So there's no more Bandcamp Fridays, at least for the next few months...but that shouldn't stop us from supporting great bands and artists.
Here's my newest roundup of Bandcamp recommendations for you...
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Abronia - Map of Dawn (2022)
GENRE : psychedelic rock, kosmiche, prog rock, psychedelic blues, krautrock
RECORD LABEL : Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube Records
The desert beast returns, and it's hungrier than ever...
This is the new album from Portland's psychedelic prog-rock sextet, Abronia. In this latest release of theirs, they have combined their unique signature style of scorched earth prog-rock with cosmic blues, gothic Americana, psychedelic post-punk, twisted spaghetti-Western country and woozy kosmiche art rock...lovingly sprinkled with some free-form jazz sax, and layered over with the haunting lead vocals that soar like ritualistic incantations, swirling in the desert dust.
This album shares some musical territory and vibes with The Mars Volta's The Bedlam in Gotham - the cosmic desert psych-rock, the squealing jazz-infused saxophone and that certain Middle-Eastern flavour ... but on the other hand it's nothing like it.
Musically, Abronia are far more akin to bands like The Black Angels, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Nico & Popol Vuh. I really admire their talent and ability to weave seamlessly between light and dark, slow and fast, soft and heavy... often multiple times during one song, never becoming stale or predictable. Highly recommended. I can't get enough of that glorious pedal steel.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Fields We Found - Distance (2022)
GENRE : ambient, minimalist, lo-fi synthwave
RECORD LABEL : Seil Records
Beautiful lo-fi ambient synthwave that blows through your heart and your consciousness like a soft wind before disappearing into the air from which it came. Created and performed on Ciat-Lonbarde instruments (wooden synthesizers) and recorded live onto tape, this is a gorgeous example of electronic minimalism. Void of structure and predictability - this album of improvised loops is beautiful and ephemeral, and thoroughly enjoyable. Great album.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Ali Murray - Further Still (2014)
GENRE : ethereal folk, dream-pop, psych folk, dark ambient
RECORD LABEL : Dead Forest Records
Enter the sad and beautiful world of Ali Murray. This is raw dark minimalist psych-folk, to a subtle backdrop of ethereal ambient soundscapes and pastoral field recordings, with Murray's breathy vocals sitting nicely in the dreamy soundscape. In between these beautiful poignant songs of loss, regret and existential sadness - you can hear distant ocean waves, lonely winds, raindrops falling and birds singing. Everything seems to be shrouded in a quiet ghostly mist. This is comfort music for lost lonely souls.
Stream/Download the album here...
Dominique - The Instruction Manuel (2022)
GENRE : alternative, art pop, indie rock, psych folk
RECORD LABEL : Perpetual Doom
This is the debut solo album from one of the two lead vocalists of the awesome psychedelic LA goth-rock band Dayton Swim Club - the visual artist and musician Dominique.
Unpredictable, eclectic and hard-to-define - this is a stunning collection of quirky psychedelic art-pop songs that seem to come from places ancient and primal and haunted, yet delivered in a playful and quirky and joyous way. The central focus of these songs is undoubtedly Dominique's acrobatic vocal vibrato. It is spiritual, sensual, heartbreaking and joyful - a beautiful and wacky mish-mash of Dolores O'Riordan, Nico, Roy Orbison and Angel Olson. It warbles and soars over the strange colorful landscapes of her wonderful songs.
Musically, this album dances around deliriously between electronic avant-pop, freak folk, psychedelic art rock and that weird-ass stuff you hear in children's movies...
Performed on a vast array of instruments such as guitars, synths, xylophones, flutes and tribal percussion - it's the perfect medium for Dominique's emotive songwriting and deep cathartic expression. Amazing album.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Phoneswithchords - Cut The Kid (2022)
GENRE : acoustic, bedroom pop, bedroom folk, lo-fi folk
RECORD LABEL : Z Tapes
phoneswithchords is the solo singer-songwriter music project of Arthur Alligood from Tennessee. Recorded on an old Mac computer using nothing but a cheap microphone and a parlor guitar (and subtly adorned with some flourishes of keyboard), this album is a heartfelt collection of extremely raw intimate lo-fi acoustic pop songs. At times it almost sounds like it was performed down the telephone, as in a phone with a cord...
These songs are a collection of lost lonely memories, both sad and sweet... letters sent but never received. Hushed vocals and delicate finger-picked guitars that makes the time stand still.
Musically and sonically, an obvious comparison to this album would be Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell...but Alligood has tapped into his own unique creative well that belongs to him and him alone. It's a work of quiet beauty, and a testament to how you don't need fancy expensive studio equipment to make powerful music. Great stuff.
Stream/Download the album here...
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DOWNWARD - Brass Tacks EP (2022)
GENRE : post-hardcore, alt-rock, alt-grunge, shoegaze, slowcore
RECORD LABEL : New Morality Zine
DOWNWARD are a post-hardcore band from Tulsa, Oklahoma...and this is an EP they released earlier this year. In its short duration, there's a lot of cool stuff going on this EP. It's slow and crushingly heavy, but also very melodic and emotional, and pretty damn dreamy. Their sound is a wondrous amalgamation of post-hardcore, moody alt-grunge, ethereal slowcore rock and melodic metalcore.
Regardless of what genre you want to pigeonhole this band into, this is a brilliant EP. Whilst all the individual elements of the sound are very familiar and recognizable, the way this band bring it all together and execute it is powerful and rather glorious.
Recommended for fans of Deftones, Finch, Hum, The Cure, Glassjaw, Far, etc...
Stream/Download the album here...
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The Liquid Clear - Proportion (2022)
GENRE : experimental, electronica, industrial, dark ambient, electropop
RECORD LABEL : self-released
The Liquid Clear (a.k.a Bree D) creates challenging experimental electronic music, and this is her second full-length album. I was quite taken back by how melodic and hooky it is (at times) compared to some previous releases, but in a good way. For me, this album sits somewhere in the industrial darkwave electropop realm, but not entirely comfortably...
The music constantly shifts and evolves (or devolves), taking its erratic twists and turns into a bunch of different musical territories and atmospheric dimensions...keeping the album fresh, eerie, unpredictable and deliciously compelling. There's lots of interesting juxtaposition going on here - it's melodic and abstract, peaceful and noisy, beautiful and unnerving, minimalistic and huge... This album is a glorious psychedelic aural treat.
Stream/Download the album here...
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Drew Fitchette - Witness Marks (2022)
GENRE : acoustic, instrumental, folk
RECORD LABEL : Furious Hooves
Here's some beautiful bare bones minimalistic acoustic guitar compositions from Pacific Northwest musical artist, Drew Fitchette. These songs were recorded in just three days, one single take per track. The music conjures up images of driving slowly through hazy barren rural landscapes in soft golden sunlight, lost in a pensive reverie. I love how sparse and empty these songs are, allowing each note and chord to ring out and breathe deeply.
Fans of John Fahey, Mark Kozelek, Jim O'Rourke & Yasmin Williams will very likely dig this slab of bittersweet folky gorgeousness. Highly recommended.
Stream/Download the EP here...
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Fields of Mildew - The Complete Woes (2021)
GENRE : dark folk, gothic folk, doom folk, Germany
RECORD LABEL : Nordvis Records
Here's some pitch-black doom-laden gothic folk music from Northern Germany. Fields of Mildew is a one-man music project inspired by the history, hardships and folklore of Teufelsmoor - 'Devil's Moor' when translated to English. A place rife with human tragedy and dark superstition...
Musically, this album is very stripped down and minimal, mostly performed with a wonderfully atmospheric reverbed guitar, one voice and a drum. It's unapologetically haunting and lonely and bleak...but so beautiful and emotive.
Stream/Download the album here...
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