Ben Kamen
Label: NoneGenre: Folk
It's certainly not all-weather folk, but Ben Kamen's somber strumming and vocalizing mingle nicely with the raindrops on the roof today. Kamen has a new EP that he's giving away for free on his website, from which the two new tracks below are taken. That's mighty nice of him. What's nicer is that if you're willing to do Kamen a Radiohead-style solid and pay for the music he's otherwise giving away, he'll send you a limited edition (1 of 100 — No. 98 is to the left) 3" CD with a hand-painted cover. Now, perhaps you're all iTuned out and that offer holds nothing for you. But if you ask me it's good to remember that music ain't just something you download – it's something that's created—and in this case created just for you.
clouds and snow [MP3, 4.6MB, 192kbps]
"dreams" [MP3, 5.4MB, 192kbps]
ORIGINAL POST (8/21/06):
Ben Kamen makes songs that sound like lonely drives along a two-lane highway. The tracks here, collectively released online-only as the Songs from Red River EP, feature little adornment, just an acoustic guitar that sounds like it’s tired of fighting and Ben straining for mumbled high notes. The impact that Kamen leaves is similarly subtle: the songs won't burn themselves into your psyche, but they’ll seep in through the cracks just the same.
Did I Choose? [MP3, 4.3MB, 192kbps]
Time Stretched Like Light [MP3, 5.5MB, 192kbps]
From the Mountain to the Ocean Floor [MP3, 6.5MB, 192kbps]
Hundreds of Times Over [MP3, 5.3MB, 192kbps]
Walk Away [MP3, 10.3MB, 192kbps]
www.benkamen.com
myspace.com/anonymousmonk
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