Bandcamp is one of RtBE's favorite sites on the internet. Our Bandcamp Tag aggregates all of our posts we use on the site over the years and as of today there are over 295.
Over the last few months with the Covid-19 Pandemic, Bandcamp have been doing even more for the artists who use their site. Today they are donating all of their shares of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
It is a great site, go on it and find some music, support the artists and help contribute to a worthy cause as RtBE fully supports Black Lives Matter and all the work that the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is doing.
Bandcamp is a great site for musicians and tomorrow they are helping them out even more by waiving their fees getting more money directly to musicians.
Over the years RtBE has used bandcamp to find many artists, so if you are looking for suggestions click here. Please support any artists you like, or try out some new ones.
As it happens I have two EPs currently available on Bandcamp that you can purchase from my band Angels & Vagabonds. Our first EP, The A&V EP from 2014 and our our acoustic based release Anyways... from 2015 are both available. A new album is currently being worked on and will be coming later this year (hopefully).
You can stream and purchase either, below are some tunes from both, but don't just support us, feel free to check out our bandcamp link for just a few of the great artists RtBE have found over the years.
For those unaware, here is some history from the website:
Bandcamp Fridays began in March of 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the shuttering of venues led to a loss of vital tour revenue for artists. Bandcamp Fridays—on which we waive our revenue share and pass the funds directly to artists & labels—has resulted in millions of fans paying over $120 million directly to labels and musicians they love.
This is a great deal for artists, and for fans who are waiting to buy an album. Almost every artist RtBE reviews has a bandcamp page, intrigued by our Max Boogie OverdriveStoned Again review? We found the band through bandcamp.
Even my band, Angels & Vagabondshas one if you would like to buy my music and review me! Whoever you like, odds are they have music on bandcamp, so head on over and help out any of the artists.
On June 19 (from midnight (PT) June 19 to midnight (PT) June 20), we’ll hold our annual Juneteenth fundraiser, where we donate 100% of our share of sales* to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to support their ongoing efforts to promote racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education.
This annual fundraiser is part of our larger, ongoing commitment to racial equity, and we’ll continue to promote diversity and opportunity through our mission to support artists, the products we develop, those we promote through the Bandcamp Daily and Bandcamp Radio, how we work together as a team, who and how we hire, and our relationships with organizations local to our Oakland space (some of which we’ve highlighted below).
We hope you’ll help us spread the word about the upcoming fundraiser, and thank you for being a part of the Bandcamp community!
Ethan Diamond CEO & Co-Founder of Bandcamp
Lots of bans are doing their part and one that jumped out is an RtBE favorite, The Hold Steady:
As mentioned, Bandcamp is supporting artists by waiving all of their fees today, so if you can, please go buy some music from any artist you may like. We have been reviewing bandcamp releases for years, so feel free to click on this link to see our list of bandcamp picks.
A few of RtBE's Personal Favorites are releasing new music on the site for you to grab.
Thurston Moore and his band have released a new tune they recorded a while ago titled "May Daze".
The Drive-By Truckers wrote and recorded a new a song based on the lock down, "Quarantine Together" which you can grab from their bandcamp. They also have a new t-shirt you can buy to support the band.
Another great year is finishing up for @RockBodElec and we wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE Presents the Best of 2017 Top Ten Albums Part One: The Just Misses & Let Downs:
In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album either on the site or somewhere else we will link to that review and just give a quick summation, just click on the name and title and you can read it. As always RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on the their Top 20, so expect some overlap (though not as much as in years past).
Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but complete releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle or singles for RtBE.
Today we are going to focus on the "Just Misses" of our top ten and unfortunately the "Let Downs" released this year. Obviously these are just our personal preferences, feel free to voice your opinion in the comments. Expect installment 2 (#10-6) soon, but for now click on the green "Read More" below:
Today Bandcamp, one of RtBE's favorite sites for finding, hosting and distributing music for artists, is donating all of their proceeds to the Voting Rights Project.
You yourself can give directly to the project, and you can also grab great music to go along with that. There are tons of artists that are on their and many are donating all proceeds as well.
So we close Jazz January with a piece not specifically about jazz (though there is some in it) but instead highlighting an article from the site where we found a the majority of the months releases, Bandcamp. A few weeks back that site (which we love) profiled a really cool record label that RtBE had never heard of called Dust-to-Digital.
It is a label that started it's existence with a 160 tracked gospel behemoth called Goodbye, Babylon which was nominated for Best Historical Album by The Recording Academy.
The label since then has literally been all over the world, highlighting albums, genres, and artists who may otherwise have never been heard in 2018 and beyond. There are tons to highlight from the label but here are three that instantly jumped out at us after spending some time on their page:
and the gospel styling of Rev. Johnny L Jones is powerful no matter your denomination on The Hurricane That Hit Atlanta:
This is truly a great read with lots of songs mixed in to help guide you along. Many props to the author Andy Thomas, Dust-to-Digital and Bandcamp themselves for preserving these amazing pieces of history. Enjoy some more selections we found below by just scratching the surface and as always thanks for reading.
We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.
Today we highlight: Thee Sacred Souls - Bandcamp Live Performance
(Jazzfest's second weekend starts tomorrow, and while RtBE feels it is the best festival in the country, New Orleans is more than tuba's and second lines. As the fest arrives we wanted to take some time to review smaller various bandcamp finds from the city, as the town just pulsates music culture and art.)
For our focus on lesser known New Orleans artists and releases recently we touched on new wave, hip-hop, death metal and DJ's, but we saved our favorite for last. There is not much info to be gleamed about the New Orleans instrumental outfit The Honeybrains. No online presence outside of the Tender Rat Records bandcamp posting of their excellent EP, Gettin' Tender. Then again when the music is this engaging what else needs to be said?
The group works in murky surf rock waters, recalling the days of The Ventures, Dick Dale and Link Wray but they aren't paddling out into sunshine and big waves, rather the swampy bayous and overgrown canals of the deep south. That distinction comes through in some of the eerie under and over tones with the title track opener. Warbling guitar, ominous bass and cymbals that chatter like skeleton teeth, the music even matches the retro styled cover art.
The ripping "Tombstoned" picks up the punk energy as it comes full force moving with shaking solidness and while it might call to mind a famous city in Arizona, it is the follow up "Witch Breasts" that would be the perfect Sergio Leone spaghetti western soundtrack tune. Acoustic guitars strum while electric ones scratch out the theme as organs and rich bass wrap it all up.
The group dives right into the late '50's malt shop weeper with the final tune, "Don't Dance With Me (When I'm Dead)". While the other songs all felt musically full with no real need for vocals/lyrics, this track seems ripe for some singing about a boy who crashed his hot rod or girl who won't look your way. The production on the album is a bit fuzzy and raw and this suites the sounds played, The Honeybrains are onto something good with Gettin' Tender.
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Support the band, buy the album on bandcamp and stream it below:
A few months ago I heard the song "Telstar" by The Tornadoesfor the first time. One of the reasons I review music all over the map is because there is so much amazing stuff out there that I never knew about, such as a genre known as Space Age Pop. Needless to say I went youtube diving and found a bunch of cool tunes, so when Robert J Kennedy's1950's Sci Fi Suite came onto our bandcamp radar earlier in Jazzy January we knew we wanted to cover it.
Kennedy is a an Australian composer who has dreams of becoming a "movie music composer" and posts prolifically on bandcamp. The majority of these tunes are synth keyboard based but with lots of flourishes. The album does exactly what it sets out to do, pay homage to 1950's Sci Fi Films, if not that energetically; no big rocket chase or laser climax here, just drifting mellow sounds, rising and falling.
Using strings, sounds and metallic bleeps and bloops the mood is set for each song. "A Woman? Are You Serious?" vacillates back and fourth while "I Had My Molecules Rearranged" just floats through the cosmos propelled by a light flute. The swelling and vibraphone work of "The Mad Scientists Brain Ticks Over" is a fun ride, but feels more contemporary worldly than retro 50's gazing.
Things are a too much one note though as "The Brain That Slowly Ate The World" is dull and never lives up to it's title hype while "The Creeping Unknown" offers pleasant flute, but it is a path Kennedy has shown us a few times already. A bit more variety around the genre would have been appreciated as some of those early Sci Fi Films had a sense of humor about them that isn't represented here.
Not being very knowledgeable of 50's Sci Fi movies (outside those featured on MST3K that is) the titles could mean something, thus the songs may match up to black and white scenes, which would be cool, but not necessary to the listening experience. The album could work as a score, background music, or a mellow headphone trip out to the stars, whatever is your pleasure.
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Support the artist, buy the album on bandcamp or stream it below:
(Jazzfest's second weekend starts tomorrow, and while RtBE feels it is the best festival in the country, New Orleans is more than tuba's and second lines. As the fest arrives we wanted to take some time to review smaller various bandcamp finds from the city, as the town just pulsates music culture and art.)
To quote the artist themselves: "Its a album of bounce". True, but that title is also important. Nerd Bounce finds more inspiration in it's video game console than it does in booty shaking dance clubs.
DJ Mahdi Briggs put together four short tracks of bounce music on his Nerd Bounce EP and uploaded it to bandcamp. While artists may very well take these and use them to rhyme over, the songs each are appealing on their own if you are in the mood for some bounce beats.
The dramatic "Spider Bounce" begins things as layers of digital beats fight for supremacy pushing higher and higher as the clapping bass rumbles underneath. The digital flute laden "Bounce Woods" feels anime injected around a brief chopping sample; the clear influence on all of these tracks is video game music, linking the short EP into a thematic cohesiveness.
"Costa del Bounce" uses Latin flavored piano and digital keyboards with equal ease providing the most engaging effort here as the track has a warped Bossa nova feel while disk closer "Star Bounce" uses Mario Kart and other video games sounds to warp itself into a techno colored melange of sounds.
This lighthearted finale puts a fun stamp on the brief release from DJ Mahdi Briggs. It will be interesting to see if these beats transform elsewhere.
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Support the artist, buy the album and stream it on bandcamp and below:
Grooms are a Brooklyn 3 piece that plays a mix of noise and pop tunes, making for a tangled web of sound and songs. One of the things I liked best about the album was that it wasn't easy to digest during the first few listens and I kept finding new layers of playing when I went back to the disk.
Not everything is perfect, the singing and lyrics to me could use some work. Travis Jackson tries hard to be Doug Martsch, but in complete confession it took me a looong time to warm up to Doug's singing style and not just think of him as a whiner. Like Built to Spill though the tunes contained here are engaging when you digest them.
Taylor Kelly's newest release is a dynamite mix of funky soul, experimental jazz and from the heart powerful singing, as Up Up and Away soars. Kelly and company have pulled it all together as the Philadelphia singer/songwriter deals with love, loss and confusion (as well as tacos) delivering the goods on each and every track.
The opening title tune sets the tone with it's rich musicality, tender soul, killer vocals and a ripping guitar solo to end. Engineered, mixed and produced by Robby Webb the sound throughout is warm, but never retro, alive in the present day; Kelly announces her intentions with confidence off the bat and things continue from there. The personal "JWYTK" kicks up the funk and horns while "Taco Night" gets more lighthearted and a touch tipsy with hip hop help from Mic Stewart. There is some distorted bass from Matthew Keppler under the upbeat chimes, drumming and singing (with Queen Jo helping out) on "Love is Blind" while "Run Away" excitingly amps the experimental flute and synth around the ever present groove.
"Tell Me" develops a Latin flair with percussion from Arturo Stable while "Bad Dreams" is adventurous, sounding large and cinematic in scope with a closing jazz fusion inspired jam which could have gone on for even longer as the players were all locked in. The album is a testament to Kelly herself and closer "Fall In Love" is her torch song, allowing her steamy vocals to take center stage and rise gloriously skyward describing a tale of bad relationship decisions.
These are well worn territories when it comes to lyrics in soul music and the only slight knock on the record is that the themes don't move too deep under the surface, but for a full length album to sound this solid, that is a small quibble as Up Up And Away should propel Taylor Kelly into the national spotlight.
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Another great bandcamp find, support the artist, buy the album, stream it below or on bandcamp and peep some video:
(While Jazzfest starts tomorrow, and RtBE thinks it is the best festival in the country, New Orleans is more than tuba's and second lines. As the fest arrives we wanted to take some time to review smaller various bandcamp finds from the city, as the town just pulsates music culture and art. This is the first.)
Boyish Charm plays with early 80's new wave textures on their newest EP Reaching For Love. The duo from New Orleans, hit all of the genres touch points with dramatic vocals, layers of keyboards/effects, digital drum fills and a weepy nostalgic sense of love lost.
"Crystal Blue" kicks things off in winning fashion as keyboards rise and fall like the tide around confident vocals all supported by a surprisingly rich bass and drum work for this genre of music. Following up is "Sun Kissed Lips" which uses digital laser like keys to off set the modern rock tendencies; you can practically see the smoke machines and neon lights coloring this track.
The album center piece is "Shimmer Me Pink" with it's Berlin inspired "Take My Breath Away" bass line, programmed drums and lyrical content. It would have been right at home in 1982 yet it isn't as strong as the album eyeopeners dragging a bit while "Your Hand" is more experimental containing choppy textures moving from ominous to sweet in lyrics and sounds as the keyboards amp up the feedback to keep the horror lurking underneath. Album closer "Sledgehammered by Desire" wrestles with that pretty/ugly motif as well as but in more questioning ways, using chimes and layered guitar work to shine through.
Comparisons can be made to any of the new wave early 80's artists like Morrisey, Depeche Mode, all are mined for inspiration and any fan of the genre will find things to enjoy on this EP from the New Orleans duo. Boyish Charm look backward to that shimmering early 80's sound while making music through the wires of today.
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Support the artist, buy the album on bandcamp or stream it below:
The cleverly named Jodie Faster has a tag line on their Facebook page: "Playing short songs fast since 2016" and they ain't lying. With the release of their newest full length Blame Yourself they can confidently add "damn good" in front of "songs" on that tag line.
The whole record is seventeen tracks and the album run time is just about seventeen minutes as the group explodes through each number with steamrolling energy and dynamic aggression. The hardcore punk four piece from Lille, France burn with intensity as they slam home sing along parts, blistering drums, parapet scaling guitars and a thundering bass foundation.
A track like the shotgun discharge "We All Bleed Red" is an excellent standout, kicking off at furious speed before a slower break down and a bass run to jump back up the supersonic finale while vocally lashing out at the institutional power structure...all in a dense minute twenty seven. While the vocals are screamed and a bit low in the mix at times, the attachment of the written lyrics allow for the message to come through; the bands passion needs no translation.
Each song pumps and the group never lets the tempo lack for a second. Opener "Still Not Loving the Police" is self explanatory, "JDS" is furious while "Did Not Vote" and "Push the Button" call for revolution and complete annihilation respectfully around pounding drums, tempo changes and punk guitars. The blast beats of "Be Nice Or Go To Hell" are ear drum bursting while "Gloucester's Finest" is a personal shout out to hosts/friends/supporters on the punk scene that ends with some excellent distorted bass.
The outfit can at times shift gears by successfully splashing on more poppy punk tendencies such as on "Grab & Go" or the melodic strums of their Youth Avoiders cover "Grit Your Teeth" but the core of Blame Yourself is the blasting ahead fury of the rumbling "Don't Take It Bad" and the title track which manages to deliver dynamic shifts at just under a minute.
The album closer "Tempus Fugit" hints at more to be offered by the band as they stretch out (for them, two and a half minutes) with a melodic guitar solo and drawn out pacing, successfully proving the band can do more than just slam ragingly.
Hardcore punk works best in smaller bursts as the primal energy becomes whirling, like a hyper kinetic ball of energy which can only be contained for so long. Blame Yourself pushes those forces violently through the speakers as Jodie Faster delivers a dynamite dose of pit filling tunes.
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Reason #1,298 RtBE loves bandcamp. We randomly found this one afternoon and love it. Support the band, buy the record, stream the album on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
The Berries are the brainchild of Matt Berry who does it all on his sophomore release with various friends helping out to craft a guitar based pop rock record titled Berryland.
Multi instrumentalist Berry has played in more noisy outfits (Big Bite, Happy Diving) but here his love for hooky '70's inspired radio sounds take the lead. All though the record starts off on it's darkest note as the opener "Makes Me Sick" forecasts doom and hopelessness with added flute work by Veronica Dye, but thing quickly perk up on the incredibly pretty (despite it's title) "The Lowest Form of Life" as Nicholas Merz pedal steel work combines with Berry's upbeat singing and guitar lines.
Berry recorded all of the other instruments himself and the layers of guitars he places on tracks add up, "Passing Scene" in particular has excellent acoustic work, rhythm guitar lines, a fluid bass line, smooth slide and a great jangling solo with psychedelic flourishes. It is a killer album highlight which could go on and on as the guitar lines rise and fall all over each other.
"Feral Eyes" is also a winner bringing back Merz pedal steel to add some upbeat country boogie to the album in hip shaking fashion around Berry's piumping bass and fuzzed up rocking guitar solo. On the flipside of things "Along The Water" drags with a washed out sound while a track like "D.Y.W.I.B" combines digital beats with Berry's pedal laden psychedelic 60's inspired guitar effects and while interesting the combo feels oddly paired.
Better complete efforts are the classic rock sounding "Pedestal" which finds Berry singing with menace and the self harmonizing "Fruit" which showcases what Berry does best, take mainstream influences and put his own unique stamp on them. Berryland is a confident work of art as Matt Berry melds 90's Seattle and 70's California in his unique way.
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A great random bandcamp find, support the artist, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below and peep some video:
A few months backRtBE wrote about Greg Cartwright's decision to end the Reigning Sound moniker. Then last month we reviewed his final album with the band, the live recording Memphis in June.
Now Bandcamp does an excellent job wrapping up their career and talking to Cartwright about his decision to move on. It looks like we may have been correct about one prediction, a follow up from The Parting Gifts is on the horizon, however, we could never have guessed another revelation here:
He (Cartwright) also shared some details on an unnamed project he has started with Dr. Dog’s Scott McMicken. “He just moved to Asheville a couple months ago, and we put a band together with a couple of friends of ours,” Cartwright says. “It’s a four-piece with guitars, bass, drums, and occasionally some keyboards. It’s been super fun writing songs with him and writing for that dynamic and not being the bandleader having another person who seems to lead sometimes. We’ve done some recording, but we’re not quite done with it.”
Wow. This would be a combo of two all-time favorites for RtBE as we have loved both Reigning Sound and Dr. Dogsince we first heard each. Having had the pleasure of interviewing Scott for Glide, this pair would be a joy to check out.
Here's hoping something comes to fruition from their sessions. Until then, check out songs by both Reigning Sound and Dr. Dog below.
The debut from album from the Brooklyn based saxophonist and composer Ayumi Ishito is a swirling mix of easy brass, dynamic shifts and rolling sound.
The album was recorded with her longtime quintet, Ayumi Ishito :: tenor and soprano saxophones Matthew Albeck :: electric guitar, Takafumi Suenaga :: acoustic and electric pianos, organ, synthesizer, Yoshiki Yamada :: electric bass and Carter Bales :: drums, who have all been playing together since 2011 and gel excellently.
Opening with the title track the five piece glide with ease, letting Ishito blow relaxed tones while also focusing heavily on the electro-keys of Suenaga. The tempo slows for the bass and drums to take over for "Still Shallow" leading to some gorgeous high points while "Road Song" stays mellow and gives the guitar room to roam.
The band is effortless and at times the pacing can seem a bit too easy going, but when they lock in the unit can really cook. "Sleepwalking" is an avant-garde blast of angular sounds wrapped around easy listening while the reggae groove kicks up for "Walking On Mars". The closer "Thirsty For It" falls into a light rocking pattern, ending the album pleasantry. A fun first release from Ms. Ishito and company.
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Yet another cool bandcamp find for our Jazz focus this January. Support the band, buy the album, stream it on bandcamp or below.
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