Brainwashed - Brainwashed.com

Solstice moon in the West Midlands by James

Hotter than July.

This week's episode has plenty of fresh new music by Marie Davidson, Kim Gordon, Mabe Fratti, Guided By Voices, Holy Tongue meets Shackleton, Softcult, Terence Fixmer, Alan Licht, pigbaby, and Eiko Ishibashi, plus some vault goodies from Bombay S Jayashri and Pete Namlook & Richie Hawtin.

Solstice moon in West Midlands, UK photo by James.

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JEFF PARKER, "THE RELATIVES"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

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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

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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

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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.

KALIMA, "NIGHT TIME SHADOWS"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

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Kalima used to be Swamp Children, a Mancunian post-punk funk ensemblesigned to Factory Records. A few of the band members did double duty aspart of A Certain Ratio. Despite releasing two well-received singlesand an LP, the Swamp Children could not rise above the C-list ofFactory artists, perhaps because there was nothing particularlygroundbreaking or unique about their sound.

Black Mountain, "Black Mountain"

Sunday, 06 February 2005

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Starting with the Lou Reed influenced "Modern Music," Black Mountainbegins its trek through the first of many musical allusions. The songbegins with a flatulent saxophone squawk. Then the rock music enters.Drums sticks count off and the guitars ring in while Stephen McBean'sreedy vocals count off "One two three another pop explosion; four fivesix another hit recording."

Food, "Last Supper"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Food is one of my favorite Rune Grammofon groups and this is their bestrecord yet. Though less experimental in nature than the majority ofRune artists, and lacking in the sense of high concept that makes manyof the label's releases so attractive, Food is more fun without seemingoutwardly less complex.

"THE FURTHER SOMNILOQUIES OF DION MCGREGOR"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Dion McGregor was a down-on-his-luck Broadway songwriter living in NewYork City in 1960, sleeping on the couch of his friend and partnerMichael Barr, when Barr first noticed McGregor's unique propensity forspeaking his dreams aloud

Black Forest/Black Sea, "Radiant Symmetry"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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This set sounds amazingly cohesive for a collection of tracks recordedat various live venues with many tracks featuring different guests.Jeffrey Alexander and Miriam Goldberg, Black Forest/Black Sea's twopermanent members, are noble for sharing so much of the spotlight oftheir own project with others.

MINIMAL MAN, "THE SHROUD OF"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Minimal Man was founded in 1979, in San Francisco by avant-gardepainter and filmmaker Patrick Miller, and the band included a revolvingcast of musicians from fellow SF art punks Tuxedomoon and futuremembers of Factrix. Minimal Man have been historically marginalized ina fertile underground music scene that included many other influentialartists (including Z'ev, Flipper and Nervous Gender), and they are nodoubt unfavorably compared to stylistically similar artists such asSuicide, Chrome or even NON.

STEVEN BROWN, "HALF OUT"

Sunday, 30 January 2005

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Not to minimize the great work that the LTM label has done dusting offthe extensive back catalogs of labels like Factory and Les Disques duCrepuscule, but when I hear something like this Steven Brown album, itmakes me wonder if their time and energy might be better spent on moreworthwhile archival projects.