Thank God It's Bandcamp Friday!

The pandemic has laid bare the extent to which artists have become dependent on touring and merchandise deals for income. It's also assisted in highlighting the pitiful royalties artists receive from streaming. It was perhaps with this in mind that the "online record store and community" Bandcamp, which provides streaming, downloading and physical sales services direct from artists to fans, decided to launch Bandcamp Friday in March 2020.

As they say on their website, every sale on Bandcamp generates "an average of 82% of the money" for the artist in question. Which compares very favourably to streaming services, and to the average royalty payment received via record companies for physical sales of music. With Bandcamp Fridays, the idea was to have one day of the month where Bandcamp would waive their "revenue share" of sales on the site, meaning "an average of 93% of the money" would go to artists on sales made on Bandcamp Friday.

Originally only intended as a short term aid to help musicians during the pandemic, Bandcamp extended the scheme a number of times during 2020 and, in August, announced that they would be continuing Bandcamp Fridays until the end of 2021.

Today is Bandcamp Friday, and it's very reassuring for me to know that by buying downloads on Bandcamp today I will be directly contributing in a meaningful way to the incomes of artists. What's also nice is that the availability on Bandcamp of tracks I wish to buy has increased over the past year, meaning I can buy a wider range of music from a greater number of artists than I could in 2020.

For those of you in the UK, it's worth bearing in mind that Bandcamp Friday runs from midnight to midnight, Pacific Time, and that the UK is 7 hours ahead of the US (I've allowed for the clocks going back at the end of October in this calculation) but, even if you do miscalculate by a couple of hours, the artists you buy from will still see a good return on the sale.

Today I intend to purchase downloads by Lydmor (two tracks in her case), Jacknife Lee, Blue Hawaii, Jess Williamson, Cults, Molchat Doma, Noga Erez and Lucky Iris. 

Photo by FPVmat A on Unsplash

Lydmor: Someone We Used To Love (official video)

The world of Scandi pop has thrown out some tremendous sad bangers over the past ten or so years, Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own' being the classic example. This slightly sweary slice of turbo charged electro pop from rising star Lydmor is a great recent addition to the oevre, the line "I can feel the love retreating in you; fuck", when set against a turbo charged series of chunky beats feels unbearably poignant while still eminently danceable to. One for the kitchen disco this one. 

Lydmor – Claudia (Live at Roskilde Festival 2019)

This clip is taken from a set Lydmor performed at Roskilde Festival in 2019. You can watch a full pared down session she did as part of the Naked session series here.

Fantasy Festival number 5: The lineup

Lydmor: Danish composer and musician Jenny Rossander is well known in her home country, but didn't really start to be known in the UK until she released her album I told you I'd tell them our story back in 2018. She makes expansive, emotional electro pop, and you can read more about her here and here.

Pink Milk: Atmospheric Swedish noise merchants Pink Milk will be no strangers to regular readers of this blog. Their debut 2017 album Purple was an icy cacophony swirling through the music scene that year, and while they have been quiet of late, they have more than earned their place in a Fantasy Festival lineup. You can find them over on Bandcamp.

Pale Honey: Swedish grunge duo Nelly Daltrey and Tuva Lodmark were included in 2017's Fantasy Festival series, around the time they released their second album, Devotion. They've been teasing us with new material over the past year so it's to be expected that a third album may well be imminent. You can find out more here.

Grace Mitchell: Grace is another performer who I included in my 2017 Fantasy Festival lineup who has been a bit quiet since. Signed to Taylor Swift and Lorde's record label, she released a series of EP's and stand alone tracks (including the 2017 protest song 'The Kids (Ain't Alright)') that saw her poised to be the next great up and coming left of centre pop star. Here's hoping she's been quiet because she's working on something.

Allie X: Canadian singer/songwriter and visual artist, Allie X, has been bubbling under for a while now. 2020's Cape God album of dystopian synth pop has been well received, and, were things not as they are it would be expected that she would be touring the shit out of it, and probably performing at a number of festivals this summer. You can read a review of the album here.

Niki & The Dove: Swedish duo Niki & The Dove, following ten years of dramatic indietronica have, again, been a bit quiet recently. An alternative version of 'Sister Brother Mother Father' from 2016's album Everybody's Heart Is Broken Now, was released last year, signalling perhaps that they might be working on something but, for now, fans wait.

Sigrid: Norwegian singer/songwriter Sigrid was crowned BBC Music's Sound of 2018 and, since then, she's gone on to release a critically acclaimed pop album (including the legendary 'Don't Kill My Vibe'), do at least one stadium tour, and provide a refreshingly sunny take on Gen Z life. You can find out more here.

Songs of the year: Number 10

Lydmor has been a comparatively recent discovery for me. Her song 'Vild' is blessed with a catchy melody, pounding drums, and a kind of fierce intensity of vocal to keep you listening. I think she's a lot bigger in her native Denmark than she is in the UK, but that could change.