
Bandcamp Counselor: March 2017
By Cameron Deuel
Bandcamp is the single greatest music discovery platform in existence because it grants you instant access to an ecosystem of music in virtually every genre from artists around the world. You could accidentally click on an album under the Recently Sold section and discover your new favorite band. You might also quickly recognize that lo-fi didgeridoo two-step isn’t your jam. (Or maybe it is, and you find acceptance among the didgeridudes and didgeridudettes!) The goal of this column is to point you in the direction of great releases from the last month that flew under the radar. Here are a few from March that are very accessible and good.
DJ Jayhood – KING
The debut album from New Jersey’s DJ Jayhood is less an introduction than a reminder of his status as the leader of Jersey club music as a whole. He doesn’t just effortlessly merge and contort samples upon samples, DJ Jayhood creates musical origami. Throughout the album, pieces of songs you’ve heard a billion times are rejuvenated by his mixing. DJ Jayhood’s ability to transform the familiar into something completely new and vibrant is a wonder to behold. KING should serve as an entryway to Jersey club music purely as an example of how the genre is built upon boundless creativity. Oh, and it’ll make you shake your butt. A lot.
RIYL: New Jersey, sweating, crate-digging, surprises :^)
https://localactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/king
Hater – You Tried
To listen to Hater is, ironically, to feel a sense of emotional weightlessness. You Tried, the Swedish four-piece’s debut album, exists in a hazy atmosphere inhabited only by the forlorn vocals of Caroline Landahl. Imagine that, on your worst day ever, a warm sunbeam lands directly on your face and you’ll start to understand.
RIYL: Fjallraven, personalized sheet cakes, aliens, fleeing
https://hatermalmo.bandcamp.com/
Party Nails – Come Again EP
At first glance, Party Nails’ Come Again EP is a good old-fashioned ode to infectious, new wave-inspired 80s pop. There are “sha-na-na”s, addictive choruses, a recurring sense of longing, and a uniform brightness that makes Come Again extremely easy to love. Every track is a bright stick of bubblegum and I refuse to share a piece. In an interview with Popdust, Party Nails (aka Elana Belle Carroll), says it’s “empowering about being able to dance to your sadness,” so by the end of this EP you should feel like motherfucking King Kong.
RIYL: Keds, John Hughes, dancing on your own, SMOOCHIN’ BABY!!!
https://partynails.bandcamp.com/album/come-again-ep
UV-TV – Glass
Floridian noise pop quartet, UV-TV, are the kind of band that will lovingly give you acute tinnitus. As they drift between punk, shoegaze, darkwave, and more, UV-TV practically beg to be turned-up louder and louder, and, honestly, the gains outweigh the cost. Turn it to 11, you’ll be a better person for it.
RIYL: Variety, reflection, punk chords, the pit
https://derangedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/glass
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