Bagging Area: Friday/Saturday Bandcamp Bonanza

Yesterday, a bunch of new music landed in my inbox during Bandcamp Friday. Today is a day too late for artists to take advantage of the monthly Bandcamp Friday (Bandcamp waives fees for one day each month), but it’s still worth posting some highlights. Yesterday was chock full of highlights.

We start with a 10:40 remix of Puerto Montt City Orchestra, a track called Hey You, out on Brighton’s Higher Love label. Jesse’s work as 10:40 is, by his own admission, an ongoing mission to create music/remixes that channel Spiritualized and this one takes that to the nth degree – put on Jason Spaceman’s Lay Back In The Sun either before or after and enjoy the sun-drenched, blissful ride….

The song is a cover of 14 Iced Bears’ Hay Fever, an indie classic from the 80s. You can buy the 10:40 remix by Puerto Montt City Orchestra on Bandcamp.

Next up, another dark, underground, radiophonic, analogue synth missive from Pye Corner Audio, the first in a few months, this one titled Texture Reels. Four minutes and forty-five seconds of subterranean, cosmic reel-to-reel intensity. Buy it on Bandcamp, pay what you want.

Third, Emma. Matty Ducasse records as Skylab. His Skylab International division released a new single on Bandcamp yesterday, a cover of Hot Chocolate’s Emma. Mat plays and produces, Zoe Filthy-Rich songs. The drum machine pitter-patters, thick machine rhythms. The synths ping and squeak. Hot Chocolate’s mid-’70s pop-soul hit is darker than you might think. Producer Mickie Most asked singer Errol Brown for “darkness and depth.” Errol gave him lyrics about lost youth and suicide, a movie star “who can’t live on dreams anymore.” Mat and Zoe mine all the pain and darkness Errol has put into his lyrics. The EP is out on Bandcamp, remix, edit and instrumental.

Finally, Richard Norris whose Oracle Sound dub project has become indispensable. Richard has recorded three albums of dubs, available digitally and on vinyl via his subscription service. He recently hosted his friend Jon Carter, who used to DJ with Heavenly Social in the 90s and recorded as Monkey Mafia and under his own name. Richard wanted to show Jon some new gear. They ended up making a dub track called Ceefax – rocking drums and bass, space echo, melodica and an Ampp Freq live dub machine. The result is in three parts – Ceefax, a Norris dub and a Carter dub. All three are on Bandcamp. As I continue to type.

You can buy all of the music above for less than the price of a pint of beer in central London (and some pubs in central Manchester). And while the beer may look colder and more appealing for a moment, the music will last longer.