Bandcamp Friday: Pick Up New Music from Foi, Smokey the Ghost, Demonstealer and More
The year’s final 24-hour period where the music platform waives its fee so that artists earn more from sales is here
Photo: Shutterstock
Running since March 2020 when the pandemic spread havoc around the globe, Bandcamp Friday has so far brought about $61 million in sales for artists on the music marketplace. This amount has been calculated by looking at purchases made on 15 Fridays since early last year.
Bandcamp – who forego their cut of each sale made on Bandcamp Fridays so that artists earn everything that’s being paid for – have stated that over 800,000 fans have participated. Here are our picks for your shopping list.
Pallaví aka Fijiana & MadStarBase – “Sanskari Hoe”
Based in the Bay Area, Pallavi aka Fijiana teams up with New Delhi producer duo MadStarBase for a resolute, X-rated song “Sanskari Hoe” which heaps on Bollywood references as well as lyrics in Fiji-Hindi and English. Over buoyant beats by MadStarBase, Fijiana hypes herself up minus any male gaze.
Treble Puns – Sisyphus EP
The latest two-sided release from Bengaluru rock duo Treble Puns is the emotive, journeying song “Sisyphus.” Released in English as well as in Hindi, Treble Puns dig into atmospherics, proggy drum work from Sohini Bhattacharya and acoustic guitar melodies going over Ramya Bhat Abhyankar’s Bengali vocals. Guitarist Abhimanyu Roy gets in as vocalist for the first time with English lyrics, while Tarun Rawat helms the Hindi version.
Smokey the Ghost – “The Human Nation”
It’s impossible to overlook Bengaluru’s seasoned rap artist Smokey the Ghost’s new album The Human Nation and we certainly hope that’s the case for everyone else. Featuring collaborations with the likes of Raftaar and Sikander Kahlon (“Say My Name”) and Vishal Dadlani (“Happiness”), Smokey is unwavering in his multilingual, distinctly South Indian cadence, best heard on songs like “Balder Than The Baldest” (featuring Dakhni rapper Pasha Bhai) and the cheeky “Hindi Gothilla” with S.I.D and Raathee.
Azu Hoyvoy – Yazdan Biijān, The Merciful Hero
Emerging out of a need to “create something without thinking too much,” Mumbai producer Azu Hoyvoy showcases a different side to him with a three-track club-friendly EP called Yazdan Biijān, The Merciful Hero. There’s a bit of left-field electronic (“Khas Khas”) but also raging dark techno (“The Leap of Hate”) and electronica (“The Mask of YB”).
Foi – Lighthouse EP
Bengaluru guitarist, producer and composer Foi aka Sanjay Kumar ramps up a delightful modern metal offering on his latest EP Lighthouse. Guitarist Bishwadeep Sikder adds brightness to the galloping title track, while Kumar takes over with chaos and electro-informed dissonance on “The Flip Side” and “Liminal.”
Demonstealer – The Holocene Termination EP
A blistering aural assault doesn’t even come close to cutting it whilst describing Demonstealer’s new EP The Holocene Termination. He brings in a lot of big guns from the European and North American metal circuits and has no challenges in keeping up, delivering breakneck speed on tracks like “From Extinction Begins Evolution.” The Mumbai metalhead goes from strength to strength, ripping out a must-have record for extreme metal fans.
C. Da Afro – “Rhythm Maker”
Bengaluru’s Dynamite Disco Club keep things steady, affable and fun when it comes to curating tunes that can make any dancefloor erupt into action. Case in point, “Rhythm Maker” by Christos Antonis a.k.a C. Da Afro, which blends nu disco and retro, with an instantly memorable string arrangement.
