Midnight Faces | 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.

October 13, 2016

A Two Week Toll: Music Videos

Continuing on with the precedent set by the previous post, everything here is designed to celebrate some of the best releases of the past two weeks. This time around, the emphasis falls to music videos. There’s an incredibly expansive array of material to be discovered via the links below. Click through some of the titles or bookmark this page and click through everything, there’s a very good chance a new favorite’s waiting somewhere in the wings. Enjoy.

Boytoy, Menace Beach, Petal, Big Eyes, Fake Palms, The Tuts, Jay Som, Hovvdy, Eyelids, Tacocat, Toys That Kill, Emilyn Brodsky, Priests, YJY, Weyes Blood (x2), Pumarosa, Computer Magic, Banana Split, Midnight Faces, Kraus, Wyatt Blair, Johanna Warren, Aidan Knight, Jayle Jayle, The Faint, Chromatics, Soft Fangs, Berwanger, WALL, Xenia Rubinos, Scully, Shura, Cass McCombs, Mile Me Deaf, Duchess Says.

Pill, Matt Kivel, San Cisco, Halfsour, Woods, Vacation, Joan of Arc, Womps, Slow Mass, Kvelertak, Slow Club, Alex Izenberg, Amber Coffman, Nick Waterhouse, Balto, Hurry, Navy Gangs, Izzy True, Marine, Savoy Motel, Mutual Benefit, Balcanes, The Dandy Warhols, Yellow Days, The Wharves, Madeline Kenney, liv, The Dirty Nil, Joyce Manor, Mutts, Ex Reyes, Big Smoke, Gloria, Earwig, and RF Shannon.

August 25, 2016

Hazel English – I’m Fine (Lyric Video)

hazel english

Since Monday, outstanding full streams from Space Mountain, The Veils, Vomitface, Lifer, Midnight Faces, Zula, Worse, The Wounded Kings, Psychic Heat, Massage, Saint Clementine, and Twist have all surfaced. In that baker’s dozen of releases, there’s a demonstration of the impressive range of quality material that this month alone has been producing. We’re living in an astonishing time for music and while not all of it’s visible, it’s still easily accessible. For example: Hazel English may not currently be the biggest name in music but the project’s most recent single, “I’m Fine”, ranks among the best understated pop songs of the year.

Making the deal even sweeter, the project’s offered up a gorgeous lyric clip to accompany the release of “I’m Fine” that was meticulously crafted using cut-outs of vintage issues of Life magazine. In that approach, “I’m Fine” gets the benefit of having an appreciative sense of history, which, in turn, winds up enlivening the entire affair. The song itself is an eloquently composed slice of muted basement pop, anchored by a frighteningly relatable sense of human longing.

From the warm synth beds to the imagery placement, there’s not a false note or move to be found anywhere in “I’m Fine”, which has an emotional resonance that’s impossible to ignore. Even with all of the ostensible anguish that drives the song’s narrative — and the wistful nostalgia that fuels the clip — as soon as it’s over, the only thing that seems to make sense is to go straight back to the beginning and experience every inch of “I’m Fine” all over again.

Watch “I’m Fine” below and pre-order Never Going Home here.

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August 9, 2016

Young Jesus – Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage (EP Review)

youngjesus

As another week begins, another slate of new streams finds their way out into the world. DonCat, Public Eye, Joyce Manor, Lydia Loveless, Notches, James Edge and the Mindstep, Midnight Faces, Zula, Swoon Lake, and Naked Giants all unveiled strong tracks. There were also impressive music videos from Teen Suicide and Dennis Callaci as well as formidable full streams from Thee Oh Sees and Puppy. While those proved to be fascinating titles, site favorites Young Jesus secured themselves another headline spot with the surprise release of the Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage EP, which sees bandleader John Rossiter continuing the influx of new material that was promised with last month’s extraordinary “1“.

In keeping with the pattern set by “1”, all of the song titles are assigned numbers and pick up after “2“. Don’t be fooled by the chronological system, each of these four tracks are imbued with the singular personality that’s defined the band’s past few releases. A recurrent thread throughout that past work has been an intangible sadness that finds intriguing ways to manifest. The most direct examples of that trait tend to be Rossiter’s lyricism, which tends to evoke an empathetic, even contemplative sense of basic understanding.

Right from the outset of Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage, those characteristics are in full effect. “3” is the kind of genre-defying slow-burner that’s become a Rossiter specialty, melancholic and memorable. “Act like I’m seeing with my eyes, act like I’m bleeding all the time. I’m doing fine, I’m doing fine.” is the line that closes out “3” and one of Neverending Catlaogue of Total Garbage‘s most defining moments. It’s simultaneously an unfiltered look at the fractured psyche of the central narrator and a therapeutic release.

While “4” and “6” both sustain the EP’s sense of trajectory, they’re slightly more experimental affairs (the latter, especially so). Even with that experimentation, there are moments of bruised romanticism, underscoring the potential value of this entire project on a grand scale. “5” may be the most traditional inclusion of Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage and the first of the new recordings to incorporate any sort of percussion. The song also manages to be one of the EP’s most direct moments and still retains the EP’s sense of poetry.

All told, Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage is a thing of beauty. As a reaffirmation of Young Jesus’ innate artistic ability, it’s heartening. As a continuation of a standalone project, the EP is fascinating. As its own entity, it’s surprisingly essential. Antithetical to its title at every turn, Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage winds up being a perfect example of 2016’s unexpected vibrancy. Don’t let this surprise release become a glossed-over footnote, provide it with the investment it deserves and walk away rewarded.

Listen to Neverending Catalogue of Total Garbage below and pick it up here.

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