With Bandcamp Friday’s return in August, it is time to start highlighting a couple of Japanese artists and labels in an article. In the past, there were suggestions done in a sort of a shortlist or series of tweets. But it has been time to put it all into an article to spread the word some more. Be sure to check out the articles published in August, September and October of this year.
Bandcamp Friday is a way you can support artists that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The upcoming edition of Bandcamp Friday is planned for the 5th of November. Time to focus on five suggestions with short introductions, so you can directly dive into the music.
RAINASH
Many releases can be found on the Bandcamp of RAINASH, an indie alternative rock/metal band that has been active since 2009. In August of this year, the Tokyo-based band released a new digital single, Eroded. Currently, Emmy and Tomo are busy with the creation of new music that carries the dark and heavy atmospheres, which they regularly share updates about on their Patreon.
Hello1103
Hello1103 can be best described as a musical and visual team. The unit released an EP earlier this year, titled Rainbow Kingfisher, filled with electro and ambient music. But when you see them live, you will experience a combination of precision track making and organic abstract visuals. Earlier this year, the duo launched a VR experience, a live event that combines the freedom of a VR world with the powerful sound of a live house.
Phew
This Japanese singer and analogue electronics improviser has been active for more than forty years and is still making music in her own same way fitting in the experimental and avant-garde music genres. Bandcamp has written up a quite interesting guide to the music of the experimentalist and it gives an insight on Phew’s journey up until her just-released album New Decade, the first studio album in four years.
STRAM
In terms of releasing music, it has been a bit quiet around STRAM after the release of their first album, titled All Happy. However, they have been active in terms of performances and recently they have had some changes in the band line-up. It seems that STRAM will announce something soon, but until then, enjoy the music they have on their Bandcamp if you like goth, punk, doom and post-punk.
FLAU
The Tokyo-based record label FLAU got founded in the winter of 2006 by Yasuhiko Fukuzono, better known as aus. He started his musical journey at a young age and at the time of starting FLAU, he has already a couple of albums released. FLAU has released music of many artists – not only from Japan – to name a couple, from Cuushe to Kumi Takahara, from Schmo to Cicada, and soon a new release by Motohiro Nakashima. Enough (new) music to discover.
It is good to know that on Bandcamp Fridays, an average of 93% of your money reaches the artist or label (after payment processor fees). On other days, an average of 82% reaches the artist or label. Who are you going to support on the upcoming Bandcamp Friday?
