It’s another Bandcamp Friday! Time to fill up the cart and bring home some great tunes. Looking for a few ideas? Check out some of these albums and artists.
Lagniappe Sessions (EP) by Sunny War
Spotted this one on Cover Me, I think, a few weeks ago. The entire EP is made up of covers, but the one that stands out for me is the 8-minute cover of The Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive” that deconstructs the song and gives it a lot of room to breathe.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=372660277 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=235655820]
Bonus recommendation, her Simple Syrup release that came out last week is beautiful. Really enjoying her voice and guitar playing, it’s sublime. This is the sort of album I can close my eyes and just let wash over me. It’s definitely not background music for working – it deserves full attention.
When the world returns to some semblance of normal I hope I can catch a live show.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3654010975 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
This is not a collaboration I’d have predicted, or known that I wanted, but sometimes life hands you something really good unexpectedly. So it is with Promises, a joint effort from Floating Points (producer, DJ, musician and Eglo Records co-founder, Pharoah Sanders (legendary jazz saxophonist), and a scrappy little outfit known as the London Symphony Orchestra.
This is a perfect record to bring in Spring, it’s all sonic butterflies and sunshine, light breezes and fluffy clouds dancing overhead. Nature’s stretching after a long Winter nap and getting down to the serious business of reawakening. The record was released just a few days ago, but I don’t think it’s too soon to declare this one a classic.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3149089081 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
Machines Reflecting Love (EP) by Earthspace
This short EP from 2020 by Earthspace (aka, Matheus Nogueira from Brazil) is described as “chunky slabs of bass grooves.” It’s short but lots of fun. It doesn’t demand your full attention. It makes for great background work music, but it does reward it if you do choose to close your eyes and just ride its waves.
[bandcamp width=400 height=120 album=4064950087 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
A Haunted Place by Kill Shelter & Antipole
A Haunted Place is new from last week, but its cold wave vibe would be right at home next to The Cure’s Pornography and other 80s cold wave/goth classics. This is the kind of gloom and doom that’s fun to listen in any mood. The lyrics are a bit “black writing on black paper in a dark room” but the music is good enough I don’t mind too much.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=4024825527 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
Caravan to the Stars by Dark Matter Halo feat. Bill Laswell
Ethereal, heavy on the low end, great stuff from Dark Matter Halo with Bill Laswell. The title is appropriate, feels like a journey through the void at galactic distances.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=2614911790 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
Milan 2012 by Material
This one is exclusive to members of the BASSMATTER subscription from Bill Laswell on Bandcamp. It’s a six track jam recorded at Teatro Manzoni, Milan featuring Aiyb Deng, Hamid Drake, Dominic James, Peter Apfelbaum, Steven Bernstein (not that one), and Bernie Worrell.
There’s some truly stunning work from Worrell on the keyboards here. Laswell’s bass is top-notch as always. Gave it a listen the moment the notice landed in my inbox that Laswell had released another BASSMATTER exclusive. The subscription is $22 a month. You’ll get access to all the back catalog exclusives and new stuff released while you’re subscribed.
Did a quick scan of my inbox and there’ve been about 22 releases this year. I wondered when I signed up whether the subscription would be worthwhile or if this would be the dregs of stuff out of the archives… it’s not the dregs. I’ve enjoyed pretty much all the releases that have been issued since I subscribed, particularly the Tabla Beat Science and Method of Defiance stuff.
Tell me what you’re listening to
Enough about my finds this week, what are you listening to? Always looking for new music recommendations. Bonus points if it’s on Bandcamp, but that’s not a requirement.