Mogwai | Heartbreaking Bravery

July 6, 2018

The Final Half of June 2018: Streams, Music Videos, and Full Streams

The final half of June wasn’t quite as loaded as its immediate predecessor but it came surprisingly close. A deluge of material found release in every major format. Iconic acts remixed prominent genre figures, legends were paid tribute, and a handful of new faces made a deep impression. Below is the chronicling of everything that made a notable splash. Three individual installments focusing on some additional highlights from this stretch will follow this post shortly. For now (and for however many times anyone feels like clicking over) enjoy the best of the rest.

STREAMS

Saintseneca, Rat Columns, Free Cake For Every Creature, Chakra Efendi, Weller, Angelo De Augustine, Van Dale, Murder By Death, Alien Boy, Saturday Night, Many Voices Speak, Mogwai, Basement Revolver, Bad Bad Hats, Sudakistan, Teksti-TV 666 (x2), Eric Bachmann, Silverbacks, Signal, The Rareflowers, The Rock’N’Roll HiFives, The Cradle, Emma Ruth Rundle, Steady Holiday, El Ten Eleven, Joey Sweeney, Marissa Nadler, Bad Western, Wild Pink, Jason Isbell, Sego, The Mountain Goats, A Place to Bury Strangers/Slowdive, Oh Sees, Daniel Bachman, Sleep Party People, Bellows, Taylor Janzen, Purling Hiss, Hater, Lou Rogai, LT Wade, Send Medicine, TMBOY, J. Marco, Michael Nau, Night Flight, and Lokoy.

MUSIC VIDEOS

Silverbacks, Trü, Ohmme, Tomberlin, Claire Morales, Batz, blushh, Los Blancos, Flasher, Talos, Strange Rooms, Self Defense Family, Hifiklub & Lee Ranaldo, Deerhoof, Amen Dunes, Jay Rock, Zzzwalk, Domenico Lancellotti, Joan of Arc, Yumi Zouma, Who Is She?, Russian Baths, Life In Vacuum, IRMA VEP, Ocean Potion, Shy Boys, Drawing Boards, Cicada Rhythm, and Delta Sleep.

FULL STREAMS

Dumb, Henrik Appel, The Innocence Mission, Self Defense Family, Lily Konigsberg, Western Medication, Katie Herzig, No Love, Modern Rituals, Converge, Avid Dancer, Dott, and a Built to Spill covers compilation.

June 20, 2017

Three Weeks Down: A Handful of Music Videos

The last post to run on this site made note of yet another hiatus that Heartbreaking Bravery’s been forced to endure for nearly three weeks. Shifting focus from streams to music videos, this list compiles a host of outstanding music videos to emerge in the regular coverage interim. Bookmark the page and go exploring, everything here’s worth revisiting or finding for the first time.

Sam Coffey and the Iron Lungs, Yowler, Chemtrails, Bike Thiefs, The Regrettes, Fruit & Flowers, Torres, Tashaki Miyaki, Majken, Mannequin Pussy, Cotillon, Together Pangea, Daniel Romano, Dream Version, Slothrust, Oro Swimming Hour, Psymon Spine, Milked (x2), The Spirit of the Beehive, Holograms, Julia Jacklin, The Peacers, Gallery 47, Tristen, Major Leagues, Jason Loewenstein, INVSN, Sløtface, Us and Us Only, Thelma, Triptides, The Nickajack Men, Trentemøller, Mogwai, Looks Like Mountains

doubleVee, Grey Gersten, Fujiya & Miyagi, Jon and Roy, Diet Cig, Chastity Belt, PJ Harvey and Ramy Essan, Cool Ghouls, Male Gaze, Lee Ranaldo, Saintseneca, Turtlenecked, Papa M, Young Guv, Colyer, Lanikai, Birthmark, Eli Raybon, Sleepy Sun, Gold Casio, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, ShitKid, Fassine, Siobhan Wilson, Office Culture, Superet, Holy Golden, Sebastian Blanck, Aesop Rock, Floco Torres, Esper Scout, sad boy, CryFace, Bedouine, Blond Ambition, ¡Moonbeams No Mas!, Aaron Roche, tunic, Denzel Curry

Katie Von Schleicher, Manchester Orchestra, Shannon Lay, Alex Napping, Adna, Caracara, Public Service Broadcasting, Quiet Hollers, Dion Lunadon, Joan of Arc, Slick Don, Onesie, and Man, Woman, Friend, and Computer.

May 16, 2017

Miya Folick – Trouble Adjusting (Stream)

Last Friday held no shortage of excellent new releases in all three major format categories: single tracks, music videos, and full streams. On the songs front there were strong showings from No Vacation, Mogwai, Boxed In, and Walktell. Memorable music videos emerged from the likes of Bellows, Wolf Girl, Elf Power, Mt. Doubt, Milk, Wovoka Gentle, PLGRMS, Annie Hardy, and Sammy Brue. The Drafts, Double Grave, Bendigo Fletcher, Elf Power, The Moonlight Love, and Steve Von Till rounded things out by unveiling notable records. Miya Folick ultimately reclaimed a feature slot with the driving “Trouble Adjusting”.

A new high-water mark for an exciting emerging artist, “Trouble Adjusting” keys in on several of the elements that made Folick’s best early work so invigorating. There’s a raw ferocity to “Trouble Adjusting”, present in everything from the scintillating guitar work to the way Folick practically spits out several lines of the verses, fangs bared and ready to go in for the kill. It’s a song that gains both energy and power as it hums along, transforming itself into a whirling mass of breakneck force like a wrecking ball swinging back on its axis before bearing down into its intended target. Melodic, memorable, and completely galvanized, “Trouble Adjusting” seems to suggest Folick’s bright future is there for the taking.

Listen to “Trouble Adjusting” below and keep an eye on this site for more details regarding the forthcoming Give It To Me EP.

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June 24, 2015

Bully – Trying (Music Video)

It’s been a hectic two weeks. One move to Brooklyn and nearly a dozen live reviews later, there’s barely been time to run anything other than specialty coverage. In the interim since the move, I’ve been accumulating the pieces of media that have managed to catch my attention. This particular post will be dedicated to the music videos that managed to fight their way onto my radar, with the feature falling squarely on Bully’s endearing clip for Feels Like‘s hell-raising “Trying” (and an accompanying list of every other title via a list of hyperlinks).

As mentioned above, most of the coverage has been geared towards live documentation, including a fierce in-store set from Bully, who managed to inject that same raw intensity into their latest clip. Shot in a straightforward black-and-white, the official visual representation of “Trying” manages to nicely echo the band’s very apparent 90’s influence. Utilizing a lot of shaky devices to compelling effect (the quick zoom, in particular, is utilized astoundingly well), the video’s central narrative finds an uplifting exuberance in its simplicity; Bully break into an amusement park and a pair of security guards attempt to track them down. There’s a very visible affection for the project on display throughout, exuding a very sincere giddiness that ultimately elevates “Trying” into one of the years most memorably fun videos. It’s a testament to the band’s intrinsic charisma as much as it is to their career savvy. Put simply: this isn’t something worth missing.

Watch “Trying” below and order a copy of Feels Like here. Beneath the embed, there are links to several other videos that came out in the past two weeks that are worth watching.

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Bob Thiele & The Forest Rangrs (ft. Alison Mosshart) – Trying To Believe
EERA – White Water
Vomitface – Luckiest Man Alive
Dances – Holy Fool
Farao – Hunter
Chastity – Manning Hill
Natalie Prass – Birds of Prey
Vacation – Decaying
PINS – Everyone Says
Solvey – The Weight
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
Shannon and the Clams – Corvette
Hippo Campus – Suicide Saturday
Beirut – No No No
Katie Dey – Unkillable
The Spirit of the Beehive – World Access
Pale Angels – Piss Water
Hemingway – No Hard Feelings
Sean Henry – The Crow
The Amazing – Safe Island
Mogwai – Helicon 1
Girlpool – Magnifying Glass
The Armed – Paradise Day

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November 26, 2014

Trust Fund – Cut Me Out (Stream)

Monday and Tuesday offered up a handful of newly released gems, so tonight’s being dedicated to recapping the best of the best. Mogwai crafted a stunning, effects-heavy video for their jaw-dropping “Teenage Exorcists“, which was more than enough to fill the featured music videos slot. Grooms, fresh off of their performance on Death By Audio’s final night, released the punchy, shape-shifting “Doctor M”. Cave People added to their growing momentum- and Older‘s growing expectations- with the rousing “Brace“. Then Trust Fund went ahead and added another great piece to their already ridiculously impressive year (their split with Joanna Gruesome remains one of 2014’s best releases) by teasing their debut record with “Cut Me Out”, one of their sharpest songs to date.

No One’s Coming For Us is the name of Trust Fund‘s upcoming record and the title continues the band’s bizarrely winsome streak of self-deprecation. Coming hot off the heels of their compilation-best contribution to the stacked Jam Kids and one of the more fascinating music video projects in recent memory, Trust Fund had already seemed primed to see their recognition skyrocket. “Cut Me Out” advances that possibility with an easy grace, sounding both refined and revitalized. Harmonies, as always, seem to come effortlessly to the quartet and their grasp on dynamics remains absurdly compelling. Primal drumming collides with guitar work that’s simultaneously sugary and vicious, acting as a perfect complement to the band’s compelling stylistic aesthetic. It’s explosive, it’s spiky, and it’s tantalizingly sweet, all adding up to a perfect first look at a record worth salivating over in anticipation. Trust Fund hasn’t missed the mark yet and it’ll come as a genuine surprise if No One’s Coming For Us doesn’t wind up as one of 2015’s very best- “Cut Me Out” already has them greeting it at full sprint. Try to keep up as they go.

Listen to “Cut Me Out” below and pre-order No One’s Coming For Us from Turnstile.

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October 12, 2014

Three Quarters Down (Mixtape)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: First off, to get this out of the way at the top, there will be no Watch This today. It’s absence will be made up with a unique 50th post next Sunday.]

We recently hit another quarter mark in the year and this site just hit another fifty posts. A digital mixtape- Three Quarters Down– has been curated to celebrate both of these occasions. All 25 songs on display have managed to become favorites in the span of their (admittedly short) existence. It didn’t matter where they came from- splits, records, singles, exclusives- if it was a great song that came out over the course of the past three months, it wound up on the list. However, there are a handful of others that were excluded by virtue of not appearing in Soundcloud’s public library- those will likely get their due in December both here and elsewhere. In the meantime, revisit some of the best songs that led us straight into fall by listening to the mix below.

Beneath the 8tracks player is the original listing of the songs in this collection. Enjoy.

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1. Mitski – Townie
2. Two Inch Astronaut – Foulbrood
3. LVL UP – DBTS
4. Little Big League – Tropical Jinx
5. The History of Apple Pie – Jamais Vu
6. Menace Beach – Come On Give Up
7. Thalassocracy – Shimensoka
8. Cellphone – Human Rights
9. Ovlov – Ohmu Shell
10. Mumblr – Sober
11. Trust Fund – Reading The Wrappers
12. Girlpool – Jane
13. Night School – Casiotone
14. Happy Diving – Sad Planet
15. Dilly Dally – Green
16. Washer – Rot
17. Speedy Ortiz – Bigger Party
18. The Midwest Beat – Vortex Hole
19. Bass Drum of Death – For Blood
20. Mannequin Pussy – Sheet City
21. Pity Sex – Acid Reflex
22. Mogwai – Teenage Exorcists
23. Nothing – July The Fourth
24. Dark Blue – Here On My Street
25. Crimson Wave – Say

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October 3, 2014

Thalassocracy – Shimensoka (Stream)

Today saw the release of three fuzzed out songs. Two were heavily indebted to shoegaze while the other was a wiry post-punk bruiser. In the case of the former, one of those songs marked one of the most interesting anomalies of Mogwai’s considerable career. “Teenage Exorcists” found the band sidling up to a sound that wasn’t too dissimilar from The History of Apple Pie. Bratty vocals, fuzzed-out riffs, swirling guitars, bright vocal melodies, and a killer middle eight all add up to one of the most intriguing sidesteps any major name’s made this year. Joining Mogwai in the ranks of great bands releasing strong shoegaze-leaning basement pop songs today was The Lees of Memory, a band that features at least one ex-Superdrag member. That 90’s influence pays huge dividends on the towering “Little Fallen Star“, a slow-burning six-minute cut from the band’s just released Sisyphus Says. In the territory that wasn’t overtly occupied by a punk-laden ambient sprawl Thalassocracy‘s “Shimensoka” bared teeth sharp enough to ensure that it’d get noticed.

“Shimensoka” is aggressively minimal without also blending in the increasingly trendy chaos a la Parquet Courts and Naomi Punk (not to mention an endless amount of others setting up camp with that formula). It’s Thalassocracy’s contribution to Art Is Hard’s increasingly on-point Pizza Club singles series. Opening with a few light touches of organs, that soft palette is quickly cut to shreds by a jackknife rhythm section and a threatening guitar line, which is fitting considering the song’s title (shimensoka is a Japanese word with a meaning that roughly translates to “facing extreme hostility; defeat is inevitable”). Populated by genuinely strange moments, it becomes an incredibly compelling look at what Thalassocracy is capable of achieving. They’ve already got an impressive pedigree, thanks to a lineup that boasts members of Grubs and Slothboat. Easily the darkest track of today’s trio of tunes- it’s also the most hypnotic, aptly showcasing the band’s penchant for quiet ferocity. “Shimensoka” is a remarkable step forward for a band that seems intent on making a run of things. Expect to be hearing more about them in the future.

Listen to (and download) “Shimensoka” below and sing up to be a member of The Pizza Club here.

Tag: Mogwai