Op3n.net mixtapes

Op3n.net is a mixtape netlabel exclusively using music published under Creative Commons or similar licenses.

Here are two Op3n mixes for streaming or downloading by netlabel operators we love.


Mix by Otis Fodder, creator of Comfort Stand

"Comfort Stand is considered one of the basic chapters in the undefined history of the blurry netaudio phenomena. This netlabel from Montreal is RIP since 2006, time enough for Otis Fodder, the big name after it, to pick his favourite 120 minutes from its huge catalogue and blend them together in another exclusive mixtape for op3n.net. "Comfort Stand was an active Net Label from 2003-2006 featuring artists from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States. The label's 80 albums, 16 singles, and 8 compilations remain online, with MP3s hosted by The Internet Archive."


Mix by Marco Kalnenek, creator of WM Recordings

"Squeezing almost four years of WM Recordings history into a 45 minute mix is not an easy thing to do, but hopefully this mix gives at least an impression of the broad range of releases: from weird pop tunes to electronic soundscapes, and from free improvisation to electropop. So basically, this is a rather eclectic compilation. Entertainment for the whole family!"

Chenard Walcker Tribute and Love Letters

Marco of WM Recordings and Weirdomusic.com has passed along the news from Roy "Chicky" Arad that Chenard Walcker, a friend of the online music world, is slowly recovering from a diabetic coma. His brother reports that he is not physically suffering.

Chenard is the prolific visual and musical collage artist who operates the Free Sample Zone with 58 releases available for download (including one for Oddio Overplay.) So many of us have benefited from Chenard's work. This is our chance to repay our sweet friend and to send him our love.

"Chenard Walcker is the self-proclaimed Pope of samplecore, or, to put it simply, of musical cut-n-paste. Within a few years, he became a legend in the netlabel scene thanks to his prolific and virtuoso collages." -- official site

The last time I heard Chenard speak was last year for a get-well-soon radio show put together by Oddio Overplay and Shirley and Spinoza Radio for Otis Fodder.

Let's put together something of love and thanks for Chenard. Roy Chicky Arad [bio] has suggested a tribute album, and WM Recordings is organizing now to host it. It might also be simultaneous hosted elsewhere on the web.

So start making your songs, coloring your greeting cards and making your collages for Chenard now!

All responses should be directed to Marco.

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Happy Birthday!

Extra special HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to Blogio teammates Perri and Fausto. Send them your happy regards or post a comment here for them. Perri's birthday is in late October and Fausto's is in early November. When is yours?

Three years ago on this day, a wonderful project was born. It was Comfort Stand Recordings, a totally free netlabel. In its brief lifespan, that netlabel laid down the example for others to follow. Comfort Stand released 80 full length and 2-CD recordings, as well as 18 singles and EPs.

To celebrate its first anniversary "of being online, providing free music and sharing the love," artists put together a 2-CD celebration release on the label. Oddio Overplay celebrated by creating a playlist of more than 100 birthday songs found on the web. Three years later, only 65% of the songs were still there, so I updated it for you today. The list now weighs in with more than 200 birthday tracks. Play them for yourself on your birthday or your un-birthday!

Also, SongFight.org has a collection of birthday songs, Various Artists - Birthdays and Breakups.

While the Comfort Stand offices may have closed, the music is still available online. Equally important, the sister label, WM Recordings is still going strong. Marco Kalnenek [Weirdomusic] worked on and was a recording artist for Comfort Stand. It inspired him to create WM Recordings to release even more free and legal music to the world. They have already shared 52 releases. Happy Birthday to all of us!

Weirdomusic - Democassette

Weirdomusic - Democassette!!???

This morning, I woke up with the song "The Man with the Wooden Eyes" in my head. I couldn't remember who performed it. My sleepy head was rattling through all sorts of New Wave bands. Maybe it was the Urban Verbs, Ultravox, Chrome - who was it? So I did a search online and it turns out to be the awesome Marco Kalnenek, aka Weirdomusic, the brain behind WM Recordings, former project collaborator and one of my favorite people!

Here is his entire February 1990 Democassette!!??? release. I do not know whether this release predates his six years at the conservatory, but there are impressive keyboard segments here. I particularly like them towards the end of "Acid." I sure had fun revisiting this music. Enjoy!

Several tracks also appear on his A Piece of Weirdomusic History. These are the songs Marco contributed to weeks 26 of the fantastic 52 Weeks project from Splogman.com.


"Weirdomusic is the nom-de-plume of 35 year old Marco Kalnenek from Heerlen, the Netherlands. The name was first used for his 1992 cassette release Someweirdomusic and is now the name of Marco's website Weirdomusic.com and all related musical activities.

"Marco started playing the piano at age 9. His first band Foolish Behaviour was formed around 1982, when he started jamming and recording tapes with his pal "Deurie" (Marco Dörenberg) and assorted other friends. Hundreds of hours of music and other noises were recorded in the 12 years that followed. A few cassettes and cd-r's were privately released and a couple of tracks turned up on compilations made by other people.

"In 1994 Marco's interest in writing and recording music started to fade, mainly due to his bad experiences at the Conservatory of Music in Maastricht, where he studied jazz piano for 6 years between 1987 and 1993. Most of Weirdomusic's home recordings from 1982-1994 still survive [and are currently being transferred to archive.org].

"In 2001 two older recordings were remixed by Dutch musician Ton Rückert and Japanese dj Hideo Nakai for an as yet unreleased cd-compilation of Weirdomusic's work. Meanwhile Marco has been experimenting with pc based composing and recording. His first new recording in nearly 10 years was released on the Comfort Stand label in April 2004."

more info at the Weirdomusic Discography.

WM Recordings Does It Again!

Just posted this week on Oddio Daily Downloads about how quickly WM Recordings has been releasing and here is yet another!

New release available now:

WM038: Mellsch - Mellsch

Summer had passed when poet Ruud Linssen and three musicians came together to see what they could do. In winter the quartet released their first album of music and poetry under the flag of Mellsch.

These recordings were made at guitarist Marcel Jansen's retreat, an ancient farmhouse in the windswept marshlands of Waldfeucht on the German-Dutch border. There the work of Mellsch emerged over a long autumn weekend. Centuries-old shingles on the farmhouse roof rattled as Jansen, Linssen, Bego (keyboards), and Tobias Beuving (soundscapes) challenged and inspired each other to make something new. Now for the first time, the music and poetry of Mellsch is available for listening in any season.

best wishes,
Marco Kalnenek
WM Recordings

As posted on Oddio Daily Downloads
February 14, 2006

WM Recordings shares 3 recordings within days of one another

We have not reached the middle of the month and Weirdomusic's netlabel, WM Recordings, has already released three new recordings!

WM037: D'r Sjaak - Schijnheiligen
WM036: D'r Sjaak - En toch wakker
WM035: Bacco Baccanels - Bollate centro

more recordings

* Posted on: Tue, Feb 14 2006 12:06 AM

Uncle Neptune News

Exciting News!! Uncle Neptune is in the studio again creating new magic! Also, UncleNeptune.com is offering the covers and inserts with artwork by the amazing Billy Blob for each of his freely downloadable CDs. The CD inserts are all round, because they were originally released with c-shell CD cases. The first CD case was yellow, second blue, and third green. You'll find them in the FUN section of the site.

In his NEWS section, Uncle Neptune sends out thanks to OddioOverplay.com for traffic. That means YOU, because you are visiting his site and telling the world about it. Thank YOU for visiting and supporting artists featured on Oddio. Hurray! The Internet works!

For those who are new to Uncle Neptune, boy oh boy, are you in for a treat! This is from the Featured Archives:

Uncle Neptune, cousin to Tiny Tim and Mr. Rogers, has chosen to share his 3 CDs online. Once you fall in love with them, you can easily donate to Uncle Neptune on his site. You will fall in love with them, too!

He and his friends make sweet happy music to brighten your day. An immediate favorite is The Good In Everything. Sesame Street really ought to hear the song I Like Being Me, featuring Jean Bean. It sounds perfect for the show.

The first CD is self-titled. The second CD Music For a Rainy Day seems addressed to a shorter audience with Uncle Neptune speaking after each track. In A Perfect World is CD three and it hosts a number of other artists and singers.

The incredible [and beloved] Billy Blob does the graphics for the site. His cartoons were on Wired's Animation Express. Karma Ghost is a true gem.

For the introduction to darling Uncle Neptune, many thanks to Marco of WeirdoMusic.com and Peter of CosmicTones.com. Oddio fans are sure to love their oddiocentric sites, as well!

Weirdomusic.com now has a netlabel!

The beloved Weirdomusic.com has just launched a netlabel, WM Recordings. Marco, the operator of Weirdomusic, is assisted by Jan Turkenburg and Ton Ruckert. All three gentlemen are also Comfort Stand recording artists, and each created an Oddio Overplay theme song.

"WM Recordings is a netlabel operating from Heerlen, the Netherlands. WM Recordings brings you music that is a little 'different.' We do not specialize in one style, but instead bring you exciting sounds that you're not likely to find anywhere else. Everything you find on WM Recordings is free, so take as much as you like."

The netlabel opens with two releases. The first is a collection titled WATER, WIND AND SAILS, and is released in conjunction with Turkenburg's 52 Weeks. Week 18 of 52 was a radio program with the sea as its theme. Turkenburg invited listeners to contribute their own musical pieces to create a water CD. The release flows across genres from bluegrass to the avant garde. A track that instantly won my heart was De Zwervende Keien's "Camille's Aquarium," a brief rendition of Camille Saint-Saens's (1835-1921) "Aquarium" from his CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS (1886).

The second release follows along the water theme, as well. It is RAIN by favorite French mixmaster Chenard Walcker. He is a prolific artist and tends to explore in all directions when he undertakes a project. Guessing that this set is in addition to his two tracks on WATER, WIND AND SAILS. When composing a mix for an Oddio Overplay site theme, Walcker also branched out and created an entire CD of additional material.

Super excited and grateful that WM Recordings has sprouted. Here's to it blossoming as the years pass.