Sound Sunday is here to keep you rocking on Boxing Day.

This weekend I take you on a musical roller coaster of progressive rock, electronica, psychedelic rock, hip hop, metal, and nu-jazz. There is a treat for everyone.

Please share your thoughts on this week's edition or suggest genres and artists in the comments. You're also welcome to email me [tina at makeuseof dot com]. Now enjoy the leftovers from your Holiday Feast as you dive into a new set of 10 albums and a free song.

Ron Sexsmith - Here Comes My Baby

Genre: folk rock

free album

Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith may be one of the most talented composers of our time, but he is also notoriously self-conscious and has yet to achieve major commercial success. Besides giving an insight into Ron's career and family life, the recent Ron Sexsmith documentary Loves Shines also followed the production of his latest album, which in the end didn't convince a record label. Finally, in spring 2011 we shall see the release of the album Long Player Late Bloomer that was produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Michael Bublé). In the meantime, you can get a free copy of the song Here Comes My Baby, a Cat Stevens cover, if you sign up for Ron's mailing list.

Exclusive | Mellowfield - Last Dawning of the New Age

Genre: alternative, rock, psychedelic

As you know, Bandcamp limits the amount of free downloads each artist can offer. This limit had been reached for the above album by the time I was able to share it on Sound Sunday. Mellowfield, however, kindly offered to make their album available for free for one week.

Mike Gobble (vocals, guitar, drums) writes about the album:

Started as a one track experiment, the album slowly took on a life of its own. The Bells was the first track recorded. It had many incarnations. This was to be the case with most of the tracks. The majority of the album was recorded in a small house studio in the swamps of South Carolina. This certainly effected the mood of the songs, if not the sound. As it developed, it became clear that there was a loose but insistent theme of spirituality colliding with real life, about the choices we make and the hope that things will work out in the end. At some point, it seemed almost necessary to present all of these songs as a whole movement. (...) There is a strangely wide appeal to the album. There seems to be something for everyone on this album. That, we didn't expect. We hope that you will enjoy it and we hope you can take something from it.

Download Last Dawning of the New Age until January 2nd from MediaFire.

Mellowfield Facebook.

Paradigm - They Carried The Clouds

Genre: indie, experimental, progressive, rock

Chicago's Paradigm has a free album out on Bandcamp which features the best rock music I have heard in months. The album was produced by singer Nate Leslie, who also wrote the lyrics and writes about himself that "If the Killers, Mogwai, and Pete Yorn all put their DNA together and begat a drum machine, it's pre-programmed sounds would come out as Nate Leslie songs."

Download They Carried The Clouds free from Bandcamp before it's too late.

Friends of Friends Music - Pop Massacre

Genre: electronic, pop, mashup

Pop Massacre is a compilation in which contributing members of FoF Music each chose a song from popular culture and made it the source material for a remix, or a 'pop massacre'. Artists whose music inspired this album include Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, the Beach Boys, A-ha, and ABBA.

Pop Massacre can be downloaded from Bandcamp.

Friends of Friends Music Homepage and Facebook.

Spiral - Citizen

Genre: progressive, psychedelic, rock

I would love to promote this band, but it was tough to even track down their MySpace page. The album Citizen was born from an original concept by Chris Boat, Aaron Frale, Jason Boat, and Beau Dawson. "Maybe the machine knows the date?"

You can download Citizen free from Bandcamp.

Logic - On The Way Up

Genre: hip hop, rap

Logic aka David Mayhall is a hip hop musician from Walnut, California. On The Way Up is his fifth mixtape. It showcases his talent for mixing beats and sound snippets to support his skillful raps. In all honesty, I'm not a great fan of rap and hip hop, but I enjoyed these 19 tracks.

On The Way Up is a free download from Bandcamp.

Big Pauper - Cops Eat Flowers

Genre: experimental, psychedelic, hip hop, mash-up

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I love all the creative elements in hip hop, minus the vocals. Big Pauper fka Panzah Zandahz delivers. The mash-ups on this record are epic. A maze of sounds and mesmerizing melodies keeps you hooked. The underlying theme of the album is relationships. Cops Eat Flowers is a free download from Circle Into Square.

Pry - From Morph

Genre: alternative, grunge, metal

legal download

Formed in 2007, the Serbian metal band Pry recorded their first demo in 2009 and completed their band lineup. From Morph is their debut album, which was well received at several festivals and contests the band participated in this year. Download From Morph from Pry's MySpace page.

Jax - Chaos Calmos

Genre: dub, electronica, nu-jazz

best free mp3

Jax has been contributing to the net label Electrobel for over four years. He recently released the album Chaos Calmos, which ties together ElectroJazz, movie soundtracks, ethnomusic, deep house, and down tempo to an eclectic sound. It makes me wish I sat in a dim lighted lounge with a cocktail in my hand and tons of interesting people to watch. Download Chaos Calmos from the Electrobel NetLab.

Bonjay - Pop Montréal Session

Genre: indie, experimental, electronic

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Bonjay, spice island slang for 'Good God', are a musical duo from Canada. They recorded a session with Daytrotter, a site that invites musicians to record four songs with them, which are subsequently published on the website for a free download. Bonjay followed the invitation and played a session at the Breakglass Studio in Montréal, Québec. Download Bonjay's Pop Montréal Session from Daytrotter.

RAMUK69 - Mega Music Xmas Giveaway

Genre: compilation, rock, pop

cool free music

Now that Christmas is over, I can reveal that Ryan Martin aka RAMUK69 has given away a free track a day between December 1st and December 25th. The songs were donated from musicians all over the internet. You can download all 25 tracks from his homepage. We have featured RAMUK69 in a previous edition Sound Sunday with his Monster Pyjama Party album. Download the songs shared in his Mega Music Xmas Giveaway from RAMUK69.

Ramuk69 Blog and Facebook.

Had a blast and crave more? Browse past editions of Sound Sunday for more free albums. And if you have something to say, do get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com]. Feel free to share material, suggestions, and feedback that you don't want to post in the comments below.