archived brainwashed reviews
“Panama! 3- Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Tipica on the Isthmus 1960-75” (Soundway, 2012)
This is allegedly the swansong for Soundway’s excellent Panama! series—an unexpected choice, given that this rich vein of material doesn’t show the slightest sign of being exhausted (perhaps the compilers […]
Kevin Drumm, “Relief” (Editions Mego, 2012)
It has been a full decade since Drumm’s last solo album on Mego (2002’s massive and career-defining Sheer Hellish Miasma) and quite a bit has changed in the noise world […]
Expo ’70, “Beguiled Entropy” (Blackest Rainbow, 2012)
When I think of Justin Wright’s Expo ’70 project, I instantly think of two things: “improv” and “guitar.” That is something I probably need to cure myself of: while Beguiled […]
Personable, “Spontaneous Generation” (Peak Oil, 2012)
Ged Gengras has been a somewhat ubiquitous and integral figure in the LA music scene for the last several years, contributing his varied talents to artists as disparate as LA […]
Natural Snow Buildings, “Night Coercion into the Company of Witches” (Self-Released/Ba Da Bing, 2008)
As far as Natural Snow Buildings-related albums go, this sprawling reissue ranks as a pretty monumental and eagerly anticipated event. Originally released in a crazily limited edition of only 22, […]
TwinSisterMoon, “Bogyrealm Vessels” (Handmade Birds, 2012)
The trajectory of Natural Snow Buildings continues to amaze me with each new album, as Mehdi and Solange seem to grow more and more inventive and skilled at composition every […]
C.S. Yeh, “Transitions” (De Stijl, 2012)
My appreciation of Spencer Yeh has increased in recent years due to his clear disinterest in re-covering familiar and expected territory. Nowhere is that creative restlessness more conspicuously on display […]
Pete Swanson, “Pro Style” (Type, 2011)
This EP pretty much picks up exactly where last year’s fine Man With Potential left off, once again combining furiously thumping house beats with stuttering, skittering noise. It is more […]