Venus Hum - Switched on Christmas (Special Edition)

Tennessee electro band Venus Hum recently released their album Mechanics and Mathematics, and in turn that brought me to this free Christmas EP they are offering for download.  You can download the entire album or individual tracks.

1. Let It Snow
2. Suzy Snowflake
3. Silent Night
4. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
5. Silver Bells
6. St Mary's Lake
7. What I Really Want for Christmas
8. The Christmas Song

Download

Bond - Jingle Bell Rock (Pussy Galore Mix)

This is a remix of 'Jingle Bell Rock', which appeared on the album Remixed.  I think it's kind of so-so, and you can't really tell it's 'Jingle Bell Rock'.

Bond - Jingle Bell Rock (Pussy Galore Mix)

Bond - Sugarplum

My favorite Christmas track by Bond is 'Sugarplum'.  This appeared on the Japansese version of Classified and the Classified Special Edition, which was released exclusively in Japan.

Bond - Sugarplum

Goldfrapp - Winter Wonderland

This is Goldfrapp's only Christmas song, a cover of 'Winter Wonderland' that appeared on a compilation album for Starbucks called Winter Wonderland.  It's a very nice track.

Goldfrapp - Winter Wonderland

Spice Girls - Sleigh Ride

This is the first Christmas song by the Spice Girls.  It was a b-side to the single 2 Become 1 (UK CD2).  Thanks to Spice Mates for the track and cover image.

Spice Girls - Sleigh Ride

Bond - Jingle Bell Rock

This is a cover of the famous 'Jingle Bell Rock' by the string quartet Bond.  This version is only available on the Marshall Fields disc Fab Field's Mix.

Bond - Jingle Bell Rock

Spice Girls - Christmas Wrapping

This is the second Christmas song the Spice Girls recorded - it's a cover of the song 'Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses.  It appeared as a b-side on the single Goodbye.

Spice Girls - Christmas Wrapping

Sarah Brightman - A Winter Symphony

Here is another holiday album from last year, Sarah Brightman's A Winter Symphony.

1. Arrival
2. Colder Than Winter
3. Ave Maria (Duet with Fernando Lima)
4. Silent Night
5. In the Bleak Midwinter
6. I've Been This Way Before
7. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
8. Child in a Manger
9. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
10. Amazing Grace
11. Ave Maria
12. I Believe in Father Christmas
13. Happy Christmas (War is Over)

Download

Enya - And Winter Came

This is Enya's holiday album And Winter Came, which was released last year.

1. And Winter Came
2. Journey of the Angels
3. White is in the Winter Night
4. O come, O come, Emmanuel
5. Trains and Winter Rains
6. Last Time by Moonlight
7. One Toy Soldier
8. Stars and Midnight Blue
9. The Spirit of Christmas Past
10. My! My!  Time Flies!
11. Oiche Chiúin (Chorale)

Download

Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster

Well, Lady GaGa's new album The Fame Monster was recently leaked.  Kinda wish I had posted it sooner, but oh well.  It's very good - I like it a bit better than her first.

Bad Romance

Alejandro
Monster
Speechless
Dance in the Dark
Telephone (featuring Beyonce)
So Happy I Could Die
Teeth

Clean | Explicit

Rebecca IV - Maybe Tomorrow

This is an album by the '80s Japanese rock group Rebecca.  I had this on tape when I was a kid, and I played it all the time, along with the lead singer Nokko's English language solo album.

1. HOT SPICE
2. PRIVATE HEROINE
3. Cotton Time
4. 76th Star
5. hikari to kage no yuuwaku
6. BOTTOM LINE
7. GIRLS, BRAVO!
8. FRIENDS
9. London Boy
10. Maybe Tomorrow

 
Download (Mirror)

Zombie Girl - Back from the Dead

This is Zombie Girl's first EP, released in 2006.

1. Creepy Crawler
2. We Are The Ones
3. Bleeder
4. I Want It
5. Creepy Crawler (KMFDM Remix)
6. I Want It (Soman Remix)
7. We Are The Ones (Rotting Corpse Mix by IOC/Seb)

Download

Zombie Girl - Blood, Brains & Rock 'N' Roll

This is the second album by the Canadian industrial-rock group Zombie Girl.  The songs are inspired by zombies and B horror movies.  This is the 2-disc special edition.

1. Blood, Brains & Rock 'N' Roll
2. Jesus Was A Zombie
3. Creature of Night
4. Living Dead Superstars
5. Go Zombie
6. Creepy Crawler (Album Edit)
7. Dance of the Headless Corpse
8. The Darkness
9. Today
10. Gonna Getcha
11. Funeral Pyre
12. Prey
13. Fading Away (ZG Version)
14. Untitled Bonus Track
15. Bonesniffer
16. Jesus Was A Zombie (Mortiis Version)
17. Bleeder (Industrial Strength Mix by Seb)
18. Symphony of the Living Dead
19. Symphony of the Living Dead (Part II)
20. Trioxin (Instru-Mental)
21. We Are The Ones (Lounge Version)
22. Sex (I'm A)
23. Elsie
24. Screams from the Cemetary
25. House of 1000 Corpses (Bonus Track)
26. Flesheater's Online (A Message to the World)

Download

Chris Vrenna - American McGee's Alice

It's almost Halloween, so I decided to upload some 'spooky' music that would be perfect for a Halloween party or haunted house.  This is the music score from the late '90s video game American McGee's Alice, composed by Chris Vrenna.  It's very spooky and I just love the music and the game.  The RAR file also contains two tracks that are not on the CD that was released - the version of 'Flying on the Wings of Steam' that plays on the game's main menu and the music that plays during the final battle (called 'The Red Queen').  I took these directly from the game's files.

1. Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
2. Village of the Doomed
3. Fortress of Doors
4. Fire and Brimstone
5. Wonderland Woods
6. The Funhouse
7. Skool Daze
8. Time to Die
9. I'm Not Edible
10. Taking Tea in Dreamland
11. Fungiferous Flora
12. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum
13. The Centipede
14. Pandemonium
15. Flying on the Wings of Steam (misspelled as 'Stream')
    
16. Late to the Jabberwocky
17. Pool of Tears
18. Battle with the Red Queen
19. A Happy Ending
20. Flying on the Wings of Steam (Remix)
21. Flying on the Wings of Steam (Menu Version)
22. The Red Queen

Download

Shakira - She Wolf

Shakira's long-awaited new album 'She Wolf', which sounds very electro.

1. She Wolf
   
2. Did It Again
3. Long Time
4. Why Wait
5. Good Stuff
6. Men In This Town
7. Gypsy
8. Spy (featuring Wyclef Jean)
9. Mon Amour
10. Lo Hecho Está Hecho
11. Años Luz 
12. Loba

Download

Simian Mobile Disco - Temporary Pleasure

Second album from Simian Mobile Disco.

1. Cream Dream
2. Audacity of Huge
3. 10,000 Horses Can't Be Wrong
4. Cruel Intentions
5. Off The Map
6. Synthesise
7. Bad Blood
8. Turn Up The Dial
9. Ambulance
10. Pinball

Download

Dragonette - Fixin to Thrill

Here's something a bit newer.  ;-)  Canadian band Dragonette recently released their second album 'Fixin to Thrill'.  I like it better than their first one.

1. Fixin To Thrill
2. Gone Too Far
3. Liar
4. Stupid Grin
5. Easy
6. Pick Up The Phone
7. We Rule The World
8. Big Sunglasses
9. Okay Dalore
10. Come On Be Good
11. You're A Disaster
12. Don't Be Funny

Download

Moa - Universal Album Sampler

A long time ago (probably ten years ago now) I bought an issue of Rolling Stone because it came with a free CD.  This was the CD that it came with.  It's an album sampler for the Icelandic singer Moa.  This was sponsored by Calvin Klein jeans, and you can see Moa wearing their clothes in the image above.  A few years ago I found her album on Amazon.  You can download the album at the Isle of Deserted Pop Stars.

What I did was use the program MusicBee to create a one-track FLAC file of the entire disc.  It contains the full song 'Joy & Pain' and snippets of 'Toy', 'Memory Cloud', 'Overcome' and 'Joy & Pain (Dimtri from Paris Remix)'.  Since it is an FLAC file, it's really big (about 71 MB).

Download

3rd Party - 'Can U Feel It' and 'Love is Alive'

I bought these two singles a long time ago, back when they actually came out.  I didn't know much about the group at all - back then I had a thing for girl groups (and still do, lol).  I finally bought their album last year - you can download it and learn more about the group at the Isle of Departed Pop Stars.

1. Can U Feel It (LCD Radio Edit)
2. Can U Feel It (LCD Galactica Edit)

Download

1. Love Is Alive
2. Love Is Alive (LCD's Return to Galactica Edit)
3. Love Is Alive (Stone's Anthem Mix)
4. Love Is Alive (LCD's Return to Galactica Mix)
5. Love Is Alive (Cibola Left Coast Trip Mix)

Download

Peach Union - On My Own

I heard the remix of this song on the radio and really liked it - at the time I did not know it was a remix, so I was surprised at the radio edit of the song.  I still like the remix better, but the original has grown on me.  I downloaded the full album at the Isle of Departed Pop Stars but it was kind of 'meh' for me.

1. On My Own (Single Mix)
2. On My Own (RH Factor Radio Edit)
3. Higher Ground

Download

Qkumba Zoo - The Child (Inside)

I have both the single and maxi single for this song - what I have here is the single.  I can rip the maxi as soon as I find it.  ;-)  But the album art above isn't for the single, at least not for the one I have.  Anyway, I was very intrigued by the album art for this single so I decided to grab it, and really liked the song.  I bought the maxi and soon after that got the album.  The album can be downloaded from the Isle of Deserted Pop Stars, where you can also learn a little more about the band. 

1. The Child (Inside) [Radio Mix]
2. The Child (Inside) [Berman Brothers Remix Edit]
3. Wake Up & Dream [Album Snippets]

Download

Tia - Cars

I remember buying Tia's debut album way back in 1996 or so, around when it was released.  I really liked it, so when I saw this single at the local Wal Mart I had to have it, since 'Cars' by Gary Numan is one of my favorite '80s tracks.  Tia's version has some new lyrics written by Tia herself and Sunne, and it was produced by Sir Mix-A-Lot.  You can download her debut album at The Isle of Deserted Pop Stars.

1. Cars (Intake Mix)
2. Cars (Elevation Mix)
3. Cars (Convertible Mix)
4. Cars (Nitrous Ultimix)
5. Cars (Injected Instrumental)

Download

Geri Halliwell - Look At Me

 

Image Credit:  Lone Star Spice

'Look At Me' was Geri's debut solo single, released in 1999.  Sadly, it only went to number 2 on the UK charts, and I don't think it did well at all in the US.  Below is the tracklising for the single, and I included the US edit, which removes the Shirley Bassey-ish bridge.

1. Look At Me
2. Look At Me (Mark!s Big Vocal Mix Sugary Edit)
3. Look At Me (Terminalhead Remix)
4. Look At Me (US Radio Edit)

Download (Mediafire folder)

Bond - The Four Seasons

 

Album art made by me.

Earlier this year Bond released a free EP based on Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' as part of a promotion for Peugeot.  It is their first release with new member Elspeth Hanson. 

1. Autumn
2. Spring
3. Summer
4. Winter 

Ladytron - Songs from The Sims 3

Ladytron produced three new tracks for the popular PC game The Sims 3.  They also provided an instrumental version of 'Ghost' for The Sims 2.

1. Young Etruscians
2. She Stepped Out Of The Car
3. Rockfalls and Estuaries
4. Ghosts (Instrumental)
   

Kaori - Flow

According to this Last FM profile, Kaori is a Japanese singer.  I saw this on iTunes, previewed it and liked it.  It's more like downtempo house.

1.  Liquid Room
2.  Mawaru Sekai
3.  Night World
4.  Open Your Window
5.  Make Me Crazy
6.  Shiranai Sekai
7.  Time Liner
8.  Waving
9.  Butterfly
10.  Cold Play
11.  Cruisin' Pink Cadillac

Download

Huski - Strangelove tracks

 

I am very much looking forward to the UK duo Huski's second album, called Strangelove.  According to their MySpace page, the album has gone to manufacturing.  Fortunately, there are some tracks from the album on their MySpace music player.  Last year I managed to save the following tracks onto my computer.

1. First Light
2. Front Row Seat
3. Senseless

Download

Sarah Brightman - Amalfi (Love Songs)

'Amalfi' is a collection of previously released songs, compiled to promote the Japanese film 'Amalfi' in which Sarah appears in. This compilation was released only in Japan, but Sarah's official store is selling imports to fans outside Japan. The CD has a booklet with new photos.

01. Time to Say Goodbye (solo version) - Classics
02. La Wally - Classics
03. Il Mio Cuore Va - Eden, Diva
04. O Mio Babbino Caro - Classics
05. Anytime, Anywhere - Eden
06. Attesa - Symphony
07. Lascia Ch'io Pianga - Eden, Classics
08. Nella Fantasia - Eden, Diva
09. La Luna - La Luna
10. Solo Con Te - La Luna
11. Ave Maria (Schuber). - Classics
12. Until The End Of Time - Harem
13. Storia D'Amore - Symphony
14. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - A Winter Symphony
15. La Califfa - La Luna
16. Serenade - La Luna
17. How Fair This Place - La Luna
18. Amazing Grace - A Winter Symphony
19. Nessun Dorma - Eden

Download

Little Boots - Illuminations EP

 

Little Boots recently released an EP called 'Illuminations', which as some tracks from her debut album 'Hands' as well as a couple of non-album tracks.  The iTunes version included the music video for 'New In Town' and a booklet with lyrics.

1. New In Town
2. Stuck On Repeat
3. Not Now
4. Magical
5. Love Kills

Download

Instrumentals, Part 1

I am an avid collector of instrumental versions of popular songs, and even have instrumental versions of entire albums.  I've been collecting them since 1999 or so.  I know that other blogs have 'instrumental megaposts' but I don't think they have the instrumentals I've managed to collect over the years.

Here are some real instrumentals of some of the latest songs (not unofficial karaoke versions), and yes, these have probably been seen on other sites.  Thing is, all my old ones are on my external hard drive, of which is attached to another computer at the moment.

Lady GaGa - Just Dance (Instrumental)

Lady GaGa - Poker Face (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Womanizer (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Circus (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Gimme More (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Radar (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Break the Ice (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Breathe on Me (Instrumental)

Britney Spears - Early Mornin (Instrumental)

Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin Better (Instrumental)

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Instrumental)

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (Instrumental)

TLC - No Scrubs (Instrumental)

Girls Aloud - No Good Advice (Instrumental)

Girls Aloud - Sexy No No No (Instrumental)

Mono - Life in Mono (Instrumental)

All Saints - Rock Steady (Instrumental)

The Lady GaGa and Britney Spears instrumentals you see here (except for Early Mornin) come from Onlyvipmedia.  The  'Relax' and 'Enjoy the Silence' instrumentals come from Heat My Deck.  The Christina instrumental and the Girls Aloud instrumental also come from Onlyvipmedia and I can't remember where I got the TLC instrumental from.

I have all of Britney's singles in instrumental form...I will post that shortly.

Music from other blogs

I've decided that it would be easier to, on occasion, post links to other blog entries containing music I've downloaded. This will save me some bandwidth.

Heat My Deck: Fever Ray

Karin from The Knife has released her debut album under the name Fever Ray. It's what you'd expect - sounds very much like The Knife. I thought it was pretty good. You can also find this on iTunes and Amazon MP3.

Love Kylie: X2008 Mixes

I Love Kylie Minogue, and I was excited to find some fanmade studio mixes based on the live performances of the X Tour.

Pop Music Zone: Svala - The Real Me
This is an album released by Icelandic popstar Svala back in 2001. A lot of comparisons were made to Britney Spears. She is now a member of a band called Steed Lord - they do electro music.

relaxmusic: A Camp - Colonia
I think this is by The Cardigans...very interesting, so I had to download it. I will edit this after I listen to it.

Favorite releases of 2008

I meant to do this ages ago on my other blog, but never got around to doing it.  Anyway, these are some of my favorite releases of 2008.  Some were released recently and are still getting buzz and whatnot.

Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Ladyhawke
Ladytron - Velocifero
Sarah Brightman - Symphony
Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin Better (A Decade of Hits) - Only the four new tracks
Kylie Minogue - X
Tatu - Happy Smiles
Lady GaGa - The Fame
Seal - System
The Saturdays - Chasing Lights
Bitter:Sweet - Drama
Goldfrapp - iTunes Sessions

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

Within Temptation - Black Symphony

Portishead - Third

I should note that Kylie's album X was released in the US in April, 2008 (whereas it had been released worldwide in late 2007).

Goldfrapp Instrumentals

I am a huge Goldfrapp fan and probably have nearly every single song they've ever done.  I recently acquired two really rare promo albums (well, back in December).  Not the actual ALBUMS, but the tracks from the albums in mp3 format.  Apparently, someone posted both of them on the official Goldfrapp forums (the links and threads were promptly removed).  These two albums spread to other blogs, and I was able to snag them both by doing a search on Google.

Anyway, if you haven't looked at the entry's title yet, it's the instrumental versions of the 'Supernature' and 'Seventh Tree' albums.  Both are completely legit and are not fan-made ones made using some filtering program (in my search I did find the 'filtered' fan-made version of 'Seventh Tree', where you could still hear the vocals).

Supernature (Instrumentals)

Seventh Tree (Instrumentals)

Intro Post

I plan on posting my favorite music here, as I find them. I don't know how often I can post, since I maintain another popular-ish blog (unrelated) and I have school. So yeah.


I originally had a blog at Blog.com (http://crimson-tears.blog.com/) and you can find music there, but I liked Blogger better, and everyone else is using Blogger, plus I can customize the layout, so I decided to move here.  I chose 'Koko Nights' because it's the most creative thing I could think of after looking through my music collection (it's inspired by Goldfrapp; a fan remixer called Idaho made a compilation called 'Koko Nights', which is very good).

Most music will be dumped into my Mediafire folders, as it makes uploading easy.  Otherwise, any albums I post will be packed into zip or rar archives and posted to my Mediafire or Rapidshare account. Most Windows and Mac users won't need to download and install any additional software to open zip files, but if you are running Windows, you can download a program called WinRAR to open rar archives, and if you are running Mac OS X you can download StuffIt Expander or an open-source application called UnRarX.

Most files will be in mp3 format unless otherwise specified. They will be hosted on Rapidshare.com or Mediafire. If a link goes down, you can let me know it's down by posting a comment. It might take a while for me to get around to reposting it, though.

I cannot claim responsibility for what you do with the files once you download them. Technically, these are only for previewing and you have to delete them within 24 hours of downloading them. At least, that's what I have to say.