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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2021)
Thursday, June 10, 2021 • The BuLLeTIn GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 3 ALL THINGS MUSIC LIVE MUSIC FOR THE WEEK p.4 bendbulletin.com/golisten Bandcampin’: Good stuff for your ears BY BEN SALMON • For The Bulletin B andcamp is an online music platform used largely by independent artists and record labels to stream songs and sell merchandise. It’s also a vibrant virtual community teeming with interesting sounds just waiting to be discovered. Each week, I’ll highlight three releases available on the site that are well worth your time and attention. If you find something you dig, please consider supporting the artist with a purchase. WILLIAM ONYEABOR, “World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor?” At this point, there are dozens if not hun- dreds of examples of a modern record label unearthing a wonderful old album by a for- gotten and/or enigmatic songwriter from the 20th century and giving it the full, fancy reissue treatment. Of all of these, one of the very best is Luaka Bop’s 2014 resurrection of Nigerian funk giant William Onyeabor, who “self-released eight albums between 1977 and 1985 and then became a born-again Chris- tian, refusing to ever speak about himself or his music again.” Before he peaced out, he made a whole bunch of psychedelic, synth- heavy electro-funk and Afrobeat music that still sounds ahead of its time, decades later. SONNY SHARROCK, “Ask the Ages” Like William Onyeabor (see the previous blurb, if you haven’t already), jazz guitar- ist Sonny Sharrock seemed like he would be lost to time. After recording a few albums in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Sharrock — an ad- venturous jazz guitarist from New York — re- tired and spent the late ’70s working regular, non-music jobs. But influential avant-garde musician Bill Laswell coaxed him out of retire- ment, and Sharrock made the best music of his career in the late ’80s. This run culminated with 1991’s “Ask the Ages,” which featured legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and drummer Elvin Jones and brought together the classic jazz sound of the ’60s and the mod- ern energy and attitude of rock in a way that’s vibrant, uncommon and beautiful. KAREEM ALI, “Quantum Blackness” Kareem Ali is one of the coolest cats mak- ing music right now. And boy does he make a lot of it. His Bandcamp page has 54 releases on it dating back just four years, and while some of them are single tracks, many are EPs or full-length albums. You could drop in just about anywhere and get a good idea of what Ali is all about, but “Quantum Blackness” — released in Indulge in Self Care CALL TODAY TO BOOK YOUR SPA EXPERIENCE! HAIR•NAILS•LASHES•SKIN•BROWS Namaspa.com 405 NE 3RD ST. 541-385-8060 May — is probably the best place to start. It’s 24 tracks long, so you get a sustained exposure to Ali’s aesthetic: electronic mu- sic (specifically deep house music), jazz, space-age sounds, Black liberation. The man takes it all and turns it into some- thing that’s endlessly listenable. e Ben Salmon is a Bend-based music journalist and host of Left Of The Dial, which airs 8-10 p.m. Thursdays on KPOV, 88.9 FM and streams at kpov.org. You can find him on Bandcamp and Twitter at @bcsalmon. Located in Downtown Bend is Central Oregon’s foremost wine bar/shop. It features: Wine by the glass, Premium selection of wine, Champagne, Ports and sake, Bottles to go, On-line ordering & shipping, Public wine tastings, Three wine clubs, & more! Tues-Thurs 11-6:30 Fri/Sat 12-8 Sun/Mon Closed 141 NW Minnesota Ave 541.410.1470