Brainwashed is a not-for-profit music website supporting eclectic music. Brainwashed features news, reviews, a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, hosts

websites A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...

for many musical artists and record labels, and has organized two music festivals, Brainwaves. Over fifty people contribute to the archives of Brainwashed. Brainwashed also releases music as Brainwashed Recordings.

History

Brainwashed.com was launched on April 16, 1996 for the purpose of hosting Web sites for various musical artists. The sites contained news, discography, press releases, interviews, photos, merchandise, sound files, lyrics, tour dates when available. The original sites included

Meat Beat Manifesto Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened as Meat Beat, Manifesto or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens that was formed in 1987 in Swindon, United Kingdom. The band, fronted by Dangers (the only ...

Greater Than One Greater Than One is an English electronic music band, founded by husband and wife Michael Wells and Lee Newman in 1985. They released many albums under this name, and also under the names Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Sign ...

, Coil,

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

The Legendary Pink Dots The Legendary Pink Dots (LPD) are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. In 1984, the band moved to Amsterdam, playing with rotating musicians and having, as core members, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Edward Ka- ...

, Nurse With Wound,

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

, and Cabaret Voltaire. Sites like Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, and the Legendary Pink Dots were recognized by the artists as official at the time and the URLs were printed in numerous releases, others like Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound, Current 93, and Cabaret Voltaire weren't regarded as official, however were, at the time, the most comprehensive sources for those acts and were often referenced in books (such as ''Wreckers of Civilisation: The Story of COUM Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle'' by Simon Ford and ''England's Hidden Reverse'' by David Keenan) and magazine articles (such as ones from ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

''). In 1997, Brainwashed began hosting web sites for record labels including Kranky, RRRecords,

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

, and Happy Go Lucky Records, and later hosted sites for

Tigerbeat6 Tigerbeat6 is a San Francisco and Berlin based independent and (mostly) electronic record label run by Kid606 (Miguel De Pedro). The label is run as a DIY operation and releases a variety of electronic music styles, including noisecore, intelli ...

, Important Records, and

World Serpent Distribution World Serpent Distribution was a British record label and music distribution house formed in the 1990s by David Gibson, Alan Trench and Alison Webster. Douglas Pearce of Death In June coined the company name in 1991, ''World Serpent'' being anot ...

. In 1998, Brainwashed launched The Brain, a weekly digest of music news, reviews, new releases, tour dates, and other information about some of the artists and labels hosted on Brainwashed. ''The Brain'' was folded into Brainwashed.com in 2005.

Brainwashed Recordings

In 1999, Brainwashed began a small recording label as an extension of the website to issue short run releases of acts who had pages on brainwashed.com.

Brainwashed Handmade releases

Brainwashed Recordings also has a series, Brainwashed Handmade, which features low run CDs in letter-pressed sleeves.

Brainwashed Archives releases

Brainwashed Recordings also has a sub-label, Brainwashed Archives, which specializes in deluxe remastered reissues.

Killer Pimp releases

Brainwashed Recordings also has a sub-label, Killer Pimp, which has released albums by Kate Mosh, Noise/Girl, Blood Money, and A Place To Bury Strangers.

Brainwashed Radio and podcast

In 2000, Brainwashed launched a 24-hour streaming radio station which featured music from the artists and labels that were hosted at brainwashed.com. The stream was discontinued in 2004. The first episode of ''Brainwashed Radio: The Podcast Edition'' was published on December 4, 2004. It primarily features music reviewed and promoted on Brainwashed.com. New episodes are produced and published on average on a weekly basis. In 2016, the podcast incorporated interviews from musical artists on several episodes.

The Eye

The Eye was a video segment that was launched first on May 4, 2003, featuring miniature documentaries on musical acts containing interviews and live footage. Nearly 150 segments were produced.

Brainwaves Festival

The Brainwaves Festival took place on November 17–19, 2006, at the Regent Theater in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

, to celebrate the first 10 years of Brainwashed.com. Performing artists included

Z'EV Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indust ...

, Nadja,

Troum Troum is a German project of drone music, ambient music, noise music, and experimental music. It was founded in the late 1990s by Stefan Knappe ( Baraka and Martin Gitschel (a.k.a. Glit h). It is sometimes considered to be the follow-up proj ...

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; addi ...

, Cock ESP,

Howard Stelzer Howard Stelzer is a composer of electronic music, whose work is made primarily from sounds generated by cassette tapes and tape players. From 1997 until 2012, he ran the independent record label Intransitive Recordings. Early years Stelzer be ...

V/Vm V/Vm is the experimental music and sound collage project of Leyland James Kirby, from Stockport, England. Although starting out mainly in the style of noise music, Kirby is also a composer of original electronic music and remixes. His vast ...

Goodiepal Goodiepal or Gæoudjiparl van den Dobbelsteen, whose given name is Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester, is a Danish/Faroese experimental electronic musician, performance artist, composer and lecturer, as well as a self-described horologist. His work engag ...

, Greg Davis,

Keith Fullerton Whitman Keith Fullerton Whitman (born May 29, 1973) is an American electronic musician who has recorded albums influenced by many genres, including ambient music, drill and bass, and krautrock. He records and performs using many aliases, of which the ...

Landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...

Aranos Aranos is a town in the Hardap Region of central South east Namibia. The place normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured. Politics Until 2010 Aranos was governed by a 5-seat village cou ...

Volcano the Bear Volcano the Bear are an improvisational/experimental English band formed in Leicester in 1995. The group's members are Aaron Moore (drums, trumpet, vocals), Nick Mott (saxophone, guitar, vocals), Clarence Manuelo ( tapes, electronics) and Dani ...

Jessica Bailiff Jessica Bailiff is an American singer-songwriter from Toledo, Ohio. Her music is largely classified as slowcore, although it contains elements of post-rock and shoegaze. Bailiff was discovered by Low's Alan Sparhawk, who recommended her ear ...

, Christoph Heemann,

Windy & Carl Windy & Carl is an American ambient duo based in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Overview Cited as "a leading light of the Michigan space-rock scene" by AllMusic, the minimalist group formed in 1993 around the core husband-and-wife duo of ...

, and

Thighpaulsandra Timothy Lewis – best known by the stage name Thighpaulsandra – is a Welsh experimental musician and multi-instrumentalist, known mostly for performing on synthesizers and keyboards. He began his career working with Julian Cope in the late ...

. A second Brainwaves Festival took place on November 21–23, 2008, at the Regent Theater again. Performing artists included

Marissa Nadler Marissa Nadler (born April 5, 1981) is an American musician and fine artist. Active since 2000, she is currently signed to Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union, and released her ninth full-length studio album, ''The Path of the Clouds'', in Oc ...

Silver Apples Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon (born Simeon Oliver Coxe III, June 4, 1938 – September 8, 2020), who performed ...

Glenn Jones Glenn Jones (born September 27, 1962 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American R&B/soul singer. He is best known for his songs "Show Me", "We've Only Just Begun (The Romance Is Not Over)" and "Here I Go Again" which reached No. 1 on the Billboa ...

, Nmperign,

Major Stars Major Stars is an American psychedelic rock band from greater Boston, Massachusetts. Their first live performance was in 1997 at the inaugural Terrastock Festival in Providence, Rhode Island. They toured Japan in 2000 with Overhang Party. In ...

Rivulets Rivulets is the stage name of minimalist singer-songwriter Nathan Amundson. Biography Rivulets was the first artist signed to Low's Chairkickers Union record label in 2001. He then released his first, self-titled album in 2002 and DEBRIDEMENT ...

, Gary Wilson,

His Name Is Alive His Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band/project from Livonia, Michigan. After several self-released cassettes, they debuted on 4AD Records in 1990, starting a long run at the label. Throughout the band's long history, leader Warre ...

Andrew Liles Andrew Liles (born 11 March 1969) is a British sound artist and multi-instrumentalist. He has a vast output of recordings that he has released since the mid-1980s, covering a variety of styles as experimental music, dark ambient music, progr ...

, Reformed Faction,

Little Annie Ann Robie Bandes (born c. 1961), better known as Little Annie, Annie Anxiety or Annie Anxiety Bandez, is a New York-born singer, songwriter, painter, poet, writer, performing and recording artist, pastor and stage actor. Career Early career: ...

The Threshold HouseBoys Choir The Threshold HouseBoys Choir was a musical guise for Peter Christopherson, announced in 2005 as a follow-up endeavor to his former group Coil. Despite the name, it was a solo project which relied heavily on computer-generated vocals, of whic ...

Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...

, Windy Weber and

Benoit Pioulard Thomas Meluch (born August 4, 1984) is an American multi-instrumentalist, writer, and photographer, best known by his pseudonym Benoît Pioulard. His music signed to Kranky Records. Biography Meluch began documenting field recordings and ...

Nudge Nudge or Nudging may refer to: Arts * Nudge (band), an American electronic rock band * Nudge, a character from the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson * "Nudge Nudge", a sketch from the third ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' * Gerald "Nudge" N ...

, Boduf Songs, and

Stars of the Lid Stars of the Lid is an American ambient music duo consisting of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie. The duo formed in Austin, Texas in 1993. They have been acclaimed for their music incorporating droning, effects-treated guitars along with piano, st ...

References

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External links

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Brainwashed Radio - The Podcast Edition
{{Authority control Online music magazines published in the United States Internet properties established in 1996 1996 establishments in the United States American record labels Music podcasts Music festivals established in 2006 Electronic music festivals in the United States 2004 podcast debuts