Footings | Heartbreaking Bravery

May 26, 2016

Watch This: A Long List of Honorable Mentions from A Brief Stretch of Time

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.

Gordi, The Black Angels (x2), The Coathangers, The Peekaboos, Andy Shauf (x2, 3), Sorority Noise, Sera Cahoone, Footings, Lina Tullgren, Abi Reimold, Your Friend (x2, 3, 4), Shearwater, Christian Lee Hutson, Indian Askin, Lady Pills, Valley Queen, Gary Clark Jr. (x2), Choir Vandals, Pearl Charles, New Madrid, Laura Sauvage, Simeon Beardsley, Colleen Green, Palm Springs, didi, Max Meser, Keeps, Pinkwash, Cate Le Bon, Namorado, Mount Moriah, Tacocat (x2. 3), Trixie Whitley, Bleached (x2, 3), Psychic Love

Clean Spill (x2, 3), The Kills, Restorations (x2, 3), Band of Horses (x2), Sioux Falls, The Frights, Behold the Brave, SOAR, The Ultrasounds, Arnold Turbobust, Broken Beak, Korey Dane, Songhoy Blues, Tony Peachka, Beach Slang, Pinegrove (x2), Astronautalis, CocoRosie, Little Green Cars (x2), Golden Daze, Sex Tide, Audacity, Jalen N’Gonda, Sun Club, Laura Gibson, Born Ruffians (x2), Kurt Vile, Bird Laww (x2), Mail the Horse, Radical Face, Yeasayer, Nada Surf, Wimps, Museyroom, Bummer, Quiet Hollers

Deerhunter Rainwater Cassette Exchange, Kaiti Jones, Yak, Operators, Quilt, Laney Jones (x2), Slowdive (x2), Laurel, Penny and Sparrow, Model/Actriz, Savages, You Won’t (x2), Psybeams, Julia Pox, Lip Talk, Pure Bathing Culture, Amanda Bergman, Hinds (x2, 3), Battles, Parlour Tricks, Deerhunter, Jackie Islands, Flying Horseman, Wet Nurse, American Pinup, Blitzen Trapper, Davina and the Vagabonds, Cybee, Jon Latham, Jon Latham.

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December 30, 2015

2015: The Best of Watch This

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When Watch This was conceived it was done with the intent to not only critically examine the balance of filmmaking and live performance but celebrate the art of the live video, a format which seems to have fallen to the wayside despite being more fruitful than it’s been since it was introduced. There’s real power behind the clips that manage to seamlessly merge the best qualities of everything that goes into the best live performance videos and they can yield genuinely unforgettable moments (when everything kicks back in on “Waitress”, the held falsetto in “A Proper Polish Welcome”, and a whole host of other chill-inducing moments are scattered throughout this compilation). Those moments are the beating heart behind this series construction and they’re what sustains the project as it presses forward.

Well over 300 live clips were covered on this site in 2015 and this is a collection of 25 that genuinely stood out for one reason or another, whether it was the sheer joy in a performance (Diet Cig), the performer’s ability to freeze blood (Julien Baker, Dilly Dally, SOAK), the trio of artists who appeared on Watch This the most throughout this year (Courtney Barnett, Girlpool, and Torres), an electrifying presentation and performance (July Talk), or a clip that’s a fully functional masterclass in every category that elevates a clip from astonishing to transcendental (Glen Hansard). All of those and more have been plugged into this packet, which culminates in a tour de force reminder of the overwhelming power of what can be achieved on a live platform from the resurgent Sleater-Kinney as one final exclamation point for a truly extraordinary year. So, as always, sit up, focus, adjust the volume, and Watch This.

Watch the 2015 edition of the best-of compilation for Heartbreaking Bravery’s definitive recurring series, Watch This, below. The track list is available under the embed.

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1. Hop Along – Waitress (World Cafe)
2. July Talk – Paper Girl (Audiotree)
3. Ronny – Why Do You Have Kids (Gems On VHS)
4. Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle (BreakThruRadio)
5. Mikal Cronin – Say (WFUV)
6. Molly Parden – Weather (GemsOnVHS)
7. Eskimeaux – Folly (This Has Got To Stop)
8. Waxahatchee – Under A Rock (Pitchfork)
9. METZ – Spit You Out (3voor12)
10. Ought – Beautiful Blue Sky (KEXP)
11. Saintseneca – How Many Blankets Are In the World? (ANTI-)
12. Diet Cig – Harvard (In the Attic)
13. SOAK – B a Nobody Blud (La Blogotheque)
14. Dilly Dally – Burned by the Cold (Strombo Sessions)
15. Alex G + Girlpool – Brite Boy (SPIN)
16. Footings (Jenn Harrington)
17. Mike Krol – Suburban Wasteland + Neighborhood Watch (KEXP)
18. Beach Slang – Get Lost (Cozy Couch Sessions)
19. Public Service Broadcasting – Go! (WNYC)
20. Christopher Paul Stelling – Dear Beast (ANTI-)
21. Courtney Barnett – Depreston (La Blogotheque)
22. Algiers – Blood (WFUV)
23. Torres – A Proper Polish Welcome (NPR)
24. Glen Hansard – McCormack’s Wall (ANTI-)
25. Sleater-Kinney (NPR)

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May 3, 2015

Watch This: Vol. 70

Another week gone by, five more incredible live clips to feature. Now that the series is back in its normally-paced swing, it’s been easier to keep tabs on the incoming flux of footage but it makes it more difficult to narrow down the selections. With 2015 already bursting at the seams with great studio material it seems only appropriate that the live videos should be following suit. With strong videos coming from the likes of Close Up, Littlefoot, Gay, Darlingside (ft. Tall Heights), and Ultimate Painting, it would have been easy to double up on the series. Fortunately, to lessen the sting of limiting it to just one, the five clips included in this 70th installment are all among the year’s best. Only two of the band’s included in today’s collection have ever had their names published on this site (incidentally, both bands share a member in Noah Bowman), leaving the majority to new acts. Running the gamut from fiery high-energy punk subsets to devastating low-key folk outings, there’s a lot to appreciate. So, as always, lean in, adjust the screen contrast and lightness to your preferred settings, crank the volume, and Watch This.

1. Panther Ray – Get To You (The Current)

One nice things about emergent trends in DIY music as of late has been an acute focus (and subsequent celebration) of shoegaze inflections in bands with strong basement pop sensibilities. Panther Ray are one of those bands and their turn-in of “Get To You” for The Current is a particularly inspired piece of work from the band. Mixing shades of twee and post-punk into the mix, “Get To You” becomes as irresistible as the performance.

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2. Earl Boykins – Judy Carrot (bandwidth.fm)

Scrappy basement pop gets featured more on this site than any other genre of music so it’s unsurprising that Earl Boykins‘ name has appeared here a few times throughout the site’s existence. While it may have taken 70 installments for them to wind up in Watch This but they’re finally here. The band recently swung through the bandwidth.fm studios to tear their way through “Judy Carrot” and it’s clear from the outset that they’re having fun- something that translates over in an extraordinarily satisfying clip.

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3. July Talk – Paper Girl (Audiotree)

Shot in crisp black-and-white for the consistently strong Audiotree at their SXSW showcase, July Talk quickly sets about making a statement. Combining the fire-and-brimstone approach of Lucero at their most impassioned and the spiky irreverence of Be Your Own PET is a compelling combination even on paper but the band somehow finds a way to make it exhilarating in execution. Dual vocals, contrasting styles, and through-and-through showmanship make July Talk one of the most exciting live prospects possibly imaginable. “Paper Girl” is one of the group’s best songs and here the band lays it to absolute waste. Simply put, this is unmissable.

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4. Footings (Jenn Harrington)

For all the glossy, high-quality footage that makes its way into this series, this is still Heartbreaking Bravery, which means that when a lo-fi video from an artist with little name recognition surfaces, it will be featured. Especially when it’s as stunning as the clip Jenn Harrington captured of Footings playing a gorgeous new song to a spellbound audience. Recalling the emotional devastation of Eels at their most confessional, it’s lent a subtle emphasis through the faded visual representation. Click play and fall in love.

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5. Diet Cig – Harvard (bandwidth.fm)

Oh, Diet Cig, what words are left? All it took was one brilliant five-song collection to catapult them into “site favorites” status and ever since then, the band’s done nothing but reinforce those levels of adoration. One of the year’s most refreshingly warm music videos (which will undoubtedly come back up in conversation when December rolls around) and now, this: an extremely impassioned performance of Overeasy highlight “Harvard”. There are few bands out there right now that provide as clear of a reminder that one music’s most exhilarating aspects is the sheer fun of it all. There’s an uninhibited grin that creeps onto guitarist/vocalist’s Alex Luciano’s face multiple times throughout this performance that is the perfect symbolic image for what made me fall in love with this band, this genre, and this community (and the people who remain so actively inspired and involved). So, you know, watch it. And then go ride a goddamn log flume.