10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads #10: Witch Ripper, Aidan Baker, Frankie Tillo, arm’s length, Gunner
Sorry we’ve neglected you by letting too much time elapse between our last rundown of free music on Bandcamp and this new installment. We’ll make it up to you, we promise. Wait, why are we apologizing? And why are we making promises? Do you really exist? And, for that matter, do we? Probably not. But let’s pretend we do and have some fun. Here’s a whole bunch of handpicked music that you can smash and grab without breaking any laws.
(Note: If you’re financially capable of supporting any of these artists and/or labels, please consider doing so.)
1. Witch Ripper – _
No, you’re not inebriated – hell, maybe you are, but either way, you’re seeing the name of Witch Ripper’s first release as the band intended: a simple underscore. Released in November 2012, it’s fitting to revisit the EP now because the Seattle heavy-rock band’s newest album, Through the Hourglass, comes out tomorrow via Magnetic Eye Records.
2. arm’s length – “loathe” (early demo)
Are we absolutely certain that arm’s length is the best emo band that Ontario has ever produced? No, but we’ll leave it up to you to prove us wrong. (And that involves listening to this demo.) Whatever the case, the lovable lads are about to play a month’s worth of gigs across North America with support from The Callous Daoboys. Just when you thought every clever tour name had been used, these guys came up with a good one: “There’s a Whole World ….” The website for arm’s length lists all the dates.
3. Alfred. – “BALUT (TMJ_Demo)”
The self-described “dark gospel” rapper coughed up this demo a few days ago, and if you don’t get a kick out of the song itself, the Bandcamp page devoted to it will do the trick.
4. Theophonos – Ashes (Rebuild)
Finally, after visiting tens of thousands of Bandcamp pages, we discovered one tied to a band that tags itself simply as “metal,” with no subgenre qualifier. Rough, sweaty and raw – that’s how we describe the music made by this six-year-old band from Detroit. Whether those same adjectives apply to their sexual activity is none of our concern.
5. Frankie Tillo – *EP*
Not to be confused with EP, which Boise punk musician Frankie Tillo released in May 2020, *EP* came out three months earlier (and is available free of charge on Bandcamp, hence its inclusion on this roundup). Oh, and there’s another detail (and inside joke, perhaps?) worth noting: *EP* consists of just one song that lasts a little longer than three minutes: “Sick of the Suck.” It’s a solid tune, though … why would we be telling you about it otherwise?
6. Aidan Baker – Live in London – 14.05.2007
Experimental musician Aidan Baker is so prolific, he could give Bob Pollard a run for his money – and anyone who gets that reference knows that’s pretty damn impressive. Gifted with a well of creativity that has no bottom, Baker is a consummate artist whose story we’ll share when we finally publish our conversation with him from last year. In the meantime, these three live recordings will begin to get you acquainted with him.
7. Aidan Baker & Wario Pianesi – 4Rooms
Look, we told you Aidan Baker is prolific, but you just didn’t listen, goddammit, so here we are having to provide more proof so you stop second-guessing us. Now go to your room. Make that 4Rooms. Booyah.
8. Gunner – Unyoke Split : Remaster
Salt Lake City’s Gunner consider their music to be of the punk variety, but they’re really pushing it, given that these three songs are effectively an uninterrupted wall of noise. We’re not sure how or why we stumbled across this 10-year-old release, but it drowned out the voices screaming “REDRUM” in our brain, so we decided to recommend it.
9. VTB – “Rotting Gold”
“Pains me more to be near
States below, honey take some time to wake up
To wake up
Nothing left to control
Made to stay, don’t you take too long today, love
It’s late now
Keep me close in your heart from miles away
My rotting gold”
If those adorably anguished lyrics resonate with you, VTB’s music will too.
10. Feral Kids – Feral Kids on LSD EP
Pretty soon, The Bad Penny will introduce you to a promising group of lads called Feral Kids, who granted us their first interview yesterday. But, during the course of our research, we discovered another band with the same name, and it turns out they’re not too shabby either. The fact that these Feral Kids are based in Athens was all the more reason to include them in this rundown of freebies, because we’d cut off a few of our digits if it meant they’d adopt us as their own children and extradite us from this country, if it can even be called that anymore.
The Bad Penny (beta) 
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