Wagner: Some musicians more interested in music than money

The history of music is littered with the word “free.” Free Jazz. “I’m Free” by those… The history of music is littered with the word “free.” Free Jazz. “I’m Free” by those dastardly Rolling Stones. Even concerts for a free Tibet.  But when it comes to getting (recorded) music for free, that history’s been a little shorter.

The Clash supposedly took a loss on some album royalties to provide the second-half of the band’s double album London Calling and the second two-thirds of its triple-album Sandinista! at lower prices than the record company wanted, believing that its songs were more important than the cash that could be made on their revenue.

Today in the post-Napster world, free music is everywhere. Some choose to use torrents and music blogs to obtain ill-gotten albums, but meanwhile, another culture has emerged to unite music-lovers and music-makers.

Mixtapes go back as far as hip-hop, showcasing club performances of early DJs like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa. Developed for promotional reasons, these (usually) free albums have become some of the best music sources around.

Das Racist, a multi-ethnic hip-hop troop from Queens made of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. — and joined live by hype man Dap — provides one of those great sources.

They dropped their debut single “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” back in 2008, but it wasn’t until they released the mixtape Shut Up, Dude that people realized these seriously clever rappers were the next great thing in hip-hop.

(Download the mixtape and its sequel Sit Down, Man at dasracist.net.)

From the moment “Who’s that? Brooown!” starts up, you can tell the opener is going to be something different. Over an exaggerated sample of the title line being sung, Kool A.D. calmly raps that “Brown Elvis I can’t help it, Brown Larry Bird on the 97 Celtics.”

The chaos continues on “You Oughta Know” which samples Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out,” combining that track’s funky beat with a powerful drum kit to make it one of the best music samples from 2010. “I get around like a vinyl/ All sales final, Lionel Richie/I’m so gangsta prissy” they rap, effortlessly moving heavy references through their words.

Das Racist’s “Ek Shaneesh” was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s Holiday Special because of the famous chef they name check, but it features more than a shout out to the “No Reservations” star over a light Indian beat. Kool A.D. begins, “I’m from Queens man, ain’t s**t to do but cook / I’m watchin’ Tony Bourdain plus I copped his book plus I copped his look that means T-shirts and jeans …” He flows with more conscious wordplay before handing it off to Heems on the line “probably drinking some more beers.” Heems references Edward Said and provides a few words of Spanish before the track is over.

It isn’t just hip-hop culture getting in on the free release bandwagon, though.

Fans of Radiohead will remember that back in 2007, the group released its album In Rainbows for free, allowing fans to set the price they wished to pay for their creative work. That site is now down, but just this past year, one of Radiohead’s English contemporaries Gorillaz released a free album, titled The Fall, that musical director Damon Albarn composed on the band’s North American Tour.

(You can stream it for free here: thefall.gorillaz.com.)

From “Phoner to Arizona” to  “Seattle Yodel” and back, Albarn’s musically cerebral mind created tracks that highlight the sonic versatility of the guy who started as the singer for Blur. Electronics are everywhere, but informed by everything from world music to the American road trip, the album inspired. It was composed on an iPad, but you’d never guess it by listening.

Perhaps the greatest meeting place for those interested in free music who don’t want it to put them behind bars is DatPiff. Featuring more mixtapes than you could listen to in a lifetime, the site offers a perspective on almost any subgenre in free downloads, from A to Z. Some are fan-created, but most are artist-sponsored and sound as professional as any CD you could pick up. If you haven’t already checked out a classic by Mac Miller or Jay Electronica, do so ASAP.

(Browse some mixtapes at www.datpiff.com.)

Music is never truly a free thing: It’s a promotion or a statement or a thank you. Amid the convoluted messages though, there’s something great to listen to.

Patrick Wagner’s Mixtape

There are mixtapes and playlists for everything: car rides, parties and any other situations where people want music. Here’s one of my playlists: Some of it’s a little slow, some of it’s a little fast and most of it is pretty good. If you’ve got these songs, you can make your own mixtape (but don’t go downloading these tracks illegally, kids).

1. “A Milli” — Lil Wayne

2. “You Oughta Know” — Das Racist

3. “Genius of Love” — Tom Tom Club

4. “Can I Kick It?” — A Tribe Called Quest

5. “The Liquidator” — Harry J All Stars

6. “Rock The Casbah” — The Clash

7. “Flashing Lights” — Kanye West

8. “Rill Rill” — Sleigh Bells

9. “Spaceman” — The Killers

10. “Right On” — The Roots

11. “Take Me Out” — Franz Ferdinand

12. “On To The Next One” — Jay-Z

13. “Bulletproof” — La Roux

14. “Julia” — The Very Best

15. “Doo Wop (That Thing)” — Lauryn Hill

16. “All Day and All of the Night” — The Kinks