Bandcamp Friday & Other Things

A few bits + pieces for Friday (and the weekend)

I’m having a certain type of week. It’s the kind many writers will relate to, but let me riff on it for a bit. You do a reasonably large amount of writing (in my case, about five thousand words over five stories) finish a few commissioned stories off with your editors, but none of it will come out for a few weeks (or maybe even months). So while you did quite a bit, it kinda looks like you haven’t been doing anything, or even better, some smart-ass asks if the five thousand words were “just on Twitter”. Anyway, on to more exciting things. This week’s photos are; actually, I don’t know what I shot them on or when. It is what it is.

BANDCAMP FRIDAY:

Every now and then, the people at Bandcamp (who, full disclosure, I write for over at Bandcamp Daily) do this thing called Bandcamp Friday, where for 24 hours, they waive their revenue share from sales. That way, all the money can go to the artists and labels, which has been pretty helpful for some people during the pandemic, and I guess not really for others. This month’s Bandcamp Friday kicks off in about seven hours.

I used to write a list of purchase recommendations every time they did it (sometimes on here, sometimes on Test Pressing), but I fell off the wagon, cause you know, life. Anyway, this month I got myself together and wrote a list on Test Pressing. You can read it here.

SUMMER MATTY:

Fasano, ‘Backs To The Sun’ (House of Feelings)

The New York-based singer-songwriter, producer, radio host, record label guy, DJ, actually what doesn’t he do? Guy Matty Fasano, aka Summer Matty, has a new song out now called ‘Backs To The Sun’ under his Fasano alias. Matty recorded ‘Backs To The Sun’ after his father died, with production assistance from the man, the myth, the legend Dale Eisinger. It’s an elegant piece of sepia-toned guitar-pop, a fitting tribute to lives lived and the pleasure and pain of living on without our loved ones.

Matty recorded a couple of albums of music like this before stepping sideways into the discotheque with his House of Feelings project. The circumstances are difficult, but I’m glad to see him revisiting those days through a new lens. Big love, Matty.

Sidebar: Matty and Elizabeth posted a Low cover on Twitter, and Low retweeted it.

GENERAL ODDS & ENDS:

This month, I’m taking part in Gary Suarez’s Music Writer Exercise thing on Twitter. Basically, the deal is every day of February, we listen to an album we’ve never heard before and write a tweet about it. You can follow along via the #MWE hashtag.

Lighght and Doom Trip Records are doing a crowdfunded Bandcamp vinyl campaign for his new album Seodra. More details here.

Ōtepoti (Dunedin, New Zealand) electronic musician and general tinkerer Stef Animal has created a web instrument called the Casio CA-100 Simulator. As Stef puts it, “The Casio CA-100 Simulator is a ‘fan-fiction’ software version of the mediocre Casio ToneBank CA-100 keyboard from 1990.” Have a play here.

Son Raw looks back at Skream! for Trench Mag. Have a read here.

Loraine James, not Lorraine James, Definitely not Laraine James, and sure not Lorranne James has unveiled a new ambient alias, Whatever The Weather. Its first release is coming out through Ghostly International. More details here.

The “Sleng Teng” riddim revolutionized reggae music in the mid-1980s, and has spawned hundreds of versions in the decades since then. Less well known is the story of how the distinctive bassline originated in a preset sample included on a Casio electronic keyboard and the work of a young developer fresh out of college. Hashino Yukinori on Okuda Hiroko for Nippon.com.

Dan Charnas’ new book, Dilla Time, is out now. No prizes for guessing who it is about.

FIN.