It's Summertime, Let's Have Some Pop - Bandcamp Explorer

  by Mark Rowland

published: 8 / 9 / 2022

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The Sun’s out so it’s guns out – and by guns, I mean pop records. Bandcamp is home to some very decent, interesting pop of all shapes and colours. From energetic, electronic pop to classic sounds of bygone ages, there’s a little something for everyone. Our loose brief for this Bandcamp excursion is to find music that puts you in the summer mood, and Minneapolis-based Peach Fuzz fit the bill. Their EP, ‘Can Mary Dood The Moon?’ captures the feeling of a laid-back summer’s drive, with skittering synth parts weaving in and out of a languid, funky guitar part.. Now for something completely different Italian Chantreuse Lucia Rango channels the jazz-tinged Euro-pop of the 60s on ‘Lucia Rango canta Piero Ciampi’. It sounds like 60s Euro-pop of course, because it is – Rango is singing songs by Italian singer-songwriter Piero Ciampi (as the album title may have given away). For Ciampi uninitiates, these songs take a similarly orchestral approach to pop as French masters such as Jacques Brel. In a nice touch, Rango duets with Ciampi from beyond the grave on closer ‘Non Chiedermi Piú’. Quebecoise alt-popster Ariane Roy released ‘Medium Plaisir’ back in February. Informed by 80s pop of various styles, particularly blue-eyed soul, Roy keeps the tempos relaxed, emoting in French over steady beats, funky bass and understated guitars, plus the odd piano (such as on the standout ‘Apprendre encore’). It may have been made in Canada, but it puts me on a yacht floating off the coast of Miami. Now for something a bit more baroque: Chelsea Rose’s ‘Truth or Consequences’. Like Rango, Rose channels a very classic pop sound, harking back to the 60s and 70s. The tunes are laid back and well constructed – cocktails by the pool music (with more substance than that suggests). Semi-spoken word lament to a love that cannot be ‘Fallin’ is a highlight, but to be honest, it’s all pretty consistent, from the more upbeat ‘L.A.’ to the bossanova-like ‘I’m Not The One’. Fellow LA duo Magdelana Bay up the energy with ‘Mercurial World’, a collection of 80s pop-inflected tunes. There’s some excellent songwriting beneath its modern-retro veneer – ‘You Lose’, for example, has some truly lovely melodic and harmonic left turns. Fans of acts such as Sylvan Esso and Japanese Breakfast’s ‘Jubilee’ should really love this, as will anyone who loves the sounds of the synthesiser’s golden age. There’s really only one place we can go from here, and that’s to turn everything up to 11. ZORA’s hyperpop and hip hop influenced Z1 is a high-energy, high-volume blast through myriad technicolour styles, with the occasional breath (such as the gorgeous ‘CLIFF’) taken along the way. Some people will find this a bit…much. It’s full of ideas, shifting from synthpop to hip hop to dance pop to soul ot glitchy experimentation, and for some, that will be exhausting. For those that can keep up, however, this has a lot going for it, and there are hints of classic pop within it. Fans of Frank Ocean’s experimental R&B/pop should find at least somethig to like here.

Also In Bandcamp Explorer

Article Links:-

https://peachfuzzmusic.bandcamp.com
https://anniluce.bandcamp.com
https://arianeroy.bandcamp.com/
https://hellochelsearose.bandcamp.com
https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/
https://zorasworld.bandcamp.com

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