The Brain
  a weekly digest from the staff of brainwashed
V02I28 - 07111999

SITE

WHIRLED SERPENT JOINS BRAINWASHED...
We're pleased to announce a few things about World Serpent Distribution:

  1. worldserpent.com is now active
  2. The domain is now being gratiously hosted here at brainwashed.com
  3. Over the next few weeks, the website will undergo some updates, sound samples, cover artwork and other things...

COIL RADIO
On Saturday, July 17th, our own Greg Clow is going to be doing a 3 hour slot at CIUT Radio, home of the weekly Feedback Monitor program. The entire show will be devoted to Coil and related things and will be featuring a ton of obscure/rare/unreleased stuff including some Songs of the Week, something from Astral Disaster, and other goodies. For those in Toronto and area, you can tune in on 89.5 FM - although the show is on at the hideous hours of 6 to 9 AM (ugh), so you may want to set your VCR to record it or something. :) For those outside of the listening range, you can tune in via RealAudio at the CIUT website - www.ciut.utoronto.ca. You'll have to convert from Eastern time to figure out your local time.

MUSIC
NEWS

EXIT SANDMAN
Mark Sandman, the front man of Morphine died of a heart attack at a concert outside Rome, Saturday July 3rd. According to reports, Sandman, 47, collapsed on stage in front of several thousand just before midnight Saturday night. A doctor tried to revive him and failed, police said, and Sandman was pronounced dead en route to a nearby hospital. Sandman, a former Boston cabbie got his first big break in the Boston group Treat Her Right, joining the band on bass and lead vocals towards the end. Following their split, he formed Morphine - a guitar-less rock band with sax and Sandman's signature two-string slide bass guitar. I can remember asking Mark in an interview once which strings he uses on the bass, his reply was "the only necessary ones." Mark will be missed. A music education fund has already been set up in his name, information is available at their Rykodisc home page.

SONIC GEAR STOLEN
The following is a note from Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth:

Hello all, this is Lee from Sonic Youth here, we have had a fucked up situation 
come down on us over this last night--a brand new Ryder truck parked at a
Ramada Inn in Orange County with ALL OF OUR GEAR IN IT was STOLEN!  All of our
guitars, tools, amplifiers, drums, synth -- EVERYTHING.  We are fucked, both
for the show tonight at the "This Ain't No Picnic" here in Orange Co., and for
shows upcoming this week in Austin and Santa Fe.  Our guitars are all mostly
older and either very modified and/or fucked up/beat up.  They are unmistakably
ours, as are some of the amps, including my own 60s Fender Concert with the
red/blue/yellow "Jasper Johns-style" target on it. 

We are asking ANYONE with ANY INFORMATION about this to get in touch with us as
soon as possible by calling our man Aaron Blitzstein in New York City at 
212.343.2314, or via email to "Mascaras66@aol.com".  Call collect if you want
to.  Please no pranks, all, this is really serious--all the gear we've used to
write our last few LPs worth of stuff, instruments used for songs old and new
which if truly lost will mean those songs will be lost forever.

Help us out if you can, there will be a reward for any info, I'm sure. All our
road cases, etc, are fully marked up with our name on them, the gtrs are so
unusual that they won't really be too hard to mistake.  ANY info at all will be
appreciated.

If the thieves themselves read this, I'm sure we'd rather buy the stuff back
from you than lose it forever (you fukkerz).

here are some descriptions of gear:
drums: green satin flame 60s Gretch kit (w "paisley" glow in dark kik head
Fender ToneMaster head and 4x12 cabinet
Fender blackface Concert (4x10) w "Target design" spraypainted on front
PeeVey RoadMaster Head
Marshal 4x12 cab
Mesa Boogie 400+ bass head/4x10 cab/18" cab
Fender Bassman head (two!)/ 2x12 fender cab
Fender presicion Bass
Gibson Les Paul Jr w snoopy sticker
Fender Jazzmasters and Jaguars--lots of 'em, mostly modified to hell (orig
electronix pulled, diff p/u's etc) and usually way beat up.
Travis Beans--1 koa wood, one red beat to shit

White roadcase/briefcase full of gtr tools

we will post more equip info later...  thanks in advance for any help...
PLEASE PASS THIS LIST ON TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE OF HELP!

   ---Lee/Sonic Youth

MUSIC
IN BRIEF

BITCHES' BREW BOX
This new boxed set from Columbia of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew Sessions not only contains 4 CDs of mostly unreleased material, but a 148 page book with an introduction by Carlos Santana. Yep, it's worth it. The CDs consist of mostly 20 minute long songs that where either edited into new songs or just not used. It is beautiful. Not a second goes to waste. Some of the songs sound like straightforward ambiance, like "Great Expectations" from the second CD. It starts off with some percussion and a sitar then stops, then adds some more music and sounds. Then stops, then adds some more. Pure Brilliance. If you like Miles' late 60's early 70's music like Sorcerer, In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and On the Corner, this is the music for you. It was definitely money well spent. - Ben Adams

HANAYO IN PANACEA
What do you get when you cross a pierced millitant aggressive 300lb German digital technoise pioneer with a petite and adorable yet loud Japanese actress singer model? Raw. Boy if you ever thought Twisted Designz was too soft for Panacea, you haven't heard the last scream. This album is electric distortion screaming fest, with bubbles of low frequency tunes gurgling through the white noise. I'm completely blown away at the grace and beauty amongst the aggression. It's almost like watching a porn of your two most favorite actors. I'm truly in love and now completely obsessed with each of them. - Jon Whitney

TWO LONE SWORDSMEN, "STAY DOWN"
Wonderful sounds but mediocre songs. The two, who have been dishing out electronic ditties throughout the decade have obviously built themselves an arsenal of nice equipment. Unfortunately I think the equipment could be better used to produce more original songsters than Wetherall and Tenniswood. It's deep, spacious and airy but there's rarely ever any main instrument plaing a melody. File this under the "no listening" category when you want an ambient techno (pardon the cliche but the music is quite cliche as well) CD to listen to whilst driving with your friends and actually want to engage in conversation (rather than actively listen to music). - Jon Whitney

WINDY & CARL, "A DREAM OF BLUE"
I know this has been out a while but we failed to mention it when it was released, and upon re-listening, it couldn't go unnoticed. This CD combines more finished versions from the limited blue 10" single from Ochre titled 'A Dream of Blue' plus an extra track. Those not familiar with Windy & Carl can find soundscapes on the Brainwashed Jukebox somewhere. Until the next new thing comes out from them, this is an excellent find to search for. The guitar based drones are dense and heavy, moving and gliding and Windy's vocals are haunting and almost magical, but never overbearing. At nearly 45 minutes, this CD never wears out its welcome. Mixing tip: try playing this at the same time as anything from Ryoji Ikeda - two great tastes that taste great together... mmmmmmmm: nothing like those good drone mixes mama used to make! - Jon Whitney

DO MAKE SAY THINK
Another fine release from Q4 1998. This one came highly recommended and I can see why. In addition to the recommendation, I was also tempted to order this disc from the conflicting stories on the membership overlap of Canadian label mates, godspeed you black emperor! The disc is remeniscent of godspeed in the presentation - a finely crafted ingenious CD package, sparse poetic liner notes, and a keen eye for simple colors that work well together, the only similar music link is that it's completely organic in substance. The form however takes on a different tone, with lengthy improvisational sounding jazz influenced instrumental rock tunes. It could be godspeed, but there's no aggression or dialogue on this release. The instrumentation, production, melodies and craftmanship are spectacular and sincere all at the same time. Hard to really explain but worth picking up. Good luck finding it in a store, I had to order from Constellation themselves. (Who also still have godspeed vinyl in stock...) Mixing tip #2 for the week: play this disc on your computer's CD player alongside a streaming audio of the NYC Police Department police scanner - available at policescanner.com - Jon Whitney

NEW
RELEASES

MONDAY
Bjork - All Is Full Of Love BOX SET [includes video and the two regular CDEPs originally released two weeks before, plus an exclusive CDEP featuring tracks otherwise available only on 12"] (One Little Indian, UK)
Capitol K - Sounds Of The Empire CD/2xLP (Planet µ, UK)
CX Audio IE - 02 EP 12" (Sublime, Japan)
Electronic - Late At Night 12"/two CDEPs (London, UK)
* Kraftwerk - Tour de France 12"/CDEP [reissue of the long out-of-print classic; CD includes CD-ROM content] (UK)
Moby - Body Rock 12"/two CDEPs (Mute, UK)
µ-Ziq - The Fear 12"/CDEP (Virgin, UK)
Various - Wrong Application CD [with Farmers Manual, Kid 606, Anonymous, Blitter, Pimmon, Underwood, No Human Intervention, Config.sys, Veer Nales and more] (stm.div muSIK/Ostian Mele, US)
TUESDAY
Basement Jaxx - Red Alert 12" (Astralwerks, US)
* LTJ Bukem/Various - Progression Sessions Vol. 4 2xCD [ltd edition with instrumental 2nd disc] (Good Looking/Studio K7, US)
Lords of Acid - Expand Your Head CD (Antler Subway/Never, US)
Mr. Bungle - California CD/LP (Warner, US)
µ-Ziq - The Fear 12"/CDEP (Astralwerks, US)
Rob - Musique Pour Un Enfant Jouet 12" (Science/Astralwerks, US)
FRIDAY
Capitol K/Jega - split 7" [ltd to 200 copies - 100 to be given away at a Planet µ night, 100 to be sold via a UK mail order shop] (Planet µ, UK)
SATURDAY
Pig - D.D.D. CDEP (Rock Records, Japan)
Pizzicato Five - Nonstop Tokyo CDEP (Columbia, Japan)
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.

MOVIES
REVIEWED

EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
Not just your average story of boy-meets-girl, boy kisses girl, boy meets boy, falls in love and huts everybody... While this movie was a charming, well directed, extremely well acted film, it was not the pretty picture of a coming out fairy tale (see "Beautiful Thing" for that one). It takes place in the lakeside Ohio resort town of Sandusky in 1984. While the music and the times are changing, the lead character is evolving, growing up and facing who he is no matter who it hurts. A cast of top-notch first time actors and director David Moreton brought a wonderful movie to the big screen, but sadly enough a movie like this rarely makes it out of the indie film theaters, gay theaters or big cities. It's a highly recommendable film whether you're gay, straight or even Republican. - Jon Whitney

WILD WILD WEST
For the most part this movie was slow and unfunny, Will Smith does the same exact role that he had in 'Men in Black' and everything else followed the basic cookie-cut action film format: Dashing Hero, Wimpy sidekick, dazzling women and evil villain. Speaking of villain, Kenneth Branagh looks incredibly out of place as it. I spent most of the movie wondering why in the hell he agreed to the role in the first place. Hamlet to Wild Wild West to Macbeth: Did he need the money? All-in-all this movie had nothing in it that hasn't been done before. Blazing saddles was funnier, a lot funnier. - Ben Adams

SUMMER OF SAM
Another great Spike Lee Joint, but not as over the top as many people have been claiming. It was 1977, one of the hottest summers on record, and the Son of Sam was the .44 caliber serial killer. This was not a movie about the notorious Son of Sam (hence the title), but the folks in the neighborhood at the heart of the murders. While the trends were progressing, the world evolving, punk replacing disco, the chill in the air from the serial killer brought fear and retrogression. Even to this day it seems all too easy that fear and anger can bring people can become an out of control lynch mob. Believable is what Spike Lee gives us, this movie wasn't filled with Hollywood models or fancy effects, it painted an accurate portrait on how this group of fictional characters would have acted -- and the filming techniques made it look like a 22 year old film. My only pet peeve was the piercings in the punk extras - while steel barbells through the tongue may have been used by some back in 1997, it wasn't as widespread as the punks at CBGB's. - Jon Whitney

DISCOUNT
CELEBRITY
EXPLAINED

WHAT IS A DISCOUNT CELEBRITY?
This week, we're taking a break from the celebrities to make a quick note for the record as to what discount celebrities actually are. Have you ever wondered how did the Gap in your local mall get George from The Jeffersons to come down for an autograph session? Have you ever wondered how Danny Bonaducci got his own info mercials? Well, discount celebrities are more than a simple has-been: these people we try to dig up are former "A List" celebrities. Times change, popularity fades and the fees drop. The key tip off is when the Enquirer doesn't even care if Mindy Cohn has an illigitimate love child or Webster's become an alcoholic wife beater. These people can't hold steady jobs (as we've seen from anyone who used to be on Diff'rent Strokes) since they really have no marketable skills. We want to give them the service here by opening the eyes of people who have the potential to give them a 'gig' washing cars for charity or appearing in an Old Navy ad. Keep them employed! The world will never run out of discount celebrities.

FEEDBACK

ELECTRONIC EMISSIONS
Subject: NWW site

nice site
cheers
Nigel Ayers, Nocturnal Emissions

Thanks. It's always nice to hear from noise artists who aren't looking for a favor!


Subject: Brainwashed Page

Do you really consider "Brain" to be a "weely webzine," or have you simply been trying to test readers to see if they're paying attention for the past month? Surely your main page isn't subject to ordinary human typos...

Just curious

Whoops! Every typo of the week found and pointed out on Brainwashed entitles the winner to a free MBTA subway pass good for 1 month. This week's winner wins the pass good for October 1997. Thanks for playing...


Subject: The Radio Thing

hey,
I listened to the new radio station and it's REALLY good. Great Job, but for some reason, it won't list what clips are playing on RealPlayer G2 for Mac. I didn't know whether other people may have informed you of this or what, but I thought I'd let you know...
Thanks....

thanks for the tip... we'll have to ruffle some feathers over there, damnit!!!


Subject: Optigan Disks

Can you tell me what is ment by "Optigan disks" in the news section on the Coil site. Also, I am curious if you know of any release information for 'Musick to Play in the Dark', last I had heard it was near completion but that was a month ago. Thanks and have a great weekend.

If you don't know what Optigan disks are then chances are you probably won't be able to help,... The optigan was a primitive sampler type instrument which played disks of different sounds. More info at optigan.com. As for the Coil album, it's on its way to the good girls and boys who pre-ordered. For those who are buying direct from World Serpent, they won't come with an autographed numbered certificate of promenance...

LINK
OF THE
WEEK

THE CITIZENS HAVE SPOKE
Is this Dadaism? I have to consult my guide book, but the citizens of Lizbekistan have formed their official web page at www.lizbekistan.com. Nipples for everybody.

WHAT'S IN
YOUR CD
PLAYER?

JON'S OBNOXIOUS UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR
TLC - something bad
Dave Matthews - something worse
Red Hot Chili Peppers - something that should never have happened
- Micah, Jon's new upstairs neighbor who is a nice guy some times but has horrible taste in music and decides to share it with the hood.

  © 1999 Brainwashed, all rights reserved.

Brainwashed Cross-Functional Information Management Team
PO Box 7
Arlington MA 02476
USA

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