April’s Swag – Free (& Legal) Music Downloads

April's Swag - bite-sized, but very tempting (and even a bit delicious)

Once again, there’s been so much going on this month that I’ve spared little time to dig up the best bits from the nether regions of the internet. Lucky for us both, I don’t have to look very far to find something worth bringing to your attention – to recap those I already have:

• mini50 Spring Sampler* ~ highly recommended 8-track sampler, featuring artists on the mini50 roster (read more here)
• Brain Dead Burockracy ~ hard-edged rock from LA trio (read more here)
• Mamaleek – Kurdaitcha* ~ intriguing black metal I’m still wrapping my head around (read more here)

After that, I suggest sinking your teeth into these:

Heinali and Matt Finney – Plainsong
Shoegaze/Drone/Ambient | 15MB – 320 kbps MP3
You may have caught the recent Conjoined review over at [sic], if not, this duo blend heavy shoegaze-drone a la The Angelic Process/Nadja, with spoken word vocals. These guys have got quite a few things in store for this year, with another album set for release later this spring on Paradigms Recordings titled Ain’t No Night – keep your eyes and ears out for more info soon, as there’s some seriously good stuff going on with that. Currently available for free download on Bandcamp right now is their take on The Cure’s Plainsong and Radiohead’s Creep. To top it off, from May 1st, Dreamcatcher – a half-hour soundtrack over two movements (Lucifer 1 and Panopticon), which recently accompanied a photo exhibit – will go up as a ‘name your price’ download, with all funds raised going towards financing another album later this year; some very absorbing work all-round.

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Wild Dogs In Winter – Homba*
Post Rock/Ambient | 120MB – 320 kbps MP3s
Released last year but only just recently brought to my attention, this nicely done 10-track album has more than enough weight to grab – and keep – the attention of Blueneck, I Like Trains, Our Ceasing Voice and Her Name Is Calla fans. Available on Bandcamp as a digital download (or purchase the CD).

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Sleepy Sun – Marina
Psych/Stoner Rock | 14MB – 320 kbps MP3
If you know me, you know I can’t get enough of these guys and their particularly sparkling blend of hazy psych/stoner rock. To celebrate their upcoming US tour, Sleepy Sun have made a live version of the single Marina available for free download, which you can grab here.

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Other Lives – For 12
Folk/Rock | 6MB 192 kbps MP3
It was nice to see this new track go up on RCRD LBL the other day, as I’m quite fond of Other Lives’ self-titled debut. (Not so nice to see RCRD LBL decide to go the same direction as Daytrotter and disallow direct downloads without registering for a user account – they better not introduce a poorly functioning, site-specific “download manager”). Slightly more old-school psych-folk in this track, but very nice indeed – grab it here.

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NeTE – Greatest Non-Hits 1 LP
Industrial/Gothic/Lo-Fi – 73MB 128 kbps MP3s
Some of you may remember my Australian music special from a while back, and briefly mentioning I couldn’t recall any Australian goth bands I was into during the 90′s. Well, while I was trying to jog my memory, I happened upon a site called Shame File Music – a label dedicated to experimental Australian music. Long story slightly shorter, I grabbed this collection of tracks, and while I can’t say I heard them back then, I can say there’s some stuff here worthy of a listen now. Grab them from Internet Archive.

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*These are available as ‘name your price’ downloads. For Bandcamp releases, you are able to enter any amount, including $0. For Mamaleek’s Kurdaitcha, voluntary donations (via PayPal) to support the artists can be made through the Enemies List download page linked above. As always, though I know times are tough, I encourage sparing a few bucks where and when you can to support the artists making the music you enjoy.

Spring Sampler from mini50

I often look at pictures of distant places wistfully. I think about visiting, and seeing things I’ve never seen before. Like frozen lakes and snow, natural rainforests with moss covered rocks and giant ferns, Père Lachaise, the Serengeti… There is much in the world that has gone sight unseen (other than pictures), yet I still get an innate sense of affinity from them, and I wonder if I would truly feel elsewhere if I did indeed visit.

The last few days haven’t been my favourite ever. While I dream of far away places, I’m the kind of person that likes being home, having my own space and my own things around me. I once said to an old friend, after a move, that “I can make my home anywhere”. This is true, in part, I just need the things around me to be mine.

Right before I started packing all my things, I decided to grab this release, and listened to it as I filled box after box with all my things. As I type this, two days later, I’m sitting on the end of my niece’s bed, hunched over a lap-top with headphones in place (which I have to say I don’t like wearing). I brought little that is mine with me – my computer, some clothes and coffee pretty much sums up the most of it.

When I woke up today, I switched on my computer and listened to this again – and there it was, something that comes from the other side of the world, though maybe not belonging to me in the strictest sense, I still get the feeling of having something more with me that’s mine, such is the wonderful familiarity music can bring, and I can feel at home.

The sampler features artists on the Scottish label mini50, including the previously reviewed Conquering Animal Sound (you may also wish to read the [sic] review for an English translation) and The Kays Lavelle, as well as tracks from future releases by Caught In The Wake Forever and David Newlyn; and that’s just the half of it. Rounding out the release is Cory Zaradur, Chris Tenz, Mammoeth and Language of Landscape.

While quite a varied bunch of tracks, today it was a very soothing listen.

You can grab this now as a name your price (including $0) download from Bandcamp, or visit here for more information about the featured artists.

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Conquering Animal Sound – Kammerspiel

Conquering Animal Sound‘s debut album KAMMERSPIEL is essentially pop music, but in the way the likes of Fever Ray or Björk portray pop music. Where Conquering Animal Sound differ is in their love for tape hiss and childrens toys. There is no doubt, with this record they are in a world of their own.

Thus quoth the information I received concerning Scottish duo Conquering Animal Sound, which I  quote because it’s a neat summary and I recognise I’m about to use a somewhat unconventional method to describe it…

I decided to dip my toes into that world earlier this morning by way of taking a listen to a select few tracks from the album, and I think the above album cover is a pretty good representation, in so far as my first impressions were concerned -  a little wintry and dispersed – a slight fracture in known logic (or a reorganisation thereof), but related in a way that means the whole picture still makes perfect sense.

When it came to this point – where I make an attempt at  further describing what I heard in a way that’s hopefully readily understood – I was inexplicably reminded of a conversation I once had; to the point where I couldn’t escape the notion that even though the conversation was utterly unrelated, it seemed (to me) the perfect way to describe the music of Conquering Animal Sound. (I should point out I take liberties with the definition of the word describe. Perhaps ascribe might be a better term in these circumstances). Anyway, like it or not, here is an edited portion of said conversation, which was kinda about birds, owls in particular:

Me: If I was an owl, I’d be secretly thinking, the thoughts partitioned, and I’d remember them later, when I’m upside down and the walls slide up – different thoughts are viewable by turning the head a little, like a kaleidoscope.

Them: Lacrimose and swivelly. Owls have a swivelly sort of grace. Sometimes their eyes grow bigger, one than the other, and its all a-blink at the world, and the world is snapped up in the vision/beak/other.

Me: I turned the dial and was trying to find the frequency for “Sing, Little Birdie”, but it’s not to be found – this particular raven quoth “Nothingmore”.  Well, that’s a lie – I read about multi-coloured balloons (some are in the shape of a cat, and some look like walnuts – after the air has escaped), and beautiful moments caught by the eye…but I looked up from the book and heard night-music and spotted a couple of flirting owls.

I assure you that conversation not only made perfect sense in context, but the thoughts in there seem (to me) utterly interspersed with the music I was listening to – so much so that I couldn’t think of any other words to describe it.

Of course, you’re welcome to have your own conversation with CAS…

Released in conjunction with mini50 Records, pre-orders are currently being taken through Gizeh @Bandcamp (official release date Feb 7th, with pre-orders to ship on the on or around the 1st). The limited edition version (which includes a bonus CD and  an artwork print) has only a handful of copies left, so if you want to reserve one of those best do it now.

 

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As an afterthought, once I had written this post I decided to use Google Translate to see the English translation of kammerspiel… As it turns out, it’s intimate play. If I was an owl, both my eyes would be large and turning their dials.  O_O