New Bandcamp Friday and new shopping tips…

As we often do on the first Friday of each month, when Bandcamp lifts its fees redistributing all sales profits to artists and their labels, also today we give you some suggestions on how to spend your money on music effectively supporting musicians.

Check out some of the most interesting new releases you can buy on the platform, listen to our playlist and get ready to enjoy some quality music from all over the world!

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises [Luaka Bop]

One of the most hyped albums of the year and one of those rare cases when all that hype is entirely justified. Promises is indeed an exceptional work assembled by exceptional musicians and is arguably going to turn into a new classic in the very near future.

The collaborative album recorded, produced and released by legendary American jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, Mancunian imaginative electro producer Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra is meant to appeal to many and diverse ears.

Far from being an easy listening album tho… It’s just that there’s so much quality, inspiration and artistic elation in those nine movements that whether you are a jazz, electronic, classic contemporary or ambient fan, you will inevitably end up in awe as you’ve been seduced by impeccable musical teamwork.

La Muchacha – Más Canciones Crudas [In-Correcto] 

We were already in love with La Muchacha‘s organic and passionate songwriting… Más Canciones Crudas, the third album released by the Bogotà-based singer/songwriter and one of the most stimulating new voices of the Colombian music scene, only emboldens our feelings.

Her new LP, out again on In-Correcto, sounds like the natural continuation (not just considering its title) of last year’s Canciones Crudas. Despite milder tones and harmonies imbued in pastel colours, the album fully embraces the Colombian and Andean folkloric songbooks sparing no efforts in moving sharp social and political criticism.

Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince [New Amsterdam Records]

Since we are already in full songwriting mood, let’s keep on with another talented musician and her upcoming album.

Arooj Aftab is a New York-based Pakistani composer ready to release her third album on the 23rd of April. Just like her previous works, Vulture Prince is incisive and powerful. It moves from her South Asian roots featuring Pakistani classical music elements and Sufi-sounding atmospheres, and blends them with minimalism, trance, jazz and as anticipated, refined and inspiring songwriting.

Her new album is intrinsically personal and cathartic. Arooj suffered a close family loss when she was going through the writing stage, and Vulture Prince inevitably represents her very own reaction to and overcoming grief.

Soothsayers – We Are Many + We Won’t Lose Hope (feat. Prince Fatty) [Wah Wah45s]

Last year we didn’t have the chance to include Soothsayer‘s latest album in one of our Bandcamp roundups, so here we are to make amends… Because the South London upbeat institution has just enriched its discography with another gem; a brand-new EP featuring no less than Prince Fatty and his music production wizardry.

We Won’t Lose Hope EP is Soothsayers at their best. Warm and soulful grooves, dilated atmospheres, never ordinary lyrics and flavourful arrangements courtesy of the Brighton-based producer. 

The original track, which was already one of their latest full-lenght We Are Many‘s stand-outs, has indeed been revisited and possibly completed with even more intense dub undertones; acting as a possible final chapter of the project started by the London band in Sao Paulo in 2019, where and when they assembled the first pieces of their new LP. 

As a matter of fact, Brazil and Latin America at large are the new vivid additions to the already kaleidoscopic sound palette of the band, which still has reggae, dub and afrobeat as its primary colours. We Are Many also enjoys even more momentous lyrics, mirroring the alarming state of affairs in post-Brexit UK, but also pushing beyond the British borders and dealing with more universal issues related to race, indigenous people, the environment and soothing force of music.

Nubiyan Twist – Freedom Fables [Strut Records]

…and they have grown and grown and grown becoming one of the most exciting acts of the UK music scene.

Nubiyan Twist, a 10-piece band based between Leeds and London which debuted back in 2015, have turned into one of the best embodiments of UK music, building their sound on an uptempo and eclectic fusion of styles, well-assorted collaborations and electrifying live performances.

Freedom Fables, their third album, is Nubiyan Twist’s sound in full bloom, expressing and representing the music they grew up with and played in these years. Funk, R&B, alt-jazz, afrobeat, electronica and even some Latin scents, everything with a strong urban character.

We won’t be able to enjoy their music dancing under a stage any time soon, still we can easily fall for their new album!

Guedra Guedra – Vexillology [On the Corner Records]

The sound of African future and the one of African past met together in a studio in Casablanca and were both synthesised in Vexillology, the debut album of Moroccan producer, musician, researcher and DJ Guedra Guedra.

Vexillology is an exploration of African music in time and space. It brings together field recordings and house music, centuries-old traditions and Afrofuturism. Actually, Vexillology is far more than music…because Guedra Guedra doesn’t “limit” himself to it.

Despite being his first release, the album is the result of 20 years of music listening, researches and recordings. In these years, Guedra Guedra has extensively and intensively explored Africa and its traditions, not only to build his sound archive, but also a wide-ranging awareness of his Continent’s cultural expressions.

José Carlos Schwarz & Le Cobiana Djazz – Lua Ki Di Nos [Hot Mule Records]

Unfortunately, we don’t musically travel too often to Guinea Bissau. So, this collection dedicated to one of Africa’s greatest, José Carlos Schwarz and his band Le Cobiana Djazz, is an invaluable opportunity to shine a light on the West African country, its music and history.

That’s because José Carlos Schwarz was indeed something more than a musician. Activist first, then revolutionary, politician and diplomat lately, despite he died at a young age, he left a permanent mark on Guinean culture.

His militancy and anti-colonial stands influenced his music and vice versa. He was a fierce supporter and defender of local traditions against the Portuguese occupants and that was reflected in his music where you can find quintessential Guinean styles like gumbè and tina.

With Lua Ki Di Nos, French label Mule Records finally brings José Carlos Schwarz’s legacy outside the Guinean and West African borders, calling attention to some of his most significant songs.

Ziad Rahbani – Bennesbeh Labokra… Chou? [WEWANTSOUNDS]

The last entry in our list is not a new release, but a reissue… Still, we couldn’t avoid reserving a spot for it in our roundup, being a good and proper ‘must’ for everyone interested in Lebanese and Middle Eastern music.

Bennesbeh Labokra… Chou?, which will make a shining comeback in early May, fully deserves the devoted and enthusiastic treatment reserved to it by Parisian label WEWANTSOUNDS.

Originally composed in 1978 by Ziad Rahbani, one of the most gifted as much as biting cultural “commentators” of Lebanese contemporary history, the album was meant to be the soundtrack of the eponymous play, but eventually, outgrew the popularity of the piece. The 12 tracks are indeed a brilliant example of the talent and far-reaching taste of its author, ranging from Lebanese tradition to bossa nova and from 1970s Italian soundtracks to jazz.