Favourite 'Name Your Price' Albums of 2018

At the turn of the year, we like to make a big list of our favourite ‘name your price’ / free music on Bandcamp, in part because it helps us mention albums we didn’t get a chance to write about, but also because such releases are prone to flying under the radar and the process of scouring Bandcamp for new music is always fun and fruitful.

Last year we spoke about how paying artists makes for the best soil in which to sow creative seeds, and things are no different now. Indeed, with the dawn of Spotify and the all-powerful algorithms, it is more important than ever to support independent artists and labels, and in reality there are already enough free ways to consume music that we don’t need to encourage another.

So please delve into the below list, curated entirely by humans, and spend whatever is left of your Christmas money when you stumble across something you like. We can vouch for the quality of everything here, so don’t be afraid to judge a record by its cover to begin with.

Aladean Kheroufi – 2 demos

Allison’s Gate – Waves / Bona Fide

American Pleasure Club – Tour Tape

american poetry club – i was as swift as i had wanted to be

Antibodies – LP 2018

Aro – crossing cherry

B-Film Etc. – Punch Line

Barely March – Marely Barch

Blithe Field – Days Drift By

Bloodhype – High From Las Vegas

Booji Boys – Unknown Pleathers

Buni Hate Mail – “A”

carmen canedo – wheels are turning

Celer & Forest Management – Landmarks

cla-ras / Lung Cycles – s/t

closer – all this will be

Crisman – S/T Tape

Denh Izen – Storage Solutions

derek ted – hourglass sand

Días – Anoche soñé que navegamos

dogbite – true lofi will find you in the end

dream wave – my journal

Drippings – Bitches Brew

Elsa Lester – dinner party

Epson – GOODEVENING

Ersatz Splynter – Apartment Number One

erik phillips – two demos

exracer – shadow persona

EYESØRES – s/t

Flipcoin – Push-up Party / Baseball Buzzwords

Fog Lake – Captain

Frankie valet – stop apologizing

Good Good Blood – Old Mountain

Goodbye Max – s/t

gorgeous bully – closure

Hakobune – Parhelion

Hala – B-Sides, Demos & Rarities

The Hold Steady – Live in Chicago

Imaginary Beasts – Imaginary Peaks

Jeez Louise – Demonstration Recording

jenno snyder – Too North

Judy and the Jerks – Roll On Summer Holidays

karaoke vhs – 40’s

Lazy Trail – Lake Gaze

Little Kid – might as well with my soul

loner spring – Passing Dreams

matthew lee cothran – my first love mends my final days

Matt Christensen – Gratitude

Meager Benefits – Destructive Cycle

Melaina Kol – Bird Kill Worm

Mess – Comfort Creature

milly – an intro to

Molly Drag – Thumper

Monarch Mtn. – I Woke at the Station

Museum Food Court – parchment paper

my best fiend – album

naps / Lung Cycles – split

Nate Terepka – Sunlight Farm

Never Betters / Grievances – Guns & Roses’ Roses Split

Nice Try – s/t

Noname – Room 25

normal state – flowing

Nylon Smile – Angel of Doubt

The Ocean Party – The Oddfellows’ Hall

Peach Crush – FEAR

Pendulum Girl – Heart Demos

Peter Broderick – Peter Broderick & Friends Play Arthur Russell

Phaedra’s Love – Always Smiling

Pigeon – BUG

plant food – Koalas Hug Trees To Keep Cool

Primitive Lips – s/t

Prom Dress – All My Friends

The Red Pears – For Today, For Tomorrow, For What Is, For What Could’ve Been

Retirement Party – Somewhat Literate

sad girls aquatics club – vodkawine

SALES – forever & ever

Satanic Ritual Abuse – Hurting

Sauna Youth – Deaths

scallops hotel – sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face

Seakids Mollusk – Yellow Jacket

sleepy freak – baby steps

Slippery Eyes – take care, be well

Sophie Marsh & Carlos Perea-Milla – meditations in blue

The Suncharms – s/t

Sustains – Throw Away the Rest

Table Sugar – Collected Acknowledgments

Thanks For Coming – Back At It Again

Tough Guy. – Balter

Trust Fall – Giants of Love

T.V.U. – Demo

Utah – Reaper’s Gains

vierzig skizzen – travels in public

Wares – Silhouette

waveform* – library

Wizard of Loneliness – The Wizard of Loneliness

The World Without Parking Lots – Seventh Song Counts the Engines

Wurld Series – Stately and Befrothed

Yseulde – Dawn Avoids Me

ziplock – s/t