RIP. A weekly roundup of releases on Bandcamp and Soundcloud selected and delivered by Aidan
So it’s Bandcamp Friday. I said back in January that ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ should win an Oscar, and then it didn’t even appear among the nominees. Yet this was the song that was performed by the cast on the night, with an additional verse from Megan Thee Stallion. How’s that for cultural impact. The song was in my head for a solid three months, only briefly dislodged when I watched West Side Story. I haven’t featured it below because this edition is already jammed, but my latest radio show is a paean to Róisín Murphy. If you’re interested, see here.
Poison Zcora - Certain People / Big Jealous
Like most people, I assume, I tend to leave something playing in one tab while I go about my business across the web in any number of other tabs. Occasionally, this will lead to a cross-contamination of sounds. I thought this was the case towards the end of ‘Certain People’, the first in this two-tracker from London-based Irish producer Poison Zcora. You see, I heard the unmistakable sound of a WhatsApp voice note recorded by the sister of an Irish sportsman a few years ago. Had I inadvertently opened a YouTube video? Oh no. PZ has only gone and sampled this piece of cultural history in his track, which for the most part glides along with breezy breakbeats and synths that remind me of NERD’s first album. Then bam. WHO THE FUCK, etc etc. If this entire paragraph is over your head, well, you’re probably better off.
Space Ghost - Private Paradise
Space Ghost’s Dance Planet was one of my favourite releases last year. It was part album part remix collection, with several versions of different tracks. While this release continues in a similar vein, it surpasses it only because of the greater depth and variety within. I just love his sound, the feelings, the vibes.
I love the vibes here too, but instead of sunlit freeways and terrace dance floors, the vibe is crusty speakers and intimate recordings.
An almost Yamaneko-esque release, the blurb here mentions “blurred headspace”. I know that all too well. The smudge and smear of sound here is comforting and fascinating, somehow foggy and digitally pristine at the same time.
Five tracks of stellar ambient, filled with yearning and sorrow and hope. I love the artist’s own description, that it’s about “warm evenings with a bonfire crackling nearby, low-light trick on the eyes and mind, longing, and being so freaking tired”. Oh yes. It’s raising money for Grupa Granica, an organisation that is helping migrants on the Polish-Belarussian border.
DJ Wawa - From Fumiya To The Jacking Zone
The latest in the Mixtape Club series comes from New York’s DJ Wawa, who did a mix for Bandcloud a few years back. This one features Yu Su, Gemini (whose Get Down finally landed in my Bandcamp today), Larry Heard’s incomparable ‘Sun Can’t Compare’ and even LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Losing my Edge’, alongside some resurfaced disco and early house sounds. The weather got better and then it got colder, but this is the perfect selection for warming your feet.
Barmy and slightly wild field recordings and whispers, plucks and twangs. I use the word “unknowable” a lot, so the title here fits into that general vibe. Just dive in with your eyes closed and enjoy the swirl.
Ghost Signs & Veins Full of Static - For The Reverend Jason Molina
Two artists I love on a label I love. Four semi-lengthy drone pieces with lots of heart.
Veryan - Interview With the Vampire
I played this in the car and my son was fascinated by the “creepy” sounds. Then when I told him about the inspiration for the music, he was intrigued, but it later got in the way of an easy bed time. So pros and cons.
Five bangers from different artists in South Africa. acid’s ‘Slow Drifter’ is my favourite.
Thomas Ragsdale & Richard Arnold - Transformations I
My man Thomas Ragsdale teams up with his stepfather Richard Arnold (not the CEO of Manchester United) for this gloriously swampy ambient release on Mysteries of the Deep. Reminds me of the weird floating disembodied figure in Under The Skin.
Imagine crunchy acid sounds with Think! breaks as heard from the smoking area on terrible speakers. Or maybe the sound you hear between pirate radio stations as you turn the dial.
Speaking of acid, there’s a track on this release entitled ‘toOo mUch acCcid’, but instead of gnarly 303s it sounds like the experience of being caught in a wind tunnel.
“Artem Pismenetskii is a Ukrainian still living in his homeland but relocated to Kharkov. When I communicated with him yesterday he was safe but he expressed that the situation was ‘critical’ He requested that all profits from the sale of this CD be donated to Ukrainian support charities.”
Pavel Milyakov - untitled 2022
Pavel Milyakov aka buttechno is using his profile and his music to raise money for Ukrainian charities. Fair play.
Seeing mew music from picnic and the Daisart label is one of the few things that immediately warms my heart these days.
OLHO - Os centros da consciência - Volume
Gorgeous, almost other-worldly sounds from Brazil.
The latest from bookworms features track titles that hint at demos and jams, yet the quality is that of studied and carefully constructed efforts. The artwork features an open stellar cluster, and the music is appropriately wide-eyed, reaching beyond our world for a glimpse at another existence.
I love everything about this, from the artwork (featuring the words “410,757,864,530 Bandcamp Days”) to the titles (‘No Worries If Not’) to the music itself. Two top lads.
An incredibly deep live set, so deep you definitely need headphones or maybe a soundproofed room. Swampy.