It’s the last Friday of the month, time to buy music.
After spending most of this summer looking for an excuse to go camping, I wound up camping three times in a month. I went on a hike, got caught in a thunderstorm, and swam in a lake. There was also some great music, like when I zoned out in the shade to a deep forest techno mix for an hour, or fell asleep to some dark ambient next to a campfire under the new moon.
Here are my Bandcamp selections for August 2025. There’s a handful of self-released club singles from great artists, and a few longer plays with unique styles.
Featured
Martini por favor
by Alfa Cornae, Self-Released
An experiment in sonic collage, this ‘funky beats’ hard groove club track from Milan’s Alfa Cornae is produced entirely from samples and slices of vinyl records, layered and remixed into a jumped-up hard techno groove. Features the iconic Chuck D vocal from Natural Born Chillers as a hook.
Dawn Mist
by Incendie on Soil Records
A killer new industrial EBM release from the Berlin-based manager of Area Z under his Incendie alias, featuring cinematic and cybernetic electro-industrial and harsh EBM. A modern mash-up of heavy tech-trance and hard techno body music.
Favorite tracks: Track 3, “Decaying Realities” is blockbuster industrial EBM, with dark acid trance leads, flying low through a sprawling cyberpunk backdrop. “Erosion of Trust” at track 5 is punchy and churning aggrotech motor; while “Counterfactuals (Ottoman Grüw remix)” is a menacing EBM stomper with big mechanical percussion.
Fuck The Free World
by Ramel x Jeune Lord on Rave Or Die
c’est une dinguerie ce son! French artists Ramel x Jeune Lord team up once again on Rave Or Die to deliver another huge techno rap tune. Leaning into the raw energy of hard, minimal breaks & heavy bass, and bristling with distorted electro punk rap delivered in French.
Name Your Price
Nove Drive
by ArchivOne on Archivio 01
Big fan of Archivio 01, and I appreciate seeing this Name Your Price track from the Naples-based ArchivOne for longtime supporters. Upbeat, speedy, doubled-up hard groove techno rolls over you, charged with industrial drums, shrouded in glowing, atmospheric synth.
There were a handful of good Name Your Price picks in my inbox this month and it was tough to sideline any of them. So if you’re looking for more deals on great music, be sure to check out The Hedonic Treadmill for some dark ambient as well.
Shortlist
Smile As One
by Fireground on Ilian Tape
Uptempo but laid-back, Smile as One opens with a jazzy, Latin techno groove on “Marea,” then shuffles into the pumped-up Detroit techno track “Harbour Walk,” before blasting off with heavy syncopated rhythms in “Gateway.” Finally the title track “Smile As One” closes out the EP with a dreamy, pulsing beacon of layered ambient techno.
Favorite tracks: Marea, Smile As One
Buddha Blessed
by Amazingblaze on Techno Wereld Records
Buddha Blessed is a blast of hyped up, high energy, hard dance music. Buzzy, bright, fist-pumpin hard acid trace, with angelic leads and big drops. I love listening to stuff like this in a club, but this release is a real stand-out.
Favorite tracks: Losing Control, Art Of Beauty
Avalanche
by Regal on Backspin Records
Another release from Backspin Records, this pick is the original label debut from Regal, out earlier this year. A track with eerie, electric reverb that weaves its way through a rumbling hard techno groove. Speedy, dark, dramatic, with a bit of nostalgia. Dark acid hard groove techno.
Those are our selections for music to check out form August. Some great dance tracks to wind down the summer. Looking forward to fall, and thunderstorms. Pardon me while I shuffle away to “Marea” one more time.
When is Bandcamp Friday? The next Bandcamp Friday is September 5th, 2025.
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