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LyricWiki:Free Music of the Week

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In order to help reach a wider audience, for those of us who don't have the means or desire to find or get the albums of the week, we now have "Free Music of the Week". This is a new feature, devised and maintained by WillMak5389, which will give us more diversity in our featured music.

The way it works is this: each week WillMak050389 writes a description of an album, sometimes songs, which he has located on the web and which are legally free for download. This, together with a link to the site from which the music can be obtained, is then posted beneath the "Album of the Week" on the LyricWiki Main Page. For those interested in knowing what music he might be suggesting in forthcoming weeks, WillMak050389 maintains a list here.

Any general comments about the music, e.g. whether you liked it, whether you didn't, etc., even if you just want to thank WillMak050389 for increasing your music collection, should be posted on the Free Music of the Week talk page. However, if you have any questions, complaints, or suggestions for this feature, please message WillMak050389

Disclaimer: Due to the nature of the internet, links to specific websites and availability of files is not permanent, so we must accept that some of these links will expire/change over time. WillMak will do his best to keep all available and legal options open to anyone and everyone who wants to explore the following music. Feel free to contact him if links expire/change..

We hope you enjoy this new feature!

Recent Free Music of the Week

2009

December

Steven Delopoulos (of Burlap to Cashmere) is one of my father's favorite artists, so when my dad sent me the link to download this I did the obvious thing: bury the email for six months, because old people listen to lame music, right? Actually, our tastes in music are kinda similar, I just didn't like Steven Delopoulos, but I eventually got around to download this and actually kinda liked it. I'd never admit it to my dad, but this album is pretty good. With a folk/acoustic/americana sound, this album is filled with B-sides (and a few A-sides) that supplement his recent studio album Straightjacket.
Available for download at NoiseTrade (where you can find TONS more free albums) by telling five friends or paying what you want.
  • December 7, 2009 to December 13, 2009: The Wicked Cease from Struggling by Bull of Heaven
It's been a while since I've have some ambient / drone as Free Music of the Week, so I've decided to blow you guys out of the water. "How?" you may ask. Well, if you'll recall the first FMotW, it was a ~23 hour album, which is pretty impressive. However, I have, since then, found a few that have beat it. This week, we have an album of the week that lasts an ENTIRE WEEK. That's right, The Wicked Cease from Struggling is exactly 168 hours (1 week) long. So, start listening now, and you'll be done just in time to listen to next week's FMotW!
For the twelve compositions (that I know of) that are at or longer than a day long (including a few that even beat this one), see this list.
To download this song/album, you have to follow a few steps. First: download the forty-seven pieces of the file from here. Then, use a file-splitter (such as the free program HJSplit) to stitch these pieces together into one .mp3 file. Due to the large size of the file, it is difficult/impossible to play in some media players (for myself, iTunes took 30min to process/add the file to my library). Feel free to check out Bull of Heaven's FAQs for some information.

November

In the Aerorate over Your Music is a tribute cover album of Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea (1998) performed by members of RateYourMusic
I don't know that there is much good I can say about this album, but the circumstances were too perfect to pass up the occasion. I'll start off with the bad: The name is terrible, and the music isn't much better. As expected, the music isn't as good as the original album (which I thought was a bit bland and too inaccessible to enjoy).
OK, so here's the good news: obviously, it's free (check out any of the following three links to download: RateYourMusic, MediaFire, RapidShare). This also affords me the opportunity to plug one of my favorite sites on the internet (it's up there with LyricWiki). RateYourMusic doesn't provide lyrics, but it has everything else music related you could ever want (and also just recently added films/movies to the site). I find it very useful to maintain my collection (digitally for easy lookup), provide information on labels, create lists, look up concerts, and talk on the forums, along with many more feature of the site. And, of course, let's not forget that you can rate music. Feel free to check out the charts and see what you agree with, disagree with, and need to check out.
Note: This album was presented as Free Music of the Week the same week that In the Aeroplane over the Sea was Album of the Week
When you dive into the wonder that is free music, you quickly realize that ambient and drone type releases are by far the most numerous, so this week I'm choosing something that is completely opposite. Ambient music is meant to calm and Karlahan's A Portrait of Life is meant to get your blood boiling (in a good way). This one is for all of the metalheads in the audience; a piece that typifies Symphonic Metal and all it stands for. With its full sound, blazingly quick riffs, and harsh vocals, I recommend this to any metalhead looking to save a few bucks on their next album purchase. A link for the download can be found on their official MySpace blog
The Butcher's Ballroom is an album that truly spans across many genres: orchestral/symphonic, swing, hard rock, and many others; it is best described by avant garde metal. It is an interesting journey through many worlds of music. The Diablo Swing Orchestra is also an enigmatic story. According to this Candlelight Records bio, the band is a tribute (made of living ancestors) to a 16th century Swedish orchestra who also made who also sounded like no other musical act around at the time. DSO is definitely something to check out. Download the album at jamendo
Additional comments were made about this album here and here
I'm not a big fan of country music, but I do enjoy the occasional song or two. The Hollyfelds know how to do it right and make it available for free. I am impressed by the quality of the performance here. The Hollyfelds have released two albums, and made available six of their songs on their website for free download including "What It Feels Like", "I'm Gonna Feel Tonight", "It's a Good Thing", and "Stars at Night". My personal favorite recently has been "2 A.M.".
I'm also going to give a shout-out to Five Iron Frenzy (a related artist), unfortunately no free downloads from them, but one of my personal favorites of all time. If you enjoy ska, stop everything you're doing right now and go get one of their albums.
As an alternate soundtrack to Fritz Lang's 1927 masterpiece Metropolis, which is a welcome change from Moroder's 1984 soundtrack (ugh, cheesy 80s synth pop). The music itself, is very experimental, spanning many genres. It is truly a different experience that cannot be explained. Free for download, under Creative Commons license, as MP3, OGG, or FLAC quality files at KarhuMusic.org

October

rEmiXUDE is a compilation album containing eight unique remixes, from eight different artists, of Torrent Vaccine's "Exude". Though you may be inclined to think it will be repetitive, I found that each artist brought a unique taste and style to the song, and although it is the same song, the products are much different. This album is a good Dance/Electronica release. Available for free download here (bottom of page). A generous donation from Bit Riot Records, Torrent Vaccine, and the participating artists: Mangadrive, Phonogeist, Masoschizm, RFID, 6RME, The Autopsy Report, Kevindustrial, and Baconhanger.
Part the Second is a journey through Maudlin of the Well's progressive soundscapes, ranging from symphonic to hard rock. This album is highly regarded by critics, but I tend to find it a bit inaccessible and bland, especially during vocal parts. Still, there is some great instrumentation here and overall great music for a free album. Pick up your .mp3, .wav, or .flac version at Maudlin of the Well's Official Website
Once upon a time, video games were not 3-D, they didn't incorporate textures, they didn't have flashy soundtracks, they had eight bits. With these eight bits came a narrow variety of sounds to represent a soundtrack, but the beauty was doing so much with so little. It is from this concept that a new class of genres comes from: chiptune, 8bit, bitpop, and countless others which use or emulate the sounds of old video game consoles, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Pornophonique combines this with some rock elements to create a soundscape for all the nerds out there (you know you are!). So sit back, relax, and enjoy the free download from jamendo
John Wesley is a singer/songwriter and guitarist, probably best known as doing work as a sideman with Porcupine Tree. He has made his entire studio discography available for free download on his website. Shiver is a good album filled with simple rock songs. I describe it as very comfortable rock music. Very respectable in quality, I would recommend it to anyone looking for free music. Download it here (with email signup)

September

Machina II is steeped in mystery and controversy. The album was produced by the band, but as a gesture against their music label, they only created 25 copies (distributed mainly to friends and family). Some copies were given to prominent fans with the instructions to distribute the album for free on the internet. As such, several versions exist today from different sources (see Wikipedia). The album is pretty good. Good quality alternative rock which sometimes veers into harder rock. By far, my favorite song is "Glass" which comes at you a mile a minute: intense focused rock. Free download is available at Archive.org
This is some really good ambient electronic music. Grab a cool drink, sit back, and relax to the soothing soundscapes of Conelrad. It's good to use as a release from the pressures of everyday life that we all have to deal with. Not just this album, but everything this guy has put out. Download them all for free here
Additional comments were made about this album here
Mit Anlauf, despite my skepticism, was actually quite good. A mix of reggae, rock, ska, and rap, I can definitely tell a lot of work went into this one. A mix of German and English lyrics, though admittedly a bit rough around the edges, are fun to listen to even if I can't understand half of it, but the real gem here is in the music. Free download is available at JAMMIN*INC's official website
Nine Inch Nails is the essential industrial band, and The Slip is no exception. This album was the original inspiration in my searching for free music. I used to think that the only free music online was of terrible quality (or illegal), but when a high-profile band like NIN released a free album, it made me search for more. As for the music, I'm not a big fan of Industrial, but I did very much enjoy the three instrumental pieces ("999,999", "Corona Radiata", "The Four of Us Are Dying"). The files themselves are a gift also. Available in several different formats, including traditional mp3, but also as high quality as 24/96 .wav files. This is, at least, worth checking out. Free for download (with email confirmation) here.

August

Everyone is a Coldplay fan, except me. That's what it seems like. However, I will say that their last album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, was pretty good. LeftRightLeftRightLeft is the free live compliment for the Viva la Vida tour and it does a pretty good job of capturing the music. The quality of the audio is great, and the songs themselves are pretty good too. Everyone's a Coldplay fan, so you probably already have this album, but if you don't, sign up to download it here.
Another ambient / drone-centered release, but this time I have listened to this one and love it. A simple pleasant chord-toned piece, this signifies the simple smell of a flower for me. It makes me picture an endless green field where I can just forget about the pressures of real life and just zone out to my "happy place". Definitely a piece to relax to. Free download is available at Rain Netlabel, the label's official website or at Archive.org
This is some quality free music here and probably my favorite free music that I've found. I discovered Hearts of Palm because one of the members was also a part of the incredibly awesome, but incredibly (unfortunately) unknown Five Iron Frenzy. The Bridge E.P. gives some simple indie rock songs that are very enjoyable. Hopefully they will live up to the hype. Free download of the EP is available at the band's official website
The above link returns a "404 Not Found" error currently04:41, November 16, 2009 (UTC), and served as the only official link to the free EP.
To test out my new feature, may I now present to you the longest album in all of existence; just for your collection and so you can show off to your friends. The Ultimate Fate of the Universe is a (nearly) 23 hour conceptual representation of the life of our universe from the Big Bang to its ultimate death. An ambient soundscape that lets you sit back and tune the world out. Free download is available at the band's official website.
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