The best new Bay Area music to buy today for Bandcamp Friday
Pallaví aka Fijiana pursues desire on "Thirst"; The Reds, Pinks & Purples returns with a modern chamber pop masterpiece; Oakland producer sndtrak chops up the hits
Today is Bandcamp Friday, meaning the Oakland-based music marketplace is waiving its revenue share to help support artists. Bandcamp started holding these promotional days at the start of the pandemic lockdowns to generate additional revenue for artists, who had lost the opportunity to make money touring. Over the course of the past 17 previous Bandcamp Fridays (yes, it’s been that long), the site says artists and labels have brought in more than $70 million.
Since live performances still aren’t back in full force, Bandcamp Fridays are back on the first Friday of every month through at least May, so scroll on for the best new music to buy today from local Bay Area artists.
Peace,
ronny
THAT NEW NEW
“Lust, longing, desire in all its different forms.” Even if you missed her irresistible poledancing video before Instagram took it down, there’s no denying the sexual energy on Thirst, a new EP by Richmond rapper Pallaví aka Fijiana exploring the many aspects of thirstiness, from the straight up nastiness on “Sanskari Hoe” to the passion and pain of “Moonlight Beauty.”
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Normally, I wouldn’t be all about music promoting a new line of merch, but it’s different when it’s “Good for the Soul”. Jada Imani dropped the silky smooth R&B single and video to directly promote “Good for the Skin” Whipped Shea Butter, “Good for the Scalp” oil, and a “Good for the Soul” Candle. The shea butter and oil were made in collaboration with Beth (founder of Queen Saba) and AVOCURL, so if you’re talking some talk about supporting Black women entrepreneurs, now’s the time.
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I have arrived
I am home
In the here and the now
In remembrance of Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, who passed away last month, El Cerrito-based artist Little Angry released the short and simple meditation “Walking Song (I Have Arrived).” Based on a poem by Nhất Hạnh published in 1996, the song layers multiple vocals, steady strummed guitar, keys, and an electric guitar solo into a monument of sound that ends as soon as it begins—but not before announcing the peace and love that can only be found in this present moment.
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“Winsome vocal melodies, his sigh of a singing voice, restrained rhythm sections, gently played guitars (of the jangling electric and/or strummed acoustic variety) and, often, the soft glow of a keyboard or synth.” Summer at Land’s End, the second full-length album by Glenn Donaldson’s chamber pop project The Reds, Pinks & Purples, got the Album of the Day treatment on Bandcamp—and has been receiving very positive reviews all over the place. For good reason: Donaldson has been at it for a long time, honing and mastering his melancholy chamber pop sound to perfection. Perfect as a rose, whether budding, abiding, or wilting.
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“Circuit-bending is the process of modifying vintage electronics or toys in unintended ways to essentially ‘hack’ the sound chips to make odd noises. It's an uncalculated process that requires no technical background, involves trial and error, and often results in unreproducible or fleeting effects.” SK-1 is the first full-length album of experimental noise and ambient music from Wonderful World, a new project by SF artist Richard Caceres (who, full disclosure, is also my cousin). Accompanied by a full-length video made on a vintage Amiga computer, the album begins with a simple, improvised flute tone before veering into digital explosions, erratic blips, and chiptune soundbaths. Is this what androids actually dream of?
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“The sounds we hear are from natural sources.” Or maybe not—depends on whether you define machines as natural. An experimental, electro noise stompfest referencing the current umbrella term (TERF) for people with a variety of transphobic sentiments, terfs in a bucket is the newest work by SF artist rose cherami. Kaleidoscopic, industrial, disorienting, and never not interesting.
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Far from being too cool to sample the biggest radio hits from our collective nostalgia—including “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, “Super Freak” by Rick James, “Genius of Love” by Tom Tom Club, and even perennial earworm “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes—FLIPS V1: Triple Lindy is a new beat tape by Oakland producer sndtrak that takes the sounds we know so well, dissolves them into the machine, and then chops them up into something entirely fresh. 15 fresh hip hop beats, around two minutes a piece, all fire.
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“To honor, raise mutual aid and awareness for various organizations and grassroots movements doing vital work within Oakland.” SMARTBOMB is back at it with WATER FOR THE TOWN v.4, the latest volume in a mixtape series spanning downtempo electronic, hip hop, jungle, and beyond. This volume features a long list of artists we regularly rave about here, including Chris Keys, Jada Imani, Stanley Ipkuss, Sndtrak, Shy’an G, Salami Rose Joe Louis, and many others. All proceeds of this volume go to People’s Breakfast Oakland.
MAYBE MISSED
Released in October on Samsara Beats, Hue is a heavenly four-track EP of jungle, footwork, and tender vocals by Oakland-based artist Mars Kasei. It’s the kind of music that could do just as well in the living room as the club, softly padded but energetic and glittering. Also included is a remix of the title track by Portland producer Mirin Doja.
CLASSICS
San Francisco after dark
Twilight in Golden Gate Park
Night cruise around [?]
I’ll be dining at Fisherman’s Wharf
When I think of the best music from the early 80s, my mind races to New York, where hip hop pioneers, post-punk innovators, and disco producers bumped elbows in the underground and created what ended up being some of the world’s most influential music. (Hat tip to Sue Problema, who hosts a regular party at the Knockout dedicated to this sound.)
But apparently SF was at it too, evidenced by this cut from 1982 by funky keyboardist Merl Saunders. Born in San Mateo and based in SF until his death in 2008, Saunders was closely associated with Grateful Dead god Jerry Garcia. The two started out playing together in 1971 at the Matrix on Fillmore, eventually collaborating together and with Mike Bloomfield, Tom Fogerty, Sheila E., and many others through the years.
“San Francisco After Dark”—which you can pick up on 7” at Econo Jam Records if no one else has—is an easy-going, groovy disco funk jam ideal for a rare warm night in the city, driving around with the windows down. By the way, if someone can figure out the missing lyric from the chorus above, I’ll buy you a cookie.
SHUFFLE ON
Listen to a megamix of the best music from the Bay Area in 2021.