Brainville

The expression "Brainville", a clever combination of anatomy and locale somewhat in the style of Fist City and Booty Town, seems to have inspired many an alternative musician. Rockers and jazzers can mix and match the inspirations of "Brainville" as a song title on recordings by both Sun Ra and the Flaming Lips. It is actually one of the man with the Arkestra's most famous tunes, its chart even residing in The Real Book until it was yanked back out into space in 2002 for an intergalatic copyright violation. Some kind of intense cult also exists around the "Brainville" recorded by the burning-lipped men from Oklahoma. But as a combo name, Brainville seems to be more in play as a way of catching fleeting collaborations between interesting sets of wayfaring international players. One of these was the Brainville consisting of Kramer, Daevid Allen, Hugh Hopper and Pip Pyle, which released a CD in the late '90s. That gathering should not be confused with the Brainville based out of Gothenburg, Sweden, certainly as brainy a place as any considering the extent to which it is mentioned in The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. Jan Risheden, Andreas Berglund and Tony Blomdahl are all extremely active on the Gothenburg avant garde scene, individually participating in a run of bands including Sonic Probe, the 4-Track Demons and Acka Matern. Risheden, born in 1967, is an accomplished jazz saxophonist who has fulfilled guest obligatto obligations on a variety of Gothenburg-based projects; he and Berglund worked together in Acka Matern. Blomdahl, born in 1972, has a catalog of compositions including "Primo" and "Pulses and Patterns"; his works have been performed and recorded by the Gotland Wind Quintet and The Gothenburg Combo.