It’s the last day of The 12 Days of Dronemas! Today (and for a few more days) you can get the latest Dirty Knobs album BEDLAM —Soundtrack to a Film that Hasn’t Been Made Based on a Novel that Hasn’t Been Written— for FREE!

BEDLAM is the first real concept album since 2011’s Field Recordings from the Edge of Hell. Where that achieved the mood through extreme length, BEDLAM instead hopes to drive the narrative through both the song titles and their content. That said, it’s still a very murky, blurry album that leave much to the imagination, which was also the point.

You can read more about it here.

Thanks to everyone who has made the past 11 Days of Dronemas a success. Hundreds of albums have been given away and new ears have been reached. I don’t yet know exactly what 2014 will hold, but I hope it’s better for all of us.

Thanks so much,
-Zac / Dirty Knobs / Xero Music

It’s the 12 Days of Dronemas, day 10! Today’s free offering is the Halloween-in-spirit album Hallow.

When October shows us its shadowed face, Hallow follows close behind, often with a few extra friends. While those hangers-on may be still sleeping, the core is here for you now and ready to whisper troubling things at you.

It’s The 12 Days of Dronemas, Day 9! Today explores the cold, lifeless and incredibly small world of the Higgs Boson, with the 30 minute song of the same name FREE today!

This song is an exploration of the original sonification data relating to the search for the Higgs Boson. More info on the project can be found here.

This attempt takes the same core notes and adds layers, textures and other effects to turn events of extreme brevity into explorable fields of sound.

Let’s get small.

It’s The 12 Days of Dronemas, Day 7, and today’s free album is My Little Drony!

This was another album released on April 1st, 2013. Yes, it’s a bit of a spoof, but also true to its intentions. It is indeed a version of the My Little Pony opening theme song. Just…a bit dark.

Friendship is black magic!

 

12 Days of Dronemas, Day 6 – Free today: La Tortue Diabolique!

This was one of two rather mysterious albums that came out on April 1st, 2013. La Tortue Diabolique is a “tribute” to a local bluegrass-nouveau band called Trampled By Turtles. I thought it would be fun to take one of their “fast” songs and turn it inside out into a cover/remix.

Who says drone can’t be fun?

==

ps: Day 6! That means we’re halfway through Dronemas already. I hope you’re enjoying it. One week to go. I hope you’ve set aside some hard-drive space. Thanks so much for spreading the word and sharing the releases with so many people. It’s been a very very busy year and I’m not sure what to expect in 2014 yet. Some things are brewing, and I hope to make live shows a priority. Anyway, thanks again.

12 Days of Dronemas, Day 5. Free today: The Drone and the Use of the Drone.

“The Drone and the Use of the Drone (Parts I, III and VII)” was improvised and recorded live in-studio on 08/30/2013. These parts were originally improvised in a live Dirty Knobs performance at Sacred Heart in Duluth, MN, at the Umbrella Cloud Festival on 08/25/2013. It contains a sample from NPR’s Morning Edition featuring Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

The second track, “Unmanned,” is a new composition recorded in the same spirit.

Fly it over a friend.

12 Days of Dronemas! Day 4! Ghost Geometry! Free today!

4 hours of fuzzed-out ghost-space exploration. Share it with an invisible friend.

It’s The 12 Days of Dronemas, Day 3. I Am Sitting In An Infinite Room is free today!

The best way to understand what is going on with this one is to first read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Sitting_in_a_Room

This iteration of the experiment also adds a bit of time stretching into the mix, playing the results back into the room and then stretching that recording, playing it back again, etc etc. The result not only captures the resonant frequencies of the room, but also explores the space around them. This is probably the most truly experimental Dirty Knobs release to-date. It builds upon Alvin Lucier’s original “I Am Sitting In A Room” recording and includes an entirely original attempt.

It’s Day 2 of The 12 Days of Dronemas where we’re giving away a different Dirty Knobs album every day to thank you for your long suffering support.

Today’s free album is actually just one 40 minute song. It’s a remix of avant-cellist Zoe Keating’s song “Escape Artist.” This was originally done as something of a fan project, but Zoe liked it so much that she allowed it to be released.

Her looped song structures are amazing and you should really check out all of her stuff. It has faint elements of drone that I think many DK fans will like and often has a dark tinge to the edges. She also has a lot of insightful, no-nonsense things to say about the world of digital music, life as a musician and tech in general. You would do well to follow her.

music.zoekeating.com

Again, thanks to everyone for sharing, downloading, reviewing and generally being brilliant.