Bandcloud presents Missives

When I sent the very first Bandcloud mail in January 2014, it was a simple email BCCed to a few people who'd responded to a simple tweet: "Would you be interested in reading a mail from me about new music I've found?" This was prompted by a friend suggesting I do just that because all I did on Twitter was post links to Bandcamp and SoundCloud. 

Over the years Bandcloud has grown somewhat, at one time or another encompassing a series of guest mixes, guest slots on various radio stations, a short-lived podcast and a radio show on Dublin Digital Radio. Ultimately the impulse is the same. Sharing music. There's nothing particularly lofty about that, but that's what it is. I suppose I'm inspired to share things you might not hear any/everywhere else, as I've always been frustrated by homogeneity and blandness. In 2006 I wrote an impassioned column in a college paper imploring people to get out and try some new music — I believe the closing line was something like: "It can't be worse than hearing 'You're Beautiful' or ‘Ghetto Gospel' for the 1,000th time." Blogging and writing aside, it only took eight years for me to get seriously proactive about it. 

Everyone on this compilation has featured in Bandcloud, either in the mails or on the DDR show (often both). Two artists have done guest mixes, three appeared on the 2014 Christmas compilation that celebrated a year of the project's existence. What they also have in common is that they have all inspired me. Not just through their music but through their ideas, their friendship, their generosity of spirit. 

All proceeds from this compilation are going to two Irish charities. Merchants Quay Ireland, which is a national homeless and drugs charity that provides food and shelter to rough sleepers, medical services and needle exchange, addiction counselling and recovery treatment and so on. The Ana Liffey Drug Project is a National Addiction Service with a ‘Low Threshold - Harm Reduction’ ethos that provides direct services to drug users as well as advocating for policy changes on a national level.

Twitter (and social media in general) gets a bad rap, and that's fair. The verbal violence and bigotry on display every day is both mind-numbing and truly shocking. We shouldn't ignore that. At its best, however, it allows people to come together in a shared spirit of community across borders, oceans, continents. This compilation — Bandcloud itself — wouldn't exist without Twitter. Even the people involved from my own country I wouldn't have met otherwise. 

On that note. Special thanks to Paul Guinan for his time and guidance in designing the album artwork. Thank you to Shane Connaughton (Instagram / Flickr) for providing photography for Paul to work with. Thanks to Tony Poland for the "liner notes" that appear alongside the album. Thanks to Dom at Declared Sound for his stellar mastering job. Thanks to the artists for the time and their music. And finally, thank you for reading. As always, I hope you find something you like in here. If not, maybe next time? 

Bandcloud presents Missives
Bandcamp / SoundCloud

1 Yamaneko - Dissolving All Ghosts Unknown 
2 CCL x Flora FM - Winding Plod 
3 ACI_EDITS - [untitled] 
4 Gadget and the Cloud - Quiescence 
5 Blusher - Snowy B 
6 Motoko & Myers - Leaf Lottery 
7 Yakui - Airycloud 
8 Violet - Baby Doll 
9 Lee Kelly - Forever In Doubt 
10 Persuasion - Aidan's Dream 
11 Debby Friday - uplookingdown 
12 Doc Sleep - Three Suns 
13 HUP [2019 Mix Adjust] 
14 Cruel Diagonals - Praxis 
15 James N Murray - Silver Dollar 

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