Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way: earlier this week Bandcamp announced that it would be joining Epic Games. A big emphasis was placed on the idea that this would not change the front face of Bandcamp much, rather allow for help on back-end tools and future development of things like vinyl pressing and live streaming services..
However as with any company being acquired by another, especially in the gaming world, there is some worry. Epic Games on the surface seems like a great company that is creating competition in the PC gaming world, innovating with media crossovers (see anything Fortnite related) and even battling Apple for fairer terms in their app store. But the looming presence of Tencent (a large stakeholder in Epic Games and kinda scary entertainment conglomerate with strong ties to Spotify, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group) and Epic's aggressive stance on all their positives, it makes the future of Bandcamp a little nebulous.
Change is inevitable and while I hope that change is for the positive, I can't help but be wary of where this whole thing is headed. But as we keep an eye on the situation as more information trickles in (and prepare for the worst, hope for the best or however that platitude goes), we can still support the artists we love on this Bandcamp Friday!
On some of the the first Fridays of the month these past two years, Bandcamp has waived their fees allowing for more of the money you spend on the site to go directly to the labels and bands. It has been a great bit of support during this tumultuous pandemic. The site has committed to two additional Bandcamp Fridays: April 1 and May 6.
While this initiative is fantastic, remember to support your favorite bands throughout the rest of the month as well. Bandcamp is a pretty great platform as an average of 83% of your money reaches the artist/label (after payment processor fees) on any other day.
Bandcamp Friday will be happening today March 4 until midnight PDT tonight. If you're unsure what time it all ends in your timezone, check isitbandcampfriday.com for exactly how much time you have left to jump in on the sales effort.
As with every edition of this feature, we've added a few more local acts that we highly suggest you check out. If there are any local bands that you think should be added to the list, please leave a comment and spread the Bandcamp Friday love! And don't forget to head over to your favorite artists' Bandcamp pages and see what they'll be doing for today's push to support quality music! For those of you who have meticulously curated Spotify playlists (although with everything going on I'm sure many of you don't now), we suggest using Merch Table to see what artists are on Bandcamp so you can support them directly.
We also recommend you check out some of the great compilations that help support various causes.
- Quiet Pterodactyl's Situation Chicago compilation benefits 25 venues in the city and has tracks for the likes of Jeff Tweedy, Ric Wilson, Girl K, Rich Jones, Ovef Ow, The Curls, and tons more! Situation Chicago 2, the upcoming followup compilation, which we recently previewed, brings together 10 local acts to benefit CIVL! AND they be hosting a pair of Situation Chicago shows at Empty Bottle on March 15 & 16th!
- Warm Violet is a 46 (!) song comp that benefits Chicago Community Jail Support and features a plethora of artists you should be listening to anyway!
- Catalytic Sound's Festival Compilations donate their proceeds to various organizations that work in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and social justice!
- Catalytic Sound Festival 2020: Day 1 - proceeds raised will go to Black Futures Lab
- Catalytic Sound Festival 2020: Day 2 - proceeds raised will go to Assata's Daughters
- Catalytic Sound Festival 2020: Day 3 - proceeds raised will go to the Fendika Cultural Center
Now let's get to the bands!
- Air Credit's latest release a pure hip hop delights is a little (a lot) dark, but so is the rest of the world. ShowYouSuck and Steve Reidell's project is making the best of it with excellent tracks that will soundtrack you late summer/autumn nights.
- Akenya
- Alec Stern - Check out our review of his song "Settle for These Stories" featuring Sen Morimoto and Mykele Deville!
- Andrew Goes To Hell
- Angel Bat Dawid
- La Armada
- Artifacts
- Aunt Kelly and their fantastic sound needs to be heard by more people! Check out our interview with the band here!
- Avantist
- Apollo Mighty
- Azita Youssefi is a Chicago mainstay and her latest album Glen-Echo is her first in over 8 years! Don't let this album pass you by!
- Bam Bam
- Beach Bunny are so much fun and with the recently released Blame Game, now's a great time to jump onto their sound! Two of our writers focused on their debut Honeymoon for our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020
- Ben LaMar Gay
- Berta Bigtoe - While relatively new to Chicago, this two piece does right by the tasteful palette of '70s rock through gorgeous production and soulful falsettos.
- Bitchin Bajas
- Black Monument Ensemble
- Blake Saint David
- Bleach Party
- bnny, formally with a u, had their record release show for their debut album Everything last year, so what better time to start listing to Jess Viscius' beautiful sound! And as we predicted all of last year, the album landed on our 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music list!
- Boo Baby
- Brandon Von Vacik's A Guide to Finding Out You're Not Special a is a nice collection of sleek alt-country twinged songs
- Burr Oak has been putting out tons of great tracks recently and can't wait till Savanna Dickhut release a full length album
- Byzmuti
- Cavanaugh (Serengeti and Open Mike Eagle) The duo released some quarantine recordings during the first time Bandcamp waived fees, so if you didn't get those tracks then, now's the time!
- Cartoon Graveyard
- Cass Cwik & the Small Gas Engines
- Charles Joseph Smith
- CHEER-ACCIDENT
- Chris Greene Quartet's last album PlaySPACE, which was recorded live at Evanston SPACE, is one of my favorites and a great introduction to this fantastic jazz band.
- Circuit des Yeux is perfect for those nights when you need something a little different. Haley Fohr's deep and entrancing voice sits upon a mix of experimental instrumentation with such poise you'll be guaranteed to be in awe of her abilities.
- Claude recently released Enactor which puts her dream vocals and gentle instrumentation on full display. It's a must listen to release!
- Cordoba offers up soulful vocals and far-out fusion jazz, what's not to love?
- Cole DeGenova
- Cory Jose
- Crown Vic Royal - sometimes you need some dirty rock n' roll to help the day go by
- The Curls
- Dance Bullies - country/indie/blues/rock group and regular performers in the Front Porch Concerts pop-up series
- Daydream Review
- DPCD makes perfect and gentle songs that evoke strong and deep emotions. His latest, It's Hard for a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom of God, ruminates on religion and mysticism in quite a breathtaking way.
- DEEPER
- defprez
- DEHD- Dehd rules FFO Omni and NE-HI! Check out our review of one of their live performances here!
- Desert Liminal
- Discus
- Divino Niño - Need some smooth and delectable tunes to soundtrack your evenings, then look no further than these amazing songs! Check out our review of their album Foam. They also released a new single "Drive" last year that is a fantastic evolution of the band!
- Dos Santos
- DRAMA
- drea the vibe dealer
- Dreamer Isioma
- Eleventh Dream Day
- Emily Blue
- Ensemble Dal Niente
- Ester has been incredibly prolific this past year having released a full length album Turn Around in March 2020, a four-song EP entitled weak that she recorded in seven days, a new track "Only Mine", and quite a few tracks in between! Go listen to this incredible artist.
- .ethos
- ÉSSO
- Everson Poe
- E Woods
- Fay Ray
- Fieldmates
- Fire-Toolz
- The Flat Five are a Chicago supergroup that we absolutely adore. Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, and Alex Hall make up the band with decades worth of musical expertise! Their slightly twisted dulcet tones are a sure fire way to make these trying times feel a little better. Check out their debut album It's a World of Love and Hope (with songs written by fellow Chicago mainstay Chris Ligon) and their recently released Another World!
- Floatie released their stellar math rock debut Voyage Out last year! It was so damn good that we included it in our favorite albums of 2021, so don't miss out!
- Fran's guitar-driven songs with extraordinary vocals are perfect for these physical distancing times.
- Fauvely makes some incredible dreamy tunes that will certainly hook you the second you give them a listen. Led by Sophie Brochu, the band just released Beautiful Places, so pick it up and enjoy this great band!
- Gal Gun - I first saw Gal Gun perform at a living room show four years ago and their latest album Critical Hit is fantastic! Pick up their deluxe vinyl of the album which includes ton of fun extras for only $20!
- Ganser - Need some downright incredible rock music to pulse through your veins? Look no further than Ganser's exhilarating sound, especially right now since their newest album Just Look at That Sky is out now! Let yourself melt into Alicia Gaines' range of confident vocals and snarls and the band's raw post-punk surge. The first pressing of their album is sold out, but the second pressing (on an even cooler color vinyl) is available now! And they just released a new remix EP!
- George Arthur Calendar
- Gia Margaret
- Girl K - You can't get much better than Katherine Patino's excellent project! Check out our review of their set with Charly Bliss from TNK!
- Glad Rags
- Good Fuck is experimental madness from Tim Kinsella and Jenny Pulse. To put it simple, it's fucking good.
- The Glow Ups Chicago-based, punk rock trio features Mike Licari (Bass/Vocals), Kevin De Leon (Drums), and Brian Perfect (Guitar/Vocals). After a series of three separately released singles, the band officially released its debut album, Take Your Tapas Off, on April 27, 2020. Accompanied by the band's "down to earth" nature, their songs take you on a voyage of pop-punk nostalgia. They hold the central theme of "not having to impress anybody" and you witness this in their lyrical storytelling—comprising real-life stories and experiences.
- Glitter Moneyyy - Need some sexy, raunghy goodness in your music? Look no further than this amazing duo!
- Half Gringa has a new album out right now! Force to Reckon is exactly that, giving you some much needed new tunes from Isabel Olive!
- The Hecks - Great local band balancing angular post-punk and catchy synth rock, with an awesome live show to boot.
- Hollyy just put on one hell of a show in support of CIVL last year, so let's support the band by picking up some of their excellent singles!
- Honey Cellar
- Hushdrops
- Ifeanyi Elswith
- Impulsive Hearts makes sun-soaked tunes that will make staying at home way better. Her latest album Cry All The Time is a perfect example of her sound and another great record for summer (or whenever!). She also recently released "Dearie" and all proceeds of "Dearie" will be donated to Chicago's Brave Space Alliance.
- Jamila Wood's artistry is undeniable as she releases album after album of utterly mesmerizing albums. We highly recommend you pick up LEGACY! LEGACY! is you haven't yet!
- Jason Griff
- Jeff Kimmel / Ryan Packard
- Jeremy Cunningham's latest album The Weather Up There is one to behold. Written in response to the loss of his brother, the jazz album is a powerful listen as it ruminates on its heavy themes perfectly. It's a must-listen-to album. This album was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020.
- Jessica Risker - psychedelic folk musician and sound designer making some excellent tunes to chill out to.
- Joan of Arc has come to end and released their final album Tim Melina Theo Bobby. This genre hopping band has been going two and a half decades with a rotating lineup always lead by the formidable Tim Kinsella. Check out this amazing local act as they call it a legacy.
- Jodi released a new album of beautiful alt country tracks Blue Heron last year!
- Jordanna has been a 3CR fave for a while. Check out our feature with her a couple years ago!
- Joshua Virtue's flow is instantly enjoyable, leading you down some fantastic hip hop tracks. His album Jackie's House was recorded over two weeks during the beginnings of the pandemic's Stay at Home orders and was recently pressed to vinyl by Joyful Noise Recordings. It's available on his Bandcamp today!
- Joshua Wentz -- electronic artist and multi-instrumentalist who has released over 20 EPs and 10 albums
- Joslyn-Marie
- Jyroscope & Montana Macks have come together for one hell of an EP HAPPY MEDIUM. The five track release traverse's the groups feelings on growing older, success, and finding you spot in the world with such entertaining lines. It truly feels like it finds a happy medium between introspective verses and straight up groove worthy jams. Check out our thoughts on "Take It Easy" and "Frozen in Time"!
- KAINA - If you're looking for some beautiful vocals, ethereal instrumentals, and just plain old good vibes, check out Kaina's wonderful output! Her new album It Was A Home came out on March 4 and she has a release show at Metro on the 5th!
- Kirby Grip
- Kurt Vise
- Krystal Metcalfe
- Lala Lala may be moving on to a new town, but she'll always have a special place in the Chicago music scene. Check out our review of her release show and then pick up I Want The Door To Open!
- Late Night Laundry
- Layton Wu provides some much needed warmth with his fun and dancey Summertime Mixtape.
- Liam Kazar has a whole new album put TODAY! Check out Due North and support this great artist!
- The Lipschitz delivers unadulterated garage punk that will get you moving like no other!
- Macie Stewart, of one of the best bands going Ohmme, just released an album of beautiful and ethereal tracks. With instrumentation from Dustin Laurenzi, Sen Morimoto, Lia Kohl, Ben Lamar Gay, and Ayanna Woods, Mouth Full of Glass is a must buy record! Hell, it earned a spot on our 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music list! I also highly recommend Macie Stewart & Lia Kohl's collaboration Recipe for a Boiled Egg
- Makaya McCraven
- Malci
- Manny 10x - His rapid fire flow is exhilarating!
- Matchess makes hauntingly beautiful soundscapes that transport to you to psychedelic realms
- Matt Muse - If you need solid hip hop in your life right now, check out Matt Muse and femdot.'s ode to friends and car rides "SHOTGUN (Remix)" right now! Check out our thoughts on the track here! And don't miss out on his latest release "Rapport" featuring theMIND!
- Meat Wave's Volcano Park came out this past summer and it's a nice collection of addictive punk tracks!
- Melvin Knight
- Melkbelly delivers some noise rock that will surely get you hooked on Miranda Winters (see below) excellent voice! Their most recent album Pith was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020
- Mia Joy released her new album Spirit Tamer last year and it's a beautiful collection of songs you need to hear. It was featured in our 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music list!
- Mick Jenkins
- MIIRRORS
- Miranda Winters recently ventured out from Melkbelly (see Above) for a pair of great singles! Check out our thoughts on them here!
- Mohawk Johnson
- Monobody released Comma last year and it's a great choice for this Bandcamp Friday!
- Mooner delivers some straight up rock and roll jams and their latest collection of songs The Alternate Universe of Love. So head over to their Bandcamp page and support this excellent band!
- Moontype delivers some of the best indie rock you could hope for full of vocals that lure you into their enveloping instrumentals. Check out their latest release Bodies of Water.
- Mother Nature - If you need some downright mind-blowing hip hop, Mother nature just released a banger of an album SZNZ
- Mukqs creates these experimental collages of sounds and noises that will leave you in awe. His latest release My Most Personal Album to Date came out last year
- Naked Raygun are undeniable Chicago legends and last year marked their first album in decades. Of course it made our 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music list!
- Natural Information Society with Evan Parker
- Neal Francis second album In Plain Sight was an incredible new direction for the musician and we loved it! Check out or thoughts on it over on the 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music list.
- Neptune's Core, a local band made up of two sets of sisters, are on the verge of releasing a new album in the fall! Why not join the bandwagon early and support this fantastic upcoming band! Their two 2021 singles, "Turning Red" & "Shot in the Heart", are pristine indie rock jams that should be on everyone's playlist by now! Their full length album Evolving obviously made our 2021 in Review: What We Liked in Music roundup!
- NNAMDÏ released a fair amount of music during the pandemic like KRAZY KARL and it's another amazing addition to his already excellent discography. Speaking of which, have you picked up Brat? How about Drool? No? Then drop what you're doing and definitely support this great artist.
- Ocean Cult
- OHMME are such a fantastic band that are delivering some of the best experimental rock you'll hear today! They've just released their second full length album Fantasize Your Ghost. It's a fantastic followup to Parts, evolving their sound as they always do. Check out our thoughts on their single "The Limit" and our review of the album here! And of course Fantasize Your Ghost was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020
- Old Joy describe their bright and enthusiastically catchy sound as "scum pop" and how can you not love that?! Their album Trash Your Life got a spot on our What We Liked in Music post for 2021!
- Olivia Block makes ethereal noise that will envelop you with it's deep textures.
- ONO's sound is as demanding as it is rewarding, making from one incredibly intense listen. Their album Red Summer was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020
- Oux
- OTHERPEACE
- Ovef Ow's brand of surf punk is a pure joy and a nice little coda to this summer that kinda wasn't. Let yourself rock out their catchy riffs and forget about the less than ideal times we're living in!
- Pansy
- Paul Cherry makes some fantastic smooth jams and his last album Flavour has been spinning on my turntable since it came out!
- Pelican
- Pet Symmetry
- The Phantom Broadcast
- Picante
- Piwa dropped "Bass Down" last week and it's hard not to but it on repeat.
- The Poison Arrows
- Pool Holograph has been on a roll recently and their newest album Love Touched Time and Time Began to Sweat is a perfect album for these times!
- post office winter
- Psalm One
- Pugs Atomz
- Quicksails
- Ratboys is awesome and has been doing a lot of Chicago's music scene and community in general! Plus their recently release Happy Birthday, Ratboy is absolutely fantastic! Check out our review of one of their sets at Schubas!
- Replicant makes dark futuristic synth music that will make you want to dance, but in that fun brooding way.
- The Roof Dogs
- Ric Wilson just released a fantastic new EP They Call Me Disco! Check out our thoughts on the great release here.
- Rich Jones' music just makes you feel nice and warm whenever it comes on. We're big fans of his sound, whether it's his more hip hop leaning stuff like Light Work, or the R&B smoothness of The Shoulder You Lean On or the collaborative album with Montana Macks, How do you sleep at night?! Check out our thoughts on the lead single "Groceries." And there is another new project: Blue Beach, Jones' collaboration with Killer Kane
- Rita J
- RP BOO know how to get a crowd going and his newest release Established! continues his travels in the genre he innovated: Footwork!
- Säge, The 64th Wonder
- Semiratruth
- Sen Morimoto not only makes incredibly catchy tunes and just released another banger of an album!
- Serengeti is technically on the list twice, but with good reason. The man makes some of the weirdest hip hop and is prolific.
- SIDAKA
- Silbo Gomero puts out some incredible electronic vibes on their album Here Comes the Beast
- Sirr TMo Sama
- ShowYouSuck
- Slow Pulp just released a new album and we're big fans of it! Check out our thoughts here!
- Snow Ellet
- Split Single just released Amplificado in June and its one hell of an album!
- Spun Out was birthed from the ashes of NE-HI. Members of that incredible band found renewed interest in other projects (we've already mentioned DEHD) but also gave birth to Spun Out's alluring synths and undeniable grooves. Their debut album is a must listen affair that will help pass the nights away in the best way possible.
- Stander - Need some heavy tunes that are somehow meditative? Stander is for you
- Stuck
- Sunjacket released their new album More Lifelike a couple months ago and it's certainly worth a buy!
- Sweetie is the blisteringly bright and sharp rock you need to make your evening all the better! Check out their latest release Bad Thing Sweet Thing
- Syl Johnson passed away on February 6, 2022 and we lost one of the great soul singer. Luckily Numero Group has kept his legacy alive and thriving. Please check out this amazing voice!
- Tobacco City's latest album, Tobacco City, USA, is a beautiful slice of Midwestern county tunes that will get stuck in your head. Full of gorgeous melodies and and lyrics, it's an album that deserves your time!
- TALSounds
- Tara Terra
- Tasha's incredible voice is unparalleled, making her already ethereal tracks all the more alluring and enjoyable. Her album Tell Me What You Miss the Most dropped on a Bandcamp Friday, so if you haven't picked it up now's the time!
- Tenci released My Heart is an Open Field last year and it's a wonderful album that really emphasizes Tenci's minimalist style, letting her voice and lyrics capture you in ways few albums can. This album was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020
- theMIND
- Tough Break Kid
- Twin Peaks
- Uma Bloo
- uuskhy
- V.V. Lightbody's latest release, Make a Shrine or Burn It, is a phenomenal collections of songs that you need to listen to, especially on vinyl. While the first pressing of the release on cream-colored wax sold out on release day (you read that right), there is a second "half moon maroon" color pressing that you drop your needle on today! This album was featured on our list of albums we enjoyed in 2020.
- Waltzer - Need some inventive and genuinely adrenaline pumping tunes to fill your in-person-concert-less nights with? Waltzer's latest has just what you need.
- Warm Human
- Whelpwisher
- Woongi
- Wyatt Waddell released the amazing "FIGHT!" last year and will be donating a percentage of proceeds from the song to the Chicago Community Bond Fund, Black Lives Matter Chicago, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. You can check out our thoughts on "FIGHT!" here!
Also let's not forget these incredible local labels.
- Bloodshot Records
- Born Yesterday Records
- Eye Vibe Records
- Feel Trip
- International Anthem features tons of great albums from amazing artists like Angel Bat Dawid, Ben Lamar Gay, Resavoir, and more!
- Midwest Action has tons of great local acts ready to wow you like Impulsive Hearts.
- No Trend Records has Glitter Moneyyy jams, Mykele Deville grooves, Avantist insanity, and more goodness waiting for you!
- Numero Group is always releasing some quality under-listened to albums!
- Ordinal Records is home to amazing artists like Advance Base, the just released solo album by Macie Stewart of Ohmme, and many more!
- Sooper Records released albums from the likes of NNAMDÏ (who we mentioned above, but want to emphasize that he just released a new album KRAZY KARL and you should go get this amazing record now!), KAINA, Sen Morimoto (again, we mentioned them earlier but these artists deserves it), Sonny Falls, and many more!
- Thrill Jockey
- WaxTrax
There are plenty of other great bands on Bandcamp, so take a look around and discover something new! If you have any recommendations, comment below and spread the love because everybody needs it right now.
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