Published
Mon, Jan 6, 2020, 22:16
- A number of labels have also pledged their Bandcamp proceeds to the cause.
A number of Australian artists are sharing unreleased music to raise money for the country's ongoing bushfire crisis.
Mall Grab, Lou Karsh, DJ Plead, Cop Envy, Escape Artist, Logic1000, Barking, Fabrics and Iota are among those who have released EPs on Bandcamp with all revenue being donated to on-the-ground organisations such as state fire services, the Red Cross and a Fire Relief Fund For First Nations Communities.
Australian labels Beats Of No Nation, Paper-Cuts and Chapter Music have also released full-length compilations. BONN's Dance For A Future Green features Luen & Patch, Jad & The and Philip Budny, Paper-Cuts' Pure Relief includes originals from Rings Around Saturn, Furious Frank and Low Flung & Will Holden, and Chapter Bushfire Benefit collects music from András & Oscar, No Zu and Shandish/Carlyon.
Other local imprints Butter Sessions, Animals Dancing, Pelvis, Superconscious Records, Salt Mines, Pharmaceutical Audio, Burning Rose and NLV Records have committed to contributing profits from some or all of their releases for a period of time, while Public Possession and ESP institute have done the same from abroad.
So far Australia's bushfire crisis has claimed the lives of at least 24 people and 500 million animals, destroying upwards of 1700 homes and burning more than six million hectares of land, an area roughly twice the size of Belgium. With two months of summer still to come, the scale of the disaster is expected to grow.
On the festival circuit, fires forced the cancellation of New South Wales events Subsonic Music Festival and Lost Paradise back in December, while the Victorian edition of Falls Festival had to be called off mid-way through as extreme weather conditions loomed on New Year's Eve. The 23rd edition of Rainbow Serpent Festival, set to begin on January 24th in Lexton, Victoria, is still in doubt as part of the festival site and infrastructure was burnt in the lead up to Christmas.
You can donate directly to the bushfire relief effort via the following organisations:
Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief And Recovery
New South Wales Rural Fire Service
Country Fire Authority Victoria
Fire Relief Fund For First Nations Communities
NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue And Education Service
Salvation Army Disaster Appeal
Photo credit: Matthew Abbott, New York Times