free musicSound Sunday can introduce you to new artists and their music, but great bands are best experienced live. It’s always a treat to see musicians perform their art and witness them pouring their souls out. Skillfully crafted studio albums lack that special touch, which only sweaty live performances produce. Sometimes, however, a live recording can capture the magic. This week’s edition of Sound Sunday features 10 EPs and albums that are emotional, vibrant, and beaming with the soul of live music.
Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!
You are welcome to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres I haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina [tina at makeuseof dot com].

Stereophonics – Live From Rehearsals EP

Genre: alternative, pop, rock
This Welsh alternative rock band is one of my favorite. Having seen them perform live almost a dozen times over the past 14 years, in tiny clubs, large arenas, and on major festivals, I can safely say that the lads rock. Their latest album Graffiti on the Train is bound to be released on March 4th. It promises to be a darker, more melancholic, and intense album than previous releases. The free rehearsal EP is a nice intro to its sound. The videos for the three songs are also available in the Stereophonics’ Amazon Artist Lounge.
Live From Rehearsals EP is a free download from Amazon.

EP: The Flips – Live at The Abbey

Genre: alterantive, indie, rock
From their Bandcamp profile: “The Flips are an indie/alternative rock band from Chicago, IL. We dedicate ourselves to creating music that is honest, engaging, and kind of badass.” The live EP was recorded in November 2012 at the Abbey Pub in Chicago.
Live at The Abbey is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: Tyler Butler – Live on CJSR

Genre: acoustic, country, folk
Tyler Butler is a folk singer-songwriter from Edmonton, Canada. If you enjoy this live EP,catch him on Twitter and let him know. He will appreciate the feedback and respond for sure!
Live on CJSR is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Amos The Transparent – Live at the Opera

Genre: folk, pop, country
Amos the Transparent is an indie rock band from Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Here they were recorded live by Live At The Opera, a concert series for music lovers and music makers. The project writes: “It’s our love letter to independent music and a bit of hope-springs-eternal for creativity.”
Live at the Opera is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Tyler Lyle – Live At Eddie’s Attic

Genre: folk, rock
From the album page: “On the days that I don’t have to work, I see the world like it’s a fish bowl, and I’m the proud owner of it. I ponder the fish, the cleanliness of the water, the reason for there being fish in the first place. On the other days- the days when I am banging my head against a studio wall trying to make smart words fit to catchy melody (or sometimes- any words fit a passable melody)- I’m exhausting the mental self while ignoring the physical. Those days I am a fish in someone else’s fish bowl.”
Live At Eddie’s Attic is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Sprout the Band – Live in the Barn

Genre: instrumental, blues, funk, rock
From the album page: “Recorded two nights in May 2011 at Shepherd Farms in Carpinteria, Ca. The band recorded live in a large metallic warehouse. The majority of the tracks were recorded live on the first and only take. A second take was used on Machine Gun Mouth and Drivin’ Me Down. Backing vocals and a slide guitar track on Old Railroad were overdubbed in the following days.”
Live in the Barn is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Action News Team – God Damn These Electric Sex Pants

Genre: experimental, alternative, blues, folk, punk
From the album page: “Recorded live in our tiny basement jam space on February 10th [2012], then some overdubs were added here and there to fill things out. We only used four mics and it worked better than when we tried to mic everything individually. We did two takes of every song and chose the better one of the two. All in all we didn’t want something that sounded polished and overproduced and decided to just do it and not spend a bunch of time fucking around with the tracks and just release it.”
God Damn These Electric Sex Pants is a free download from Bandcamp.

EP: TWRP – The Device

Genre: rock, disco, electro, funk, metal
From their homepage: “TWRP is exactly this: Daft Punk, Iron Maiden, Justice and Parliament all smashed into six spandex-clad, keytar wielding, pylon wearing, pelvic thrusting, wildly out of control individuals claiming to be from outerspace, except with way more lazers, confetti, projection screens, and sci-fi references.
Originally from Halifax, NS, and now residing in Toronto, ON, the five “aliens” crash land into every show like missiles made of fun, bringing their ridiculous antics and self aware (but deadly serious) epic 80s inspired dance-rock and spewing it all over the audience with reckless abandon.”
The Device is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: DEAD – Live At Old Bar

Genre: heavy, punk
From their homepage: “Jem and Jace are DEAD. They are awesome. Most bands are awful but not DEAD, they’re awesome. It’s spelled in capitals ‘cos there are only four letters and you have to make them count. There are 8,000,000 bands in the world and if you managed to discover this one in that great big pile of mediocrity you have done very well for yourself.”
Live At Old Bar is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Spiral – Live on Matijevic Hill

Genre: doom, gothic, heavy metal, rock, progressive rock, sludge, glacial thrash, psychedelic
From the album page: “I recently came across this old tape and Aaron and I, in a fit of nostalgia, decided to share it. These songs were all recorded when we were performing under the name “Snail”. This is quite a bit heavier than Spiral, but you can still catch glimpses of what we would become. Play it loud!”
Live on Matijevic Hill is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

And More…

Enjoyed one of these albums? Pay it back and share this article or the albums you liked. If you really appreciated a particular album, please donate to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music.
New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.
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Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.