V02I13 - 03281999
For those of you selling music items on auction houses and such:
Don't link to brainwashed.com for the cover art. The mega hits that e-bay and other places get gives tons of traffic to a particular image at the brainwashed server and can slow us down. Not to mention it's plain rude to link to somoene's site for a commercial venture w/o asking permission first.
As the brainwashed.com staff notices these things, we will replace the image with something pornographic and then write angry parent letters with the intention of an early close to your auction. And we will have fun with it too!
IN BRIEF
Remember when mom went and got a new haircut? The haircut was really difficult to get used to, almost upsettingly so, but deep down inside it's still mom and you love her. Eventually you grow to like the haircut. Much is like this new album from Low, possibly the most difficult album of theirs to get used to, coming from someone who is already a fan of their music. One of the charms of Low's music I have always loved is the fact that they make such wonderful harmonies with such simple equipment. On this, their 5th full-length album (second release for Kranky), Steve Albini has taken Low out of your kitchen and into a studio and a professional environment. Although it's still Low's music, I was quite struck when I first heard the album, I wasn't completely comfortable with the abundance of strings and other instruments on the album, but at the core, it's still the same people making the wonderful melodies. I love the use of the optigan on the opener, "I Remember" and "Two-Step". Songs like "Soon," "Starfire," "Don't Understand," and "Home" are remeniscent of earlier times with simpler equipment while the grand production of "Weight of Water" and "Lion/Lamb" are quite breathtaking. The only song I still have a problem with is "Will the Night," a piece which originally appeared on the last Kranky release, 'Songs for a Dead Pilot'. On this tune, Albini chose to lower the levels of Mimi's voice so that she sounds more like a back-up singer than a harmonizing voice on this song. The song is completely strings now and no longer has the guitar that was playing an almost 50s style tune. On the whole, give it a chance, I did and I'm happier for it. The vinyl release comes as a 180 gram double-record set with two additional tracks "Old Man Song" and "Last Breath" - can't wait to hear those!
- Jon Whitney
CHARALAMBIDES, "HOUSTON"
On their latest release--this time on their old label, the Philadelphia
imprint Siltbreeze--the husband-wife duo of Tom and Christina Carter offer a
deeply personal album. Houston seems to be the product of more internal
processes and has an overlying sense of "reminiscence" about it. This could
quite possibly be the cause of the albums title, since this is the first
release since the band relocated from Houston to Austin. The most notable
characteristic of the release is the absence of the psychedelic guitar that
seared across the music, and the electronic wizardry of Jason Bill, who left
the band to pursue his own ventures. Christina's vocals remain Houston's
standout, with a hushed whisper one track accompanied by only acoustic
guitar changing into a plaintive, ethereal wail. Now if only Charalambides
would begin to tour again.... - Carter Adams
SCORN, "[ANAMNESIS] : 1994-97"
Alas, a good Scorn release from Invisible Records. This release collects previous works of non-lp and rare recordings. The disc collects much from my personal favorite genre of Scorn material, the almost 'Dark, Evil Dub' type music. Tracks are taken from a Peel Session, various compilations, and some never before released mixes. The highlight (if not the best reason to drop the $12 on this release) is the Coil remix of "Dreamspace" (incorrectly typed on the cover as 'Dreamscape') previously only available on the 5x12" single set of 'Ellipsis'. - Jon Whitney
TRANS AM, "FUTUREWORLD"
The fourth full-length release from Trans Am see the band moving more in the direction of Atari 2600 than the last album. "Futureworld" is more Kraftwerk than Helmet - the band is using more primitive 80s electronics than metal bass and guitar licks. This time around there's even vocals, given they're all through a vocoder and almost completely incomprehensible. This album is fun and enjoyable but I don't consider it in the same league as 1996's breakthrough, "Surrender to the Night". The band's on tour with Pan Sonic soon and I highly recommend going to see the show because Trans Am have definately proven themselves to be hundreds of times more exciting on the stage than in the studio.
- Jon Whitney
RELEASES
Marc Almond - Open All Night CD (Bluestar, UK)
Funki Porcini - The Ultimatly Empty Million Pounds CD/2xLP (Ninja Tune, UK/Canada/US)
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada 12"/CDEP (Constellation, Canada - Kranky, US)
Ryoji Ikeda - 20' to 2000 Vol. 3 CDEP [ltd to 1000 copies] (Noton, Germany)
Ko-Wreck Technique [Push Button Objects & DJ Craze] - Ko-Wrecktion 12"/CDEP [with remix by Plaid] (Chocolate Industries, US)
Kreisel [Mike Ink] - Kreisel 99/13 7" [ltd edition] (Kreisel, Germany)
Low - Secret Name CD/2xLP [vinyl release to include two extra tracks] (Kranky, US)
Roy Montgomery/Chris Heaphy - True CD (Kranky, US)
Mogwai - Come On Die Young CD (Chemikal Undergound, UK)
Plaid - Peel Session 12"/CDEP (Warp, UK)
RA-X - Robot Revolution CD/LP (KK Trax, Belgium)
Bogdan Raczynski - Boku Mo Wakaran CD/LP (Rephlex, UK)
Steve Reich - Reich Remixed CD/2xLP [mixes by Coldcut, Howie B, Andrea Parker, Tranquility Bass, Mantronik, Ken Ishii, DJ Spooky and more] (Nonesuch, UK)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Talk About The Blues 12" [mixes by Automator, David Holmes and Zebra Ranch] (Mute, UK)
State of Bengal - Visual Audio CD/2xLP (One Little Indian, UK)
Various - Across Uneven Terrain: A Fat Cat Compilation CD [with Process, Fonn, Sons of the Sun, Live Human, Mice Parade, Immense, Transient Waves, Various Artists, Bjork/Funkstörung, Insync vs .Mysteron, and Grain] (Fat Cat, UK)
While - Lock 2x12"/CD [vinyl includes two tracks not on CD] (Chocolate Industries, US)
TUESDAY
* Aphex Twin - Window Licker VIDEO (Warp/Sire/Warner, Canada)
Atari Teenage Riot - t.b.a. CD (DHR/Elektra, US)
Roger Eno/Lol Hammond - Damage CD (Thirsty Ear, US)
Expansion Union [James Bernhard] - World Wide Funk CD (Wax Trax, US)
* The Fire This Time - Still Dancing on John Wayne's Head CD (Extreme, US)
Tomas Jirku - Immaterial MP3-LP/CD-R [to be made available at No Type website; CD-R ltd to 20 copies] (No Type, Canada)
Swans - Various Failures: 1989-1993 2xCD [anthology release featuring many alternate versions and rare tracks] (Young God, US)
David Sylvian - Dead Bees On A Cake CD (Virgin, US/Canada)
Various - The Wire Tapper 3 CD [packaged with April/99 issue of The Wire magazine; with To Rococo Rot, Gas, We, Model 500, Rothko, Supersilent, Thurston Moore & Evan Parker, Robert Ashley and more] (The Wire, UK)
Wildplanet - Transmitter CD/2xLP (430 West, US)
For a more comprehensive release schedule stretching far into the future, please check out the NEW RELEASES brought to you by Greg and Feedback Monitor.
REVIEWED
I wonder if Parker Posey picks bad movies just so she can steal the show and be the only redeemable character on the screen. Clockwatchers was drab and drawn out and only makes sense if you have been forced to work in the 'temp scene'. I've been there and I completely understand it, but the movie doesn't really move anywhere. Toni Colette (Muirel from Muriel's Wedding) stars as Iris, the new temp on the block, Lisa Kudrow plays a seasoned temp with some reality challenging issues, Parker Posey is the proverbial bad girl and Alanna Ubach plays a rather plain Jane who's fiancee is cheating on her. They're all pretty flat characters, the movie is about as dull as a business day, and the only positive thing is thinking how pathetic my life isn't.
- Jon Whitney
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
For once, I am pleased with the Oscar winner for Best Actor. The first role I saw Roberto Benigni in, he stole the scene and made worthwhile of a somewhat disappointing film, 1991's 'Night on Earth' from director Jim Jarmusch. In Life is Beautiful, Benigni directs and acts in what is described as a 'Holocaust fable'. He plays a vibrant slapstick goofy guy in the middle of the Holocaust, trying to help his son and his wife stay alive. The film is brilliant, entertaing, and gives a small amount of light to a side of the Holocaust (the Italian involvement) rarely seen in films or history lessons.
- Jon Whitney
Subject: NWW hacked?
It appears as though someone might have hacked a bit on the NWW site. The Image for the "Chance Meeting..." LP is fine on the .html page, but when you click on the cover to see the larger image, it is something totally different and somewhat bizarre.
I would never have noticed this, except I linked to it for an auction of this LP on ebay. Or, perhaps you guys changed it to give me a hard time - I dunno. I probably should have asked, or just scanned the image myself, but I figured it if already exists on the net, why clog it up a little more with duplicity...
Of course now I'll have zero luck with my ebay auction, but hey that's my problem, I guess!
Yes, I screwed with it. I thought it'd be more enjoyable than getting pissy and wanting a piece of your ridiculous profits!
Subject: I want an mp3 of yall
Thanks I love ya good bye
huh?
Subject: egyptian basses problem
I cannot download & play "Egyptian Basses" using the same procedure & software I used successfully for "Bee Has the Photos".
I am on a Macintosh G3/233 running MacOS 8.1. I am using Netscape 4 Communicator, & downloading the file by clicking & holding on the link, selecting "Save This Link As..." and setting the format as "Source" instead of "Text". I am using SoundApp to play the file. When I attempt to play "Egyptian Basses" the error message is "Invalid File Format". I have also tried using the MacZilla player (which supports MP3) with the same result).
I have tried using a SoundAppAutotyper droplet to set the file type to MP3, I have tried downloading the file as text & then trying to play it, I have tried using a MP3 reformatting tool (MusicVac) which is supposed to fix invalid MP3 file formats.
Any suggestions?
Use MACAMP (for Macs) or WINAMP (for PCs) for the MP3 files since I know each of them play all the files we have up there. If you're running any other OS's then I'm sorry if nothing works, you are aware of software issues when you choose to run Linux etc...
PLUG
Shanti Project is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, improving the well-being, and promoting the independence primarily of people living with HIV disease and AIDS.
Using both paid and volunteer staff, Shanti provides a wide range of services, including emotional and practical support, hospital-based counseling, peer advocacy, support for caregivers, recreation and transportation.
The Shanti Project Collection will feature 12 new, rare and favorite tracks from Red House Painters, Low, Hayden, Misc and Idaho. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD will go to Shanti Project of San Francisco.
You can order this from Badman Recording Co. before it hits the stores in June.
OF THE
WEEK
Then you haven't seen the Canonical List of Weird band names at home.earthlink.net/~chellec. The list is entertaining enough to keep you in tears for hours.
TWO WORLDS COLLIDE
The two biggest internet sensations: Flash and Porn collide here. Check out Fuck Force Five trailer at www.ff5.com/cgi-bin/loadURL.cgi/ff5:trailer.html/1366000120.
CELEBRITY
OF THE
WEEK
W. AXL ROSEHe was a singer in one of the biggest bands of the late 80s and early 90s. He even dated Monkee Micky Dolenz' daughter, of whom he was inspired to write the classic rock ballad "Sweet Child O Mine." But where is he now? There has been talk of him revitalizing his budding film career, since his stellar performance as an uncredited "mourning friend at a funeral" in 1988's The Dead Pool. There's also been some Hollywood insider information that points to him getting the corner square on the new Hollywood Squares.
YOUR CD
PLAYER?
In My Car CD Changer:
Coil - North
Fatboy Slim - You've Come A Long Way, Baby
Darck - Hypercubal
Aphex Twin - Window Licker
The Beta Band - The Three E.P.s
Muslimgauze - Hussein Mahmood Jeeb Tehar Gass
X Marks The Pedwalk - Drawback
Front Line Assembly - Caustic Grip
Nonplace Urban Field - Golden Star
Dead Voices On Air - Piss Frond (1st disc)
Unkle - Psyence Fiction
Period Three - Moving Systems
- Paul, faithful reader
Brainwashed Controlled Substances
PO Box 7
Arlington MA 02476
USA