Remember a few years back, when every musician you know was arguing at otherwise-fun parties about the upsides and downsides of using ReverbNation or Soundcloud or Bandcamp? You probably don’t hear those discussions anymore, because for bands that want to get paid, Bandcamp pretty much won out. (For artists who just want to get heard, and especially for DJ mixes, Soundcloud serves an equally useful purpose.)
This week brings another way Bandcamp interacts with artists: by assembling ‘City Guide’ compilations — pressed on vinyl and packaged with extensive liner notes — showcasing a cross-section of each city’s talent. Proudly, they’ve chosen Oakland to launch the series.
Compiled by Andrew Jervis, the 11 tracks include music from Bells Atlas, Waterstrider, Rahsaan Ahmad & Headnotic, Astronauts, etc., Sugar Candy Mountain, Sun Hop Fat, Ash Reiter, Kid Trails, Guy Fox, Queens D. Light, and Asonic Garcia. The liner notes go into each band’s favorite record stores, cafes, venues, hiking spots and more, set against Thomas Hawk’s stunning photo of an Oakland sunset. In other words, no matter how much one might argue for some of the harder punk and hip-hop from the city, you gotta admit, they did their research.
Check it out here to stream it in full. The download is $7, but should you wanna grab the LP, it’s $18, and ships out June 10.
