2010 - The Year’s Best in (almost entirely) Free Music

[D_Davis]

2010 - The Year’s Best in (almost entirely) Free Music

Let's get this out of the way - there was nothing released this year as ambitious and mind blowing as Wixel's 2009 project. For those of you who still for some reason haven't checked that out, go here - now - and bask in the glory of twelve amazing albums. This is still the premier example of net-released, indie-pop-folk-ambient-experimental music ever recorded and released.

However, that is not to say that there haven't been a number of incredible net releases this year. Rest assured, there have been many. And many of them are extraordinary. Once again the netlabel artists have proven that net-releases are the place to go if you like ambient, experimental, and electronic music. This niche-of-a-niche community of sound-sculpting, bed-room recorders and producers are the ones pushing the boundaries of the medium and genres.

Not all of the albums listed will be of the ambient-electronic-experimental varieties, but most will. There will also be some hip hop, post-rock and indie-rock scattered throughout. But the vast majority will most definitely be in the non-pop/rock, atmospheric, ambient categories. So if you don’t like the drone, glitch, and softly-ambling-waves-of-sound and densely textured pads and soundscapes, you may not get a whole lot out of this list.

There will be a top 10, but before that will just a bunch of really good albums, and before that will be...

[D_Davis]

The top songs from albums not appearing on the list.

This doesn’t mean that the albums were bad or anything, it’s just that I found myself listening to only certain songs on them far more than I ever listened to them as a whole.

Again, in no particular order.

****

Adam & Alma, "Smile for Me Sun"
From the EP Back to the Sea

[youtube]O_728Osa1RA[/youtube]

This is the sexiest song about the great ball of cosmic fire that warms our planet that has ever been recorded.

"I take off my clothes, letting you touch me," Alma sings of her experience with the Sun's warming rays.

This is one of my most listened to songs of the entire year. It's a downtempo, electro-pop masterpiece on an EP marred by only one track that I don't care for. And unfortunately that track comes right in the middle, and always kind of spoils my listening mood. However, I highly recommend the EP, because 90% of it is incredible.

[endingcredits]

I'm excited about this thread.

[D_Davis]

Bi-Polar Bear, "Love Begins to Die"
From the LP Today I Found Happy

[youtube]mUQ8ewHO0SA[/youtube]

My favorite hip-hop track of the year. It's got a great '90s new-school vibe to it (reminds me of the old native tongue stuff) and instantly makes me want to dance, bringing a huge smile to my face. It's a total throwback to a kind of hip-hop that just isn't made much any more.

(this was a late-December 2009 release)

[D_Davis]

Benjamin Dauer, "Burning of Wine"
From the LP, Burning of Wine

Burning of Wine

Benjamin Dauer's name is synonymous with net-released ambient music, and his latest release is excellent. While the entire album is good, it is this title track that really stands out. Beautiful, shimmering, treated guitar tones meld with bubbling electronics to create a sonic field conjuring images of a cold winter's day when the sun is reflecting off of freshly fallen snow.

http://www.benjamindauer.net/music.php

[D_Davis]

Hollydrift, "Great Northern Day"
From the EP, Wreath of Algoma



What you might get if you were to cross Soul Coughing, Loop, and Dalek. It's a mix of spoken-word vocals, drum machines, and noise wrapped up in a shoegazing package. The entire EP is a little too noisy for me most of the time, but when listening to a song here and a song there I love what this guy has done.

[D_Davis]

Ken Park, "Cycling Through Ikebukuro"
From the LP, Nowhere Home



I enjoy albums that invoke a sense of place and time, and Koen Park's Nowhere Home does this pretty well. However, I think the album as whole is a tad overlong and bloated, and I rarely listen to the entire thing. "Cycling Through Ikebukkuro" is a great track, though, and provides a nice summation of the album.

Koen Park is Ian D. Hawgood, who's album The Fire Will Die at Night (2007) is also highly recommended.

[D_Davis]

Next up is a two-for. Play these two tracks back-to-back with a ten-or-so second crossfade.

SpeaK, "As Quiet as You"
From the LP, Once Nomadic




Menion, "Colazione Su Saturno"
From the EP, Out of Silence




I really wish that both of these albums were as good as these two tracks, but unfortunately they are not. However, these two tracks never fail to interest me. I always pause and listen whenever one of these tracks is played.

[Derek]

Hollydrift, "Great Northern Day"
From the EP, Wreath of Algoma

Ken Park, "Cycling Through Ikebukuro"
From the LP, Nowhere Home

Menion, "Colazione Su Saturno"
From the EP, Out of Silence

Really liked these 3. I listened to the Hollydrift EP and the first two tracks are fantastic. Loses steam with the last 3, but like you, I really like his sound.

[D_Davis]

MC Cullah, "How You Like Me Now?"
From the LP, Killah Cullah



And now to pick things up a bit. "How You Like Me Now?" is a killer instrumental hip-hop track. It's got a groovy beat, a killer guitar sample, and some wicked scratching, guaranteed to move your ass.

[D_Davis]

Elisa Luu, "Marz"
From the EP, The Time of Waiting



This track is amazing. It's a miniature epic that moves from sparse acoustic ambiance into a more beat-orientated, electronic finale. Ms. Luu covers a lot of sonic territory in just over four minutes, and each second is composed and arranged to perfection.

[D_Davis]

Ryan Gregory Tallman, "Eulogy"
From the LP, Meat Piles and the Birds of Appetite



Mr. Tallman is an old friend of mine. We learned the ins and outs of home recording together back in the early '90s, and we've each continued to explore the boundaries of sound since then. Ryan has moved fully into more noise-based composition, constructing recreate-able electronic compositions for electronics and treated guitar. He is a modern day composer. While some of his stuff is little too noise-based for me now, every once in a while he creates something like "Eulogy," a track of pure sonic beauty. The LP also has the best title of the year.

[D_Davis]

Phillip Wilkerson, "A Memory"
From the EP, Daybook



Mr. Wilkerson may be the hardest working ambient composer in the game. He is constantly releasing material that is always consistently good. However, it might be a little too consistent. He rarely surprises me, and I almost always know exactly what to expect: traditional, pad-based, slowly evolving soundscapes (he does branch out sometimes with some "side" projects). Whenever I want something AMBIENT, as in the most traditional sense of the genre, I can turn to Mr. Wilkerson and be satisfied, and "A Memory" is a fantastic example of this.

[D_Davis]

The Big Sleep in Search of Hades, "I Don't Want to Bring Your Gods Down"
From the LP, Ethos



The Big Sleep in Search of Hades definitely have the most epic band name on this entire list, and "I Don't Want to Bring Your Gods Down" is truly an epic tune; it's a sprawling post-rock, shoegazer rock anthem clocking in at twelve minutes of gloriously dreamy distortion, drum machine, and melody.

[D_Davis]

Maps & Transit, "Tendrils"
From the LP, Songs for Divining



Being Brianwilsonesque in its construction and execution, I was naturally drawn to this amazing little tune; I love its modular arrangement and eclectic instrumentation. I wish I liked the entire album more than I do, because this song completely blows me away.

[endingcredits]

The Big Sleep in Search of Hades, "I Don't Want to Bring Your Gods Down"
From the LP, Ethos



The Big Sleep in Search of Hades definitely have the most epic band name on this entire list, and "I Don't Want to Bring Your Gods Down" is truly an epic tune; it's a sprawling post-rock, shoegazer rock anthem clocking in at twelve minutes of gloriously dreamy distortion, drum machine, and melody.

This is awesome. How's the rest of their stuff?

[D_Davis]

And now on to the albums. These first dozen or so albums are all fantastic, and would easily make it on my top ~20-30 for the year. However, I am only putting the top 10 in number order....


Mind Over Midi - Thru EP
Released by Sutemos




Key Tracks

Post-Lunch Dip 1
Rebound Sleep

This six-song EP from Mind over MIDI is really just one long composition split into six tracks, or at least the tracks are similar in theme enough to think so. There is not a lot of variation between each individual track, but taken as a whole they take the listener on a journey through murky caves of electronic static, echoes, and mystery. This was a late in the year discover for me, but I've been listening to it daily for the last couple of weeks.

[D_Davis]

Pilot Cloud - Halcyon EP
Released by Acoustic Fireworks Records




Key Tracks

The Swell
Meridian

Last year Pilot Cloud's In Transition made it on my year-end list, and they've done it again this year - with an even better album. It's a shorter album, and more concise. They've reduced the entire shoegazer/post-rock aesthetic down to its very essence.

[D_Davis]

Specta Ciera - Wind Shift
Released by Luxas-Arctica



Key Tracks

[youtube]OIAyzIfqWKM[/youtube]

She Bought It

Devin Underwood uses sound to paint mental images. He also comes up with some damn original song titles like, "Well I'm Not, Wait a Minute," "What Lunch Does She Have?" and "No Good Coffee to Speak of."

Wind Shift is Mr. Underwood's most consistently-good album to date. It is, if anything, really interesting. He has a unique sound and aesthetic, one that is truly hard to describe.

[D_Davis]

The Roots of Orchis - Empty Lands Ahead and Behind
Self Release



Key Tracks

Waxing
Bishop's Hostel

The Roots of Orchis are a prototypical post-rock band. Empty Lands... will sound familiar and welcoming to those versed in the genre. It will not surprise or amaze with anything new and/or groundbreaking. It securely follows the trail blazed by Mogwai and Tortoise. However, what it lacks in originality it makes up for with confidence, solid execution, and expert instrumentation.

[D_Davis]

False Awakening - So Far, So Close
Released by BFW Recordings



Key Tracks

Happy Endings
We're Doing Fine


False Awakening's So Far, So Close is the perfect soundtrack for an imaginary '90s American indie film. It's a little twee, entirely earnest, introspective, and comprised largely of chord-based acoustic guitar work augmented by simple leads and some subtle vocal work. Reminds me of something straight out of Chasing Amy.

[D_Davis]

Lexithimie - Leontopodium
Released by Resting Bell



Drone-based ambient is an (un)interesting beast. Sometimes this style of music fits my mood perfectly, and creates a calming and tranquil mood, allowing me to get lost in the wall of sound; sometimes the droning sound gets on my nerves and drives me crazy. However, no matter what mood I am in, this two-track EP is always welcoming to my ears. The tones are just perfect, and there is enough variation in sound (at least relative to other drone) that it is also an interesting listen.

Can't really pick a key track for this, as the two tracks really should be listened to from beginning to end in their entirety.

[D_Davis]

Denshi - 10pts
Released by Test Tube



Key Tracks

...
.....

Denshi's 10pts is the most purely experimental album I've heard all year. It's experimental in execution and in practice. As I said before, I think it's best to just let the label explain the album:

The story behind this album goes back to 2001, when this japanese musician called Yori Denshi found an old mexican vinyl record in the garbage. This record had 10 holes along the grooves (which were obviously some kind of decorative element). So he fed his computer the audio information between the holes via max/msp. And when the needle from the tonearm dropped in a hole, it switched the feeding cycle in the computer.

Denshi then layered the audio tracks in his sequencer and bended, stretched, added echoes and flanger, and turned this otherwise bland recording into a micro-dub, micro-techno album.

If you like micro-tonal music, this is your album. It's lowercase music taken to the extreme depths of the lowercase movement.

[D_Davis]

r6 - The Senses
Released by Circlesandlines



The Senses is one of the most purely creative and unique albums I heard all year. It's ambient with the focal-point being on the human voice and spoken word. Each track features a different vocalist. Some of the vocal parts have been treated beyond recognition, while others are left relatively intact. The minimal music wraps the vocal work in a sonic cocoon, and the entire package is the very definition of the word "haunting."

(unfortunately, I can't find a place with individual tracks to stream, but the link above provides a stream of the whole album as well as the dl)

[D_Davis]

Atlas Sound - Bedroom Data Bank V.1-4
Self Release



Key Tracks

Mona Lisa
Afternoon Drive
Talent Show
Here Come the Trains

When I first posted the link to this amazing collection of tunes, I thought the music fans here at Match Cut would go bonkers. I mean, there are quite a few Deerhunter fans around here (at least from what I can tell), and here there are four free albums from Mr. Cox containing all kinds of cool little tunes and songs. And yet I didn't hear a thing from anyone. There seems to still be a stigma against legitimately free music, and I wonder why? I like each of these four albums more than I like the most recently released Deerhunter album, and I know that album has been highly praised among the Internet blogs. So get these. They're really awesome.