Bandcloud 303

Should this be an acid special? Har har. I took a short break and I'm here now because I haven't got anyone to cover for me right now. There'll be some guest editions (hopefully) in the very near future. I kind of hope there aren't any more Bandcamp Days™ for a while, if only for my bank balance. Ha ha! Here's a list of everything I got last week. My Bandcamp account is always open too, visible here. 

TOMAGA - Extended Play 2 (Digital Only - Limited Release)
Someone shared this on Twitter and said it would only be online for a month. So grab it now. It's a fascinating and powerful release, full of thoroughly interesting sounds that I can't begin to describe. Heavily percussive and wildly atmospheric, it is also impressively melodic. I saw a comment from someone today about the limits of the term experimental regarding music, at least in 2020, and yet this seems to be pushing together wildly different forms to create something wholly original. 

Never Say Ruin: DARIAN 2.0 (Set By Darian)
New York DJ Darian delivers a high-energy mix that moves from UKG ('Stone Cold'!) through Miami electro, bass, high-tempo house and more. The last track is either a remix or cover (or something) of 'Shorty Swing My Way', and I'd love to know what it is.

Joshua Trinidad & Riatsu - Lithium
More brooding atmosphere here, this one is a stunning project from trumpeter Joshua Trinidad and electronic artist Riatsu. "No feeling is final," says the album's notes, which also state that the album is designed to recreate the feeling of clarity given when a patient takes lithium. I don't know how accurate it is in that respect, never having had that experience. I can say that the album is certainly dark and impactful, building through minor modes to a lightness that is riven with a kind of yearning but has left feelings of sombre confusion behind. 

Life Notes Sessions #4 / Taelue
Wooowee, this one is deep. Wonderfully warm and rich house music. It ventures into some stranger and techier areas towards the end, keeping a particular vibe throughout though. The closing moments feature the words of James Baldwin: How much time do you want, for your progress?

VA - Black Music for Black Liberation
This is one of the things I was keen to get last week. Curated by Crystal of The Mioner Agency, who contributed words to Bandcloud's EOY list last year, it "recognizes community building and mutual aid as a means to connect an emerging class of Black artists". It's varied, with house and techno as well as blues and r&b. I'm particularly taken with Yasmeenah's Muse (as in "I'm not your fucking muse") and another track sampling Baldwin's wisdom, this one coming from The Neighbourhood Character and entitled 'The Lesson // (Recovery)', and finally the drifting ambience of PERLEX's 'closeness'. You can read more info about the project as a whole here. 

Sensible Seelen Podcast No. 3 - Celex (aka Khshathra)
Sensible Seelen just dropped their third compilation, and with it their third podcast. It's a gorgeous mix that moves from deep house through to ... deep ambient electronica. Seriously though, it's really enjoyable. I won't harp on yet again about club music outside the club (since who listens to SoundCloud streams in the club anyway) but it's a super vibe for mornings bright or grey.

UKAEA - where the tide broke (blr22)
Big strong weird noise that's scary and dank and most definitely matched by the artwork (which you can see above). It's kind of techno? But not in a fun way. 

JWords - dancepackvol.1
Three tracks of varying moods from New Jersey producer JWords. In her own words, the release is: "a way to remind people to have fun as well as fight for freedom; not to forget about our joy." The closing track 'Radio Freak' bursts from its bubbling motion to the fuzz of radio in its final moments, a rupture that's both disarming and engaging. 

VA - XENO II (xenonyms)
In which a Barcelona label invites producers from across the world to contribute dark and shady tracks to its latest compilation. Music from Italy, Kuwait and Thailand among other locales, with each track inspired by the artist's relationship with their home. 

Ukweli & Hiribae - Potion ft Xenia Manasseh
A rare foray into r&b here. This track from Ukweli & Hiribae, members of the Kenyan EA Wave collective, is wonderful, featuring vocals from compatriot Xenia Manasseh.  

Shielding - Collecting Seaweed EP
I ordered this one some weeks back and it's finally out. Gloriously murky and liquefied electronics, somewhere between dub techno and the more familiar Bristolian flavours of Wisdom Teeth, the label that's releasing this EP.

Weeding - Tara Clerkin Trio Mixtape
This selection of sounds from the Weeding Collective is a joy to behold. Two short previews of a tape due next month, the first side is from the Weeds themselves, with the B side coming from Bristol's Tara Clerkin Trio. Weirdo gloopy fragrant vibrant sounds. 

VA - I hope this finds you well in these strange times – Vol. 1 (Nonclassical)
What a title, eh? A wonderful compilation inspired by and directly related to these strange times. Compositions and performances by artists working in what might loosely be termed sound art or modern classical or something similarly haughty, yet still brilliant and open and imaginative. There's wild laughter, soft chords, modular blips, flowing water and birdsong, clattering percussion under strange electronics, anguished poetry, just to give you a suggestion of what you might hear.