- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/afx-analord_01.jpg)
- (Analord 01)
- Phonotacid (Analord 02)
- Midi Evil Rave 1 (Analord 03)
- Halibut Acid (Analord 04)
- Cilonen (Analord 05)
Read More
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/akron_family.jpg)
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/prekopprofessor.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/black_leotard_front-casual_friday.jpg)
This week brings three new slabs of heavy DJ vinyl from DFA Records,with this one by Black Leotard Front sounding the most adventurous tomy ears. "Casual Friday" is a massive 15-minute groove that starts outas ingratiatingly slick metropolitan disco and ends up asingratiatingly slick deconstructed electro-funk from planet weird.Justlike last year's "Yeah" by LCD Soundsystem, "Casual Friday" puts all ofthe obnoxious stuff right up front, as if to scare off potentialsquares: world-weary whispered French narration with a mind-numbinglyrepetitive, despondent chorus of "Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour,comment allez-vous." The track slowly shifts into more interestingterritories as a glassy synth peal announces the arrival of thejuiced-up funk combination of bass and guitar. The frankly laughablelyrics about putting on a dress and taking off an overcoat aremeaningless, merely an excuse to keep things focused on the glitterysurface of things, so that it comes as a shock when the vocals aresuddenly stretched into monstrous, echoing shrieks and a snarlingGerman voice pops into the mix. The track shifts through a series ofdistinctly Moroder-esque transformations, recalling a halcyon time whenrhythmic Krautrock synthesizer workouts were not in a vastly differentworld from mainstream NYC disco-sleaze. Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russomshould be familiar to DFA enthusiasts who sought out their fine "ElMonte" single, and together with artists Christian Holstad and DanielSchmidt comprise Black Leotard Front, a performance art dance troupe.Those who expected another synth-only, Tangerine Dream-esque affair maybe disappointed by the more dancefloor-friendly aspirations of "CasualFriday," but careful attention to track provide weird thrills aplenty,especially when the cheeky vocals are stripped away on the single'sinstrumental flip side, which in my humble opinion is vastly superiorto the vocal version.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/juan_maclean-i_robot_less_than_human.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/by_the_end_of_tonight-a_tri.jpg)
samples:
- 4's, 5's, and the Piano That Never Made It Home
- Stop, Drop, and Roll Does Not Work in Hell
- Setting Sail in April
Read More
- Lucas Schleicher
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/a_frames-blackforest.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/dalek-absence.jpg)
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/akron_family.jpg)
Although rooted in traditional songwriting, the album has many nuances that elevate it above the recent deluge of "new folk/americana." "I'll Be On The Water" appears at first to be a simple, lovely ditty sung by one man with an acoustic guitar to his significant other. As the song progresses it reveals layers of field recordings and subtle instrumental accompaniment which place it in a landscape that enhances the sentiment of the lyric. The first verse of "Suchness" sounds like a dusty recording of someone singing on his front porch. Alien percussion, vocal harmonies, swirling electronics and, ultimately, a full electric band, pop up from underneath the floorboards at the 3 minute song's halfway point to take it into a realm that is at once surprising and natural. Akron/Family have a knack throughout the set for smoothly transforming songs from one mood to a wholly other without disrupting the flow. "Lumen" begins as a sparse dialogue between vocals and a melody led by bells and violin. It suddenly switches to build toward a climax of epic proportions by employing military drums and persistent guitar picking, achieving a sense of propulsion. This same sense of forward motion runs through "Running, Returning," during which the repeated, wordless chant which accents the song's persistent rhythm seals the deal that this bunch is an appropriate backing band for Michael Gira on his current Angels of Light tour. The group's mastery of a wide range of instruments lends this set a full sound. These muti-instrumentalists use guitars, banjos, piano, organ, melodica, various percussion and electronics to give a true sense of the outcome being more important than the means. By leaving themselves open to use any instrument or compositional idea that fits the moment, they effortlessly combine threads of traditional and modern music into a new whole. Some of the melodies, particularly on "Suchness" and "Afford," sound as if they are ancient song forms that have been stumbled upon by Akron/Family. "Afford," for example is introduced as a gorgeous and forlorn song. At the mid point, it descends into 30 seconds of eerie ambience where it seamlessly fuses traditional song structure with modern minimalism. This midsection also allows for reflection upon the song's only lyric, the repeated line "The power I afford you is the one I wish I had over you." By enhancing their songs with so many different subtleties, Akron/Family has set a course on a path that could convincingly fork in several different directions.
samples:
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/venetian_snares-rossz.jpg)
Planet Mu
Upon further inspection it isrevealed that these are in fact Hungarian titles, as this album wasinspired by a trip to Hungary, during which Funk had some sort ofepiphany involving imagining himself as a pigeon. As absurd as thatsounds, it has fueled the most cohesive effort by Funk to date, onwhich Eastern European melodies dominate and his trademark blastbeatsare used to accent orchestral composition. "Hiszekeny" is a beautifulminiature, which features bells and harp rhythmically dancing aroundmelodic string patterns. "Felbomlasztott Mentokocsi" features nopercussion at all, and instead features weeping cellos and violinswhose sweeping tones play against each other to echo the tension inlife through rhythmic and melodic tension. Funk's take on RezsoSeress's Hungarian suicide song "Ongyilkos Vasarnap" ("Gloomy Sunday")manifests this sense of sadness and loss in a more direct way, bycombining stuttering beats with Billie Holiday's vocals from the 1941recording of the notorious song. Jazzy drumming and downright pastoralwind instrumentation figure prominently in the first half of "Hajnal,"before strings combine with hectic breakbeats. As chaotic as therhythmic programming often becomes, these tracks are always grounded bythe melodic elements. This is most effective on "Szamar Madar," duringwhich a gorgeous melodic theme recurs throughout the track's six minuteduration. Much of Funk's music is centered around beats in odd timesignatures played at break neck speed, keeping listeners on their toes.These pieces, although rhythmically challenging at times, aspire toachieve a higher sense of compositional cohesiveness. Funk iscommunicating in a language that will appeal to more than just thosewho are breakcore enthusiasts. Although he has not abandoned the use ofintricate rhythms, he allows these tracks more breathing room. Mostpieces have long beatless passages during which all manner of acousticinstruments create a tension that makes the rhythmic bombasts moreeffective when they appear. This is not to suggest that he has simplydistilled his usual fare to reach a wider audience. Instead, he hasfinally shown that he is capable of, or interested in, combining hisskills as one of today's most advanced beat programmers withunprecedented foreign elements. In the process he has broken out of theholding pattern his prolific career was beginning to settle into andproduced an accomplished work of incredible depth.
samples:
Read More