Brainwashed - Brainwashed.com

Aurora Borealis image from California by Steve

Look up

Music for gazing upwards brought to you by Meat Beat Manifesto & scott crow, +/-, Aurora Borealis, The Veldt, Not Waving & Romance, W.A.T., The Handover, Abul Mogard & Rafael Anton Irisarri, Mulatu Astatke, Paul St. Hilaire & René Löwe, Songs: Ohia, and Shellac.

Aurora Borealis image from California by Steve.

Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!

"Teeth"

Sunday, 13 February 2005

Administrator

Music

The Statler & Waldorf label wanted to kick things off with asampler based around the concept of European electronic musiciansworking with the theme of hip hop. Were this not an already a redundantassignment given the world-wide cribbing of hip hop mannerisms in allforms of electronica, it might seem like an interesting cross-culturalexperiment.

William Basinski, "Variations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive"

Sunday, 13 February 2005

Administrator

Music

Old compositions from when an artist first began recording music aren'talways of musical interest. It may be nice to have a document of acomposer's work from a particular period, but this double CD release ofsome of William Basinski's earliest compositions is hard to justify asa whole. Basinski's music seems to be perpetually painted in thefeeling of melancholy; these eight pieces are, at times, painfully sadand emotive of only the deepest and most excruciating reflections.

Six Organs of Admittance, "School of the Flower"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

Ben Chasny's debut album for Drag City is the culmination of all of his work as Six Organs of Admittance up to this point. I first saw Chasny perform as Six Organs at 2002's Terrastock festival, and heard his album Dark Noontide soon after. I was struck at that time by his intuitive technique on the acoustic guitar, and the fuzzy blanket of drones that rippled underneath his extended instrumental excursions. Each release since has been stronger than the last, but every one of them seemed oddly transitional, as if Chasny hadn't yet settled on a comfortable repertoire of techniques.

"What's Your Function? - A tribute to franco battiato"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

Franco Battiato is one of the most unfairly underrated and habituallyignored composer/musicians of the last few decades. The strength of hismaterial plus the careful selection of bands on What's Your Functioneasily rank this in my mental 'top list' of all time favorite tributealbums despite being one of the worst cover/packaging/font jobs ever.

März, "Wir Sind Hier"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

März is part of the legacy nurtured by the likes of Phil Spector, BrianWilson, Brian Eno, and Cornelius; they are bedroom savants and esotericenthusiasts, studio hermits shyly convinced of their place among theranks of pop royalty. But while for Eno the pop format served as theschizophrenic outro to his feather boa phase and the harbinger ofthings ambient and self-contained, März instead chooses the oppositepath.

Mirror, "Nightwalkers"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

This CD is a welcome reissue of one of Mirror's most diverse sets,which was originally issued on vinyl in 2000. The remastering processhas aided this set immensely, as its often quiet atmospheric worlds cannow be heard clearly, without the interference of crackling andpopping.

Bird Show, "Green Inferno"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

Ben Vida is best known for his work in Town & Country, but his newproject is both different from and more alluring than his work in thatband. Without completely removing any sense of song structure oridentifiable melody, Vida has assimilated nine tracks of tumult,clatter, and lamentation built out of edited guitars, toy percussion,jazz influences, and secretive tones.

JEFF PARKER, "THE RELATIVES"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

For his second disc as a bandleader, Chicago-based guitarist JeffParker (Tortoise, Isotope 217) has expanded his solo project from thestandard jazz trio format, accompanied by upright bass and drums, to aquartet with the addition of Sam Barsheshet on Fender Rhodes andWurlitzer electric keys.

THOMAS WYDLER & TOBY DAMMIT, "MORPHOSA HARMONIA"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

Toby Dammit has played drums for Iggy Pop, Swans, The Residents andMark Eitzel, to name a few. He is also the creator of 2001's Top Dollar, a solo percussion album that took Hal Blaine's Psychedelic Percussionto its logical (and utterly absurd) extreme. Thomas Wydler is thedrummer for The Bad Seeds and formerly of Die Haut.

Savath & Savalas, "Manana"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

Administrator

Music

This companion EP to last year's Apropa'tLP finds Scott Herren and since-departed collaborator Eva Puyelo Munsin a less organic mode. Many of the eight short tracks included on Mananafeel less like songs than the pieces on the full length album did.Eva's vocals are still present, but feel more like an instrument thatHerren has manipulated in various ways.