It’s been approximately a month and a half since the last volume of Watch This ran on this site. During the interim, there was a lull in coverage due to show coverage (the results of which will be appearing in the very near future) and then a spree to get the three main release categories — single streams, full streams, and music videos — caught back up to the current release cycle.
Now that everything’s back on pace, the Watch This series will be revived in a continuing series of posts that are spread out over the next week. During all of the time the series maintained radio silence, the material that was emerging was being taken into account on a near-daily basis. An intimidating amount of great live performance videos have surfaced in that time and will be split up into groups as those clips are recapped. Below is a list of strong candidates that have a lot to offer, either in the filmmaking department, through the band’s performances, or a mixture of both. So, as always, sit up, scroll down, and Watch This.
No record in 2015 has hit me as hard and as consistently as O.K., a deeply felt masterpiece from Eskimeaux. A record I’d liked upon first listen and warmed to progressively over time, it wasn’t until I saw those songs played live that everything seemed to click. Audiotree was fortunate enough to have the band in for a recent session and wound up with what may come to be regarded as the definitive live recording of this era of the band. The performances are uniformly strong and the songs remain spectacular. Simply put: this is unmissable.
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2. Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle (BreakThruRadio)
Likely the only 2015 record to rival O.K.‘s emotional impact is Julien Baker‘s arresting breakout effort SprainedAnkle. With a title track that easily ranks among the year’s finest songs, Baker’s latched onto something genuinely captivating. It’s myriad strengths were emphasized with a gorgeous music video and are once again brought to the fore with this painfully gorgeous live performance. It’s a triumph for one of music’s most promising emerging talents.
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3. Slothrust (Jam in the Van)
In a manner not too dissimilar from Eskimeaux, Slothrust was another band that sold me further on material I’d already liked via the strength of their live show, It’s not surprising, then, that their session for Jam in the Van winds up being one of that series’s strongest entries in months. Topping everything off is a typically strong take on “Crockpot”, which continues to stand as one of the strongest songs of recent memory.
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4. Torres – Strange Hellos (Hooke Audio)
Has anyone appeared more times on Watch This throughout the course of 2015 than Torres? Mackenzie Scott’s project continues to turn in spellbinding performances at an alarming rate but, even with that being the case, this version of “Strange Hellos” manages to stand out. Shot as part of Hooke Audio’s live sessions series that challenges artist to re-interpret their material, “Strange Hellos” gets transformed into a jaw-dropping ambient number that may wield even more of a punch than the studio version. It’s a startling reminder of Sprinter‘s most powerful moments.
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5. Girlpool (Pressure Drop)
If anyone’s appeared on the 2015 run of Watch This as many (or more) times than Torres, it’s site favorites Girlpool. Harmony Lebel-Tividad and Cleo Tucker put together one hell of a run this year, highlighted by their extraordinary full-length debut Before The World Was Big. In a nine-song session, the duo makes their way through the majority of that record and “Soup”, one of the new numbers they’ve been road-testing on their last few tours. As ever, the performances are assured and showcase the near telepathic connection the band’s developed over the past few years. They’re an act that seems poised to get stronger as they go, which is more than a little impressive considering they’re already one of the best bands currently making music- and this Pressure Drop session serves as proof.
One of the quietest, most unassuming records of 2014 also turned out to be one of its most memorable. Intentionally muted, S‘s Cool Choices still allowed for a bevvy of personality to slip through its cracks; flowers bloomed in between the pavement. Since that record’s release, Jenn Ghetto has died and resurrected as Jenn Champion. Opting out of the former for reasons of sensitivity, the songwriter (who was also a part of the sorely missed Carissa’s Weird) made a conscious decision to be recast as something approaching a stand-in as a small beacon of hope for anyone who’s experienced a meaningful rejection.
It’s that same spirit that helps characterize “Remember Love” the latest clip from S, which headlines a very strong pack of music videos which included memorable outings from Deerhunter, Dan Friel, EMA, Weyes Blood, Foals, and The Big Moon (who very nearly earned this post’s feature spot). In the end, though, this post’s focal point fell to S for much of the same reason the “Losers” video earned a spot in this site’s list of last year’s best music videos; its humanity.
Director Jimmy Bazan and Champion construct a world that’s at once relatable, despairing, and intimate in a way that feels painfully honest. Ostensibly about the impact an ex can have after a relationship, the skeletal metaphor winds up extending deeper and carries an equal, if not greater, amount of heft touching on the purest moments of heartbreak- the moments you forget for a fleeting moment that a loved one is gone.
Shot in an incredibly effective verite style, “Remember Love” allows death to linger around its every corner, even while featuring a skeleton front and center. It’s a deceptive trick that rewards investment and the effort of thematic exploration. Taken as a statement on the messy endings of a failed romantic entanglement, the metaphorical aspects of the video come close to seeming excessive but, driven further into an actual death, reels back towards feeling slight. As an open-ended possibility that accounts for both, it’s a sublime middle ground that winks at both scenarios.
In either case, the sense of loss is palpable and Champion effortlessly evokes the kind of hopeless nostalgia that’s unfailingly heartrending. As Champion retraces stubbornly held onto memories with a skeleton (played with a surprising amount of verve by Arwen Nicks, who also came up with the video’s concept), the clip finds its home striking a tonal balance not too dissimilar from Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine. An exhilarating joy is balanced with a brutal sadness and fondness is met with regret. As incredible as everything that precedes it is, the video’s final shot of Champion is unforgettable, extending S’s unlikely winning streak with a moment of total devastation.
Watch “Remember Love” below and pick up a copy of Cool Choices from Hardly Arthere.
Yesterday’s post covered a lot of music video content from the past few weeks and this one expands where that one left off, touching on the remainder of that content. As was the case in that post, a list of titles will be included underneath this post’s featured video: Saintseneca‘s “River”. With the release of Such Things rapidly approaching, the band’s in mid-swing as far as their rollout campaign is concerned- and while the momentum they’re building is drawing to its inevitable conclusion as a knockout blow, it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the finesse in the execution of the arc. “River”, as a clip, is a particularly graceful moment that allows the band to slip in a meta-narrative about the band’s personal growth.
Going back to a DIY visual aesthetic reminiscent of old VHS movies and evoking a strong sense of nostalgia, “River” also features a lot of subjects in perpetual motion. Largely comprised of BMX and skateboard footage, the clip subtly hints at the larger looming thematic elements of the record that Zac Little exhaustively detailed in an interview with Stereogum. It’s a simple clip that acts more as meditation than as story and it’s oddly elegant, underscoring the band’s newfound rough-hewn spikiness. Gnarled and beautiful, it’s an effective piece of work that stands out as one of the year’s more deceptively thoughtful clips. Now bust out a bike or a skateboard and take advantage of the weather while it’s still nice.
Watch “River” below and pre-order Such Things from ANTI- ahead of its release here. Below the video explore a few of the format’s more memorable entries from the past two weeks.
Heartbreaking Bravery 