Happy Birthday, Mozart

Celebrating the 258th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 - 5 December 1791)

Various Artists - Mozart Birthday Party

[tracks: 23, total time: 7:26:37]

 

Music License: Various licenses; see individual tracks Image: tweaked photo of painting of little Wolfie circa 1763 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Artist Location: Germany, France, Austria

New Sounds of São Paulo, Brazil

Sounds and Colours is a magazine promoting South American music and culture. Their compilation Nossa, Cara! New Sounds of São Paulo showcases some of the best sounds coming from Sao Paulo.

Sounds and Colours writes:

Nossa, Cara! New Sounds of São Paulo is a labour of love highlighting what we think are some of the most exciting artists to be found anywhere in the world, never mind stacked up on top of each other in the same city.

Nossa, Cara! New Sounds of São Paulo in partnership with Brasil Music Exchange features a wide variety of music being made in São Paulo today. M. Takara 3, Psilosamples and Guizado represent some of the exciting electronic music coming out of the city. Chankas and Bodes e Elefantes make music which has a fearless approach to sonic exploration. The sounds of north-eastern Brazil are represented by Iara Rennó, Juçara Marçal e Kiko Dinucci and Metá-Metá (featuring Juçara and Kiko with added Thiago França). R. Brandao and Lurdez da Luz show the way forward for São Paulo hip-hop. They are joined by Tulipa, Bruno Morais and Lulina, who continue the MPB tradition in delightfully absurd ways, Karina Buhr, Juliana R and Bárbara Eugênia who bring a number of new ideas to the Brazilian cantora tradition, and Rafael Castro, who confounds with each new slice of dexterous folk or rock he puts to tape. 

Nossa, Cara! New Sounds of São Paulo is available from the Sounds and Colours website and from Bandcamp.

Official Website | SoundCloud | Bandcamp | Facebook

Music License: © All Rights Reserved
Artist Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Garage Rock Comp from Budabeats

This garage rock beauty came up in rotation today and had the Oddio grunts dancing, so we are passing that vibe on to you. Get up and shake that thang!

Various Artists [Budabeats] - Jerks From The Garage

"The 20th Budabeats relase will bring you back to the smokey late sixties with a collection of lo-fi tracks of bands hailing from the States, England, Spain, Germany, Belgium Hungary and even Guatemala. Pop-jerks, psych-pop, rockabilly, garage, beat, surf and some spagetti western feeling on this one!"

Budabeats Netlabel | SoundCloud | Facebook

Music License: © Creative Commons BY-NC-ND

Jazz Compilations from 001 Records

001 Records is three labels in one. The Chilean label has its electronic label, an ambient-drone-noise-space-experimental label called Organic Acoustic, and a jazz compilation series.

Recórcholis, the first in the jazz series, knocked our socks off when it was released in 2010 and remains one of our all-time favorite free jazz albums. It is proof that jazz is alive and well and thriving in the República de Chile.

We have not spent as much time with Replicas, the second in the series, but it is high quality jazz, as well.

The label writes, "'Recórcholis (Perdimos A Uno)' by Claudio Rubio, one of Chile’s 'new jazz' saxophonists, was commissioned in December of 2009 to headline a series of compilations of music created during the year. Thus the CD Recórcholis is snapshot of a very productive season in which composers and improvisors have recorded works that mark the route to higher levels in Chilean jazz."

In addition to the official website, 001 Records is also on the Internet Archive where you will also find easy downloads of the jazz comps

Volume 1: Recórcholis
Volume 2: Replicas

Music License: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND

Australian '60s Rock Undergound

Back in 2004, Melbourne Community Radio Station 3CR released a book by about the wild 1960s Australian underground rock scene, Wild About You! Tales from the Australian Rock Undergound: 1963-68. The book was accompanied by a 19-song tribute CD featuring Melbourne's top contemporary groups covering period hits. The set sold out in no time.

The Ledatape Organisation, home of great music culture artifacts, has somehow landed the great luck of reissuing the CD digitally. They were also given the rights to do the same with two out-of-print psychedelic Aussie compilations from 3CR.

"Bloodied noses! Car crashes! Police harassment! Jealous boyfriends! These were just a few of the hazards that faced the beat groups who roamed Australia during the mid-sixties. Despite these obstacles (perhaps because of them) a number of homegrown acts came to epitomise the down and dirty sound of the Antipodean underground." -- Ledatape Organisation

LedaTape | Release at LedaTape | Download at Archive | LedaTape at Archive

Music License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Image:cover of original CD
Artist Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The Guitaret Album

The Guitaret is an an electric lamellophone instrument by produced by Hohner andinvented in 1963 by Ernst Zacharias. It was only produced for two years. The Guitaret has a tone something like an electric thumb piano (kalimba) and a plucked guitar or banjo.

Champion of the instrument, Michael Peters (Tonlab), released an album featuring the Guitaret a few weeks ago with several fellow performers.  The 11-song compilation is aptly titled The Guitaret Album.

See Vintage Audio Berlin's online museum for photos of the instrument. Hohner offers downloads of the original Guitaret product flyer and player's guide.

Owners of Guitarets are invited to join the Facebook Guitaret Fan Club where these artists gathered and planned this release.

Michael Peters Official Website | Hohner Guitaret

Music License: © All Rights Reserved
Images: the original Guitaret product flyer and player's guide by Hohner

Blues Rock on Zap! Azul

When it was still living, BandSoup put out a great compilation of blues rock, Zap! Azul. The album features 17 blues laced rock songs from 17 different artists. Rock on!

Download includes PDF with links to all the artists and more music.

Music License: © All Rights Reserved
Image: album cover

VitalFM Compilations

VitalFM, "First for Underground and Underrated Dubstep, Drum and Bass, and Electro", put out the call to artists for their compilations and met with success. Move your body to Infinity and Dystopia. Preview videos of both albums below. You will also find mixes and podcasts at VitalFM.

Various Artists - Infinity

Various Artists - Dystopia

Official Website | SoundCloud | Facebook

Music License: assume © All Rights Reserved

Ghostly Songs Music Reps

Through the artist Tycho, we found Ghostly Songs, a division of Ghostly, is a music publishing company that represents and manages musicians and their works. We mention them here at Oddio is that some of their catalog is available for free download, including artist showcase compilations and a collection of mp3s of the artists they represent.


Note: This is not an endorsement of the services provided by Ghostly. We do not know enough about their services to provide such.

 

Unexpected Music Source

A recent Blogio post mentioned that the automotive manufacturer Toyota gives away music releases. They have been doing this since at least 2010 on their Scion A/V site. Some recordings are no longer available for download, but many are.

Here are some that the Oddio Overplay gang have enjoyed. Visit to see what Scion A/V releases interest you.

1. The Melvins - The Bulls And The Bees (hard rock, heavy)
2. Bare - Altitude (bangers, dubstep)
3. The Gates of Slumber - Stormcrow (metal)

4. Corrosion of Conformity - Megalodon (hard rock, metal)
5. Various Artists - Label Showcase: Profound Lore Records (metal)
6. The King Khan Experience - The King Khan Experience (rock)

7. Midnight Magic - What the Eyes Can't See (disco, funk, R&B)
8. Reigning Sound - Abdication...For Your Love (garage rock, pop)
9. Static Revenger - Music In Motion (house, electro, dubstep)



Music License: all rights reserved

RhymeSquare Comps

Being fans of Ill Papa Giraffe [Facebook], we were happy to find them on the new sampler from UK independent clothing label RhymeSquare, RhymeSquare: Volume Three, Late Spring. Check all three volumes.

Typical modern hip hop sadly reflects ignorance, negativity, misogyny, and violence. In some shining scenes, however, you find intelligence, positivity, equality, and community -- all vital to early hip hop. This is one of those shining scenes. Hear their messages. Most of the artists on this RhymeSquare compilation are artists to support and celebrate. That says something good about the good people at RhymeSquare, too.

Go on and get yourself some fun music, fun threads, and a cool little bear at RhymeSquare!

Official Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Blog

Music License: all rights reserved
Artist Location: United Kingdom

Positive Messages To Get You Through

"Imagine what you could do, if you just believed in you?" -- Dawn Pemberton

Message Positive is an uplifting 18-track mix on the Free Music Archive with songs of positivity and inspiration to act.

The compilation jumps nations and continents and visits the genres of hip hop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, ambient, chill, reggae, dub, rock, folk, singer-songwriter, rockabilly, blues, electronica, pop, novelty, children, dance.

Message Positive features Axial, BJ Block and Dawn Pemberton, The Crevulators, Eaters, Great Lake Swimmers, Higgins, Ill Papa Giraffe, Jon Rauhouse and Neko Case, Kelley Stoltz, Neko Case, Nobody's Bizness, Propaganda Anonymous, Salakapakka Sound System, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Spinnaface, Spinningmerkaba, Uncle Neptune, and Underling.

Every moment is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, baby.

[Download Message Positive]  

UPDATE: Sorry. Download stopped working when mix featured on FMA, 
so here is a rebuild. Hope it works for you now.
 

Music License: see individual track for license
Image: "Happy Sun" by pinkpuffball

Garage Rock from Corporations

The companies Adult Swim and Dr. Pepper released a new compilation this week. This time around they are featuring garage rock. Garage Swim showcases unreleased tracks from Black Lips, The Gories, King Tuff, Mikal Cronin, JEFF the Brotherhood, King Khan and The Gris Gris, Mind Spiders, Bass Drum of Death, and others.

Garage rock fans, do you know about Garage Fest organizer Toyota's garage series? (Garage, get it? Oi.) They have released over the last few years something like 50 songs from bands like Black Lips, King Tuff, Oblivians, Nobunny, The Spits, Cola Freaks, Reigning Sound, Dirtbombs, Davilla 666, and the likes. Those tracks are only streaming now, but check the cover art on some of these! The albums Abdication by Reigning Sound and The King Khan Experience by King Khan, however, ARE still available for download.

Music License: assumed all rights reserved

Sound Interpretations Series

The adventurous avant-garde HAZE netlabel has a series of compilations titled Sound Interpretations by contemporary composers and experimental sound artists. Each compilation is inspired by and dedicated to the brilliance of an outstanding 20th century writer.

HAZE writes, "In this project we propose to rethink literary heritage of the 20th century. Over the 2012-2013 years, each month we will release the compilation dedicated to the 12 most outstanding writers of the 20th century."

The most recent collection is dedicated to Jack Kerouac. The eight earlier editions celebrate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, James Joyce, Stephen King, Albert Camus, William Gibson, Franz Kafka, and Julio Cortazar.

There are gems in every collection. Here is an example from the Kafka collection, Kafkaesque Orchestra - Letters to Milena [mp3, 03:04].


Location: Belarus
Music License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0

That There Is Truckin'!

Back in 2008, Roctober Magazine hosted a big piece in issue 46 on the history and highlights of a type of fourth generation American country music known as "truck driving" music. To celebrate the release, Roctober gave away truck driving music cassettes featuring covers of classics and originals by the Roctober staff.

Jake, the Roctober editor and a key player behind the legendary dance show Chic-A-Go-Go (yay!), offers the truckin' songs on Dinosaur Gardens. He writes, "For those of you who missed the party, or who don’t have a cassette player, we are posting the compilation in its entirety here, including the 'bonus track,' a rare 70s soul 45 that is the all-time funkiest trucking tune."

Also included at Dinosaur Gardens are the stories of the cover songs and bonus tracks, adapted from the pages of the magazine. There are article excerpts at Roctober's website, too. You can still get your hands on your own copy of Roctober #46 for just $4!

Roctober Store | Chic-A-Go-Go Facebook | Roctober Reviews Blog

Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Photo:  "Red American Truck (Kenworth Truck Typ W 900, Bj. ca. 1985, 240 PS, 12800 ccm, 6 Zyl.) - West USA" by PRA, 2007.
Photo license: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Cover improvised by Oddio Overplay

Tribute Albums from Stereogum

The Stereogum tribute compilation to The Strokes is gone. Ah, the ephemeral nature of Internet content. Three other Stereogum tribute comps to Bjork's Post, REM's Automatic For The People, and Radiohead's OK Computer are still available for your pleasure. You will see well-known artists among the artists making these covers

• Enjoyed: A Tribute To Björk’s Post

• DriveXV: A Tribute To R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People

• OKX: A Tribute To Radiohead’s OK Computer

From Stereogum:

"After completing and launching Drive XV, our tribute to R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, we gathered at 11th St Bar one night to figure out which album we should tackle next. OKX, our inaugural step into the compilation world, had been a no-brainer: 2007 was OK Computer's 10th Anniversary, and we wanted to honor the milestone. This time, though, when we started off thinking of possibilities based on release dates -- Drive XV was celebrating 15 years of Automatic after all -- nothing seemed quite right....

"After discarding our release-date almanac, someone suggested Björk. It was late, and we don't remember who said what, but it was a great idea. Debut, her first post-Sugarcubes album came out in 1993, which could count for a nice and even 15 years in 2008, but Post was the obvious choice: It's a stronger album top to bottom -- a culmination of her work to that point. It includes any number of iconic tracks and due to the richness and variety of Björk's self-described "spastic" palette, an infinite number of interpretive possibilities. Think, for example, of "It's Oh So Quiet," Björk's big-band cover of Betty Hutton's "Blow a Fuse," the almost industrial noise of "Army Of Me," the wispy, avant ambiance of "Cover Me," etc. When we spoke with Björk about her thoughts on Post, our choice seemed even more appropriate."

Random Rotation 20130425

More about these releases (artists, genres, ...)

Compositions For Visual Arts

Works of
Contemporary Composers and  
Experimental Musicians

to enhance exhibitions of

Works by
Contemporary Visual Artists and  
Performance Artists

Lights Out In The Habib Gallery

featuring

Anthony Braxton; Ben Johnston; Bosques De Mi Mente; Christian Wolff; Jared C Balogh; Jonathan Harvey; Larry Polansky; Lee Hyla; Lee Maddeford; Lloyd Rodgers; Mary Ann Roberts; Melvyn Poore; Muhal Richard Abrams; Nick Didkovsky; Sandro Marinoni; Sirius String Quartet; Stephano Roncarlo

license: multiple licenses, please refer to individual tracks for licensing information

cover photograph: Robert S. Donovan (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License)

Happy Record Store Day!

Happy Record Store Day! Avid free music listeners are also among the best purchasers of music. Makes sense, because we love music! Today is dedicated to keeping independent record stores alive. Please take time to support your local record stores and favorite recording artists today!

Most participating stores have giveaways, live in-store performances, free swag, contests, and limited edition Record Store Day pressings (pdf). We have even been to some shops who celebrate the holiday with cookouts and cookie decorating. Always a lot of fun -- and Record Store Day helps keep the independent music shops going.

Get out there and be part of the party today!

Official Website | Facebook | Participating Venues

Here are some of the Free Music Archive artists with recordings being offered AT RECORD STORES ONLY to celebrate Record Store Day. See the official website for the full list of Record Store Day releases. Show some love.

Download FMA Artists With Record Store Day 2013 Releases

Blues And Roots From Alligator Records

Legendary Chicago-based, independent blues label Alligator Records is offering a free blues and roots music sampler right now in celebration of Public Radio Music Month.

Like Alligator Records on Facebook, and get your copy of Alligator Records Presents Blues And Roots. While you are at it, show your support by liking 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting, too.

"Alligator Records, in collaboration with NPR and public radio stations is now offering a FREE downloadable 17-song sampler to help bring attention to Public Public Radio Music Month. Alligator Records Presents Blues And Roots features songs selected from throughout the label's storied 42-year history. This sampler will be available through May 11th. Download your free sampler now!"
-- Alligator Records

• Alligator Records (LIKE on Facebook)
• Public Radio Music Month (LIKE on Facebook)
• 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting (LIKE on Facebook)

See our earlier post "Blues From Alligator Records" for more about Alligator Records, our favorite blues and roots label.