- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.comcommon/images/covers/krank068.gif)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.comcommon/images/covers/ud010.gif)
Read More
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/circus_vs_andre_afram_asmar-gawd_bless_the_faceless_cowards.jpg)
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://brainwashed.com/brain/images/circus_vs_andre_afram_asmar-gawd_bless_the_faceless_cowards.jpg)
Read More
Some of my favorite releases of the last year or so come from the US indie hip-hop contender, Mush. Their recent find, a Japanese import called Neutrino, is being sent out with a sticker comparing the release to DJ Krush, claiming that Krush isn't the only player in Japan's instrumental hip-hop scene. That may be true, but Krush is still a few moves ahead of the rest of the pack if Neutrino's eponymous release is any indication.
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
Some of my favorite releases of the last year or so come from the US indie hip-hop contender, Mush. Their recent find, a Japanese import called Neutrino, is being sent out with a sticker comparing the release to DJ Krush, claiming that Krush isn't the only player in Japan's instrumental hip-hop scene. That may be true, but Krush is still a few moves ahead of the rest of the pack if Neutrino's eponymous release is any indication.Mush
The tracks are classic Mush: slow and moody with a nod to hip-hop and jazz record sampling, but with a sophisticated touch and layered production style. These don't sound like tracks in search of an MC, but rather they function as whole songs on their own. For nodding background music or the score to a student film about 'urban landscapes', Neutrino is just fine. There's enough warmth and depth to the compositions that they held up to repeat spins as I drove around town and then set up my wireless network at home. However, whenever I tried to focus on the album, it seemed to be built on an all-too-familiar set of rules and loops. It's groovy downtempo stuff, no doubt, but it fails to capture the imagination the way last year's Villain Accellerate record did. This is polite and tidy beat-making, with windchime accents, chirping bird samples and the occassional disembodied voice-snippet that almost lend it a depth worth exploring more. With a shelf full of exceptional releases from other Mush artists, as well as their forebears like the aforementioned DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, and almost all of the early Ninja Tune stable, it's difficult to make room for Neutrino, though he does make enough of a case for giving it a try. 
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/parkavenuehomeoffice.jpg)
Clairecords
Keyboards and vocals by JeannetteFaith are the base, and then Wes Steed takes it to a whole other levelwith computers and homemade synths, resulting in a sound that is notjust songs, it's a whole atmosphere. The techniques are used to greateffect in creating a feeling of absolute detachment, like a dependenceon computers for everything in life just so it doesn't require effort.The titles could be articles in Reader's Digestor some corporate pamphlet, and as such they belie the elegance ofwhat's inside. When sounds escape the speakers, though, the mood isrealized immediately, and an almost menial state of mind takes shape,like drone-esque office work. Troubadours used to sing about thestruggle of the working man #&151; farmers, mechanics, factoryworkers — in angry tones meant to seize attention and changeperceptions. This music is about the new under-appreciated orendangered species due to workload or stress at work or at home: thedesk jockey. Rather than knock people out with brute force, this is acoaxing way of encouraging results. This is a new step for the duo,since their last album did not deal with themes anywhere near this, butthey are perfectly suited to the task. Lyrics like "how many red eyeshave you taken?" and "home is where the heart breaks" float out onFaith's processed voice, immediately cutting in and burrowing for along stay. This is a bubbly and cheery-sounding record on the surface,but beneath it there is pain and longing. I couldn't stop listening,and it is now the preferred soundtrack for my mundane day jobexistence. Maybe I'll find the hidden message and escape, and I thinkthat's exactly what these songs are meant to persuade the listenertowards.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/nautical_almanac-rooting.jpg)
Load
A consistent barrage ofwailing scratches and interstellar waves covers up, for a majority ofthe album, strangely distorted natural sounds like accordians, bells,clocks, and laughter. This combination of failing equipment andindefinite references to some kind of ghost world run by clowns staysfairly interesting from beginning to start; but Nautical Alamanac'sformula rarely changes. The rigid structure of each song somehowbecomes apparent through all the smoke and noise half way through thealbum and makes the remainder feel like a repeat of the first filteredthrough some altered dimesion. I can't help but think that this randomassortment of sounds is somehow comedic at its heart, maybe just a bitsurrealist. The assault of scratches, wheezes, and whines are neverthreatening and, even at loud volumes, never inspire any kind ofmadness or unbearable torment. The spasmodic current of the album neverallows for a consistency to build; any residue left behind by one soundis immediately destroyed by the following. "Cross Dementia" doesnothing short of spread laughter and the closing "Ocularis" only windseverything down to a calm and and slightly more silent end. So what'smissing? When the hidden track(s?) finally end and I'm left sitting inmy room, I feel like Nautical Almanac forgot some important ingredientsin their noise soup. For all their wackiness, Nautical Almanac somehowmanages to tell the same joke over and over. Where another group orindividual might succeed in making nonsense noise by severely wideningthe sound palette, Nautical Almanac stays static, relying on thegimmick of "no computers, no electricity" (if that is actually thecase) to carry the album. It boils down to this: the noise just soundslike noise. It has no compositional value and just seems like ahindrance on some of the other sounds that are trying to be heard. Hadsome more variety been packed into the noise end of the album and thencombined with all those excellent samples of the recognizable world, Rooting for the Microbes would have come away a lot more addicting than it is now.
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/wiltasgiants.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/amute-a_hundred_dry_trees.jpg)
Read More
- Administrator
- Albums and Singles
![](http://www.brainwashed.com/brain/images/fannyrevelry.jpg)
Read More