archived brainwashed reviews
emptyset, “Skin” (Thrill Jockey, 2017)
This latest EP is something of a daring experimental coda to this year’s excellent Borders, as studio wizards James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas attempt to translate their crushing, frequency-saturated onslaught […]
Carla dal Forno, “The Garden” (Blackest Ever Black, 2017)
Carla dal Forno’s latest EP is an absolute stunner, distilling her dark pop genius into four perfect gems of dreamy, intimate, haunted, and endearingly ramshackle beauty. Aside from being four […]
Midwife, “Like Author, Like Daughter” (Whited Sepulchre, 2017)
I have to admit that I was legitimately blindsided by this latest project from Sister Grotto’s Madeline Johnston, but I would have been eagerly anticipating it if I had been […]
TALSounds, “Lovesick” (Ba Da Bing, 2017)
Natalie Chami is best known for being one-third of Chicago’s Good Willsmith, but she has also been a prolific solo artist, releasing a slew of cassettes on labels like Hausu […]
“Pop Makossa – The Invasive Dance Beat of Cameroon 1976-1984” (Analog Africa, 2017)
A new Analog Africa compilation is almost always a major event for me, particularly since the general trend is that they seem to get both better and more imaginative with […]
Wolf Eyes, “Strange Days II” (Lower Floor, 2017)
I am very much enjoying this new chapter of Wolf Eyes’ career, as this second release on their Lower Floor imprint is every bit as deliciously wrong-sounding as Undertow, yet […]
The Tear Garden, “The Brown Acid Caveat” (Metropolis/Sub-Conscious Communications, 2017)
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from a new Tear Garden album, as it has been nearly a decade since the last one and The Brown Acid Caveat […]
The Inward Circles, “Scaleby” (Corbel Stone Press, 2017)
This digital-only sister release to And Right Lines Limit and Close All Bodies is a suite of comparatively simple, warm, and straightforward drone pieces, which presumably explains why its companion […]