I år har jag beslutat att inte köpa så många julklappar. Men även om de inte blir många till antalet, så hoppas jag att många kommer att få glädje av dem! Jag har idag gjort donationer till följande organisationer och artister:

Läkare Utan Gränser

En organisation som gör insatser och räddar liv där det behövs utan att ta politisk hänsyn.

• http://www.lakareutangranser.se/
• http://www.msf.org/

Missing People Sweden

En ideell organisation som hjälper personer att finna anhöriga som försvunnit. Till minne av Emil K.

• http://www.missingpeople.se/

Barncancerfonden

Cancer är skit. Punkt.

• http://www.barncancerfonden.se/

LukHash

En av mina favoritmusiker just nu. LukHash gör fantastisk elektronisk musik med hjälp av gamla spelkonsoler och datorer, såväl som elgitarrer och pianon. All musik från LukHash kan laddas hem gratis! Det senaste albumet, Falling Apart, släpptes 29 september i år.

• http://www.lukhash.com/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/353807/lukhash

Tryad

Tryads musik är inte bara gratis, den är fri. Det betyder att du kan använda den i egna projekt, både personliga och kommersiella, utan att fråga om lov eller betala licensavgifter. Hurra för fri kultur!

• http://tryad.org/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/104/tryad

Nina Paley

Nina är en förkämpe för fri kultur och alla hennes senaste verk är tillgängliga gratis för dig att avnjuta och remixa. Hennes seriestripp Mimi and Eunice kan läsas online och du kan ladda hem hennes film Sita Sings the Blues utan kostnad. Åter igen, hurra för fri kultur!

• http://blog.ninapaley.com/
• http://mimiandeunice.com/
• http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
• http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/11/11/how-to-free-your-work-video/

Linux Mint

• http://www.linuxmint.com/

Mint är ett fantastiskt trevligt alternativ till Windows. Det är gratis, fritt och användarvänligt. Det är sant att det kan vara bökigt att installera, men det kan du få hjälp med och när det är gjort så är det lätt att använda. Hurra för fri mjukvara!

God Jul!

—–

I have decided to buy only a few christmas gifts this year. But even though the number of presents is low, I’m hoping they will bring joy to a lot of people. Today, I have made donations to the following organizations and artists:

Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres

An organization that saves lives wherever it’s needed, without politics getting in the way.

• http://www.lakareutangranser.se/
• http://www.msf.org/

Missing People Sweden

A non-profit organization that helps people find relatives that have gone missing. In memory of Emil K.

• http://www.missingpeople.se/

Barncancerfonden / Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation

Cancer sucks ass. Period.

• http://www.barncancerfonden.se/

LukHash

One of my favorite musicians right now. LukHash creates awesome electronic music using old games consoles and computers, as well as electric guitars and pianos. All his music can be downloaded for free! His latest album, Falling Apart, was released on 29 September this year.

• http://www.lukhash.com/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/353807/lukhash

Tryad

Tryad’s music is not only free of charge, it is free-as-in-freedom. That means you are allowed to use it in your own projects, both personal and commercial, without asking permission or paying license fees. Hooray for free culture!

• http://tryad.org/
• http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/104/tryad

Nina Paley

Nina is a champion of free culture, and all her latest works are available for you to enjoy and remix, free of charge and free-as-in-freedom. Her comic strip Mimi and Eunice can be read on-line, and you can download her film Sita Sings the Blues. Again, hooray for free culture!

• http://blog.ninapaley.com/
• http://mimiandeunice.com/
• http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
• http://blog.ninapaley.com/2011/11/11/how-to-free-your-work-video/

Linux Mint

• http://www.linuxmint.com/

Linux Mint is a fantastic alternative to Microsoft Windows. It’s free of charge, free-as-in-freedom, and it’s user friendly. True, you can run into problems while installing it, but there are people who can help you, and when it’s done, Mint is easy to use. Hooray for free software!

Merry Christmas!

I also donated some money to LukHash through Jamendo.com.

I’ve pledged some money to Tryad and will probably do the actual donation tomorrow as I’m on my way to bed right now.

I’ll also be buying the latest video from Louis C.K. Through Techdirt.com I found out that he’s doing an experiment with selling downloads directly to fans. I won’t write more about it right now, because, as I just said, I’m on my way to bed. But you can check out these links:

• http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20111213/04081117065/louis-ck-connecting-with-fans-giving-them-reason-to-buy-being-polite-awesome-human.shtml
• http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20111214/00162117076/louis-cks-experiment-brings-110k-sales-550k-gross-over-200k-net-four-days.shtml
• https://buy.louisck.net/statement

Download and listen for free!

This week’s soundtrack is a really nice goth album called Heartbroken by One Dice. It is brand spanking new and is the band’s first full length album. If you want to support One Dice, you can buy an extended version of the album, with 13 tracks, at their bandcamp site. You can listen to all 13 songs there, and if you decide to buy the album you can pay as little as €1 or as much as you want. Included in the purchase is a 24-page booklet (PDF, I guess) with lyrics and photos. A very nice way of adding value for those who pay for the downloads.

I find the music very moving and the female singer’s voice sothing and hypnotic. I am seriously considering buying the extended version, as I really like this album.

Have you found an album at Jamendo.com that you would like to share? Please tell me!

Download and listen for free!

This week’s pick is Seismograph by Philos Deploys. It is listed as “dark electro”, and it will not be to everyone’s taste, I’m sure, but I think it is really, really good.

Someone once said that there’s a music for every mood, and a mood for every music. I agree. This is not what I listen to every day, but when I’m in the mood for some dark german electronica, this fits the bill perfectly. It’s got a bit of Rammstein in there, as well as a bit of Depeche Mode. I love it.

As always, you can download and listen to this album free of charge at Jamendo.com!

Enjoy the music!

Download and listen for free!

This week’s soundtrack arrives a day late, but better late than never, eh?

Listen, by Tryad, is an album described as “a mature work of melodic electronica”, and it fits that description perfectly. The album encompasses several different styles and moods, as it is a collective effort by 20 different musicians from all around the globe.

I really love this album, and I’ve listened to it quite a bit since I discovered it. It’s difficult to explain, but it stirs my feelings. It’s a roller coaster ride of emotions. You should really check it out.

Something that is very special about this album, apart from the fantastic songs, is that you are allowed to do a lot of different things with the content. Remember how I briefly mentioned that there’s a difference between “free as in free of charge” and “free as in freedom?”

This album is really free, as in freedom, as well as free of charge. It is licensed as CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike). This means you are allowed to use the music in almost any way you can imagine, even for commercial purposes, as long as you give credit to the artists and distribute all derivative works under the same license.

At http://tryad.org/ you can support the artists by buying a CD or making a donation!

Have you got any favourites at Jamendo.com?

Download and listen for free!

Monday is turning into tuesday, but here is this week’s soundtrack: Love Technology by NeXuS

It’s packed full of great trance tunes and I never get tired of listening to it. As usual, you can download and listen to it free of charge at Jamendo.com!

Have you got any favourites at Jamendo?

Download and listen for free!

If you love retro video game music half as much as I do, you’re going to dig Digital Memories by LukHash. It’s electronica with a definite 8-bit chip tune edge. It’s energetic and I have a hard time sitting still whenever I’m listening to this album!

As always, this is an album that you can download and listen to free of charge, so what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

If you like it, you can support the artist in several ways. I imagine a donation is always welcome, for instance. But just spreading the word will help as well. What’s an artist without an audience, right?

I encourage you to visit http://www.lukhash.com/ where you can read more about the artist, download his music and watch videos. Oh, and remember to sign his guestbook and let him know what you think!

Have you got any personal favourites at Jamendo.com? Don’t keep ‘em to yourself. Share the love!

Enjoy the music!

Is there an artist and/or album at Jamendo.com that you would recommend?

Degrees is a swedish band that I didn’t even know existed until a few days ago. That is one of the things that are so cool about the internet. For artists, it’s never been easier to find an audience than right now. But if I haven’t paid anything to download this album, then what’s in it for the band?

Well, they’ve just gained a new listener. The chance of me giving them some money has just jumped from zero (because I didn’t even know about them) to I don’t even know what to call it. The difference between one and two is 100%, but how do you measure the difference between zero and one? If I hadn’t found them on Jamendo, there’s a very real risk that I would never have heard of them at all.

You can learn more about Degrees at http://dgrs.se/. Fair warning, though: Their website looks cool, but I think it sucks from a user’s point of view. Navigation is unclear, and when you manage to identify a link, it opens in a new window. So, good music, bad website. Or maybe that’s just me….

I haven’t listened to their other albums yet, but I’m going to. I hope you too enjoy their music.

Is there an artist and/or album at Jamendo.com that you would recommend?

At Jamendo.com, you can get this album, and thousands of others, for free. That’s “free” as in “free beer”, i.e. you can listen to it online, and even download it, free if charge. If you feel like it, you can donate whatever amount you want, but you don’t have to. For this artist, reaching an audience is more important than getting paid. And that’s the way it should be, because who is going to pay you if you don’t have an audience?

In later posts, I’ll talk more about the differences between “free as in free of charge” and “free as in freedom”, but for now I’ll just say that this album fits the first definition of “free” but not the other.

Is there an artist and/or album at Jamendo.com that you would recommend?