Sound Sunday is a weekly feature promoting free album downloads. Recently, a lot of folk, pop and rock albums crossed my path and here they are. Mixed in are two albums with slightly different genres and a little quiz.
Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!
We welcome you to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres we haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina [tina at makeuseof dot com].
Graham Wright - Apple Breath [No Longer Available]
Genre: indie, folk, pop, progressive folk
From his Facebook page: "I play some keyboards in Tokyo Police Club I play some songs under my own name I host some radios over on CBC Radio 3 and one time I saw a reindeer get born in Alaska."
Apple Breath is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Racing Glaciers - Selftitled
Genre: alternative, indie, baroque, pop, folk, post rock, progressive rock
From their Bandcamp profile: "Racing Glaciers are a 4 piece band based in Macclesfield, we seem to write music mostly about rivers and the nighttime."
The selftitled Racing Glaciers EP is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Josh Brown - Long Long Way From You
Genre: americana, country
From his Facebook page: "Hey, I'm Josh.
In a world in which everyone is a rock star and a YouTube sensation, and anyone can be on iTunes, I like to think of myself as a dreamer in an over saturated musical world. These days, you don't have to wait until your favorite musician or band comes to your town to have access to them... just follow them on Twitter, and if you're lucky, they might retweet something you say, and you'll feel like best friends.
Sometimes I think about what it would have been like to play music in the old days. When artists had a mystique about them. When there was no internet or social media. When going to a show and listening to the radio really meant something. Folks would come to my shows, after hearing me on the radio, and be surprised that I had a beard, or that I never clip the tips off of my guitar strings.
I was in a bluegrass band once, and I mostly play and write my solo Americana stuff now. My favorite songwriter is Darrell Scott, I still don't have an iPod, and I think bridges in songs are overrated.
I still have a day job. And I'm happy. I play because it's fun, especially in front of inebriated audiences.
Your fan,
JJB"
Long Long Way From You is a free download from Bandcamp.
Whetherman - Nooks and Crannies
Genre: indie, acoustic, folk
From his Facebook page: "Whetherman is the melodic Folk/Americana project of Nicholas Williams, a 28 year-old independent singer/songwriter from the Midwest, who has been heavily influenced by musicians like Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Neil Young. This emerging artist is becoming increasingly well-known for his distinct voice, a creative blend of crooning and soaring melodic qualities that has become the staple for Whetherman's music. His folk tales are comforting and gentle on the ears, providing depth and landscape with insightful lyrics and beautiful texture in supporting instrumentals, made possible by a group of musicians called The Steady Melodies."
Nooks and Crannies is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Will Fargason - Good Lord, It's Cold
Genre: acoustic, indie, folk
From his Grapefruit Records profile: "Will Fargason is a new, up-and-coming indie-folk singer/songwriter, who’s acoustic melodies and incredible hooks draw you in from the moment you start listening.
Will has recently released his first EP, entitled, ‘I Will Bury Myself In You / Not Yet’, which shows the immense talent he possess, on guitar and vocals, with an almost Bob Dylan-esque presence to him. At the current moment, he is working on recording new material, for the label."
Good Lord, It's Cold is a free download from Bandcamp.
Meridian - Aging Truths
Genre: indie, acoustic, folk, rock, punk
From the album page: "Meridian is Max and Jake Stern + friends. (...) Aging Truths is a collection of songs that were written from 2008-2011. Most of these songs were initially recorded on an internal laptop microphone perched on a beer-stained table in a cold Cleveland Heights apartment throughout that four-year period. These demo versions of various songs are still floating around online and can be found pretty easily, though I won't link them here because I'm semi-embarrassed of them (and these versions sound about 1000x better)."
Aging Truths is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Corrupt Autopilot - Oh No!
Genre: indie, folk, rock, lo-fi, psychedelic
From their Facebook page: "This is a confessional of inner fears. Not just what you fear but the desire to be near your fear for the comfort it brings in it's familiarity in the type of pain it delivers. Listen to Ghost Country and you are immediately transported into a vast empty desert wasteland that is not only dangerous and barren but full of the demons and ghosts you have been avoiding your whole life. The only companions you have are the wails of a widow whose sons are not dead but forever missing. When you're in Ghost Country you're not alone. You travel with a pack of wolves whose howls protect and comfort you on your journey through heartbreak in this desperate endless dream."
Oh No! is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Muddy Plots - Sleep Well, My Sweetheart, Please Don't Worry Too Much
Genre: indie, folk, pop, rock, lo-fi
From Muddy Plot's Bandcamp profile: "Muddy Plots is a name made up to hide my real name, but I'll tell you if you're dying to know. Muddy Plots is also a place in life, it's a garden that's been rained on, or an empty lot abandoned. The thing is, all rain does is promise the sun, and abandonment is an opportunity for improvement. God is over all. I love music, hearing it, making it, I love Abigail Joy, and reader, I love you too."
Sleep Well, My Sweetheart, Please Don't Worry Too Much is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
The Sea Life - In Basements
Genre: alternative, indie, pop, rock, shoegaze, dream pop
The Sea Life are Patrick, Jordan, Payton, Jon, and Vivek from Montgomery County, Maryland. From the album page: "This album is In Basements. In Basements is our summer and is meant to be heard in full."
In Basements is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Palette Town - Life, Love, & Laser Guns [No Longer Available]
Genre: alternative, indie, rock, post pop, garage pop
Although way at the back of this edition, here is one of my favorite albums this week, mainly because their sound very much reminds me of one of my favorite bands. Can you guess which band?
From their Bandcamp profile: "Just a couple of kids trying to paint some color on this black and white world."
Life, Love, & Laser Guns is a name your price download from Bandcamp.
Free Listen: Foxbeef - Table For One
Genre: alternative, hard rock, heavy rock, pop
From their Facebook profile: "Foxbeef are a Dundee based four piece hard rock band with influences that include Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, and Guns n Roses amongst others. Foxbeef are well known for their energetic performances, powerful, melodic and hard edged vocals, super tight drums, beefy bass lines, saucy solos and hard-hitting grungy guitar riffs."
Unfortunately, Table For One is not available to download for free. This is a free listen I considered worth sharing.
And More...
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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.