archived brainwashed reviews
Russian Tsarlag, “Gagged in Boonesville” (Not Not Fun, 2013)
I suspect Not Not Fun deliberately release one album every year that I would absolutely love, hoping that I will miss it in order to punish me for not paying […]
Tim Hecker, “Virgins” (Kranky, 2013)
It is hard to believe that Tim Hecker is still managing to pull fresh rabbits out of his hat seven solo albums into his career, but Virgins is an expectation-defying […]
Disappears, “Era” (Kranky, 2013)
This Chicago band’s career trajectory has been a singularly impressive and curious one, as they have somehow managed to continually reinvent their sound while still getting exponentially better with each […]
My Cat is an Alien, “Psycho-System” (Elliptical Noise, 2013)
The Opalio brothers are certainly no strangers to uncompromising, indulgent mindfuckery, but their latest effort is extreme even by their own standards. Stretched out across six discs, Roberto and Maurizio […]
Muslimgauze, “Islamic Songs” and “Tandoor Dog” (Staalplaat, 2013)
Staalplaat’s latest pair of excavations from Muslimgauze’s supernaturally bottomless vault is a bit of a surprise, as these two albums contain some of the best material to surface from the […]
“Afrobeat Airways 2: Return Flight to Ghana 1974-1983” (Analog Africa, 2013)
This sequel to 2010’s fine Afro-Beat Airways delivers still more Fela-free gems from Ghana’s golden age, which is (of course) is exactly what I wanted and expected. While many of […]
Andrew Chalk & Tom James Scott, “Wild Flowers” (Skire, 2013)
In classic Andrew Chalk fashion, this wonderful new collaboration quietly surfaced last month on an extremely small label (Scott’s own Skire imprint) and very nearly slipped by me entirely. These […]
Born of Six, “Svapiti” (Important, 2013)
Catherine Christer Hennix has certainly had a very curious career, to say the least: she worked at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence lab in the ’70s, was a research professor in mathematics […]