The Free Music Archive is a valuable resource for all the appreciate the free music revolution. The host thousands of releases from individual artists and netlabels. Most are licensed under Creative Commons.
Unfamiliar 08
The eighth Unfamiliar podcast of selected netlabel music; new and old works: experimental, weird and strange. Featuring works by Acryllic Drape, Adrian Belew, Agate Rollings, Andreas Glause, Antoine Trauma, BLCKPNT, Bob Marsh, Bryan Day, BUG, Christian Bucher, Cristiano Bocci, Daniel Barbiero, Derek Baron, Frank Wilke, Hari Hardman, Josef Nadek, Jurica Jelić, Liew Niyomkarn, Marc Davis, Markus Reineke, Michael Trommer, Mister Vapor, Neglect, Osvaldo Cibils, Pat Moonchy, Quinn Walker, Sabrina Siegel, Souns, Stinky Picnic, and Tom Djll.
Go to Unfamiliar.cc for more information.
unfamiliar 07
The seventh Unfamiliar podcast of selected netlabel music; new and old works: experimental, weird and strange. Featuring works by Chris Lynn, Chris Silver T, Clearwing, Enrique Maraver, Eucci, Jean-Baptiste Masson, José Soberanes, Neither Famous Nor Rich, Stéphane Marin, The Green Lama, and Vitaly Maklakov.
Go to Unfamiliar.cc for more information.
Dave Seidel – Prism, Mirror, Lens
Several years ago, Phillip Wilkerson ran a little sound series he called Complex Silence. These works, most of which are available on Archive.org, allowed musicians the freedom to explore the intricasies and development of drones as a musical statement. What set Wilkerson’s series off from other curations of ambient and drone works was his inclusion of a simple word: complex. The Wikitionary states that complex derives from the Latin complexus which means “I entwine, encircle, compass, infold”. The best of these some 40 releases never attached themselves to the simple sound, no matter how plain these tracks may have sounded, there was always an inquiry into the tones.
Dave Seidel was one of the early participants in Wilkerson’s experiment. And it was as Mysterybear, Seidel’s earlier alias, that I became familiar with his music. While many have fled the drone scene (if there ever was one), Seidel has kept on exploring the depths of these sonic murmurs. Seidel’s latest release, Prism Mirror, Lens, continues his search in the dronal environment. Seidel writes that the first track is in a “setting of continual spectral change”. Yes, that’s it! Change is the key to Seidel’s work. Boredom is not a word that comes to mind when listening to Seidel’s work, it is craftsmanship. There is an attention to detail that permeates Seidel’s sounds as he builds them allowing the listener to experience the uncertainty buried in his dynamic drones. There is no sameness of Seidel’s tracks; his work is an examination not of drones, but where the drones take us.
Artist: Dave Seidel
Title: Prism, Mirror, Lens
Netlabel: Self-Released
Release Date: August 2015
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Download mp3: Bandcamp
Unfamiliar 06
The sixth Unfamiliar podcast of selected netlabel music; new and old works: experimental, weird and strange. It features works by Cristiano Bocci, Daniel Barbiero, Dargelos, Darren Harper, Dave Seidel, Ergo Phizmiz, Golgotha Communications Limited, Graham Dunning, Gurdonark, Hazy Montagne Mystique, Jeff Kolar, Juan Antonio Nieto, K.L. Sealegs, Kecap Tuyul, Klopenn, Mers, Omoidé, Peanut Butter Solution, Phirnis, and SineRider.
Go to Unfamiliar.cc for more information.
Windows 98の – Summer Singles
As summer begins its final swan song here in the Northern hemisphere, it is probably a good time to look a “summer” release and the artist Windows 98の is kind enough to oblige with their self-released Summer Singles.
If you know nothing of vaporwave then like me you’ll be fine, just go with it. If you have some prejudices about vaporwave, just stop it, just stop it now. If you know something about vaporwave, apologies. The short of it is vaporwave is more than a musical genre, it is more of a mindset or a musical feeling. Vaporwave can be cheesey and cutting-edge at the same time, it can be slow and melodic as well as being rough and noisy. Genres are nothing but labels. Just think about a genre or two that you are quite familiar with and you can see how useless it is to try and pigeon-hole any track to a genre.
What I like about Summer Singles is that Windows 98の doesn’t stay in one genre for long whether it is track by track or even with one track. The track “プラスチッククソ愛” is a good example of how Windows 98の moves from one genre, say vaporwave, and ends up somewhere in the noise spectrum. As I mentioned earlier, any pre-conceived notions about what vaporwave is viturally useless. It is never what you think and then it is. Some of Windows 98の’s tracks border on straight-up hip-hop like “Goofee Rascal – G:/ Infinite Goof” and another, “Death Grips – Two Heavens (Remix)”, leans toward breakcore. カテゴリ ラメ. 音楽 いい.
Just play and enjoy Windows 98の’s Summer Singles. Forget. Enjoy.
Artist: Windows 98の
Title: Summer Singles
Netlabel: Self-Released
Release Date: June 2015
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Download zip: Bandcamp
Unfamiliar 05
My fifth podcast focusing on select old and new netlabel music that is experimental, strange and weird works. Featuring works by Annie Kerr, Antoine Ulmann, AODL, Arnold Cabott, Bastl Orchestra, Big Blood, Captain Missouri, Charles premier, DreamCape 64, Gus Garside, Harry Sumner, Henry Koek, John Kannenberg, John Tenney, Konstantin Popov, Kung-Fu-Action Jesus – His Side Kick The Red Baron featuring a Dead Crab, Lee Other, Martin Rach, The Kiriks, Winjer3, and Xesús Valle.
This is my fourth podcast release in as many weeks.
Go to Unfamiliar.cc for more information.