Topic: The joys of free music (Read 11409 times)

Thrillho · « **on:** 30 Dec 2008, 05:11 »

In these days of stuff being shoved on the internet for free both legally and illegally, a lot of people just download rather than buying physical music any more. This is something I'm not too happy about, but that's another story.

These days, there's a wealth of free, perfectly legal music on the internet (and elsewhere) if you look hard enough. What are some of the gems that you've found completely legal? Discounting the obvious Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, of course.

The label Matador - who house Pavement, Mogwai and others - have something like 100 free MP3s from their various artists on their website.

Q magazine regularly give away free CDs, which I've taken shameless advantage of, getting, for example, the one Libertines song I want to own. I also discovered Nick Cave and Wilco via these CDs, both of whom are now among my favourite bands (and the latter of which are renowned for streaming their stuff on their webpage before it comes out).

What free delights have you found on the internet?

Katherine · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 07:23 »

Last.fm has some free MP3s on their website and I downloaded one by Andrew Bird a little over a year ago. I had never heard of him, or heard his music before, but that song is now one of my favorite songs ever and I love me some Andrew Bird oh yes I do.

Thrillho · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 08:45 »

I just realised I missed out the best one - which is Machina II by Smashing Pumpkins, which was leaked for free on the net in 2000, and I found recently. I downloaded it and it's awesome. Worth every penny??

ellis · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 09:04 »

http://www.pandora.com/ (or http://pandorafm.real-ity.com/login.php if you're a bit OCD and have last.fm) are lovely. Nothing to download and keep, but I find that I always encounter new music I really enjoy through it. It's not perfect, but I definitely find it useful - I was surprised it wasn't mentioned in the initial roundup.
I think last.fm itself also has something similar? I've never used it, though.

Pogotross · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 09:46 »

http://cllct.com/ is probably the most interesting I've come across...it's a site where anyone can upload an album they've created to be streamed and downloaded by anyone who comes across it. Most of the albums are lo-fi acoustic/ukulele types of music.

imapiratearg · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 09:58 »

I think Merge (founded by Mac MacCaughan of Superchunk and Portastatic fame, and also home to such bands as Neutral Milk Hotel, The Music Tapes, etc.) was offering some free records for members recently. I didn't get a hold of any, though. I got Harvey Danger's 2005 album for free from their website. It was okay.

Bomb the Music Industry! offer their entire discography for free on their website, too. Fans of punk and ska punk might want to check it out. You can stream every song, so you can find the ones you like.

JayJayD · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 11:20 »

I've been using the last.fm Free-on-demand service extensively.

Also, http://postrockcommunity.blogspot.com/ is a (german language) blog that offers and reviews legally downloadable music - not only post-rock, despite the name.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 12:57 »

the single best legal, free thing i have ever downloaded is, without question, The Esther Caulfield Orchestra's "Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast"

fucking get it right now, you cunts.

Myspace

free album

Der Golem · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 13:14 »

Anacrusis, a pretty decent thrash band has all 4 of their CD´s available for download on their website.

memann · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 14:31 »

I thoroughly enjoyed all the lives of the various E6 bands on the Elephant 6 website...
http://www.elephant6.com/sound.html

MrBlu · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 15:28 »

=\

Somewhere around 4GB of my music is free+legal off the internet. Band websites, record label mixtapes, Myspace, etc.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 17:17 »

Sculptured has all of their music (except one album only has 30 second samples) on a player on their myspace (not the myspace player, in the Sounds Like section), including a cover of the song Suspiria by Goblin, and Iron Maiden, by Iron Maiden. That includes the Apollo Ends album, which has been out of print for a while now.

www.myspace.com/matrixmetal

Durin · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 19:07 »

I suppose it's not legal for the people uploading it but there's plenty of music on Youtube.

sean · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 20:36 »

Kerbled

Also to repeat myself The Pax Cecilia puts out awesome music thats free.

onewheelwizzard · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Dec 2008, 20:52 »

I've gotten full albums by Trifonic, lukeing forward, Girl Talk, and a couple other artists from their personal websites.

Also, gotdarker.com is basically the best website ever.

atimholt · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 Dec 2008, 01:12 »

Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 30 Dec 2008, 12:57

the single best legal, free thing i have ever downloaded is, without question, The Esther Caulfield Orchestra's "Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast"

fucking get it right now, you cunts.

Myspace

free album

Eugh, you didn't say it was country.
But listening to it now, it's no pop country. The first two tracks (I'm listening in order) are reminiscent of the Beatles, but probably only because of the rooster (coupled with a 'good morning') and the British accent.
So far so good.

Big Happy Captain · « **Reply #16 on:** 01 Jan 2009, 04:17 »

http://www.comma8comma1.net/tnbu/

these guys are awesome, check them out.

look out! Ninjas! · « **Reply #17 on:** 01 Jan 2009, 04:31 »

I got Girl Talks new album for "whatever I want to pay" (ie. nothing) today.
Also, NIN's The Slip is free.

also, this site is updated reasonably regularly with tracks from lesser known bands: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listen/mp3s.htm

Thrillho · « **Reply #18 on:** 01 Jan 2009, 06:56 »

Quote from: look out! Ninjas! on 01 Jan 2009, 04:31

Also, NIN's The Slip is free.

Swing and a miss.

Be My Head · « **Reply #19 on:** 02 Jan 2009, 15:25 »

So.....

Who else thought this thread would be about this kind of thing?

Tybalt · « **Reply #20 on:** 02 Jan 2009, 23:15 »

http://www.imeem.com/

I would also like to say that I would not be the same person if pandora did not exist.

billiumbean · « **Reply #21 on:** 03 Jan 2009, 04:00 »

I check into CMJ's (radio station in New York, yadda) website every now and then. They put up a buttload of free MP3s that are usually released in album form a week or so later. A lot of it's kinda ish, but then I'll find maybe two or three songs that just blow my head off of the jar on my shelf.

Go forth and enjoy, onions.

Harun · « **Reply #22 on:** 06 Jan 2009, 22:32 »

Cloudkicker (myspace)

sounds like: your favorite post-rock band and Meshuggah making sweet babies

download their stuff here

David_Dovey · « **Reply #23 on:** 07 Jan 2009, 00:04 »

Reposting from the post-rock thread because people should get this

Quote from: David_Dovey on 05 Jan 2009, 23:10

Hey, you can download Sydney post-rock lovelies sleepmakeswaves' EP In Today Already Walks Tomorrow for free here or here.

Xaris3514 · « **Reply #24 on:** 07 Jan 2009, 00:09 »

Machinae Supremacy has three albums and the soundtrack to the old game Jets N Guns up for free download here. Its some pretty good metal with electronic influence.

Moist Cowboy · « **Reply #25 on:** 07 Jan 2009, 15:48 »

Bomb the Music Industry!

&

Defiance, Ohio!

the_pied_piper · « **Reply #26 on:** 15 Jan 2009, 19:41 »

You should all check out Josh Woodward at www.joshwoodward.com for some great free music. He gives away all of his songs for free.

Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 30 Dec 2008, 12:57

the single best legal, free thing i have ever downloaded is, without question, The Esther Caulfield Orchestra's "Good Morning, Whiskey Breakfast"

fucking get it right now, you cunts.

I did and it was certainly worth it.

onewheelwizzard · « **Reply #27 on:** 15 Jan 2009, 19:46 »

Soul of the Phoenix. SO GOOD.

GMM · « **Reply #28 on:** 19 Jan 2009, 11:36 »

Spotify has been making me VERY happy with all it's free music recently.

fish across face · « **Reply #29 on:** 23 Jan 2009, 03:40 »

Faux Pas' free EP Waterfalls is rocking my party. I don't really know what to compare it to. Seems like the guy likes Paul McCartney and quirky electronica and has lots of cheery guitar and horns and strings and kitchen sinks in his music.

http://www.iamfauxpas.com

Check the freaky wizard art!

I check the RSS feeds at http://www.RCRDLBL.com and http://www.xlr8r.com/mp3 regularly.

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Author Topic: The joys of free music (Read 11409 times)

Xaris3514