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April 21, 2017

Waxahatchee – Silver (Music Video)

Throughout the past six or seven days, great music videos by the likes of Pale Grey, Meat Wave, Tim Kasher, Mark Lanegan, Fuzzystar, Special Teams, Gurr, Chick Quest, EMA, Street Eaters, SOFTSPOT, No Vacation, Mayflower Madame, Airpark, Real Numbers, Hoan, Exit Kid, Murlo, M.I. Blue, Kurt Swinghammer, The Broken Hearts, Skye Steele, and Morning Teleportation have found their way into the world. All of them made several very good impressions but none of them seemed to go quite as deep as the considerable indent Waxahatchee‘s “Silver” left in its wake.

Katie Crutchfield’s projects were always going to be a staple of this site for however long either wound up being around. Ever since becoming accustomed to the songwriter’s work during P.S. Eliot‘s tenure. Fortunately, Crutchfield’s kept busy under the Waxahatchee moniker, releasing one sterling record after another and Out in the Storm looks ready to carry that unimpeachable run. “Silver” the first song to be released from the record also came equipped with an appropriately DIY-leaning video.

Throughout the clip, Crutchfield’s shown in a variety of ways, from running through the song with the band, to lip-syncing along to “Silver” while bathed in confrontational strobe lights, to black-and-white footage of the artist simply walking around. All of it forms a coherent whole that seems to enliven the song driving the whole affair. Clever editing, an easygoing charm, and a sense of place all congeal into something striking. When all’s said and done and the storm has abated, Crutchfield remains calm, standing proudly as one of this generation’s essential artists.

Watch “Silver” below and pre-order Out in the Storm from Merge here.

April 11, 2017

Another Two Weeks Worth of Streams

Just a short while ago, a handful of pieces ran on Heartbreaking Bravery recapping some of the year’s finest first quarter releases. In the time it took to assemble those lists, a fresh slate of songs, music videos, records, and live videos emerged. Tonight’s posts will be dedicated to highlighting the most noteworthy releases of that selection. Starting off with the individual songs category, which was characteristically rich in terms of output over the course of the past two weeks. To that end, here are some of the finest titles to have surfaced in that time. Click around, there’s a little something for everyone. Enjoy.

Cayetana, Dan Misha Goldman, Big Thief, Major Leagues, Caddywhompus, Daddy Issues, Montrose Man, Tica Douglas, Michele Nox, Anna Altman (x2), (SANDY) Alex G, Thunder Dreamer, Ulrika Spacek, Tashaki Miyaki, WALL, Nana Grizol, Woods, Spencer Radcliffe & Everyone Else, The Bingers, Art School Jocks, Peeling, Harmony Woods, Stonefield, HotKid, The Presolar Sands, Gnarwhal, Gouge Away, The Black Angels, Kids and Chemicals, Alyeska, New Swears, Du Vide, Chemtrails, Dead Heavens, Sprinters

Hoop, PIPSY, Sheer, Emperor X, Pony, Duncan Lloyd, H.Grimace, Cuesta Loeb, INVSN, Monograms, Joan Shelley, Flasher, Ultraviolence (x2), Joey Agresta, Blessed, Mise en Scene, High Sunn, A Victim of Sobriety, Catch Pritchard, The Luyas, Trophy Dad, Julian Fulton, Broken Social Scene, Chastity Belt, Dama Scout, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Soft Fangs, Hiva Oa, Morning Teleportation, The Megaphonic Thrift, Marika Hackman, Shugo Tokumaru, Elf Power, Wet Dreams, WATERS, PAWNS, The Bad Signs, Abram Shook

Sean Rowe, Drug Sweat, Mad Denizen, Greater Sirens, Husky, Slow Dancer, Arthur Gee-Whizz Band, Gardener’s Bell, Odd Couple, Pale Grey, Los Angeles Police Department, Junior Astronomers, Mayflower Madame, The Spookfish, The Velveteins, Turtlenecked, Saint Etienne, The Dirty Nil, Sam Amidon, SOFTSPOT, Chloe Foy, Lulu Lewis, Wooing, Exhibition, Amber Arcades, Sundaes, Romantic States, Tinmouth, Pinky Pinky, Sleep Party People, Maxim Ludwig, Keeper Keeper, Sloan Peterson, Spotting, Grumpus

Storm the Palace, Walter Martin, Nick Hakim, The Moonlight Love, Dig Deeper, Two Inch Astronaut, Tony Peachka, Ora Cogan, The Peacers, San Mei, and Moon Duo.

May 14, 2016

Happyness – SB’s Truck (Stream)

happyness

Now that the impressive slate of recent music videos and full streams have been exhaustively covered, it’s time to turn the attention towards individual songs. At the end of the week there were strong offerings from Dyan, Dentist, Cat Be Damned, and Kino Kimino. However, it was a curiosity from Happyness that managed to hit hardest, so it claims this posts feature spot.

Resuming the kind of carefree coasting that’s made their output so far so irresistibly charming, Happyness once again manages to hit a variety of sweet spots as they combine appealing bits of Americana, slacker pop, and proto-punk into a characteristically inviting tapestry. “SB’s Truck” is the kind of song that invites you to get lost and then world-builds so effectively that when it finally ends, it’s somewhat of a disappointment because, well, it ends.

Dissect the song’s narrative and it continues to reward; the song’s built around the little-known fact that celebrated playwrite Samuel Beckett used to give André Rene Roussimoff (more commonly known as André the Giant) to school as a boy because he was too big to fit into a car. It’s the kind of story that exudes the warmth that so frequently defines Happyness’ work. The pairing of the narrative with Happyness’ musical sensibilities is, in a word, perfect.

Whether “SB’s Truck” comes to be regarded as a summer anthem for the literary-minded or eventually, inevitably, becomes a celebrated anomaly of the band’s catalog doesn’t hold any importance. What counts is that for the four and a half minutes the song exists, nothing else seems to matter. A restrained piece of subdued, inspired brilliance, “SB’s Truck” shows that Happyness aren’t going away anytime soon and that they’re still finding ways to improve.

Listen to “SB’s Truck” below and keep an eye on this site for more updates on the band.

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