As of the time of this writing, not even a year after it’s launch, WFMU’s Free Music Archive already boasts nearly 18,000 free music tracks from a wide array of genres. It’s an interesting collection in that it not only features music that comes from the world of netaudio/netlabels, but many signed indie artists can be found among the FMA’s selection as well. It’s definitely an incredible archive of music to explore!

After a good three months of listening to thousands of FMA tracks, I somehow managed to whittle the selection down to 11 exceptional gems. It was really a difficult choice, but in the end the final line-up proves to be a terrific mix of Rock, Pop, Punk, Indie, Trip-Hop and even a splash of humor thrown in for good measure.

A special thanks to Jason Sigal over at WFMU and FMA who was most helpful in getting me access to lossless copies of the two Live At WFMU tracks which are featured here. Thanks also to the labels, artists and to CASH Music for participating and helping me pull together all that was needed to make this release happen.

Finally, thank you! For downloading, listening and sharing this release. I hope you enjoy this release as much as did putting it together.

Download the complete release here!

Peace
Mike Gregoire
Founder/Curator blocSonic.com

Boy do we have a treat for you this Tuesday! We’ve got a special netBloc release focusing on Creative Commons licensed gems from the vast WFMU Free Music Archive. After spending a few months listening to thousands of tracks, 11 tracks were finally selected. Let me tell you it was incredibly difficult to whittle the list down to 10-11 tracks, somehow it was done.

Until Tuesday, enjoy this tasty morsel from the release!

We set things off in 2007 with our premiere release, “netBloc Vol. 1: The Opening Salvo”. Even at that early stage, I knew that I wanted blocSonic to be a bit more than your standard “netlabel”. I didn’t want blocSonic to be completely self-serving… it was to be a promotional vehicle for netlabels, artists and the netaudio culture. However, what I didn’t know was if artists and netlabels were going to be supportive of the compilation idea and send me lossless versions of their music to be included. Happily my worries were for naught. Everyone involved has been extremely supportive over the years and my positive experience with the netBloc series got me thinking about original releases. Our first original release was back in February 2009, Just Plain Ant’s “Dig Deep”. Well here we are nearly a year later and I’ve got another premiere release for you to enjoy and it’s the talented Just Plain Ant bringing it once again!

So what is the Xtended Edition (XE) series? Before answering that question, let me start by explaining why the XE series. In the first 3 years of putting together the netBloc series, I’ve seen netlabels come and go. Some of those netlabels who’ve gone inactive had some very talented artists among their rosters and those artists’ releases have languished since the apparent demise of their labels. That got me thinking about re-releases and what form a re-release would take on blocSonic. I began to think about the many ways that the mainstream music industry have handled it. One particular re-release format that I’ve liked (when Universal has done it with classic albums) is the “Deluxe Edition” series. Universal’s series usually consists of the first disc being the original release and a second disc containing perviously unreleased material – demos, outtakes & alternate versions. Well our XE series is quite similar, though in the future won’t be limited to two discs. Each release in this series will feature the originally released album and at least one other disc containing demos, outtakes, alternate versions & remixes. Where we stray from the “Deluxe Edition” model is that each of ours will also feature completely new album art. As with all our releases, each is made available in three high-quality audio formats — FLAC, 320kbs MP3 & 192kbs MP3.

After deciding to go forward with our own special format of re-releases it was time to approach the artists. Among the releases that got me thinking about re-releases in the first place was Just Plain Ant’s “Fly”. An excellent release he released via Jamendo that I felt was worth more shine. Unfortunately that was not to be. As happens often, artists sometimes grow weary of early releases that they feel no longer represent their sound to the fullest. I could respect that. However, Ant was interested in seeing his terrific Just Plain Sounds release “Songs About Something” re-released in this format. At first I was hesitant, only because my original plan was to resurrect releases from netlabels who’ve shut down. That hesitation didn’t last long though. I quickly adapted the plan to include releases of living and breathing netlabels. However way you look at it, the goal of the Xtended Edition series is to bring more exposure to releases.

With the release of “Songs About Something XE” the evolution of blocSonic continues. This edition of Just Plain Ant’s foray into the world of trip-hop and downtempo delivers over two hours of soulful, chilled beats! Disc one is the original album in it’s entirety and disc two is packed with new Just Plain Ant songs and remixes by RVA (Richmond, Virginia) talents such as Annu, Oh.Bliv, Sleaze and Rowan. So, thanks again for downloading and listening. I hope you enjoy this premiere XE release, there are more on the way! As always, if you dig this release… spread it around… share with friends… share with strangers… share it with anyone.

Check out the album here.

Peace
Mike Gregoire
Founder/Curator blocSonic.com

This fantastic release has been in the works since ETHX first contacted blocSonic back in May. In it you’ll find a few high-profile peeps he’s managed to connect with – folks like Boots Riley who you may know from The Coup, Zumbi from Zion-I and Myron Glasper who’s sung background vocals for everyone from MC Lyte to Blackalicious to Lyrics Born. Among the names you may know, you’ll also find incredibly talented MCs and vocalists who you may not know. One of those talented MCs is Nate Mezmer who's presence plays an integral part in making this collection feel like more than just a producer's showcase. Once again, blocSonic brings you real hip-hop with a touch of R&B… this fresh sound comes to you straight out of Northern California.

I want to say thanks to ETHX for approaching blocSonic in the first place and his guests for being part of what’s become “Boom To Bloom”. Welcome to the blocSonic fam!

We hope you enjoy this release and it gets heavy rotation in all your portable devices, CD players and computers. If you dig it, don’t forget to spread the word… share it with anyone and everyone you can.

One more thing… be sure to check out Netwaves tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 27^th for the latest episode which features blocSonic/netBloc music and an interview with me. The live broadcast is 22:00-01:00 GMT+1 / 4:00-7:00PM EST / 1:00-4:00PM PST and it can be heard via this link. After the live broadcast you can subscribe to the Netwaves podcast or you can download it directly from the Netwaves website. Thanks to netwaves for thinking blocSonic interesting enough to feature!

Check out ETHX “Boom To Bloom” here.

Peace
Mike Gregoire
Founder/Curator blocSonic.com

Hip-hop is an incredibly diverse musical genre that has a bad reputation no thanks to the American mainstream branch of it. People who write-off hip-hop as idiotic, materialistic, violent or misogynistic are only getting a small slice of what it’s about. Since hip-hop has become international there are a wide array of ideas about what hip-hop should be today in 2009 and beyond. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the music will gladly give you their opinion about what “real” hip-hop is. Truth be told, after 30 plus years of existence, there is no “real” hip-hop. Hip-hop emcees, DJs and producers come from all walks of life. With such a wide variety of backgrounds, there can be no definitive hip-hop sound. Since there can be no definitive sound, there’s no reason to disregard hip-hop music that uses classic New York blueprints as the jump off for something fresh and new. Just as there’s a place for rock artists to try and capture a classic 60s and 70s vibe in their new recordings, there’s certainly a place for hip-hop producers, DJs and emcees to try and capture a vibe that’s widely regarded as classic.

With “Classic Material Vol. 3: UI Radio”, CM aka Creative, his various collaborators and producers all present to you hip-hop that’s both new and classic. Musically it reflects back to an early/mid 90s sound, topically, it captures all that a young, struggling and striving American emcee has on his mind. It’s the 3rd part in a series of releases which began at the netlabel Random Flow.

When it became clear to CM that Random Flow had become inactive, he approached me about releasing Vol. 3 through blocSonic. Having enjoyed both Vols. 1 & 2, I was instantly interested. I hope you’ll enjoy this release as much as I do. If you dig it, be sure to check out the previous volumes.

Thanks to CM for coming to blocSonic. Thanks to you for downloading and enjoying. As always, share this release with anyone and everyone.

Grab it here!

Peace
Mike Gregoire
Founder/Curator blocSonic.com

On Tuesday, October 6th, we’re dropping netBloc Vol. 24. It’s a release which features yet another fantastic collection of netaudio gems that once again proves that some of the best music being released today is being released under a Creative Commons license. One of my favorites of this set is the incredible Paper Navy indie-pop track, “Tongue Tied”. It’s a smart, addictive and immaculately produced song originally released on the excellent free album, “all grown up”.

I hope you enjoy this track as much as I do! Be sure to check back on Tuesday, October 6th for the complete blocSonic release, “netBloc Vol. 24: tiuqottigeloot”.

What I’ve got for you today is a preview of the next fresh blocSonic hip-hop release. The release is “Classic Material Vol. 3: UI Radio” by CM aka Creative, the 3rd installment in his Classic Material series which began at Random Flow. The track is “The Cycle” which also features Mista Mista and production by Doctor Becket. A sentimental call for peeps to do something, on a personal level, to help put an end to the seemingly endless cycle of inner-city violence. Classic material, indeed.

UI Radio is set to drop on Tuesday, October 27th. If you dig “The Cycle”, be sure to come back and grab the whole free release in FLAC or MP3.