CosmoSoul Delivers Soul from Spain

Sunrise was the debut album of CosmoSoul with all the lyrics written and sung by Alana Sinkëy, whose sweet soul voice is sure to bring you a smile. In fact, when there are multiple layers of Alana's voice, such as in the song "Sunny Days," it is hard not to smile.

A truly international act, the five members of CosmoSoul come from three continents and five different continents.

The album was originally hosted on Jamendo and has since been reissued on Bandcamp. You can still get either version, and if you get it at Bandcamp, you can support band with a purchase.

Official Website | SoundCloud | Bandcamp | Facebook

MUSIC COPYRIGHTS: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
IMAGE: original and reissue album covers; photographs by Gianfranco Tripodo; art design 2011 edition by Javier Castro and 2012 edition by Belén Chavarri.
NATIONALITY: Euro W: Spain: Madrid
CLASSIFICATIONS: Soul; Funk; Fusion; Rhythm and Blues; Dance
LANGUAGE: English; Portuguese, Spanish
FILED UNDER: Digital: Popular Class: Rhythm And Blues: Contemporary

Shake That Bootay with Juno What

The press release of electric boogie funk monsters Juno What?! is spot on, saying:

Juno What?! is a shameless dance party.

Formed in 2008, the band has quickly become the leading practitioner of high-energy disco booty jams, and live electro-funk.

Juno What?! is bringing their illuminated madness to stages across the country. Catalyzing dance floors into sonic landscapes, the band has ignited a devoted following of fans by providing raw, electrifying shows which are devoid of the aimless wanderings of the lesser jam community.

Their sound is ahead of its time yet still rooted in the foundation of early-80’s dance grooves with a devout appreciation for sternum-bumping progressive themes.

Juno What?! kindly shares two booty-shakin' albums for your pleasure on their website!

The second album is live, and just check out how they bring it live:

Official Website | Facebook | YouTube 

Music License: All Rights Reserved
Image: Shameless album cover
Artist Location: Colorado, USA?

Funk Diva Saidah Baba Talibah

Canadian chanteuse Saidah Baba Talibah is bringing the funk sound today, as powerfully as diva Betty Davis did in her day. Saidah's album (S)Cream is funky, sticky, rocking, and waiting for you.

Press release: Satisfying and soulful. Raw and raunchy. Inspiring, tantalizing and scandalous. Dripping with sensuality. Saidah Baba Talibah will take you on a trip, get you high, bring you to your knees and take you to that place called grace, all in one album. Known as an electrifying performer, Saidah Baba Talibah has a powerful voice, which goes from a seductive, soft purr to a powerful bellow at the turn of a dime.

Now Magazine (Canada's largest weekly): "There’s Rock n' Roll. And then there’s the Rock n' Soul of buzzy Toronto-bred vocalist Saidah Baba Talibah, daughter of Tony and Grammy Award-nominated icon Salome Bey, 'Canada's First Lady of Blues'. Strong bloodline notwithstanding, Saidah is a fierce artist that isn't afraid to combine rock/funk/soul in all of her performances!"

Official Website | Noisetrade | Bandcamp | Facebook | iTunes | Amazon

Music License: All Rights Reserved
Image: Saidah Baba Talibah for Kamoy Magazine
Artist Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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

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

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

Weekend Sweet Sixteen

Advent Chamber Orchestra - 05-06 classical, baroque, chamber	US Army Brass Quintet - Encore! brass, classical, baroque, chamber	Anitek - Calm and Collect Volume 3 (among many others) hip hop, downtempo	Bubamara Brass Band - Bubamarija Kashtanizma Balkan brass
Umoja - Palago afro-pop, funk, highlife, African	Blake Fleming - Time's Up drum, percussion	MadMustangMix - mashups varied, remix, sampling	VA - Late '70s to Mid '80s Heroes '80s, varied
Advent Chamber Orchestra - Dec classical, baroque, chamber	Advent Chamber Orchestra - Nov classical, baroque, chamber	Ain Dreux Troyes Chartres (106 tracks of French music) varied, French	Cantonese Opera (help with the title?) opera, stage music, Chinese
Andrew Bisset - three compositions modern composition, modern classical	Netherland Dwarf - May the Piper (like the bunny!) toy music	Songs from a Random House - The 1986 Demo new wave	Soundeyet - On A Steady Diet of Hash, Bread, and Salt Greek rembetico

Fear No Love

From the 1995 press release from the Avant label:

...Bob Ostertag's FEAR NO LOVE. In a radical departure for the composer, winner of a 1995 NEA Composers Fellowship for contemporary music, FEAR NO LOVE features fierce groove-based dance songs. This is funk, but warped through a sensibility honed in fifteen years at the forefront of the avant-garde.

Ostertag has assembled an unlikely and dazzling group of collaborators for FEAR NO LOVE, from rock star Mike Patton (Faith No More) to British guitar pioneer Fred Frith to underground luminaries of San Francisco's queer scene....

FEAR NO LOVE is a disc that pushes all the limits. Almost every track defines its own genre. "The Man in the Blue Slip" is a dance/industrial/gender-fuk/domination-submission love duet. "Not Your Girl" goes in a new-jack-swing/R&B/talking-blues direction. And "Positive", an HIV+/ambient/techno/soul tour de force, may be the first true love ballad of the age of AIDS.

Ostertag's previous work has ranged from All the Rage, written for the Kronos Quartet and premiered at Lincoln Center, to his ground-breaking outside jazz ensemble Say No More, to his solo recordings and collaborations with John Zorn and Fred Frith. FEAR NO LOVE explores even newer terrain. With sharp and edgy queer lyrics, a wide-ranging pop eclecticism, and fierce grooves, FEAR NO LOVE will shake up the dance floor -- and more.

Download entire album at the WFMU Free Music Archive.

album license: Attribution-NonCommercial License

An Overdue Dozen

Here you have a new set of 12 free and legal collections and CDs to get you through the work week! Eat up and be sure to spread the love by supporting these artists!

Chuzausen - Happy Farm winner at Oddio house, fun and light, "Freaky Gamebased Soundscape from Spain" (myspace) [electro, chip, breakbeat]	Swirlies members of Boston's dream pop legends share almost a dozen of their out-of-print LP and 7" releases [indie, rock, pop, lo-fi,shoegaze]	General Fuzz "electronic music with the emphasis on music... not so much dance music as music to zone out to... 'tagged it as lush melodic instrumental'" [electro]
MasterToaster an established netlabel in Spain promoting both Spanish and international acts in genres across the board [varied!]	Flattstreet young Canadian 6-piece funk-rock ensemble who learned chops performing and touring with the Hamilton All-Star Jazz band [funk, rock, jazz]	Ektoplazm Psychedelic Trance check out the free music section for goa and psy trance releases and compilations [goa, trance, psychedelic]
Mr. Moods In Love We Trust... And We Hate CD of "downtempo magic and hip-hop wizardy" released through Dirtybird Rexx netlabel [downtempo]	Spectacular Fantastic enjoy the albums shared by this Cincinnati, Ohio indie 3-piece who sound like psych Beach Boys and a western Beck [rock, pop]	JT Bruce his free albums are in the vein of progressive metal bands like Dream Theater, the next generation after acts like Goblin [prog, metal, rock, guitar]
Protest Records "for musicians, poets and artists to express love + liberty in the face of greed, sexism, racism, hate-crime and war" [rock, pop, folk]	MyOuterSpace "ongoing project that invites musicians from all over planet Earth participate" [electro, space]	Raging Family - Space Tragedy the RF brothers released another sweet one, "an epic saga set in the 6th dimension of outer space... official sequel to Black Holes" [pop, electro]

several years' worth more here

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