#FeatureFriday is 06-06-26 #BandcampFriday

Bandcamp Friday, Feature Friday
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#FeatureFriday is 06-06-26 #BandcampFriday featuring KB Doesnt Exist, Ashaine White, Knulp and Tragic Gadget!

Last week I was sent a song via the submissions form, remembered the name and immediately hit place and mentally staggered by. The sheer bloody alt pop goodness rocked me in my pumas hard. That dreamy good pop that kind of hit a groove last year. You know the kind, that good stuff that Djo seems to have cornered the market on. Oh shut up, misery guts at the back. You know you love it. Have a day off.

Anyway, where was I? Ah yes on a flight of whimsy until the peanut gallery decided it had an allergy and left the building. Ah dammit, there I go again…

1.2.3 back in the room.

As i ws saying, the song rocked my little cotton socks so much I didn’t check the full details. I have been a quiet fan of Kim Tillman for a while and was about to include a song of hers in next weeks untidy mind. Then I heard  Badway from her band Tragic Gadget and it has sat in my head ever since, buried away that that blummin’ creature Khan inflicts on the Russian geezer in Wrath of Khan.

I mean, it’s a magic little earworm. Almost too big for this album. Almost like Morten Harkett trying to escape that comic strip and enter the real world. It’s big and should have been huge. Shame on me and shame on you. Meet the Bouviers by Tragic Gadget is an album of dreamy alt pop that includes sultry jazz musings, trip hop and 60s grooves. The problem is, Badway is almost so perfect to my mind that I can’t get any further!

But, if you do, you are rewarded by a really well put together of albums that includes more bangers and some future earworms that may not let themselves know until you put the effort in.

This is such rich, well put together pop music that it really deserves more attention. Singer @kimtillman.bsky.social has a voice that you will fall in love with and not only does her band have a great name, they use everything available to them to bring this album alive and make it work. Smooth, folksy and lush.

Buy it now!

Untidy Music

Check out  Ether Diver’s review from last year

I love it when I stumble over music that surprises me. “Blank” by KB Doesnt Exist is one of those releases. The artist has tagged it as chiptune and noise, but what I found was a remarkably melodic piece that freely moves between styles and genres. To describe it, I would have to use terms like “chamber music”, “jazzy” and “prog rock”, but that would still not do the soundscapes in this album justice.

Some tracks move fluidly from one melodic idea to the next, others are dominated by rhythm. Some have a contemplative and calm sound, others drive forward at a brisk pace. The impression this album gave me, is that KB Doesn’t Exist picked certain moods and explored them in detail, instead of telling a story with highs and lows in each song. And yes, they use fully electronic sounds and samples to do that.

Overall, I was very impressed with the sensibilities on display here. There is complexity here, that is nonetheless very easy to get into. This is an album I absolutely recommend people to listen to and I’m sure, this will not be the last time I have enjoyed in this artists music either.


Florgoth

I am what you could consider a “gamer” and one with a particular fondness of Survival Horror games. And lately I have been treated to some gems in this regard as the genre is witnessing quite the renaissance lately, especially in the indie sphere.

So 2025 saw me try quite a few of them but there was one in particular that stuck with me for long after I finished it and that is for a huge part due to the game’s stunning soundtrack. That game is Vincent Adolfini’s ‘Heartworm’, a Survival Horror game that doesn’t even attempt to emulate ‘Resident Evil’s cheesy zombie splatter fest nor ‘Silent Hill’s claustrophobic Psychological Horror.

‘Heartworm’s narrative is of a more introspective nature which is also excellently reflected in the game’s soundtrack which is equally more emotionally resonant than usual. Yes, even more so than your average ‘Silent Hill’ even.

It ranges from your usual tense horror jaunts to more moody stuff to even gorgeously maudlin piano pieces as exemplified in the game’s gorgeous Save Room Theme for instance. And the use of plenty of lofi effects combined with the use of glitched out chatter and static noise tie it nicely with the game’s overarching VHS theme which is featured prominently in its aesthetic and lore. And it all makes for a memorable soundtrack that just like the game stuck with me and that I often enjoy just listening to outside of the game.

There are honestly only a handful of game soundtrack composers which work I appreciate outside the bubble of their intended use. And I can only name two of those that are also the game’s solo developers to boot and those are David Szymanski and since the release of ‘Heartworm’ Vincent Adolfini aka Knulp.

EveyWeveydevey

For this bandcamp friday special I was happy to listen to, Look what you made me do by Ashaine White.

Released in 2025, everything about this album reminds me of the best parts of the 2010s, even the cover art feels like a grungy “whats in my bag” laid out in a way a younger me would have ran to post on a certain microblogging site.

“Whole lotta me” is the soundtrack of that moment in my mind: the deep, rock vocals that get quite smooth and acrobatic at times convey a sense of urgency within the idea of the fullest self.  “let me down” is a similarly head-boppy and relatable listen, followed by “peaches”, an unexpectedly slow and pared down tune with a haunting electric guitar solo and evocative distorted sounds.

Animal starts off slow, but comes back to a middle ground between the previous song and the earlier, faster paced tracks. I loved the instrumental change-ups, getting distorted guitars after rhythmic piano, and the acapella ending, which again reminds me of the cooler decade past!

Ashaine’s vocals are beautiful on “not my person”, the powerful line “I can’t kill myself for you” echoes out through her varied runs on “for you”, cementing this as a track that will stay with me for a long time.  The album ends with the stripped down “I Sing to myself”, a gorgeous meditation on coping with despair.

The way her voice breaks on one of the repetitions of “I sing to my self” ripped at my heartstrings and made me replay it after the end. Overall, “Look What You Made Me Do” is a highly recommended work of art.

BlueKote

Updated: February 6, 2026 — 7:24 am

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