Dustsucker 8#: 17 Bandcamp Picks and 6 Notable Mentions (May-Sep 2026)

It’s been far too long! And a whole bunch of releases have piled up… A few updates from Pink Cotton Candy, too, before we take a look at what summer and early autumn have had to offer.

Sorry for the long wait! First, I was planning to do monthly updates. Then it became every other month. And now we’re down to roughly once a quarter, which I’m hoping I can stick to. The thing is, I’m going to be a dad in January. Our first child. So I’m trying to rearrange a few things and free up a little more space in the calendar. That also means keeping PCC releases to a maximum of 2–3 a year for the next couple of years.

Since the last update, Pink Cotton Candy has released Mothland, a post-rock project by my old friend Rasmus. I contributed some electric guitars and did the stem mixing for the album. The record has seriously been a good 15 years in the making (!!) and should be of interest to anyone into obscure post-rock, particularly those with a fondness for Bark Psychosis and Talk Talk (and perhaps a bit of Peter Gabriel and Rufus Wainwright…?!). We’ve also released two singles by the friendly alt-rock / noise rock / post-punk trio Bending Backwards, both of which have been very well received. Their debut album is out on October 16. Finally, I’m working on an autumn full-length release with experimental / ambient / noise / art-pop artist Alba Liv. We’ve received funding for a vinyl pressing, which I’m very much looking forward to. And of course, QS are working around the clock on the next album, due next year…

Of course, there’s been a lot of exciting music released between May and now, so enough about me and my projects, let’s have a look at some of it. As always, if you like the music, buy it on Bandcamp. Boycott Spotify (and Apple and Amazon - does anyone seriously think they would behave any better if they had a similar monopoly…?). Buy new indie music on Bandcamp, stream old catalogue stuff (and primarily major-label music) on the streaming services (I recommend Qobuz). Subvert FM is up and running now, too. Check it out!

Kisses - You Are In My Dreams (AU, Bedroom Suck rec)

Genre(s): Indie Rock / Indie Folk / Post-Rock

Fav tracks: all of them

Rating: ****½

This is probably my favourite release of the year so far. A slightly more accessible, slightly more poppy and folky version of Caroline? I don’t know… But there’s so much warmth here. So comforting, touching and beautiful. Wonderful violin playing, too. For personal reasons, I’ve had a really difficult year, and this album has really helped me through it (a bunch of the tracks almost make me weep…). Really an album I want to live in…..

Visit Me - Daystar (UK, Smudge)

Genre(s): Ambient Pop / Lofi Pop

Fav tracks: This Weekend, Smudge in the Sky

Rating: ****

There really is a particular sound this year, a kind of British underground indie, NTS-ish sound, cheap, dusty, a bit lo-fi, a bit minimalist. Quite melodic. You’d think Young Marble Giants were the biggest cult band of the 80s right now. There’s a bit of that plastic, MIDI-like sound, but nowhere near as radical as Ferraro or early ML Buch, etc. Now it’s only supposed to sound subtly ‘unreal’. It’s interesting. Do all the coolest musicians in the world’s musical epicentres (London, LA, NY, Berlin, etc.) have some kind of secret meeting once a month where they agree on what to do next…?

Anyway, to be fair, there’s a lot of “perfume music” on NTS that’s more about a sound (and a lifestyle? a fashion?) than anything else. This is not the case with Visit Me, even though they have a pretty cool and fashionable sound, which you can hardly blame them for. If you can forgive me the slightly conservative choice of words, this is strong songwriting and compositional practice. There are also influences from old English folk music. And it feels like there’s a bit of early The 6ths / Magnetic Fields in there, too. Some Anna Domino as well? Yes, I’d actually go as far as to say that this is one of the best and most interesting releases of the year….

Nirosta Steel - My Skyscraper (Ulyssa, MX/US)

Genre(s): Mutant Disco / Lofi-Folk / Art Pop

Fav tracks: Boss Trix, Lost in Music, Fresh Feeling, Special Weakness

Rating: ****

This release is also hopelessly cool. I guess Dustsucker is just pretty cool. It genuinely feels like Christmas every time an obscure archival compilation comes out, featuring some amazing artist who’s been overlooked by the wider indie mainstream for decades. Justice is served. As it was with Beverly Glenn-Copeland. As it was with Arthur Russell. And now with Nirosta Steel, who is, yes, very much associated with the late Russell.

Here’s a bit from the official label bio:

“‘My Skyscraper’ represents 40 years or so of works, re-works and works-forever-in-progress of one Steven Hall, aka Nirosta Steel — son of Scotland; step-son of the United States of America; adopted Daddy of Taiwan; Five-Star General in the Buddhist Army; legendary horndog stickman (we have pics!); friend, neighbor, collaborator and co-conspirator of Arthur Russell; and one of the most jawdroppingly sincere songwriting voices you’ll hear in this wretched modern era. Sure, that’s a metric fuck-ton of descriptors for a single person. But it's sorta impossible to capture the full scope of this human being named Steven Hall.”

It really is a label that knows how to get you interested…. and an iconic cover, right? As with Russell, you really get around. Personal favourites here include “Boss Trix” (which sounds like a modern pop-house remix of some über-hip ESG / Liquid Liquid-style NY disco track). The psychedelic mutant disco dream-funk of “Lost in Music”. The long, beautiful, upbeat lo-fi folk track “Fresh Feeling”, which, admittedly, could have been taken straight from Russell’s folkier “Love Is Overtaking Me” period. But when it’s done THIS well… “Special Weakness”, which follows, is in the same category.

It’s not a consistently successful release from start to finish. But it’s a huge gift with some monumental standout tracks. Can’t wait to hear more from the archives.

Privacy / LF - Light of my life (Afvikling, DK)

Genre(s): Ambient / Tape Music

Rating: ****½

No one in the world makes “ambient” music that moves me quite like Jonas Torstensen. I’ve previously written pages and pages about Jonas’ music under the names Forankring and LF, so I won’t go on too much about it again here. But Jonas runs the tape label Afvikling here in Copenhagen, and has a number of rather different solo projects of his own, mostly moving between ambient, tape music, lo-fi folk and noise.

His tapes can be found at World of Echo, Discreet Music, Soundohm, and so on, and that’s no coincidence, because this is really, really high-quality stuff. There are people out there who know.

I’m guessing “Privacy” is also Jonas - it certainly sounds an awful lot like him, anyway - but I suppose he has his reasons for dividing the tape into “Privacy” and “LF” material.

Jonas has only released music under the LF name that I’ve been incredibly fond of, so that name is very dear to me. I’d love to see a monumental archival compilation one day. On vinyl.

Tenniscoats with Tape - Minat Soul (7e.p., JP/SE)

Genre(s): Chamber Folk / Post-Rock

Fav tracks: Waiting on the water town, Minat Soul, Mysterious Coat

Rating: ***½

Tape have been one of my favourite bands for many years. Some of the best music our Swedish neighbours have produced. Rideau is the great masterpiece. Milieu and Luminarium are also really good.

Tenniscoats are a Japanese group I also have a lot of respect for, and whom I know partly through their work with The Pastels, although I’ve yet to find an album of theirs that I love from start to finish.

Tape and Tenniscoats are an obvious pairing, and in many ways a very fruitful collaboration. Minat Soul is a quiet, gentle, touching record with a big heart. Perfect for the arrival of autumn.

Kloothommel - Wits in The Big Wide (NL/FR, Hidden Bay)

Genre(s): Indie Rock / Post-Rock

Fav tracks: 14, Wits in the Big Wide

Rating: ***

A small Belgian band releasing on a small French indie label. This is exactly the kind of thing I like covering the most. Only 17 album purchases on Bandcamp… I mean, for Pink Cotton Candy, that would be one of our best-selling releases. But in the wider indie ecosystem, it’s next to nothing, I’m well aware of that.

This is high-quality, sensitive, intelligent indie rock with expanded instrumentation and interesting arrangements. It sounds like the kind of expensive, high-quality indie records people made in the early 2000s, but can no longer afford to produce (think The Notwist’s “Neon Golden”, for example). Or Hood’s “Outside Closer”. A bit of The Sea and Cake influence in the vocals? The flirting with post-rock is also very early-2000s. I love it. I grew up on this kind of music. And, also worth mentioning, this is actually the third record I’ve covered from Hidden Bay. They’re doing some great things down in Toulouse.

GB - Herzsprung (AD93, DK/UK)

Genre(s): Indie Rock / Sophisti-Pop / Art-Rock

Fav tracks: The Next Day, Small Gods, Shit River

Rating: ***½

Oh, I’ve really been curious about this record! And I’ve listened to it a lot. There are moments of absolutely sublime music on this release. Excellent musicians. Interesting songwriting. A very unique sonic character. And, overall, a fascinating position in the contemporary musical landscape.

There are influences from Jim O’Rourke / Gastr del Sol. Some Japanese sophisti-pop. A bit of Steely Dan-style yacht rock. A good dose of RMC-style contemporary art-rock / art-pop (ML Buch, Clarissa, etc.). And much more. I also love the process behind both the cut-up poetry and the limitations and rules of recording the album on 24-track tape. You can hear it. It really has a lovely, warm sound. And nothing feels unnecessarily overdone. The drums in particular are pretty fantastic. They remind me of the brilliant drums on O’Rourke’s underrated “Simple Songs”. Somehow, the record manages to sound both analogue (and ‘old-fashioned’) and modern and quite contemporary at the same time.

When it comes to Danish music and our indie music “canon”, there’s no doubt that this is an important work. I also think there are some big ambitions behind this release: lots of coverage and attention in all the important places, and AD 93 is one of the very noticeable labels at the moment.

But I also have to say that not all the songs have really stuck with me yet. Even after many listens. It makes me wonder if there’s still some work to be done on the songwriting itself. And I also feel there’s still some room for development in GB’s vocals (Gustav is a former post-punk vocalist, after all - sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to break away a little from that very polished, controlled, Westerman-like vocal style.) But sometimes records need even more time to grow on you. I feel like I won’t really be able to judge this one until 5–10 years from now.

Soli City - Poetics of a New Estate (15 Love, DK)

Genre(s): Modern Classical / Chamber Music / Utopian Virtual

Fav tracks: 1871 (Arena), The Hills of Copenhagen, Versailles, Rooms & Walls

Rating: ****

This is also one of the most exciting Danish releases of the year – if not of the last 5–10 years. Soli City (Harald Bjørn) is definitely a name I’ll be very interested in following. It’s contemporary classical and chamber music, but with strong elements of ambient, experimental electronic music (including the genre known as utopian virtual), field recordings, and even little bits of hip-hop…

There’s something stringent, almost clinical and minimalist about the sound and production, which is also reflected in the album’s brutalist artwork. This stands in sharp contrast to the emotional melodic and harmonic content of the music, as well as the strong sense of a composer’s intentional presence and the rather exuberant mixture of genres. In a way, this contrast is already present in the artwork itself. There’s the green - not exactly wild, but rather carefully maintained and controlled, yet still something living and vital - set against the monumental, grey, functionalist architecture. There’s also a barcode on the cover, which could be read as playing with, and perhaps exaggerating, the hyper-mediated and commodified society we live in today. And the combination of “poetics” and “estate” in the title introduces yet another contrast between the living, the beautiful, the emotional, on the one hand, and something “dead”, functional and commodified on the other…

As for the music. We have a form of classical post-minimalism. We have a kind of chamber music that seems to draw more on Rachel’s “Music for Egon Schiele”, and thus post-rock and slowcore, than on the great classical composers. There’s a certain strictness and minimalism that reminds me of To Rococo Rot’s groundbreaking works from the late 90s and early 2000s. Or Kreidler. These might not be well-known names today, but they should be. There’s electronic experimentation that brings to mind a cooler, more European-minded art-gallery-like Oneohtrix Point Never. There are hints of contemporary ‘internet music’, such as some of Audry’s more post-rock-influenced stuff. At times, the distorted guitars sound like Frippertronics. In terms of the sound design itself - on a stylistic and formal level, if you like - there are also clear references to RMC-core. That semi-synthetic, MIDI-but-not-excessively-nostalgic-MIDI sound I described earlier. A subtle level of unreality which, of course, today - for many music listeners and ordinary people - feels MORE real than “naturalistic realism”, if you will.

Today, some of the most familiar contemporary “avant-pop” tropes would be the chorus guitar, MIDI piano and strings, and auto-tuned vocals. It’s remarkable that these tropes continue to sound new, fresh, avant-garde and cutting-edge. Because in many ways, this vocabulary hasn’t changed all that much since the early James Ferraro records, Synd og Skam, Dean Blunt, and similar music from around 2012–2015. These sounds become markers. They open doors. It appeals to the very human need for belonging and community. It’s a complex network of codes and signals that grant access to some and exclude others. In music, of course we’re talking about the Pitchfork/NTS/The Wire-sanctioned club. The same mechanisms exist in every other art form, because humans seem to live and breathe stratification, and the art world perhaps more than most. A genuinely democratic ethos can be surprisingly difficult to find (once you move outside the better parts of punk, folk and noise scenes).

Mark Fisher and Simon Reynolds have both written extensively about the strange cultural stasis of contemporary music: the sense that genuinely new stylistic languages have become increasingly difficult to imagine, and that supposedly “new” musical movements tend instead to recombine, recycle and recontextualise elements of the past. I think this is partly because the avant-garde itself has come to a standstill. There’s no longer an obvious avant-garde to draw new inspiration from, no one leading the way towards genuinely new forms of expression.

A lot of people will panic at this thought. I have no problem with it. Maybe what we’re witnessing is the end of a particular celebration of consumption and growth. We thought we could keep extracting and innovating genres forever. Without limits. With linear progress. Much like our understanding of the capitalist world order in general: new, more, bigger, better. The obsession with musical innovation is also tied to an excessively narrow, capitalist focus on technology, because technological developments have so often been what produced the supposedly “new sounds” in music.

In reality, perhaps it’s about developing a better, more fruitful and sustainable relationship with what is already here. Whether that means the earth, or the incredible history of music that all of us stand on the shoulders of. Or simply the instrument you’re holding in your hands. Don’t just look forward. Look inward, look around you, look back. In the end, whether the instruments or sounds you use are new or old has very little to do with whether the music is good or bad.

Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues (Sub Pop, US)

Genre(s): Garage Punk / Alt-Country / Power-Pop

Fav tracks: Hand Me A Cigarette, Swamp

Rating: ***½

I’m not alone in being pretty crazy about Twisted Teens these days. Snotty lo-fi punk / power pop / pub rock. Kinda. Their music always reminds me of the music you’d hear at a local Copenhagen punk bar called Lygtens Kro, after you’ve had a few strong German beers and some old DJ in a leather jacket is playing a rare punk 7-inch.

Fantastic energy, wonderful production, great melodies. There’s still something that makes me feel like I haven’t quite found the favourite record yet. A combination of the best tracks from their first three records would make a masterpiece.

Leah Senior - Pt. Roadknight (SPINSTER, AU)

Genre(s): Indie Folk / Folk Rock

Fav tracks: Mothersong, People Pleaser, Part of the Crowd

Rating: ***½

I’ve enjoyed this record quite a lot. I love the very obvious inspiration from 60s British folk rock - Sandy Denny, Pentangle, Fairport Convention… I don’t think I’ve ever heard an electric guitarist sound so much like Richard Thompson without actually being Richard Thompson!

I checked out the rest of the Australian singer-songwriters discography, and unfortunately this is the only release I’ve really fallen for. But I’m certainly looking forward to hearing what she does next.

Lambchop - Punching the Clown (Merge, US)

Genre(s): Chamber Folk / Americana / Choir Music

Fav tracks: Just West of Nicollet, Weakened, Punching the Clown, The New World Wave, No Chicago

Rating: ****

Lambchop are an interesting band. Apart from being enormously understated, sometimes almost to the point of disappearing into complete silence, and drawing on very traditional forms such as country and folk, as well as the whole subject-driven singer-songwriter tradition, they’re also pretty playful, cheeky and exploratory - and, in that sense, quite contemporary and modern - in their continuous introduction of smaller and larger disruptive elements into their music, challenging their own framework without ever really abandoning it, and somehow keeping the whole thing fresh, current and relevant. A bit like Low introducing genuinely radical production on HEY WHAT. Now they’re introducing a cappella call-and-response gospel choirs.

The story behind the album is quite interesting:

“To hear Kurt Wagner tell it, "Punching the Clown" began as a ghost hunt. After hearing a song on the radio while driving one night — “a minimal single chord strummed banjo and a small group of voices” — he went looking for it and failed. In his pursuit, he discovered “lined out singing,” a form of acapella call-and-response gospel singing that began in Scotland in the 1800s and became a root of American gospel and country music when Scottish immigrants settled in Appalachia. The song, typically a hymn, is led by a clerk, who begins the verse alone before a choir swells up to accompany them on the rest of the line

Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) has been involved, and in a way, you can hear it. On “Just West of Nicollet” and “Weakened”, Lambchop sound poppier and more emotional than perhaps ever before. But make no mistake, this isn’t just a beautiful record, it’s also a strange one. The choir isn’t subtly mixed into the background. It takes over and fills the music in a way that often feels quite radical, and, to put it mildly, overdone if you don’t tap into, understand and appreciate its sometimes slightly disruptive and overwhelming energy. This isn’t a Lambchop record with a bit of choir. It’s a choir record with Lambchop.

At first, I was completely blown away by the album. Then I became a little more sceptical. Now I’m pretty much sold on it again. My favourite Lambchop album is Is a Woman. Only time will tell whether this one can end up alongside it.

Tara Clerkin Trio - Somewhere Good (World of Echo, UK)

Genre(s): Indie Rock / Triphop / Post-Rock

Fav tracks: Lazy Daisy

Rating: ***½

This is one of the most hyped albums of the year. And it’s certainly a very cool and effective mixture of trip-hop (which has, of course, been incredibly popular again over the last few years – I was never a huge trip-hop fan myself), chamber jazz, post-rock, and a kind of exotica/lounge atmosphere à la Broadcast and Stereolab, among other things. It sounds incredibly British. Totally NTS-friendly as well. They’re from Bristol, where a lot of interesting things have been happening musically in recent years, as London becomes increasingly unaffordable.

Mr. YT - Universo (Short Span, UK/JP)

Genre(s): Deep House

Fav tracks: Acuario, Piscis

Rating: ***

Mr. YT’s real name is Yuji Takenouchi, and he’s apparently a very popular Japanese video game composer. I listened to the 90’s EP Brand New Day a couple of years ago and loved it, but otherwise I haven’t heard any of his other music. Apparently, this is also the first release of completely new Mr. YT material in 28 years!

And it’s pretty great: lush, euphoric deep house that somehow also feels distinctly Japanese, something about the economy, lightness and elegance of it all... released on Short Span, which has become one of my favourite electronic labels in recent years.

Wild Up / Christopher Rountree / Julius Eastman - Gay Guerrilla (New Amsterdam, US)

Genre(s): Modern Classical / Minimalism

Rating: ****

Wild Up are back with another Julius Eastman release, this time Gay Guerrilla, and once again it’s excellent. Some of the most important classical music being recorded today, if not the most important.

Boards of Canada - Inferno (SCT/UK, Warp)

Genre(s): IDM / Ambient Techno

Rating: ***

I honestly don’t quite know what to say. I’m a massive Boards of Canada fan and have been since I was 12 or 13. Geogaddi is my favourite album of theirs. But the last couple of albums..... I’m having a hard time getting on board. I mean, the production has never sounded more immaculate. But that’s also part of the problem. It’s almost TOO perfectly Boards of Canada-ish. Almost like an AI had made it. Huge open top end, no mud, massive low end. So while the sound is more hi-fi and objectively more beautiful than ever, I feel like the substance is declining. There are very few tracks that really stick with me, that feel genuinely memorable. And I don’t care for the introduction of that slightly tribal ambient kind of stuff at all.

Curbside Lambsear - Put Rings On All My Fingers to Weigh Down My Hands (Scenic Route, UK)

Genre(s): Experimental Rock

Fav tracks: No Ordinary Word, Man The Door, Avril

Rating: ****

And here we are again with another super hip NTS / Boomkat favourite. From London, of course. It’s also really strong. A really, really solid debut EP.

Hana Stretton - tiarn (brierfield flood press, AU)

Genre(s): Ambient / Chamber Folk

Fav tracks: Nojiri 1993, as it was before this, from

Rating: ***½

I knew nothing about Hana Stretton beforehand, but this is a truly fascinating and captivating ambient / chamber folk album, incredibly gentle, delicate and dreamlike.

Notable Mentions

Chisawa Q - Xenognosis EP (JP/UK, R&S)

Genre(s): Techno

Fav tracks: Ocean 9, Moiré

Rating: ***

Big, melancholic chord washes over a heavy four-on-the-floor techno beat. Yes thanks. Beautiful reverbs as well.

Chafouin - Chafouin Orchestra (FR, Epicericords)

Genre(s): Experimental Rock / Chamber Music / Math

Rating: ****

A hugely ambitious, inspiring and fascinating release on a small French indie label. Like Terry Riley having a math rock band. With a bit of Rock in Opposition thrown in. Love it.

Colin Stetson, Brighde Chaimbeul - All the light in the world (Invada, US/SCT)

Genre(s): Post-Minimalism / Avant-Folk

Fav tracks: Dirt dance, All the light in the world

Rating: ***½

When it’s Colin Stetson and Brìghde Chaimbeul, there’s no doubt it’s going to be good. The question is how good. And the answer here has to be that it’s not among the strongest work from either of them, but there are clear moments of great musical beauty and distilled, razor-sharp emotional energy.

Miko - Petals and Marbles (JP, Room40)

Genre(s): Ambient Pop / Indietronica

Fav tracks: harvest time, tomorrow days

Rating: ***

This is a pretty, gentle and atmospheric Japanese ambient pop release, very pleasant company, with a few real highlights.

Dev/Null - Drum Damage (Hooversound Recordings, UK)

Genre(s): Jungle / Breakbeat

Fav tracks: Space Rush, Gateway

Rating: ***

Hooversound is an excellent drum & bass / jungle / breakbeat label, and this is a pretty strong and fun little release if you’re into that kind of thing (Tim Reaper? Squarepusher?).

Glass Triangle - 3 x 1 (Relative Pitch, NO/DK/US)

Genre(s): Avant jazz

Fav tracks: Night of the Gifts, Etching, Undr

Rating: ***½

When jazz musicians finally accept that their music is actually being produced - rather than merely presented as some kind of naturalistic reproduction - and we’re not talking about London neo-soul jazz here, which I mostly find pretty annoying, then some absolutely incredible things can happen! Take some of the best musicians in the world and put them together with a skilled mix engineer who knows how to use automation artistically - reverb and delay tails, etc. - and that’s exactly what’s happening here. Absolutely incredible performances and amazing production.

Unfortunately, for my taste, the level drops somewhat in the second half of the record. I just don’t care much for that sort of minimalist dissonant European avant-garde. The heart and energy return at the very end, though, with the final two tracks.

Thanks for reading. Take care until next time. And remember, if you like what you’re reading and want to Dustsucker, QS and the label, you can do so by becoming a paid subscriber, or by buying me a cup of coffee through my Ko-fi.

Best,

Nikolaj