[Read in full on NHAM]

Nonchalant Hares Acknowledge March – NHAM Mixtape 9

This is the first mixtape since the inception of NHAM as an online magazine-style music platform for indie artists with a Fedi presence. Hopefully you’ll be glad to hear that the monthly mixes will be continuing in this corner of NHAM while we look to connect some of the dots in this indie ecosystem and amplify indie artists via the rest of the site.

The radio show version of this mixtape (where you have to put up with me talking a bit too) can be found on Audio Interface along with all others going forward since NHAM 8.

[If viewing from the Fediverse you need to click here to listen to the mixtape on NHAM]

1. Waste by Crocuta
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@crocuta

Grunge-pop duo from Leipzig, Germany who use only free and open source software in their music production. They manage to combine the clarity of pop with the murkiness of grunge to great effect.

2. Channel Up by Sound of the Void
CC0 1.0
@Firesledge

Sound of the Void are French psychedelic punk rock trio Alice, Laurent and Marie-Claude. I love their raw sound. It’s the sort of thing you might expect when out in a city like Manchester, casually dipping in and out of the many live music venues. There’s invariably a gem or two like this to be found.

3. I Wasn’t Even Supposed To Be Here Today by lostlemming
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@tflynn

Sticking with analogue, taking it smooth and mellow via lostlemming, an instrumental post rock band from Illinois, USA. This gorgeous track comes from their 2022 album, 61 Cygni.

4. Just Beyond Your Fear by TEACOZY
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@Teacozy

Aussie in Amsterdam, TEACOZY has self-described as a ‘stumbling buffoon compelled to love and make things’, and I love that they’ve made this beautiful thing. It’s neurotic folk that stays with you long after you’ve listened. Small pangs, tickled heartstrings, it resonates.

5. Umami by Brickwall Unlimited Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Permission received
@dereisenhofer

AKA Benjamin Eisenhofer AKA Bandstahl AKA flann AKA Horus. The moniker changes but the quality stays the same. Umami is one of four separate Brickwall Unlimited Inc. releases made since Christmas. I found it hard choosing which one to feature but it was the sensational Umami that left me salivating most.

6. State of Us by Endless Blue
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@endlessblue

Released on Future Cabaret Records, State of Us is an old number unearthed during lockdown 2021. The duo originally formed in Minneapolis in 2003, fusing trip hop and downtempo with blues and jazz roots. Their music tackles themes of relationships, identity, loss, and mental health. In short the State of Us.

7. Bye by Meljoann
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@meljoann

This was dropped last year as the first single from their brand new LP which is out on March 14th. I’ve had a sneak preview of the album and can confirm that the multi-talented king, queen and Prince of hyperjack is back with another absolute beast for us to feast on. The song and album stick two fingers up to billionaire-owned Big Social and capital, proudly proclaiming we can do it without you.

Indeed, Meljoann has set a date when she is going to say Bye, Bye, Bye to everything Meta, and she’s encouraging all of us to join her and do the same thing at the same time.

8. Digital Dope by Grey Matter
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@greymatter

Speaking of Big Social’s insatiable appetite to consume us while we consume it, here’s a brainy, bangin’ hip-hop offering exploring our modern day addiction to technology and social media.

I found California-based, Chicago MC Grey Matter while listening to Basspistol Radio and was delighted to find they too have begun to dabble in the clearer Fedi waters.

9. Not Enough (feat. Danny Hailé) by Sam Nabi
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@samnabi

More hip-hop, this time from a Canadian activist and web developer with a keen eye for good tech. Via Tri-Cities Sam Nabi collects venues, neighbourhoods, studios, artists and stories that have shaped the hip-hop scene of three cities local to him, enabling fans and artists to draw connections between the art they love, and the places that inspired the art.

10. Souls Beat Slow by Berdandy
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@berdandy

Andy Berdan is a professional video game developer whose skills are evidently transferrable to neat beats too. It’s that irrepressible garage beat coaxing me in on Souls Beat Slow – it just gets me right there. If anything it makes my soul beat faster, but that’s ok. Let’s just dance.

11. Had Enough by Shin Bone, ENOENT
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
@enoent

”Too odd for normal social media. Too normie for the Fediverse.” That’s how ENOENT describes themself on Mastodon, but the music is evidently not: ENOENT was inundated by DMs praising this track when it was a staple on Radio Free Fedi, which doesn’t surprise me one bit.

12. 2AM Long Gone by Sitka
All Rights Reserved. Used with permission
@oleksiy

2AM Long Gone, Sitka’s first ever release, was part of a Musicians Defend Ukraine fundraiser compilation album which you can support here. It was produced on his modular synth rack, on which he recently performed a live set followed by a Q&A demonstrating how it all works, which is very cool. The set was streamed by Basspistol and they’ve hosted a recording on their Peertube channel.