Secondhand Setlists

For the uninitiated, on the first Friday of every month online music retailer Bandcamp waves their revenues, allowing all sales to go directly to artists and labels.

Bandcamp Friday, as it’s affectionately known, began as a way to support artists impacted by the COVID19 pandemic. In March, fans bought over $4 million dollars of merchandise; in May, nearly double that amount went directly to artists, who lost one of the last surefire moneymakers in the music industry: touring.

Now, artists need our help more than ever, especially Black artists, whom the music industry and society at-large have exploited and discriminated against for years and continue to do so. Anyone who pays even the slightest attention knows that the music industry owes its entire being to Black musicians, and Bandcamp Friday, while not a be-all, end-all solution, can be a start in giving Black artists what they’re owed.

This list of musicians on Bandcamp includes some new releases, some old, and all are across a variety of genres. If you don’t see your preferred genre here, visit blackbandcamp.info, a database of Black artists filtered by genre: you can search anything from vaporwave to dungeon acid to even your hometown (obviously I checked out Cleveland). So, if you find yourself in need of new music and want to put your money to a good cause, take a gander at the Black artists below.

Radio Galaxy

Probably one of my favorite acts that I’ve found in a long time, Radio Galaxy claims to have been around since time eternal. They released Nobody Digs Your Music But Yourself in March 2033 (their words), a playful compilation where I hear a blender of sounds: Santigold, Vampire Weekend, Kaytranada, Kelis (in lead singer Spacebunny Jefferson). Rest assured you can find some enjoyment here, even if it’s just a laugh from their “Purple Slurples” “infomercial.”

MoMA Ready

This is music you can dance to, think to, game to, really any sort of activity. MoMA Ready, nee Wyatt D. Stevens, delivers on his name with drum & bass and house numbers intricate and expansive enough to fill an entire museum corridor. I recommend the rubbery beat of “Tier One Program Eight”. And as an added plus, Gallery S, released in early 2020, has one of the best album covers of the year so far.

Uniiq3

Jersey Club’s valiant champion, Uniiqu3, brings to the genre all the fervor it deserves, tying it into the modern condition for a bit of extra impact. Whether fighting for the 7-day weekend or turning her bedroom into a club dancefloor, she always makes her causes easy to digest.

Beverly Glenn Copeland

After decades out of the spotlight, 76-year-old folk singer and composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland is finally getting his dues. Though renowned and beloved by esteemed contemporaries from Caribou to Blood Orange, he revealed he and his wife are “essentially homeless” and in need of support. Now’s a great a time as ever to give that support, especially since beauties like Keyboard Fantasies and his sweeping self-titled album are now on Bandcamp for the world to rediscover. If you’re a fan of Four Tet, consider giving Track 1 on Keyboard Fantasies a spin.

Cakes Da Killa

A contender for one of the year’s best tracks, Cakes Da Killa’s “Don Dada” merges his swift, commanding flow with a house track straight out of a ’90s warehouse. If one track just isn’t enough, take a dive into Killa Essentials, a wonderful mix of dance and hip-hop that should satisfy anyone who’s a fan of Azealia Banks (namely moi). But don’t take my word for it: look to his collaborators, which include Peaches, Rye Rye, and LSDXOXO, to see that Cakes attracts only the finest.

Shamir

Wow, another runner for Song of the Year right here. Shamir Bailey is best known for the brilliant cowbell banger “On the Regular” (even if he doesn’t care for it). Yet in more recent years he’s left behind the shimmering synths and dance elements for a bit more rock, which comes to beautiful fruition on “On My Own”. Combining ’90s indie with his distinctive countertenor, the track celebrates being a loner in its own unique way. Neither combative nor condescending, Shamir instead presents solitude through a soft celebration, not unlike an epiphany that appears after an extended period of isolation. Very timely, and likewise very optimistic.

Saint Deepthroat

Many may be familiar with River Moon, aka Saint Deepthroat, as one of the faces behind Patiasfantasyworld, but she’s as much a riot to follow as the famed meme account. A self-described “rave princess,” she creates beats influenced by her love of the rave, MIA, Aphex Twin, and of course Yung Rapunxel herself. Speaking of, AB said that Deepthroat’s remix of her scrapped Kim Petras collab “Moisturous Pussy” was her favorite of the bunch, high praise if there ever was any.

Abra

Abra first caught my attention when she opened for Empress Of back in 2015, a pairing I am forever grateful for. The Darkwave Duchess has kept herself busy over the years, collaborating with Charli XCX, Gorillaz, and Solange along with acting in Assassination Nation, but her own material remains few and far between. No matter, because Rose is good enough to stand on its own. It’s a lot of moody movers, ’80s style dance tracks given a bit of menace to their gloss. Plus, if you buy this, it might motivate Abra to release some new music; a win-win for us all.

Suzi Analogue

Baltimore’s Suzi Analogue has been at this for a minute, and now’s your chance to get with the times. Label head, producer, and lyricist, what can’t she do? Well, she can’t keep you still with her newest Su Casa EP. An uptempo rush of tracks, the EP elicits calls for movement in both the physical and political sense. If you think you want more after this, and you will, check out her entire discography, which is now going for just $65 on Bandcamp.