We’ve reached December, which means we’ve also reached the last scheduled Bandcamp Day; maybe they will continue beyond this month, but only time will tell. As always, we’ve solicited some recommendations to help guide your musical exploration. This month’s iteration is another incredible one, filled with music that I’m excited to explore in the final weeks of the year. Hopefully you find some things that tickle your fancy; you can also always check out our archives here for more recommendations.
I don’t know if these pieces will continue into 2021 or mutate into something else. All I know is that my now monthly ritual of collecting recommendations from artists and record labels has been a highlight of my year. It’s constantly amazed me how many people whose work I deeply respect were willing to participate in these pieces, and I want to end this year with a hearty thanks to all of you. These pieces always remind me that the best way to discover music will always be through people, not algorithms or corporations.
Without further ado, the picks.
Andrew Khedoori Andrew is a co-founder (along with Mark Gowing) of both the record label Preservation and Longform Editions. Conceived as an antidote to our shortening attention spans in the age of streaming, Longform Editions is a curated series of compositions that act as gallery for listening. Their curatorial focus has resonated with me throughout this year as life slowed down and I’ve devoted more time and energy to listening. I recommend checking out recent releases claire rousay and Strategy, but you can’t go wrong with anything in the series. Check all of this out in addition to Andrew’s Bandcamp recommendations below.
I’ve been really getting into releases from the sferic label out of Manchester, including Space Afrika and Romeo Poirier, whose Hotel Nota album pushes all my buttons with that far-away-but-familiar feel so wonderfully evoked by the likes of Jon Hassell, transporting you to an imagined place to laze, drift and dream in. However, the one album on sferic I keep returning to is Jake Muir’s the hum of your veiled voice. Jake’s music traces around the late 90s and early 2000s strand of electronic music built on microtonal detailing and glitches for dark but spirited sonic realms that made for a kind of ominous but gorgeous ambience where melody only ever really tickles the surface. It’s intoxicating how Jake draws you in with sounds that feel like whispers in your ear, and before too long you have an album that absorbs you and courses through your veins with tingling sensation. Jake’s mixes are also great listening. One of his latest included a stretch of Afternoon Tea, a fine album of two long improvisations from 2000 by a group of artists leading the way at that time – Oren Ambarchi, Keith Rowe, Fennesz, Peter Rehberg and Pimmon. From that line-up, Pimmon is the least known and as such, wholly underrated. Adelaide-based Paul Gough first started recording as Pimmon in the early 90s, making dense and foreboding electronic music that felt unpredictable in amongst the pack of practitioners in that realm. His ruptured sense of ambience has a lava-like flow and curious intimacy. The Preservation label I’m a part of with Longform Editions’ Mark Gowing released his Smudge Another Yesterday album in 2009, but in the last decade there has only been one album since. Gough has recently created a Bandcamp page for his self-released recordings as well as some other great releases. This is where you can hear some truly unvarnished experimental outpourings that are an early mark of the signature force and emotion underpinning his work that’s also wonderfully, willfully strange.
Thanks to a Bandcamp rabbit hole I found myself in, I discovered Coz The Shroom, who I know absolutely nothing about. His Bandcamp bio states he lives in New Mexico and has been a ‘cassette artist since 1979’ and lived in Austin, Texas for nearly two decades. He’s incredibly prolific and plays pretty much everything you hear on his releases, and the one I landed on was from earlier this year, Bum Henry Adams and Craig Stewart’s Prince. These songs are wildly eclectic as well as buzzing with a crazy energy, taking the lo-fi rock framework of Guided By Voices and frying it with a spasmodic and wild glee. Take the ride – you’ve got warped cassette takes on garage, punk, glam and the kind of unhinged detours taken by the Butthole Surfers. It’s also his first ever vinyl release, if you can snag a copy.
Much of my personal listening time is devoted to jazz music because of its continuing mystery to me, its sense of freedom and its collectivity in outlook. I am always overjoyed to discover someone who adds to and enhances this space and heritage. A lot (and deservedly so) has been written about Angel Bat Dawid here and elsewhere, so while she is a firm highlight of my jazz listening of late, I thought I would mention two other brilliant works. Chicago percussionist Kahil El’Zabar has a deep history, having played with greats such as Nina Simone and Pharoah Sanders but as a bandleader keeps making vital music of his own. He’s been busy with two albums released in 2020, Spirit Groove and the latest, America The Beautiful. As mentioned, jazz is still a mystery to me and I like to keep it that way and not analyse it too much, just soak it up and let it take me where it will. Suffice to say this is beautiful, uplifting music that feels perfectly like both the past and future. Same goes for Spaza, a rotating personnel of South African musicians whose latest album is the soundtrack for a documentary called Uprize!, telling the story of uprisings in 1976 Soweto against the apartheid government of the time. With an expansive, improvised approach that takes in electronics, Uprize! Is pure history and feeling written into the music with an uncommon depth.
Cowgirl Records Cowgirl Records is a new label founded by Michelle Nigro and Leah Mandel. The two first met while Michelle was working at Wharf Cat Records; Leah did an interview with the label and they soon became fast friends. They founded Cowgirl as a space for women and nonbinary artists with a curatorial focus on experimental pop, country and punk. Their inaugural release (Nina Ryser’s Paths of Color) came out in late October and is a stunning collection of warped pop tunes. Both have provided some Bandcamp Day picks; check them out below.
Michelle Nigro
HORSE | HOLY MOTORS I’ve been a fan of Holy Motors for a while, because I used to work at the label they’re on, Wharf Cat Records. This album has to be my favorite of theirs to date. With country music’s influence infiltrating all genres of music, it’s been interesting to see its reach internationally, and has helped me reframe in my mind what country music is. This album displays how country music transcends the Americana trope people so often associate it with. It’s music about adventure, heartbreak, and wide open spaces (and not just in the landscape of the southwest). This album transports to a vast nameless place, something we could all probably use after months of being trapped in our apartments.
NEW GROWTH | DELORES GALORE This was one of those rare finds on Bandcamp where I was bored and perusing the “Fan Spotlight” to see what other people were listening to (I do this a lot when I’m bored and want new music). Something about the artwork compelled me to click on it. I’m glad I did, it’s angsty and angelic all at once. “Just One Touch” is my favorite track.
MUSIC FROM SAHARAN WHATSAPP 10 | BOUNALY The idea behind this project is just so amazing. It demonstrates that you can make music without having the most expensive set up: just a phone with a mic and the ability to record can work. Sometimes we over complicate something that in a lot of ways can be really easy. It’s amazing to me that each of these EPs was recorded on a cellphone and transmitted to them via Whatsapp. The first one I bought was the fifth edition, I’m so sad to have missed the first four, but am happy I discovered this when I did. The tenth edition in the series, which is available now, is full of a restrained, but consistent, energy. This series has exposed me to new artists I’m not sure I would have come across otherwise.
GIVE AND TAKE | VEXX One of my favorite 7” of all time. I come back to this release time and time again.
THIRTEEN | ESTHER ROSE Leah introduced me to Esther Rose, who she had discovered via Bandcamp! She’s quickly become one of my favorite artists. If you like country, you’ll like this. Even if you don’t like country you’ll probably like this too. Her music comforts me. This song takes me back to being a kid, when I wanted so desperately to be an adult, never having algebra homework again. It’s the perfect song to put on repeat when you’re going on a long walk. I’m pretty sure I once listened to this 10 times in a single walk.
Leah Mandel
TAKE A CHANCE ON ROCK ‘N’ ROLL | COUCH SLUT It took me a while to get into metal and hardcore the way I am now — something about the whole scene felt very bro-y and alienating and often corny to me before I informed myself about bands like Sacrilege and Bitch and Ragana. Electric Wizard’s Vinum Sabbathi was pretty much the only metal I could stomach for a long time. Couch Slut was a revelation. They’re a cult NYC band and one of my biggest show regrets is not having seen them at St. Vitus last September, a rare event. There is not even one Couch Slut album that disappoints: always a perfect meld of black metal, noise rock, crust punk, hardcore, and sludge that truly sends me. Take A Chance On Rock ‘n’ Roll came out this June, their first since 2014, and thank god for that. “The Stupid Man” pretty much sums it all up re: 2020.
SWEET SWEET DREAMS | SHADOW Probably the first time I realized definitively what a trove Bandcamp is was when I found Shadow’s Sweet Sweet Dreams, the Trinidad and Tobago artist’s 1984 album, reissued in 2016 by German label Analog Africa, a consistent source of music discovery. Bandcamp is perhaps one of the only existing internet spaces that really mimics the experience of shopping in a record store (something I miss dearly, damn pandemic). I’ve fallen in love with many albums that I listened to simply because I liked the cover and the album title, and Sweet Sweet Dreams is one of them (also, Esther Rose’s first album, mentioned by Michelle). It’s afrofunk and calypso but also low key disco and house. According to the liner notes this album was panned by critics when it came out, and later considered ahead of its time. My favorite track is “Let’s Get Together.” When we get to go dancing again, it’ll be in my DJ set.
XDREAM | DASYCHIRA Before the pandemic became crystalline reality, I was planning a series of shows with Tinnitus Music Series. One artist in the works was Dasychira. They make experimental electronic, and 2019’s xDream is, IMO, transcendent. Themed around “the re-awakening of the child spirit,” it’s totally creepy and totally beautiful. It’s one of the few albums in this genre that I will get caught up listening to — an immersive experience. Really wish I’d gotten one of those xDream plushies before they sold out.
CORPUS MUTUAL AID EP – SIDE A | VARIOUS ARTISTS I have a very hard time choosing favorites. Making lists like these is often an agonizing task, if only because of the number limits. So I’m including this two-sided Corpus compilation, which not only features a bunch of artists I love, but also has the added bonus of its proceeds going toward the NYC label’s mutual aid fund. Side A is my personal favorite. Cult noise legends ONO featuring fellow cult noise legends Buck Gooter, the new goth of Blu Anxxiety, Virginia weirdo hip-hop GAWD, LA’s best industrial act Girl Pusher, and Regional Justice Center, some of LA’s best punk, are highlights of this particular niche in the scene. Corpus’ community mission succeeds, and for that I’m grateful.
SAVING FOR A CUSTOM VAN | VARIOUS ARTISTS Okay, yes, another compilation. The first really devastating public COVID death, for me, was Adam Schlesinger. I interviewed him in 2017 for an oral history of the soundtrack to the 2001 movie Josie and the Pussycats, for which he was producer and songwriter. A standout interview, simply the nicest guy. And a songwriting genius, no hyperbole!!! Not only did he pen the movie classic “That Thing You Do,” the soundtrack to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and all the best songs from the Hugh Grant-Drew Barrymore rom-com Music and Lyrics, he was also frontman of Fountains of Wayne, the premiere power pop band of the ‘90s and ‘00s. I mean, he wrote “Stacy’s Mom,” for crying out loud. Weirdly, one of my favorite tracks from this comp of Schlesinger covers by fans and collaborators, released by Father/Daughter Records — whose proceeds go to the MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund — is “Way Back Into Love” from Music and Lyrics, performed here by Sarah Silverman and Ben Lee. I also learned from this comp, because of Remember Sports’ lovely cover, that Schlesinger wrote The Click Five’s “Just The Girl,” a song that was on repeat in my 14-year-old world. Other favs include Kay Hanley’s (Letters to Cleo, and the singing voice of Josie) “Radiation Vibe” and Motion City Soundtrack’s (!!) “A Dip in the Ocean.” A proper ode to a largely unsung hero.
DARK ENTRIES This is my favorite reissue label, which I probably wouldn’t know so much about were it not for Bandcamp. Without Dark Entries, which releases mainly ‘80s synthwave records, and is named after Bauhaus’ first album, it’s possible I may never have been introduced to Patrick Cowley. Probably most famous for “Megatron Man,” Cowley was a prolific disco and funk innovator who got his start scoring gay porn with his minimalist synth compositions. It’s Dark Entries’ reissues that have helped Cowley, who died of AIDS before he turned 32, garner much of the recognition he deserves. Some Funkettes is the latest one, reworks of classic disco including the Moroder-produced “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer. Mechanical Fantasy Box precedes it (someone please get me the book, Cowley’s erotic journal, for my birthday). Dark Entries also reissued my very favorite no wave record, Dark Day’s Exterminating Angel — the work of DNA’s Robin Crutchfield — very goth-y, playfully nihilistic, and named for the Luis Bunuel movie. More Dark Entries faves: Solid Space’s Space Museum, Fantasy by Angela, Linea Aspera’s Preservation Bias, Gallop by Greek musician Lena Platanos, and Flesh World’s Into The Shroud, a rare non-reissue.
Sean McCann Sean is a composer and musician who runs Recital. The label is focused on many forms of experimental composition: sound art, new music and archival Fluxus and sound poetry recordings. They’ve had a strong year in 2020; I’ve loved their recent Charlie Morrow and FPBJPC releases. Head over to their Bandcamp to check out the label, and see Sean’s picks below.
NO LONGER A SOUNDTRACK | ASHA SHESHADRI Very excited by Asha’s music and trajectory. A gripping listen.
UNPOPULAR SONGS ADAPTED FOR MIXED CONSORT | TROY SCHAFER Very confused and also not-confused by how good this album is. Troy is an understated talent.
EXTENDED RELATIONSHIPS AND FALSE ENDINGS | CHRISTOPHER HOBBS Always wanted to hear more obscure pieces by Hobbs… and here you have it. An emotive text piece with brooding romance music from the early 90s.
FIGURES IN OPEN AIR | SARAH DAVACHI Sarah presents an enveloping 2xCD of live recordings. It remains my favorite album of hers, unspeakably beautiful.
FEBRUARY PAINTINGS SERIES VOL 13 (OLD DIRTY CARTOONS) | ROB MAGILL Rob is an old friend of mine. His music is boundless, he also records more albums than anyone I know. His label Weird Cry is worth investigating. Recital LP forthcoming.
THE PERSIAN SLIPPER | CALL BACK THE GIANTS Hidden away since 2012, this radiant gem was revealed a few weeks ago online.
PHANTOM LIGHTS | THE IVYTREE Glenn Donaldson’s beautiful voice brings such a comfortable nostalgia. His current project The Reds, Pinks, & Purples is also lovely.
PETER FRIEL, MATTEA LANDRY & ERIC SCHMID | PETER FRIEL, MATTEA LANDRY & ERIC SCHMID Christmas a cappella.
Laurie Tompkins Laurie is a composer and musician who co-founded and runs Slip. The label’s releases are hard to pin down, mixing pop instincts with avant-garde sounds to thrilling effect. We’ve written about their most recent release by Ashley Paul, but their back catalog is filled with gems and well worth exploring; personal favorites include releases from Yeah You and Julia Reidy. Check all of this out in addition to Laurie’s picks below.
Music I’ve gone back to many times and lived with over the course of this year. Common thread here of people going out on a limb and doing something unusual without it being annoying or too self-conscious. I think these are all very loveable and also mad.
BLUD | MARIAM REZAEI Graceful turntabilism from Gateshead force Mariam, tagging in loads of Newcastle’s key players – Adam Denton, Mark Wardlaw, Phil Begg. Makes me want to go to TOPH.
SOLID FOR THE MOST PART | THE SOMETHING PUFFS Inimitable Kentish ravings from my hero Matt Rogers’ lowfalutin one-man band.
RELAX KEVIN | RELAX KEVIN Everything comes in at the right time on this album: totally poised and deliberate, sometimes very crisp and at others fuggy. “BB messy” is my favourite. Amazing painting on the cover.
VANISH | JULIA REIDY Hopeful and weighty closer to a trilogy of LPs, properly ravishing and strange. Someone described this as “Frank Ocean meets John Fahey” when I last saw Julia play at Oto in March.
HALI DIALLO | TALLAWIT TIMBOUCTOU Rolling rhythms that don’t piss you off. Love the fibrous sound of it all, and the sense of ease and flow with which it’s played.
GOOD DAY GOOD DAY BAD DAY BAD DAY | OLIVER LEITH Nice/not-nice music for keys and perc with a delicious ending.
MÚSICA CALLADA / SEE THE WELTER | JAMES RUSHFORD 2 massive discs of luxurious, spaced-out piano playing by James Rushford. I’d never heard of Mompou (Musica Callada) before and have gone back to it lots this last month. Mompou really liked Satie apparently, but this is way less dry and wry.
RIVER | COBY SEY A cleansing 10-minutes from Coby, quite different from ‘MASS’ earlier this year but same quiet confidence, no fuss.
Wendy Eisenberg Wendy is a musician who has been a part of many of my favorite albums in recent memory. From avant-rock groups like Birthing Hips and Editrix to solo guitar explorations and offbeat bedroom pop, their catalog is vast and varied. We’ve written about their most recent solo album, which is easily one of my personal favorite albums of 2020. Head over to Wendy’s Bandcamp to learn more about their music, and check out their picks below.
My picks for Bandcamp day range from friends to old heroes. I hope you find something here you haven’t read about elsewhere. I want the musicians in my life to be uplifted.
IN LIBERATION THERE ARE TEARS | RHEBIRD Rhea is like a contemporary answer to Henry Flynt but deeper, somehow a lot more emotionally urgent, and without the decades long lag in release/access. Smart and funny, necessary music by a hero and influence of mine. I’m lucky to have met Rhea and luckier to be able to hear her music.
HOUSE OF MERCY | JOAN KELSEY They can really write a song, and point you where you need to go. “Accessible” but not stupid, present but not oppressive, generous unequivocally, flawless personhood in song.
IT’S TIME | DON MURO Incredible synth music. A classic I just learned about and was stoked to find on Bandcamp. As I age I age toward synthesizers. We are all activated by the human touch.
LOOMING AS LIGHT TORN | ANDREW SMILEY Radicalizing what is playing and what is singing. A wild new conception of what songs can do. Structurally perfect, innovative but incredibly familiar in an uncanny way, at the same time.
TILES | SUN YOUNG Criminally underregarded Boston band from my years there. Masterful drumming especially. “Friends” must be one of my favorite songs (lyrics especially) of all time.
SONGS | TAKU SUGIMOTO x MINAMI SAEKI Beauty, space, the unsayable in what is sung.
VIOLENCE ETCETERA | CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER The genius herself updated a few of these on Healing Contest which I consider to be as essential but without this album Dehiscence would not exist. I must have listened to this recording every day for at least half a year. I already own this but you should also own this.
PREFIGURATIVE PURGATORY | OLIVIA W-B Absolutely the best songwriter of the Complicit North, but never brags about it. I only own this on a CD which is scratched beyond measure, can’t wait to support them this way. It is important to me that they are heard.
PRACTICING LOSS | FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY Flawless title, but more importantly I’ve literally never heard music like this before. 80s frontperson energy of the deeply spiritual order, presiding over a memory of if the scent of frankincense was somehow coded “secular.” Long, different.
CONSULTANT | LANDOWNER Absolutely perfect rock music (post-punk, I guess?) by the unimpeachably Sagittarian thinker and flawless genius Dan Shaw. It makes you dance, it makes you think, it makes you justifiably angry at the things you should be angry at/with.
ZERO CHIME | SUNIK KIM The most emotional music. It’s perfection. Also for the Tone Glow livestream Sunik manipulated a Gram Parsons song that used to be sung to me as a lullaby and in so doing manipulated me. I can’t really believe just how deep and thoughtful and important this music is.