Bjork Tribute Album

Our personal favorite among Bjork's albums is the sample packed, energetic POST. Stereogum loves that one so much that they organized artists' fascinating interpretations for a tribute to POST with input from Bjork herself.

ENJOYED: A TRIBUTE TO BJORK'S POST

Matheatre

Move over, Tom Lehrer, with "The Elements," your periodic table classic. There is a new act on the scene. Their name is Matheatre. This time it isn't chemisty; it's mathematics. Marc Gutman and Sadie Bowman have written a touring Calculus musical, Calculus: The Musical!, and continued their clever work with C-Sections (available at the FMA) and Log, A Rhythm. A series of albums to encompass all of Pre-Calculus is in the works.

Get your nerd on now! Enjoy C-Sections in its entirety at the Free Music Archive!

album license: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
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Charles-Valentin Alkan's Opuses 25 and 31

Brazillian pianist Felipe Sarro performs Opus 25 Alleluia and Opus 31 Préludes by French Romantic composer Charles-Valentin Alkan.

Alkan, one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of his day, was a friend and contemporary of Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin. He was a child prodigy, entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of six. Alkan was a favorite of his teacher, Joseph Zimmermann, who also taught fellow composers Georges Bizet, César Franck, Charles Gounod, and Ambroise Thomas. In his twenties, Alkan was a famous virtuoso and teacher in elegant social circles. Liszt once stated that Alkan had the finest piano technique of anyone he knew. This Romantic composer was a luminary of his time.

Felipe Sarro began his musical training at the age of eight and studied at Academia Musical Fátima and Santa Cecília Musical Conservatory. In this album on the FMA, Sarro performs Alkan's Opus 31 Alleluia (1844) and Opus 25 Préludes dans touts les tons majeur et mineurs (1847) in entirety.

image: Alkan's music frequently displays idiosyncratic features, including nonstandard key signature and pedal notation, as seen in the above image showing an extract from the 2nd movement of his sonata Les Quatre Âges.

album license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License

Mojo Nixon Offers All His Songs for Free for Limited Time

Mojo Nixon offers all his songs for free, for three weeks, USA IP addresses only.

"One of the most outsized personalities on college radio in the '80s, Mojo Nixon won a fervent cult following with his motor-mouthed redneck persona and a gonzo brand of satire with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Nixon had a particular knack for celebrity-themed novelty hits ("Elvis Is Everywhere," "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child," "Don Henley Must Die"), but he was prone to gleefully crass rants on a variety of social ills ("I Hate Banks," "Destroy All Lawyers," "I Ain't Gonna Piss In No Jar"), while celebrating lowbrow, blue-collar America in all its trashy, beer-soaked glory. All of it was performed in maximum overdrive on a bed of rockabilly, blues, and R&B, which earned Nixon some friends in the roots rock community but had enough punk attitude -- in its own bizarre way -- to make him a college radio staple during his heyday...." - Steve Huey, All Music Guide

The Caterpillar

Ödland - The Caterpillar (aer018) 2009
delicate, French, acoustic, 19th century
piano, strings, ukulele, toys, female voice

"Ödland is a French folk band with a modern spirit, never slave of a particular style, but inspirited by the 19th Century. They are in love with classical music, american ragtime and romanticism. Ödland is an entirely acoustic project." -- official website

"Lorenzo Papace was born the 15th january 1986 in Lyon. He started to learn classical piano at the age of 4. Since 2001, he joined many musical groups, with an orchestra or with bands. At december 2008, he decided to make his own musical project, entirely acoustic. At january 2009, started the first Ödland group repetitions. Lorenzo called upon Alizée Bingöllü, actress, with whom he already realized some short movies. Alizée is the Ödland voice. Isabelle Royet-Journoud is a photographer, and wished to explore other creation territories. She is playing ukulele and creating sounds environments with toys and little things. Léa Bingöllü is a violonist, and was immediatly attracted by Ödland's world." -- Aerotone

"We called it The Caterpillar, which is the first song title, because we find it is a proclamation of our thoughts, and of our style. There are discontinuities in it, and very different environments. This song, as other coming, is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, in the Lewis Carroll original work. There is in these 5 tracks a lot a variations between romanticism and ragtime, and we are charmed to propose this diversity for a first production." -- myspace

free to download from Aerotone netlabel
or purchase beautiful CD package

preview music at myspace

Ödland website - Ödland myspace - Ödland on Aerotone

US Ceremonial Music

The old regime has been escorted out, and the new one is in place. An exciting, uplifting time for most of America. Good news for most of the World.

To my fellow Americans, a toast to our future! For everyone, some American "pomp and circumstance" listening!

01. The Old Fife and Gun Corps, who led the inaugural parade, shares their entire LIVING THE TRADITION
CD (sample: "Royal American Medley" mp3)

02. The U.S. National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner"

03. USAREUR Band and Chorus Ceremonial Music Downloads (sample: "Washington Post March" mp3)

04. Recordings of The United States Military Academy Band at West Point

05. US Air Force Band Recordings

06. US Navy Band ceremonial, classical, jazz, country and sea selections

07. US Marine Band Ceremonial Music. They also led the inaugural parade. (sample: "Hail to the Chief" mp3 -- which will never be played officially for GWB again)

08. 312th Army Band with selected Honor Band Students from Kansas and Missouri with special Guest Conductor, Dr, Kirt Saville, Recorded Live, March 2, 2003 [bottom of page] (sample: "American Pageant" mp3)

09. JOHN PHILIP SOUSA MARCHES LP shared at OddioOverplay.com

10. 399th Army Band performs ceremonial songs

11. 338th U.S. Army Band performs selections

12. US Army Field Band recordings in their entirety from their Concert Band, Soldiers' Chorus, The Volunteers and The Jazz Ambassadors

13. Entire CDs from The United States Coast Guard Band

14. Music from the US Navy Band Music Program

15. Regimental Band of the US Merchant Marine Academy

16. CDs from the U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own"

Throcke's Sometimes Not Unpointful CD

Great news! Throcke has released his much anticipated second CD, Sometimes Not Unpointful. The good news continues, you see, as he has once again made his music available to your ears for free. In further cool news, you can purchase your very own CDs from him as well.

Throcke is Christopher Carson of Brooklyn, New York. His music features delicate layers of his many instruments, clever electronic sounds, and field recordings of airplanes, water, elevators and birds. Working away in his studio, Throcke creates music that makes the world a better place.

Have you ever wondered about the name of Throcke? Here's the scoop!

"Throcke does not mean 'The Rock.' It's actually a nickname that dates back to 7th grade when my weird friends and I started a band called Jimmy and the Rotting Potatoes. No one was named Jimmy (well, there was an 'essence' we called Jimmy, who was responsible for lights flickering and doors suddenly opening). Anyway, we tried to come up with some ridiculous names for ourselves, like S.L.U.G., Turnip, Big Andy, RigorMortis, and Throckmorton S. Peagood XVII. What started as a joke somehow stuck and evolved into Throcke."

Christopher has been a drummer and songwriter for many bands, including Planet Nine, Hurka, Grasshopper Highway, Exit Ocean and UMAMI. He has also written scores for several short films. In fact, during the days, he edits film and video, mostly for television commercials.

His Throcke project gets most of his creative time these days -- to the good fortune of we the listeners! Enjoy his new Sometimes Not Unpointful CD, and drop some cash in his tipjar, won't you?

location: Brooklyn, NY USA
license: Creative Commons by-nc-sa

Oprah's Free Holiday Compilation

Oprah Winfrey is on board with free and legal music sharing with her Holiday Hits 2008. Okay, it is Oprah, but this comp has big names on it like Aretha, Harry Connick Jr., Brian McKnight and Tony Bennett. C'mon, folks, that makes it worthwhile, right? Non-christian friends, there are some secular winter selections on there for you, too.

Everyone, this eight song CD complete with cover and CD artwork is available for only a couple of days. It is part of Oprah's Have a Thrifty Holiday special. Learn how to have the thriftiest holiday ever on her website.

Oddio Overplay, Jamendo, Internet Archive's Netlabels collection and Free Albums Galore are great places to find whole albums that you can burn to CDs and share with family and friends for the holidays. They are all free, legally shared selections.

While seriously pro FREE MUSIC, we ask you to remember the musical artists who made 2008 a wonderful year for you. Make a donation on their website or purchase their music, t-shirts and gear. Remember to share the love with those who have brought you so much joy. Also, you might add them to your Amazon.com wishlist. Have you seen their new UNIVERSAL WISH LIST feature? It is awesome! It lets you go to the websites selling music by the artists you love and add their CDs with just a click! How cool is that?

Here's to a new year of great music!

Tuesday's Dozen

First in months, here is the freshest Tuesday dozen, straight from the oven

Lilliput Orkestra Love this French jazz quartet "who plays personal compositions between jazz, rock, electronic and popular music" (MySpace) [free jazz, post rock, prog]	Droopy Contini shares 2 delicious CDs, Surpriscording (solid, straight forward, hard bop) and Strikes Back! (swinging bop) [jazz, hard bop, swing]	DIY-note - Ruptures several tracks on this warm demo from France have been favorites in our home for years, especially "El Despertar" [post-rock, acoustic rock]
James Kochalka Superstar accomplished American comic book artist and writer who is also a rock musician shares many of his tunes and ramblings [pop, rock]	MonsterK7 in French sounds like monster cassette, "a little indie label fond of beautiful musical objects," dedicated to cassette tape preservation [varied]	Un Ode au Toy Piano MonsterK7 presents an international, 19-song comp celebrating the toy piano with some real pros, such as Twink [rock, pop, post-rock, cabaret]
20 Bands in a Box La Magic Box puts together annual comps of their favorite indie artists, most from France [pop, rock, France]	Brian Ellis Trustworthy CD (2005), myspace, official site [folk, psychedelic, acoustic, electro]	A Découvrir Absolument this magazine shares their own series of comps featuring today's French artists [France, folk, pop, post-rock, electro]
French Comps 01audio-video.com offers up their series of compilations showcasing modern French artists [France, folk, pop, post-rock, electro, chanson]	Aaahh-Records little German netlabel billing itself as offering "free and charming music," and they are right! [folk, acoustic, indie, pop]	Barbagallo busy in Sicily writing and performing "indie; acoustic; low-fi... alternative; experimental; prog; alt folk" check his rearranged Satie works

Tuesday's Dozen

Tuesday is a real good news day. Here you have a new set of 12 free and legal collections and CDs to get you through the work week! Eat up and be sure to spread the love by supporting these artists!

Jalikebba and the Toubabs Jalikebba Kuyateh performs on the kora at the Tanji Village Museum in his homeland of Gambia [folk, Africa]	Gepel Argentinan jazz combo shares their fantastic Moducué CD, showcasing popular Latin themes within traditional cool jazz (website) [jazz]	Jordan O'Connor Canadian bassist and film score composer offers his improvisational solo bass album Lebreton online [jazz, bass]
Dead Heart Bloom two gorgeous CDs of "music with the eclectic eccentricity of Beck and the dramatics of David Bowie" and you'll hear Nick Drake there, too [pop, acoustic, rock]	Hedgehog Brazilian electro artist, aka The Mechanical God, best known for his breakbeat work, shares lounge CD (blog, myspace) [downtempo, jazz, lounge, Brazil]	Plastique Noir fans of Bauhaus won't want to miss this goth Brazilian group on German netlabel afmusic (band's myspace) [gothic, post-punk, rock, industrial]
Ryan Hoyle the drummer for Collective Soul and many other artists shares works from his portfolio [pop, rock]	JazzCorner.com offers fantastic podcasts featuring and interviewing jazz legends and up-and-comers [jazz]	The Weird Weeds This Is Not What You Want EP, "took all of 30 seconds... to fully blow my mind" - Portland Mercury [experi, pop]
Mikseri Finland's answer to MP3.com, IUMA, Soundclick, etc.; pages translate with a click; cool, vast resource [varied]	Nichole and the Dreamcatchers 12-yr old Nichole and some adult friends offer up this bizarre and beautiful xmas CD [kids, odd, varied]	Pr1me shares his entire The Transformation: Perception Is Deception CD, preview tracks on myspace profile [soul, hip hop, rap]

M.Ace - A Fretful Menagerie

Yay! Here's the latest from M.Ace of OOk

"Another batch of solo acoustic guitar pieces. Better recorded, better guitar, better technique (with more truly independent bass and melody), same old stumblebum execution. Well, three out of four ain't bad. Handmade mood music for worrisome souls."

M.Ace - A Fretful Menagerie (2008)

Tuesday's Dozen

Tuesday is a real good news day. Here you have a new set of 12 free and legal collections and CDs to get you through the work week! Eat up and be sure to spread the love by supporting these artists!

Magestik Legend Detroit, Michigan rapper shares 15-track Free CD; shared stage with hitters like George Clinton, Wu-tang, Ludacris, De La Soul, Rakim [rap, gangsta]	Crate Kings enjoy the mixes (pictured: Crate Kings vs. Henry Mancini), breaks, tutorials and network offered up by these master hip-hop DJs [hip hop]	Ne Zhdali Estonian group pairing "punk energy with the complexity of true progressive rock" (Allmusic.com) shares much of their discography [rock, prog]
Mercury Theatre finest radio drama of 1930s, famous for War of the Worlds broadcast, featured acclaimed drama company founded by Orson Welles [spoken, OTR]	Marxist.org interesting respository of Soviet history, including national anthems and soviet songs [soviet, war, Russia]	Tasmin Little star violin soloist and orch director shares her The Naked Violin CD with works by Bach, Patterson and Ysaye [violin, classical]
Jason Ferris this guitarist and singer-songwriter based in New South Wales, Australia shares his 8-song acoustic rock CD titled All I Said online for free [pop, rock, acoustic]	Da ! Heard It fun netlabel "influenced by electronic, 8 bit, Easy-Listening, Acid, Toyz-Pop, Breackore, Electro Surf, Electro bass, Miami Bass" [electro, chiptune]	Foolk from the Slovak Republic comes "lo-fi hip hop, beats, jazz cuts and bleeps... with live musical instruments and weird electronics" (aka Foolcut)
Lokua - Trails listening to the urban beats Lokua (Joshua Keckner) lays down, it is easy to connect he is a Chicago native [electro, hip hop, downtempo, house]	Animic - Hau o Hiu stirring together the sounds of their home with folk music and electronic sounds in Catalan, Spanish and English [folk, lo-fi, pop]	Crate Digger Death-Match "What (albums) can 12 musicians create in 12 hours with only $12 of thrift store finds?" Whole albums of fun jams! [sampling, varied]

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New 2-CD Release from Josh Woodward

"I'm thrilled to announce that my latest releases are now available! There are two albums packaged as one, called 'The Simple Life'. The songs are from the frantic sessions over the past 8 months, and the versions here are vastly improved over the demos I put out. I've never been happier with anything I've released - I hope you enjoy it, too.

"As usual, you can download the MP3s for free, and you can also purchase a physical CD (name your own price!) to help support independent music."


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Tuesday's Delectable Dozen

Bourbonese Qualk entire discography available online, think Clock DVA and 808 State (thanks for the news, Nash Rose) [industrial, pop, experi, electro]	Tortue Super Sonic the Neogrotesque CD lays together traditional and some electronic instrumentation with dreamy and sexy results [downtempo]	Bob Ostertag recordings of accomplished experimental artist with the likes of Fred Frith, Kronos Quartet, John Zorn [experi, avant garde]
Victrola Flores, Nubes, y Pajaritos release featuring seven songs: "sweeping, orchestrated short movies of sound" ( also on last.fm) [trip hop, downtempo]	Wesley Willis some of the recordings of the late schizophrenic artist who gained a cult following for his unique, simple music and funny, bizarre lyrics [rock, spoken]	Vinnie Bell enjoy mp3s from perhaps the greatest session guitarist of all time, see the hit records for yourself! [rock, oldies, space age pop, guitar, sitar]
OurTeamIsFresh official site of the Brekfast Club, "a heavy collective of... hip-hop enthusiasts who move for the preservation and progression of real hip-hop"	VA - Skafferi Stefan Zachrisson put together this comp in the '90s through his award-winning (Scandinavian Indies) zine [indie, pop]	Michael Leigh our pal Jim shares our pal Michael's 1992 60 minute tape of an American radio show of "stuff he'd got at charity shops and jumble sales" and sent to America [varied, sampling]
The Normals [FR] from Strasburg, France play muddy, fuzzed out and loud garage rock [garage, rock]	Forestbrook Brona McVittie, UK singer-songwriter shares sounds and images of her gentle world, including tunes in tribute to outsider musicians	Musica per Bambini Manuel Bongiorni and collaborators hail from Italy and perform theatrical shows; enjoy tracks from their first three CDs[electro, rock]

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