The Latest from Free Albums Galore

Free Albums Galore has posted a bunch of new albums:

Marco Lucchi – Some Perfect Curtains
Genre: Modern Composition, Ambient

Italian multi-media artist Marco Lucchi presents another work of quiet power from Webbed Hand Records. Lazy melodies float in and out of this album of gentle sounds. Some of the tracks, like “Link #1″ and “Link #2″ pack a bit more of a beat but overall this is a gently swaying dreamscape. Like his other works, Some Perfect Curtains was meant to be performed with media and visual artists, but the music holds up fine on its own. “La Dedicace” is my favorite track as it moves along gracefully like a ballet. The final track” Gominal #2″ is also interesting, a fragmented piano solo set amongst a thin veil of sounds. Lucchi never fails to give us beautiful and interesting music.

The album is available as separate tracks in 192kbps MP3. There is also a full zip that includes four videos and a poem.

Miwa Momo Hojo & Yuichi Nagao – I Still Think About It, I Will Tell You Very Soon
Genre: Avant-Garde

The album I Still Think About it, I will Tell You Very Soon is a worthy successor to Miwa Momo Hojo & Yuichi Nagao’s first effort, Kiechimae. Again, the two sound artists creates strange new worlds that never become totally alien. Hojo’s innocent sounding voice delivers odd lyrics on some tracks but, on others, becomes a wordless musical instrument. It is often overdubbed and always delicately interacts with Nagao’s deft sampling and manipulations. While most of this could be called avant garde, some songs like “Natsu No Taiyou” flirt with a strange form of jazz fusion. I find this to be one of the more delightful sessions of musical experimentation on the internet.

The album is available from the EKO Netlabel in a full album zip of 128kbps MP3s.

RIAA – Sounds For The Space-Set
Genre: Mashup

The mashup moguls RIAA (Robotic Intergalactic Astro-Artists) have a great album of camp synthesizer sounds, obscure songs and not-so-obscure hitmakers all mixed up into clever tracks. Sounds For The Space-Set starts with the concept of a space journey and throws a lot of cute sampling and mixing your way. If you ever wanted to hear what Sun Ra, David Bowie, and The Four Tops might sound like together, “Liftoff” may be your chance. I especially like the strangeness of sci-fi fan mag legend Forry Ackerman and Los Straitjackets on “Robo-Spies must Die!”. The album may never quite rise about novelty level but it is still a fun trip.

Sounds For The Space Set is available in 192kbps MP3. If you enjoy mashups you might want to check out the M-1 home page that checks up regularly on the shenanigans of RIAA and other talented mashup artists.

Zbigniew Karkowski – Uexkull
Genre: Modern Composition, Avant-Garde

Uexkull is an early work by the Polish composer of noise and experimental music, Zbigniew Karkowski. It was composed in 1988-89 and released as a CD in 1990. It has been out of print until being re-released by the Audio Tong netlabel as a free and legal online album.

This is essentially a drone work lasting an hour. Double bass mingles with electronic sounds to create a very minimalist work. The composition also features the alto voice of Karin Westman but, to be honest, I couldn’t tell you exactly where. Patient listening will reveal subtle but vast layers of songs with surprising changes and intensity. The piece starts quietly but slowly develops into a tapestry of industrial sounds. The entire work is intense but pleasing in its own mysterious way.

The album is available as a single track in either 320kbps MP3 or AIFF.

K.M. Krebs – several albums
Genre: Ambient, Electronica

K.M. Krebs is another talented musician whose works can be found all over the internet. He records online albums and CDs for a number of labels. He specializes in richly nuanced ambient music that is not all that minimal yet not so complex it loses the listener. I have featured five different free and legal online albums from the Webbed Hand and Treetrunk netlabels.

Oneiromancy was recorded in 2000 and sets the stage for Krebs ‘ deft use of samples to create his dark soundscapes. The poetic titles only hints at the range of emotions the artist manages to evoke in these aural journeys. While the album is split into 12 tracks, each part flows into the other making a satisfying whole. The album is available in VBR MP3 (around 192kbps).

The Light will fit the Darkness and Obliterate It continues the theme of expressive titles fitting equally expressive music. As with Oneiromancy, the work is available from Webbed Hands Records. There is an abundance of nature samples but rarely do they exist on their own but evolves into quite different sounds. “Folding Water” goes from splashing waves to sounds that are liquid on other ways. The album is a pleasing array of ambient soundscapes that are dark yet calming. It is also available in VBR MP3.

The last three albums are all from 2006 and 2007 and available from the Treetrunk netlabel. Fog Sequences gets its inspiration from photographs of fog and are expressed in a eerie series of drones and vibrations. Jade Furnace I consist of 20 brief tracks of three minutes or less. The short duration makes these “samples” less interesting but still worth a listen. Finally, Phosphorus is a live performance from 2007. It may be the most realized of the albums as it is a summation of Krebs’ themes and variation in a mesmerizing 43 minute track. All three albums are available in either VBR MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.

As usual, If you enjoy the music support the artist by buying his CDs.