Grab the latest mix by Simon Hayes recorded in Tacheles, Berlin. It’s a one hour journey covering new electronic releases on some Irish labels including Takeover Recordings, Stasis, Mantrap, Kaboogie, Second Square To None, Acroplane and of course Invisible Agent.

Simon has crammed in 23 tracks in just over an hour. With artists such as Lakker, Ed Devane, The Banker, Rory St John and plenty of other heavy hitters it’s well worth a listen. Download and play it loud.

Bump Foot is a non-profit Netlabel based in Japan. Created in 2005 by Tatsu, there are two branches of the label. Bump which releases House and Techno while Foot concentrates on Ambient, IDM and Electro. The artists roster has contributors from every corner of the planet, making it even more exciting to explore the wealth of releases on this Netlabel.

Tatsu is obviously doing an excellent job of filtering demo submissions, judging from the release count of over 300 albums & singles. Surely he’s inundated with incoming material! With such a busy and extensive release schedule you’ll spend hours exploring the site. I’ve noted Samwell’s ambient dubby techno soundscapes on the bump side and Julien Mier’s wonderful acoustic post rock IDM excursions on the foot side. With such high quality releases it leaves me no choice but to download the entire catalogue. I’m not sure how Tatsu manages to fit in time to release his own music but he’s doing an amazing job. Enjoy acquainting yourself with this diverse and high calibre Netlabel.

Welcome to my new Netlabel tracker. Suitably named with a nod to the historical events surrounding the creation and expansion of Netlabels from the tracker scene in the 90′s. For this first instalment it gives me great pleasure to (re)introduce the fabulous Forest Records.

Forest Records is the musical wing of the Forest. 100′s of bands and musicians have composed, performed and decomposed in the Forest since its birth in the heart of Edinburgh in 2000. Forest Records exists to promote, support and record for posterity some of those times, talents and tunes.

The Forest Cafe – The one true bastion of multifaceted goodness in Edin’s burgh (Peter Escott)

The Forest collective consists of over 20 artists. The multi talented crew include Caro Bridges, CMG, Ragland, Sycamore Drive and our very own Danseizure to name but a few. Between them they cover a spectrum of musical stylings including but not limited to ambient soundscapes, electronica and singer-songwriter recordings.  The download page is ridiculously easy to use and you can grab all the singles and albums including artwork in just a few clicks. Get downloading now at forestrecords. Enjoy the free music.

Looking for some fresh new music to listen too? fed up of scouring file sharing networks or the sea of 99 cent downloads on iTunes? do you need some inspiration? Take a break from your usual digital haunts because over the coming months I’ll be sharing links to a selection of excellent Netlabels. Not only will you discovery some amazing new music but it’s free (as in beer), legal and high quality.

Netlabels

A Netlabel is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats (such as MP3 Ogg Vorbis FLAC or WAV) over the Internet. Netlabel releases, a.k.a Netaudio is still considered a niche within the music business. But higher quality production techniques, new licensing systems and cheaper Internet access are all acting as catalysts for the growing importance and impact of Netlabels.

If you think that Netlabels only release pounding techno or strange bleep music you’re in for a surprise. I’ve discovered a wealth of high quality Jazz, Downtempo, Chillout, Lounge, House, Indie…. the list is endless. Free aural lunch, yes! stay tuned as I share some of my favourites for you to feast on.