Having been in the field of abstract and noise art for some 19 years now, Joke Lanz is definitely not a neophyte. This album makes that readily apparent in its highly structured, controlled noise elements, but is also willing to step outside of the boundaries of what is expected from him and instead is happy to toss in elements of punk, traditional industrial, and something that is often lacking in this genre: humor.
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. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
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In the past Karl Blau has been inspired by A.A. Milne. On Nature’s Got Away he conjures up a fabulous landscape somewhere between dreams and wakefulness. This unfussy yet 3D music seems almost theatrical in an era where 1.5 dimensions are too often the norm.
Tarek Atoui is a young Lebanese-born musician who went to study at the French National Conservatoire in Rheims in 1998. He now seemingly divides his time between France, Lebanon, the Middle East, and Amsterdam (where he is the co-artistic director of the Steims studio), performing and giving workshops. His Mort Aux Vaches release is composed of breakbeat-anchored cut-ups, samples, sound collages, noise, and unabashed experimentalism.
Thisquietarmy's Eric Quach (Destroyalldreamers) hails from Montréal. Paradoxically though, it appears the frozen landscape of the far north of the country has seeped into every crack and pore of his music. However, it is not just physical cold that inspires these eight tracks of ambient dronescape. Running through them is an equally icy glaciality redolent of a sense of utter despair and unalloyed distance and loneliness. Quach's world is one of constant twilight, illuminated solely by the light of stars and aurorae reflecting off a thickly snow-blanketed land.
In a situation that is not entirely unexpected, the latest album from Steven Stapleton has caused much controversy amongst fans with opinions ranging from it being one of his best to it being one of his biggest turds. Even here on Brainwashed, opinions were mixed with the review 
David Berman and company's latest album retains the witty lyrics and tongue-in-cheek humor from previous efforts and continues the slow gravitation toward sunnier themes. While it doesn't have the immediate impact of its predecessor Tanglewood Numbers, its subtle charms ultimately bring it near that album's achievements.
Our somewhat semi-regular feature covering the newest dance singles goes full-length this week, reviewing new albums by Hercules and Love Affair, Syclops, Girl Talk and Ladytron.
This noise rock trio from Providence, Rhode Island, uses massive amounts of distortion over meaty bass, bruising drums, guttural screams, and squealing electronics to make sludgy music fit for exorcisms. Vicious slabs of aggression make this a visceral yet surprisingly enjoyable album.
Paul Dickow's beat-less excursions share much with his more rhythmic compositions, but unfettered by time signatures his music sounds all the more exotic and mercurial.
Oddly enough only intended for the Japanese market, any fan of either of the projects included here should either be praying for a local label to distribute this, or just go the import route, because both are at the top of their game here. Envy continues their shoegaze influenced post rock sound, while Jesu adopts the more electronic side to his sound that was, coincidentally enough, last featured this well on the split with another TRL act, Eluvium.
