Music piracy has been on the decline the past few years. New ways of streaming music for free or buying mp3s cheaply have been strong disincentives for people to stop illegally acquiring music through P2P software. Despite that, many artists still take advantage of the internet to provide their music for free. Whether they do it out for promotional reasons, or simply for love of the art of making music. Here are a few free and legal music downloads downloads that are worth checking out.
Bull of Heaven, Total Bliss
Bull of Heaven is a somewhat infamous band. They’re an ambient/experimental duo from Colorado that’s been extremely prolific since 2008. They have over 400 releases that are all free for download. They range from straightforward albums, to long experimental pieces, to conceptual anti-music pieces. Some of their antics, like releasing multiple impossible to play songs that are claimed to be longer than the age of the universe, tend to alienate people. That said, when they put out actual music, it’s usually at least interesting, if not very enjoyable.
Take, for example, their first release in 2016. Total Bliss is an almost 40 minute long post-rock composition. With its distinct parts consisting of sampled voices, haunting drones, and Sunn O))) like guitars, this is one of the better things they’ve put out. It’s a solid entry point for this very weird band with trollish tendencies.
Disasteradio, Charisma
Luke Rowell, aka Disasteradio, is a composer of lo-fi synthpop from New Zealand. He’s been releasing music since 2002, though he seems to have shifted focus to his vaporwave project, Eyeliner, in recent years.
In 2011, Disasteradio gained some notoriety when the music video for the song “Gravy Rainbow” went semi-viral. If you’ve seen that video, it’s pretty representative of the entire Charisma album it comes from. This is a collection of dorky, happy pop and electronica. It’s a fun listen if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s downloadable on a “name your price” basis, so if you like it enough you can pay for it as well.
Atmosphere, “Fishing Blues” (http://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2016/08/12/atmosphere-fishing-blues) – This is the titular track off of alternative hip hop group Atmosphere’s newest album, available for free as a promotion. Continuing their style of boom bap production and evocative lyrics, the title of the song says it all. Ant’s beat and the flows from Slug and the Grouch puts one in the mindset of a lazy summer day fishing on the beach while giving some meaningful lines on a closer listen.
Atmosphere is a group who I only pay attention to on and off, but if this is any indication this is an album worth picking up. (Special thanks to fellow contributor David Lownds for suggesting this one.)
Kenji Siratori, Dazzle Mushroom (Dedicated to Yayoi Kusama)
Kenji Siratori is probably best known as the author of the cult classic cyberpunk novel Blood Electric. However, he’s also been a prolific composer of Japanoise. He gained a lot of attention in the late 2000s for the number of collaborations he was a part of. His almost mechanical approach to both music and writing and somewhat reclusive nature lead some to speculate that he didn’t even exist and was some sort of computer program.
My recommendation, however, is one of his solo works. As the the title implies, this chaotic 35 minute composition is a tribute to psychedelic artist and fellow member of the Japanese avant-garde, Yayoi Kusama. In some distant post-human future, the night clubs look like Kusama’s art and the music that plays sounds like Siratori’s.
If you have suggestions for music available free and legally, be sure to leave a comment with a link. I’d love to see what you have to share.
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