archived brainwashed reviews
emptyset, “Borders” (Thrill Jockey, 2017)
Emptyset has always been a project that I felt weirdly guilty about not appreciating more, as they seemed like a more cerebral and mercilessly deconstructed twist on the UK’s industrial-damaged […]
Expo Seventy, “America Here & Now Sessions” (Essence, 2017)
It occurred to me the other day that there was an incredible wave of great, experimentally minded solo guitarists several years back (Area C, Black Eagle Child, Talvihorros) that has […]
Esplendor Geométrico, “Fluida Mekaniko” (Geometrik, 2017)
I can think of few bands that are as cheerfully single-minded in their aesthetic vision as Esplendor Geométrico. In fact, I suspect I could have written a remarkably accurate (if vague) […]
Rashad Becker, “Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II” (PAN, 2017)
Rashad Becker’s 2013 debut album was a singular and radical work of art, resembling nothing less than field recordings from a sinister extra-dimensional jungle. For this follow-up, however, he apparently […]
William Basinski, “A Shadow in Time” (Temporary Residence, 2017)
Few current artists are as consistent and reliably absorbing as William Basinski, as he has carved a wonderful career out of conjuring work of hypnotic beauty from simple, well-chosen snippets […]
*AR, “Earth By Means of the Currents” (Corbel Stone Press/Aeolian Editions, 2016)
Richard Skelton was atypically quiet in 2016, as he and Autumn Richardson seemed to be focusing primarily upon their publishing ventures, poetry, visual art, and Skelton’s esoteric and multifarious research […]
Ian William Craig, “Centres” (FatCat/130701, 2016)
It has taken me an embarrassingly long time to finally acknowledge the sublime brilliance of Vancouver-based polymath Ian William Craig, but he certainly has not made it easy, as every […]
Radian, “On Dark Silent Off” (Thrill Jockey, 2016)
It has been seven years since these Viennese avant-rock deconstructionists last surfaced with a proper full-length release, so I was not quite sure what to expect with this album, particularly […]