Today (1 May) Bandcamp is waiving its processing fees in order to financially support musicians affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Buying music from independent artists is always the best move, but with tours being cancelled and nightclubs closing their doors, it feels even more necessary right now. We understand that these are strange times and many are feeling the economic impact, but if you’re able, try to buy a record, some merch or even a digital download of an album today.
We surveyed our staff for 30 essential records to add to your collection. From gnarled hip-hop to transcendental techno, Latin art pop to UK-bass inspired jazz, every record on this list is well worth parting with some cash over, pandemic or not.
In Order to Care
R&S RecordsSome of the best names in UK dance music have donated tracks to this compilation in aid of the NHS. All proceeds go to producing and supplying PPE to frontline staff and it even comes with an NHS-themed R&S t-shirt. No excuse not to cop.
Sounds From The Rainy City
BRB (Be Right Back)Save Our Scene Manchester and Salford are fighting the good fight to support clubs and venues in Greater Manchester through the coronavirus lockdown. All profits from this new compilation, featuring some of the city’s best talent, go to the cause.
Mas Amable
DJ PythonOne of New York producer Brian Piñeyro’s many guises, DJ Python’s latest full-length is a small reinvention in itself. Tilting slightly away from his signature deep dembow sound, Mas Amable is an exploration of rolling house with percussion at its core. Just remember – try to listen to it in one go, like the man himself intended.
Saturnalia 2018
Collettivo SaturnaliaFor those of us missing the club this weekend, Milan’s Saturnalia Festival has got us covered. Captured and edited by Milanese producer Piezo, this 25-minute binaural recording allows listeners to take an immersive trip back to the festival’s 2018 edition. Over 30 hours of reverberant bass pressure, echoing kicks and dizzying crowd noise condensed down to form a vividly immersive time capsule.
Miss Colombia
Lido PimientaMiss Colombia is an ode to the Afro and indigenous foundations of Latin music. Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta’s latest album harnesses the sounds of her roots and shoots them through an art pop prism. A moving listen.
Mutual Aid 2020
Bokeh AllstarsMutual Aid 2020 is the first-ever compilation from Bristol stalwart Bokeh Versions. 100% of all proceeds go directly to artists – for themselves or for distribution in their local community.
Scatter
Merca Bae & Miss JaySpain’s Merca Bae teams up with Miss Jay for a three-track EP that invokes the spirit of the club – think industrial, dark reggaeton and a perfectly-placed Jorja Smith sample. Turn off your living room lights, hike the volume up and get into the murky perreo.
Frozen
KleinKlein conjures all kind of strangeness on this lowkey release from earlier in April. Musique concrète meets modern-day experimentalism.
Live at The Windmill
VariousSome of the best new bands in the country cut their teeth in The Windmill, from black midi to Black Country, New Road. Here, 16 of them come together to share live recordings from the Brixton pub. All proceeds go to keeping The Windmill open post-coronavirus and local charity Brixton Soup Kitchen.
Fountain
Lyra PramukAnything that provides calm and focus is like gold dust at the moment. This adventurous electronic folk record from Lyra Pramuk does just that.
Cape Cira
K-LoneOne half of the duo that runs Wisdom Teeth alongside Facta, K-Lone is an underground champion. His debut album is a blissful journey into an imagined paradise.
ShrapKnel
ShrapKnelCurly Castro and PremRock come together for their new album as ShrapKnel, another vital addition to the new wave of grizzly, highly lyrical hip-hop coming out of the East Coast. Keep an ear out for a guest feature from underground favourite billy woods.
Every Bad
Porridge RadioLondon four-piece Porridge Radio started as a DIY project but have kept one eye on stardom. Their debut album balances lo-fi production and pop-influenced songwriting with rousing effect.
Guerilla
NazarAngolan producer Nazar draws on the country’s civil war and his father’s memoir Memorias de Um Guerrilheiro for his atmospheric, often unsettling, new album on Hyperdub.
Superstar
Caroline RoseCaroline Rose is a unique figure among modern singer-songwriter types. Her new album Superstar is a humorous, groove-laden tale of a character on the hunt for fame.
Noneketanu
ShhtIf ever there was a time for you to get into Belgian psych-rock, it’s now. Escape from this astral plane with the second album from Ghent’s Shht.
Jungle
AceMoTo celebrate his birthday, earlier this month AceMo shared a new album, as you do. Frantic, jungle-inspired productions from one of New York’s best.
MUAs at the End of the World
Airel ZetinaChicago-based experimental producer Ariel Zetina explores the “rhythms of putting on makeup,” and all that the process can mean. We’ve been hooked since hearing Eyeshadow Fallout in India Jordan’s mix last month as part of Caribou’s curated takeover.
A2A
Air Max '97 and AYA (A2A)AYA and Air Max 97 unite as A2A for an EP of – what else – frantic, melt-your-speakers club music.
Cong Burn 06
Various ArtistsSalford imprint Cong Burn continues to establish itself as one of the most exciting young labels around, and this new VA of psychedelic, dubbed-out house and techno is one of the crew’s best releases yet. Essential listening for fans of Call Super, Leif and Pev.
What's Tonight to Eternity
Cindy LeeFormerly one-quarter of Women, Patrick Flegel’s releases as Cindy Lee mine a darker, more disturbed era of lo-fi for inspiration. New record What’s Tonight to Eternity sounds haunted in every sense of the term.
Workaround
Beatrice DillonBeatrice Dillon’s long-awaited debut album landed earlier this year. Expect minimalist electronics equally inspired by Afro-Caribbean music as much as UK club sounds.
eCZtasy
Ruf DugCosmic Mancunian Ruf Dug shows off the glossy, ravey and euphoric sounds of the Casio CZ-5000 synthesiser for a release on his own Ruf Kutz imprint for the first time in four years.
Scales + Measures
FactaWisdom Teeth’s other half, Facta returns to home turf with a three-track EP of melodic, bleeping broken beats.
Dark Matter
Moses BoydDrummer-turned-producer Moses Boyd enlists some of London’s best jazz musicians for an album equally inspired by Burial as bebop.
Fluids of Emotion
Eris DrewRetro and forward-facing at once, Eris Drew’s debut EP Fluids of Emotion is a triumph packed with breaks, scratches and nods to rave history.
Resonant Body
Octo OctaUnsurprisingly Octo Octa’s latest album, her first for new label T4T LUV NRG, bangs. Despite the fact it was made mostly in a cabin in New Hampshire, Resonant Body is the sound of the greatest rave you’ve never been to.
Curved
Batu and LurkaAnother essential slab of warped UK techno comes courtesy of Batu and Lurka’s Fringe White imprint. ‘Curved’ bumps like Bristol’s answer to French touch filter house (are we in Montpelier or Montpellier?), while the Bambounou remix strips the synths out to create a lean percussive workout.
Invisible Island
Midori HiranoSoft, piano-based minimalism from Berlin-based composer and producer Midori Hirano.
FYAI Demos + Ditched Album
Loraine JamesLoraine James’ Hyperdub debut was one of our favourite records of last year. To mark six months since its release she’s shared a bunch of demos from For You and I, plus an entire scrapped album. A true gem of the scene.
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