RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
I’m back, and it’s a Bandcamp Friday. Woi. Lots to get through, some new, some not. It’s a slog, trying to catch up!!! Sorry for the delay in sending this, my younger son has been sick today so I’ve been looking after him and not spending time on my laptop (he’s currently napping it off).
Cascading - Music For Sleeping Cats
I don’t have cats, so I don’t know how apt this title is, but the music is cool, sludgy mushy guitars offering a wall of heavy sound.
“Themes for looking back at where you’ve been and what you’ll leave behind.” I’m not sure about you, but I do a lot of that. Whatever about sleeping cats, this music is definitely fit for purpose. Welp.
Manchester-based ootheca offers up a collection of tracks of their early work. Nice drifting hazy stuff, at times floating on air, at others driven by pulsating beats.
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - Candyman
I went to see the new Candyman film yesterday. It’s excellent. Not for everyone, with jumps and scares and flashes of gore, but if you’re into that kind of thing, two severed thumbs up and all that. The music is suitably strident and haunting, provided by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, who has released work on labels such as RVNG, Thrill Jockey and DDS to name but a few.
A total banger built around an iconic sample from The Pack (the clue is in the title).
BEAUTIFUL PRESENTS: BEAUTIFUL VOL 1
I thought I might not even need to feature this as it’s an event of a release, but I think it deserves a spot all the same. Lots of big names feature, such as Karen Nyame KG, Roska, Tim Reaper, Otik, Loraine James, :3LON, Kareem Ali… It’s truly a testament to the variety of electronic styles and sounds on offer in club music from the Black and LGBTQI+ music community. Half-time rollers, uptempo bangers, rnb jams, sexy IDM, it’s all there.
Behua Icara - Ritmos para Sanar Vol.2
Yes, there are a few compilations this week. “Behuá Icára - Healing Rhythms is a label Label based in Lima, in order to support, collaborate and learn from the Amazonian Shipibo Konibo artists in Ucayali, Perú, joining forces with producers from Perú and around the globe.” Such collaborations include Carmen Villain, the recently featured Melanie Velarde and my compatriot Eomac working with Shipibo artists and performers. The physical editions are truly beautiful too.
Norm Chambers - Seaside Resonance
Shout out to Norm, who started round seven of chemotherapy this week. This release on Hotham Sound is simply gorgeous. The title is apparently a nod to “armchair oceanography”, and I can imagine sitting at home on a grey day and imagining a beautiful sunny beach while listening to these beautiful sounds, the twinkling electronics conjuring up images of gentle, sunlit waves.
Production Unit - Episode 22 on Radio Magnetic
I was thinking of writing up above that I may as well just make this a full-on Bandcamp mailer but then this one had to be included. It’s an ambient radio show with a difference. It features music from Bandcloud favourites like Kali Malone, Mücha, Jo Johnson, Sara Davachi and so forth, but the whole thing is accompanied by an audiobook reading of the work of Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta. A double-whammy of converging interests and influences.
Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue - Garden
I really enjoy everything that toucan sounds puts out, and this release from Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue is a super collaboration, with rich, intricate house music paired with deeply emotive and expressive vocals.
Another bunch of collaborations here, Scratcha DVA teams up with a bunch of artists for the Afrotek EP. ‘Flex’ comes from US vocalist :3LON & Scratchclart, coming together for a truly dramatic number that marries literally growling sounds over amapiano vibes alongside gorgeous vocals that are nonetheless quite intense and menacing. It comes in instrumental form as ‘Sleeper’. ‘Bless The Earth’, from Mez & Scratchclart & Scottie Dee & DJ Polo, is a flute-led banger, with soft yet impactful percussion. Finally, the title track sees Scratcha team up with South African producer Mxshi Mo for a nasty percussive roller.
This is truly striking, a work that sees the sounds of Rachmaninoff collide with modern electronic techniques. Ghostly whispers of hymns and choral expression are truncated and sliced apart, transported into a digital netherworld as they meet sonic abstraction. One of the few things I got to listen to in any sense during my time on holiday (while tidying up outside the rented cabin), it hit me immediately with its daring ambition.
Finally, a lone SoundCloud link. This track from Dorisburg, which features on a compilation alongside tracks from Sebastian Mullaert, Wareika and Kalabrese, is a fantastic piece of work. It’s delicate and subtle, smoky and almost exotic. It combines ambient wash with brilliantly rendered bass tones, an almost digital-sounding array of animals or creatures creating a magical atmosphere.