How do you brainwash someone? Hypnotism! That’s one way, I suppose. If Anthony Burgess is to be believed, taping someone’s eyes open and just showing them a whole bunch of violent acts will also do (but that seems sort of specific). There are also surely some hard-science techniques that are too complex to go into in a simple news story. Announcing dozens of bands for your experimental music festival? That’s probably not going to get the job done.
But Leeds’ Brainwash Festival — running October 22-24 — is going to try just that. For the festival’s fifth anniversary, organizers have put together a lineup headlined by Melt-Banana, Dosh, and Shining. As for the rest of the lineup, it goes a little something like this: Trio VD, Juffage, Nitkowski, Cowtown, Nope, Two Minute Noodles, Nedry, Chickenhawk, The Plight, Yndi Halda, 65daysofstatic (DJ set), Glissando, Howard James Kenny, Invisible Cities, Mojo Fury, Loose Talk Costs Lives, Paul Thomas Saunders, Himself, Wot Gorilla?, Sam Airey, Holy State, Youves, The Bacchae, Diascorium, Wooderson, Yanni Montoya, Canaya, Sketches, Mimas, Tweak Birds, Gallops, Castrovalva, Blacklisters, Fran Rodgers, Milk Teeth White Teeth, Humanfly, Dolphins, Traitors, Yonderboy, and Master & The Mule. According to the festival’s website, there’s more where that came from. Better be some doozies in the brainwashing department, because after typing up that lineup, I’m still feeling pretty in control of my own mind.
Tickets are on sale at the festival’s website. Now, watch out for those scary hypnotists and you should be fine.
• Brainwash Festival: http://www.brainwashleeds.co.uk