CandyRat Records

Many a casual guitarist might have come across CandyRat Records on Youtube by chance. The label's most famous names include Don Ross and especially Andy McKee (of 'Rylynn' and 'Drifting' fame).



There are those who think that the video above just shows some bald dude smacking the paint off his guitar and making a series of incoherent sounds, and there are those who are able to appreciate the technical and compositional brilliance of the CandyRat artists. Listed below are a few of my favourite songs/artists from this label. All of you should check them out right now.

Kelly Valleau (Song: Anubis)

Kelly Valleau, like many of his label-mates, is Canadian. He makes most of his money playing classical guitar, but proves that his percussive/ethnic play is just as strong as that of anyone out there.



Ewan Dobson (Song: Time 2)

Dobson gained recent fame for this piece, which draws from his trance/video-game influences. Still, he remains criminally underrated.



Antoine Dufour (Song: Reality)

Antoine Dufour is arguably CandyRat's most creative mind; his songs tend to lack traditional structure and flow and his ideas are abstract. This stuff is more for serious listeners.



Maneli Jamal (Song: Cold Arrival)

Maneli is one of CandyRat's newest artists but is a longtime favourite of mine. 'Cold Arrival' was written before Maneli got signed to CandyRat Records and draws from his many cultural influences (he's ethnically Persian but has lived in a number of countries and finally settled in Canada).



There are many more equally amazing musicians (not just guitarists) signed up to CandyRat Records but I haven't got the time to list all of them out. Regardless, this label has been an absolute fountain of entertainment and inspiration for me for the past three or four years now, and I hope that you will derive the same pleasure from listening to its artists' creations as I have. Enjoy!