CDs for sale on amazon

What’s in the box?

See it yourself.

So what's this about, then?

As some of you may remember, in June I published a book of short stories in Spanish entitled “La puerta en el espejo” ("The door in the mirror"), through a free Amazon service. Satisfied by the experience, I wondered if Amazon would offer a similar service to publish music CDs in physical format, and indeed, they do. CreateSpace allows you to publish and sell music in physical format through Amazon without having to order a certain number of copies in advance. Since I am an old-fashioned person who still likes holding a physical disc in his hands, I like the idea that my albums, which have years available for free on the Internet, can also be bought for anybody who, like me, enjoys a good old proper disk.

But Jaime, why would I want to buy an album if its music can be downloaded legally and for free from several websites?

Well, that's a good question. And the answer is that physical editions have an added value that digital ones do not have.

1) The most important thing is that the albums (Almost all, not 100%) have been remastered and / or remixed, in some cases very notably. In this first batch I’ve made new mixes of "Siderea" and "The astronaut" and I think the sound has improved a lot, being now clearer and more spacious. In some cases, as in "The Astronaut", I even had to change some old tracks by new ones.

2) The graphic design has been improved and expanded. Previously I just needed an image without too much resolution because the cover was nothing more than a small thumbnail to accompany the digital album, and I didn’t even for the permission to use the image, since it wasn’t going to be used for any commercial purpose. Now I’ve been searching for images with a proper license and high good resolution, changing the covers for new ones, adding, obviously, more images for the back and the interior of the booklet and the tray, achieving an attractive design.

3) All the albums will have additional notes in Spanish and / or English with memories, anecdotes or information about the recording and music of each of the albums.

4) Some of the CDs will include extra tracks, alternative versions or outtakes, which in some cases have never been heard. These goodies will only be available in the physical format.

I hope all of the above can justify the purchase of a CD for those who really want it.

An observation, though. The CDs have a complete professional presentation, but they are not exactly audio CDs but audio CD-Rs. For practical purposes it may be the same, but it can be important for someone, so there you go.

You can take a look at the CDs here.

How much will each CD cost?

The price of each CD is $10, about €8. I wish they were a bit cheaper, but the minimum sale price is $9, and for that price I would not make any profit for each sale. When sold at $10, my benefit per unit is ... 55 cents! In short, I do this because I love it, not because I hope to get rich.

Is there no other way to get those new mixes if not in physical format?

Yes, there is. All albums are also available in bandcamp, in digital format, at a lower price than physical CDs, although of course these editions lack the design of the physical CD, the notes and the extra tracks (when they exist).

Does this mean that your music will no longer be available for free as it has been until now?

Of course it will. All the old versions of the albums are and will be available for free under CC license on jamendo and archive.org as before.

Are you going to announce new music?

No, not yet. But I must say I’m recording some new music, though it’s not ready to be released yet. It could happen this year, or maybe not.


And that's it. In this first batch I prepared four albums: "Siderea", "The Astronaut", "Heaven" and "Factory of Echo". For the last two I kept the previous mixes because they are recent and I think they're good enough. None of these four CDs contain bonus tracks. Throughout this year I expect new remasters to be released, since my idea is to do so with my complete discography.

You can buy the CDs in Amazon.

Buy Jaime Heras CDs
Buy Factory of Echo CDs


Regards, and thank you very much.

New Ished song

Hello friends,

As you know, I haven’t been making any new solo music for a while. However I keep playing progressive rock with the Ished band. We have premiered a new song I have written, so I thought maybe you could like it. If you do and are so kind of sharing it I’ll be really grateful.

Regards.

"Heaven" is out !

"Heaven", my final album, has finally been released both in Jamendo and archive.org. It consists of two long suites, that you will find without subdivisions in archive.org, or split in shorter tracks in Jamendo. Pick the one you enjoy the most. 

I really hope you like this one. If you enjoyed any of my previous music, I think you'll find some things here you'll like. I believe it's not a bad album to finish my body of work and I can honestly say I'm proud of the music I've been making and of having shared it with you all. 

 Regards.

Audio preview of "Heaven"

Here you have a sampler with some audio excerpts from the upcoming album "Heaven". Enjoy !!

Heavenly news

Hello all,

"Heaven" is almost completed, so I expect it to be released in the first weeks of June, the latest. I think it's gonna be a very fitting farewell album, since it includes most of the styles I've been playing in my prior albums. Here is the cover, and soon you'll hear some excerpts of it.

Cheers.

New albums in archive.org

Hello,

I've uploaded all remaining albums to the Ear Free archive.org web page. You will find there now the two factory Of Echo albums, as well as "Earth" and "Hell". You may find this interesting for a couple of reasons: 

• All of them are available in FLAC (Lossless format) for download, for free.
• "Hell" is presented here as two long tracks, instead of splitted in sections.

Archive.org has created a Beta version of a new interface, which is much better in my opinion, so take a look and enjoy. It's well worth it. And if you want to leave any comments, be my guests. Everything, here.

Why "Heaven" will be my final album

Dear friends:

The recording of my next album, Heaven, which will complete the trilogy - Hell - Heaven I started in 2012, is well advanced, and I expect to release it before I turn 40 (early summer). 

I must announce you this one will be the last album I release as Jaime Heras, if not permanently, at least indefinitely. This is not a break to return with renewed energy, but  the closure to a stage that started a long time ago.

The truth is my enjoyment of musical composition has decreased lately. In that respect, I feel I have expresed alll I had to (and could) with my skills and the scarce talent I own. Every time I find it harder to complete an album and I've started to notice that either I repeat myself when I write in a style in which I feel most comfortable, or I'm not achieving what I want when I try a new style (Progressive, for example).

I'm not leaving music, but there are other projects I find more appealing right now. I want to focus on the band I play now, Ished, and I'll continue using the name Factory Of Echo to release more experimental or less melodic music, which is the one I feel more happy about lately. I'd also like to practice guitar in a somewhat more disciplined way, to try to improve my technique. But I don't see myself releasing new albums of melodic instrumental music as Jaime Heras in the future.

Furthermore, although it is not the most important reason, it's more and more obvious to me that my music, especially the new one, is listened to by fewer and fewer people, and releasing an album is like throwing a bottle into the ocean. My music is not easily  found on Jamendo, I'm not profitable enough for them to promote me and  I don't feel like bothering my contacts or strangers with links to albums and videos begging them to listen to my music or to write reviews.

So, Heaven it's the end of that stage. I think it will be a nice album, a perfect  conclusion, with many elements of my previous albums. So stay tuned because you will begin to hear some excerpts soon.

Warm regards.

"Sad Quote" released !

Dear friends,

a new album by my side-project Factory Of Echo has just been released in Jamendo. It's called "Sad Quote" and you can listen and download it for free, as usual.

Welcome to the "Factory Of Echo"

Hello,

in recent times I've realized making albums as "Jaime Heras" sometimes makes me a bit restrictive about what I should or shouldn't do. I know there are a few people there who listen to each new album I release with curiosity, but always, I guess, with certain expectations of what they can find, regardless of the style of that particular album (And you know how much I like shifting styles from one to the next). I always try to emphasize the melody over anything else, and I always try to make the whole, at least, pleasant. This was totally clear for me while struggling with "Hell", which I couldn't make as hellish as I wanted at first, after all. There are some self-imposed limitations I'm prisioner of.

So I have decided to create this alter-ego, this parallel artist named "Factory Of Echo", who is Jaime Heras, without the Jaime Heras limitations, I hope. I'll be using this name to release "extreme ambient" (If you get the idea), experimental and drone  music, where melody is not meant to be the cornerstone. In a word, anything.

If you whish to get a glimpse, you can now proceed to listen and/or download for free the first album of "Factory of Echo", right here. Beware, this is certainly not meant to be listened while driving.

I won't ask you to follow me in this adventure, but I'd be more than glad if you do.

"Hell" released !!

My new album "Hell" has been finally released in Jamendo. As usual, it's available for free listen and download.

I recommend that you download the album and listen to it as a continuous programme of music, since the tracks blend into each other.

Any feedback will be highly appreciated. Enjoy your stay in Hell!

Hell Tracklist

One week left for the release of "Hell". Here you have the track list:

Hell in men (23:16)

• Part 1: Prelude
• Part 2: Wicked party
• Part 3: Repentance?
• Part 4: I for an I
• Part 5: Figure of hate
• Part 6: We are the war
• Part 7: Passages of pain
• Part 8: Vicious circle
• Part 9: Rejectance
• Part 10: Agony

Men in Hell (19:00)

• Part 1: Abandon all hope
• Part 2: Hell's gates
• Part 3: Nine circles
• Part 4: Tantalized
• Part 5: Punishment
• Part 6: No way out
• Part 7: We never learn

I've finally decided to split each long track into different shorter tracks to help the listener's experience, though the album has been thought to be listened as a whole and in order.

Changes in blog and new Soundcloud page

Hello!

The release of "Hell" is approaching. In the meantime check my new SoundCloud page for some snippets from the album. I'll be sharing some old tracks there in the future, as well as some special items.

Take some time to check the changes in the blog too. As you can see I've changed the design to fit the upcoming release of "Hell". I've reorganized the discography section, and made some more changes here ans there. 

Feel at home!

"Hell" breaks loose!

Finally, I'm happy to announce that "Hell" is finished and ready. I'm going to let some time for my ears to rest and come back to it for the final touches (if any), and will be available for free, as usual, the first week of September. This will be the cover:

Stay tuned !

JOURNAL FROM HELL 2

With great pleasure I announce that my pals Juanjo Meroño and Gael Berthon are recording drums and bass for the first part of Hell. This will give the whole piece a more band-oriented sound. By the way, this first piece is about 23 minutes long !

JOURNAL FROM HELL 1

This is the first entry in a series to tell you how the creation process of the new album is evolving.

As you know, this will be the second of a three album series, named "Earth", "Hell" and "Heaven".
It took me almost two years to get me going with this second instalment, but as it always happens to me after the long uphill a steep and really fast downhill comes. Right now the album is almost totally composed
and there are about 30 minutes of music already demoed (In my case demos evolve to become the final album), so hopefully, in a few weeks, I'll be bringing you hell at last.

By the way, in case you missed it, here you have an excerpt from the upcoming album.