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First up is Cloudkicker, who seems to be one British guy - making music for the pure enjoyment, and not concerned with the cash. He's now got 3 'releases' up for FREE DOWNLOAD (in both MP3 and FLAC formats). I haven't heard Portmanteau (2009) yet, but the previous two are worth checking out. Although it's a solo studio project (with drum programming, keyboards, samples), it's also kind of metal (with blast beats, chunky riffs, and pompous arrangements). I think this would find an audience if it got a record-label release: it's pretty catchy, it's heavy, it's not too cheesy, but seems kind of fun.
Also, I like this quote:
"It costs me absolutely nothing to create the music. Zero dollars. I record all the guitars and bass straight into my laptop and program the drums using this one sequencing program, then I mix and master everything myself. The only thing that costs money are guitar strings, but I have a full-time job so it’s no big deal. If you paid money for this you're a sucker. Headphones or very loud speakers are required, drugs are optional."
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There's more than one way to deal with money on the internet. maudlin of the Well (yes, first word not capitalized) took advance donations to fund an album, so now it's free. If you like it, thank the 87 people who stepped up (credited as Executive Producers)! Or donate yourself...
Encyclopaedia Metallum calls them "Avant-garde Progressive Metal," but this has barely any metal in it. Sounds more like "Mellow Symphonic Progressive Indie" to me. Part the Second (2009) is their 4th album, so maybe they've changed a lot. Regardless, you can DOWNLOAD MP3's or CD quality (bottom right, streaming at LISTEN). There are five long songs, with long names like "Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder)," in multi-parts. It's mostly quiet and melodic, with some classical instrumentation over the standard pop line-up, and the occasional guitar rock section/solo. Each song also has it's own large-format watercolor painting - so it's a real deluxe (free) package. I was actually a little surprised to like this, but it's got a certain appeal.
[When extracting, the long path/filenames can exceed Windows' maximum length - so if you have trouble, unzip in a 'root' folder like C:\, rename files to a normal length, and move where you want.]
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