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Bandcamp is an online music platform used largely by independent artists and record labels to stream songs and sell merchandise. It’s also a vibrant virtual community teeming with interesting sounds just waiting to be discovered. Each week, I’ll highlight three releases available on the site that are well worth your time and attention. If you find something you dig, please consider supporting the artist with a purchase. This week’s Bandcampin’ focuses on three acts that have played in Central Oregon many times over the past couple of decades. Here’s hoping they have a chance to return soon!

“Blue Screen Life,” pinback.bandcamp.com/album/ blue-screen-life

The San Diego odd-pop band Pinback’s been hanging around the West Coast for so long, they’re like the redwoods of the indie rock scene. For almost as long, the duo — Rob Crow and Zach Smith — has been stopping in Bend to perform, at the Domino Room, Volcanic Theatre Pub and maybe other places? The memory is fuzzy. Anyway, a Pinback show is always a good time, primarily because these two dudes write some of the catchiest, most effervescent pop-rock songs known to man. Listening to Pinback is like floating in a glass of burbling bass lines, buoyant synths and bubbly water, and being a fan of Pinback is like being a fan of one of the most underrated rock bands in recent memory.

“Skelethon,” aesoprock.bandcamp.com/album/skelethon-deluxe-edition

Indie-rap star Aesop Rock has played Bend a few times over the years, most often at the Domino Room. Each time, he capably showcases his tongue-twisting flow and head-scratching rhymes, which cover more conceptual ground than the vast majority of his contemporaries. The New York-bred, California-based MC’s early stuff doesn’t appear to be on Bandcamp, but he’s hardly fallen off in his latter years, which means 2012’s “Skelethon” — which is on Bandcamp — is every bit as thrilling a listen as the albums that came before it. It’s also Aesop’s first wholly self-produced effort, which just proves that he’s a talented beatmaker in addition to his world-class rap skills.

“Broken at the Break of Day,” fruition.bandcamp.com/album/broken-at-the-break-of-day

For many years, Portland-based modern string band Fruition was a relentless touring act, constantly criss-crossing the West and beyond, including many stops in Bend. Naming where Fruition has played in town is probably fruitless; just about any place with electrical power is a possibility. Anyway, the band seemed to slow down a bit in recent years, perhaps to focus on songwriting and recording, because they released two “companion albums” in late 2019 and early 2020, one bright and sunny and one with a more after-hours vibe. On both, though, you get a heaping helping of Fruition’s brand of eclectic roots, rock, blues and pop music.