Bandcamp Friday: November 2022

Another glorious Bandcamp Friday, another opportunity to support artists via a platform that’s doing good by temporarily waiving its cut of sales.

It’s also an opportunity to catch you good people up on some of the folks I’ve had the opportunity of interviewing recently.

Dazy — OUTOFBODY

I typically pick a song to feature in these posts, but I’m embedding this whole dang album, because Dazy’s brilliance comes into sharpest focus in aggregate. Dazy is the stage name of James Goodson, a Richmond-based power pop songsmith who started reclassifying his meticulously crafted home demos as final products after the pandemic’s onset. His writing is exceptionally tight and unfailingly catchy, and I consider myself wildly lucky to have gotten to chat with him about his full-length debut, OUTOFBODY, just a short time before this glowing Pitchfork review ran. Whether you start with my Style Weekly interview or that review, I bet you’ll rush to give the album a spin — its a rush all its own.

Spooky Cool — “Net Ignored”

Another reason I count myself wildly lucky: I got to chat over the phone with Zac Hryciak, lead singer and songwriter for Richmond-based rock act Spooky Cool. I was blown away by their new album, Existential Pie, and a big part of that was the masterful opening track, “Net Ignored,” which is a fascinating document of Hryciak’s movement away from overtly challenging listeners and toward a more engaging, pop-facing, Ableton-enabled approach. It was such a pleasure getting to know Hryciak for this Style Weekly piece, and while the full album isn’t on Bandcamp yet, “Net Ignored” is, and it’s well worth a Bandcamp Friday buck.

Other items I have my eye on today:

Nathan Salsburg — Landwerk No. 3 
Tom Skinner — Voices of Bishara
The Mountain Goats — The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volume 5
GEORGE — Letters To George
Yonatan Gat — American Quartet (featuring Richmond’s own Curt Sydnor!)
Landon Elliott — “aftermath”

Friday News and Notes

moses-sumney

Fancy a few Friday news and notes thingies?

  • Today’s an awesome release day (hello there, Hiss Golden Messenger), but I left two crucial releases off last week’s list: White Laces (wrote about No Floor yesterday) and Moses Sumney. Lordy, is Lamentations good. I pretty sure I remember “Worth It” from when he opened for Sufjan Stevens at the Altria Theater — it went straight on my “That’s My Jam” playlist after I heard this version. “Lonely World” is also outstanding, with an assist from Thundercat. Well worth a listen, if you’re not already a Sumney fan. Or if you are. And since everyone on Earth falls into one of those two categories, there’s no excuse for not listening.
  • Some really great Spacebomb news — their newest roster addition, Georgie, just released a song called “Company Of Thieves” and a corresponding video that looks like it was really fun to make. This is some seriously punchy stuff, both in terms of the strength of her voice and the oomph the horns provide. More plz thx.
  • Next long run I go on I’m listening to the Bruce Fresh Air interview. Can’t wait. Also looking forward to reading his book. There need to be more hours in the day so I can do that like… now.
  • Goodwill scores this week include Wynton Marsalis’ debut album, the soundtrack for The Empire Strikes Back, and two spoken word Star Trek albums, which include three or four narrated episodes each. I’m not all that into Star Trek, but they looked too campy to walk away from.
  • Too much good music this weekend. Lucy Dacus (with My Darling Fury and Spooky Cool) at The National tonight and the Richmond Folk Festival all weekend. Here’s hoping the weather doesn’t act up too much — Stephen Lecky and the whole Folk Fest machine put in so much work each year, and it’s such a gift to the city. Stop by early and often, and be sure to throw a few bucks into an orange donation bucket. You’ll probably get a sticker, and you can wear it like a badge of honor.

I whined a little about the weather earlier, but if you’re in Florida/Georgia/South Carolina and you’re reading this, be safe. Here’s hoping the storm heads east and doesn’t circle back around.