RADIATOR REVIEWS: Brain Mountain - Galactic Rotation

Where to even start a review; on an album that takes a full 90 minutes to listen to/ which has 53 tracks each one a surprisingly different, inventive, short burst of imaginative songwriting? Songs typically around 1:30, with a few exceptions. The fact that the title track "Galactic Rotation" (clocking in at around 3mins) is one of the most epic tracks here, speaks volumes about this record. Make no mistake, this is Brain Mountain's Opus. A Sprawling Double LP on one CD. A Full CD length of Data and minutes. Where have you been all my life Golactic Rotation? Your like the Pink Floyd Album I really wanted to hear when i was listening to Animals, on Vinyl.... sounded sweet. Would you actually believe that in 90 mins Brain Mountain has invented 50 (or so) different genres, or is it all just one weird mega-song thats separated by each dramatic shift in Mountain's process? He's an alternate persona in his music, but he admits to it and often times breaks this with almost uncomfortable intimacy, and lyrics so simple they transcend ordinary symbolism and reach for raw thought. I feel something quite universal about this sound as it cuts to the core of human emotion, and jumps all over the place in a sonic sense as well as in the emotions Brain Mountain explores. Not to mention the level of creative control apparent in Brain Mountain's production, which makes a home studio sound come eerily close to sounding like a pro studio. Yes, yes, yes. Track after Track after Track of the some of the best material Brain Mountain has recorded. His voice is unmistakable, and the transitions are mind-blowing and sporatic. Double entendres, hidden messages abound, each track is embedded with replayability, but with the sheer volume of tracks and ideas on this album theres no need to rush, there are plenty of tracks to go around now and plenty leftover for later. One song will sound like The Eagles then the next, Will Smith... At other points in Galactic Rotation are classic folk style guitar with creepy slightly auto-tune vocals. Brain sings about everything from "Is their a meaning to our lives, or just a scientific reason?", and "some call it god, but I say sun, Some people think the universe is one, I can tell you, thats the truth" to completely silly non sequiters like

"go down to your town hall and put yourself on the steps and take out your big ol bag of weed and smoke it to your face. And If the fuzz shall come and say 'you'll have to come with us' just say 'man i'm just trying to live, and offer them a puff.'"

Sometimes its walls of superfuzz electric guitar, sometimes its "World News" which, better than any experimental track i have ever heard, characterizes the world news media as an incoherent and spiritually vacant clusterfuck. Once again in terms of musical exploration and general genre-defyment Brain Mountain Delivers an Incredible 90 minute Masterpiece, to the point where this is no longer music this is someone's soul. ∞.∞

Brain Mountain - Galactic Rotation

Brain Mountain - Something Else We Can Work On

Brain Mountain - Flat Ground

Brain Mountain - Enlightenment

Brain Mountain - The Operator

Brain Mountain - Transmissions Get Lost

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2012

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Moon//Mountain - Teepee E.P.

Full Download

::LibraSounds. There is a dark grungy side, the side we all know. Lo-fi compression, noisy textures fading in and out, gritty distorted vocals, folky guitar and general cult activity. But then another side emerges in the form of crystal-clear, hi-fi, made-for-cd recording that Brain Mountain and Renaissance Sun deliver in Moon//Mountain. The Teepee featured on the front cover was the genesis of Rain/(Sun), of which Brain Mountain and Thom Lopes (ren. sun) are members.

Renaissance Sun - Golden Top

The record begins with the earthy "Golden Top". Right away the focus is on notation and the rising melody of golden top suits the imagery. "I think its time to see the top of this mount" Ren. Sun's side is centered from the beginning like one larger idea than the individual tracks. Transitioning from the naturalist mantra into oceanic space travel on "Her Revolution" makes for a very strong opening. "Solstice" sounds like astral alignment.

Renaissance Sun - Golden Dawn

"Golden Dawn" is a crazy free-association between the dystopian reality of homogenization and fast food with the teachings of Aliester Crowley. "Corn feeds the world on its golden wings" raises a good point about the illusion of variety in our supermarkets. Moon//Mountain as a whole is equal parts melody/composition and a very high level of production/mixing. the cosmic vision takes you from a root in the ground and leaves you stranded in anomalous space/time and lucid dreaming. 9.1

Renaissance Sun - Rain Dawn

On to Brain Mountains Side, which has a distinctly stripped down sound. Jangly guitar, hand percussion, no-bass, and Brain's signature high-pitched background vocals drenched in reverb blend with the smokey raspy irishness of his voice. Brain provides an uncluttered mix with focus on notes and lyrical content. "Dream To Sun" is a particularly memorable.

Brain Mountain - Dream To The Sun

Brain Mountain - ~~~

Brain Mountain - Shine

Brain Mountains songs are usually either uplifting or beyond sadness like "Key Of E" the tracks jump between these two extremes and Brain is Direct in his delivery, however there is significantly less to enjoy on the Mountain side compared to the Moon side. 7.0

"magic mountain of my dreams spread yourself beyond, infiltrate the minds of those who cannot feel your bond" (Magic Mountain)

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2010

Brain Mountain - Transmissions Get Lost

In this video we have an authentic and epic performance from the one, the only, Brain Mountain. Captured by one EbenezerTheLobster from a Pelham Massachussetts Bar/Venue. The performance is capped with some spontaneous interplay with local guitarist/Dandy Zander bassist, Justin Martins, hopping on the drum set and a mysterious lead guitarist chiming in adding a nice touch to what I feel like is a fully realized songwriting arc. If you can understand a few of the lyrics, Brain mountain is speaking straight from the heart about who he is and what he struggles with and the nuances of being human, and what it means to be an artist, all culminating to a single thought or epiphany. "Because emotion and thought, are two different things. Transmissions get lost in the nerve endings." But does so in a way that does not come off as self-obsessed or manufactured to be relatable or easily accessible. In a fashion similar to John Lennon or Wayne Coyne, is that what is most compelling about his music is its honesty and courage in creating something that will reach out and touch those of us who love to think and listen to music. Brain Mountain is unguarded in the topics he explores all incredibly personal. Some people will watch this video and say "so what?" or "this sucks", which is fine. Great art usually gets a mixed response, an usually isnt appreciated correctly until the artist is gone. Just check out the look of pure joy and actualization on Brain's face, that can't be manufactured, can't be denied._Mohamed El-Darwish

Brain Mountain - Transmissions Get Lost

Brain Mountain - Something Else For Us To Work On

A wave of particles dancing like smoke in the outskirts of the universe, oscillating within your mind. An echo of self denial hovering with synthesizers soaring over such a sweet beat, a guitar solo orbiting in it’s own galaxy, and spiraling surreal vocals sliding up and down mountain ranges of the brain._Glenn La Race Jr.

Brain Mountain's ideas really do seem to come from the edge of a certain frontier, call it the Mind, the Self, Space, God, what have you. The production may be seemingly over-sweetened at times, it is very "un-hip", Mountain is just being himself. If its not Cool, The pristine instrumentation and heart-hitting vocals however combine to create something deeply personal with a purity and depth as vast as space itself. Not an easy feat, but brain mountain makes it look easy._Mohamed El-Darwish

Brain Mountain - Something Else For Us To Work On

Brain Mountain - Time Travellers, The Crumble

Time Travellers


In "Time Travellers" Brain Mountain sings "would you like to come with me to the future?". The use of backmasking here helps make this track especially trippy. look for trademark elements of Brain Mountain's recent songwriting style; short songs, spacey noises, very characteristic multi-track vocals, long dramatic fades. I Feel like Brain Mountain has a personality suited towards time travel simply because he seems to have lived in the past and the distant future at the same time, yet when i see him he is always in the present recording these brilliant tracks one by one._Mohamed El-Darwish

The Crumble

Brain Mountain Builds Noise Machine

Brain Mountain has devised this new device, he calls is the Touchbot. In this segment he demonstrates and tests its capabilities

demonstration


Brain Mountain - Mad Scientist

Welcome To Brain Mountain Studios

Radiator (south) is proud to announce the opening of its first recording studio to the public. It is a bedroom studio located on a nexus of powerful cosmic energy on a mountain in Western Massachusetts. Run by gifted music engineers, it is a perfect place for new bands or solo artists to record high quality demos and masters. The room itself is like a museum, with painted walls covered with various creative masterpieces. 20 odd speakers are set up in various places within the room and are all connected to a powerful computer. The studio is fully stocked with quarter-inch/xlr cables, an organ, synths, keyboard, vintage electric and acoustic guitars, amps, pedals, kaoss pad, compresser/limiter and eqs. The Lead Engineer and his team are all highly skilled producers and musicians who are laid back and friendly and will listen to your ideas to give what you want from your recording. you do not need to overpay for studio time. Brain Mountain Studios will give you the best quality recordings you can get with current technology for a fair, affordable and sensible price. You may ask why we would charge a pittance for such a high quality product? the answer is because we love doing it, and we do it everyday anyway. Send the lead engineer (Brain Mountian himself) an e-mail (mountainrecordings@gmail.com) and check out some of his work on myspace. No style or genre is beyond our understanding, we will make it sound good, damn good

R A D I A T O R C O L L E C T I V E

Brain Mountain - Thirteen Roses

Brain Mountain - Thirteen Roses

Brain Mountain - Wax's Will

from the 80 minute epic Lp release Galactic Rotation

Brain Mountain - Wax's Will

Brain Mountain Reads Flowers for Algernon

for 16mins

Brain Mountain reads flowers for algernon

>>>>Dig on this for awhile

Brain Mountain Radio

click here to tune in



Internet Radio Broadcasting live on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, AT 3pm Eastern time from Brain Mountian Studios in Ludlow, MA

We'll All Burn - Broken Man + Goofycreeps - Lost in Translation

2 new tracks from Radiator's southern branch(US) produced by Brain Mountain

We'll All Burn - Broken Man

Goofycreeps - Lost in Translation

RADIATOR REVIEWS: Scribbler - Backitus

Backitus was my introduction to the band known as Scribbler, in 2008 I grabbed the album's 14 tracks off Brain Mountain's home computer and upon listening to the opening track "Aributus" i was a fan. Power grunge guitar chords give this album a real consistent and satisfying crunch. By the sound of it, Scribbler have taken the lessons of 90's independent rock to heart. Instead of focusing on any one particular aspect of the music, Scribbler put everything they had into covering all the bases here. Indeed the opening punch of Aributus reveal a full band, in full force, songwriting, instrumentation, attitude and imagery combine all at once to create a damn good opening punch and throughout Backitus the band reiterate this intesity by remaining consistent. As apposed to their earlier releases [see Scannopapia], which only has 1 full song and treads in some very difficult listening and avant-noise territory, Backitus is a true rock & roll record. Recorded in a blanket "fjort", and with just enough distortion and slop to rock out to while not overusing the lo-fi aesthetic as a stylistic wall for shitty songs to hide behind. Taken away from the songs themselves are several moments of beautifully and minimally composed rock music (Sixth Side Road, A Liar's Cadence). These interludes as recorded are warm to the ears and help to break things up a bit between the more straightforward build-and-release song structures. At 2:15 "Gravel Tastes like Rust Smells" achieves Post-Rock status without getting boring, a slight against a genre that often over-indulges itself with track-length and repetition. The title track fakes it like a song a first but quickly delves into a screaming competition between several Craig Currie's. "Prussian National Anthem" sounds like some wordless Neutral Milk Hotel Stomp, a trippy parade through moscow complete with elephants, gallantry and blind nationalism. Scribbler attempt to describe their own genre with the track "Spook House", maybe not fully achieving the sound they set out to, but laying down a solid framework nonetheless. But it's the track "Second Piss" where scribbler go for history. Epic doesn't even begin to describe the clusterfucking-synth ending of that track, and Currie's vocal delivery has matured for it as well. Drummer Franc Lopes takes the role of frontman for the punk sneering "Negative Band Fund", where he proudly proclaims the bands ethos "Back stage we're stealing your shit" and in reality they were, probably from the bands that nobody will remember and nobody cares about. Hey when your this poor and good at music simultaneously you gotta do some grimey things, probably while intoxicated. By the track "Cyan", a hilarious swing at the 12 bar blues, Currie's voice is breaking and coarse from the sheer volume of his delivery throughout the entire album. The final track "Clouds" is one last epic push over the top of into Rock Music History (it's the freaking Saxophone solo that does it). Even if no one besides myself ever acknowledges these guys, they have cemented their place in the pantheon of bands as an important if not innovative rock band. Something way too many bands frequently played on the radio have tried so hard and failed at. 2011 saw this album get the remaster treatment it so rightfully deserves (courtesy of engineer and radiate Sir Thomas Lopes). Next thing this puppy deserves is a complete vinyl reissue. You think i am exaggerating? oh you haven't heard the remastered album. 9

listen here

reviewed by Mohamed El-Darwish RADIATOR COLLECTIVE 2011

Fuck Montreal - Anchors

This new single captures Fuck Montreal in rare form. The opening riff punches you in the balls and shattered cymbal crashes leave you shipwrecked in a garage or basement on a tumultuous ocean of sludge bass and a melting wall of guitar strings. Anchors displays Fuck Montreal finding sonic balance; using more of a typical song structure to fully realize their overall sound. On Anchors, Fuck Montreal sound as sharp and focused as ever as well as completely invigorated hinting at great things to come. Two wizards, two mixes, u decide.

Fuck Montreal - Anchors (Thomoon Mix)

Fuck Montreal - Anchors (Brain Mountain Mix)

NEWS

Brain Mountain Studios

mountainrecordings@gmail.com

TeEPee
France and the Free Mansons
Moon/Mountian
(2009)