Artists trying to bridge the gap between entertainment and anything remotely educational put themselves in a precarious situation, whether intentional or not. Allowing one to eclipse the other can throw the entire project into an indescribably nebulous realm – is it strictly educational, trying to be cool, or is it edu-tainment? In any case, it’s...
Sometimes, there’s not a lot to say about an album. When racking your brain over why a certain group of songs sounds better than another in the same genre, it can be difficult to pinpoint a reason. Perhaps it’s the timbre of a singer’s voice, or the way they pronounce their lyrics. Maybe it’s...
Standing atop the virtual soapbox that I call Bandcamp’s Best, I like to focus my efforts on bands that are relatively unknown in the wide, wide world of music. While I realize that Good Old War has quite the following already, they remain one of my all-time favorite bands, and serve (somewhat idealistically) as a...
Instrumental rock is a tough nut to crack. Without vocals to carry the melodies front and center, listeners can easily lose their way in a quagmire of guitar walls, bass lines and drum beats. Add in the length of a typical release, and boredom can set in quickly if the songs aren’t structured to catch...
I find it absolutely breathtaking when artists have the ability to properly portray the context of their music through album covers, titles, and even color palettes. While not a hugely decisive characteristic in how good the album sounds per se, it can cause an album to cross the nebulous line in my brain that exists...
Dubtraktion’s opener “Bodega Dub” calls to mind a dank concrete basement – no windows, a slight fragrance of mildew, a single light bulb swinging from the smooth ceiling. Below the bulb sits the drummer, carrying along at his deliberate clip while the guitarist picks the subtleties from his nylon strings. Ambient textures fill the room,...
It can be a slippery slope to make music that not only borrows from your influences, but on first listen, can sound nearly identical to them. This is a conundrum faced by many musicians, as without having your own unique take on the genre, you stand to sound like an inferior copycat and risk being...
Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) makes no sense to me. Not so much the genre, but the name. The stupid, pretentious name. If the music is so intelligent, what’s Unintelligent Dance Music sound like? I speculate that IDM derives its “intelligence” from its varied rhythms, complicated structure and insanely cool textures. In that respect, I get...
Free Download Welcome one and all, to the unveiling of the Best of Bandcamp’s Best – Volume 1. Seeing that BB just celebrated its first year of sweet, awkward existence, I figured I’d do something great for the little guy’s birthday. Isn’t he cute, crawling around on the floor, barfing on my shoes. The compilation...
