The other day, I thought it would be neat to compile a list of the coolest albums that money can't buy. Due to copyright laws, obscurity, or simply being free, there's a lot of great music that gets overlooked. In no particular order, I've listed five of my favorites. If you can think of some others that people should try to find, leave a comment.

1. Flavia & the Motonets - El Amigo de los ninos Distributed for free by the Comfort Stand net-label, this short but beautiful album makes me feel like I'm 8 years old and strolling through a Argentinian carnival on a lazy summer afternoon. Yes, just like that.

2. Boards of Canada - Old tunes vol. 2 After 2002's Geogaddi, BOC went off the radar again, with nothing but a remix or two to prove they were still alive. In mid 2005, Old tunes vol. 2, one of their earliest full albums which was distributed only to family and friends via cassette tape, surfaced on the internet in its entirety, cover art and all.

3. DJ Danger Mouse - The Grey Album The gold-standard for mashups. An amazing piece of work and solidified an entire genre of music making. For those not in the know, this is the vocal track from Jay-Z's Black Album on top of hip-hop music constructed solely from The Beatles' White Album.

4. Stay Free's illegal art compilation CD With Biz Markie, the Beastie Boys, and Elastica all on one disc, how can you go wrong? This one is actually still available for download at the Illegal Art website. It's a compilation of tracks that have been pulled, revised, or contested because of sampling.

5. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike (UK) Ok, so even in the US, you can buy the import, but I still think it's worth mentioning. The original UK release contained samples that weren't usable under US copyright laws, so a revised version is sold stateside.