Album / Artist: DUDELDRUM

DUDELDRUM
cover art

DUDELDRUM is both the name of a band and of their first free album. The band is Russian, but the sound is a mix of Celtic, rock and other influences. The band suggests that their sound is similar to Corvus Corax, whose instrument arrangement also includes extensive use of bagpipes, drums and electric guitar. While a bit less refined a sound than Corvus Corax, I very much appreciate the creativity of DUDELDRUM.

Cascade is a particular favorite of mine for managing to be somewhat trance-like with bagpipes. Not something I would have considered, previously...

Skaz is also a fun and frenetic piece that's worth listening to. I might consider adding it to my "stay awake while driving" mix.

The album certainly isn't for everyone, but I'd suggest giving it a try. At the very least, you will not come away from disappointed that it was just more of the same...

Val Davis raising funds for a new Album

Cover of Val Davis's first album

Val Davis, whose first album is a rock/country/folk hybrid called Immortal, is raising money for a second album. His first work was characterized by an acoustic sense of open spaces, wonder and humor, best summed up by the dreamy Texas Sky and the tongue-in-cheek Court of Greedy Kings. I suggest giving the album a try (the Jamendo download has some really annoying song naming problems with underscores all over the place (intentional?) but you can find it on Amazon's MP3 download service for just $9 if you want to save the time in correcting song names.

Anyway, if you like it, consider contributing to his next album. I'd love to see more patronized free music production, and to that end, I've already thrown a few dollars his way.