Flamenco + Hip Hop Beats = Gnawledge

Check 1-2. Check check. Are you receiving? So guess who has finally gained access to Blogio Oddio? Who else thinks 2.5 years is more than enough time for a 7.5 hour collection of Mozart works as the latest news?

How about something new for your ears? Taking a wild guess that your music selections are thin in your FLAMENCO HIP HOP catalog, right? Well then, let's remedy that. Gnawledge is a project in Granada, Spain that began with a music grant, a music researcher, and a hip hop producer. They pulled in the skills of many musicians and samples of classics across the genres. Gnawledge has since grown into a larger project including a record label.

Their album Granada Doaba begins with some lovely Spanish guitar. By track two, the beats appear, and as the album progresses you will be swept up in a swirling cloud of Spanish, Arab, classic rhythm and blues, hip hop, and samples. I even heard the Godfather of Soul in there.

This is a fun and mostly instrumental trip across the world, across genres, and across time. You can hear that a great deal of effort was invested by these musicians and producers to bring this gem to the world.

Official Website | FreeMusicArchive | Facebook

MUSIC LICENSE: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License
NATIONALITY: Granada, Spain
CLASSIFICATIONS: Dance; Flamenco; Hip Hop; Latin; Sampling
FILED UNDER: Digital: Popular Music: Beats: Traditional

Grupo Laberinto

All Music describes the music of Grupo Laberinto (Labyrinth) as boisterous, amiable, good-natured, playful, exuberant, fun, rollicking, cheerful, confident, earnest, and energetic.

"Formed in 1987 in Ciudad Obregón in the Mexican state of Sonora, Grupo Laberinto specialize in corridos, rancheras, boleros, and a danceable, tropical blend similar to merengue. The group made its recording debut playing this latter style, but it quickly expanded its horizons to include rancheras, corridos, and ballads in its repertoire, a stylistic shift that widened the group's appeal to other parts of Mexico as well as the United States." -- All Music

La Bomba Tropical Del Pacifico
[anthology]

Me Voy Como Vine
[2012

Totalmente Ranchero
[2006]

Laberinto's label, Discos Musart, shares some of their work on last.fm.  Enjoy the albums La Bomba Tropical Del Pacifico (an anthology of early hits), Me Voy Como Vine (2012), Totalmente Ranchero (2006), and tracks from other albums.

Official Website | All Music | last.fm | iTunes | Amazon

Music License: All Rights Reserved
Artist Location: Sonora, Mexico

Cape Verde Traditional Music

Mendes Brothers Ramiro and João are a duo from Cape Verde, the nation of islands in the Atlantic 350 miles off the coast of Africa. They are accomplished musicians, and Ramiro has written songs for fellow celebrity performers, such as the legendary Cesária Évora.

Among the Mendes Brothers recordings shared on Jamendo is their 1995 album Bandera. In his Allmusic review of the album, Mark Romano writes:

Bandera is an old and sacred Cape Verdean music style that has been preserved for over 500 years. The music is performed exclusively during the saints' festivals. There are two or more drummers, an entourage of call-and-response chanters, and masked dancers. Bandera is set on a beautifully syncopated 3/4 rhythmic pattern with a very simple and repetitive melodic structure.

This is the first time that bandera was transposed from its traditional music format to contemporary expression. The brothers have interpreted this ancient music and have done it admirably. With updated technology they have brought this music to a wider audience. The tracks are deeply rooted in the traditional rock bed of West Africa but also swing with a thoroughly modern intensity. The semba/ coladera tracks combine Cape Verdean coladera dance rhythms with Angolan semba. The mixture results in extended fiery marathons, percussion-laden with riffing horns. This is Cape Verdean music at its finest, with plenty of percussion and bass accompanied by call-and-response vocals and some great chops on the horns. Highly recommended.

Official Website | Jamendo | myspace | Facebook | iTunes | last.fm | Amazon

Music License: © Creative Commons BY-SA
Artist Location: Cabo Verde (Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cape Verde)

Carib and Afro-Pop From Soundway

On April 1st, 2013, Amazon UK will be showcasing the British-based Soundway Records with a free 14-track label sampler download featuring some of the label's best artists from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and beyond.

Soundway Records was formed in 2002 to celebrate and revive interest in music from Ghana and the Gold Coast. In the last 11 years, the label has expanded to release music from a number of artists from the tropical belt around the world.

Although initially a label that focused on re-releasing old material, Soundway are now releasing material from a carefully selected handful of contemporary recording artists. And the album covers on Soundway Records are noted for being wild!

"Simply put, England's Soundway label equals quality. The label is run by passionate people who do things the right way: every track on a Soundway compilation is meticulously re-mastered and I've never noticed a drop in quality on any of it's releases. The track selection on it's multi artist comps is nothing short of astounding"
-- Pitchfork

Note: Amazon freebies are now all done through the Amazon Cloud Player or mp3 downloader software.

license: all rights reserved



Two free tracks at Soundcloud

Venezulan Afrobeat

The 10+ member band Tragavenao Orquesta Afrobeat from Maracaibo, Venezuela creates an Afro-pop, Latin jazz, Afrobeat blend. Their four-song EP, Tragavenao, is available through last.fm and ReverbNation.


Facebook | SoundCloud | ReverbNation | last.fm

Cuban-American Salsa

A great four-song EP of Cubano salsa from Frank Guerrero Y Su Grupo Aché of Columbia:

Francisco Guerrero Torriente (Frank Guerrero), was born to a musical mother in Havana, Cuba. He studied guitar as a teenager and fell in love with Colombia during his travels. Ever since, he has taken much inspiration from the country as well as other Carribean rhythms while still incorporating his native Cuban style.

This work combines the sounds of traditional Cuban septets with with the romantic and fresh style of the composer. Beta 0.1 is an analogy to new technologies and software, which means it is a product in development. (translated from Gerson CD, 2012.)

 

license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing)

MrJuan

mrjuan is also known as Juan Naveira, Juan of the Juanitos, and Miss Emma's dad. In these parts he is mostly known as the life of the party! Playing his music is an instant party. The proof is in King Kong Man!

Official Site | SoundCloud | Jamendo 

FMA | Support (Donation Link)

license: Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0 France License

Join the Party at the Juanitos' Place!

Every album by the French group The Juanitos is a party. The newest release, Welcome in the House of F.U.N., lives up to the band's party standards. Welcome in the House of F.U.N. delivers a sonic soul party, a vacation in the tropics, and time travel back to the swingingest '60s hot spots! There are even tips of the hat to the Chambers Brothers and Jimi Hendrix. Enjoy!

license: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 France License

Club Fonograma

Club Fonograma makes free compilations of legally shared music by today's Latin artists with a focus on South America. The 11th in their "Fonogramáticos" series is available now.


Their blog showcases Latin artists worldwide, including mention of free releases, such as this compilation from Revista Plástica in Spain.

Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year, music friends!

As of January 1, 2011, Oddio Overplay has made 1,452 contributions to the Free Music Archive. That is the number to beat for activity in 2011. How about fulfilling a resolution right now to be a part of that most excellent free music community? As the byline reads, "It's not just free music; it's good music!"

Later this month, Oddio's netlabel for children, Kazoomzoom will relaunch with a new look and a larger catalog. This is a very exciting time for us, as I have wanted to really kickstart that slowly developing project. I'm full of enthusiasm, hope, and big plans for 2011. I hope you and your family will be a part of an exciting new year at Kazoomzoom!

Here are a quick five from the most recent additions Oddio has made to the FMA that you may have missed. Happy New Year and Happy Listening!

TAGGED AS: hard rock, spanish, metal, spain, los cuatrocientos golpes, rock, hardcore


TAGGED AS: old-time historic, cylinder, stage music, victor herbert orchestra, operetta, classical, instrumental rock, light orchestral, orchestral


TAGGED AS: latin america, pop, spanish, lido pimienta, columbia


TAGGED AS: classical, francesco lettera, instrumental, italy


TAGGED AS: modern composition, 20th Century Classical, toy instruments, ireland, aestrid byrne, toy piano

photo credit: FREE PAPERCRAFT 2011 CALENDAR by Nadja, owner of smil in Berlin
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Disco Pirata

This is a free "pirate disc" sampler from Barcelona Sonora, a group of professionals in the arts in Spain. They are graphic designers, photographers, web developers, promoters, and t-shirt designers who promote the Creative Commons "paradigm shift" parallel to their commercial work. The complete "gold box set" of the entire pirate disc series (110 tracks) is available through P2P thanks to Barcelona Sonora. Read more about their mission with this disc from the official Barcelona Sonora site (in Spanish).

The selections in this diverse yet fluid compilation can be classified as Alternative Hip-Hop, Big Band/Swing, Dance, Dub, Folk, Latin, Metal, Pop, Rock, and Synth Pop.

license: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Spain License

Weekend Sunshine

Here are five collections of free and legally shared tunes to bring sunshine to your weekend! There is something here for everyone and something for any occasion. Feast your ears!

FreeMusicArchive.org player:

• Click artist name for more from this artist.
• Click "i" or song title for license and song info.
• Click down arrow picture to download song.
• Click DOWNLOAD ALBUM to download all tracks at once in a zip.

MEU CORAÇÃO É BRASILEIRO

ABOUT: Brazilian flavors from old traditional folk songs to favela funk
TAGGED AS: funk carioca, favela funk, baile funk, pop, folk, brazil, afro-brazilian, brazilian

TOYLAND

ABOUT: Bouncy, boingy, squeaky, squirmy, twinkling, sparkling! Welcome to a wonderful world of toys, ear candy, and giggles brought to you by Thiaz Itch, El Zoologico, Gangpol & Mit, Cindy Sizer, Lawrence Power, The Bran Flakes, Christian Bjoerklund, René Vis, 8bit Betty, Valzi & Zinger, and Bubblyfish!
TAGGED AS: synth pop, novelty, pop, experimental pop, toyland, toys, chip music, children, childrens music

KAIRAKUDA: AFRICAN WATER

TAGGED AS: international, world, african, africa, north african

UPDATE 06/14/10: Just learned that Kairakuda has a second African mix that you might also enjoy.

MACEDONIA: THE HARMONIC EQUIVALENT OF RUN-ON SENTENCES...

ABOUT: "... made with a road trip mixtape aesthetic in mind, but it should work as well for office cubicle therapy. Be it hip-hop or minimal techno, be it quirky and upbeat click and glitch-laden electronics, from the smooth and introspective to the edgy and erratic"

JASON: INTERNATIONAL SOUNDS 2009

ABOUT: Argentina, Mali, Haiti, Eastern Europe, India, and performances on Transpacific Sound Paradise

Many more to come! Hopefully some by YOU.

Flamenco Warmth from Andalusia

The group El Niño del Parking brings you the sound of the ancient city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia in southwestern Spain between the sea and the mountains. In addition to Spanish guitars, Latin rhythms, and the clapping of flamenco, this brings you the experience of the fluid poetry of the Castilian tongue, festivals, palm trees, celebrated vineyards, sunshine, Mediterranean warmth. Enjoy an entire free album to download or play at the WFMU Free Music Archive.

Photo: Alcázar de Jerez de la Frontera by El Pantera [Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license]