BRAINWASHED CONTEST!!
Be the first to identify the reference of Jon Whitney or Brainwashed in this month's issue of THE WIRE! (December, 1999) and WIN A PRIZE PACK FROM BRAINWASHED! The prize back includes:

• stickers
• postcards
• 7" singles
• a subway pass for Boston's MBTA, October 1999
• 1 8-Track cassette from Supertramp
• $4 in Camel Cash
• 3 losing scratch tickets

JESSICA ON 45s
Jessica Bailiff has a couple new 7" single releases which have finally seen the light of day. One's out through Star Star Stereo in the USA, the other's on the Bad Jazz label in the UK. Look at her website news for more info.

KRANKYNET GOES ONLINE
KRANKY.net is now live. Still hosted on our machines it now has it's own URL. Change all your bookmarks and tell all your friends.

RYOJI TOURING WITH ZOVIET FRANCE
Ryoji Ikeda is touring around the UK for the first time alongside veterans Zoviet France for the month of January. For the live performances, Ryoji is expected to collaborate with other members of Dumb Type for lighting and video projections. The tour coincides with the release of his forthcoming CD release "Matrix" on Touch in the UK. He has recently been commissioned to create a sound installation for the Millennium Dome in London.

PRE-ORDER SHIRTS STILL AVAILABLE
Yes, we're still trying to sell pre-orders for them Brainwashed shirts. Choose your style and color, but choose quick! Pre-orders close January 15th, so get them in ASAP please.

BEST OF '99
Did you notice something while clicking on the link to vote for the best of 1999. You're brought to that archive page that lists everything in our past issues. You know why? Cos people have been just voting on one CD, one movie, etc.. Perhaps people need suggestions because if you listened to only one new album or saw only one new movie in the last 12 months, you'd probably not be reading this to begin with! That said, take your time and think about your vote for the Best of '99! Results posted in the new year.

RED HOUSE PAINTERS CATALOGUE REISSUED
I can remember when, back in my sophomore year (which actually wasn't too terribly long ago), a friend of mine whom had been making some tapes for me in hopes of turning me on to some new musical styles made me a tape of this band Red House Painters. I'd only previously heard mention of them in slick magazines like SPIN and CMJ, so I was a bit worried that were just going to be another set of pretty boys drooled over by the mainstream-via-college-radio press.
What I found, though, was a band that had an amazing penchant for crafting beautiful songs with lyrics that were blatantly honest. Songs like "Uncle Joe" and "Grace Cathedral Park" quickly became the soundtrack to my adolescence, aiding me in late night study sessions and long drives in the north Georgia mountains. I always kind of kept a look out for their albums, but never really came acros them, finding that when I did, they seemed to be priced rather exhorbitantly.
Well, just this fall, the tape finally wore out on me and I was left with nothing. 4AD seemed to have sensed my hurt, coming to my aid with cheap rereleases of the four albums they did for the label.Down Colorful Hill, both eponymous records (the rollercoaster cover and the bridge cover) and Ocean Beach are great collections, each with their own standout tracks. In addition to classics like the two I mentioned earlier, songs like "San Geronimo," "Japanese to English," "Mistress," and a great cover of "I Am a Rock" make these four albums a must have for anyone.
Mark Kozelek, the driving force behind this San Francisco band, is an absolutely amazing songwriter, and his sparse arrangements that include everything from guitar-bass-drums to acoustic piano and string arrangements complement the music, giving it an austere quality that lingers in your memory, making you think of silent 8mm films and yellowed pictures. Now that these pieces are back in print, each should be bought, listened to, mulled over, and enjoyed for their sublime beauty and piercingly honest songs. - Carter Adams

SOFA SURFERS, "CARGO"
Surfers amazingly top that album's brilliance. Cutting off all the jazz, soundscapes, big beat fat that hung from "Transit", the Surfer's heavily dub-influenced sound seems much darker. To those not familiar with this band, imagine Underworld immersed in dub and post-rock experimentation, and you're halfway there. Utilizing both live instruments and programmed sounds/beats, the quartet sculpts tripped-out mood funk. As with "Transit", the tunes with actual vocals (most songs feature vocal snippets, usually sampled old reggae toasts) are few; "If It Were Not For You" and "Sweat" feature "dub poet" Victor Oshioke's haunting deadpan, which brings to mind the way Jim Carroll described William Burroughs speech- like splintery wood, slowly splitting. The single, "Beans And Rice", with it's dubbed-out drum'n'bass with live percussion, can't even be ruined by Songbird's slightly bothersome nasally vocal. Nope, this album is bulletproof even with the one-off bad vocal. As with "Transit", it doesn't look as though "Cargo" will be picked up as a domestic release. Too bad. However, in my opinion, this album warrants paying absolutely ridiculous import prices. The best of '99! - Jason Olariu

MAGNETIC FIELDS, "69 SONGS ABOUT LOVE"
Wrapping up the year, there's a few things that went unmentioned that might need just a little bit of recognition. If you don't like Magnetic Fields, this album isn't going to win you over, especially since it's three albums worth of new material! Released initially as a 3-CD set, this collection was later split up but has recently been reunited in the box. 69 Songs About Love offers a wide variety of Stephin Merritt tunes ranging from the queer themed guitar based pop rock tunes like "When My Boy Walks Down the Street", a half-minute voice only ditty on the second disc's opener "Roses", a double bass and accordion improvisational sounding, "Love is Like Jazz," Nick Cave/Michael Gira esque anthems like "Busby Berkeley Dreams," "I Don't Believe in the Sun," "Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old," and "Grand Canyon." Swirling keyboard melodies like "You're Only Home" and thumpy disco ditties like "Long Forgotten Fairytale" seem to pay homage to the early 80s sounds of Yazoo (Yaz to the Americans) while other simple heart-felt melodies could easily be Velvet Underground tributes. There's no one sound to pinpoint Magnetic Fields down to and the variety on this collection showcases their abilities quite nicely to play different instruments and styles. Each album stands good on its own, but the collection should be experienced together. The collection stands as a good argument to just do it - just record all those songs that have been running through your head and let them all out! But then again you could end up like Prince and do a few 3 and 4 CD sets with 75% junk,... - Jon Whitney

TWILIGHT CIRCUS, "IN DUB VOL. 1"
Back in print is the classic stunning debut from Legendary Pink Dots' Ryan Moore's Twilight Circus Dub Soundsystem. In Dub Vol. 1 is an excursion on instrumental dub echoing the styles and steps of the old school days of Lee "Scratch" Perry and On-U Sound greats like African Head Charge and the Dub Syndicate. The beats are simple, the delays are hypnotizing, the instruments are basic and simple and the feel is simply magical. You can't lose with any Twilight Circus release and here's the gem that started it all for Ryan Moore. - Jon Whitney

WHARTON TIERS ENSEMBLE, "TWILIGHT OF THE COMPUTER AGE"
Consistent with the packaging are the notes on the back of this CD, "Five guitars, sax, bass and drums. (Vocals not included.)" This disc provides some powerful straight-ahead pounding guitar and sax rock. There's somewhat of a post-modern jazz crossed with 60s film chase theme music influence but it's considerably more commercially accessible and consistent than something like Zorn's Naked City records. It's quite enjoyable, driving and lets up for air every now and again. Clocking in around 40 minutes, it doesn't drag on too long nor feel too short.- Jon Whitney

BROADCAST, "ECHO'S ANSWER"
Here's something entirely too short! On the first tune the vocals are pretty and the keyboard melodies are gentle while haunting at the same time, a charming short piece. The second track sounds like a really smooth moderate paced drums, bass, rhythms and electronics jam, starting off slow and picking up to a mesmerising head bobbing beat and drone combo. Neither tracks have song titles listed. While I really enjoy both tunes, I feel somewhat jipped that Warp would release a 2-track CD single clocking in at 9 minutes, only to have it pop up here in the USA for between $5 and $9. Okay, so it's Broadcast and the salivating fans have been waiting years for something to be released, and a new album is on it's way but these tracks are screaming for at least two more songs to round out the EP. I'm waiting for the full lengther but this single can safely be avoided - save your cash.- Jon Whitney

CYLOB, "LIVING IN THE 1980s"
I hated this kind of music in the 80s and I'm no closer to being a fan of it now. This single drudges up music once all over the top 40 airwaves that forced many a teenager to begin to listen to Cure, Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen and New Order. Living in the 1980s might be released on Aphex's Rephlex label but this single is most certainly not cool. A female vocalist sings simple words over a Latin-dance beat with primitive drum machines, a la Shannon's "Let the Music Play" or any boppy tunes from Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam or others. The b-side, "Sex Machine" is another boppy disco-influenced 80s style nauseating beat with a speak and spell telling you how much of a Sex Machine he is. Okay, maybe some people might be into the camp value, but to me it's tired, worthless, unnecessary and not even serious enough to warrant spending any money on. - Jon Whitney

OVUCA, "LACTAVENT"
They'd say: 'He indeed was a promising new artist, until it came to the artwork of his debut album...' Or so the back cover of this 2X12" LP states. But with twenty-two tracks in the vicinity of 50 minutes total track time, Aleksi Perälä makes up for the childish artwork in catchy arcade dance tracks. And lord only knows I'm a sucker for destroying enemy spaceships. Very reminiscent of early Caustic Window releases with a bit of lush ambience thrown in the mix allowing you to catch your breath just long enough before the drill 'n bass button is turned back on. Although somewhat primitive with no unique style or sound, OVUCA's tracks sound like filler for such acts as CYLOB or Squarepusher, and that's not half bad. This record did do something for me, if not to bring my mind back to such games as Moonpatrol or Asteroids, then to remind me (AGAIN) that not everything has to be completely fresh and new. By being presented with a tweaked version of our memories, a smile can possibly land on your face too. - Klint Dixon

We know that sometimes these CDs are somewhat challenging to find, which is why we have a RECOMMENDED STORES section which can be used to obtain nearly everything available on the site.

MONDAY
Blackalicious - Nia Remixes CD/2xLP (Mo'Wax, UK)
COH - Vox Tinnitus CDEP [ltd edition of 500 copies; with guest appearances by Coil and Annie Anxiety] (Noton/Raster, Germany)
Erasure - Singles Box 1 5xCDEP [featuring CDEPs for Who Needs Love Like That, Heavenly Action, Oh, L'Amour, Sometimes and It Doesn't Have To Be] (Mute, UK)
Erasure - Singles Box 2 5xCDEP [featuring CDEPs for Victim Of Love, The Circus, Ship Of Fools, Chains Of Love and A Little Respect] (Mute, UK)
Kreisel [Mike Ink and friends]- Kreisel 99/50 7" [ltd edition] (Kreisel, Germany)
Quannum - I Changed My Mind 12" (Mo'Wax, UK)
South - Sight Of Me/Better Things 7" (Mo'Wax, UK)

TUESDAY
* Krust - Coded Language CD (Mercury, US)
Marumari - Ballad of the Round Ball CD/LP (Carpark, US)
Stephen Philips - In The Moonlight CD (Dark Duck, US)
So Takahashi - Nubus CD/LP (Carpark, US)

SATURDAY
* Various - Warp 10+1: Influences 2xCD (Warp/Sony Techno, Japan)
* Various - Warp 10+2: Classics 2xCD (Warp/Sony Techno, Japan)
* Various - Warp 10+3: Remixes 2xCD (Warp/Sony Techno, Japan)

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.

THE THE
Yes, you read correctly, Matt Johnson and Co. have been popping up all over the place doing surprise shows as part of the "warm up tour" before the new album, Naked Self gets released in the new year. For this show Johnson's lineup consisted of all new players backing him up on guitar, bass and drums. Nothing fancy this time around, no slick harmonica players nor ex-Smiths guitarists - just Matt Johnson, his rock music and you. The set consisted of nearly all completely new songs, hard with the rock edge yet remeniscent of Infected and Mind Bomb days. The guitar riffs are punchy with a Middle Eastern melodic influence while the song structures are blocky and rigid, the vocals are always personal. Nobody can deliver the passion quite like Matt Johnson, a man who recorded one of my favorite albums of all time at the tender age of 17. (Burning Blue Soul, fyi was a the layered masterpiece with swirling melodies, guitar drones, drum machines, brilliant effects play with Johnson singing songs bleeding with powerful teen angst through a jaded mind's eye.) After years of waiting for all new material, I'm anxiously anticipating the return of The The. - Jon Whitney

STEREOLAB, JIM O'ROURKE
After three days of cancelled shows and illness recovering, Stereolab jumped back into the live ring for the show in Boston. An opening set from Jim O'Rourke and friends proved to be more than just an educated noodling guitarist showcasing his virtuoso talents. This was a pop set from Jim and from what I could catch of it (thanks to the line going around the entire block) was wonderful. Stereolab took to the stage with Laetitia obvioulsy struggling to hold back coughs and sputters here and there. Aside from that, the groop played their original brand of pop, rocking loud and live and more distorted than on the clean recent records. The setup: three guys in the back line - the phenomenal new bassist and drummer never missing a beat and Tim Gane providing the main guitar work, the three girls in the front: Morgan on the keyboards, Latitia singing and playing her vintage Moog and Mary Hansen. Hansen is probably the most overlooked Lab member but she's seemingly that magical superglue that holds things together - her occasional guitar work, percussion playing, and her own style of backup vocals (merely uttering syllables rather than singing full dialogues) make Stereolab much more than your typical Brit rock band with a chesty French frontwoman. The set consisted mainly of older tunes but for the couple they chose off the new album made me start to respect "Cobra and Phases" a little more. If you're in NYC, don't miss the three-night sweep later this week and if you're in Detroit, Toronto or Monreal, don't despair as the Lab should be back early next year with any luck. - Jon Whitney

A CAN CHRISTMAS PRESENT
For those Can fans, Can has uploaded a free temporary downloadable Christmas present to all the good little boys and girls with sound cards. You can hear their version of "Silent Night" at www.spoonrecords.com.

Steven who?