Sound Sunday is a weekly feature offered here at MakeUseOf where we promote free album downloads. Every edition invites you to explore various genres and artists from around the world. This week all albums are united by a common theme; whether rock, jazz, soul, or hip hop, they are all instrumentals.

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].

Free Song: Michelle Marie - Stepping Stones

Genre: contemporary, instrumental, funk, fusion r&b, soul

From her Facebook page: "London based Bassist Michelle Osbourne is best known for her work within the UK Pop, Soul and Gospel Scene. Michelle’s musical journey began in her late teens while attending music college. Michelle further developed her playing and musicianship by studying at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (...), where she underwent formal training for 1 year. Michelle now makes her living as a session musician and bass guitar tutor and has worked and travelled throughout the UK, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the US working with artists including."

Stepping Stones is a free download from Bandcamp.

Cloudkicker - Fade

Genre: ambient, instrumental, progressive, rock, shoegaze

Cloudkicker is the music project of Ben Sharp from Columbus, Ohio. From his Last.fm profile: "Cloudkicker is a one man progressive metal project from Ben Sharp (aka B.M. Sharp), heavily influenced by math metal and post-metal. Sharp utilizes drum machines and custom tuned guitars in his recordings. Progressive and instrumental influences are also obvious in his music. Aviation has been a major recurring theme within each release. Most of the song titles, album titles, and art work are inspired, derived, or influenced by Aviation. For example, each song title from Beacons was taken from actual black box recordings or radio transmissions from from crashed or malfunctioning airplanes."

Fade is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Stalactites - Dark Matters

Genre: alternative, indie, ambient, instrumental, progressive, rock, post-rock, shoegaze

This virtual band that is located all over Europe, records its instruments separately from each other. The band was formed in 2009. From Symbiotic Reviews: "The album creates richly instrumental soundscapes that specialize in subtle dynamics over pummeling intensity."

Dark Matters is a free download from Bandcamp.

Temples - Selftitled

Genre: ambient, experimental, math-rock, post-rock

This Salt Lake City based band was impossible to track down for further details. Awesome music nevertheless. And if you have attended the Fusion Fest 2012 in Provo, Utah, you may have seen them play live this past Friday.

Temples is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Genre: instrumental, symphonic, folk, soundtrack

From his Bandcamp profile: "Chrysovalantis Sotiriou (Valkristo) is a composer, musician and music teacher living in Athens[, Greece]. The music presented in this web page is part of his personal work. ?he whole music production (composition, orchestration, performance, recording and mixing) take place by him."

Ethnic Orchestra is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Sam Jackson - Sharp & Flat Bonus Tracks

Genre: ambient, instrumental, classical, jazz

From his Facebook page [Broken URL Removed]: "Sam Jackson has been composing for some of the biggest names in theatre for over a decade. A frequent collaborator with multiple Tony award winning company Druid, he has composed for the some of the largest and most lauded productions ever produced in Ireland including: DruidSynge "one of the greatest achievements in the history of Irish theatre." -irish times, and the current DruidMurphy "a staggering achievement" -irish times, “extraordinary, overwhelmingly magnificent undertaking.”-The sunday independent. His music been featured in productions all over the world from Broadway to Tokyo and from the Abbey to the Arran Islands. Seven years as keyboardist to Moya Brennan of Clannad saw him work with the very best musicians across the globe."

Sharp & Flat Bonus Tracks is a free download from Bandcamp.

Big Ben Beats - Soul Beat Tape

Genre: indie, instrumental, beats, funk, jazz, soul, hip hop

From the album page: "This Beat tape was created cause of a musical chalenge with my dude Vladsky aka Kostia (...). The only rules was to create thirty minutes beat tape in less than 3 months with soul samples only."

Soul Beat Tape is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Nefarious! - The Dream Theory

Genre: instrumental, beats, soul, chill, hip hop

Nefarious! is the founder of The Soul Dojo. Next to supporting other artists, he also finds time to write, record, and produce his own music.

The Dream Theory is a free download from Bandcamp (via The Soul Dojo).

Eddie - New Horizons

Genre: instrumental, jazz, lounge, chill, piano, hip hop

Eddie is a Chinese musician, discovered by Cult Classic Records.

New Horizons is a free download from Bandcamp (via MediaFire).

Broke For Free - Grass Hop

Genre: electronic, funk, chill, glitch, glitch-hop, trip-hop

Broke For Free is the music project of Tom Cascino of Santa Cruz, California. From the album page: "This is my first conceptual album, it was made to be listened to while doing something... walking to class, driving in the rain, on a run, in the snow, whatever it is that you do."

Grass Hop is a free download from Bandcamp.

TTK - Western Station

Genre: electronic, instrumental, hip hop

From the album page: "TTK - aka The Telepathic Kid - delivers an album full of great melodies, spacey Rhodes sounds and huge beats. This delivers fun, funk, groove and chilled ambience in equal measure."

Western Station is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Koi. [Broken URL Removed] - Maelstrom

Genre: indie, electronic, experimental, instrumental, chillwave, downtempo, dreamtempo, glo-fi, lo-fi, lounge, pop, shoegaze, trip hop

Koi. is the alter ego of Alex Galotti, a musician from Virginia Beach. Donations will be invetsed in new instruments and equipment.

Maelstrom is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Ochre - Lemodie

Genre: ambient, electronic, instrumental, chillout, idm, downtempo, toytronic

The mind behind Ochre is Christopher Leary from Newcastle upon Tyne, England. From his Bandcamp profile: "Purveyor of aural melancholia since 2001. Previously released on Toytronic and Benbecula."

Lemodie is a name your price 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.