Once again, Bandcamp’s waiving all of its fees for sales made on the site today, making it the perfect day to support some artists feeling the pinch during the current crisis. We reached out to some friends of ID:UD, asking them to highlight some specific releases folks should be checking out. If you’re looking for some cool new tunes to check out and artists to support, look no further! To sweeten the pot, we’re offering you the chance to win copies of each of these releases on us. Just e-mail us (contact at idieyoudie dot com) a screencap of you sharing this post on any social media platform, and at 6pm tonight we’ll be drawing one name at random and sending them digital copies of each of these six releases!

Backxwash - Photo: Bianca Lecompte

Backxwash – Photo: Bianca Lecompte

Rexx Arkana (FGFC820, Coldkill) – Interface, Not With Me (Remixes)
“Some of you may know Interface as the main project of my Coldkill bandmate, Eric Eldredge. What you may not know is that band member Jon Billian is an EMS in NYC and has been on the front lines since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. So, it’s particularly poignant that on 5/1, the band will be releasing the new “Dystopia” EP and donating 100% of their Bandcamp sales to the FDNY EMS Fund. The EP contains unreleased material from the writing sessions for the band’s sixth studio album, “Where All Roads Lead”, plus an exclusive new track. Good music. GREAT cause.”

Aedra Burke (FIRES) – Backxwash, Deviancy
“Backxwash is the embodiment of Industrial and Hip-Hop, a juxtaposition that deserves more attention inside our “thing.” A rapper merging pride in her identity as a Trans Woman, alongside a thousand sonic middle fingers reminiscent of Scarlxrd, Ho99o9, and Mimi Barks, while still maintaining a sense of style and flow entirely her own. 2019 saw her release Deviancy, and goddamn y’all it slaps. Bad Juju, Devil In a Moshpit, Don’t Come to the Woods are all stellar and deserve industrial scene attention. Mark my words, She’s going places, and I will go wherever she takes me.”

Sharon Kyronfive (Industrial Nation, scene historian) – Darkswoon, BIND & The Rorschach Garden, A Game Of Passion
“Moody, goth-adjacent music is de rigueur for the current generation of iconoclasts, and it’s hard to imagine anyone might have a fresh take on this time-tested blueprint. Yet, in my humble opinion, Darkswoon, hailing from Portland, OR, has done it. According to its bio, the band imagines its own sweet spot between The Knife, Austra, and Eurythmics. These are all reasonable references (maybe Eurythmics is a tiny bit of a poppy stretch), but I might add the moodiness of Concrete Blonde as another touchpoint to this melange of sonic resemblances. “Human Faults,” my recommended track, has the complete emotional trajectory of a harrowing ‘80s-era break-up inside 4 minutes. Worth all the agony—and then some.”

“I apologize that I’m about to recommend an album that came out in 2016, but hear me out. The Rorschach Garden is the solo project of Philipp Münch, also known as one half of Synapscape, and contributor to a number of other projects which might have more in common with road work than synthpop. Yet all his material under the moniker The Rorschach Garden—which has been active since the late ‘80s—is a particularly lush variety of minimalist synthwork. 2016’s A Game of Passion was a high-point for the act, and the track “Transcendental” is a wonderful confluence of the minimalist, pop, and techno palette that Münch has been dabbling in for decades. If this record appeals to your sensibilities, I also recommend checking out 2009’s A Place for the Lost and his most recent effort, Grain Culture.”

Sarah Graves (HAEX, DJ Baby Majick) – Patrixia, 1541 Single
“Patrixia has been making a name for them self both in their home base of Chicago and nationally over the last few years. Their first release is a techno purists dream. Between X and 1541, this is an artist you should start to know and support now, as soon you won’t stop hearing about them. Potential is infinite here.”

Andi Harriman (Synthicide) – DJ Varsovie, Le Retour Du Monstre
From the first moment of “Le Retour Du Monstre”, it’s apparent that DJ Varsovie’s music is for dancing. However, what the French artist doesn’t warn you about is the heartbreak that comes along with his lethal techno beat. Set to a heavy bass kick, the Alien Love Songs EP swells with low-registered vocals and romantic melodies that seemingly emerge from a viscera of melancholic darkness. This pairing of tragic goth undertones within a techno context will rip out your heart as you stomp in time on the blood-soaked dancefloor.

Matt Fanale (Caustic, Klack, a LOT of other bands) – grabyourface, Keep Me Closer
“Although she has a wonderful new EP, this was the album that hooked me on grabyourface. I became aware of Marie’s project when she featured on Covenant’s last EP and was blown a way when I heard her album. Keep Me Closer is quiet, vulnerable, and savage all at once. The album’s electronic minimalism pushes the intimate rawness of the lyrics and vocals perfectly. I’ve recommended this a dozen times to people and she’s gotten new fans every time. Damaged yet empowered, grabyourface is a unique voice in a sea of imitators. Check it out.”