Sound Sunday is a weekly feature promoting free album downloads. Every edition invites you to explore various genres and artists from around the world. If you have been caught up in the hectic of Christmas gift shopping and general pre-holiday stress, this edition is for you: a chilled mix of pop, rock, folk, americana, electronic, samba, and very mainstream-friendly hip hop.

Please share your thoughts and post your feedback in the comments. Album submissions, suggestions, and genre requests via email [tina at makeuseof dot com] are most welcome!

Moddi - Away From Home

Genre: alternative, pop, rock, post rock, singer-songwriter

From Moddi's Facebook profile: "My name is Pål Moddi Knutsen, twenty-four years old as I write this. I come from an island called Senja in the far north of Norway. Whoever you are, and whatever reason you have for listening: thank you for lending me your time!"

Away From Home is a free download from Bandcamp.

Adventure Club Records - Winter 2011

Genre: indie, pop, rock, americana, folk, sampler

Adventure Club Records is a UK label run by the bands themselves. From the album page: "Winter is looming. It's getting cold out. So we thought we'd put together a few tracks to remind you of sunnier times. All the artists on the EP have new releases in the new year, this just is a little taste of what's to come."

The Winter 2011 sampler is a free download from Bandcamp.

Zach Ellsworth - So-Called Heroes [Broken Link Removed]

Genre: christian, pop, rock

Please note that while this album is streamed via Bandcamp, the free download is available through NoiseTrade, see link below.

From his NoiseTrade profile: "I often feel like there's something missing - like there's something or someone that can make life better or more rewarding. Like I'm one decision away from being happy or content with where I am. So, I make decisions and run hard after things that I want or need or I think need me...but I'm always left wanting more. This endless cycle is right at the heart of this record, So-Called Heroes. Please walk with me through the world that each one of us lives in and be willing to look at it through a different lens. A lens that believes there is one Hero that can save us from ourselves and put an end to our cycles of darkness, discontentment and emptiness. The beauty of the story is that it is the same for each one of us..."

So-Called Heroes is a free download from NoiseTrade.

Matt Wertz - Twenty Three Places [No Longer Available]

Genre: acoustic, pop,

From his Facebook profile: "I’m from Liberty, Missouri, but have called Nashville, Tennessee, home for the last seven years. (...) Early on, I was shown many graces—like a loan from my parents to pay for the first 1,000 copies of my debut record, Somedays (2001). (...) The days between then and now have been a series of “baby steps” that have somehow afforded me success as an independent artist. All these things really kicked into gear after the release of Twenty Three Places (2003), the first record I recorded with producer and friend, Ed Cash. (...) Since the start of my career, I’ve sold around 75,000 albums, played shows with Ben Folds, Jamie Cullum, and One Republic, as well as headlined sold-out clubs around the country. This was all done, mind you, as an independent artist. Over time, momentum built and more labels took notice, including Universal Republic. Finally I encountered a label that felt right, a label that could pull the trigger, a label that understood where I was coming from. And so, I signed."

Twenty Three Places is a free download from NoiseTrade.

Jon Troast - Jam Sampler

Genre: pop, folk, rock

From Jon's NoiseTrade profile: "I grew up in the Midwest, and now I live in Nashville, TN. I started out playing in coffee shops, bars and churches, but I began to get opportunities I hadn’t even imagined. In June of 2007, I was a musical guest on the nationally broadcasted radio program "A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor." Before long, I was touring coast-to-coast playing my songs in hundreds of house concerts including a marathon run of 100 concerts in 100 days! I've been a full-time musician for over 7 years now, recording four full-length albums with producer Mitch Dane of Sputnik Sound. I'm now in the process of releasing 4 EPs with producer Andy Osenga. Always making music!"

Jam Sampler is a free download from NoiseTrade..

Dan Oschrin - Haunted House [No Longer Available]

Genre: indie, alternative, lo-fi, rock

Dan Oschrin is a solo artist from Kent, Washington, who is currently located in Ankara, Turkey.

Haunted House is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Labyrinth Ear - Oak EP [No Longer Available]

Genre: electronic, pop

From their Last.fm page: "Labyrinth Ear are an electronic duo from New Cross in London formed in 2010. They performed their debut show at In The City in October 2010 and released their free download EP ‘Oak’ the same month."

Oak EP is a free download from Labyrinth Ear's Homepage (via MediaFire).

Passo Torto - selftitled

Genre: samba torto

Translated from their Facebook profile: "Based on Samba, the young composer Rodrigo Campos, Kiko Dinucci and Romulo Froes, each in their own way, have proposed a new direction to the music of St. Paul, influenced not only by the rhythm, but all the rich tradition of Brazilian music."

The selftitled album Passo Torto is a free download from Passo Torto's Homepage.

Bear Bones - Seat Save Infinity [Broken Link Removed]

Genre: instrumental, fusion, hip hop

Bear Bones is a music project by Mike Osso.

Seat Save Infinity is a free download from Bandcamp.

Self Taught - Arrival [Broken Link Removed]

Genre: atmosphere, hip hop

From their Bandcamp page: "Comprised of Vintage and Cliff Herman (...) the Vancouver duo checked out in 2002 and has worked steadily for the past five years on an assortment of material with a mixture of many talented artists. Several years of experimenting with various genres resulted in the unification of various aspects of hip hop, rock, jazz, blues, punk, and electronic to create the Self Taught sound. No boundaries, limits or borders is the attitude taken into every Self Taught album. This diversity is emphasized on their latest magnum opus, Arrival. The 2007 release creates an unparalleled listening experience that continually grabs the attention of the listener. Arrival is a complete listening experience, an epic of sorts, a must have cd, not only for fans of hip hop, but for fans of music."

Arrival is a free download from Bandcamp.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.