FORTHE’s Bandcamp Picks: October to December 2021
25 minute readFORTHE’s Bandcamp Picks highlights brand new music releases from Long Beach musicians, producers, and bands. Bandcamp Friday began in the spring of 2020 as part of Bandcamp’s monthly initiative to direct more proceeds to artists in light of the pandemic by waiving its usual 15% service fee for all music purchased that day. That means that today, artists will get to keep all proceeds from music sales, minus a small PayPal or card processing fee. This is the last Bandcamp Friday of the year—and possibly forever.
Below, members of our collective—Esther Kang, Erin Foley, Kevin Flores, and Santiago Charboneau—picked their favorite local releases from the last few months of this year in no particular order. By purchasing from their Bandcamp pages, you can support these local artists directly.
And if you’re a Long Beach musician, let us know when you release new music by hitting us up at editors@forthe.org or on the socials.
Smooth Jas – Smooth Jas
Released: Nov. 5
Smooth Jas’ self-titled album is a six-track time capsule distilled from an abusive relationship between 2019 and 2020. “This is a snapshot of who I was at the time, a framework for the person I have become, a year of healing later,” the Long Beach artist writes in the album description. The result is a sweet, languid collection of indie rock confessionals that emote an earnest dreaminess with bittersweet undertones.
The opening track “YCTQ” draws the proverbial curtains with a sweeping chorus-drenched guitar and an infectious bass line that dances in tandem. “You care too quickly, yeah that’s what he said / all my affection just went right to his head,” they sing with a soft candor. Soaring keys and distorted guitar intermingle into a chaotic climax that feels oddly cathartic. The following track “Benji” begins with a slow-paced synth and bass sequence reminiscent of a modern twist on The Velvet Underground. Shimmery guitar arpeggios dance atop a crushed synth, resulting in a slow-dripping sense of euphoria that pitch-bends into a discombobulated finale.
“Arizona” is decidedly melancholy, like being on a long pensive drive by yourself, but Smooth Jas’ candied vocal melodies pull you out of your head and make you notice the beauty of the scenery. “On Seen” is an upbeat modern-day confessional, with the artist singing in the opening line: “You visit me in my dreams / But you leave my DMs unseen.” “Bitter” seeps with a righteous anger, while the final track “Cass Dy” opens with a smooth guitar riff and groove reminiscent of Connan Mockasin and organs that invoke the distinct sadness of Frank Ocean’s “Nikes.” The result is a spacious and emotive bender that leaves you in all of your feels.
-EK
Seafood Sam – Something for the Sunset
Released: Nov. 21
This steady nine-track cruise into the sunset from “the futuristic artifact from Northside Long Beach” is an instant classic, just like the car on the album cover. Only available on Bandcamp for the “REAL” fans for now, Seafood Sam’s Something for Sunset is another no-skip album.
The first track, “4th & Cherry,” is one of many standouts featuring talented local producer NiceGuyxVinny. Accompanied by a video that shows Sam, Vinny, and friends moving through the familiar streets of Long Beach, the song lets the haters know:
The proof’s in the pudding / yo ingredients off / you need to get lost / passed every level just to fail at the boss
I find myself continuously gravitating towards the sixth track on the album, “Foxtail Linx,” featuring Anthony Lynn, produced by Elyzr/The Brown Boys, and mixed by NiceGuyxVinny. At 3:21, it is the longest track on an album (most are less than 2 minutes) and is also one of two tracks featuring Lynn’s effortlessly smooth vocals gliding over an infectious beat. The lyrics Lynn sings affirm Sam’s ingenuity and self determination for longevity:
Taking what I know / Turn it into gold
Get it on my own / Never will I fold
With his 2020 album Backwards Skate Only and again here with Something for the Sunset, it’s Seafood Sam consistently producing exactly what he tells us that he will for me. Don’t sleep on this local legend in the making.
-EF
Cosine Vi – Daydreams/Solar Sailing/Telluria
Released: November
Throughout November, Long Beach electronic and ambient artist CosineVi released a trio of EPs titled Daydreams, Telluria, and Solar Sailing. Each of these EPs possesses a distinct sonic flavor, while still retaining the cohesive artistry of CosineVi’s ambient production.
Daydreams is an ethereal and sonically-dense triad of songs whose wistful energy crescendos and falls in less than 10 minutes, with each of those minutes spent crafting a soundscape of melancholic introspection, beckoning forth images of urban landscapes and coastal flyovers while simultaneously leaving room for the listener to conjure their own mental imagery.
Telluria is a lighter affair, utilizing plucky arpeggiation and sour synth pads to create a floaty and upbeat tone while maintaining a cerebral playfulness that feels as if one is listening to a puzzle taking form.
The eponymous single on “Solar Sailing” is the most directly ambient song of this batch, lending itself perfectly to an extended gaze at the waves as the listener is gently carried through swelling synth textures and an isolated lead that only presents itself often enough to leave you wanting more. The entire collection of songs off of these three EPs span around 20 minutes, but repeated listens are encouraged and perhaps necessary to truly indulge in the sonic ambience of CosineVi’s latest work.
-SC
Rychard Cooper – Moiré and Other Works
Released: Oct. 21
I give unto you, dear reader, a single commandment: Take your best pair of stereo speakers, plant yourself in front of them, and play Rychard Cooper’s Moiré and Other Works from begining to end. For the next 79 minutes, your ears will feast on the 13 tracks that make up this wonderland of rhythm and sound.
Released in October, Moiré opens with a three-movement chamber orchestra composition from which the album takes its name. On these lush and whimsical pieces, Cooper—a music professor at Cal State Long Beach and co-founder of the Synthlab collective—is playing with the ideas of uncertainty and emergence theory, and how they can be applied to music-making.
Before composing the works, Cooper used a midi-sequencer to layer the opening melody against itself, only offset by time, finding that “there are moments when the two figures lock into a new phase relationship and line up in a way that is distinctly musical,” as he explains in his master’s thesis on the project. Like two swings that momentarily synchronize or a murmuration of starlings in the sky, the idea here was that out of chaos would emerge unpredictable forms of harmony. These emergent patterns became the raw rhythms and melodies used by Cooper to piece together the experimental triptych.
The rest of the album is an eclectic collection of electronic pieces that are just as memorable and immersive; some of which are sure to rattle your woofers. “Electronic, EDM, Drum & Bass – Identity Theft” is a definite standout in that category, opening with a cinematic soundscape of static and hiss before a self-destruct alarm ushers the listener into a jungle of infectious breakbeats and samples.
Moiré is the rare release that not only demands your attention, but teaches you to listen in an entirely different way than you ever have before.
-KF
Jasmine Canales – Burn
Released: Oct. 22
“Burn” is Jasmine Canales’ third single of the year created in collaboration with Kelsey Gonzáles of the Grammy-nominated LA band Free Nationals. An artist known widely for his band’s work with Anderson .Paak and locally for helping to create Fight Club LBC, Gonzáles is a longtime Canales family friend. A tragedy would catalyze their friendship, ultimately leading to a fruitful musical collaboration. In 2009, Canales’ brother Isaac, known in the music world as Dread I, would tragically pass on. She wrote in an email to FORTHE, “Isaac was a huge music influence to Kels and everyone who knew him—a true musical mastermind and angel on earth. He played everything; keys, bass, guitar, drums, and was an amazing singer and writer. I miss him!”
After jamming casually with family or around town, Canales and Gonzáles would become part of the beloved house band for Fight Club, VIA LEAVES (fronted by Nonchalant Savant), she as a vocalist and he as a bassist and backing vocalist. Eventually, Canales would decide to look to her journals to create her own music and was excited that Gonzáles was on board.
This go around, Canales and Gonzáles joined forces with her producer boyfriend Matty Chirch to bring “Burn” to life. Chirch is listed as a co-producer and also mixed the track. “This was the first time Kels actually handed over the stems to someone else! Matty is a super talented producer… it is just amazing to see my two favorite people on the planet work together,” she wrote. The track was also mastered by another longtime collaborator and good friend, Tom Kendall Hughes (Soular System). Canales says, “Mastering is an art in itself, so when Tom said he could do it I felt a huge sense of trust come over me.”
Love it on my own
Only need my girls
Kick it to the curb
Gonna watch you burn!
“The lyrics are a super dramatized version of what I was feeling,” Canales says, “but sometimes the only way to really get it out is to be extra!”
Turns out, Chirch, her current love, was also an inspiration for the drama in her lyrics. Years later they have moved past it and are doing great: “Obviously, whatever Matty and I were dealing with resolved because he ended up co-producing the song knowing it was about him!”
-EF
The Blonde Names – Love & Other Ghosts
Released: Nov. 21
The Blonde Names is the musical brainchild of Long Beach native Tatiana Simonian, whose self-described “downer vibes” EP Love and Other Ghosts conjures visions of foggy walks through tree-covered streets, where a tragedy looms around every corner. Muted organs, deep throbbing basslines and gloriously delayed guitars become a witch’s cauldron of reverby delight, where the listener cannot help but succumb to the ecstasy of romantic longing.
Simultaneously blooming and in decay, Simonian’s arrangements and instrumentation walk a tightrope of lush songwriting and minimalistic song structure, relying on the raw themes of angst, romance, and rejection to weave compelling songs thats can be listened to again and again and again. The entire EP runs just over 15 minutes, leaving listeners to wonder when they can expect another helping of “downer vibes” to lose an evening to. Personal favorites include: “Swoon,” “Wolf,” “Nineteen,” and “A Forest.” Don’t miss this EP!
-SC
bobby blunders – Whatever Happens to Me
Released: Nov. 5
With a generous message to assuage the grief of the loved ones we leave behind, bobby blunders’ latest single “Whatever Happens to Me” slowly but steadily builds into a jubilant assurance of a life without regret. Lead vocalist Pastor AJ Freeman breathes joy and ache into bandleader Jesse Carzello’s lyrics, which give testimony to doing our best to live a life lived embracing “the mystery” and wonder of it all. Freeman’s warm tone is complemented beautifully by the backing vocals of local talent Heather Jean Sommerhauser (aka Junatime) and the increasingly spirited instrumentation provided by Salter (keys, bass, drum programming) and Carzello (electric guitars, acoustic guitar, synths).
“Let it be a comfort to you / when you remember me / know I had my share of ecstasy / and I was grateful for it all / at least I tried to be”
I had an old roommate who once pre-made a playlist for his own funeral (thankfully he is still with the living at this time). I would like to go on the record to say that if I were to do as he did, this song would surely be on the list, but I also have it on repeat now as a reminder to appreciate now the lessons that come with each present moment.
-EF
ALSO CHECK OUT:
Micah Bournes – Detox (Sep. 4)
Sweet Nobody – We’re Trying Our Best (Sep. 17)
.rael_one & Colin Devane – (Oct. 3)
Floods – Tracks/Shermer/Candles (Oct. 18)
Chapis – Who You Foolin’ (Nov. 15)
Psychic Temple and the Dream Syndicate – On the Side EP (Nov. 20)
editors@forthe.org
