We are absolutely devastated by the news of the loss of Richard H. Kirk, music pioneer, founder of Cabaret Voltaire, and one of the most prolific musicians. Kirk formed Cabaret Voltaire with Chris Watson and Stephen Mallinder in the early 1970s, concurrently releasing music under his own name, and continued on in Cabaret Voltaire with Mallinder after Watson's departure, and alone, following Mal's departure. Kirk also released numerous recordings under various aliases such as Sweet Exorcist, Sandoz, Electronic Eye, Biochemical Dread, Al Jabr, Vasco De Mento, Orchestra Terrestrial, and Digital Terrestrial, just to name a few. He also recorded with Peter Hope, and a one off collaboration as Acid Horse with Paul Barker, Al Jourgensen, and CV bandmate Stephen Mallinder.

Mute records issued the following statement on their Twitter feed:

"It is with great sadness that we confirm our great and dear friend, Richard H. Kirk has passed away. Richard was a towering creative genius who led a singular and driven path throughout his life and musical career. We will miss him so much.

"We ask that his family are given space at this time."

Cabaret Voltaire was one of the original groups we hosted a web site for on brainwashed.com beginning back in 1996. He will be sorely missed

The world would sound a lot different today (at least the music we listen to a lot of here at Brainwashed) were it not for the ears of of Lee "Scratch" Perry. Beginning with his role in Jamaica's legendary Studio One in the mid 1960s up until this year, he has been active in music, a visionary who would take the sounds he heard in his mind and create them for the world to hear.

The list of musicians he has collaborated with is massive, from Bob Marley to Paul McCartney to the Clash to Brian Eno to Andrew WK! Known as the Godfather of Dub, his creations may have originally nestled under the genre of Reggae, dub has proliferated throughout music since its inception, finding its way into rock, electronic, jazz, avant-garde, metal, ambient music, and nearly everything in between.

He will sincerely be missed however he has left us with nearly a lifetime of music to listen to and catch up with.

Our love goes out to his family and friends.

We are all incredibly shocked and saddened at the sudden and unexpected loss of Peter Rehberg, a peerless and powerful force in independent, forward-thinking, innovative, and original music. It is rare that someone can leave such a lasting impression as a performer and composer (solo as Pita and with ensembles such as Farmers Manual, Fenn O'Berg, and KTL) and a label director and partner (Mego, Editions Mego, Recollection GRM, and Spectrum Spools). Everything he has had a hand in bringing to our ears has been worth listening to, and it has been a pleasure to be covering his works for over two decades.

Our hearts go out to all of his friends, family, and fans.

Guardian article.

Words cannot describe how devastated we are about the unexpected sudden loss of Nari Mann.

She was one of those music fans who just got it, had impeccable taste, was a classically trained pianist, a fantastic photographer (flickr.com/photos/nariposa), a local hero (Keep Austin Warm), a writer (nariposa.wordpress.com) who just recently became a contributor to brainwashed, and a friend for decades.

Here's her pictures from Brainwaves 2008.

Our hearts go out to all her friends and family.

She is loved and is dearly missed.

 

The world is a much more bearable place thanks to Harold Budd.

While he began composing in the 1960s, teaming up with Brian Eno in the late-1970s brought him greater acclaim through more widespread album releases. Collaborations with acts such as Cocteau Twins, Andy Partridge, and Brian Eno may have put him on the radar for people who would not normally be listening, and those who explored more were almost always rewarded by his aural treasures.

His influence is immeasurable.

Singer, musician, art director LD Beghtol one of those people who kept you laughing. He released five full-length albums as Flare, but is most famously known for singing in The Magnetic Fields and authoring 69 Love Songs, A Field Guide for the 33 1/3 book series.

He was also one of the first contributors to Brainwashed.com when we began writing about music in the late '90s.

He will be sorely missed.

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Silver Apples founder, Simeon Coxe. Not only was the music Simeon created back in the 1960s with Silver Apples influential beyond measure, he was an amazing gentleman and wonderful soul.

In 2008, Simeon played Brainwaves as Silver Apples to the only standing ovation during the weekend. Click here to see some photos by Greg Cristman. He will be missed.

https://obits.al.com/obituaries/mobile/obituary.aspx?n=simeon-coxe&pid=196760627&fhid=18119

The following statement has been transmitted by Caresse and Genesse P-Orridge:

Dear friends, family and loving supporters,

It is with heavy hearts that we announce thee passing of our beloved father, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.

S/he had been battling leukemia for two and a half years and dropper he/r body early this morning, Saturday March 14th, 2020.

S/he will be laid to rest with h/er other half, Jaqueline "Lady Jaye" Breyer who left us in 2007, where they will be re-united.

Thank you for your love and support and respecting our privacy as we are grieving

Caresse & Genesse P-Orridge
3s/heisher/erforever

We are sad to learn about the passing of Mike Bailey, founder of Star Star Stereo, on February 29th of 2020. Mike was a college radio DJ in Wisconsin, launched Star Star Stereo (including releases from Casino Versus Japan, Charles Atlas, Jessica Bailiff, Alan Sparhawk (of Low), Pele, and Dakota Suite), worked at Blue Note in NYC, and most recently as Dean of Madison Media Institute in Madison, WI.  We will feature a special episode of Star Star Stereo Recordings on Brainwashed Radio: the Podcast Edition. More information can be found here.

It is impossible to estimate the impact Vaughan Oliver had on the importance of the intersection between music and visual arts. Throughout his years at 23 Envelope, Oliver was responsible for the artwork and art direction of most 4AD releases along with Chris Bigg. While based in the UK, 4AD had the occasional support of radio, magazines, and promotional campaigns but overseas, most people had only the record cover artwork to go on. The stunning visuals of the 4AD catalog were enough to stop, pause, and appreciate while flipping through records down at the local shop. Over the years of the music industry downsizing, graphic downsizing, and rise of digital media and international communication, album cover art became less of a factor with music. The vinyl renaissance over the last few years, however, have sparked a renewed appreciation for art and Vaughan Oliver is often at the tops of everyone's lists of artists.

4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell has paid tribute at 4AD.com.

Our hearts go out to Vaughan's friends and family. He will be sorely missed.

We are devastated by the loss of our brainwashed family member John Giorno.

Giorno was a NYC-based poet, artist, musician, and label owner who founded Giorno Poetry Systems in 1972, initially to release recordings that were served up on the Dial-A-Poem hotline. Over the years, GPS was responsible for issuing numerous collections with words contributed by William S. Burroughs, Anne Waldman, and Jim Carroll and music by Cabaret Voltaire, Coil, Diamanda Galas, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Swans.

Giorno kept active and his current exhibition, Do the Undone, is running through October 26th in NYC.

A wonderful obituary has been published by Art Forum.

We wish his friends and family our deepest sympathies.

Daniel Garcia launched hollyfeld.org in 1995. In a world before multinational multibillion dollar social media empires, Dan provided a place for numerous communities to flourish. Hollyfeld.org began hosting the email discussion lists for Coil, Meat Beat Manifesto, The Legendary Pink Dots, Cabaret Voltaire, and Throbbing Gristle, among others, all out of the kindness of his heart, all 100% free of cost and advertisements. All lists remain active however the future is uncertain.

Daniel and Yulia lived life to the fullest, were active in photography, travel, digital arts, and remained supportive of the brainwashed music community. Our hearts go out to their closest family and friends. We will miss you dearly.

Our hearts go out to the friends and family of David Berman, a beloved cult figure who was one of the most brilliant and poetic lyricists of his generation.  He was best known as the sole constant member of Silver Jews, which he formed with Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich in the late ‘80s.  Though Malkmus and Nastanovich were soon drawn away by the demands of their other band Pavement, Berman kept the band going with a shifting array of like-minded collaborators (1996's The Natural Bridge with New Radiant Storm King is a personal favorite).  Throughout it all, Berman remained a deeply reluctant live performer with an open aversion to touring, though he occasionally did public readings of his writings.  Consequently, he surprised everyone by finally touring with Silver Jews in 2005 in support of Tanglewood Numbers.

Berman released one more album after that tour, then famously ended the band in 2009, vowing "to stop before we got bad" and planned to instead devote himself to undoing the influence of his lobbyist father ("I am the son of a demon come to make good the damage.").  Eventually, however, Berman was drawn back to music, unveiling a new project (Purple Mountains) that debuted on Drag City in July.  At the time of his death, the ensemble was poised to embark upon their inaugural US tour.

Many wonderful tributes have been written about Berman's life and work this week.  This is an especially fine one:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/david-berman-made-us-feel-less-alone

We are very saddened to learn of the loss of Scott Walker and our hearts go out to his surviving family and friends.

Walker's work in the 1960s, both solo and with the Walker Brothers, has influenced a staggering amount of music that we cover here at brainwashed, while his more experimental work over the last few decades has solidified his role as one of the most important contemporary avant-garde composers.

For an extensive eulogy including a timeline of his career, please read what his label, 4AD has posted.

 

Our hearts go out to the friends and family of Phil Western. Western was a member of Download (along with Cevin Key, Mark Spybey, and Dwayne Goettel), Frozen Rabbit, and recorded solo as Philth and under his own name. His family has issued the following statement:

"It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we, Phil's family, want to make this official announcement of his death this past week. The family are awaiting the Coroner's investigation into an official time and cause of death but we believe it was an accidental overdose. We will update when we receive further information. Phil was loved by so many of us. He was funny, intelligent, deep, creative and so many other wonderful things. We will miss him more than we could ever accurately convey. Much love to all those who are grieving with us. Phil's family xo"

We are saddened by the loss of Hardy Fox of The Residents.

Our hearts go out to all of Hardy's friends and family and thank him for his years of the weird and absurd.

From The Residents Web site:

It is with with great sorrow and regret that The Cryptic Corporation announces the passing of longtime associate, Hardy Fox. As president of the corporation from 1982-2016, the company benefited from Hardy's instinct for leadership and direction, but his true value came from his longtime association with The Residents. As the group's producer, engineer, as well as collaborator on much of their material, Fox's influence on The Residents was indelible; despite any formal training, his musicality was nevertheless unique, highly refined and prolific. Blessed with a vital sense of aesthetics, a keen ear, and an exquisite love of the absurd, Hardy's smiling face was a constant source of joy to those around him. He will be missed.

After a series of recent health problems, Hardy succumbed to a brief illness. He is survived by his husband, Steven Kloman.

Everyone at Brainwashed is devastated at the unexpected loss of composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Brainwashed was first made aware of him through his releases on Touch and 4AD, and I had the pleasure of spending a brief amount of time with him while on tour in the USA, thanks to Adam Wiltzie of Stars of the Lid, who helped book his tour and provide sound for the shows. Since then, Jóhannsson has composed music for films such as Prisonders and Arrival, earned Academy Award nominations for best original film score for The Theory of Everything and Sicario, and won a Golden Globe for the score for Sicario. Our condolences to his friends and family.

Unconfirmed reports have come in that our friend, Stefan Weisser, who the music world knows as Z'EV, passed away in Chicago on December 16th at 11:33pm. Z'EV has been an important pioneer in music for over 4 decades as a percussionist, sound artist, and poet. His music transcended genre names and he was equally comfortable playing alongside industrial, experimental, primitive, metal, rock, and numerous other classified artists. His health battles were made public over the last few years following being hospitalized with injuries suffered after a train derailment. Cause of his passing has not been confirmed at this time. He will be missed.

Please enjoy the following videos:

• Interview in his home in London and performance in Dublin from 2004
• Brainwaves performance in 2006

photo by Greg Cristman

We are extremely saddened by the news of the passing of Mika Vainio, as reported initially by Rumba and confirmed by friends. Vainio was best known for his work in Panasonic/Pan Sonic but had numerous solo albums, releases as Ø, and in collaborations, such as VVV with his Panasonic partner Ilpo Väisänen and Alan Vega.

He will be missed dearly.

Brainwashed had the special pleasure of capturing Pan Sonic live and interviewing Mika for The Eye back in 2006. It's a rare video interview of Mika in his own words describing his musical history prior to Panasonic along with his then current experience creating music (Click here for the video.)

Our hearts go out to the close friends and family of Pauline Oliveros, a legend who has touched so many lives. More than just your average accordion-and-tuba-playing leather-jacket-wearing motorcycle-riding early innovator of electronic music, Oliveros was a founding member and director of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the 1960s,taught music at Mills College, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. An author, composer, music theorist, and founder of the Deep Listening Institute, she was also a compassionate teacher and friend to many. She has left us with many recordings to give deep listening to and will be deeply missed.