No gems to list, just an explanation. I let my membership be dormant for 3 months (the maximum allowed), and it resumes November 19, which is about when emusic starts doing the 2 for 1 credits.
I have some boffo things to recommend after I buy them (and will list them here), but the last great buy I mentioned on the emusic forum (Maysa Internacional )suddenly became unavailable in the USA after mentioning it-- before I actually got around to buying it. Also, I am really bummed that Eccentric Soul: Omnibus jumped from $6.50 to $43 shortly after it was publicized on the forums. I have to assume that someone is taking action when these deals are uncovered. So buy first, announce later.
Generally though, I have noticed that there are significantly fewer multidisc compilations around these days. I'm currently exploring through early Brazilian music these days, and I finding everything about 60 or 70 minutes for about $6. Still a good deal under the 2 for 1 credits, but borderline for normal price.
(btw, those two Kerrville Folk festival albums are bargains and full of great stuff; it's an overlooked secret in Texas where I live).
Curiously, in addition to checking out CDs from the library, my city library system lets me download 5 free mp3s from a service called Freegal. It's always maddening to figure out which tracks to use for my 5 downloads. 5 a week doesn't sound like much, but if you do it long enough, it adds up. (Freegal has some of the same albums from emusic -- and a lot of Asian stuff -- but also some from Sony, which is nice). Currently sampling on Freegal Music of Brazil / Songs of Armando Marçal & Bide / Recordings 1933 - 1939 (emusic link here)
I think people have mentioned Freegal before here but your comment finally got me to check it out, and now I have an hour or so of the Complete Plugged Nickel free so thanks!
That Eccentric Soul: Omnibus set is seriously awesome. Anybody who missed out on getting it cheap at eMusic should jump on it at 7Digital. Good catch @Doofy.
That Eccentric Soul: Omnibus set is seriously awesome. Anybody who missed out on getting it cheap at eMusic should jump on it at 7Digital. Good catch @Doofy.
Also, as of yesterday, cheapo on the UK branch, haven't pulled the trigger yet myself but...
I have been getting three free tracks per week from Freegal for about 18 months. In the U.K. the major label there is Sony, so certain things I can't get from emusic are available. I have probably downloaded 15 or so albums in that time,3 tracks per week isn't much, but it does add up! I've got some early Dylan albums for example, early Bowie and a couple of Van Morrison CDs.
(From my emusic forum post). Now for some emusic multidisc titles I have uncovered.... (Drumroll, please)
Back to Venezuela by Billo’s Caracas Boys. (41 tracks, 128 minutes, $6.49) Billos Caracas Boys is an immortal Venezuelan dance orchestra fronted by Billo Frómeta and lasted from the late 1930s to the 1960s or 1970s. The band is pretty amazing -- jazzy/samba with vocals. Personnel changed from year to year, and unfortunately there is not good documentation for this album about when these songs were originally released (or if they are simply re-releases from other albums). But many of the songs here sound like original stuff -- probably from the 1940s or 1950s. I want to emphasize that this album merely scratches the surface of what is out there -- and doesn't include many of the tunes which are considered signature songs. Emusic has about 100 albums by Billos Caracas Boys, and this the best and cheapest of the "greatest hits compilations" which I was able to find.
Classic FM by Andy Clockwise. (30 tracks, 133 minutes, $6.49) is the first album by versatile Australian rocker Andy Clockwise. It has been scandalously ignored by critics -- even in Australia -- though everyone seems to have a high opinion of Clockwise and his more recent projects. "Classic FM" is a concept album that tries to juxtapose a dozen different musical styles in one album -- as though you were scanning the FM dial on a car radio. Sure, you may not like everything here, but it's all different, interesting and original. (I would compare this to double albums like the Beatles' "White Album" or Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" which were initially criticized for being sprawling messes, but were later appreciated for what they were). By the way Clockwise lives and performs in the US, and his earworm song Open Relationship has an entertaining and bizzare music video.
Julius Eastman: Unjust Malaise. (8 tracks, 193 minutes, $6.49). Eastman was a minimalist avante-garde composer who wrote complex orchestral pieces for piano and voice. He was unappreciated even by other composers and died homeless and penniless in 1990. This collection of longer pieces are sometimes discordant or hard to enjoy, but they are interesting and expressive (and really, not that different from what Glass and other people were doing in the 70s) But recently several critics have been championing his works. See this longish piece in the Guardian .
I have finished with the albums that are good-value-for-your-buck. Here are some other discoveries which are not necessarily good value for your buck, but still interesting.
There's a label called Soul Jazz Records which does some wild compilations on various themes (punk, ethnic, jazz, disco, etc). With some exceptions, most are 60-90 minutes, but all are intriguing. (I already downloaded their normal price PUNK 45 compilations, and they were great). I plan to download several more Soul Jazz compilations over the next few months. Soul Jazz Records Presents VENEZUELA 70: Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth – Venezuelan Experimental Rock In The 1970s. (16 tracks, 62 minutes, $6.99). Intriguing genre, and the album pretty much delivers. See this PopMatters review. BTW, because of the current economic chaos in Venezuela, now is as good as any time to show your support for musicians for that country!
Also, I wanted to do a shoutout for Daytrotter , this music service which lets you download live concerts of many leading indie bands from 2006-2016. I think the service is mainly intended to be a radio service, but membership is $2.99 a month with the first week for free. I have been downloading a lot of things. Although these are recorded in various studios around the US, I would regard these performances as alternative takes on songs they have already recorded -- perhaps not as perfect as commercial releases, but still very interesting -- and probably the best way to get introduced to new bands. At least 50% of the bands I learn about from South by Southwest (SXSW) have concerts on daytrotter as well. There's a clear emphasis on folk rock/acoustic, but there's a lot of unexpected names here -- plus some famous ones. When you download concerts, you download a zip file consisting of several mp3 tracks. (There's about 7000 concerts, and download quality is 320Kbps mp3). I have enthusiastically downloaded to groups I already have albums for; conversely I fully expect that some of these concerts will trigger more emusic purchases! Check it out!
I always mean to post to the thread at emusic - I'm generally beaten to it by others. The label Cherry Red has some albums that are well-priced - The Bridget St. John Dandelion Records and BBC Collection has 5 albums and live cuts for 6.49 (224 minutes) - or you could get some of the individual albums for 6.49 each. The one hanging out in my Save for Later list is Meathead by Captain Sensible. There are two choices for 11.98 - same album. Other than the photo not sure anything is different.
Miles Davis, Blue Haze / Walkin' for $3.24. The label Ideal Music has quite a few two album sets for $3.24, I assume these are all out of copyright (non-remastered, etc).
Hmm. The CD page says 50 CDs, but the MP3 page you linked says "volume 1." Based on track length it seems to be about 8 CDs? I think have a multi CD set from Brilliant Classics that was also cheap and I think Belder (?). I suspect it's higher up this thread somewhere. I wonder if this is the same with a different cover?
Turns out I have a box of his Tafelmusik (Here, $5.84 for 260 mins) and a box of his overtures (Here, $5.19 for 520 mins). Telemann hasn't thrilled me so I think I'll hold.
... Further muddying the waters, the mp3 set (and the review I linked to) is 29 CDs! Perhaps the 50 CD set is a more recent update...In any case, the Brilliant Classics recordings you have are probably included in both.
I was interested to poke around in this label's offerings. It's an extensive catalog, with some good reviews to be found. They are on eMusic.
For the record, the Telemann link above is, as Prof suggested, just the first 8 CDs of the set! There are at least 2 additional "volumes." So - a nice deal, just not the crazy one I convinced myself it was.
Ssshhhh. I was just checking if anything had come up at eMu on Chrysalis Records and found a monster box for $6.49 - the UFO Official Bootleg Box Set - 1974-1982. This is seven discs, all live. Only the first four are from the Michael Schenker era and I had glommed those up during the Guvera heyday, and they are awesome stuff. The full box had two later '80's shows, sans Schenker, which I have not heard and this adds a third to those. Amazing deal. It is a GB download, just to mention. http://www.emusic.com/album/ufo/the-official-bootleg-box-set-1975-1982/17126714/
I see 181 tracks for £7.99GBP on the amazon.co.uk listing for the Brilliant Classics box, Italian Baroque - The Instrumental Edition, not sure if that's all 50 cds. It would seem like a no-brainer BUT BUT BUT it doesn't label any of the composers! Also of course I'm not sure I want to try getting Adobe Flash to play on my windows 8.1 which I didn't think was possible just to preview.
I just want to point out that the catalog bundle price on bandcamp for Home Normal is 90% off regular price. GBP48 gets you 96 releases - that's about 50 cents per album. And Home Normal is a really excellent label for experimental/ambient. The only reason I am not springing for it is that I already own so many of their albums; it would still be a deal but I think I already have the forty or fifty albums I would most want.
I just want to point out that the catalog bundle price on bandcamp for Home Normal is 90% off regular price. GBP48 gets you 96 releases - that's about 50 cents per album. And Home Normal is a really excellent label for experimental/ambient. The only reason I am not springing for it is that I already own so many of their albums; it would still be a deal but I think I already have the forty or fifty albums I would most want.
What an outstanding find!!!! Some absolutely great stuff!!! Thanks for the heads up!!!
Yes, thanks for this! I noticed too that for only £3.30 more, you can get all of those plus all of the new music they release in the next year plus some subscriber-only releases as well as 50% off merchandise (CDs) in their store. Excellent deal if you're a fan of their releases.
For anyone who likes earlier/wilder/1970s Archie Shepp material, the following titles: Black Gypsy Montreux Two Things Have Got to Change are $2.97-$3.27 each at 7digital US, $8-$10 elsewhere. (Montreux Two could be made even cheaper if you have an emusic membership and get one track from there.)
Just came across this at emusic. 300 minutes for $6.49, various artists that release with Venus Jazz, not the usual big collection of out-of-copyright stuff, but rather a very generous Venus Jazz catalog sampler of recent material. Includes close to a cumulative album's worth of Archie Shepp, Lee Konitz and Pharaoh Sanders, along with some less familiar names. I already have the older companion volume: which focuses more on piano and vocal jazz; I found a lot to enjoy and can't complain at the 50 songs for single album price.
Comments
The Early Years: Kerrville Folk Festival, 135 tracks 522 minutes. All your favorite folkies are there. If that is not enough, The Silverwolf Years is another 350+minutes.
I have some boffo things to recommend after I buy them (and will list them here), but the last great buy I mentioned on the emusic forum (Maysa Internacional )suddenly became unavailable in the USA after mentioning it-- before I actually got around to buying it. Also, I am really bummed that Eccentric Soul: Omnibus jumped from $6.50 to $43 shortly after it was publicized on the forums. I have to assume that someone is taking action when these deals are uncovered. So buy first, announce later.
Generally though, I have noticed that there are significantly fewer multidisc compilations around these days. I'm currently exploring through early Brazilian music these days, and I finding everything about 60 or 70 minutes for about $6. Still a good deal under the 2 for 1 credits, but borderline for normal price.
(btw, those two Kerrville Folk festival albums are bargains and full of great stuff; it's an overlooked secret in Texas where I live).
Curiously, in addition to checking out CDs from the library, my city library system lets me download 5 free mp3s from a service called Freegal. It's always maddening to figure out which tracks to use for my 5 downloads. 5 a week doesn't sound like much, but if you do it long enough, it adds up. (Freegal has some of the same albums from emusic -- and a lot of Asian stuff -- but also some from Sony, which is nice). Currently sampling on Freegal Music of Brazil / Songs of Armando Marçal & Bide / Recordings 1933 - 1939 (emusic link here)
http://www.emusic.com/album/tommy-keene/tommy-keene-you-hear-me-a-retrospective-1983-2009/12007815/
Back to Venezuela by Billo’s Caracas Boys. (41 tracks, 128 minutes, $6.49) Billos Caracas Boys is an immortal Venezuelan dance orchestra fronted by Billo Frómeta and lasted from the late 1930s to the 1960s or 1970s. The band is pretty amazing -- jazzy/samba with vocals. Personnel changed from year to year, and unfortunately there is not good documentation for this album about when these songs were originally released (or if they are simply re-releases from other albums). But many of the songs here sound like original stuff -- probably from the 1940s or 1950s. I want to emphasize that this album merely scratches the surface of what is out there -- and doesn't include many of the tunes which are considered signature songs. Emusic has about 100 albums by Billos Caracas Boys, and this the best and cheapest of the "greatest hits compilations" which I was able to find.
Classic FM by Andy Clockwise. (30 tracks, 133 minutes, $6.49) is the first album by versatile Australian rocker Andy Clockwise. It has been scandalously ignored by critics -- even in Australia -- though everyone seems to have a high opinion of Clockwise and his more recent projects. "Classic FM" is a concept album that tries to juxtapose a dozen different musical styles in one album -- as though you were scanning the FM dial on a car radio. Sure, you may not like everything here, but it's all different, interesting and original. (I would compare this to double albums like the Beatles' "White Album" or Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" which were initially criticized for being sprawling messes, but were later appreciated for what they were). By the way Clockwise lives and performs in the US, and his earworm song Open Relationship has an entertaining and bizzare music video.
Julius Eastman: Unjust Malaise. (8 tracks, 193 minutes, $6.49). Eastman was a minimalist avante-garde composer who wrote complex orchestral pieces for piano and voice. He was unappreciated even by other composers and died homeless and penniless in 1990. This collection of longer pieces are sometimes discordant or hard to enjoy, but they are interesting and expressive (and really, not that different from what Glass and other people were doing in the 70s) But recently several critics have been championing his works. See this
longish piece in the Guardian .
I have finished with the albums that are good-value-for-your-buck. Here are some other discoveries which are not necessarily good value for your buck, but still interesting.
There's a label called Soul Jazz Records which does some wild compilations on various themes (punk, ethnic, jazz, disco, etc). With some exceptions, most are 60-90 minutes, but all are intriguing. (I already downloaded their normal price PUNK 45 compilations, and they were great). I plan to download several more Soul Jazz compilations over the next few months. Soul Jazz Records Presents VENEZUELA 70: Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth – Venezuelan Experimental Rock In The 1970s. (16 tracks, 62 minutes, $6.99). Intriguing genre, and the album pretty much delivers. See this PopMatters review. BTW, because of the current economic chaos in Venezuela, now is as good as any time to show your support for musicians for that country!
Miles Davis, Blue Haze / Walkin' for $3.24. The label Ideal Music has quite a few two album sets for $3.24, I assume these are all out of copyright (non-remastered, etc).
I was interested to poke around in this label's offerings. It's an extensive catalog, with some good reviews to be found. They are on eMusic.
https://www.amazon.com/s?rh=n:163856011,k:italian+baroque+the+instrumental+edition,p_n_feature_browse-bin:625150011&keywords=italian+baroque+the+instrumental+edition&ie=UTF8&qid=1484862173
http://www.emusic.com/album/ufo/the-official-bootleg-box-set-1975-1982/17126714/
Hasidic New Wave, The Complete Recordings, Tzadik Records. Total Tracks: 52 Total Length: 270:52, $6.49.
From an Amazon review: "If Zappa and Gogol Bordello had a baby together, that baby would at the very least enjoy this set."
I am that baby's cousin.
Black Gypsy
Montreux Two
Things Have Got to Change
are $2.97-$3.27 each at 7digital US, $8-$10 elsewhere. (Montreux Two could be made even cheaper if you have an emusic membership and get one track from there.)
Just came across this at emusic. 300 minutes for $6.49, various artists that release with Venus Jazz, not the usual big collection of out-of-copyright stuff, but rather a very generous Venus Jazz catalog sampler of recent material. Includes close to a cumulative album's worth of Archie Shepp, Lee Konitz and Pharaoh Sanders, along with some less familiar names. I already have the older companion volume:
which focuses more on piano and vocal jazz; I found a lot to enjoy and can't complain at the 50 songs for single album price.