BANDCAMP FRIDAY: APRIL 2021

Brace yourself, the Bandcamp fee waiver day is almost upon us again.

Bandcamp Fridays is a bit of an institution now, aren't they? For those unfamiliar, the deal is simple, on the first Friday of every month since March, they've waived their revenue share to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic. As Bandcamp founder Ethan Diamond put it in a press statement in February, "Over the course of these nine (now ten) days, fans paid artists and labels 40 million dollars, helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more. If you’re among the nearly 800,000 fans who participated, thank you."

Vaccines might be beginning to arrive, but given how uncertain the future of live music performance is, Bandcamp has announced that Bandcamp Fridays will continue until May this year. Most months, I've managed to put together a list of Bandcamp Friday purchase recommendations, and as we're rolling into another one in just under eight hours time, why not continue right? Check out my picks below, and if you’re confused about what time the shenanigans all start, check in here.

Sjunne Ferger's Exit, Childrens Mind (Strangelove)

‘Awakening’, the first track on this compilation, almost brought me to tears the first time I heard it. I’ve got to hand it to Örebro’s Sjunne Ferger, the combination of piano, synths and drum machines he summoned up here could very well make you feel like magic exists. After the transcendence of that opening number, the dearly departed Swedish jazz drummer and producer’s craftsmanship does not let up. ‘Romance’ turns piano house into a psychedelic recital, and ‘Night Rituale’ is a masterclass in rhythmic ambient. Children’s Mind collects 7 tracks Ferger recorded, and points towards the impending reissue of his masterwork, Mindgames. Brilliant archival work from Strangelove Music.

Various Artists, Oz Echoes: DIY Cassettes and Archives 1980​-​1989 (Efficient Space)

Compiled and curated by the Amsterdam-based, Australian graphic designer, broadcaster and DJ Steele Bonus, Oz Echoes: DIY Cassettes and Archives 1980​-​1989 is an incredible return to the creative extravagance that ran rampant throughout Australia’s 80s DIY scene. Steele has explored this realm before in the OZ Waves compilation, also released through Melbourne’s Efficient Space record label, but this time, the drone-pop, psyche-electronics and agitated tape cut-ups somehow hit harder and sweeter. Height/Dismay’s ‘Mother’s Footsteps’ makes me wonder if Connan Mockasin has some Australian relatives we don’t know about, and Shanghai Au Go-Go’s ‘I Cried All Winter’ is a reminder that Australia was right on the techno-pop wave in the eighties.

Here’s some advice Steele gave me on how to listen to OZ Echoes and Oz Waves: “With both I tried to make a versatile selection of music that could be listened to while lounging at home but could also be fun to hear out at a party. So it's really up to the listener! For me I'd say the best way to take it in would probably be while walking through the city streets on your headphones.”

Hasji, Groves (Noa Records)

For their first release of 2021, Auckland, New Zealand’s Noa Records unveil a suite of Gorge music created by local Gorge practitioner Hasji and friends, Groves. Gorge is a style of music with roots in Nepal, India and Japan, that follows three rules: 1. Use toms. 2. Call it Gorge. 3. Don't call it art. Hasji’s interpretation of Gorge shares some spirit with ambient, footwork, rap, RnB and unsurprisingly, improv. Local vocalists Shiraz and Samara Alofa turn in an inspired, freeform rap and some crushingly manipulated song on ‘hasji meets shiraz uptown’ and ‘hasji meets samara alofa harbourside’ respectively. If you love texture, this collection is just thrilling. You can purchase straight digital, or a download that comes with a semi-transparent piece of art created by Thee Abigail Aroha Jensen.

Ludus, Two of The Same (Strange Behaviour)

Whanganui-based synthesist and sound recorder Ludus inaugurates the long-awaited Strange Behaviour label with her equally awaited debut album, Two of The Same. Using the hyper-tactile Deluge synthesiser and a hard drive full of outdoor field recordings, Ludus crafts nine rhythmic ambient compositions that reimagine nature and technology in splendid harmony. Hand in hand with this, Two of The Same explores the relationships between live performance and composition, reaching for harmony in all things. There are many dreamscapes on this Earth, but these are Ludus' and Ludus’ alone.

bergsonist, #cb003d (Self-Released)

The outpouring of talent continues. After uploading an endless stream of short, but perfectly formed electronica EPs with alphanumeric titles for the entirety of 2020, bergsonist, the New York-based Moroccan artist and musician, is not letting up in 2021. Over #cb003d’s four tracks, bergsonist provides a haunting synthesized soundtrack to bullied humanity, reframes imposter syndrome with a cubed house techno bounce, and puts the hated hater through a washing machine cycle of hand drums, before putting the boomerang effect of karma on a cybernetic pulse. bergsonist’s tracks are never over-thought or overwrought, and that’s where the magic lies.

Scribble, Selected Works 1983​-​86 (Strangelove Music)

Strangelove Music’s strike rate is very strong right now, and Selected Works 1983-86, a collection of ‘80s songs from Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter Johanna Pigott’s Scribble project only serves to reassert that. The big hitter here is Pigott’s Balearic cover of ‘Mother of Pearl’ by Roxy Music, but the whole compilation is full of antipodean delights. It’s funny to think that she co-wrote Australian-New Zealand art-rock band Dragon’s hit song ‘Rain’ and soft rock crooner John Farnham’s ‘Age of Reason’, but also rather unsurprising. The history of music is riddled with these sorts of secret-histories and commercial-underground crossovers. Selected Works 1983-86 is a gorgeous, gorgeous collection.

Prolaps, Ultra Cycle Pt. 1: Vernal Birth (Hausu Mountain)

Once again, Matt Stephenson from Machine Girl and Bonnie Baxter from Kill Alters form like Voltron and ride the spacewaves for another album-length release from their Prolaps duo project. Two of the fiercest forces from the modern New York scene pushing the core components of jungle, breakcore, new age, rave and happy hardcore to limits at hyper-speed. Two skilled and uninhibited producer vocalists taking a trip through a wormhole or ten, what’s not to like, right?

The Zenmenn, Enter The Zenmenn (Music From Memory)

This one is only up for pre-order atm, so you’ll have to trust me on it. Scant as they are on autobiographical detail, Music From Memory’s new band The Zenmenn are summoning up exactly the sort of contemporary music you’d hope from a label of their pedigree. Lush, new age popstrumentals for the lounge, the dancefloor, an early morning walk, lunchtime in the kitchen, really just whatever you need a soundtrack for. (Pre-order here)

DJ Swisha, Clout Psychosis (Self-Released)

The title of this EP gave me the term I needed to understand some of the most cringeworthy aspects of online life today, and for that alone, I salute thee, DJ Swisha. At the same time though, what we’re really here for is the music, and much like bergsonist, Swisha has this ability to just churn out quality dance-tempo records across a range of styles - techno, house, footwork, jungle, the list goes on. They’re never overthought, and they always hit. We’re dealing with a generation who really are creating for the pure joy of creating, and having a lot of laughs with it along the way. I support the wave.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

Fatima Al Qadiri, The Bead Thief: Not all theft is forbidden (Bidoun)

There’s a Kuwaiti proverb: “All theft is forbidden except the theft of misabeeh.” So my Kuwaiti father tells me. A misbah (singular) is a string of prayer beads, like a rosary, used for prayer and meditation and for keeping one’s hands busy in times of boredom. My father is a misbah thief. (Click here)

Sophia Al-Maria, Satellite of Hob: An HDTV guide (Bidoun)

Once upon a time, there were two main topographical features on most any Arab rooftop: a water tank and an antenna. The antenna was generally the size of a five-year-old, shaped like a minaret and filigreed for maximum signal. But when the Saudis neglected to broadcast news of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait for three days, they inadvertently launched a media mutiny. Viewers turned away en masse from government broadcasting and looked instead to the pulsing red star of Arabsat. (Click here)

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:

On Thursday afternoon, Los Angeles-based internet radio station Dublab aired the second part of my 90s Aotearoa hip-hop DJ mix series - Summer In The Winter. It should be up for streaming on their archive soon, but for now, here’s a link to help you find it later on. (Click here)

WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:

I’m back on Palestine’s Radio Alhara راديو الحارة from 8-9pm Bethlehem Time on Saturday the 3rd of April with a new mix called 'It's over'. Beats + pieces of oddball lounge, psyche, street soul, electronic pop and batida Americana from around the globe. You can stream the station (here)

OUTTAKES:

Last week (I think?), Bandcamp Daily published my guide to Australian DJ, broadcaster and record collector Michael Kucyk’s immaculately curated Efficient Space record label. I interviewed a bunch of Michael’s friends for that story, and well, word counts being word counts, I couldn’t include everything they told me. I thought I’d share a few of the better leftover quotes below.

Steele Bonus on Michael’s vision for Efficient Space: “Michael is definitely someone with strong values and a high level of care and detail in everything he does. His criteria for releasing music is something I can respect and understand - it's not really about quantity of output, what's in vogue or what's going to sell. I think it's a more personal thing, like does this feel exciting and fresh.”

Andras on the best things about working with Michael: “Lunch. Seeing him in person, working together in real life. It’s hard to get messages to a label and pressing plant over email. It’s like trying to drive a car with a fishing rod. Being in a room allows you to nut out the small details. For 3AM spares MK bought a Epson restaurant docket printer and manually printed 1000x (?) inserts on actual thermal paper. Took a few days. Legendary.”

DJ Sundae on working with Michael on the Sky Girl compilation: “Working with Michael who really understood our original idea and believed in it, at all the artistic levels was a precious experience. Reaching a wide audience with some of our favorite miniatures / diy songs was a nice surprise actually. Efficient Space was the perfect place we could have found to give a second chance to those unknown musical treasures. From clearing to diffusing, Michael did an amazing job. Seeing some of those songs of the compilation originally released on confidential tapes or records being licensed for TV series or movies was also particularly rewarding.”

Lovefingers: “Protect Michael at all costs and long live NIMH.”

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!!