''Brain Cycles'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band

Radio Moscow Radio Moscow (), also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993, when it was reorganized into Voice of Russia, which was subsequently reorga ...

. Released on April 14, 2009, it was the band's first album to feature bassist Zach Anderson, who replaced Luke McDuff in 2007. Issued by Alive Naturalsound, it was recorded at Sound Farm in Jamaica, Iowa and produced by band members Parker Griggs and Anderson.

Composition and recording

In an interview with ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', frontman Griggs explained that "The first album

was written all-

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

, and the singing was just sort of n afterthought... This album was written more with the vocals in mind." On the subject of self-producing the album, Griggs noted that "I wanted to use the tape again and try to get an old-school sound ... ndthis time around I just tried to give it my all and be more comfortable with that." The frontman also noted that "We recorded this lbumat Sound Farm in Jamaica, owainstead of Ohio this time. We put a lot more time into it and really focused on the mix to give it a kind of classic psychedelic feel. It's still real bluesy but we tried to make it more psychedelic than the last one."

Style and reception

In a press release for the album, Radio Moscow compared ''Brain Cycles'' to such psychedelic artists as

Randy Holden Randy Holden (born July 2, 1945) is an American guitarist best known for his membership of the West Coast acid rock group Blue Cheer and performance on their third album, '' New! Improved!'' (1969). His solo album ''Population II'' (1970) is co ...

(of

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

The Groundhogs The Groundhogs were an English blues and rock band founded in late 1963 in London. Named after John Lee Hooker's song "Ground Hog Blues", they were part of the burgeoning British rhythm and blues scene, backing Hooker on his album '' ...And Se ...

, Peter Green (of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

) and the

Flower Travellin' Band was a Japanese rock band that was formed in 1967. They were connected to Japan's counterculture movement and noted for their mixture of early heavy metal with psychedelic and progressive rock. They received wide acclaim from critics but fail ...

. Writing for music website

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic Mark Deming proposed that "Radio Moscow's second album strongly establishes its stoner credentials even before you've given it a listen, and the music doesn't disappoint if you're hoping for a gloriously resinous musical experience." Deming compares ''Brain Cycles'' to psychedelic blues-rock of the 1960s and 1970s, suggesting similarities to the bands

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

and Blue Cheer and noting the latter's album ''

Outsideinside ''Outsideinside'' is the second album by American rock trio Blue Cheer. Philips Records released the album in August 1968, only seven months after their debut LP, '' Vincebus Eruptum''. The album was recorded both outdoors and indoors—hence th ...

'' as possible inspiration for the record. Deming's AllMusic review is generally positive, although he does conclude that "''Brain Cycles'' is undercut by songs that aren't as impressive as the band playing them; for every number like the hard boogieing "City Lights" and the frantic wail of "Just Don't Know," there's another that sounds like a tune you'd skip over to get to one of the really good cuts ... They just don't make records like ''Brain Cycles'' anymore, and while most of the album suggests that's too bad, a few cuts demonstrate why folks stopped doing this back in the day." The album has received praise for frontman Griggs's vocal work, the added cohesiveness of the rhythm section, and the more sophisticated songwriting. Many critics have also noted that ''Brain Cycles'' is an improvement on the band's debut album ''Radio Moscow''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Radio Moscow * Parker Griggs –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Zach Anderson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, production ;Additional personnel *Justin "Blind Beard" Apple –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

on tracks 2 and 5 *Matt Sepanic –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

*Doug Van Sloun – mastering ;Graphic personnel *Anthony Yankovic –

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

*Patrick Boissel – artwork layout *Allison Cobb –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

*Bre Sabatino – photography *Dario Cantatore – photography

References

{{Authority control Radio Moscow (band) albums 2009 albums Alive Naturalsound Records albums