Bandcamp Friday - April

It's that time again, and I'm actually on time this time! Bringing me down to only 1 month outstanding (which I'll get to in due time). Felt a little lighter this Friday, I had a couple of things lined up I knew I was going to get, but there were a couple of curveballs along the way and it fast became a little too much. So I settled for some smaller selections instead - wasn't a waste though as those other choices will no doubt come up again. Let's get stuck in.

Leading off we have Goldie's rebuild of his classic Inner City Life, part of the trio that forms the title track on his debut album Timeless. It's not too altered from the original but frankly it didn't need changing at all, and its thematically appropriate as well as this re-release is dedicated to Diane Charlemagne, the iconic voice behind the track. Inner City Life was always my favourite piece of the Timeless parts, so I will admit some slight bias there, but this version is very nice regardless. The Burial remix on the B-side is fine as well, it's not his finest work for me and predictably contains very little of the original. Not to rag on it too much though, there are some lovely moments in there, especially in the last quarter or so. It's fairly inexpensive as well, clocking in at £1 a track, I've found most of Metalheadz's library is very reasonably priced.



Keeping it Goldie for the time being, I picked up a copy of Sine Tempus again. I had a hooky one some years back but I'd lost a lot of the tracks over time, and it was a naff VBR rip if I remember right. It's been a long time since I talked about Sine Tempus actually, it has a bit of a tale behind it. In the early 00's Goldie announced he was working on a film - a coming of age story about an artist - which is no doubt semi-autobiographical if you know the man's history. The film has yet to materialise, but in 08/09 Goldie would release an album of the same name, billed as the soundtrack to the film. It certainly is very cinematic in parts, sometimes to its detriment, but there are also plenty of highlights - the opening track Letting Go has stuck with me through all this time, you can definitely hear that cinematic influence on the extended intro that sets up this foreboding atmosphere. It's soon pierced by Jenna G's signature vocals, coming to a peak around the 2:15 mark when the D*B kicks off in full force.



Moving into more IDM territory next, I've become a fast fan of Reporter, as mentioned a couple times in the past BC Posts. The brand of almost-IDM on show here is very much up my alley, as you no doubt know if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time. Opening track How Much More To Take fits that bill in a nutshell, this lovely combination of high-tech vibes and this fragile melody will always get top marks from me. That deceptively deep bassline is a lovely bonus to boot. There's not a ton of Reporter releases out there, but I have very much enjoyed my time with all of them. In a nice turn of serendipity, I found this wordpress through my research, detailing the work he's done in the past which as it turns out is a ton of audio work on some of my favourite bits of media.



I did end up picking up some non-electronic stuff, and this next one I didn't actually get *from* bandcamp but the artist's own website, but I'd stil say it counts. Some years ago now I talked at length about the weird, wild, wired world of music made by fans of Serial Experiments Lain, through both unofficial and official channels they've been making related works for many years now. Well, they've not let up in the interim - the man behind some of the original series' OST, Chikada "J.J" Wasei, has been putting on real life live events and releasing new entries in the Cyberia series (named for the club in the show) since 2018 or so, his latest being in December last year. After the release of Layer 3, Wasei teamed up with fans across the world to release a companion album fittingly titled After Hours. Covering a whole host of genres from the expected Techno to Synthwave and full on ambient in parts. It's a great way for Wasei to repay the community and shine a light on some indie artists in the process. I have a full extended Cyberia post cooking up in the background, but for now have the bouncy Replicant Funk to tide you over.



And that'll be all for today, I've been busy behind the scenes republishing old posts and I hope to get another post out soon-ish. I hope you've found something to enjoy here today in this admittedly eclectic selection! I'll be back soon enough with more but until next time, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF