Check out these releases from local artists to wrap up the year
Collage by Sage Blackwell, images via Bandcamp.
2025 was a year earmarked by many iconic pop releases. The new vanguard of indie acts, such as Cameron Winter and his affiliated project, Geese, took over the latter half of this year with their releases; after 16 years, hip-hop fans were blessed with a comeback record from Virginia hip-hop duo Clipse; hardcore outfit Turnstile’s NEVER ENOUGH took over summer like a flying elbow in the moshpit; Rosalía’s LUX featured a sprawling poly-lingual and orchestral that reads as a triumphant statement of entirely original composition in the machine-learning age; and Puerto Rico’s most popular musical export, Bad Bunny, blew out Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl to be the year’s top Spotify performer, just ahead of his highly anticipated Super Bowl performance next year.
But despite the vast buffet of music available to us at any given moment online, supporting local artists is still one of the best ways to become connected with the music community around us. Victoria is in a sure supply of such talents, and 2025 saw many exciting debut and returning performers release original projects worth digging into. Almost all of these releases can be found on major streaming services, but all can be found on the indie music website Bandcamp. Bandcamp is considered one of the most ethical and direct platforms that supports independent artists. During the first Friday of each month, the platform waives its revenue share, making 100 per cent of music and merch sales go directly to the artists and labels.
Looting – TC008 EP
A three-track release by the veteran Victoria producer and DJ, Looting, showcases their adeptness for blending texture and genre. TC008 is a viscous concoction that will have you head bobbing at home or on the go. Released through a local EDM label, Turbo Club AV, the release is another footnote in Andrew Bourcet’s career, of the formerly regular performing Resonance Collective. “Hyperturbo” seizes your attention with backbreaking kick rhythms and is layered with jarring high frequencies overhead; the sensation akin to navigating a cold dystopian city’s highway circuitry at terminal speeds. It’s an enthralling release for those who are after subgenres of techno, dubstep, and who might frequent the darker corners of the EDM circuits on the south island. It’s production design that feels anxiously urgent and attuned to dancefloor catharsis.Gabe Elias – Many Long Goodbyes
This local songwriter’s feature album release is a soft-toned lens into the earnest and endearing sonic world of the Victoria folk artist. Elias has previously busked on the busy corners of Victoria, but more recently this year, has performed shows and recorded with a full supporting band, something that shines through in the production. Tracks such as “Digging” feature uplifting flute and “Time, It Delays” includes a heartwrenching violin that overstocks Elias and the supporting band, but there are several tracks that keep Elias’s guitar and vocals at the forefront of his Canadiana aesthetic.
MOLLY POCKET – IMG__1911.jpeg EP
MOLLY POCKET, or Nina Parrotta, is a multidisciplinary artist based in Victoria, whose works range from ambient to experimental production, often with a touch of comic relief. Such is this EP, which comes off an eight-track release from last year; this one featuring two tracks titled, “those of you who wanted revenge what did you do?” and “feminist women love eminem”, a fourteen-minute ambient track that swells and throbs with organs and samples, and includes a pitched rendition of the aforementioned artist’s seminal track, “Stan.” Parrotta has performed experimental noise music sets in Victoria and off the island, as well as regularly DJ’d a mixture of peak-era dubstep music during the well-lauded Goth Night events in downtown.
Braxton Glass – Cascades EP
This four-track EP is the first solo release by Glass, of the stoner doom-metal outfit Bong Witch. Cascades, however, is far from the head-banging, grotesque, electric sound of his regular band. Described on Bandcamp as, “inspired by American Primitive and Folk Baroque instrumentals,” the EP is a showcase of technical acoustic and electric guitar. Tracks such as “Daybreak” open with the bright strumming of an appalachian dulcimer and harmonica together in intimate, traditional folk fashion.“Eventide” features twinkling electric guitar that chops and reverberates with Glass’s own enunciation, reminiscent of bands like Explosions in the Sky. It remains a purposely instrumental release, made for the quiet contemplation, in Glass’ words, of “the importance and interconnectedness of our lives with the natural world.”
palace oaks – insular mountains
A debut release from American-born Madeleine Young, which was a top-charting album on CFUV 101.9FM in September, insular mountains is a nine-track release featuring a blend of folk, dream pop, shoegaze, and drone. It’s a promising first release that suggests much more to come from the songwriter, showcasing their potential to diverge sonically from a folk background. Young experiments with open tuning in tracks such as “total eclipse,” and many others feature densely mixed instrumentation that feel at once both deeply vulnerable and overpowering.
