Free Music Domain

Genre: Metal: Gothic

Antarhes are a French metal band that many thought to be similar to the likes of Evanescence and Lacuna Coil. Their official website offers 2 tracks and several extracts to download, but what I’m really interested in is the demo available on Jamendo.

To be fair, it is a rather rough sounding work. However, two of the tracks are top notch and should be in every gothic metal fan’s library, these in my opinion being Still Fighting and Voodoo Dream. Listen to the whole album and see what you think.

The album may be downloaded from Jamendo by following this link.

Genre: Folk, Electronic, Post Rock

Canon Blue is a one man project from Nashville run by Daniel James. His style of music takes influences from folk music, indie electronic and post rock, creating a soft and soothing soundscape to listen to.

James has offered 3 releases through the Rumraket label, but only one of them is free, this being the EP Halcyon. It consists of 4 solid tracks, my favourites being Ennui and Kingfisher Sweet. The other two releases, an album by the name of Colonies and a single called Odds & Ends are available for purchase from the label.

Halcyon is available for free download by following this link.

Genre: Rock: Indie

Kismet are a indie rock quintet from the Netherlands. Influenced by Cursive, Blonde Redhead and Depeche Mode, these guys formed the band back in 2002. Producing 2 EPs, they found their sound and released their debut album Hiatus on the Beep! Beep! netlabel.

The EPs show the beginnings of the band. The production is a little rougher, but the tracks still shine. Tracks of note include Voice Like Vomit and Empathy.

The debut album Hiatus is a solid release. Nothing is amiss here, from the production to the song writing skills to the individual talent of each band member. Tracks of note include Brighter, Weather, White Castle and Same Story, Different Name.

All albums may be downloaded from the Beep! Beep! netlabel by following the links below:

Hiatus

4 Track EP

3 Track EP

Genre: Ambient, Jazz: Nu Jazz, Electronic

Superbus are a Polish duo of producers that combine nu jazz with ambient and electronic music. The 2 EPs by Superbus, namely, No Porno Please and The Place have excellent title tracks of ambient, calming music. I also recommend What About The Deep (Headache Version), althought I warn you, it does manage to induce a headache in people.

The album Debut contains a higher influence of nu jazz however. Examples of notable tracks from the album include Finest Morning, which starts off with blazing percussion, and Han Solo.

All 3 albums may be downloaded from the Sojus Records netlabel from the links below.

Debut

No Porno Please

The Place

Genre: Electronic, Experimental

This release is by a local artist. Visit this page for more information.

Particle Blue is a Maltese experimental electronic band. This album, available on the Pinkpube netlabel, is called Dubbien, which is Maltese for “flies” as in the insect. This album was apparently also the official soundtrack to a performance at St. James Cavalier in 2005.

The music itself is excellent electronic music, sometimes bordering on electro, and other times bordering on ambient, but one thing is for sure: it is experimental. The recurring theme of flies appears throughout the EP, with fly-like sounds making an appearance in songs such as Il-Firroll. Other tracks, such as Inevitabbli, showcase the experimental sounds of Particle Blue, as it crescendos into noise at the end of the track.

The EP may be downloaded from Pinkpube from this link.

Genre: Electronic: Techno

Cie manages to release some very melodic techno in this EP, released on the Broque netlabel. Standard four-to-the-floor beats combined with melodic riffs make up for some very interesting and layered music.

My personal favourite tracks include schwedische gardinen, pulver and privileg. mike bob remix has a certain dub feel to the track, whilst privileg introduces some very calming sawtooth sounds.

The EP may be downloaded from the Broque netlabel by following this link.

Genre: Folk

Well, this was a surprising find. Two albums of acoustic medieval folk music played either on a guitar or on a mandolin and sung in French.

If this is your type of music, you’ll be pleased to know that the music has excellent production and is of a certain quality, both sound-wise and artistically.

12 Petits Chants starts off immediately with La Marchande de Foie and from then on, it’s simple, calming folk music. One particular striking is Des Vacances Comme Ca, which has a certain jazzy feeling to it. Petitjean’s voice also fits in well to this type of music.

Jean Qui Rêve is an instrumental take on medieval folk, and after listening to the opening track, Theme de Combat, you really cannot disagree with me. It actually does sound like a medieval duel is about to take place. Other highly recommended tracks include Theme de la Taverne and Reveil des Guerriers.

Both albums may be downloaded from Jamendo by clicking on the links below.

12 Petits Chants

Jean Qui Rêve

Genre: Rock, Jazz

Crete Boom are a 7 piece Irish band that play a combination of rock, jazz, blues, rock and roll and God only knows what else. They have 2 EPs released through Jamendo, these being Ne’er Do Well and Navy and Grey.

I personally prefer Ne’er Do Well’s overall sound and feel. My favourite tracks include Sleeper and Flatline. The tracks on their debut album sound much livelier and appealing. However, I am in no way detracting from their second album, Navy and Grey. It has a much jazzier feel to it, especially their last track Broken Teeth.

Both albums may be downloaded from Jamendo by following the links below:

Ne’er Do Well

Navy and Grey

Genre: Metal: Drone

Yes, the name of the artist is just a dot. Maciej Koper, a Polish artist, is the brains behind this project. He has crafted 4 albums of fine drone metal, calming, yet haunting.

Although the project has changed its name to Dronehouse, .’s work is still freely available from Soundclick. The four albums available are: Anatomy of Drone, FaceSitDown, IHI and ON.

I suggest that you start from 59.40 from IHI and work your work through Koper’s music from there.

All albums may be downloaded from Soundclick from here.