Go buy .NET 1.5 on bandcamp and support the cause!
Ice Cream Social is helping put the bounce back in Richmond. The dance party series, booking agency and artist collective has been at the epicenter of a burgeoning Richmond dance scene centered around the joyous celebratory music coming from young Black queer artists. Over the weekend they dropped .NET 1.5 a fundraiser mixtape that is not only raising money for important LGBTQ+ causes but is the best introduction to the burgeoning collective that you could ask for.
.NET1.5 features a collection of up and coming fully Black and mostly queer musicians from across the nation who each put their twist on dance music while celebrating the genre’s rich history. Ahomari shines early in the tape with “Gameboy”, a bop of a track that would have fit in well on their excellent tape from September, Girl Kiss II. Richmond native Ty Sorrell similarly knocks their track out of the park, gliding over the airy instrumental on “CHANGE”. However my favorite track on the tape very well may be Los Angelas electronic maestro BAE BAE’s “if and when”. The track interpolates the Three Degrees 1975 single of the same name into BAE BAE’s glitchy cyber universe, a melding of old and new that creates something so much richer than the sum of its parts. The tape’s eclectic mix of talent including :3LON, Jasmyn Milan, and ARCHANGEL are among the most electrifying artists in their respective genres and would make this tape worth checking out even if it wasn’t raising money for valuable community organizations. However that confluence of promoting great art and driving positive community engagement is exactly what Ice Cream Social stands for, and what makes the collective and this tape so special.
With .NET1.5 Ice Cream Social is raising money for two organizations, one local and one national, supporting queer and trans people in their community: Richmond based LGBTQ+ recovery support organization Peter’s Place RVA, and the Trans Needle Exchange, an organization that provides free hormone replacement therapy needle supplies to trans folk nationwide. Peter’s Place recently opened their first ever LGBTQ+ recovery house providing a bed and a community to at risk queer people in Virginia. The Trans Needle Exchange meanwhile is a non-profit who has been able to provide needles, HRT medicine, and harm reduction supplies to poor trans folk who need the support the most. Each organization is doing important work to help some of the most vulnerable people in the country and couldn’t be more in line with Ice Cream Social’s ethos of helping the people right in front of you while building a community with likeminded people wherever they may be.
With both the artists and organizations they support, Ice Cream Social have a local focus and national ambitions. They know that the most important organizing is making sure the communities in front of you are good while working to build a network with likeminded artists and organizations across the country, with mutual aid and reparations at the heart of what they do. Their goal with .NET 1.5 is to raise $10,000 which will go to paying all artists involved handsomely for their contributions while also donating thousands to Peter’s Place and the Trans Needle Exchange. Go buy the tape on BandCamp ASAP and get hip to this collection of up and comers you’ll be hearing from for years to come.
Go buy NET 1.5 on BandCamp and follow Ice Cream Social on Insta!
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