Brainwashed Radio: The Podcast Edition

Rubber ducks and a live duck from Matthew in the UK

Give us an hour, we'll give you music to remember.

This week we bring you an episode with brand new music from Softcult, Jim Rafferty, karen vogt, Ex-Easter Island Head, Jon Collin, James Devane, Garth Erasmus, Gary Wilson, and K. Freund, plus some music from the archives from Goldblum, Rachel Goswell, Roy Montgomery.

Rubber ducks and a live duck photo from Matthew in the UK.

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"Heizung Raum 318"

Four German composers (Stefan Funck, Gregory Buttner, Asmus Tietchens and Nicolai Stephan) had been meeting in Room 318 for years, but the room had a problem.  The heating system didn't work, and made odd noises.  Surely a distraction, but with artists like these, they made the natural decision:  use the odd noises of the radiators and make an album out of them.
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Boris with Merzbow, "Walrus/Groon"

Rated purely on looks, this is one of the best releases by Boris and/or Merzbow that I have borne witness to. Rated on music, I cannot say that I am impressed. A pedestrian Beatles cover and an uninspired piece of noise make for an easily forgettable experience. It is far from the best work of either Boris or Merzbow and even out of their collaborations together this will not be remembered for much bar its fantastic sleeve.
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Mogwai, "Zidane"

It is not a prerequisite to appreciate soccer or French star Zinedine Zidane's role in the modern game to enjoy Mogwai's work on this film's soundtrack, but Zidane the man and Zidane the film give the music context that will mean something more to fans of the game.

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Edward Ka-Spel, "Dream Logik Part One"

Ka-Spel's latest is a labyrinth of hallucinatory hallways in which the exit is frequently obscured by mirages and wrong turns. Half-remembered voices and snippets of forgotten songs lure the unwary ever deeper into the maze, only to be ambushed by unexpected noises and hushed whispers that offer no hope of escape.
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O Yuki Conjugate, "The Euphoria of Disobedience"

The early pioneers of what has become known as "ambient" return after a decade long silence with a fascinating new work that shows the collective staying true to their roots, but at the same time exploring more grimy, less ethnic textures. 
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Merzbow, "Coma Berenices"

This is another work that does not have a specific identifiable "theme" regarding its sound (i.e. no focus on guitar, psychedelica, drums, etc), but there is a distinct dark, nihilistic feel to the work as a whole.  The overall sound is augmented by the packaging, which depicts Masami Akita in front of a demolished building, all tinted dark and such like.  Surprisingly, this darkness manifests itself in the music without pushing it to abnormally harsh or violent realms (by Merzbow standards, of course).  Quite the contrary, for a noise work, it is relatively mild and listenable. 
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Felix Kubin und das Mineral Orchester, "Music for Theatre and Radio Play"

Like the title explains, this disc collects music Felix Kubin has done for two theatre plays, including one based on a short story by Nabokov, and a radio play by Xentos Bentos of The Homosexuals. Despite having no idea as to how this music was integrated into the respective performances, Kubin's sense of playfulness makes it an enjoyable album on its own.
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Githead, "Art Pop"

Githead's debut Headgit EP and subsequent full length Profile brought angular post-punk at a time when, quite frankly, everyone else was doing it. That Wire frontman Colin Newman served as its voice and postmodern lyricist did surprisingly little to differentiate it from the fresher crop of youngbloods. Both releases had their respective moments of memorable majesty, such as the subdued tech-house of "To Have And To Hold" and the slogan expropriating screed "Option Paralysis," though neither produced the anticipated excellence of a collaboration between Newman, his wife Malka Spigel, and Robin "Scanner" Rimbaud.  With Art Pop, their latest for the Swim ~ imprint, the trio (now a quartet) finally delivers, taking their sound to a level that demands attention from indie rock dweebs and PBR-guzzling hipsters alike.
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Pan Sonic, "Katodivaihe"

After a long delay the new disc from everybody's favorite Finnish duo has finally arrived, but without much fanfare and only in a notably limited amount of shops. It's a shame as this could easily be their best full-length (single) album to date.
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Doubled Yellow Swans, "Global Clone"

Another of the current crop of US noise projects, Yellow Swans focus more on establishing mood and texture as opposed to full out sonic assaults, and while still an acquired taste, here it's a bit easier to swallow.
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