Category: Electronica

THE SAMUEL JACKSON FIVE - MID-FI WINTER WONDERLAND EP

1/3/2013

Mid-Fi Winter Wonderland EP by The Samuel Jackson Five

1. Like A Lump Of Coal In The Stockings
2. Old Country For No Men
3. Tremulous Silent Knights
4. Mid-Fi Winter Wonderland
5. Vardebu, 960 moh MST
6. Let's Build A Snowman

STREAM AND DOWNLOAD AT SOUNDCLOUD

Saw this one over at Santas Working Overtime and thought it fit Stubbys like a new woolen mitten. First of all, you have to love the band's name--the Samuel Jackson Five--sort of a pop culture mashup. Second of all, the sounds are very different (and you know how much I love different). And the band is from Norway (and you know I love music from far away lands).

I'm sure I must have encountered them before, as this material was recorded between 2008 and 2012. And the Samuel Jackson Five has actually varied in number through the years--anywhere from 4 to 7 members--though right now, they actually do number five. Their music is self-described as Post Rock, but its an eclectic blend (mostly instrumental) of electronica, progressive rock, straight up rock, a touch of cinnamon (I mean ambient) and sort of a World Music Norwegian Folk (or something) drawing a lot of influence (to my ear) from Pink Floyd. In brief, it's really kinda cool. Definitely something you'll want to throw on to freak out the in-laws. My favorite from the set is "Tremulous Silent Knights" though there's a lot to be said for "Like A Lump Of Coal In The Stockings" and "Let's Build A Snowman" as well. Get the complete "Mid-Fi Winter Wonderland" EP free at Soundcloud while you can.

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LORD HURON - AULD LANG SYNE

12/29/2012

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Lord Huron - Auld Lang Syne by Lord Huron

L.A. Indie Folk/Rock band Lord Huron has just released their cover of "Auld Lang Syne". Lord Huron incorporates a bit of electronica and what the L.A. Times calls "Wild West Romance" into their sound. They're unique and happening enough to have appeared on The Tonight Show in 2012 and their latest full-length is "Lonesome Dreams". "Auld Lang Syne" is free through Soundcloud for the moment, so pick it up.

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VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2012

12/28/2012

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1. Amygdala projects - Betelgeuse
2. Bing Satellites - New Horizons
3. Eko_Fisk - Outside 'Angels' 241285
4. JCM - 24th Rusharound
5. Killer Haven's Insanity Claus - MF Xmas
6. Poodleplay Arkestra - The Heavenly Tea Dance
7. The Reverse - First Christmas
8. Magic Mountain - Sublight
9. ROGUE SPORE - The Beguiling Black Ice Nymph
10. Jon Johnson - Peppermint Twists
11. Shane Morris - The Ghost of Christmas Future
12. Elypixa - The rain subsided
13. Cousin Silas - Lights Aglow On Christmas Island

FREE AT BANDCAMP
THE BFW WEB SITE

Finding the "All Is Calm 2012" set reminded me of another annual collection I think of when I think of Ambient music, "The BFW Christmas Album". And sure enough, the eclectic label, for the third year running, issued their free digital Christmas set. Though BFW initially made their name with Ambient, they tend to be far more wide reaching, and the variety I was looking for from "All Is Calm" is much more in evidence here. I'm still not in an Ambient state of mind at the moment. But I did think the Bing Satellites track on the BFW album, "New Horizons", had more energy and direction. Cousin Silas charmed, here, once again with a lovely Ambient number, "Lights Aglow On Christmas Island". But, beyond the Ambient, there was an interesting assortment of sounds. As a wonderful change of pace, BFW included a pretty much straight Indie Folk effort from The Reverse; "First Christmas" might seem out of place, but it works exceedingly well, probably because it's such a well written song about a first Christmas without someone dear. From "we hold these cliches dear", I was putty in their hands. "The BFW Christmas Album 2012" also features some electronica, some music that's much more New Age than Ambient, and a dash of Zombies up top from Amygdala Projects. All in all, another nice package from the label where everything's free, BFW. Download it at Bandcamp, and pick up their previous holiday sets while you're there.

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VARIOUS - ALL IS CALM 2012

12/28/2012

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1. Chris Russell - Borealis
2. Michael Meara - Hymnal
3. Phillip Wilkerson - Snow Is Glistening
4. Lattice - Bathing in December Streetlight
5. Benjamin Dauer - The Softest of Light
6. Cousin Silas - White
7. Gregg Plummer - Winter's Dream
8. Steve Brand - Host
9. Jack Hertz - Winter Breeze
10. Bing Satellites - Fireside
11. eyes cast down - Snowdance in Starlight

NAME YOUR PRICE AT BANDCAMP
FREE FLOATING WEB SITE

Completely missed this this year. Mind you, it's only been out a week. But, usually, since one of the primary guiding forces behind the "All Is Calm" collections is Brad Ross-MacLeod (aka The King of Jingaling), I'm usually watching for it more closely.

In addition to being a Christmas music enthusiast and the beloved ringmaster at FaLaLaLaLa.com, Brad is also the host of the ambient music program Free Floating which, last time I checked, was part of the StillStream network.

At some point, Brad decided it would be a natural evolution to combine his love for seasonal music with his love for the Ambient art form and "All Is Calm" was born--a free download compilation of original winter works and compositions submitted by artists oft featured on Free Floating. "All Is Calm 2012" is the third such compilation of meditations of the winter season. And, yes, there's little doubt the "All Is Calm" collections focus more on the winter time than on Christmas itself, though that's not a requirement for inclusion.

This year's collection seemed to be a bit less varied than previous year's sets, with Chris Russell's "Borealis" setting the tone for much of what follows. Some of my annual favorites are here--The Bing Satellites with "Fireside", Phillip Wilkerson with "Snow Is Glistening"--and most of the 11 tracks are musical soundscapes of some length. And the thing about Ambient music is that you have to relax and just dissolve into it and let it carry you. And I'm just not in that mood this year, I guess. I did very much like "White" by Cousin Silas, which, for my money, seemed to capture some of the beauty and majesty of the season. And "Winter Breeze" by Jack Hertz was (pardon the pun) kinda cool. But I mostly found myself outside the music and that simply doesn't work with Ambient. Not for me, at any rate. The fault, here, likely lies in myself and not in the stars. I'll take another swing at it when the time is right.

If you find yourself in the proper mood for a little winter meditation and electronic space walking, pick up "All Is Calm 2012" as a Name-Your-Price download from Bandcamp. And, by all means, check out "All Is Calm 2011" and "All Is Calm 2010" as well.

As a bit of a bonus, this year, Free Floating has also released the Winter inspired "The Sidereal Cycle 3" by Altus. It's one huge 55 minute piece of Ambient composition, also available as a Name-Your-Price download at Bandcamp. In the early minutes, at least, that one sounded a little more to my taste of the moment.

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VARIOUS - A POLAROID FOR CHRISTMAS 2012

12/21/2012

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1. Monnone Alone - Everywhere At Once
2. Vadoinmessico - Sleigh Ride
3. PICA PICA (Rebekka from Maribel) - Winterwonderland
4. Life & Limb - Only The Lowly
5. Joyce In Pola - End Of The Ocean
6. She Said Destroy - Brigitte
7. Derby Sunshine - Italo Riviera
8. Neverending Mojitos - Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy (The Tams cover)
9. Johnny Render - Have a Very Render Christmas
10. ED - All You Need Is Love (The Beatles cover)
11. Montgomery feat. Tempelhof - 1979 (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
12. Wolther Goes Stranger & Federico Fiumani - SOMEtimes (Bombanella mix)
13. Love The Unicorn - Sssuperstarsss
14. Setti - Sasso Natale
15. Spakkiano - Africa et cetera DOWNLOAD FREE FROM POLAROID

One of our absolute favorite "off the beaten path" annual holiday collections comes from the Italian blog, Polaroid. Every year, the writer of that blog contacts a few of his friends from the Indie music world and asks them if they would mind recording a seasonal track; or, if not a seasonal track, at least a little something to keep him company while he decorates his tree. And, man, does this cat have friends! They always come through with some spectacular stuff that you're not going to find anywhere else. Not all of it is holiday related, but it's all great. I mean, I'd love to dial up a musician friend and have them record a cover of The Tams "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" some time--Christmas or whenever. Fortunately for those of us with either fewer or, perhaps, less talented friends, the whole collection is shared out so the rest of us have something to keep us company on those long winter nights.

There's a bit of synth pop and techno pop and a dollup of experimental electro noise pop, but most of the set falls squarely in the Indie/Alt Pop and Indie/Alt Rock vein, some on the Lo-Fi side, but that's actually quite a wide swath of musical sounds and it's all wonderful. And the artists are all linked up, so you can learn more about them. For example, Rebekka of Maribel (who have their own new Christmas single out, "Christmas Blues") contributes an absolutely dreamy version of "Winterwonderland" as Pica Pica. Italian artist Setti offers up a sweet Indie Pop number in his (their?) native tongue, "Sasso Natale". Alt Pop/Rock fans should enjoy Vadoinmessico's "Sleigh Ride", and Monnone Alone's "Everywhere At Once" is great fun. She Said Destroy give good garage on "Brigitte". ED gives us an awesome Indie cover of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". And, speaking of the Beatles and dreamy, the original "Have A Very Render Christmas" from Johnny Render is not only dreamy, it sounds like it could have been the closing track from a late 60s Beatles Christmas album; it would certainly do nicely as the closing number on your mixtape. But, hands down, my absolute favorite on "A Polaroid Christmas 2012" is the previously mentioned cover of "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" by the Neverending Mojitos. It might not be a Christmas track, but it has the feel of a bunch of (very talented) friends sitting around the tree on Christmas morning and sharing a song. It made me smile from ear to ear. A lot. My face hurt, I smiled so much.

Head straight to Polaroid and grab the whole bunch. Poke around a bit and you might find some of the earlier sets, as well. Enjoy. And "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy". It's nearly Christmas after all.

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DIWON - CHANUKAH INSTRUMENTALS

12/13/2012

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Diwon's Chanukah Instrumentals (free hanukkah holiday download) by Diwon

While we're still in a Hanukkah frame of mind, here's a free set from Los Angeles Techno DJ and producer Diwon. All three Hip Hop takes on Hanukkah favorites have their points of light, but I, personally, loved Diwon's remix of "Al Hanism". Available via Soundcloud or Bandcamp. In addition to the three tracks on "Chanukah Instrumentals", there are links to two other freebies...2011's "Gonna Light" (featuring Y-Love and Sarah Aroeste) and "Sivivon (The Dreidel Song)" (featuring Cobe and Yehuda Solomon). And, if you look to the right on Bandcamp, you'll also find a nice acoustic take on "Maoz Tzur" from Arik Gordon. It's all free or "name-your-price".

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WXPN 12 DAYS of CHRISTMAS 2012

12/11/2012

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1. Aaron Brown and The York Street Hustle “Christmas Eve Dream”
2. Nick Frese and Amy Wooden “It’s A Lousy Day To Be Alone”
3. Alex Radus “Hustle and Bustle”
4. SPiN “Christmas Time Again (I’ll Be Good Next Year)”
5. Ryan Tennis “Coming Home”
6. Ben Smith “Son, You Should Come Home for Christmas”
7. Deb Callahan “Baby’s First Christmas”
8. John Francis “Don’t Tell Me That It’s Christmas”
9. Pete Donnelly “Merry Xmas This Year”
10. Shaun Ruymen “You, Me and the Christmas Tree”
11. Good Old War “Snow Falls Down”
12. Ginger Coyle “It Feels Like Christmas”
BONUS:  Christie Lenee "Carol Of The Bells"
BONUS:  Tin Bird Choir "We Three Kings"
BONUS:  City Rain "Goodnight Moon"   DOWNLOAD FREE AT THE KEY
BONUS:  The Districts "Fires And Footstops"

It's 12 for Twenty-Twelve from Philly's premier Adult Album Alternative radio station. WXPN has been doing their "12 Days Of Christmas" feature, spotlighting mostly original Christmas music from local Philadelphia artists, for quite some time. This year, you can download the whole set right up front and then follow along as they spotlight the artists and songs each day. It's an eclectic set, as usual, featuring some terrific pop tunes, some Indie Folk, some Alt Rock, some Americana and more. On first listen, my personal standouts include SPiN's hook laden Power Pop "Christmas Time Again (I'll Be Good Next Year)", Shaun Ruymen's folky lament "You, Me and The Christmas Tree", and Ginger Coyle's jazzy strut "It Feels Like Christmas". But the one that really got my attention, as I'm always looking for truly unique expressions of the season, was the Bonus Track "Goodnight Moon" from City Rain, an atmospheric new wave electronica track that immediately sent me running to their web site and Bandcamp in search of more. The track ends a bit abruptly, for my taste, but I loved every second of it.

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THE SAMUEL JACKSON FIVE - MID-FI WINTER WONDERLAND EP

LORD HURON - AULD LANG SYNE

VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2012

VARIOUS - ALL IS CALM 2012

VARIOUS - A POLAROID FOR CHRISTMAS 2012

DIWON - CHANUKAH INSTRUMENTALS

WXPN 12 DAYS of CHRISTMAS 2012

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