A few weeks ago, when the Spotify algorithm spit out everyone’s 2020 listening statistics and users started posting their social-media-friendly stats cards to Instagram (myself included…and then I felt dirty and deleted it), more than a few of my friends online responded by asking a similar version of the question: Yeah, but what did you get from Bandcamp this year?
Spotify, whether you pay for it or suffer with ads, could never be credibly accused to supporting artists, big or small. Whereas Bandcamp, a distribution platform for independent musicians (some of whom also have record label deals and are also on Spotify, Apple Music, etc.), is artist friendly, enabling any independent musicians with high quality audio files and a PayPal account to sell their music online. Hence the point of the question: if you’re such a fan of music, how did you support the platform that supports artists?
(Full disclosure / excuses, excuses: I pay for a family subscription to Spotify so I don’t have to hear ads, and so my girl and my kid can listen to whatever they want without injecting Gwen Stefani or Billie Eilish into my feed. I have been considering switching everyone over to Apple Music for several reasons, but is there any difference between the two? Are they equally as evil? I need to do a little research. Regardless, the bottom line is that the streaming services are great for continuous background listening, and for having massive back catalogs, and for keeping up with the music and artists who aren’t on Bandcamp. Anyway…)
Going above and beyond its already fair business model, Bandcamp spent 2020 supporting independent musicians with Bandcamp Fridays, one day each month when the platform gave up its cut of sales to artists, and they’ll continue doing Bandcamp Fridays until the pandemic has passed.
I’ve been a fan of Bandcamp for a long time, having used it both as a musician, and as a fan. Throughout 2020, I bought dozens of albums on the platform, many of which I picked up vinyl or cassette, as well as the streaming / downloadable digital versions.
So here are a few highlights from my 2020 Bandcamp experience…
Some Notable 2020 Bandcamp Buys…
Suite For Max Brown | Jeff Parker released January 24, 2020
The phrase “experimental contemporary jazz” doesn’t really do it justice, but I’m not sure how else to describe this record, other than to say it’s dope. A good friend put me onto Suite For Max Brown, and I was hooked after the first listen. Then I went down the rabbit hole with the record label, International Anthem, and picked up older releases like Ism by Junius Paul, and Makaya McCraven’s In the Moment.Self Titled | The Whip released March 27, 2020
I have a fun story about seeing this band on the one tour they did a couple decades ago. (Long story.) The 45 that I bought from them at that show is a prize in my collection, and there were some not-great-quality MP3s of other songs and a couple live show recordings floating the internet for years, but Wantage USA released a proper LP earlier this year, and it’s awesome. Heavy, loud, brash rock music. Get some.Deleted Scenes | Once And Future Band released April 10, 2020
The latest and greatest from the Bay Area’s best purveyors of smart, snappy, proggy, pop-drenched rock music. I’m not sure how, but I ended buying two copies of this on vinyl (black, and green-and-clear “mint dip”), and I’m not mad at it.Loops DELUXE [Beat Tape] | Eddou XL released April 18, 2020
My man Eddou XL has one of the best ears for loops of anyone I know, and his penchant for seeking out, chopping up, and lacing together amazing jazz, funk and soul samples into fresh new compositions is a magical gift. I can listen to this on repeat all day.
Blue Room | THE iMPS released April 24, 2020
The iMPS are old friends who provided a good part of the soundtrack to some very formative years for me. Regardless of the personal connection, I can objectively say that they made some of the best pop-infused loud rock I’ve ever heard. Though this live EP was released this year, it was recorded back in 1999, and it’s indicative of everything that made this band so great.Urgent Care | Rough Francis released May 1, 2020
Another recommendation from a friend, this Burlington, VT band plays a kind of catchy punk rock that doesn’t annoy me. I actually really like this record (which, frankly, is always a little surprising to me).IT'S 52 BEATS IN A YEAR | DJ Jazzy Jeff released May 1, 2020
Jeff made one beat per week for a year, and you can get ‘em all here for 10 bucks. It’s Jazzy Jeff, what else do you need to know?Singing Sands | Los Days released May 8, 2020
I’ll buy pretty much anything that Tommy Guerrero puts out, and this collection of super mellow instrumental California desert jams with musical ace Josh Lippi doesn’t disappoint.The Red Sentence | Jihad the Roughneck MC released May 31, 2020
Third Sight’s Jihad is a Bay Area legend who’s repped strong for the shadowy fringes of Bay rap for decades (though I think he’s in LA these days). This is just one of several projects he put out in 2020; it’s not the only one I picked up, but it’s my favorite.O Som Psicodélico De L. C. V. | Luiz Carlos Vinhas released June 1, 2020
This rare 1968 release was reissued this year, and was featured on the Bandcamp app’s home screen. I love Brazilian music — especially the slightly psychedelic Tropicália / Bossa Nova stuff — and I was hooked on this right away.Soul Fidelity | Jansport J released June 5, 2020
J’s style is both versatile and familiar enough to suit any mood, but it’s also distinctively unique. And whether glitchy or smoothed out, it’s always got plenty of that classic LA vibe. (Side note: I learned about Jansport J, and several other beat makers, from Gino Sorcinelli’s Micro Chop newsletter.)Thousandaire | Thousandaire released June 12, 2020
Atlanta’s Thousandaire makes loud and distorted, slightly off-kilter rock music. That kind of stuff resonates with me, and this album is great.Nyquil | Dankslob released June 22, 2020
Lyricist Luke Sick and DJ G-Pek deliver deep grooves carved into layers of chopped samples and dusty drums (and some live instrumentation, maybe?), and button it all up with hooks that are somehow both sloppy and laser sharp. It’s weird, too, in the best ways.Exhale 01 | Controller 7 released June 26, 2020
Exhale 01 is my favorite 2020 Controller 7 album (he also released the excellent Tommy and Richie Present “Billy” with Buck 65 and Couch with Mestizo this year). Made between April and June of 2020, at a time when the social, political and health situations in America were all especially grim, the beats on Exhale 01 exude the particularly heavy darkness of that time period.Dogfeet | Dogfeet released August 18, 2020
I’m a sucker for the dirty fuzz tones of late ‘60s and early ‘70s drugged-out, blues-based rock music made by shaggy, pie-eyed losers. This reissue fits the bill.The Black Moon | Valium Aggelein released August 21, 2020
This reissue of a record originally released in 1998 is an almost-perfect, ethereal, guitar-driven soundtrack for focus time, equally ideal for intense heads-down work, background sounds, or exploratory listening.Atlas Vending | Metz released October 9, 2020
The latest Metz offering follows their previous LP in being more approachable than earlier works. It’s still loud, noisy and abrasive, but the songs are tight, with catchy little bits that emerge from the fray and pull you in deeper.A Funky Bad Time | The Du Rites released November 13, 2020
Mostly instrumental funk music made during a pandemic, ill political season, and time of general unrest by a funky NYC duo who have put out an LP every year since they started. I haven’t missed a Du Rites release yet, and I’m not about to.Songs To Yeet At The Sun | Soul Glo released November 6, 2020
This band goes hard as hell. Furious, aggressive, righteous.A Jawn Supreme Vol. 1 - 3 | Small Professor released November 20, 2020
Three different A Jawn Supreme beat tape style releases make up this ultimate Jawn collection. I bought the digital versions of each as they were initially released throughout the year, but Small Professor put them all into one and released the collection on cassette (as well as a digital stream / download), so I had to double down and get the tape.Pardon My French | Jahari Massamba Unit released November 27, 2020
Karim Riggins on drums and Madlib on everything else — so you know, rhythm-heavy experimental jazz-y stuff. RIYL Yesterday’s New Quintet, new sounds.Demolition Strictly | Grand Invincible releases January 15, 2021
Signature West Bay boom bap from DJ Eons & Luke Sick (who you may remember from such other 2020 bangers as Dankslob), and one of my favorite rap records of the year. You can stream the whole album right now — I think the release date refers to the vinyl (which of course, I preordered).I Told You So | Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio releases January 29, 2021
I had never heard of Delvon Lamarr, but checked out I Told You So on the recommendation of a friend, and was blown away by this Seattle trio. I preordered this album on vinyl, then went back through the group’s Bandcamp catalog and bought the other releases too.
Honorable Mentions…
DJ Paul Nice. I used to listen to Paul Nice mix CDs back in the day, and became aware earlier this year that he's got most of that stuff, and a ton more, on Bandcamp. I listen to his Brazil mix series pretty regularly, and Do You Pick Your Feet In Poughkeepsie?, a mix of music from ‘70s crime drama movies and TV, is one of my all time favorites.
DJ Harrison. Another one I owe to Gino Sorcinelli’s Micro Chop newsletter, DJ Harrison is a musician (multi-instrumentalist), producer and engineer from Richmond, VA. His Bandcamp catalog is crazy deep, and there's a ton of gold in there. Just dig and listen.
Brycon. Brycon stays busy. Here's a quick list of the dope stuff he did this year that I listen to regularly…and this is only the stuff I know about, there's probably like 56 other records out that he worked on, which I’m forgetting or just don’t know of: Brutalism | Brycon, The Cleansing | Amani Jade, There’s No More Room In Hell 6 | Brycon)
Backfilling. Many of my longtime favorite, more established bands are on Bandcamp, but I generally listen to them either on vinyl, or via the evil streaming service, so I took the opportunity in 2020 to add their music to my Bandcamp collection, including but not limited to: Hot Snakes, Torche, The Blind Shake, La Luz, Elder, Fight Amp, and tons more.
So there you go.
Go to Bandcamp, set yourself up with an account if you don’t already have one, and start digging in. I guarantee you’ll find something that you’re into, and you’ll be supporting the artists directly. You can also follow me there (I’ll probably follow you back).
And if you must, you can also find me on Spotify, and see what I listen to there.