Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: Michel

December 14, 2015

Watch This: Vol. 108

Once again, there’s been a brief interim since the last Watch This was posted but, as ever, a lot of great material has surfaced in that time. In this volume, there will be an emphasis on full sessions and artists who have made numerous appearances on the site over its two years of existence. All five of these artists have earned glowing reviews for their live shows and are, in a lot of ways, inextricably connected to Heartbreaking Bravery’s development. Only one of these clips is a performance of a standalone song and it’s one of the most gripping live captures of the year. So, as always, sit up, wind down, focus, adjust the settings, and Watch This.

1. All Dogs (Audiotree)

Watching All Dogs‘ exposure explode in 2015 thanks to the release of their extraordinary full-length debut, Kicking Every Day, felt genuinely gratifying. The songs in that collection, like any Maryn Jones-led project, feel brave and personal. Every song is relatable to an extent that’s almost painful; our own damage is reflected in Jones’ interior grappling, which suffuses every ounce of Kicking Every Day. In a live setting, those songs gain even more impact and Audiotree expertly captures that with  this very worthy session.

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2. Bully (KEXP)

One of the first shows I saw after moving into an apartment in Brooklyn was thanks to a tweet that sent me sprinting towards Rough Trade. What followed was a whirlwind set by site favorites Bully, that largely pulled from their outstanding Feels Like. KEXP recently hosted the band for an in-studio session that once again finds the band nailing the seemingly paradoxical marriage between sounding polished and downright ragged. Exhilarating and fairly composed, it’s a fascinating look at one of 2015’s most deserving success stories.

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3. Waxahatchee (Ithaca Underground)

Katie Crutchfield has been one of the most consistently enthralling songwriters of the past 10 years, elevating a staggering number of projects that have managed to find a near-reverential status among their respective communities and beyond. Eventually, that devotion spread outward and expanded into national recognition only shortly after her first collection as Waxahatchee, American  Weekend, was released. Crutchfield’s released two more records under that moniker (and a few as half of Great Thunder) in the time that’s followed, with both Cerulean Salt and Ivy Tripp finding spots in numerous best-of lists at high-profile publications. Here, Ithaca Underground presents Crutchfield performing an arresting (and beautifully shot) solo set that leaves the audience speechless. It’s a powerful document of an artist who continues to find new ways to impress.

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4. Dilly Dally (KEXP)

Dilly Dally came into 2015 riding a wave of buzz surrounding the staggering brilliance of their first few singles and capitalized on those early flashes of potential with ferocious abandon. Nearly every item the band released this year wound up inspiring several paragraphs worth of attention from this site and a few extremely strong reviews for their inspired (and, frankly, inspiring) live shows. Sore, their full-length debut, just served as the cherry on top of an already-appealing sundae. KEXP recently brought the band in for a full session and they responded in kind, gifting the studio an appropriately searing performance.

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5. Saintseneca – How Many Blankets Are In The Wolrd? (ANTI-) 

Throughout 2015, ANTI- has produced some of the most beautiful live clips in recent memory (a handful of which have been prominently featured in this series) and that streak continues with this beautiful presentation of Saintseneca‘s Zac Little performing “How Many Blankets Are In The World?” while walking through what appears to be a drainpipe. Easily one of the year’s most gorgeous live captures, this is both a spellbinding performance and a masterclass in composition. Even when Little’s plunged into near-complete darkness, the song itself serves as the clip’s functioning heart, generating a thoughtful overall effect. When Little finally emerges back into the light, it’s a sequence that feels oddly moving, finalizing this as one of the year’s most complete offerings in this category.

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January 19, 2014

Watch This: Vol. 9

As hyper-aware readers may have noticed, there hasn’t been much in the way of worthwhile live performance videos to post over this past two week stretch. This is often an inevitability during the new year midwinter dead zone. Fortunately, this allows both time and space to reflect on the things that may have been missed throughout or before this site’s existence. One of those is the dearly-missed BNTYK (short for Be Nice to Your Kids), which seemed to stand for everything Heartbreaking Bravery does. While BNTYK only lasted for a frustratingly brief amount of time, while they were around they offered up the most professional high-quality presentations of live performances from a murderer’s row of great basement bands. Below, you’ll find five of their absolute best. Enjoy.

1. Swearin’ – Here to Hear

Swearin’ are often at their fieriest when Kyle Gilbride’s allowed to take the control. When he’s offered the opportunity it’s very rare that Gilbride doesn’t just fucking go off. “Here to Hear” is easily one of the most impassioned songs in the bands repertoire and the way they feed off each other here is so infectiously joyous that it’s hard to just watch once. Swearin’ still holds up as one of the best LP’s this young decade’s produced so far and this video will always serve as an admirable document of a band exerting their energy because they believe in the thrill of it. It’s raw, visceral, and genuinely beautiful.

2. Bad Sports – Terrible Place

There aren’t many bands that can boast a discography as strong as Bad Sports. For an early run, they’ve already produced a few records that could find themselves categorized as basement pop classics. “Terrible Place” is a very strong indication of this and their committed performance here nicely underscores how hard this band worked to make that happen. Sweat pours down faces, heads are kept down, and there’s a general air of defiant determination. Here’s hoping this band sticks around for a long time to come.

3. VIDEO – Nothing Lasts Forever

The blood-caked upper teeth, the restlessness, the pure exhilaration of airing out unbridled frustration. VIDEO play up their classic hardcore influences to the absolute maximum capacity and wind up stronger for it. “Nothing Lasts Forever” is an appropriately short, sharp, and pointed blast of music. To write any more words on the matter would only do it a disservice by opposing what it stands for. Watch it below. 

4. Teenage Cool Kids – Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth

Teenage Cool Kids are one of the more singular acts playing the circuit right now and have done everything in their power to make their presence known. Notoriety wasn’t a difficult task for them; songwriting this absurdly good is bound to attract a fair share of followers. They became a band many turned to in the wake of The Goodnight Loving’s tragic dissolution as the two bands share(d) some similar aesthetics. Here, with “Uncast Shadow of A Southern Myth” the band demonstrates all of their understated strength for all of its worth. 

5. Waxahathcee – Michel

Book-ending this list with the pairing of the Crutchfield twins feels appropriate for a myriad of reasons. There’s perhaps no pair of people on the planet that so fully embodies what Heartbreaking Bravery believes in (and the same was likely true for BNTYK as well), aptly illustrating the lengths and emphasis of musical influence. “Michel” is a slight aberration in the BNTYK series as its primarily shot in darkness and, naturally, features only Katie Crutchfield and her taped-up acoustic guitar. It’s a characteristically stunning moment from one of this generations clearest voices. Watch it and reminisce of better times- times when the world had BNTYK in it.

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