Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster | Heartbreaking Bravery

December 16, 2016

Watch This: Six Weeks of Honorable Mentions

Six weeks is a long time to go without running a Watch This and the 50 selections that ran in the 150th installment (the preceding post) barely scratched the surface. To get deeper into the extraordinary wealth of material worth exploring, a sequel of sorts seemed necessary. There’s absolutely no way that a single person is going to watch everything listed below but each link is genuinely exceptional and deserved to be featured. Whether they were part of a series, a great capture, a great performance, or notable for another reason, they’re all linked for a reason. So, bookmark the page and explore at will. Stop waiting and Watch This.

Middle Kids, Big Thief (x2), Nada Surf, Weaves, Dude York (x2), Kodakrome, Okkervil River (x2, 3), Ariana Brophy, Tokyo Police Club, Kishi Bashi, The Peekaboos, Gauntly, Title Tracks, SuperGlu, Journalism, School Damage, Julia Jacklin (x2), Dinosaur Jr. (x2), Hype, Loney Dear, Free Cake For Every Creature, Lever, Midnight Faces, Jackie Islands, Mr. Ma’am, The Shelters, Tara Terra (x2), The Lemon Twigs, Boxed In, James Vincent McMorrow, Diet Cig, Alright Panther, Slothrust (x2), Weyes Blood, Slow Down Molasses.

Suuns, JFDR, Kuroma, Young In The City, Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, Post Child, Suburban Living, MOM, Big Jesus, The Thermals, Minor Victories, Tectonics, Adia Victoria (x2), Disorder Kid, Shadowhouse, Tobacco, Holly Lovell, Out the Car Window, Vaginaboys, Parquet Courts (x2), Fossette, Mount Kimbie, Keaton Henson & Lisa Hannigan, Loch Lomond, BADBADNOTGOOD, PLANEADOR, Dinowalrus, Spruce Trap, Golden Suits, Giorgieness, Golden Suits, Joe Bordenaro, Ages And Ages, Lucy Dacus.

Lina Tullgren, Patsy’s Rats, Belle Mare, Julien Baker, Pipeline, Gymshorts, David Bazan, The Woolen Men, Moderat, Allah-Las, Mean Jeans, Smoking Popes, Baba Dochia, Bobby Rush, Honey Bucket, Blanket Party, Nassau, Moondle, Conor Oberst (x2, 3), Dulce Y Agraz, Annabel, Talune, RY X, Ira Wolf, Day Wave, Oxymorons, Ess See, Bigjoy, Racing Heart, Richard Maule, Joe Bel, Dirty Laundry, Purling Hiss, Cory Kilgannon, Menacerno, The Roalde Dahls, Huey P, Haathi, Bad Cop/Bad Cop (x2), Cold Mountain Child, Sóley.

Midijoyful, Black Eyes, Attacca Quartet, Sims (x2), Gates, Evan Opitz, Sea Inside, Josh Pyke, Lyerr, Nature & Madness, Alma Forrer, Warpaint, Corbu, Dr. Martino, Male Gaze, Jack Garratt, Eros and the Eschaton, Marin Patenaude, Andreas Mattsson, Whitney, Hiss Golden Messenger (v), Matthew McNeal, Margo Price, The Minders, Zebra, Absolutely Not, Henry Bateman, Zen Mother, Royal Canoe, Love, The Twains, Shannen Moser, Billie Marten, Scott Matthews, Andy Place and The Coolheads, Signal To Noise.

Leisure Club, B00ty, Joe Chunk, Pearl Earl, Drift Mouth, The Britanys, Miossec, Lisa Prank (x2), The Secret Sisters, Lost Walks, Smokey Brights, TTNG, Yori Swart, Hartford/Focht, Jesca Hoop, Moon Hooch, Aaron Lee Tasjan (x2), Ryley Walker, Está Vivo, Alejandro Escovedo (x2), Lisa Hannigan, Lobo Marino, The Lavender Flu, MRCH, Divers, Pale Tongue, Floating Points, Deathsticks, Prettiest Eyes, Bat For Lashes, The Stops, Campo-Formio, Jessica Martins, Berriloom, Them Dead Poets, Looms.

Down Gown, Andrew Leahey & The Homestead, Vice Device, The Growlers, Digable Planets, Jack Grelle, Abhi Tambe, Spazzare, SUSTO, Lilah Larson, Shlomo Franklin, Ivy Meissner (ft. Uncivilized), Sex Crime, Chris James, The War On Peace (x2), Mohit Mukhi, Sanguine and Shiny, Dirty Fences, Band of Horses, Merynn Jean, Tom Stephens, Red Dons, The Domestics, The Saturday Giant, Public Eye, Pantomime, The Minus 5, Violetta Zironi, EYE, Laura Sjin, Black Bear Rodeo, Nacho Picasso, Old Fashioned Lover Boy.

Lithics, Hunt Hunt Hunt Camp, Robert Ellis, Wizard Rifle, Holy Sons, Akın Sevgör, Ofelia Ofelia, Animal Spirit, Daniela Andrade, Rae Spoon, Dead Snow Monster, Magnetic Ghost, Zimmerman, Murder By Death, Steve Gunn, First Pet, The Malady of Sevendials, Liset Alea, VLNY, Oracle Room, Sky Village, Riley Pinkerton, Ricky Roosevelt, Sahil Bahl, Tall Juan, Alexandra Savior, Lisa Crawley, Youthpool, Gia Margaret, Battleme, Oathbreaker, SOBI, Eric Burton, Arkells, SALES, Sarah De Warren and Drive-By Truckers.

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October 13, 2016

A Two Week Toll: Full Streams

Bringing an end to the opening trio of posts to amend some of the time lost during the hiatus that followed this site’s 1,000th post, the following links will be dedicated to some of the finest full-length streams that appeared over the past two weeks. From site favorites to new names, there’s a wealth of material here that’s worthy of investment. A handful of these may even be legitimate Album of the Year contenders. Carve some time out to listen or just hit play and turn the volume up while working, either way, make sure not to miss some extraordinary records.

Terry Malts, The Exquisites, Lola Kirke, Fake Limbs, Halfsour, Lilac Daze, Kuroma, Violence Creeps, Computer Magic, Emily Yacina, Male Bonding, Jenny O, Wild Pink, MONO, Spellbinder, Clorox Girls, Infinity Crush, Ryan Allen and His Extra Arms, Fraternal Twin, Kestrels, Elephants, Hello Shark, Trash Gendar, (ghost), Shana Falana, Suburban Living, Trails and Ways, Lara Yuko, Batz, Goat, Peaer, Henry Jamison, Bad Noids, Bellows, The Fabulous Johnsons, Sleeping Lessons, Big Bill, Shelf Life, The Meltaways, Dog, Paper, Submarine, Balcanes, Warehouse, Kadhja Bonet, Axis: Sova, Funeral Blues, This Frontier Needs Heroes, Letters to Cleo, Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, Panoptique Electrical, Exotica, Howardian, Bonzo, Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, and the Punkinhead 2016 compilation.

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September 22, 2016

Tony Molina – Hung Up on the Dream (Stream)

While Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday saw a period of relative inaction for this site, that didn’t prevent Real Numbers, Never Young, Luxury Death, The Dazies, Dark Mean, Active Bird Community, American Wrestlers, SLØTFACE, Hello Shark, House of Wolves, Peeling, Justin Peter Kinkel Schuster, Warpaint, Swampmeat, Jeff Rosenstock, The Nursery, Shamir, Mouse on the Keys, Tredici Bacci, The Tins, The Regrettes, Julia Ruzicka, Personal Space, Brain Tentacles, Birthday Club, White Laces, Primal Static, and Violence Creeps from releasing a small army of great songs that deserve as many attentive ears as possible. Another artist that added to the pile, Tony Molina, returns to the feature slot less than a week after the release of “See Me Fall“.

Like “See Me Fall”, “Hung Up on the Dream” — the second track to tease Molina’s forthcoming 7″, Confront the Truth — leans into an acoustic angle that grounds the songwriter in intriguing ways. Far removed from the exhilarating excess of Molina’s past work, “Hung Up on the Dream” manages to invoke and echo a formidable cast of influences. Traces of everyone from The Beatles to Cat Stevens to Weezer to Sparklehorse are evident throughout “Hung Up on the Dream”, without ever overwhelming Molina’s own identity.

Clocking in at under 90 seconds, Molina still manages to convey a frighteningly realistic sense of heartache and longing. The phrase that gives the title its track opens the set of lyrics, which eventually reveal themselves to be the most strikingly vivid of Molina’s storied songwriting career. There’s an unavoidable resignation that defines “Hung Up on the Dream” that winds up elevating the song to a quiet transcendence.

It’s another masterstroke from an engaging artist who may just be on the verge of releasing 2016’s best 7″. If the rest of the eight-song collection can live up to the precedent set by “See Me Fall” and “Hung Up on the Dream”, Molina’s name could be showing up in a lot more places in the year’s final stretch. No matter how things shake out, it’ll be a privilege to be present for the ride.

Listen to “Hung Up on the Dream” below and order Confront the Truth from Slumberland here.

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August 21, 2016

Watch This: Vol. 137

While the past week wasn’t as exhaustive for live videos as it has been recently, there were still some impressive entries featuring a variety of great acts like Jenny Lewis, Same, The Fever, The Academic, Band of Horses, Typesetter, Astronomique, Future Generations, Martin Courtney, The Staves, Bleached, Adia Victoria, Ages and Ages, Caveman, Summer Twins, Mr. Airplane Man, Julia Holter, Warren Franklin & TFF, Israel Nash, Metric, Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster, and Tamaryn. Even with all of those in the mix, there were still five genuine standouts, from site favorites to the perennially overlooked. So, as always, sit back, adjust the settings, block out any circumstantial distractions, focus up, and Watch This.

1. Big Eyes – Stake My Claim (BreakThruRadio)

Fresh off releasing one of the year’s best basement pop records, Big Eyes come through in a major way yet again via this performance of that record’s title track, “Stake My Claim”. While the band certainly has made a sizable impression thanks to their recorded work, they’ve been an even more dangerous force as a live act. After going through several mutations, the band’s finally landed on a unit that allows their sound to be as expansive — and as aggressive — as possible.

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2. Boss Hog (KEXP)

One of many projects to include DIY punk icon Jon Spencer, Boss Hog first gained some notoriety in the late ’80s thanks to their sudden existence (they were created out of a need to fill a vacancy on a bill at CBGB’s), vocalist Christina Martinez playing that first show nude, and their relentlessly aggressive hybrid of punk sub-genres. The band’s been experiencing a resurgence lately, which led them to the KEXP studios for this gorgeously-lensed session presented in crisp black-and-white. From just about every angle, everything happening here is exhilarating.

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3. Mumblr – Mudmouth + Domingo (Out of Town Films)

After the beginning of their career brought about a handful of upbeat, party-leaning (but surprisingly introspective) anthems the quartet went through some sort of awakening. A lot of their more recent material has approached being confrontational thanks to a newfound darkness and a staggering amount of patience. The band’s been stretching their influences in surprising ways and nearly all of them are present in this beautifully-shot two song turn-in for Out of Town Films, which doubles as a definitive showcase for this era of one of the more fascinating bands making music right now.

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4. Tigercats – Rent Control (Fortuna POP!)

Every once in a while, a spectacularly made live video surfaces and causes people to question its validity as a live presentation. In many cases, most assume it’s just a particularly convincing music video. This is the fate that awaits Tigercats’ scintillating new “Rent Control”, which is one of the more memorable entries in that niche format in recent memory. Set in a house overflowing with people (presumably friends of the band), there’s a liveliness that informs “Rent Control” and elevates it past similar efforts. The song itself is an exuberant burst of indie pop and every aspect of the clip ties together beautifully, ensuring it a spot on this list.

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5. Japanese Breakfast (Audiotree)

Michelle Zauner anchored one of my personal favorite entries in this entire series’ run in Little Big League‘s extraordinary “Year of the Sunhouse” clip from Little Elephant and has remained a powerhouse performer in the time that’s passed since that clip. Zauner’s other project, Japanese Breakfast, has been turning quite a few heads since the release of their excellent Psychopomp. The band recently wrapped a tour with Mitski and Jay Som, taking control of every opportunity to better their already-formidable live show. Their recent session for Audiotree demonstrated the band’s continuously evolving live show and curiously quiet strengths. The entire session is masterful both in performance and presentation, leaving behind an artifact that should be visited and revisited for quite some time.

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July 1, 2016

Doe – Sincere (Stream)

doe

Heart Attack Man, Mild High Club, Wymond Miles, Pill, The High Curbs, Sannhet, TTNG, Uni Ika Ai, Mosquito Ego, and Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster were just a small handful of the acts responsible for some of the best songs to surface over the past two weeks. As always, each and every one of those songs are worth as many listens as they’re granted. A song that deserves all that and more also arrived, courtesy of site favorites Doe. The trio’s currently preparing to release their debut full-length — following a string of outstanding EP’s — entitled Some Things Last Longer Than You.

The record’s title is a nice reflection of the band; melancholic, tongue-in-cheek, and relatively straight-forward in its blunt honesty, which also ties into the record’s lead-off track, “Sincere”. Opening up with a steady, insistent mid-tempo drive, the song quickly bursts into the kind of catharsis the band’s been carefully perfecting attaining for several years. Guitarist/vocalist Nicola Leel (who penned an impassioned entry on recent accomplishments by influential women for the 2015 crop of A Year’s Worth of Memories) imbues “Sincere” with the kind of steely-eyed confidence that starts fires.

“Sincere” proves to be an incredibly apt title as the song ambles along, riding a fiendishly clever narrative that’s both forthright and sneakily reflective. There’s incendiary guitar work, a fully committed vocal performance, explosive dynamics, and a murderer’s row of hooks. Catchy, smart, subtle, and fiercely relatable, “Sincere” sets the tone for what could eventually become one of this year’s most celebrated and subversive basement pop records.

As an outpouring of energy, the song’s an immediate head-turner but as a complete song, it’s an absolute triumph. Easily one of the band’s finest works to date, “Sincere” is a very promising look towards the future. Should the rest of Some Things Last Longer Than You live up to the standard set by “Sincere”, we may not only have an Album of the Year contender on our hands but a stone-cold genre classic. In the meantime, the best thing to do is just keep this thing on repeat, screaming along with every syllable like it’s a declaration of solidarity, love, and unflinching support… then looping back around to do it all again.

Listen to “Sincere” below and pre-order Some Things Last Longer Than You from Old Flame here.

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Tag: Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster