is their best.

It’s pretty laid back but fun and with plenty of political lyrics. The brass section is strong and the vocals aren’t shouty (which is a trait that ruins a lot of ska music). Cat-It Kebabs are an extremely promising band with a lot to offer, and if you’re a ska fan, you would be a fool to not check them out. This album is only 24 minutes long, but no worries…you won’t bore of it easily no matter how many times you listen to it!

Click here to download their other album, Skankin’ Sausages, and click here to visit their website for more information.

Antarhes are a metal/rock band from France. They’ve got a nice male/female vocal thing going on, and this is one of the few great free legal albums I have found in a long time (hence the lack of posts!).

If you’re a fan of metal bands with female vocals, you’ll like this, and if you’re a fan of symphonic or power metal, you should like it too. It’s great and it’s enjoyable to listen to. We’ve even got some piano parts in there, which really add to the general feel of the music.

I haven’t had a lot of time to listen so far, but I am impressed with what I’ve heard. The band have 2 other free albums available, so if you like this, I will happily upload the others for you.

This record is certainly something I am going to keep in my collection. I’ve been going off metal of any type recently, but Antarhes have kind of reminded me of what I’ve been missing. Fantastic stuff.

State Shirt is an electro/indie project by a guy called Ethan Tufts. All his music is made by no one but himself, but don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll be listening to a painfully DIY-sounding record here; you won’t. What he does, he does very well. Everything sounds good and you wouldn’t assume it was just one guy and a macbook (well, I assume he uses a macbook!) if you didn’t already know.

State shirt has a few albums. He has this one, but also another full album and an EP. If you like This is Old, you should check out his other stuff here. It’s all available to download for free!

At the moment, State Shirt is working on a remix album filled with fan-submitted content. This could either be really bad or really good, but I will keep a lookout for it.

This is one of my most surprising little finds for a while. Stars Of Heaven were from Dublin and played sort of…folk/pop/new wave music. I can’t assign them to one genre, but it’s a familiar sound and one that works very well.

I used the past tense here because the band is no-more. They were about in the 80s and were very short-lived. It seems they didn’t enjoy the complexities of the recording industry. It’s a shame, but they have two albums available for free download on the record label’s website. If you like this, I suggest you check it out.

The sound is kind of REM-ish. I prefer this to REM, however! I guess you could describe it an REM done by Irishmen. The music is relaxing but very far from boring. It’s all very professional and smooth sounding. Everything on this record works so well, and I honestly am going to be listening to it for years to come.

First off, I’d just like to apologize for our hiatus. As a postgraduate student balancing university with work, it can be difficult sometimes to do everything you want to, and unfortunately this project of mine got cast aside for a while since it’s rather time-consuming (searching for albums and trying to find the best takes time!), but I intend to post at least semi-regularly now, so here’s to hoping we can become what we used to be!

Flowerheads are psychedelic rock and are very far from being easily accessible. But that’s part of the appeal. It sounds like it was recorded in a basement in the ’60s. It’s very difficult to make out the vocals, but I it’s better when you think it’s non-words anyway.

The band is very mysterious and small-time. They did release two proper albums, but not for free (and I assume they’re very hard to find anyway). If you like psychedelic rock, I can’t imagine you could dislike this. Fans of garage rock may enjoy it too, because there is certainly a garage-ish feel to the whole thing.

Dubamix is a music act I am completly struggling to get information about. This is not due to an actual lack of information though, but rather, because everything about them is in their native French! I can speak a little French but alas, it doesn’t stretch further than asking for chicken in a resturant.

So yeah, Dubamix is a French dub act. For those of you who have no idea WTF dub is, it is a type of reggae music. It really involves remixes of other reggae songs, and it’s very danceable stuff. Dub and drum n bass go well together.

Mix a Dub is a super-fun record. We’ve got all sorts of samples thrown in there. It’s never boring, even without too many vocals. I’m not a party person, but if I went to a part with this playing, I’d be dancing in an instant. If you’re not into dub, reggae or any kind of dance music even, you can still gain scope to enjoy this record. The samples keep it interesting. I don’t know if Dubamix will release anything else (although this record is only from 2009 anyway), but I’m gonna keep a close eye on it. I am massively impressed. I’m not going to say it’s all great, because hey, there are boring parts that seem to go on a little too long, but for a record that lasts 57 minutes (which is a good bit above average length), it holds the listener’s attention as well as anything could. Now, excuse me while I turn it up loud and have a party in my head.

This is the kind of thing we need to post more of. I don’t know if it’s due to personal bias, but it just seems there isn’t so much good free and legal metal out there as there is of other genres.

I set out today to find some metal. Something great. I figured it may take a few listens to a few records before I found something worthwhile (because hey, I admit, there is a load of rubbish out there), but I was wrong! This was the first album I downloaded, and it instantly hit me as something I need to post here.

I’m not at all sure how to classify it. We’ve got death metal vocals, but we’ve got a lot of other elements in there and it certainly isn’t death metal. It’s very electronic, but I’d never call it ‘electronica’. If you like you’re music eclectic, you really need to give this a listen.

In the download, I’ve labelled it as gothic metal. It’s the closest I could get to a proper genre.

I have no information at all for you about this band. They are a side project of some other music project and are Russian. That’s the most I could get. I think in this case, the enigmatic quality adds to the feel of the music though, so I’m not complaining!

We’ve got a good deal of atmosphere in the music. Almost doomish at times, although not quite. The album isn’t particularly long, but it’s enthralling throughout, and varied. A few of the track could even get a non-metal fan interested for at least a few minutes (and that’s saying a lot!).

If you like your music traditional, or if you’re one of those metal fans who HATES electronic elements, this is not for you. I personally love it because it is so experimental. I honestly can’t tell if the lyrics are in English or Russian, but it doesn’t matter. Musically, this is excellent, and it’s professional-sounding enough to compete with anything else. I am not as into metal as I used to be, but I can still enjoy this record. It’s something you should certainly listen to, even if just for the sake of interest.

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!).