[Matters live at SS19, photo by Joe Singh]
Once more, Bandcamp waivers its fees today in support of musicians during the Covid-19 Pandemic. This means 100% of profits go to straight to Bandcamp artists for 24hrs, many of which have recently had tours, festivals and shows cancelled.
We want to use this opportunity to champion artists a little closer to home – the Birmingham born/bred/based, and those on the peripherals, we are proud of our local music scene!
What better way to show your solidarity and support by purchasing some music? Check out these brilliant midlands-based artists from line-ups gone-by below…
MATTERS
Birmingham three-piece utilising synths, guitars and drums to create expansive music, blending Krautrock, psychedelic, post-rock and techno into a rich and powerful sound.
KHYAM ALLAMI
Currently completing a PHD at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, this virtuoso Oud player, serial collaborator & musical explorer is a musician and composer with a formidable – and continually growing – international reputation.
PRAM
Birmingham’s Pram craft fairytales from concrete reality. Pram’s restless groove, an endearing and gently refusenik mix encircles early Rough Trade innovators The Raincoats, astro jazz, sci-fi soundtracks, creepy Victoriana, tropical analogue and tumbledown funk.
MODIFIED TOY ORCHESTRA
By exploring the hidden potential inside redundant technology; MTO create sophisticated new electronic instruments from abandoned children’s toys.
RAINBOW GRAVE
Featuring Nicholas Bullen (founder member of Napalm Death and Scorn) and John Pickering (founder member of Doom and Sore Throat), Birmingham based Rainbow Grave channel the blank despair of negative punk through layers of distorted psychedelic damage
ELDA ft. Georgia Denham
The project of Andrew Woodhead, composer of jazz, free improv, electronica, folk & new music. He also curates improvised music concert series Fizzle, and co-directs Ideas Of Noise Festival.
ROSIE TEE
Birmingham composer/performer with a jazz-infused, alternative pop sound. Wandering, dream-like vocals sit alongside sporadic movements of scattered harmony and abstract refrains.
DORCHA
Genre-fluid 5 piece band of synths, strings, electronics and heavy beats. A dynamic, versatile group with a refusenik attitude, Dorcha obsess over transporting listeners to a pool of shifting, nearly gothic, barely pop, experimental songwriting.
SOFA KING
Birmingham based experimentalist Sofa King, is the musical output of pop-obsessed transgender individual Dianne Burdon. She treats reverb and feedback like a chemical formula.
GLATZE
Musician, sound artist and musical instrument designer with an almost unhealthy fascination with sound, often being distracted by a squeaky shoe or the sound of the ventilation system.
SURGEON
Surgeon (DJ), real name Anthony Child, has been at the forefront of UK techno since 1994. The Birmingham resident has perfected a unique techno sound with an industrial murk.
GREY HAIRS
Emerging from the fertile Nottingham DIY scene, Grey Hairs recall a time when it was harder to pigeon hole bands and people cared less about doing so anyway
RATTLE
Minimal in approach, Nottingham drumming duo Rattle, create a cyclical and whirling swirl of percussive sound.
BLOODY HEAD
Dirgey yet groove-heavy hardcore punk from Nottingham whose live shows feel like being run over by a bulldozer of noise and discordant energy.
We also recommend you check out the music on these brilliant local labels…
Die Das Der http://diedasder.bandcamp.com/ (We recommend their stonking-good compilation album ‘Without Venues, We’re Nothing 2’ OUT TODAY supporting independent Brum venues)
Gringo Records https://gringorecords.bandcamp.com/
