you buy it, you break it
Plus music from Mura Masa, Mike Dimes, Alena Spanger, Austin Manuel and more
I spent the weekend listening to the latest Popcast with Jamie Brooks fka Elite Gymnastics, and was really taken by their conversation about the future/current status of the album review and the (future? current?) obsolescence of the album itself. Brooks put together the clearest picture of where economics and artistry have met, and how much of what we as music lovers cherish are the result of what drove the bottom line for major labels – namely, selling us plastic disks for as much money as possible.
It was the best summation of how much we care about – liner notes, album reviews, magazine features, remixes – are the impermanent output of what works best for corporations, and once it stops working, it can disappear.
As if to underscore that economic volatility, Bandcamp announced it was laying off 50% of its staff after its acquisition by Songtradr, with many of the heads coming from the editorial team.
It’s not surprising that with Songtradr acquiring Bandcamp that they’d cut a big chunk of the editorial arm. The way a platform like Bandcamp is sized up and acquired by biz dev teams erases the role of editorial teams, curators, and artists, simply because they aren’t able to be quantified in scale by the people who put these deals together.
And of course, fans and artists are the ones who lose. Fans lose what made Bandcamp fun to browse, differentiated from the streamers, and valuable to learn about the music they want to support. Artists lose advocates for new, strange, and surprising music – I was lucky enough to have a few records featured by the Bandcamp team, and it made an incredible difference in fans finding the music I toiled over. Per their Editorial Director, Bandcamp Daily will still exist, but to fire the staff that made it such a critical tool for music lovers and music makers shows a deep misunderstanding of what made the platform special.
Well, on to the best of the week! You can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
Mura Masa feat. NADIAH – Rise
You can almost feel the sweat on "Rise," Mura Masa's new single with guest singer NADIAH. It's the type of bare bones house workout that makes you want to bust through the wall of the closest nightclub to beg the DJ to play it. “Rise” doesn't have any traces of the pop DNA from his 2022 LP demon time, and it’s for the best – the track is raw, skeletal, and slick.
Caroline Polachek – Tiny Desk Concert
Okay, it’s not a song – but Caroline Polachek’s tiny desk set really won me over on the tracks she played, even the Shakira-lite “Sunset.” Is it seeing her make those unworldly sounds in a stripped back setting? Is it the lowkey arrangements showcasing some of the songs’ neo-soul ambitions? Is it the fantastic band featuring friend-of-the-Substack Melody English? Whatever it is, the tracks from Desire, I Want to Turn Into You hit harder than they ever did on LP – and it’s a fantastic watch.
Mike Dimes, Dro Kenji – DO NOT DISTURB
Don’t be fooled by the woozy, triumphant intro – “DO NOT DISTURB” is high-velocity, no-subtlety Texas rap. I’m new to Mike Dimes, but I am excited to be smashed over the head by whatever he puts out next.
Alena Spanger – Agios
The devil is always in the details on pop this hushed and careful. Luckily for Brooklyn's Alena Spanger, her latest "Agios" nails every step of its quiet bloom – muted trombones swell into a murmur, her vocals carefully layer, the dead drums drop exactly at the right time, and a light arp keeps everyone swaying to the same breeze.
Austin Manuel – Hallelujah (My Time)
The strings on this song from LA singer/songwriter Austin Manuel are what initially hooked me on “Hallelujah (My Time),” but the track’s Too Slow To Disco conga bounce and horn arrangement is what kept me coming back. A perfect Ned Doheny-adjacent jammer for fall sunlight.
thhh rrr ow baaack
Donald Fagen – Green Flower Street
Last week I found a 7” of “I.G.Y.” the lead single from Donald Fagen’s debut LP The Nightfly – but what I realllly want is a 12” disco edit of this song. A boy can dream!