Category Archives: brendan

Massenet: Meditation from Thais

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By: Brendan

Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs is one of the most beautiful pieces ever composed. Even if you don’t recognize the title, it’s likely you’ve heard it in a movie or commercial – it recently appeared on the soundtrack to Liberal Arts. You can download a recording featuring Scottish violinist Nicola Benedett and French pianist Julien Quentin at the Gardner Museum Music Library.

Massenet – Méditation from Thaïs (mp3 download page)

Benedetti was also featured on a recent Tiny Desk Concert, performing the theme from Schindler’s List and the Chaconne from Bach’s Partita for Solo Violin. I also love her version of Spiegel Im Spiegel.

l’Orange: Old Soul

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By: Brendan

Browsing Bandcamp, the Billie Holiday cover art to l’Orange’s Old Soul caught my attention. The music is not for everybody – some may find it repetitive – but I love it, film clips and all. You will hear Billie Holiday as never before, and another unique voice, that of Kelsey Lu. On “Lost Souls,” you’ll also hear Hassaan Mackey spitting those rhymes. I love the fact that “I’ll Be Seeing You” is sampled on the final track, “The Mourning.” The word transcendent is overused these days, but this one fits the definition: extending beyond the limits of ordinary experience. You can download the entire album for free below…

Derek Clegg: Free Album Downloads

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By: Brendan

All Those Days to Feel Better is the latest release from busy Chicago-based singer-songwriter Derek Clegg. It’s a wonderfully twangy collection of songs. That album as well as several others by Clegg are available for free download at Bandcamp and the Free Music Archive.

Free Album Download: Alabama Shakes, Kodaline, Stars & more!

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By: Brendan

One of my favorite songs this past year has been “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes – it is now available for download as a free, legal mp3 on Amazon as part of the MTV Artists Sampler. Kodaline, Stars, Everest, Samantha Crain, and Two Gallants are among the other artists featured.

Free Amazon Album Download

Marium Bria: Billet Doux

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By: Brendan

Listening to my ipod on shuffle, an unfamiliar track came on and I thought to myself: “Is this Norah Jones?” The singer was Marium Bria, a singer/songwriter based in Charleston, West Virginia. Marium Bria’s voice is like Norah Jones fused with Julie London – I yearn for her to record a jazz standards collection. Bria’s coruscating lyrics prove the profundity of simple love songs.

Some highlights from Marium Bria’s debut album, Billet Doux, include the appealingly Dylanesque “It’s Alright,” the bluesy “Die For Me,” and “In the Midnight,” which cries out for placement on the soundtrack to the upcoming Before Midnight. “You and me and the night makes three…“

You can stream selected tracks from the album here and purchase at the links below.

BUY @ AMAZON

Buy @ CDBaby

Marium Bria Official Site

James Joyce: Dubliners

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By: Brendan

Dublin’s Wonderland Productions released a new audio recording of James Joyce’s Dubliners, just in time for me to purchase a copy at Hodges Figgis during a visit to Ireland last month. It is an immersing audio experience with music and sound effects.

You can listen to the audio trailer below and purchase a copy (for about quarter the price I paid!) at Amazon.

The collection is not quite complete, so I also recommend the recently released Librivox collection narrated by Dubliner Tadhg Hynes. You can also find my narration of the concluding story, “The Dead,” at Librivox.

Buy @ Amazon

Theo Tarsiguel: Free Album Download!

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Guest Post by Brendan

Theo Tarsiguel has released a solo piano album for free download from Noisetrade. The collection includes covers of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” and One Republic’s “Apologize” in addition to Theo’s versions of soundtrack pieces from The Intouchables, Amelie and Twilight.

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2

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By: Brendan

Another highlight of the upcoming WV Symphony 2013-2014 season is Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. You can download a version of it below, as performed by the Harlow Symphony Orchestra…

Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No. 2 (mp3 download page)

Hunx & His Punx: Lovers Lane Mp3!

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By: Brendan

I’m a couple of years late to the party on this one but, my goodness, I love this song. The Shangri-Las have been resurrected (with all due respect to the still rocking Mary Weiss)! Hunx & His Punx describe their music as “Hairdresser Pop.” You can download the free mp3 of their song, “Lovers Lane,” below…

Hunx & His Punx – Lovers Lane (mp3)*

*mp3 hosted & made publicly available by record label

More information and a second free download from the album Too Young to Be in Love available here.

BUY @ AMAZON

Richard Strauss: An Alpine Symphony Mp3!

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By: Brendan

Richard Strauss’ exhilarating symphonic tone poem, An Alpine Symphony, transports you along on a climb to the top of the Alps. It’s an often overlooked masterpiece and you can download it free thanks to Deutsche Welle. It was difficult to find credit, but I believe this recording is by Kent Nagano with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester.

Richard Strauss – An Alpine Symphony (mp3 download page)