archived brainwashed reviews
Esplendor Geométrico, “Arispejal Astisaró” (Geometrik, 1992)
Recently remastered and reissued on their own Geometrik label with radically different cover art and some bonus tracks, this classic 1992 album captures EG in their noisy, rhythmic industrial prime. […]
Severed Heads, “City Slab Horror” (Ink (1985)/Nettwerk (1989)/Medical Records (2014))
Much to my delight, Medical Records has recently reissued two of the arguable jewels of the Severed Heads’ discography: 1983’s Since the Accident and this effort from 1985. Both hail […]
Lawrence English, “Wilderness of Mirrors” (Room40, 2014)
I hate to use the phrase “return to form” to describe this album, as I have enjoyed most of Lawrence English’s divergent recent efforts quite a bit, but Wilderness of […]
Brock Van Wey, “Home” (Echospace, 2014)
Five years ago, this San Francisco DJ/producer released quite a massive, remarkable, and distinctive ambient epic called White Clouds Drift On and On, his first album under his own name. […]
Bremen, “Second Launch” (Blackest Ever Black, 2014)
This sprawling double-album is the second release from this Swedish guitar/organ space-rock duo and it absolutely floored me. Built primarily from improvisations, Bremen largely avoids most of the jamminess, heavy-handedness, […]
Kareem, “The Sky Is Gone But You Are Still Here” (Zhark, 2014)
A lot of excellent music has come from the recent spate of noise musicians turning beat-ward, but there are also a number of comparatively underappreciated and overlooked techno artists like […]
William Basinski, “Melancholia” (Temporary Residence, 2014)
Newly released on vinyl for the first time (now with actual cover art!), this aptly titled 2003 album shares a surprising amount of common ground with last year’s Nocturnes. The […]
The Skull Defekts, “Dances in Dreams of the Known Unknown” Thrill Jockey, 2014)
This latest Daniel Higgs-era full-length is in some ways a logical progression from 2011’s memorable Peer Amid, offering up another healthy dose of muscular avant-rock and bizarre shamanic stream-of consciousness […]