best of 2011 :: Favorite Free Albums

Continuing our Best of 2011 coverage, here are the 12 free and pay-what-you-want recordings that have really stood out this year (and if I missed something really special drop me a note in the comments).

Listen.

1. Gold Fools by Spanish Prisoners

   

   Downloadable: Los Angeles Guitar Dream (mp3)

   [d/l @ /spanishprisoners.bandcamp.com]

 
 

2. Exmilitary by Death Grips

   

   Downloadable: Culture Shock (mp3)

   [d/l @ thirdworlds.net]

 
 

3. 13 Chambers by Wugazi

   

   Downloadable: Another Chessboxin’ Argument (mp3)

   [d/l @ wugazi.tumblr.com]

 
 

4. Distorted Reverberations (of Reverberating Distortion) by Al Lover

   

   Downloadable: Yo Seria Otro (Al Lover Remix) (mp3) by Davila 666

   [d/l @ allover.bandcamp.com]

 
 

5. With Love From The Men’s Room by 50FOOTWAVE

   

   Downloadable: Nobody’s Tar, Nobody’s Feathers (mp3)

   [d/l @ 50footwave.cashmusic.org]

 
 

6. Friends Records 2011 by Friends Records

   

   Downloadable: Sure Shot (mp3) by Celebration

   [d/l @ friendsrecords.bandcamp.com]

 
 

7. Coral II: The Remixes by Monster Rally

   

   Downloadable: Story Ends (Teeel Remix) (mp3)

   [d/l @ monsterrally.bandcamp.com where you may also want to pick up the Coral LP as well]

 
 

8. NYC Sucks, Volume 2 by Metal Sucks

   

   Downloadable: Song 6 (mp3) by The Austerity Program

   [d/l @ metalsucks.net]

 
 

9. Yalls by Yalls

   

   Downloadable: Weave It (mp3)

   [d/l @ yalls.bandcamp.com]

 
 

10. Keyboard EP by Magnetic Island

    

    Downloadable: The Way (mp3)

    [d/l @ magneticisland.bandcamp.com]

 
 

11. Magnifier by Life Size Maps

    

    Downloadable: It’s Leaking (mp3)

    [d/l @ lifesizemaps.bandcamp.com]

 
 

12. Bodysongs by Born Gold

    

    Downloadable: Lawn Knives (mp3)

    [d/l @ borngold.us]

 
 
As you probably already know, Bandcamp, Mediafire, Soundcloud, and sometimes a little good plain vanilla web hosting have made it easier than ever for bands to make the decision to share their music with new audiences around the world without charging for it. That said, it is important to support the artists who are giving away their music. Do they tour? Go see them perform live. Do they have merch for sale? Buy something. Do they have a paypal link on their website? Throw some $$ their way.

You can stream (and scrobble) all the songs in this post using the ex.fm player at the bottom of the page OR you can just download any or all of the tracks at your leisure and play them using a digital media player of your choice.

If you want to download all the individual tracks in this post, you should probably think about installing the DownThemAll! or FlashGot Firefox extensions as we are way too lazy to zip and upload every single mp3 in this post.

Also, if you like what you hear you should probably purchase music from the above artists at any of these fine online retailers (or your local independent record store):

Insound | Amazon MP3 | eMusic | Other Music

Oh, and be sure to check out our of best of posts.
 

(Slightly) Related Posts:

• mp3s :: The July 2011 Mix
• mp3s :: One Year Ago Mix > January 2012
• mp3s :: The GIMME TINNITUS CMJ2011 Mixtape