Around the World in 10 Records for Bandcamp Friday
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Today is Bandcamp Friday, the day your money bypasses the algorithms and tech middlemen and goes straight to the artists and labels who make the music.
We’re five Fridays deep into this year’s run (with just one left), and I’ve already taken you through the best compilations, spotlighted my favorite indie labels, and dumped 48 fresh albums onto your plate. This time, we’re going international, with ten records I’ve been spinning from every corner of the map.
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Parannoul - After the Magic (South Korea)
Get Vinyl: Blossom
We kick off our journey in Seoul with one of my favorite albums of the decade. The elusive Parannoul crafts music that speaks beyond language, distilling raw feeling into towering walls of guitar and sky-scraping rhythm. It’s maximalist, unpredictable, and endlessly replayable — the kind of album that leaves you wrung out and then pulls you right back in for another spin.
Kikagaku Moyo - House in the Tall Grass (Japan)
Get Vinyl: Flower Petal
We stay in East Asia for Tokyo’s defunct psych-folk collective Kikagaku Moyo, a band I’ve had on heavy rotation ever since highlighting frontman Go Kurosawa’s solo debut in my recent 12 New Albums That Blew My Socks Off piece.
Their 2016 record House in the Tall Grass remains a blissful trip, drifting between airy folk and hazy psychedelia, with three or four melodies often intertwining at once across sitar, guitar, and percussion. The album truly soars in its longer passages, where songs like the opener and the penultimate “Trad” are given room to breathe, twist, and flow with a captivating grace.
Goat - Commune (Sweden)
Get Vinyl: Bloodshot
Let’s dive deeper into the psychedelic rabbit hole with the masked seven-piece collective Goat, hailing from the remote Swedish village of Korpilombolo. Their 2014 sophomore album, Commune, is a true record collection essential — a swirling fusion of global rhythms and fuzzed-out guitars that feels both ancient and feverishly modern. Crank this one loud and submit to its ritualistic frenzy; you just might have a religious experience.
Mabe Fratti – Sentir que no sabes (Guatemala/Mexico)
Get Vinyl: Ruby Red
I’ve spilled plenty of ink on my love for Mexico City–based Guatemalan cellist Mabe Fratti. Her fourth album, Sentir Que No Sabes (Feeling Like You Don’t Know), shapeshifts between avant-rock, dream pop, and classical, yet always remains approachable — and groovy as all hell. The addictive opener “Kravitz” alone is worth the price of admission, one of my favorite tracks in recent memory. Consider Fratti essential listening, and when you’re done here, dive into her new album, TITANIC, which I raved about last month.
Sofia Kourtesis – Madres (Peru/Germany)
Get Vinyl: Black
Sofia Kourtesis’ debut Madres is house music with a heart, a dazzling blend of euphoric club rhythms and intimate storytelling. Built from years of field recordings collected between Berlin and Lima, the album vibrates with the joy of the dancefloor even while carrying the weight of her mother’s cancer diagnosis. That duality runs through everything: the soulful tribute “Vajkoczy” to the neurosurgeon who saved her mom’s life, the ecstatic release of “How Music Makes You Feel Better,” and the cumbia-tinged closer that blows the roof off.
Etceteral - Kimatika (Slovenia)
Get Vinyl: Black
If you’re digging the vibes on this list, I’ll point you to Hamburg’s Glitterbeat Records, a treasure trove of crate-digging finds from all corners of the world, which is where I found the explosive Slovenian jazz trio Etceteral.
Their latest, Kimatika, is glorious controlled chaos, a fusion of baritone sax, restless drums, and modular synths that blurs the line between free jazz, krautrock, and cosmic electronics. It sounds like a transmission from a future dancefloor — just deliriously funky.
Nina Maia - Inteira (Brazil)
Get Vinyl: Cream
Another label I swear by for digital crate-digging is the UK’s Mr Bongo, who specialize in hard-to-find Brazilian music, and we have them to thank for bringing Nina Maia up from the underground. The 22-year-old creates a sound that is entirely her own — a unique fusion that is as inspired by the samba canção of her heritage as it is by the trip-hop of Portishead and the dark pop of Billie Eilish. Inteira is a helluva debut, the kind of record that feels intimate on headphones yet expansive enough to imagine echoing through stadiums.
Altın Gün – On (Netherlands/Turkey)
Get Vinyl: Splatter
Based in Amsterdam but rooted in the sounds of 1970s Anatolia, Altın Gün’s debut On is a joyous resurrection of psych-folk tradition, reimagined with wah-wah guitars, disco grooves, and plenty of fuzz. The band electrifies old folk classics with modern muscle — my favorite is their take on Erkin Koray’s “Cemalım.” Fans of Khruangbin will find plenty to love here. And if you want that gorgeous splatter vinyl, act fast: there are only two copies left in stock.
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – Black Times (Nigeria)
Get Vinyl: Black
Carrying his father Fela’s revolutionary torch, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s Black Times is a modern Afrobeat essential, fueled by righteous anger and undeniable funk. My favorite of his albums, energized by Kuti’s commentary and legendary guests Carlos Santana and Robert Glasper.
Seun honors past revolutionaries like Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, and Patrice Lumumba while rallying a new generation to rise up. It’s urgent and unrelenting in its message:
“It is an album for anybody who believes in change and understands the duty we have to rise up and come together. The elites always try to divide the working class and the poor people of the world. The same oppression felt by workers in Flint, Michigan is felt by workers in Lagos and Johannesburg.”
Siti Muharam – Siti of Unguja (Zanzibar, Tanzania)
Get Vinyl: Transparent
We finish our journey in Zanzibar with Siti of Unguja, a blissful, hypnotic album from Siti Muharam that feels like a portal. Muharam’s voice breathes new life into the legacy of her great-grandmother, Siti Binti Saad — the revered “Mother of Taarab” — while the production strips the music back to its Swahili street-culture roots. As the label puts it, “Zanzibari ears will hear how fantastic this record is. It’s a rare thing.” And with only 24 vinyl copies available for Bandcamp Friday, consider this your chance to secure a piece of that cultural reawakening.
Are you buying anything for Bandcamp Friday? If so, please share with the class.
As always, thanks for visiting The Wax Museum. If you enjoyed your stay, consider supporting for just $5 a month. Patrons will receive $10 off anything in the Gift Shop, like this vinyl carrying tote!
