Brainiac - Attic Tapes

RSD 2021

The music of Brainiac ended with the death of frontman Tim Taylor in 1997. Offered here is a glimpse into the working mind of Taylor as he susses out tunes and sound experiments in their rawest form, mostly alone with a four track in his mother's attic. Some are mere sketches. Many never again saw the light of day, or morphed so much they are more like distant cousins of future songs. Some of the more interesting Brainiac songs, like Fucking With The Altimeter, Silver Iodine, or Strung, were elevated from the original four and eight track demos later in the studio environment. Attic Tapes serves as a blueprint for how these types of tunes developed. The entire program is stitched together like a distorted dream. Jumping from one scene to the next, it progresses through all four sides in a historically linear fashion, from the very early days through to the final rehearsals.

While this is not an official Brainiac album, it begins to feel akin to what a Brainiac record might sound like if it were produced by neighbor and Guided by Voices raconteur Robert Pollard. Inside the release are some historically related liner notes written by guitarist John Schmersal giving further insight into the origins and backdrop of the demos and the time they were created.


Draggin' Me Down / Still Insane Velveteen / A Load of Your Fables / All I Have Is Stolen / Factotum / Silver Iodine #1 / Godpocket / Red Silhouette #1 / Let's Lose / Wrecked Choke Riffs / Oh Donna Collage / Apple Of My Heart / Silver Iodine #2 / You All The Time / Banzai Superstar / Sidewalk Culture / I Will Haunt You / Frustration Excerpt / Charles / Ask / Subsurface Genderflux / Flypaper Jam / Cookie Don't Sing / Horses & Ammunition #1 / Toby's International
Pathogens / Signal Flow / Indian Poker Part 0 / Marble Mausoleum / Red Silhouette #2 / Stealing Flowers / Swan Song / Baje Con Los Locos / Dr Fingers / Blow Fly / Horses & Ammunition #2 / The Jesus Christ Of Rug Burns