More Hidden Gems on Bandcamp
I was looking at my Blaugust posts from last year, and I have one titled Hidden Gems on Bandcamp, wherein I shared some of my favorite lesser-known albums on the platform. Since there is another Bandcamp Friday coming up tomorrow, I thought it'd be a great time to revisit this idea and share some more albums with you. If you purchase any albums on Bandcamp tomorrow, 100% of the proceeds go directly to the artists.
I recommend all of Megan's music, but Moons is a particular favorite of mine. She does these musical vignettes, usually based on nature and natural phenomena, and they perfectly evoke the feeling of what they're meant to represent. Moons is vast and wondrous, instilling a sense of awe.
Prince of Failure self-titled album
This is a metal/electronic collaboration between Daniel Tompkins of Tesseract and Paul Ortiz of Chimp Spanner, two progressive metal powerhouses. It's bombastic but also ethereal, soundscapes like dreamscapes. "Horizon" is one of my personal songs of the year.
This is a project where two friends sat down and played music together, improvising it all with various instruments and recording it live. The result is an intimate atmospheric album that's perfect for lying down with your eyes closed and just falling into, or maybe putting on in the background while doing something creative.
Artefact by Christopher Michael Roberts
This was created for a solo tabletop RPG of the same name. There's some waiting in the game, and the idea is to play one of these tracks depending on how long you wait. For example, play "A Week" if you're only waiting a week or "An Age" if time passes for that length. It's beautiful on its own, though, and it's kind of amazing how each song truly feels like it's capturing the passage of time. "A Century" is my favorite, but I love each of them for what they are. I highly recommend checking out the game as well! You can find it here.
Wax Heads OST by Gina Loughlin
Wax Heads is a brilliant indie game about working in a record store and being part of a local DIY scene. The soundtrack by Gina Loughlin is meant to be all of the music you can play in the store, so it's filled with various genres, from pop to electronica to alt rock to black metal. Listening to it feels like you've been handed an underground mix tape, it's great.
Loitsui ja taikoi by Vilma Jää
I discovered Vilma Jää through the latest trailer for the upcoming game Control Resonant. She did an upbeat Finnish folk song for it that became an earworm for me for quite some time. I went on to listen to her other work, and this album has become one of my all-time favorites. She has a unique sound, combining Finno-Ugric folk with electronica. "Kipeesti kirottu" is probably my favorite track, but it's hard to choose!