From the dystopian Techno of Portland’s All the Stores are Closed to a fascinating compilation of early Bollywood music on Death Is Not The End, there’s a ton to explore this Bandcamp Friday!

15 Albums To Check Out This Bandcamp Friday

All the Stores are Closed – Static and Dogmatic (Heterodox Records)

J Morales’ first album as All the Stores are Closed in 5 years on Portland’s Heterodox Records is a harder, darker affair, trading in the unwholesome miasmah of the self-titled album from 2020 for six tracks of storming, stomping darkside Techno. It’s just the thing for this anxious, uncertain moment – good music for bad times. 

Felicia Atkinson & Jefre-Cantu Ledesma – Un hiver en plein été (Shelter Press)

The inimitable Shelter Press dropped a few new vinyl copies of ambient overlords Felicia Atkinson and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma’s minimalist masterpiece on the always fascinating Shelter Press.

Bendu – Lautner (Shady Ridge Records)

L.A.’s Bendu delivers an album of warm, fuzzy modular synthesis in homage to Los Angeles architect John Lautner. Positively levitating with optimism, it’s a much-appreciated dose of positivity for bleak times. 

Shady Ridge Records are running a promotion through this Saturday. Use the Promo Code maybf50 for 50% off everything!

Daniel Bachman – As Times Draw Near

Daniel Bachman extends his usual American Primitivism for an atmospheric, electroacoustic ramble through a mythical rural community in the Shenandoah Blue Ridge of Virginia. More than just an album, it comes with a short story and a collection of photographs collected in the area, making for a fascinatingly immersive document. 

Pearl Charles – Desert Queen

A little bit Laurel Canyon, a little glossy indie pop, Pearl Charles’ Desert Queen bristles with charisma and strong songwriting. Perfect soundtrack for summer roadtrips and getting lost in the desert!

Compulsion – Comforter (Extended)

Extended cut of a forgotten ’90s fuzz rock Grunge outfit, with the fierce howl of Kurt Cobain, the antisocial misanthropy of Mudhoney, and the hooks of Pixies. How on Earth did this fly under the radar for so long?

Cut Beetlez, THEFOODLORD & Lord Karu Villain – LORDLOVESTERROR 

Gloriously messy psychedelic hip-hop, with the cut-up sensibility of old-school hip-hop meeting the stoned-out, surreal freneticism of MF Doom. Crunchy, but so smooth!

Scott Grooves – Unspun 2: The Continuation 

Killer EP of Deep House and Techno released on cassette from Detroit’s Scott Grooves. Warm, rich, and lush as a vacant lot, addictive as a warm breeze. Not to be missed.

Hainbach – Novachord Experiments 

Warm, lush keyboard improvisations on a VERY early synthesizer, the Hammond Novachord, by the relentlessly inventive Hainbach.

James Krivechnia – Performing Belief (Planet Mu)

Percussionist and multi-instrumentalist James Krivechnia’s first album for Planet Mu is a colorful riot of layered drum sounds, melodic snippets, and synth bricolage. Somewhere between the precise percussive beat sculptures of Jlin or the militant tribal house of Gqom, Performing Belief sounds like a marching band in Salvador Dali’s Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory.

Loscil – Lake Fire

Loscil trades in his meticulously programmed IDM beats for an album of gorgeous gossamer ambient textures.

Rainy Miller – Joseph, What Have You Done?

Rainy Miller takes inspiration from the American Deep South to craft a fascinating hip-hop concept album about Northern England, sounding something like Dean Blunt by way of Bladee.

Nothing Sounds – Communications Commercial Product Number 03: Septic Tank Inhalatory Device

Nothing Sounds’ Communications Commercial Product Number cassette series continues with another album of disorienting haze. Beautifully damaged.

Sermons by the Devil – Exorcismo Electro

New Jersey’s Sermons by the Devil, the “house band of the apocalypse,” deliver an album of grimy electro for the legendary Library of the Occult. 

Various Artists – Stars from Another Sky Pt. 2: Film Songs from the Subcontinent Before the World Was Torn Asunder, 1940-1947 (Death Is Not The End)

Fascinating, meticulously researched compilation of Indian film music from the early days of talking cinema. Warm, infectious, and ridiculously hard to find, Stars from Another Sky Pt. 2 is yet another indispensable comp from the ever-reliable Death Is Not The End.

Obsessed with all things “dark,” experimental, and avant-garde, J. Simpson idealistically believes that great art makes the world a better place to live. You can find him on Instagram, Bluesky, Letterboxd, and Goodreads.

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