Heartbreaking Bravery

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Tag: The fin.

2018: A Long Look, A Longer Listen (The First Two Months)

A persistent and all-consuming myth among people that refuse to commit a shred of investment to any sort of search is that “good music just doesn’t exist anymore.” It’s the same sort of thinking present in the cavalcade of thoughtless attempts to shift any sort of blame for societal ills to a younger generation based solely on an outlook that was defined by a vastly different era. Fortunately, there are a host of artists to emphatically disprove brand of thinking and act as a counter to what could be construed as a subtle, insidious form of ageism. Below there are literally hundreds of links providing access to various songs, music videos, and records.

All of them are worth a shot and a good many of them are vastly different from their surrounding links. Each of those items came out in 2018 and there’s an entire world more of them waiting to be discovered by the people willing to put in the work. So use these as a starter pack of sorts or just scroll through and see what today’s musicians can offer. It’s a boundless scope and when its allowed to not just exist but thrive, there are a multitude of reasons to celebrate. Enjoy.

SONGS

Okkervil River, Hop Along, OughtFrøkedal, ConnectionsNoble Son, Mount EerieRich Girls, DuskTherese Litner, Soccer MommyHindsEric Benoit, JACK (x2), The Radio Dept., Parker Longbough, Rat Kid CoolWhy Bonnie (x2), Holy Now (x2), High Sunn (x2), Odina, Spielbergs, The Breeders, Shark ToysJouska (x2), Yazan, Johanna Warren, No Thank You, Drive Me Home Please, Your Old Droog, Charly Bliss, Liza Anne, Father John Misty, Rolling Blackouts C.F., Chemtrails, Katie Von SchleicherWavves & Culture Abuse, VALES, Sharaya Summers, Katie Dey, War On Women, The Goldberg Sisters (x2), Busdriver (x2), Queen of Jeans (x2), Shell of A Shell (x2), Soccer Mommy (x2)

Bodies Be Rivers, Cold Fronts, Three Man Cannon, Russian Baths (x2, 3), Rachel Angel, Francobollo, Big Air, Dryspell (x2), Deanna Petcoff, Sam Levin, Good Air, Helena DelandTrès Oui, Josh Rouse, Sarah Mary ChadwickDustedBonny Doon, Jay Som (x2), Golden Drag, In Tall Buildings, Mastersystem, The Love-Birds, School Disco, Caroline Rose, Zomber, Drawing Boards, SALES, Big Bliss, Wax IdolsErika Wennerstrom (x2), Droopies, Jalen N’GondaKid Dakota (x2), Haley Hendrickx, Tim Kuhl, Sunflower Bean, BambaraBenjamin Lazar Davis (x2), Hanz, Courtney Marie Andrews (x2), Verge Collection, Now, Now, Lowpines, Hurry (x2), Pole Siblings, Birds of Passage

Bush Tetras, Maria Kelly, Rafiq Bahtia, Cut Worms, Death By Unga Bunga, Sitcom, Natalie Shay, Wussy, Citris, Sculpture Club, TheodoreElan Noon (x2), Avalon, Terror Pigeon, Greg Mendez, Neil O’NeilDélage (x2, 3), Anna McClellan, Nap Eyes (x2), BILK, Malena Zavala, Camp Cope, Guerilla Toss, Damaged Bug, Gentle Leader XIV, Kraus, Bummerville (x2), WINDHAND, Numb.erErik Phillips, Oberon Rose, Lizzie Loveless, Hot Snakes, Girlpool, American Nightmare, Dr. Octagon (x2), Runaway Brother, A Grave With No Name, Samara Lubelski, vaarwell, The Golden DregsBelle MareChappo, HOLY, Vamping, Noble SonS. Carey, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat (x2), TT

Sofia Härdig, GrouperAir Waves (x2), Tenderfoot (x2), Sunflower Bean, Josh Mover & The Shakers, Jean-Michael BlaisMany RoomsFreedom Baby, La Luzilluminati hottiesThe Black Lips & The Khan FamilyMelvins, Extravision, AnemoneEverett Bird, Parquet Courts, Life In VacuumSuperteen, Cindy Lee, Ricky Lewis, BUDDIESam Moss, Sego, BRNDADungen & Woods, Loma, John Craigie (x2), Lanikai, Pony LeagueDreamend, Sea Moya, Oceanator, Holly Miranda, Renata Zeiguer, Deathlist, Wilder MakerLea Bertucci, Cutouts, Sur Back (x2), I’m Kingfisher, ANMLPLNET, Oneida, wyd, Western Scene, Bad BreedingThe Drums, Bob HolroydWill Stewart, Varvara

Jerry David Decicca, Redolent, Lokki, ROOS, QWAM, Water From Your Eyes, Old S Resort, Jesse Merchant, Dead Sullivan, John Moods, They Might Be Giants, Cool Ghouls, Strawberry Mountain, The Low Anthem, Peacock Affect, The fin., Ezra Feinberg, EMA, Sloan, The Voidz, VOWWS, Nature Shots, Narrow Head, Sleepyhead, Bob Holroyd, Virginia Wing, Orchid MantisYoung Statues, Kate Teague, Leyya, Pinky Pinky, Mind Over MirrorsWalter Martin, Beach House, The Sea and the Cake, Alice Bag, Eels, Hero-Fisher, Andy CookDatarock, Dabrye, Swear TapesTerra Naomi, FeverbonesPariuh, David Byrne, Palm, Youth In A Roman FieldKid Koala, LokkiHelena Deland

Freedom Fry, ARXX, Troels Abrahamsen, Young Fathers, Post Louis, SpandrelsHannah Epperson, Saw Black, Iceage, Dylan CarlsonAmerican Pleasure Club, Swampmeat Family Band, Pearl Charles, Chez Ali, Compltr, Refrigerator, The Nectars, Candy Ambulance, Death, Jack Watts., Simon D JamesToebow, yndi halda, SabiyhaEllie Schmidly, Sitcom, Doby Watson, Laura Veirs, Lost Horizons, Lost Under Heaven, Andy Jenkins, Guts Club, Yo La Tengo, Media Jeweler, The Saxophones, Hum, Margaret Glaspy, Cary Illinois, Susan the Cat, I Hate You Just Kidding, Tee Grizzley, Barren Womb, Madeline Kenney, I Think Like Midnight, Spirit In The Room, Torgeir Waldemar, LuxGaze, and Japanese Breakfast.

MUSIC VIDEOS

Ought, Parquet Courts, Shy Kids (x2), Caroline Rose, Billy Moon, Screaming Females, Car Seat Headrest, Current Joys (x2, 3, 4), Somehow, Night Flowers (x2), Palehound, Heaven, Look Vibrant, Pip Blom, Ultimate Painting, Royal Brat, CorridorFalcon Jane, Olden Yolk (x2), Stella Donnelly, Nap Eyes, Winter, Wendyfix (x2), Dusted, Superorganism, Pale Kids, Z Berg, Son Lux, Palm, The Spook School, Clint Michigan, Girl Ray, Rostam, Japanese Breakfast, OdinaFrankie Cosmos, Von K, Dogeyed

Shopping (x2), Speedy Ortiz, Treehouses, Holiday Ghosts, Sports Team, Sonny Smith, Bully, Tremends, Bethlehem Steel, Soccer Mommy, The ArmedPJ Harvey & Harry Escott, Lucy Dacus, Moaning (x2), Cloud Castle Lake, Albert Hammond Jr., Chris Dave and the Drumhedz, FlasherNative Sun, Emma Tricca, Partner, Drowse, Barren Womb, Martha Ffion (x2), Honduras, S. Carey, Middle Kids, Newspoke (x2, 3), Callow, Charlotte Day Wilson, Suuns, Goat Girl, Shamir, Death Bells, Guppy, Half Waif (x2)

ROOS, Natalie Prass, Cornelius (x2), Peach Kelli Pop, King Tuff (x2), The Winter Passing, Renata Zeiguer, La Luz, Bat Fangs, Jess WilliamsonSkating Polly, Lionlimb (x2), Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michael RaultGianni Paci, Queen of Jeans, Dirty Fences, Sorry, Wiggy Giggy, Lemuria, Tough Age, Yours Are the Only Earsnothing,nowhere., Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders, Kal MarksScuffleSløtface, Kal Marks, Coping SkillsLauren Ruth Ward (x2, 3), Charmpit, They Might Be Giants, Hurry, First Aid Kit

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Fun Fare, Daddy Issues, The AmazingJeff Rosenstock, boerdJanelle Monáe, Sc Mira, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Surrounder, Iceage, The Go! Team, Mavis Staples, Eels, Margo Price, Titus Andronicus, Alice Bag, Oddnesse, Jessica RiskerFRANKIIEDestroyer, Spinning Coin, Damien Jurado, Ed Schrader’s Music BeatLa Bête BloomsThe Lonely Biscuits, Prawn, Hippo Campus, New Spell, Dream Wife, Echo Pressure, Amen Dunes, Leroy Francis, Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet

Montero, ShitKid, The Dazies, Marlon Williams, Lazy DayLaura Veirs, Lily Allen, Fruition, No Age, YACHT, Sunny War, Cut Worms, Glen Hansard, Trevor Ransom, Hannah Epperson, Seafoam, VedeTTClever Girls, In Tall Buildings, Fufanu, Lowpines, Tiny Fighter, The Prids, STRFKR, Hinds, SuperchunkTFS, Tallies, American Pleasure Club, Johanna Warren, Sam Himself, Men I TrustJessica Lea MayfieldA Place To Bury Strangers, Bad MovesRazorbumpsMoviestar, Teen CreepsPoppy AckroydCaroline Says, Charles Howl, Loma, Fontaines DC, CrumbAlessi’s Ark, Jenny Wilson, The Regrettes, Bummerville, GluedTenderfoot, Tree House, Susie Q, and si,irene.

FULL STREAMS

Vundabar, Hello Flora, Emily Yacina, Kal Marks, Harmony Tividad, Corey Flood, Johanna Warren, Palm, Plain Dog, Candace, Hovvdy, American Pleasure Club, Bat Fangs, Dark Thoughts, Poppy Ackroyd, Erik Phillips, Grave School, Cameron Boucher/Field Medic, The Number Ones, Margaret Glaspy, The Hold Steady, Guided By Voices, Superchunk, Bleary, Lillet Blanc, Hurry, Bedbug, I Hate You Just Kidding, Sidney Gish, weary, ther, Sunshine Faces, Elan Noon, Bodies Be Rivers, Hex, Hobbyist, Las Rosas

Dryspell, Rik & the Pigs, Amaya Laucirica, No MuseumsZinskē, First Thought Worst Thought, Sur Back, Little Star, Mind Spiders, Lowpines, Shopping, Mimicking Birds, Scrap Brain, The Go! Team, Th Da Freak, Shareef Keyes & The Groove, ShitKid, Unlikely Friends, Kid Dakota, Lightwash, Berry, Matthew Politoski, Holy Motors, Blushing, Shakey Graves, Tim Kuhl, Pando, Leyya, Shamir (x2), bristletongue, Dealer Plates, Hank Wood & the Hammerheads, closer, Bummerville, Tropical Trash, Brutal Birthday

Special Explosion, Hookworms, Lisa/Liza, Russian Baths, VOWWS, A Lily, Caroline Says, BB & The Blips, Listener, Balkan Bump, Martha Ffion, Corniglia, Qwam, HOLY, Spice Boys, Hour, Conviction, Cassandra Jenkins, Refrigerator, Sweeney, mita, and compilations from Z Tapes and Emotional Response (x2).

What A Difference A Month Makes (Music Videos)

In the past month, a lot’s happened on both sides of the coverage spectrum. A lot of sets were documented in that time and will be receiving some attention at some point down the line. A lot of full streams came out, even more songs were released, and quite a few music videos found their way out into the world as well. All three of those formats will have a list dedicated to them and then a slew of individual features will be posted celebrating a handful of exceptional titles. Below is a list of formidable music videos that made a powerful impression over the course of the last month. Take a breath, dive in, and go exploring. 

Mo Troper, Lion’s Den, Tiny Deaths, Tim Heidecker, Weaves, Amber Arcades, Night Idea, Steve Gunn, Littler, Bambara, Braids, Prism Tats, No Parents, Those Pretty Wrongs, Stan Simon & The Hotel Bible, Neil Michael Hagerty & The Howling HexRJD2, Crosss, James Supercave, Eric Bachmann, Tacocat, Julianna Barwick, Acapulco Lips, Conrad Keely, Programm, Lontalius, Clique, Martha, Wilder Adkins, The Spook School, Rozwell Kid, The Loom, Oscar, Bishop Briggs, Angel Du$t, Patience, Band of Horses, The fin., The Raveonettes, Secret Space, Pure Bathing Culture, Howardian, and GOAT.

Modern Baseball, Holy Fuck, Sturgill Simpson, Butch BastardMinor Victories, The Slovaks, The Coathangers, OMNI, Stove, Sløtface, Franky Flowers, Slim Twig, Kino Kimino, D Generation, Pony Time (ft. Lisa Prank), Beverly, Living Hour, Former Belle, Tancred, Mutts, Pet Sun, Teen Suicide, Krano, Your Friend, Dear Boy, The Stargazer Lilies, The Kills, The Loom, Aesop Rock, Cellar Doors, Xiu Xiu, Globelamp, TV Sets, and Eleanor Friedberger, and a surprisingly outstanding fan-shot video for Mike Krol’s “Less Than Together” (one of this site’s picks for Best Songs of 2015) as well as the trailer for Casket Girls’ The Night Machines.

Dilly Dally – The Touch (Music Video)

Dilly Dally XXII

Continuing on with the onslaught of catch-up posts, we return once again to a fiery live-edit clip from one of Toronto’s fiercest live bands: Dilly Dally. An easy CMJ highlight, the band annihilated what seemed to be impossibly high expectations and delivered two of the best sets of the year. A site favorite since their first single, it’s been a joy to watch the band ride the crest of a surging wave of acclaim for Sore, one of 2015’s best records, and deliver at an extraordinarily high level on every platform they’re given. “The Touch” is just the latest in a string of triumphs and, despite Sore being their debut album, it already feels like a victory lap.

As atmospheric imagery is overlaid and intercut with performance footage, “The Touch” takes on the manic feel that partially defines the band’s aesthetic while also bring another important dimension into focus: the idea that there’s inherent beauty to be found in things that most would perceive as ugly or mundane. There’s always a certain emphasis on elegance at the surface of Dilly Dally’s work, whether it’s Sore‘s arresting album art or in their previous music videos, that comes laced with a confrontational moment; nothing’s ever truly at peace. “The Touch” reinforces that ideology with its vivid imagery, relentless energy, and bruising commitment, providing the band with a fitting final flourish to a year where they became one of music’s most distinctive new voices.

Watch “The Touch” below, pick up a copy of Sore here, and explore a list of some of the best music videos of the past few months underneath the embed.

Post Life – Dissolve
Stove – Aged Hype
MMOTHS – Deu
Day Wave – Come Home Now
Tracy Bryant – Subterranean
Beautiful Breakdown – Transmission Party
Line & Circle – Like A Statue
Julia Holter – Silhouette
Lou Barlow – Nerve
The Dirty Nil – No Weaknesses
Yvette – Calm and Content
Adam Busch – Tiger
Menace Beach – Holidays are Heavy
The Lonely Wild – Snow
Beliefs – Leaper
Soupcans – Crimes 1
NRVS LVRS – 2 Young 2 Know
Beach Slang – Bad Art & Weird Ideas
Suede – Like Kids
Little Fevers – Bones
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Necessary Evil
The fin. – Night Time
The Shrine – Coming Down Quick
Cave Curse – Stoned & Dethroned
EL VY – Silent Ivy Hotel
The Lonely Together – Congregation
Girls Named Benji – Murder Shoes
Vulva Culture (x4)
Yassou (x5)