Free Music!

There's a lot of free music out on the internet. And I mean legal free music. Stuff the artists offer for free, either out of philanthropy or in an effort to gain exposure.

Since I bought an iphone I've been particularly interested in owning music. I've never been one for buying a lot of music because I usually get tired of something after playing it 49-11 times and then I don't go back to it for years. I also have gotten a lot of free Christian music from my husband, who gets advance copies of some albums at his work. And I subscribe to Napster, where I can download all the music I want and listen to it as long as my subscription is up-to-date. Up until a few weeks ago (when Napster launched an iphone app), I needed to own all the music I put on my iphone.

Enter the free music sites.
Spirit Voyage , a website devoted to Kundalini yoga, offers a free music track every Friday. Through "Free Music Friday" I have discovered many artists I'd not known about before, including Ashana, whose soaring voice and crystal toning bowls offer a transcendent musical experience.

I also found Noisetrade, which offers music from all sorts of genre. They suggest you make a donation per song, but only require that you give a little information: your name, email address and zip code. This helps them get their music out there and they end up benefiting by having greater turn outs for their concerts. You can also promote the free music on your Facebook page to help them out.

I've also been following The Free Christian Music Blog, which has exposed me to artists I've not heard of before. And FreeCCM also has some great stuff. I just downloaded a new song by Chris Rice called "O Freedom." Yesterday I downloaded an entire 18-song Christian song compilation album from Compassion International by signing up at New Release Tuesday.

Most of these, obviously, are Christian. But a quick Google for free music can yield many other genre. Give it a shot!

Listen to this. Haunting. Beautiful. Uplifting. I've been listening to this a lot in the past few days.

Libera - Locus Iste (Sanctus)

Sanctus

Sanctus, Sanctus

Benedictus qui venit in Domine

Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabbaoth,

Pleni sunt coeli et terra Gloria

Benedictus in nomine

Qui venit in nomine

Here's a close translation:

This place was made by God,

A priceless offering.

Holy, holy

Blessed, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

The holy master/lord, God of Hosts -

The heavens and the earth are full of his glory.

Blessed is he who comes in his name, in his name.

Napster Nap

My Napster quit working for a few days, and my player had to be reformatted. I don't get too excited about that kind of thing anymore. Just wait a day or so until I have time to download everything again. It's actually a nice excuse to break out of ruts and start fresh. I've been adding some televisions soundtracks like "Sex & City," "Grey's Anatomy," "House," etc. A while ago I stumbled upon mention of a group called Eddie from Ohio that I really like. And did you know that Chris Sligh, of American Idol fame, has a great Christian album out? It's very very nice.

I play music quite a lot at work. I do it for a few different reasons. First, it helps to add a little background noise for when the counselors are meeting with people in their offices. I really don't think people should have to worry about their conversations being overheard when they are meeting with their counselor. Secondly, I think it makes the atmosphere more inviting to the kids and parents. I play a very eclectic mix of music, from Classical to Celtic to Christian to Pop. The rock goes everywhere from folk to a new cd I found called Head, which seems to be what we used to call Acid Rock when I was in high school. I guess it's called heavy metal now. But back in the day we called it acid rock because it was generally felt that you needed to drop acid to really appreciate it. The guy's name is Brian Welch. Can't understand a word the dude is saying. It's just a lot of screaming. But I enjoy the reactions I get from students when they come into the office and hear what I'm playing. And the adults seem to enjoy hearing anything from Three Dog Night to CCR to Sara McLaughlin to Sarah Groves. The third reason I play music is to keep myself from going out of my mind.

Tomorrow will be a busy day at school, as we are testing some students...giving them the PSAT or ASVAB... the seniors are having college & career day (I have to take credit for the fact that Erskine is coming), and the freshmen are going to the Renaissance Festival.