Lee Baggett - Just A Minute (1979?)

 

GENRE : psychedelic rock, psychedelic folk, indie rock, 70's psych rock, freak folk

RECORD LABEL : Perpetual Doom

Lee Baggett is a mystifying songwriter/musician who was musically at his most active throughout the 70s and 80s, but seemed to have disappeared into the mists of time. 'Just A Minute' is his legendary album, which was thankfully re-discovered and exhumed by indie record label Perpetual Doom, and eventually released on their label in April 2021.

This sounds like a lost Neil Young album from the 70s, and I'm saying that in the best possible way because let's be honest - 70's Neil Young is the best Neil Young. If you loved Neil Young and Bob Dylan when they were at their peak, and (like myself) constantly crave more of their material from that era - you need this album in your life. It might take a while to get into the vocals, but I plead you to persevere. Since it clicked with me, it just gets better and better with subsequent listens. A perfect album for lazy depressing sunny days.

Stream/Download the album here...

https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/album/just-a-minute

Ali Murray - Wilderness of Life (2022)

GENRE : alternative folk, dream pop, shoegaze, post-punk, Scotland

RECORD LABEL : Dead Forest Records

Ali Murray is a half-Scottish/half-Filipino songwriter/musician hailing from a cold little Scottish island - the Isle of Lewis, to be precise, and this is his first solo album since 2017. I've been highly anticipating this album for what seems like an eternity. Often when I build things up in my head over a long period of time, they inevitably disappoint...but this album was even better than I expected it to be.

This album is a dark lonely introspective journey through ambiguous dreamscapes. Musically, it's an interesting mixture of ethereal alt-folk and melancholy dream-pop, with some elements of shoegaze and gothic post-punk thrown in there for good measure. Lyrically, it tackles profound themes of mortality, love, loss, freedom and the fragility of our existence. 

It is not light shallow music for the masses. Murray constantly manages to tap into something deep, dark and uncomfortable... but somehow turns it all into wonderful dreamy pop music.

The atmospheres and soundscapes within the album are exactly how I imagine the Isle of Lewis to be - cold, barren and beautiful...

I would highly recommend this album. It's one of the best singer-songwriter albums I've heard in years. And while you're at it, you should definitely check out his older albums.

Stream/Download the album here...

https://alimurray.bandcamp.com/album/wilderness-of-life

Armed Love Militia - Raw Lo-Fi EP

 

GENRE : dark folk, gypsy rock, dark cabaret

RECORD LABEL : self-released

Armed Love Militia was a random musical discovery I made while snooping through Bandcamp recently. I was drawn to the title and the visuals of this particular project, so I ended up clicking play and really enjoying the 3 individual songs that are posted on the page. It was only upon paying closer attention to the information written on the Bandcamp page that I realized that Armed Love Militia is the music project of the actress Fairuza Balk!

If you didn't already know, Fairuza Balk is an American actress (and goth-punk cult icon) that has starred in lots of notable movies like American History X,  Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, The Waterboy & The Island of Dr. Moreau, but I had no idea she was also a talented artist/musician...

The three songs on her Bandcamp page make up Armed Love Militia's debut EP, 'Raw Lo-Fi' . 'Stormwinds' was the first song they ever released. It's a slow brooding atmospheric electronic goth-rock song that has quite an apocalyptic blues vibe to it. 'Dream45' is a dark haunting acoustic murder ballad that Balk recorded on her iPhone, and 'Davie' is a dark cabaret-style rock song delivered with a punk energy and fury that will likely please fans of P.J Harvey. Awesome stuff. I hope she releases more music in the future.

Stream/Download the songs here...

https://armedlovemilitia.bandcamp.com/

NEST: A Compilation Supporting Trans Youth and Their Families (No Thank You Recordings 2022)

 

GENRE : experimental, abstract, ambient, field recordings, avant-garde

RECORD LABEL : No Thank You Recordings

No Thank You Recordings have one of the best Bandcamp bios I've ever read - ''a place for ambient/avant-garde/experimental/field recording artists to share pieces they really believe in and to which others have No'' . I love it. 

No Thank You Recordings are an ambient/experimental/field recordings label, and this is their recently released charity compilation to help raise funds to support trans kids and their families through the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund - www.transgenderlegal.org. You can read their full mission statement at the Bandcamp link below...

I must say...the quality of music on this compilation is pretty damn incredible. The compilation consists of 32 tracks of wonderful (mostly) ambient/noise music from artists I've never heard of. There's a huge range of styles and moods throughout the songs, and it never gets boring or predictable.

The songs range from the abstract & atonal to the melodic & dreamy to the disturbing & creepy to the harsh & painful to just all-out weird as f**k... but the album as a whole is a joy to listen to, from beginning to end. There's lots of cool surprises in there, even a couple of pop songs and a vapourwave song!

I highly recommend you check this out. Ideally I'd like to have posted this on Bandcamp Friday...but I was super busy that day, and I wanted to actually listen to the music before writing anything about it.  

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Some of my own personal highlights...

Solo1 - Sunland Drive No.2

The delightful swirling melancholic opening track of the compilation. It's quite Lynchian actually.

Mollbury Medical Research Centre - We Have Established Communication

I did a write-up for the debut MMRC album here a couple of months ago. Very disturbing and unsettling dark ambient/drone music. 

TABBY - Love Processing

A glorious electronic ambient track. It feels like being sucked up into the stars.

Cyparissus - fibi 

Gorgeous birdsong. Sometimes that's all you need to hear.

Infrasubcontra - Verdant Slant

Slow dark cinematic drone music composed from tubas, pedals and synths.

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Stream/Download the compilation here...

https://nothankyourecordings.bandcamp.com/album/nest-a-compilation-supporting-trans-youth-and-their-families