Summer's got Bettina in its claws | I'm leaving for a two weeks vacation this Saturday. Suitcases have to be stuffed and friends have to be convinced to take care of mail, plants and cat. And as most people, I got myself some new books to browse in the scorching heat of sun-burned beaches (in my case, the white shores of the Baltic Sea). Before I'm off, here's five recent Netaudio releases you should consider downloading. Listener's Digest, you know?

Portformat - "Classics"

Portformat a.k.a. Ibrahima M'Bodji is a German/ Senegalsese producer. In 2009, Ibrahim will release his debut album by the hands of Tokyo Dawn records but before we can download a fine collection of mellow, mostly  instrumental Hip Hop tunes. Organic and jazzy beats, musically speaking close to his buddy Comfort Fit plus  some more Soul.

"Classics" via sendspace.com

Mobydick & Plaistow - "Tarial EP" (eDogm)

Critically acclaimed Geneve Jazztrio Plaistow hooked up with Moroccan MC Mobydick to form a new band: Mobystow. Mobydick spits in French and Darija language (which is a n Arabian idiom). That sounds fresh and interesting, and his associative, spoken word-style flow is unique. Plaistow add their visions of high energy Post-Bop to make this EP something new and outstanding.

"Tariel EP" @ eDogm

Kauders - "Brian Invited June" (Bird Song)

Gottfried Kauders is guitarist of Automassage and Code Inconnu, two bands that empathically push the borders of experimental Rock music. There is a certain sickness about both bands mainly due to the sluggish guitar play of Kauders.  For his solo output, Kauders got into Avant-Garde Pop rather than Rock. But his style is not to mistaken. Strange music, unique music, but beautiful music above all.

"Brian Invited June" @ Bird Song

Deastro - "Grower EP" (RCRDLBL)

Deastro is a recording artists from Detroit, Michigan who is promoted by Ghostly recordlabel as a wunderkind in Shoegaze Electronica. Randolph Chabot a.k.a. Deastro is about to release his debut LP with Ghostly but his epic "Grower EP" is online for free via RCRDLBL. Home grown IDM, sweetish melodies and uplifting beats - somewhere between chip tune, Boards of Canda and My Bloody Valentine.

"Grower EP" @ RCRDLBL

Fine Before You Came - "sfortuna"

OK, I don't know much about Italian Indierock outfit Fine Before You Came. Flip of Zymogen sent me the link, asking if I would fancy some tough Rock music. I do. FBYC released their new record "sfortuna" as a free download on their website. The band exists for nearly ten years now and is quite successful in Italy. They play awkward melodic and aggresive Post-Hardcore that strikes a chord with me. Super!

"sfortuna" via mediafire.com

In a way, Cornbeast suits the recent trends in Discorock and punky Electronica quite well. Catchy melodies, uplifting beats, rough sounds. So far, this is true for a lot of chip music releases. But Cornbeast's "Chip Hero" brings along more than just 20 minutes dancefloor energy. Below his bleepy textures, gameboy Fredrik hides well-written songs with melodies that make stick and do not solely work by making you remember your Nintendo handheld.

This is the case especially for "Megablast", "Chip Hero" and the ballad "Sparks". Soulwax meets Daft Punk in a 8bit outfit? Gameboy Arena Rock? Probably said too much, but you get the idea. Recommended.

MP3 Pop Music Download

Download: "Chip Hero" (ZIP)
Artist-Website: cornbeast.com
Release: Cornbeast - "Chip Hero"
Netlabel: 8bitpeoples.com

For sure: if you are able to understand kid Coehns' streetwise and funny Rap lyrics, it is more easy to dig "Die Tugend Von Heute". Coehn & Foerhb kick Hip Hop like it was big in Germany in the late 90's - straight forward, funky beats, Hip Hop that focuses on Rap with a storytelling vibe. Nice but not too decent, Coehn is a lyricist that knows about Raps' history but is able to extrapolate as well. His rhymes fit the beats of Stuttgart homies Foerhb, Radsch und Naturtalent seamlessly and although Coehn is not pushing genre borders, his styles are far above the genre common level.

However, there is no exclusive need to understand the lyrics. Coehns' flow is highly enjoyable, and the beats exhibit an interesting variety from Golden Age to influence from Dubstep and synth-driven electrorap. Coehn & Foerhb manage to balance juvenile party and fuck off, skills and laxity. I am looking forward to attend their live set at the Cologne Commons festival the day after tomorrow!

MP3 Hip Hop Music Download

Download: "Die Tugend Von Heute" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.coehnundfoehrb.de
Release: Coehn&Foehrb - "Die Tugend Von Heute"
Netlabel: www.bsolid.de

What struck me about "Micro-Climat" on first touch was the bass-heavy physicalness of Anton Mobins' aural quilt. He interlaces field recordings with musical elements (some percussive, some traces of instruments) and drops smithereens of conversation (French language). Mobin a.k.a. Anthony Baron uses the full range of the audible spectrum, from high frequent noises to subsonic audio events. Most of the time, his Music Concrète-composition is beautifully pure although most sources are hard to guess. Every now and then, however,  Anton Mobin radically enhances the  intensity of his track, resulting in bursts of curiously non-aggressive noise I have scarcely heard before.

Rich and refreshing, Anton Mobin places himself right between the IDM-influenced Electro-acoustica of d'incise, Preslav Literary School and Brooklyn noise pioneers Black Dice. Thanks to konkretourist Netlabel which I discovered only with this release!

By the way, Marco Medkour, one half of konkretourist, will present his "Soundmap of Cologne" at the Cologne Commons festival this weekend, 12th to 13th of June. Another exciting project.

MP3 Experimental Music Download

Download: "Micro-Climat" (ZIP Archive)
Artist-Website: audioblog.arteradio.com/ANTON_MOBIN
Release: Anton Mobin - "Micro-Climat"
Netlabel: www.konkretourist.de

Photo : www.flickr.com/photos/lafruu/

Applejux Netaudio Statements | Tomorrow Sven Swift and me will play some creative commons music in Cologne on the radio. And next we on the Cologne Commons Festival. Remember, we asked you for an statement  in our article "Make Your Statement About Free Music Culture!" Now, Applejux from beautiful Spain grabbed his microphone and recorded three statements for us to play out loud. You can use the statements as well in your next creative commons music mix! We hope still for some more statements. The quality ain't important. It's the message that counts, so grab your headset and press record!

Download Applejux's Netaudio Statements

• MP3: Applejux netaudio_statement_english
• MP3: Applejux netaudio_statement_catalan
• MP3: Applejux netaudio statement spanish

Robin Barstow a.k.a. Sky Barstow enjoys synthesizers and organs, "those big enormous ugly things". He is a circuit-bending sound engineer and recorded his recent album "It's Circuar" on an army of dirty little synths. What he get to hear is awkward chiptune hymnals, melancholy Indiepop tunes and 80's influenced DIY Grandezza. The album did not get me on first try. But listening to it again and again, every time it got better.

Most of the songs are longer than five minutes, and a lot of things happen in between. What sounds aleatoric initially turns out to be the mature profile of a talented not only knob tweaker but musician. "Can We Leave This Place", "Closet Dance", "It Rained All Day" and "Probably Not" are single hits with massive edges and sharp outlines. Robin Barstow mixes juvenile melancholy with queer exhibitionism, charm and a good amount of self-mockery. Can you imagine a mix between Nick Diamond and Mike Patton, ca.  Mr. Bungle? Well, maybe you can after having heard "It's Circular". Superb!

MP3 Pop Music Download

Download: "It's Circular" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.barstow.no
Release: Sky Barstow - "It's Circular"
Netlabel: www.peppermillrecords.com

Let's start with the downer - behind the five tunes the tracklist promises, only two songs lurk actually. "I" and "II" are the same as "IV" and "V", as an interlude "III" is ten seconds silence. "The Repeating Thoughts Of Old Zinng Zanng". Got it?

Gillicuddy a.k.a. Andreas Rohden is much more subtle songwriter on his new EP than it was the case on "Shmalhans is Kuechenmeister". Both "I" and "II" are subtle and decent Folk songs that deliver a certain 60's feeling but are far to clever to be judged retro. The two-voiced vocals are very beautiful. Gillicuddys' songs float in a strange place in-between, they do not seem to serve any purpose. While "I" is a bit more traditional, say Wilco meets Sea & Cake,  "II" takes the song imperciptible into textural regions, makes it disappear somehow.

Fading in, fading out, diappearing...  after ten seconds silence, "I" and "II" repeat themselves as "IV" and "V". And although it is sad we only get these two new songs to hear, the concept makes sense. Very good.

MP3 Folk Music Download

Download: "The Repeating Thoughts Of Old Zinng Zanng" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.gillicuddy.de
Release: Gillicuddy - "The Repeating Thoughts Of Old Zinng Zanng"
Netlabel: www.restingbell.net

Black Era don't only produce gloomy music, they want to make a statement against fascism, suppressing people and all other ugly people... Unfortunately I don't understand italian, but I suppose that's why on the release page of  "Third eye guerrilla EP" they linked people like Enrico Mattei, Pier Paolo Pasolini or Giovanni Falcone who where used with their voice to make a statement.

Great release!

PS: Just one word about aquietbump netlabel: They do a great job of promoting their releases. The picture above was delivered in a extra presskit for the media. Thumbs up!

MP3 Trip Hop Music Download

Download: Black Era - "Third eye guerrilla EP"
Artist-Website: www.blackera.com
Release: Black Era - "Third eye guerrilla EP"
Netlabel: aquietbump netlabel

No, I am not related with Budabeats, I just respect and love their releases. All productions are well-produced, stuffed with delightful samples and this love for Hip Hop and often also Jazz. Just listen to "Trouble Scene". M.W.D. knows how to melt funky guitar licks, short brass sounds and organ chords together. It sounds so live, so delicious.

Gimme some more of that groovy jazz juice!

MP3 Downbeat Music Download

Download: M.W.D. - "Singing Forest" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist: www.myspace.com/mwd
Release: M.W.D. - "Singing Forest"
Netlabel: Budabeats

Crackling Vinyl and Some Breaks

"All's Fair in Love of Wax" is a rough piece of album and not as polished and as superb as Jazzanova, DJ Cam or DJ Shadow or similiar artists. But I like the flair. These oldschool breakbeats kick my heart and I like the uncomplicated way, The Insider plays around with loops, samples and some ordinary effects.

The release reminds of those days when DJ Krush crashed on me. Those days Ninja Tune released uncomplicated music by Mr. Scruff and we all fell in love. And The Insider lights that fire again.

MP3 Instrumental Hip Hop Music Download

Download: The Insider - "All's Fair in Love of Wax"  (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.revolutionvoid.com
Release: The Insider - "All's Fair in Love of Wax"

MP3 Techno Music Download

Download: (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: Oeler
Release: Oeler - Aufbruchstimmung
Netlabel: Modularfield

Subbass and Breakbeats

In general if some friends of mine talk about Dubstep, I don't think about melodies. Most of the time Dubstep is about digging the bass still a little bit deeper into the ground. Instead of supplying us with some melodic grooves to remember, the forget about the soul of music.

On the contrary Winnie explores both sides. He enjoys to built some heavy and relaxed beats with melodies. OK, "Awkward Silence" is still more awkward than melodic, but with "Dark Pattern" and "Robot Master" he follows the path to IDM and combines Electronica with a solid fundament of beats. Fine release!

MP3 Dubstep Music Download

Download: Winnie The Shit - "Sons Grave" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: Winnie The Shit on last.fm
Release: Winnie The Shit - "Sons Grave"

V.O.M. again. The name stands for Magical Unicellular Music, and this strange name makes sense on different levels. Magical - something happens between the tracks, something unexpected, something one can not explain. Black magic rituals, Voodoo, call me names. Unicellular - the most simple form of life, evolutions successful all-in-one model. Reduced to the max. Music - well, yeah, music! V.O.M. is primitive, hypnotic, threatening... I'm prone to call it Minimal.

V.O.M. was born from Minsk performance collective Solntsetsvety (Солнцецветы). On this release for the Russian Clinical Archives Netlabel, Magical Unicelluar Music is V.O.M. IV and V.O.M. V, Minsk and Moscow, respectively. Two bands, united by the ideas given above.

Listening to "Камень", it is hard to distinguish who is who. Both bands play primitive, noise-driven Krautrock, repetitiv and hypnotic. Instruments are guitar-bass-drums, plus sporadic electronic gimmicks, the whole thing mainly instrumental. V.O.M. record music half-improvised, with a stunning amount of DIY/Punk-inspired energy that sets them apart from New Age and esoteric music. In my opinion, early Can, the endless songs of Neu! and 80s' Postpunk, especially Pop Group and Sonic Youth, are good references.

The whole album makes up one hour, 40 minutes. Naturally, not every single jam is excellent. But tracks "Part II, IV" (V.O.M. V) and "Part I, IV" (V.O.M. IV) will give you a good idea about the Magical Unicellular Music sound. If you dig these, you will love the album!

MP3 Rock Music Download

Download: "Камень" (ZIP)
Artist-Website: myspace.com/unicellularmusic
Release: Magical Unicellular Music - "Камень"
Netlabel: clinicalarchives.blogspot.com

Clipper left Indiepop behind. Their vision of independent Pop music is high gloss and vulnerable on his own free will. Readers familiar with German Pop will probably see the intersections to bands like Tele, Kante and especially Blumfeld. Naive and quite the opposite to cool, Clipper position themselves right between flimsy 80's strings, falsetto vocals and opulent arrangements. "The New Romantics of every days' life", true that...

"Alles erscheint in einem anderen Licht" combines ten songs written between 2004 and 2008 to a coherent album. The formula throughout all songs is Pop. But be aware! All catchy Clipper melodies overlock clever and complex compositions. Beyond the 80's icing lurks an understanding in music that has more in common with 60's psychedelia, think of the Beach Boys, the late Beatles, and, fast forward, Talk Talk ca. "Spirit of Eden". This is a bit much every now and then still "Alles erscheint in einem anderen Licht" has a lot of treasury to discover!

MP3 Pop Music Download

Artist-Website: www.clipper-musik.de
(mouse over single tracks to right-click download)

Exclusive Compilation and Interview with Sebastian Redenz | From 2001 to 2008, Autoplate was the experimental subdivision of Thinner Netlabel. 50 high quality releases in eight years, the label was officially shut down three months ago with a beautiful EP by Russian Ambient outlet Slow. Time for us to get Sebastian Redenz in for a talk to shine a light on the Autoplate history and find out why the label had to cancel operation while Thinner is alive and kicking.

Dear Sebastian, please give our readers a brief introduction to who you are!

Sebastian: My name is Sebastian Redenz, I’m 27 years and being part of a team I managed Autoplate as A&R (Artists & Requirement). I also do A&R work for Thinner, am in the process of finishing my social sciences studies in Mannheim and am currently in the process of relocating to Frankfurt, where I work for Cocoon Recordings being my main employer.

When I read about the final Autoplate release and the associated demise of the label, I felt relieved and disappointment at the same time. Disappointment because one of the most reliable Netlabels for experimental music cancelled operation, relief because you finished it with a clean cut. Why did it take so long for Autoplate to wave goodbye eventually? Was the dismissal of Autoplate part of the Thinner relaunch already?

First off, thanks very much for the flowers. Indeed, the aftermath of our relaunch in 2007 things didn’t go as expected for various reasons. A new Autoplate website was planned but never entered production phase. Quite quickly after THN100 got released some major changes started to take place in the lives of all key members. Some went into fulltime employment, some started their own agency or were just busy studying, so it became obvious that the availability to contribute to a common project decreased significantly. We had to make a decision really – maintain two Netlabels on an equal marketing level, which wouldn’t allow growth or take the decision for one Netlabel and invest the saved time into marketing and developing the label.

Autoplate was always on a much smaller scale compared to Thinner, the label didn’t organize any live shows and the people never left much feedback. Unsurprisingly though cause there’re indeed many excellent Netlabels releasing ambient and experimental music. So we decided to fade the project out with a final release and to concentrate on Thinner, which just has a bigger audience and potential and thus is more interesting for all of us.

You are right to say that there are many excellent Netlabels for experimental music. Still, Autoplate introduced and established some big names to the scene. Think of Kevin Krebs, Jason Corder, Andrey Kiritchenko, Gultskra Artikler, Normal Music… Musicians of great talent and inspiration. The most successful is probably Martin Juhls aka Marsen Jules, ironically for both Autoplate and Thinner. Can you tell us what it was like to let him go? Martin is an recording artist now…

On the one hand I was very happy for Martin. By that time we were running both labels together and thus working together closely. His Autoplate albums definitely made things easier for him to acquire a recording contract with CCO, since both albums were downloaded over five thousand times each, being a big aid for his name to become noticed for this particular sound. This particular example showed the importance of promoting the music – for both albums Martin sent a batch of CDRs to magazines and radio stations. On the other hand it was unfortunate to see him leaving as an artist who probably had the biggest impact for Autoplate.

Autoplate and Thinner started in 2001. Re-listening some of the early Autoplate releases it’s quite obvious that the label sound was down to many evolutionary shifts. Does this reflect your own taste in music? Are you still interested in experimental or ambient music? Noting the impact of Marsen Jules, maybe you’d like to give our readers an impression what the stylistic development of Autoplate was due to.

I tried to keep the label exciting by staying versatile and work along a bigger picture of experimental electronic music. In the beginning we only wanted to release music with a conceptual "overhead beyond the music", inspired by Mille Plateaux. If you review the first Autoplate releases you’ll notice, they all come with album length playing time.

At some point glitch became rather uninteresting to me and I started looking into acquiring more ambient and electro-acoustic music for the label. Martin’s albums came in just perfect as we were already working together before, with him releasing as "Falter" on Thinner. Starting with his album we had a string of great releases. From there Autoplate always oscillated between deep organic ambient and intimate electro-acoustic music. Another notable highlight between the studio productions was the live album by Move D, which was later re-released on Bine Music/ Raster Noton. Today I’m still interested in these particular genres, but time constraints currently make the further continuation of Autoplate impossible, unfortunately.

On the Thinner blog, you started the “Netlabels Who Care” series. Do you follow the scene? Are you aware of new labels and artists? Any favorites you would like to mention?

I regularly check out about ten Netlabels. I monitor what’s happening and download the one or other release, it depends on how the release is presented to get my attention. If the Netlabel properly presents a release with artwork, info text and high bitrates it is likely that I check it out. Recently I’ve came along a statement which said that Netlabels gave a new bloom to ambient and experimental music in general. I couldn’t agree more!

Okay, thanks a lot for the interview and good luck for your thesis!

Website: www.autoplate.cc

Farewell Autoplate! MP3 Compilation Download

Sebastian prepared a selection of personal favourites from eight years Autoplate. Make sure to download this epic piece of Netaudio history.

Exclusive Download of Autoplate Compilation

DOWNLOAD COMPILATION (205MB, zip-file inc. artwork)

Playlist and links

• APL005 Affective Disorder – "Pa.kkzak. Doeken"
• APL007 Taavi Tulev – "Televiisor On Tuksis"
• APL011 Randomajestiq - "Nikkl"
• APL012 Gultskra Artikler - "Teplo Spokoyno I Yabloko"
• APL014 Off The Sky – "Mileece’s Reduction"
• APL020 Hans Appelqvist – "Full The Moon"
• APL025 Kenneth Kirschner - "May 3, 1997"
• APL027 Lomov - "Hochwaldregen"
• APL029 Fernando Lagreca - "Planea"
• APL030 tlon - "In The Shadow Of Unexpectation"
• APL036 Emil Klotzsch - "sctl14"
• APL037 Protogroup – "Anahata"
• APL038 Arrial – "Terminal 4"
• APL044 Daniel Blomqvist - "När Andra Sover"
• APL045 Segue – "Dready"
• APL047 Twile – "Spanish Cruiser"
• APL048 Weigl & Hoffmann – "Country Lane"
• APL050 Slow - "Ends"

Another wonderful mixtape of Autoplate-exclusive material can be found on thirteensongs.net. The mix is called "Down A More Minimal Part" and was performed by long-time Netaudio supporter Larry Johnston.

But some tracks have wicked twists. The best example for something "out of the ordinary" is "save our souls" from Raganova. Disharmonic, plain and instant groove right from the first second.

As already mentioned, this is a compilation of various artists. Aleks from Zimmer Records told me, that he felt an itch in his fingers and wanted to make more compilations, just after doing mixes and compilations for other occasions and projects - for example the Cologne-Commons compilation. If we can expect more of this well done compilations in the future, than Zimmer will keep on growing into the "must have" direction.

This compilation is the first part of the "Hermetic Principles" series and the second part will be coming soon.

MP3 Techno Music Download

Download: The Various - "Principle of Mentalism" ZIP-Archive)
Release: Hermetic Principle Pt. 1: The Principle of Mentalism
Netlabel: Zimmer-Records

Monokle is Vlad Kudryavtsev and Alexander Kumach, two young guys that sound like one of your favourite bands. On a basis of warm and organic IDM beats, Monokle compose epic Indiepop- and Postrock tracks that imply influence from 40 years of Popmusic ("From Can to Plaid", as Ideology says). You can find pieces of Kraut- and Progrock, 80's Pop, 90's Electronica and loads more in the Monokle music. Listening to this 45 minutes, I am amazed how seamless everything engages.

The album "Tesaurus" is super-versatile but works perfectly as an album, homogenous in mood and atmosphere. Vlad and Alexander blow their tracks up to massive hymns, including numerous stems of synthesizer, guitars and electronic gimmicks here and there. They do well, although most songs on "Tesaurus" don't need all the fuzz- Monokle have the melodies to reach out for everyone. A brilliant example that Netaudio is so much more than just electronic music!

MP3 Electronic Pop Music Download

Download: "Tesaurus" (ZIP)
Artist-Website: myspace.com/monoklemuz
Release: Monokle - "Tesaurus"
Netlabel: www.ideology.de

Let's start with the obvious reference: Boards of Canada. I'm sorry, Karl, you must have heard it a thousand times... The heavy influence of the Scottish pioneers is the reason I never sang the praise of Orange Crush I guess. Solid production, good tracks but something was missing on "The Field", Endersons' debut for Archaic Horizon. On "Autumn Reflections", apparently nothing has changed. The improvements, however, are subtle and essential.

Tonal synth- and organ chords, simple three-parts melodies, relaxed Downbeat- and Hip Hop beats, dense instrumentation, loads of atmosphere: the ingredients are the same. Now and back then, Orange Crush sounds dusty, sun-beaten and not much like Vest-Agder in Norway where Endreson lives. A spongy 70's feel is omnipresent throughout the album, certain stems seem to wave and warp like recorded to old tapes.

In the end, it's the melodies that make "Autumn Reflections" a better record than "The Field". Enderson is on point and writes songs rather than recording sound ideas. This is a bit more conservative, but it makes a wonderful album that gives you an idea what the Summer in 2009 may taste like. Ace!

MP3 Electronica Music Download

Download: "Autumn Reflections" (ZIP)
Artist-Website: myspace.com/orangecrushmusic
Release: Orange Crush - "Autumn Reflections"
Netlabel: archaichorizon.com

Anois is Lars Kranholdt and Anne Baier from northern Germany. Lars is not a newbie to aerotone and the netaudioscene and neither is Anne. As This Mess Is Mine Lars already put out two bedroom folktronica EPs at aerotone. Together with his brother Daniel, he appeared on two compilations of the aerotone netlabel. As Leander they drift towards a slightly more electronica style, that can still be coined folktronica, but with less folk in it. Anne does not seem to be as busy, but hey, she doesn't have to - as long as she keeps teaming up with Lars to create such lovely songs as they do as Anois.

"Tree House Whispers" is not the first Anois-Release. They have had a few appearances at the mexican netlabel poni republic. "Tracery On A Frosted Window" was their debut and they also did a split EP with Sunday Parlours. Now, more than one year after their release at the poni republic, they are back with new material, that is a diverse mix of original folkpoptronica. Some songs sound surprisingly happy ("Beds and Dishes), while others are full of cloudy moods and melodies that offer you quite a big sip of a sweet drink called melancholy ("November").

There is one thing about this album that makes it difficult to make up an opinion. Diversity. The 13 songs on "Tree House Whispers" somehow don't seem to fit on this album. On the other hand it is the diversity that makes this album even more interesting to my ears. You get handclapping popsongs that make you sing along, folky tunes that have been added up with some electronic bits and pieces and sometimes there is a noisy atmosphere and experimental glitch hidden in between some bedroom-folk that comes along with lovely instruments like strings, trumpets, glockenspiel and other kling-klang stuff.

This is definitely an album with a lot to discover. Enjoy your journey!

If you sign up to aerotones newsletter, there is even more to discover, because every subscriber gets a second Anois release for free!

MP3 Folk Pop Music Download

Download: Anois - "Tree House Whispers" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.myspace.com/anois
Release: Anois - "Tree House Whispers"
Netlabel: www.aerotone.net

Free, MP3, Music, Download, Netlabel,

My favorite track on "bonbon e.p." is the opener called "schwedische gardinen". The track has these bleeping sounds, we know from the early era of Bleep Techno. Along with some melodic chords this classic stomper builds up its magic slowly. Dedicated to the old school-science of techno Cie adds more and more percussive elements and last not least some trancy synth sweeps. Delicious. Just lift your hands at 3:28 :)

But don't miss "privileg" and "mike bob remix" either. While "privileg" closes this high-quality EP with some soothing sawtooth sounds "mike bob remix" sounds more futuristic and dubby. Thumbs up!

MP3 Techno Music Download

Download: Cie - "bonbon e.p." (ZIP-Archive)
Release: Cie - "bonbon e.p."
Netlabel: Broque Netlabel

Thus, Sloveanian Electropop duo New Wave Syria got my attention right away. Girl (Urša) and boy (Rok) perform on a battery of cheap little synths and drum machines, curly head Urša sings and shouts over the instrumentals. Dreamy and noisy, the band settles their niche between hipster Pop a la The Ting Tings on the one and 80's influenced psychedelia on the other hand.

New Wave Syrias' debut EP "Hello, Yes" on Cheap Tunes Records is best when the shoegazing elements dominate. "Vitamins" and "Random Logic" are noisy little Pop tracks with good melodies and a lot of teenage flippancy, while "Let It Out" and "Audiorape" sound rather London or NYC than Slovenia. You are free to judge this as a compliment, but I like the introspect tunes better. Refreshing album!

MP3 Pop Music Download

Download: "Hello, Yes" (ZIP)
Release: New Wave Syria - "Hello, Yes"
Artist-Website: myspace.com/newwavesyria
Netlabel: cheaptunesrecords.com

To my ears, the influence of Japanese music is bigger on the spectrum MiMi represents. This is not J-Pop but Japanese Pop. Subtle, melodic, eccentric every now and then. Mawkish by chance.

The compilation starts with Asako Fujimoto a.k.a. asakomusic. She travels around the World and accordingly, her music is conglomerate of Folklore and awkward Pop music. Caroline Lufkin afterwards conducts a hymnal Popsong, with some electronics assembling her otherworldly voice. Bewitching. Izumi Mizawa's music sound like processing the lush and warm melodies of Caroline to something artificial- a study on aural harmony

Reiko Matane a.k.a. le mépris a.k.a. pillowdiver is well known for her album on Aerotone. The track on "M100" is a shoegazing piece of Dronepop... solid. Back to the real Pop music with Linda Bjalla (Izumi Suzuki). Piano-drive neoromanticism, not shying away from glockenspiel and reverberated vocals. Got me, somehow. Miki Odagiri deliver Creation Centre-style Avantgarde Pop with loads of loose ends- nice, but I have a certain problem with the vocals...

MP3 Experimental Pop Music Download

Download: "M100" (ZIP)
Release: Various - "M100"
Netlabel: clubotaku.org/mimi-125x125

Fällt rounded up an impressive collection of musicians. "Format" opens with a beautiful and suble guitar impression by 12k's Taylor Deupree. The influence of this guy on modern day Ambient music is not to overestimate! FourColour a.k.a. Keiichi Sugimoto (Cubic Music) delivers wonderfully dense Ambient/ Drone meditation on bubbling synths. The collagists' Avant-Pop of The Focus Group (Julian House) is unsettling but fascinating.

In the later half of the album, there is Steinbrüchel to mention. His composition "b|ton" sounds like a microscopic study of background noises and unwanted hissing of a tape machine. Interestingly, it is based on a guitar recording by Daisuke Miyatani, the grand maestro of accidental folk. Music like dust. Hard Sleeper fuses field recordings, rural Acid and warm Ambient, giving an undogmatic piece of electronic music. Only Lawrence English, usually a sure shot, was sort of a disappointment to me.

MP3 Ambient Music Download

Download: "Format" ZIP
Release: Various - "Format"
Netlabel: www.fallt.com

Electronic Music Compilation

It  seems the time is right. Right for some change, for discussions and for sharing. On Cologne Commons we will present you workshops, panels and two superfueled evenings of music. This compilation is just the tip of the iceberg what's going to happen.

The only sad fact is: The conference will be in German but in the evening the language will be universal: music!

So dig this compilation fused together by psycoded and delivered with heart!

MP3 Music Download

Download: Various - "Cologne Commons Compilation" (ZIP-Archive)
Release: Various - "Cologne Commons Compilation"
Website: www.Cologne-Commons.de

Jacques Demierre uses the piano as a source of sound rather than a classical instrument. Part Cecil Taylor part John Cage, his play is full of little noises and surprising tonal cascades, percussive and herein the perfect complement for Cyril Bondis' poetic and introspect drums. Between the clusters, there is a lot of space- or none. A refreshing and rich concept that requires concentrated listening admittedly.

On two tracks, Plaistow head Johann Bourquenez joins the gang. His approach to piano is much different from Demierre's delicate boned experimentalism. "Tornade" rushes the listener with the energy of  a, well, tornado and leaves the wastelands, Jacques Demierre and Diatribes can perform their subtle improvisations on afterwards.

MP3 Free Jazz Music Download

Download: "Piano(s)" ZIP
Release: Diatribes, Demierre & Bourquenez - "Piano(s)"
Netlabel: insubordinations.net

New Earth Objects is Clemens Wegener, Marian Reinig and Tommy Neuwirth. Not much is known about the band- anyway, we've got this wonderful live recording! Within 73 minutes and basically four tracks (ranging 12 - 27 minutes), the band creates their very own sound vision blending minimal Electronica, Krautrock and Pop.

Synthesizers go along with decent sound gimmicks, super simple drums and hushed vocals. Warm textures are played out to maximal duration, drums and beats are a meditation on structure, a natural pulsing rather than an instrument to agitate the crowd. Especially the first two tracks are absolutely bewitching. "Slow down, slow down..." - must have been a special performance!

MP3 Pop Music Download

Download: "Live at Schmiede" ZIP
Artist-Website: myspace.com/newearthobjects
Release: New Earth Objects - "Live at Schmiede"
Netlabel: headphonica.net

Actually, this compilation is only four songs and one musical collective:

Sydney-based Telafonica start with their version of "Angels We Have Heard On High". Absolutely intriguing, the band contrasts their coldish Trip Hop / Electronica sound with the heavenly "Gloria, in excelsis Deo" hookline of the traditional carol. Wonderful voices (Magill/ Elmer), wonderful trumpets.

Second is Telafonica songstress Eliza Magill. Her version of "Joy to the World" is far more traditional, but nonetheless skilful and beautiful. In duet with the male vocals (Adrian Elmer), the whole version sounds like a light-hearted version of Low (who must be names when it comes to Christmas carols of course). Fully acoustic, intimate recording, a heartbreaker.

The Lessons in Time hails from New South Wales and deliver the lopsided part of this compilation. Pretentious on first listen, a revelation at repeated performance! Blake Wassell, the lad behind the moniker, delivers an emotional lo-fi version of "O Holy Night" and raises the hymnal potential of the original to higher power. The Australian Liger? Oh, he plays in Telafonica as well!

Eventually, Telafonica join for a last hymnal. "Good News (Sing for Joy)" I wasn't able to identify properly, but who cares? Trip Hop and electronic music-influenced Popmusic, only the female vocals fit the concept better.

Thank heavens to nethymnal.org for the spiritual guidance!

MP3 Pop Music Download

Download: "A Whale in a Manger" ZIP
Artist-Website: telafonica.blogspot.com
Netlabel: 4-4-2music.com

In the meantime, the band released a split LP with The Falcon Five and another shared 7" with fuckuismyname, and  Patterns' full-length debut is about to be done according to the band's blog. A good moment to get familiar with Germany's finest Postpunk outfit!

The band play nervous and awkward DC-style Punk- and Mathrock, charged top to bottom. Their melodies are unconsumed, all grooves and breaks come tight. Of course I have to mention Q & Not U and Les Savy Fav, but I guess Patterns are fine with this comparison. Sooo good.

MP3 Rock Music Download

Download: "People I Adore" ZIP
Artist-Website: myspace.com/pttrns
Release: Patterns - "People I Adore"
Label: ursaminormusik.de

First off, the term Folklore might be misleading. Ulmar's approach to music is fully electronic, XYDZO is not about going back to the essentials, restoration or whatever. While listening to "Y" the reference that came to me repeatedly was "My Life in Bush of Ghosts" by Eno & Byrne.

Back in 1981, Ambient music pioneer Brian Eno and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne hooked up to create a artificial documentation of tribal music, ethnic field-recordings and Avantgarde Pop. Ljekio Ulmar adopts a similar position. He takes elements from Russian and African Folklore, popular and electronic music and glues it together to something new and exiting. This is wonderfully successful due to his substantial understanding of Pop music and music in general (is the title "Y" itself a meta-reference to the Pop Group's abrasive debut from 1979?).

The album is full of hits. Some will convince on first touch, for some you might need more time. But every single tune features a fresh idea and makes sense in the dramaturgy of the album. Essential listen! Asked for my Netaudio top ten EVER, "Y" would be in.

MP3 Folklore Music Download

Download: "Y" ZIP
Artist Website: myspace.com/xydzo
Release: XYDZO - "Y"
Netlabel: pulsations-for-you.ru

Do you remember Anamanaguchi? | The 8-bit punk band from New York City had an EP on 8bitpeoples.com a while ago, and Phlow featured their "Okami"-inspired music video for the hitsingle "Sting Operation". Just recently, the NES ladylovers released their first full-length album "Dawn Metropolis" on 12" vinyl. It's not free but you should take a look at the microsite dawnmetropolis.com!

Every song of the album is accompanied by a fullscreen video in blazing 8-bit aesthetics.  Abstract patterns mix with scences inspired by 80's videogames, pixelpower in 52 colors, psychedlic mayhem! Check this high energy VJ set by Paris Graphics and the ingenious David Mauro. Great fun, especially if you let the music run at high volume.

http://dawnmetropolis.com

"Dawn Metropolis" by Anamanaguchi, out on Normative records (MP3/ CD/ LP)

"Power Supply" free EP on 8bitpeoples.com

The Jahtarians love old computer sounds from the 8-Bit-Era and subsonic basslines. On this release you can enjoy some nicely edited space sounds crawling through your stereo field while Tapes basslines dig your garden upside down. Laid back riddims for your next round of Space Invaders or Asteroids!

MP3 Dub Reggae Music Download

Download: Tapes - "Compuriddims EP" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.myspace.com/tapeswhite
Release: Tapes - "Compuriddims EP"
Netlabel: Jahtari Netlabel

Originally "Cen Art" was compiled for a lounge in Barcelona. On the compilation you find warm, melodic and most of the time relaxed tunes. The style of music ranges somewhere inbetween IDM, Downbeats and Ambient. This makes the compilation quite homogenic and all the tracks fit well together.

Who had thought of, that a project like a file sharing platform would give birth to a music compilation where musicians would join free of will to give their music to the world for free... Yes, not someone in the music industry.

The web is made for sharing, so enjoy this little contemporary piece of net art.

MP3 Chill Out Music Download

Download: Various - "Cen Art" (FTP)
Release: Various - "Cen Art"
Netlabel: soulseekrecords.org

If you enjoy melodic and kicking Techno somewhere inbetween TechHouse and Minimal Techno than give PHVSR a listen. Check out the marvellous rhythmic change at the end of "schnittgrößen". Or enjoy how a techno-ravesignal turns out into some sort of field recording taken in the tube. "Metro" is tricky and enthusiastic. And than comes "percuss" a trancy groover with even more frenetic raise-your-hands-into-the-sky-potential. Let loose!

No Fillers on this EP. I really enjoy every track. So thumbs up for modularfield!

MP3 TechHouse Music Download

Download: PHVSR - "Bassment" (ZIP-Archive)
Artist-Website: www.myspace.com/phvsr
Release: PHVSR - "Bassment"
Netlabel: modularfield

No Snow is Lyon duo Gael Moissonier and François Virot, the later who was reviewed for his delightful split release with Karaocake and Marie Marie Cells a few weeks ago. However, to get an idea about the Snow music the Virot-link doesn't help an inch.

After some self-distributed CDr on Moissonier's Zero Jardins imprint and two compilation appearances, No Snow hooked up with Portuguese Merzbau Netlabel for an untitled one-track EP. This single 22-minutes song "ZDB" feels like being displaced from a bunch of savages, hidden in their wet dark cave, tortured by tribal drums and subsonic waves of bassguitar.

No Snow are a performance band and obviously not interested in writing songs. Rather Art Brut than Popmusic. They embrace the noise and chance of a live improvisation, distilling their very special Bat Cave aesthetics. On the one hand, there's a clear early 80's No Wave/ Post Punk influence. On the other, No Snow work in the tradition of recent visionaries like Black Dice or the Animal Collective. Low-down brilliant, I'm serious.

MP3 Noise Music Download

Download: "Untitled EP" ZIP
Artist-Website: myspace.com/nosnowww
Release: No Snow - "Untitled EP"
Netlabel: Merzbau

"Lycoris Radiata" is wonderfully diversified! The album kicks in with the ambient "Noise Dreams". The tracks sounds rather dreamful than noisy and charmed away my misgivings that Imachi Akira is just another Netaudio Noise-musician. "Birdpia" afterwards entangles Electronica, gentle guitar-chords and field recordings. Alone, the mix is a bit awkward with the clicks n' cuts quite prominent (which is true for some of the tracks and the only major drawback.

At "Aware Si Mono", Akira pulls out the echo chamber, mixing warm noises with harmonica and his guitar pickings.  The title track "Lycoris Radiata" surprises with massive guitar feedback and distortion noises, while "Silent Way" just afterwards shows the way back to Dub and Jazzy soundscapes. Double bass and piano work superb.  "..." is the last track on the album and with it's introspect Folk-motives, all these little noises and lo-fi atmosphere it reminds me of Rain Netlabel or, more explicit, Daisuke Miyatani or Beddoes (from whom you will hear somewhat later).

Central to Imachi Akira's album is the twelve-minutes "Untitled". On top the murmur of a streamlet, a very simple synth bubble is heard. Minute by minute, additional layers of synth loops are introduced. With increasing complexity, motives form in-between what is really played. That recalls Steve Reich's early works or Philip Glass indeed, but Akira keeps it down to earth by hitting-in a powerful piano track at halftime. The epic ending is noise, and then, the silent creek again. Wow.

MP3 Electronic Music Download

Download: "Lycoris Radiata EP" ZIP
Artist-Website: imachi.org
Release: Imachi Akira - "Lycoris Radiata EP"
Netlabel: electronicalabel.ru

If I listen to Hip Hop music I prefer the jazzy stuff. Especially crackling vinyl, jazzy loops and a pounding beat are damn fine to chill. And that's the part where this beautiful compilation comes in. Lean back and enjoy dusty loops and mysterious tracks by Mentz. Take a bath together with The Groove Guerrilla and the charming voice of Nicole Hadfield. Or listen to the voice of Anthony Baggette in "Summer in the Hood"...

And don't miss the remix of "Pimp Knowledgy" by Kri. This was the Fuck You-Tune the Tokyo Dawn Crew left on MP3.com when the company changed their policy against the will of the musicians... That truly was back in the days but is a fresher subject than ever before!

"Free Your Mind and Intelligence will follow!" Word up!

MP3 Soul Music Download

Download: Various - "Practice Avoiding Mistakes"
Netlabel: Tokyo Dawn Records

[in]anace is/was the Labelhead behind Subsource - one of the first experimental netlabels the web-audience has seen. During the last years he managed to mix a lot of different coloured netaudio-mixes from experimental journeys to 4-to-the-floor-driven sets pushing your legs and making you sweaty. Don't miss "Repetitive Luxury" if you like solid and groovy Techno to House music.

MP3 Techno Mix Download

Download: [in]anace - "Repetitive Luxury" (MP3-Mix)
Artist-Website: www.inanace.de
Netlabel: www.subsource.de

There are many netlabels out there! But why are there so few netlabels which care about broken beats. Where are all these Hip Hop and Drum'n'Bass netlabels? Fortunately our dear Sven Swift teamed up with Filippo Aldovini. If you thought those boys already had enough to run their netlabels 12rec.net and Zymogen the present tells you, you've been wrong.

Luckily as I am I had a chance to listen to the freshly released compilation already some months ago. And the fortune is coming now to you. I hope you will enjoy these Hip Hop anthems as much as I do. Check out melodic movers like "Rock da Dam feat. Portformat" or "Die Faultiere". Or drop some experimental tracks like "Out for a Shrink Pink Drink" from Apes On Tapes into the inbox of your mp3-player.

And don't miss the leading track on this Hip Hop compilation by B-Ju: "Philly Run".

This is truly "a compilation of contemporary Hip Hop: experimental, edgy and kicking".

MP3 Hip Hop Music Download

Download: Various - "Bag Of Nothingness" (ZIP-Archive)
Release: Various - "Bag Of Nothingness"
Netlabel: Error-Broadcast Netlabel

Warm and Minimal Ambient

According to his website, Wilkerson is a busy man. He has a good cue of releases with the usual candidates for experimental Ambient/ Drone stuff (Clinical Archives, Treetrunk, JNN). I do not consider myself an expert in his oeuvre, but Wilkerson's EP "Incidents in Spring" makes me speculate to become one.

Phillip Wilkerson shifts harmonious layers of processed textures, each rich in tone and design. His sound is artificial and glitchy, still Wilkerson manages to  enshrine the warmth of his source material. While the first two compositions are plain Ambient or Drone, tracks three and four come off with songwriting qualities. Rural beats, transparent instruments (if you dare to call that cheapo GM piano in  "Incident 4" an instrument) at interfering micro-melodies make me think of German Electronica like To Rococo Rot or Kreidler. Auspicious.

MP3 Ambient Music Download

Download: "Incidents in Spring" ZIP
Artist-Website: phillipwilkerson.net
Release: Phillip Wilkerson - "Incidents in Spring"
Netlabel: Bypass

Hard-Pumpin' Techno| Zimmer-Records slowly grew into one of the solid sources for techno music on the internet. Their latest release "Code EP" from Kenni Sosa is an brilliant journey into hard punching techno - you eventually remember the hard techno guys from Skandinavia at the late 90ies? Now you got a picture. Very dense, very loud, very kicking.

When I uploaded this release onto my iPod and pressed play, a loud alert went through my headphone and I had to put the volume down. Well mastered stuff. The enery floating through the minimal techno-patterns is so pure. Each track similar, but each with another "function" to work on the dancefloor. And that is what I thought: I want to dance to this sound! And forget about everything else. Highly recommended for techno lovers.

MP3 Techno Music Download

Download: Kenni Sosa - Code EP (ZIP-Archive)
Release: Kenni Sosa - Code EP
Netlabel: Zimmer Records