V02I15 - 04111999
Tino Corp has joined the ranks of Brainwashed. Tino Corp is a new label by DHS genius and H-Gun directing god Ben Stokes, producer/electroniciain Jack Dangers and musician Mike Powell of Meat Beat Manifesto. This is the first brainwashed flash site and can also be accessed at tinocorp.com.
THE SUBSCRIPTION SERIES TREND...
Papa M (Aerial M) is the latest to submit material for a record company's subscription only series. For the first time, we finally have public advance notice (unlike other recent subscription-only things that included that Coil record, or electronic series, etc,...). The Travels in Constants is a series by The Temporary Residence which will feature 3 CD-EPs a season by Papa M, Mogwai, Tarentel, Joan of Arc, Paul Newman, Sonna, Mick Turner and Jessica Billey, drona parva, by Water, and some as of yet unnannounced artists.
For anybody that does anything remotely with music, write all of your music purchases off like I do. It's legal and encouraged.
IN BRIEF
Meshing the sound of electronic music with more traditional musical instruments
isn't a new idea. Looking at the number of rock acts who are bringing in
keyboards and samplers and such in an attempt to sound "current", one might
even call it fashionable. The reverse, meanwhile (i.e. electronic artists bringing
"real" instruments into the mix) is much less common and to some machine music
purists, the very idea borders on heresy. I, however, say to hell with the purists,
'cause a good track is a good track no matter how the sounds were made.
That's the concept behind Convergence - electronic beats and burblings
merged with live musicians, producing sounds that bridge the gap between man
and machine. Many favorite flavours of electronic music appear on the album,
from abstract hip-hop (Ming & FS, DJ Vadim's The Isolationist) to crisp
drum'n'bass (Bill Riley, Soulstice), soulful and jazzy grooves (Endemic Void,
Jazzanova) to weirded-out dub (Twilight Circus, Seven Dub). It's tough to pick
stand-out works from Convergence as each of the dozen exclusive tracks is a
winner, but a pair come in slightly ahead of the bunch: the alien electro-fusion of
Meat Beat Manifesto's "Source of Uncertainty: 1996" (a collaboration with
legendary jazzbos Bennie Maupin and Pat Gleeson), and the dreamy
downtempo bliss of "Risky Wank", a 12+ minute epic set closer by the always
wonderful Fila Brazillia.
- Greg Clow
THE MOON LAY HIDDEN BENEATH A CLOUD, "REST ON YOUR ARMS REVERSED"
The long awaited release of hard to find material has finally made it to CD. The CD contains selected tracks from each of their rarer material, and is placed together on the CD flowing together quite well. The CD contains songs from their collaboration with Hybryds, compilation material, songs recorded for Dutch radio, and out of print vinyl. I was very impressed with the affordable price attached to this release, and highly recommend it to any fan of their work, or anyone wanting to see what they sound like. With total of 17 tracks, and almost 58 minutes long, this CD is well worth the effort of acquiring. The Moon lay hidden have a special gift of creating the aura of another time or dimension, and this release brings you right into the abyss with a cross of electronic and organic sounds. The Moon lay hidden have quite the array of sounds, and you pretty much get a feel for all of them on this release. They merge sounds going from medieval, dark, ambient, militant, ritualistic and pagan styles that vary from beautiful passionate feelings to haunting ones. The Moon lay hidden beneath a Cloud are Elisabeth and Albin Julius, who is also Der Blutharsch and worked on Death in June's Take Care & Control release. - Kristen Cummings
END ID [about the media in the 20th century]
It is both the end of the decade and the end of the century, so record companies are trying to honor this century with as many collections as they can. I'm not quite sure how this music directly relates to music and/or media in the 20th century but it is a fine collection of some of the most innovative current electronic music artists. This is a two-cd set which features 20 tracks from Japanese artists like Aube, Ryoji Ikeda, Koji Marutani and Toru Yamanaka; American composers and professors like Andrew Lagowski, Maggi Payne and Thomas Dimuzio plus others from around the world. The highlights include 'Ouroboros 7,' a field recording from French artist Eric La Casa, 'Ccdeinnoorsttu' (dedicated to the Coca Cola Company) by M.Behrens, and '9m14s Over Vietnam' by Atau Tanaka. Along with the 2 discs in a visually appealing package is a little booklet with brief media/invention/event 'highlights' of the 20th Century. A good package, nice concept and a lot of music for a reasonable price. I'm impressed with the selections from the artists, as they're all well done tracks rather than the typical throw-aways for the comps. - Jon "sexist wanker" Whitney
REPORT
An hour there and an hour home was worth it to see Low in their closest date to Boston on this tour - Portsmouth NH. As always, their show is the band in its simplest form, without optigan or strings as appearing on the latest album, Secret Name. The music was all there, the band interacted quite amicably with the audience as well, and if you have a loud enough voice, you get to hear your favorite songs from them. Simple, pretty, harmonious and never pussy-rock. Tour dates available currently at kranky. - Jon Whitney
RELEASES
310 - Nod 12" (Leaf, UK)
Natacha Atlas - One Brief Moment 7"/CDEP (Beggars Banquet, UK)
Electronic [New Order side project] - Vivid 12"/two CDEPs (London, UK)
Exercises in Breathing - Exercises in Breathing CD (Fabrication, US)
Gus Gus - Starlovers two CDEPs (4AD, UK)
Low - Secret Name CD/2xLP [vinyl release to include two extra tracks] (Tugboat, UK)
Nightmares on Wax - Car Boot Soul CD/2xLP (Warp, UK)
* Underworld - Born Slippy 12"/two CDEPs [reissue of classic single with mixes by Darren Price & Alex Reece] (JBO/V2, UK)
TUESDAY
Angels of Light [Gira of Swans with many others] - New Mother CD (Young God, US)
Clan of Xymox - Creatures CD (Metropolis, US)
Funkstorung/Various - Additional Productions CD/2x12" [collection of remixes Funkstorung have done for other artists, including Bjork, Wu Tang Clan and more] (Studio !K7, Germany/US)
KMFDM - ADIOS CD (Wax Trax/TVT, US)
* Legion of Green Men - Floating in Shallow Water CD (WMO, US)
Swans - Various Failures: 1989-1993 2xCD [anthology release featuring many alternate versions and rare tracks] (Young God, US)
Underworld - Beaucoup Fish CD (JBO/V2, US/Canada)
Velvet Acid Christ - Fun with Knives CD (Metropolis, US)
WEDNESDAY
Miles Davis/Bill Laswell - Panthalassa: The Remixes CD [mixes by Laswell, Doc Scott, King Britt, DJ Krush (Japan CD exclusive) and more] (Sony, Japan)
THURSDAY
Various - Enter the Monkey CD (Mad Monkey, US)
FRIDAY
Wave Workers Foundation - In The Whirlpool CD (Pendragon, US)
For a more comprehensive release schedule stretching far into the future, please check out the NEW RELEASES brought to you by Greg and Feedback Monitor.
REVIEWED
This 1973 animated film just got released on DVD. Fantastic Planet is
presented in its original widescreen format. The animation and artwork is
very surreal. Directed by animator/painter Rene Laloux, this award winning
film takes a look into the lives of extremely small people called the Oms,
they live a simple life until they are attacked by another race of larger
people know as the Traags. The Traags basically hate the Oms and keep them as
pets. One day an Om escapes and teaches the other 'wild' Oms the ways of the
Traags. Then they all revolt and that's it. The story is very unique as well
as all of the surrealist landscapes. Also on the DVD are 3 other short films by Rene
Laloux and a biography of the painter. - John "Star Traveler" Beck
TIME BANDITS
This is not the first time i have seen this film, this is however, the first
time i have seen it on DVD in its original widescreen presentation. The DVD
has given this movie an excellent makeover: remastered from the original 35mm
film to bring out the beautiful colors of the fairy tale histories. Terry
Gilliam (who also directed '12 Monkeys' and 'Brazil') brought us an amazing visionary experience, taking a group of 7 tiny
thieves and a young boy through time in seach of the ultimate object.
Battling evil and meeting a lot of strange and unique characters on their
way, Time Bandits is a film good for the whole family. Time Bandits stars an
ensemble cast of Sean Connery, Ian Holm, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Shelley
Duvall and others. If you're a fan of Terry Gilliam's work you should really
consider checking out this film. If you're not too familiar, it will introduce you to his unique style of
other films to come. - John "Star Traveler" Beck
Subject: sexist wanker
Well, thanks for the sexist undertones to Jon Whitney's review of Mogwai's new album. I personally thought it was crap as well but what was with the girl's boyfriend's and boy's girfriend's band schmeg?
ugh, wanker...
It wasn't a blanket statement for all females and if you feel you don't exemplify my comment, then it shouldn't matter to you. It's the honest truth though, bands do shift audiences when they become more popular and make more accessible music.
Subject: Re: Mogwai etc....
Just read your review on Brain about Mogwai and I couldn't agree more, this record is the most boring, aimless, least ambitous direction the band could've taken. they used to be a two-trick pony loud/quiet/loud/quiet etc. but they took a trick away. The record is perfectly pretty but just can't be considered the step forward a band of their youth and arrogant ambition should really be aiming for. so don't be paraniod about what you write. have courage in those convictions, I've had the record for 8 weeks already and it hasn't grown on me. big up the review.
I wasn't afraid of the backlash of me giving a bad review to a bad record, I just knew I'd get slammed for remeniscing about the differences in tastes between female and male fans and the goals of male bands.
Subject: CODY
Jon,
I just read yout thoughts on the new Mogwai record, and I have to say that I can't agree with you more. I HEAVILY anticipated that fucking record, and when it finally delivers, it arrives with a big hole in it. I looked all over to find the goodies inside, but I guess they fell out along the way. Props to them for trying to find a way to resolve their issues with dynamics in other ways than aggressive noise, but they just straight up dropped the ball. I actually like CODY, but the majority of the record is bad news bears. The new Low makes up for it, though.
Of all the reactions to that review, not one was defending the merits of the record...
OF THE
WEEK
Well, we've all sent virtual flowers, virtual post cards, virtual greetings cards, virtual gifts, etc,... Now we finally have something to be proud to send as a gift - get your Virtual Crack at www.virtualcrack.com.
Nobody seemed to listen to the announcement that images will be played with, so we went ahead last week and changed a whole mess of images refrencing this website, closing down 9 auctions. Here's the following letter we got:
-
Thank you for your report. The majority of these links had been taken
down (for the wrong reason) after you (very cleverly!) substituted the
image these sellers had originally linked to with another. We have
taken the remaining images down. We will be happy to remove any such
items that are reported to us and are hoping that a technical means to
prevent unauthorized linking will be devised soon.
CELEBRITY
OF THE
WEEK
One of Boston's own, Anthony made his first big breakthrough in Sixteen Candles in 1984 at the tender age of 16, referred to only as 'Farmer Ted' and listed as "The Geek" in the credits. A string of a few hit brat pack movies had him type-casted of course as a geek... After a few movie bombs, he appeared as a regular on Saturday Night Live. Nobody admits to seeing him in any movies, however since the highly acclaimed 'Six Degrees of Separation' where he almost kissed Will Smith on screen (both actors were probably too macho to even think about it). Now, he's making his go at a music career at the age of 31 as well as playing Bill Gates in a made-for-tv movie. He might be a little more expensive than the last few celebrities but he's not quite out of the discount bin yet! Order his CD at www.hallofmirrors.com.
YOUR CD
PLAYER?
Steve Reich: music for 18 musicians, ECM
Pharoah sanders: Karma (the creator has a masterplan)
Aphex Twin: Windowlicker
Balckalicious: speed up tune with cool keith?
Add n to X: metal fingers in my body
Miles Davis: In a silent way
Minnie Ripperton: Les Fleurs
- Sam Jeffers, Fridge
Brainwashed Vineyards
PO Box 7
Arlington MA 02476
USA