Pink Cotton Candy 2025 Round-Up

Eight very different releases this year - ambient, IDM, chamber-folk, post-rock, dreampop, etc - and some notes on the work, the community, and the strange little label we’re building.

It’s been an incredibly busy year at the record label: eight (!) albums/EPs and nine singles (which is honestly a lot when you’re handling the day-to-day operations on your own). Working with art - unless you’re one of the very lucky few - often means long days and a lot of invisible labour. But I honestly wouldn’t want it any other way...

What has happened in 2025?

• We’ve decided to no longer use Meta or X. Instead, you can find us on Bluesky, Pixelfed and Mastodon, as well as, of course, our website, Bandcamp, and soon Subvert.FM (we also make selective use of YouTube and SoundCloud, and we’re active on RateYourMusic and Discogs as well).

• As you know, of course, this year I decided to start Dustsucker - combined with a kind of indie music directory (long lists of labels, radio stations, music blogs, and so forth that I like) here at the website, and as a newsletter on Substack.

• In October, we hosted a label night at Stengade to celebrate five years and twenty releases, with performances by Homesickness, Ignacio Córdoba and Quiet Sonia. To mark this anniversary, I’ve written a critical yet constructive “manifesto” (or whatever one might call it) about the path toward a sustainable artistic industry and practice. Read it here.

• In addition to the releases listed below, I’ve updated my Quiet Sonia demo/sketches collection; uploaded old archival tracks from two of my first groups, Sunn Paw and Hello Ba Ba; and finally (and most importantly) put together a Bandcamp-only digital PCC compilation titled Like a Leaf Opening to the Sky: 5x20 (Echoes from Copenhagen’s Otherlands), with all proceeds going directly to the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.

• I’ve found a good listening setup: I listen to all new independent music on Bandcamp, and all the older major-label catalogue stuff on streaming (just not Spotify!). I’m on Tidal at the moment, but seriously considering switching to Qobuz. We shouldn’t imagine that putting our hopes in Amazon or Apple will lead us to a better future either…

• Bought more than 80 records on Bandcamp in 2025 (roughly six records a month), and I’m not rich, ha ha. That’s roughly around 50 euro or 60 dollars pr month, which is pretty close to what I used to spend on new physical CDs per month back in the (very) old days…. It’s a pleasure to give something back to the music communities. I recently started logging my purchases on Buy Music Club, which works both as an incentive to actually pay for music, and as a source of inspiration where you can see what others (including DJs, blogs, etc.) are buying on Bandcamp.

• I’m working hard on next year’s releases, and at this point I can reveal that they’ll include a full-length album from This House - the new band of G.W. Sok from The Ex, in collaboration with Ignacio Córdoba, who has previously released music on the label. In addition, the doom-pop band Catcase will be releasing their debut album in early spring.

• As for Quiet Sonia, we’re still working on our upcoming album, currently titled Perished Palace. We’ve played a number of shows this year, including at VoxHall, Posten, Stengade, and HUSET. Earlier this year, I was visited by my friend Noah, who runs the amazing newsletter Absent Friend (also named after Bark Psychosis!), and he did this longer interview with me about QS, My Tjau, and more.

Now let’s take a look at this year’s Pink Cotton Candy releases.

I. Córdoba/Ciurkot - Ephemeral, Basal (PCC0012VR, January 17)

The first album we released this year was Ignacio Córdoba’s collaboration with Agata Ciurkot: An experimental electroacoustic work based on free improvisation, where Ciurkot’s piano playing meets Córdoba’s industrial oscillator.

“Dusty, old fashioned piano tones from Berlin-based musician Agata Ciurkot meet the industrial-strength oscillators of the Copenhagen multi-instrumentalist Ignacio Córdoba (…) the clash of sounds providing a wonderful tension” (Norman Records, UK)

‘expertly blend avant-garde experimentation with elements of […] jazz and noise-infused ambient soundscapes’ (Inverted Audio, UK)

Highlights include premieres on Inverted Audio and airplay on Henry Rollins’ radio show on KCRW. Available on vinyl through our Bandcamp, Norman Records (UK), Soundohm (IT), Tobira (JP, and most record stores in Copenhagen.

II. Homesickness - Anamnesis (PCC0013VR, March 21)

Danish experimental chamber-folk/post-rock band. The record blends ambient flute and string improvisations, ghostly field recordings, haunting low-key singer-songwriter folk, and sudden, unexpected avant-garde outbursts.

“a lilting folk and ambient jazz opus” (Norman Records, UK) + Album of the Day

“a thoughtful, healing, and poetic work in every sense” (translated, Passive/Aggressive, DK)

Highlights include reviews in Passive/Aggressive (DK), Undertoner (DK) and Obscure Sound (US), as well as radio airplay on WFUV, Slack City, LYL Radio, and more.

Available on vinyl through our Bandcamp, Norman Records (UK), Soundohm (IT), Tobira (JP, and most record stores in Copenhagen.

III. Zeki Jindyl - STRETCH//RELATIONS (PCC0014DR, April 12)

The third release of the year was Zeki Jindyl’s genre-defying avant-rock / ambient opus STRETCH//RELATIONS, which also draws on styles as varied as modern R&B, jazz, experimental electronic, post-minimalism and post-metal.

“one of the most eclectic and original voices in modern music” (Everything is Noise, US)“

a remarkable debut” (Obscure Sound, US)

Highlights include a premiere on Everything Is Noise, album reviews in Obscure Sound and Passive/Aggressive, and airplay on KEXP (Pacific Notions).

IV. Taxidermy - Let Go (PCC0015DR, May 16)

Noise-rock/post-punk band Taxidermy’s second EP, Let Go. A natural extension of last year’s debut EP, Let Go delves even further into the bleak, chaotic and cathartic, and also draws on elements of early emo and post-hardcore.

“Let Go is an impressive sophomore release” (Discipline Mag, AU)

“This isn’t post-punk by numbers (…) [they] inject new life into a genre that’s started to become worn down by pastiche. No such issue here.” (Sun 13, UK)

Highlights include a premiere on Post-Punk.com, album reviews in Discipline Mag, STNT, and Sun 13, as well as radio airplay on WFMU, KFUEL, WERU, and more.

V. Vamilla - You Are Freed (PCC0016DR, June 6)

The fifth release of the year was Vamilla’s colorful and philosophy-laden avant-pop album You Are Freed, which draws on ambient, hyperpop, glitchpop, and dreampop.

“exciting and exhilarating” (The Wild is Calling, UK)

“[a] magical debut album” (Loud Women, UK)

Highlights include coverage in Highclouds and Loud Women, and Mille Justinussen is currently hard at work on new creative musical projects.

VI. My Tjau is Kapow - The Pink Sea (PCC0017DR, April 23)

Amid these other releases, I decided to remaster and, for the first time, release my old IDM/post-rock project, My Tjau is Kapow. The Pink Sea is an archival release - an EP I worked on (with long breaks) together with my friends Jens, Alexander, Tobias, and Carl Emil between 2009 and 2017.

I didn’t send the release out to the press, but it was featured on Shoegazer Alive and received airplay on Cashmere Radio.

VII. QS x J. Leonhard - No Weeping Veils the Sun (PCC0018DR, June 13)

The last release before the summer break was another one I’m personally involved in. Jens Aagaard, aka Tettix Hexer, is a brilliant electronic musician I’ve known for many years. A few years ago, he agreed to make a series of “reinterpretations” of my band Quiet Sonia’s debut EP, Wild and Bitter Fruits, which of course ended up becoming entirely new compositions.

I didn’t pitch this release to the press either, but Super Super Sounds picked it up (thanks!):

“I dunno what’s going on in Copenhagen, but Pink Cotton Candy Records sure as hell do! This album is all over the place, and so is the rest of their catalog, in the very best way.”

VIII. Young Couple - yc (PCC0020, November 7)

The only autumn album release on PCC - and the final release of the year - is Young Couple’s debut album yc. Crystalline guitar figures, dubby basslines, hypnotic loops and inventive textures; shoegaze, post-rock and experimental pop.

“impressionistic, otherworldly sounds for aching souls” (Everything is Noise, US)

“As debut albums go, it doesn’t get much better (…) The accessibility of pop, the creativity of prog, the artistry and flights of sonic fancy of the avant-garde” (The Big Takeover, CA)

Highlights include a premiere on Everything Is Noise, an album review in The Big Takeover, and radio airplay on WPRB and WSUM.

These are this year’s releases on PCC. A huge thank you for reading.

If you have any comments, feedback, or just feel like talking about music (or anything at all), feel free to reach out to me by email at info@pinkcottoncandyrecords.com. The same goes if you run a label, record store, venue, or anything else and would like to collaborate.

If you like what we’re doing at the label, consider following us on Bandcamp and sharing it with others, and maybe spread the word about the Dustsucker newsletter too - it really means a lot. And if you ever feel like supporting it more directly, you can become a paid subscriber on Substack or donate via Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/dustsuckerblog). It really helps me keep this going.

And remember: Buy musicians’ music. Boycott Spotify. Support your local musicians’ union and international unions doing important work, such as UMAW.

Cheers,

Nikolaj