Fiona Soe Paing Takes You to New Places

The Black Lantern Music label is one of the best labels putting out exciting releases right now. Their artist roster includes acts like Tickle, Eaters, Nevada Base, Ill Papa Giraffe, Burning Bright, Comma, Asthmatic Astronaut,  Daddy_Scrabble, Underling, and Krowne.

Black Lantern Music writes, "Over the years we have released a massive range of hip-hop, electronic and experimental music, taking in styles as diverse as jazz, techno, crunk, future bass, synth-pop, electro, alt.rap, math-rock, dark synth, chillwave, dubstep, ambient and doomcrunk... and that's just scratching the surface."

Also in the lineup is Fiona Soe Paing, a remarkable woman producing  experimental electronic music mingled with her ethereal voice singing in Burmese and English. Her music takes you to new places. Here's an example of what we mean, the song "Daymoon Sun" from Fiona Soe Paing's Tower of Babel EP+DVD.

The song is also featured in the Black Lantern Music label sampler BLM:50 Raise the Black Lantern. The label says, "This Black Lantern 'best of' features 50 tracks, some from across our back catalogue, plus a few exclusives. It's available from our Bandcamp as a pay-what-you-want download. We release most of our music free of charge, and when we do charge, that money goes straight to the artists. We're raising funds for a website re-launch - if you can donate some money in exchange for these 50 tracks, we'd very much appreciate it."  

Details from Fiona Soe Paing's profile at Black Lantern:  

Based in Aberdeenshire, Fiona Soe Paing has been evolving her unique brand of experimental, vocal-led electronica since 2007. One of her first home demos, sung in fledgling phrasebook Burmese, was discovered on Myspace by the legendary BBC DJ Charlie Gillett, who included it on one of his Sound of the World compilations, released internationally on Warner Music, alongside artists including Gotan Project and Devendra Banhart.    

Tower of Babel EP is accompanied by a limited edition DVD of music videos by New Zealand animation artist Zennor Alexander. Their previous collaborations have been screened on The Arts Channel on Sky TV New Zealand, as well as at film festivals including Digital Fringe Melbourne and NEON digital arts festival Dundee. Fiona has performed the 'live cinema'-style set with the projected animations at venues including Auckland Art Gallery, Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and with the National Theatre of Scotland....    

In early 2012, Fiona was granted funding through Creative Scotland to make new work, and two of the new tracks are included on the Tower of Babel EP.

The 2010 EP Songs From No Man's Land  is also a winner, featuring four tracks from the audio-visual performance of No Man's Land. The description reads, "Skeletal, off-world electronica from Aberdeenshire based Scottish/ Burmese producer and vocalist Fiona Soe Paing - alien lullabies envelop and mesmerize in the spaces between dreaming and waking." And just check the reviews:

"Weirdness to soothe your soul"   --Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music    

"hybrid going on mutant"  --The Guardian  

"stylish, elegant and sinister"  --New Zealand Herald  

"outrageously beautiful"  --Grand Central Records 

All the positive reviews ring true, and Fiona Soe Paing is nothing short of remarkable. We love her.
 

Colliderscope | SoundCloud | Bandcamp | Facebook | ReverbNation | last.fm | YouTube

Music License: Creative Commons, see individual tracks for specific licensing
Artist Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

Sitar and Tabla from Mender Banah

The Mastertoaster Recordings netlabel released some real gems over the years.

One that is in regular play is a release featuring the sitar and tabla. This instrumental album by Mender Banah, Bab Rag Terra,  was released with little fanfare and little description, but it remains among our top 1000.



Music License: Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0

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

Proot, Home of Fun Electropop

The stable of artists at the awesome Proot Records produce some of the bouncy, happiest, most fun music in the world. Here are some of our personal favorites in that wacky kingdom of joy.

Proot Records
official website

Thaiz Itch - Binjoum

Yvan&Lendl - Made In Swiss

Katapulto - Bodyhammer

Thaiz Itch - Misty

Tep - Humble

Ergo Phizmiz - Pie Hateaux

Batfinks - Stema Tarnyt

Goto80 - 6

Official Website | SoundCloud | Bandcamp | Google+ | Facebook | Free Music Archive | Internet Archive | last.fm | myspace | Shop

Music License: Multiple Creative Commons Licenses

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

Post-Rock from Dresden

ne:o are a five-piece group in Dresden, Germany, who blur genres between rock, jazz, and electronic music. They sometimes remind us of The Art of Noise and the great jazz-post-rock experimental bands.

Other times they call to mind Jaga Jazzist, who Wikipedia labels as Jazz, Nu jazz, Acid jazz, Electronica, Experimental rock, and Post-rock. ne:o drifts between those realms, too.

German netlabel Aaahh Records shares two albums by ne:o in which the band really shines, studio album illoj and a live performance album direkt. Both album pages have donation buttons for you to show your appreciation.

Official Website | Aaahh Records | Bandcamp | Donate | Shop | last.fm

Location: Dresden, Germany
Music License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Image: Peter Seyfarth

EardropsPop 100-Song Pop Compilation

In addition to their catalog of releases and compilations, pop netlabel EardrumsPop has a big 100-track compilation of selections from their releases for you (tracklist). We finally listened to it all the way through and have some new favorites! What a fun label!

"EARDRUMSPOP is a net-label. We love warm and melodic music of all kinds, we love good art and illustration, we believe in beautiful things you can see and hear, and we believe in working together, helping each other and getting good music and good art out to the public.... All our releases are given away for free.... These compilations are free, and WE don’t want your money. But we advise you to give something back to the artists. Buy their music, buy t-shirts, go to their concerts."

Electronic Greats 1955 - 1984 Mixed

"In early 2010, what would eventually become Antique Electronic Synthesizer Greats was simply a concept for a live set. Fluorescent Grey, aka Robbie Martin, cut almost a thousand tiny samples and loops from works dating from 1955 to 1984, limiting his sources to strictly electronic and/or synthesized recordings.

"His rules allowed for non-synthesized compositions (e.g., Delia Derbyshire's tape cutting based tones) as well as synthesizer audio of any kind, including the Hammond Novachord. And far from simply a stolen sample collage, or meta-mash-up project, Robbie wanted to allow the mix he composed to preserve and highlight the eras' best sounds in a comprehensive backdrop. Some of those painstakingly found and excised snippets may be all but indiscernible to most, while some tease with their familiarity (Depeche Mode bass drum? YMO hi hat?), and some are nakedly in homage (synth lines from Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder). All are as playful as the puzzling track names, one of the most obvious of which are pieces that re-imagine the sound of John Carpenter's best synth-centric movie scores. From the uneasy sounds of horror to the sweet spot of vintage synth-pop and industrial, to the brief satisfyingly bizarre vocal cameos by Alan Vega and a Spanish industrial/noise outfit, it runs the gamut of its chosen time period exhaustively....

"Given the uncannily nostalgic or modern moods evoked, it can be all too easy to forget that the entire mix is comprised solely of an endlessly rotating roster of up to 15 isolated loops, all at least a quarter of a century old, some twice that age. On some songs, you could imagine a DJ dialing into the sounds of AFX or Mr. Oizo, an amusing stunt for some of the source material sounds unmistakably dated in a way that has yet to be retrofetishized. Proto-electronica futurism captured in Chris Carter's sequences or Morton Subotnick's Autechre-like FM synth splatters, works that indisputably sound futuristic in their own right. Dated or not, the novelty factor of an overwhelmingly corny synth brass sample is sometimes too good to resist, making it nigh impossible to prevent that old fashioned sound from antiquing the whole mix.

"This pastiche is offered up in both a mix and an individually tracked album for maximum utility. Use the cover art and the hidden messages contained herein as a resource for your own Antique Electronic Music search...."

-- Arcoplane Recordings

Fluorescent Grey - The Acroplane Guide to Electronic Music by Acroplane on Mixcloud

10 Years of Upitup

Can you believe Upitup Records is celebrating their 10th anniversary this month? That's right, it was 10 years ago that the Rome-Stuttgart-Liverpool netlabel released Tracky Birthday's The Least Funny Easterbunny EP.

To celebrate this auspicious occasion, Upitup Records has put together an anniversary compilation for the world to enjoy and hosting a three-day party this weekend with remarkable guest performances.

Happy Birthday, Upitup Records!

Ill Papa Giraffe

Black Lantern Music out of Scotland is a favorite label at Rancho Oddio. They just keep putting out fabulous hip hop from the highly polished to the humble.

Now Black Lantern Music presents the debut album by Ill Papa Giraffe, hip-hop coming straight out of Edinburgh. We love it.

Much below is copied directly from the release info, because I had to get this release into the post queue as soon as I heard the album. I love that Scotland hip hop scene and hope you will, too. Thinkers rapping a mile a minute up there! ~katya

Ill Papa Giraffe is made up of rapper Tickle of Burning Bright and Chemical Poets (both are Oddio favorites), superproducer Konnsky, producer for a whole host of Edinburgh rappers and DJ Symatic, who provides cuts for Burning Bright, some epic live guitar laid down by Sandy Galloway.

Tickle's distinctive, firebrand, politicized lyrics place him at the forefront of Scotland's new wave of hip-hop artists. Throughout the album (and his other projects), his technically flawless double-time rhymes and clear-eyed, conscious lyrics are reconfigured as hook-driven, crowd-pleasing hip hop anthems.

Ill Papa Giraffe are already blowing up the Internet with their addictive first single, "Love The Government", which features a kitten-themed video from director/animator Rob Wakefield. (Is that a clip from Yes Minister?)



With tracks of funk and jazz-filled breaks, insanely catchy choruses and mind-blowing verbal acrobatics, Ill Papa Giraffe are aiming straight for the heart of pop and rap fans everywhere, and is destined to be seen as one of the seminal albums in the history of Scottish rap. Get on board now!

Available now as a pay-what-you-can download from Ill Papa Giraffe's Bandcamp. Physical copies, too!



album license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic
 

New N.E.W. 8.0

Hot off the presses, the new esc.rec electronic showcase is released today.

With the software that’s available these days you can have a full studio at home. And thanks to social media, your music can be heard all over the world. Ever more often young producers are making a name for themselves internationally before anyone in their own town has ever heard of them. Nieuwe Electronische Waar (N.E.W.) keeps their ears perked to discover and presents a new generation of talented producers from East Netherlands. These names you should definitely remember.

N.E.W. is a platform and network for producers in Gelderland and Overijssel. Every year N.E.W. releases a new album with twelve tracks from producers they will feature prominently for the coming year.

Generation NEW 8.0 consists of Alias Lou, Julien Mier, GameFace, Kalima, Knarsetand, Knotted Sheets, MSNTHRPX, Near Earth Object, Raymon Brugman, Sinewave77, Sam A La Bamalot + Asterisms, and Yoeri. In their music you can hear the influence of everything that is happening in electronic music at the moment. The dominance of the four to the floor time is long past, and influences are drawn from ambient, acid, dubstep, future garage, glitch, juke, and trap.

Both 7.0 and 8.0 are also available for instant download and streaming at the Free Music Archive. Hear all volumes at Nieuwe Electronische Waar (N.E.W.).

license: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands

Jazz + Chip + Ferret =

Live jazz with chip music? Master chipster Goto80, the Uwe Schenkt Trifft, and visual artist Raquel Meyers collaborated in Stuttgart this past October and created something the world had never seen.

This is probably the first musical that combines C64 and text graphics, with acoustic instruments and improvisation. Goto80's music was re-arranged for 4 musicians, according to the story of the ferret.

A live album of the performance was released a couple weeks ago on the Upitup Records netlabel. A video recording is available through the Uwe Schenk Trifft and Youtube.




license:  Released under a Kopimi license.

Invisible Agent Entire Catalog Now Free

On August 14th, Invisible Agent record label announced that their entire back catalog will now be available for free. You can still purchase vinyl, as well.

Invisible Agent was offering free music at the turn of the century when that was rare. We promoted several of their early free releases of dance music.

Invisible Agent also offers you hours of mixes by their artists and staff, at least 39 of them now!

Stereogamy from Stealing Orchestra

Originally released in 2000 (NorteSul, EMI), Stereogamy was the first full length album by Stealing Orchestra. The album's tracks run the gamut from cartoony sound collages, like those of The Bran Flakes, to experimental work, like that of Renaldo and the Loaf, to more traditional instrumental compositions. In reviewing Stealing Orchestra at the time of the Stereogamy release, Cool and Strange Music Magazine wrote, "No matter how off the map Mascarenhas' musical funhouse gets, with things running backward and jumping in at the most inappropriate spots, there is always the semblance of a song.... It's like a soundtrack a spy movie run through a blender."

 

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

A Summer Party

 Free Albums, Mixes, and Collections for a Summer Party

1. Summer Mix: Sound of Summer

  

More Free Summer Sounds

2. Duke Hugh - Beattape Summer 2010

"Beattape Summer 2010 is a collection of 18 moments that have been cooked down into short, sweet, thick and rich distillations of summer vibe and attitude that will warm you up when the chill sets in."
hip hop instrumentals

3. Kiko Dinucci, Juçara Marçal, Thiago França - Metá Metá

Oh wow! Yeah. The flute sounds like flying kites. Guitars, saxophone.

jazz, folk, Brazilian

4. Favors - Gums

five fun synthy songs

pop, electronic

 

5. Dum Dum Girls - selections on Epitonic

Rocking ladies from Los Angeles on Sub Pop Records
like: Blondie, Broadcast, The Go-Gos

garage, indie rock, shoegazer

6. Parallel Thought - Articulation

experimental hip hop, rap

7. Anitek - Mind Express

chill out, hip hop beats, trip hop, turntablism
like: Kid Koala

8. Hisko Detria - Static Raw Power Kraut

psych rock, drone, space rock, kraut rock, hard rock
"Hisko Detria is fresh psychedelic/ krautrock band from Finland. They play an instrumentally focused style of (lengthy) hypnotic grooves."

9. Hiroshima - Room88

hip hop beats, trip hop, turntablism

10. Krowne - Quantum Living

synth, electronica, hip hop beats
Album from Black Lantern Music stripped down and ready for breakdancing

11. The Womb - Intro

pop, electro, rock
28 diverse tracks in this collection

12. Various Artists - La bel's Friends

Friends of the La Bel Label
freak folk, electronic, electroacoustic

13. Goodbye Kumiko - My Wild Arms

power pop, indie rock, singer-songwriter
Pop foursome from Los Angeles I file between bouncy Muppet soundtracks and Apollo Sunshine

14. The Simple Carnival - Aliens EP

pop, singer-songwriter
Is that Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys?! A fun one on Happy Puppy Records that "sparkles with a late-seventies AM pop radio feel: sunshine pop-influenced harmonies, soaring melodies, tack piano, handclaps, and vintage keyboards"

15. Andrew Bird - selections on Epitonic

You know this fella, right? Folk-Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Avant-Pop, 20th Century Composers, Experimental, Orchestral, Pop, Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Lounge, Rock

16. Beach House - selections on Epitonic

Doesn't "Myth" sound like the Cocteau Twins?
"Based out of Baltimore, this dreamy, dynamic duo has shown promising success since their first release in 2006. Since then, Beach House has stayed true to their roots with their signature atmospheric sounds."

17. Various Artists - Beach Mix

Free Music Archive mix from Jason who writes, "The weather's so nice, I'm surely not the only one thinking about the beach. Enjoy a beach-themed mix featuring Ducktails, Beach House, Learning Music, The Simple Carnival, Malvery Skimmer, Future Islands, Martha and the Muffins, Thick Business, Glove Compartment, Gary Wilson, Dublin Duck Dispensary, Fallen Leaves, Pomegranates, Nineteen Eight Eight, Sun Araw, and Noveller!" Happy Summer!

A Full Moon Party in Chile

Here's a beauty from jazz guitarist Emer Mulhulland and her group. Mulholland is a classically-trained guitarist, Stag Records session musician, and Galway native. This album was recorded in beautiful Cerro Concepción, Valparaíso, Chile.

The pianist is Tom Fahy who you may recall released toy piano albums by composer Aestrid Burne (1968-1998) to whom this album is dedicated. Do check out the remarkable catalog of albums (instrumental, classical, jazz,...) Mr. Fahy has made available with Creative Commons licensing.



genres: jazz, classical guitar, guitar, piano, saxophone, instrumental
album license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
photo: Cerro Concepción, Valparaíso, Chile by P_R_ [Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license]

You Are Not Stealing Records on FMA

This week the catalog of Portugal based netlabel You Are Not Stealing Records was added to the Free Music Archive.
The following mix pulls some easy favorites from many of the YANSR albums on the FMA. You will want to jump around in the mix to find items you enjoy, because a broad spectrum of genres are covered.
These include Ambient, Ambient Electronic, Avant-Garde, Blues, Chip Music, Classical, Composed Music, Electronic, Experimental, Experimental Pop, Field Recordings, Folk, Goth, Indie-Rock, Industrial, Lounge, Metal, New Wave, Noise, Noise-Rock, Polka, Post-Rock, Punk, Reggae - Dub, Rock, Rockabilly, Sound Collage, and Surf.
That's a lot of ground for one label! Enjoy!

Arrr, Pirate Songs, Matey!

Arrrr! Music makers of all ages are invited to make ocean or pirate songs for the upcoming PIRATE POP recording. If your song is popular with our listening team, your song will appear on the album. We look forward to hearing your entry, matey!

The deadline for submissions is June 15, 2010. Click here for details.

Good luck to all who participate in this contest! Thank you for sharing your work for kids!

detail of illustration "Pirates Vs. Ninjas" by Marcus Hadlock
[licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.]

Serene Serein

Nest is a project of fellow pianists and record label operators Otto Totland (Deaf Center / Type Records) and Huw Roberts (Serein). They became friends when they were members of the Miasmah free netlabel. This self-titled EP is their first work publicly released. It is apparently no longer available through Serein since their 2009 rebuild, but has been remastered and incorporated into the album RETOLD. The recording is too good to fade into obscurity, so it lives again now at the WFMU Free Music Archive.

from the original release on Serein:

"Both pianists, there is little wonder that after exploring a plethora of musical styles, the two find themselves most at home writing traditionally structured pieces, with the ivories a major element throughout. The EP demonstrates clearly the innate ability the two have for song writing, borrowing from the world of film soundtracks and contemporary classical composers to craft delicate instrumental compositions.

"Alongside their favoured instrument can be variously heard the plucked strings of the Welsh harp, violins, woodwind instruments, field recordings, percussion and a heady dose of mind wobbling effects. From the time Nest began writing together, one purpose was clear; to produce beautiful music free of pretense, and they do it exceptionally well."

album license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England License