Shoulder of Orion

Vocoder lyrics should be irritating. For some reason, these slip past my hot buttons, instead providing the girders for an atmospheric soundtrack. Is this from the replicant hit parade?
sp00: Secrets

Monster mash

"Raiding the 20th century" was DJ Food's hour-long exploration of the late 20th century (mostly all about the origins of modern popular music, via tracks that themselves sample other sources). This is archived at UPenn and worth listening to several times.
DJ Food: Raiding the 20th Century (Words & Music Expansion)
There is also an earlier, rawer, 39 minute version that went out on XFM in 2004, but its legality is even more dubious.
Strictly Kev: Raiding the 20th Century - A History of The Cutup (tracklisting and more info)

I'm personally rather partial to several of the mashups referred to in the mix, and it would be nice if one could buy them!

The Raiding mix is quite strange, because of the limitation on only using mashups, bootlegs, cut-ups, and cut-ins as source material. While I agree that mashups are a valid and important form (and that in some sense much art is of this form), I disagree with Strictly Kev's apparent contention that it is likely to become the dominant form. That is, unless one uses a very broad interpretation of "mashup".

I do agree with him that the Kylie Minogue live (but possibly mimed?) performance at the Brit Awards 2002 was one of the sublime peaks of pop music, and a great mashup. But I also think Cat Power's performance of Wonderwall is sublime, and this is pretty far from a mashup unless one includes it in the category because of its structural elements or because it is a cover.
Kylie Minogue: Can't get Blue Monday out of my head (live)
Cat Power: Wonderwall

Here Minogue, whose output is in my opinion generally fairly lacklustre, performs a generic pop song to the backing of a great piece of music, and does so in a way that perfectly captures the mood of the times. (Given the date of this performance, I'm thinking Nero fiddling here...) On the other hand, Marshall takes a piece of music performed by a band I do not like in a way that is irritating and self-conscious, and shows just how great the song can be with a dose of focus and honesty.

I've found that there are many noteworthy snippets in the Raiding mix, and that it repays repeated listening. I especially recommend The Tape-Beatles and Steinski, who both crop up several times, and The Grey Album.

Many Tape-Beatles tracks are available for free download from UbuWeb. I love the track Stress from Music with Sound.

Three wonderful mashups of Beatles tracks are squirrelled away at Steinski's web site. Some of his best known work is also now available to buy as the "What Does It All Mean?" retrospective. Presumably these have now been cleared, or at least someone is prepared to absorb the potential flak.

The Grey Album is now de facto official, as the record companies appear to be leaving it alone. It probably helps that it may have significantly boosted the sales of both The Black Album and The White Album.

Dams have side effects

Kristin Hersh has been putting her works in progress up for time-limited free download for about two years now. As far as I can tell, touring and donations has provided a better income for her than relying on record companies to distribute her work. Her current track (which may be replaced with another soon, it has been up for several weeks already) is called Flooding. Unexpectedly, given my fascination with the off-centre use of guitar in most Hersh tracks, my favourite here is the bare piano stem. I suspect there is potential to build a quite different piece from this element of the track, one that should be rather special. If you remix this, please post a link back to Kristin Hersh: Read-Write. The complete track is also excellent, it seems one of Hersh's most memorable (which is meant as high praise).
Kristin Hersh: Flooding (piano stem)

Resistance is futile

My knees melting,
a pool of sweet bliss remains.

This second track from Dissociative should carry a health warning: may lead to obsessive listening. I myself succumbed, racking up well over a hundred plays within a few months in 2007. It has held up well, and still brings a smile to my face, so let me share the secret.
Paramnesic: The Night Before

Squeeze that juice

Fuzzy calm, essence
distilled. Nostalgica is
the right genre here.

I grew up with Jean-Michel Jarre as one of those odd things occasionally happening in the background. Thought nothing of it at the time. Now, all that Oxygène exposure is coming back to haunt me, and I can't stop listening to Brandon James in his Paramnesic guise. One way to explain Paramnesic is as JMJ for a newer generation, although Boards of Canada crashing into a bank of warm synths might be more accurate. This is my pick from the Dissociative album; there are other gems in there too.
Paramnesic: Last Breath

Hope it heals just fine

I saw and listened to Kristin Hersh live this week. She delivered a nearly note-perfect performance even with a damaged left thumb, including great solo guitar interpretations of several fiendishly complex Throwing Muses songs. Catch her on tour now!

Kristin's album Speedbath was released for free download early this year: please donate if you like it. To choose but one track, Rubidoux has the form of one of those Appalachian lullabies that seem to be part of Kristin's bloodstream. It is wrapped in just a few chords from her Les Paul, but picked repeatedly, like a pernicious scab. Ooooh, that hurts.
Kristin Hersh: Speedbath (link to album)

Twinkle in your eye

Orange Crush released Autumn Reflections about two weeks ago. It's the usual warm washes of nostalgic melodies, but for some reason many of the tracks have fairly prominent drum machine tracks, and not especially interesting ones at that. The drums are a bit incongruous, but the album is definitely still worth a listen, and maybe they will grow on me. Here is a track to put a smile on anyone's face.
Orange Crush: Quiet Skies

Expectant calm

A pregnant pause, wait...
melody of fulfilment,
anticipation.

Boreal Network released Aviation Weather in June 2008. It's a gentle trip through synth wash territory, soothing and calm. This track covers the same joyful bleep landscape of Röyksopp's recent track Happy Up Here (which isn't free, but the video is worth watching nonetheless).
Boreal Network: Cloud Map

Sunday in the sun

Sing along, can you
resist? Twisted melody,
analogue synths: bliss.

Standout track from the new Sarin Sunday release The Path Before Us. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon reflecting on life.
Sarin Sunday: Tear from a cloud

Magic mosaic

Australian artist Pogo has released Weave And Wish, an EP built from movie snippets with a magical theme. This particular track uses fragments from The Sword in the Stone, a 1963 animated film from Disney, and comes with a very watchable video.
Pogo: White Magic

Pogo is probably best known for a track made with samples from Alice In Wonderland, a 1951 animated film from Disney. The video is cute and is no doubt helping to fuel interest in the upcoming Tim Burton movie of the same name.
Pogo: Alice (video)

Speed is of the essence

A digression into music that is not free, and the conundrum it poses.

Recently I tried to listen to Kanye West's previous album, Graduation. It was underwhelming, like a stoner reading of the news. For instance, Tyler Fedchuk's 1/2ALIVE remix of Stronger, sped up to a less glacial level of activity, is the version that should have been receiving attention. It brings the well-crafted and clever lyrics into snappy attention, and sends the flabby original off for a workout. The result is a classic, but one that seems destined to remain underground. (In contrast, last year's 808s & Heartbreak album has crisp production and shows a more obvious dance influence. I approve.)
Kanye West: Stronger (Tyler Fedchuk's 1/2ALIVE remix)

An exercise along similar lines is a remix by Pocketknife from last year (thanks to Carl for including it in Like Hearts Swelling). This puts a wry smile on a dreary lament, with foot-tapping suggested. Nice job.
Iron And Wine - Each Coming Night (Pocketknife's Rooftop Telescope Remix)

Finally, ripping out the completely generic indie rock vocals on the Mystery Jets single Two Doors Down results in some very tasty sounds. Duke Dumont is the creative spark here, and the result is a dancefloor classic.
Mystery Jets: Two Doors Down (Reconstructed by Duke Dumont)

I would have been quite happy to pay for all of these tracks. Yet they cannot be bought: the first was available for a while from Fedchuk's blog and now has been removed. The second was on Pocketknife & Cousin Cole's (bootleg?) album Tambourine Dream, now out of stock and hard to find. The final track was released on a DJ-only promo in June 2008, with no official release as far as I can tell.

Now, back to our regular programme: music that is actually free and avoids such tangles of social constructs.

Update (2009/11/20): The Duke Dumont reconstruction is now available on iTunes, as part of Global Underground Vol. 37.

Half-light melody

Beach walk in autumn:
a half-remembered playground,
soft still northern light.
Frequent C: Gone But Not Forgotten

Chunky cliff

Jagged scraps restrain
Undertow of melody.
Oh, that sweet drumbeat.
Fenducci: Feynman's bluff

Gongs of autumn

This gem is tucked away inside Milieu's 2007 remix album Wasted Magic in the Sound.
Thanks to Grim on Mbient, who unearthed the track and featured it in the recent Archaic Horizon overview mix Gathering the Rise. GTR showcases many of my most-played Archaic Horizon tracks from the last few years -- highly recommended.

An oozing bell-peal forms the addictive core; hints of conversation drift around in the background.
skink: You Know That Place Well (mmx)