The excellent, unique & wonderful Brute Heart have released a brilliant new 7" single, available now (I think?) from the intercontinental label M' Lady's. Here's their words -
We're incredibly proud to be issuing this single. Brute Heart are from Minneapolis, and have already released two truly deep albums (their self-released debut "Brass Beads" and last year's "Lonely Hunter" on Soft Abuse). Jackie, Crystal, and Crystal know the power of echo and the power of tonality, and bring it round like the crazy world of Arthur Russell all over again! This single will get under your skin fast. We've cavalierly suggested in the past the possibility of a "DOUBLE A SIDE" single. This, my friends, is truly such a specimen.
Though not from the same sessions, both tunes seem cut from the same cloth that bequeathed Lonely Hunter.This one is a must-have. Check out the B side at SoundCloud.
Minnepolis people take note: the band play a release gig for the single this Saturday at Kitty Cat Klub, along with Painted Saints and les ourses.
Just like every year, 2011 saw a heap good records trickle out... In compiling this list of favorites I'm surely forgetting a few things that I really loved, but below is what I can recall at this moment, listed in no particular order.
Full-lengths The UV Race - Homo (In the Red) Blackout Beach - Fuck Death (Dead Oceans) Stare Case - Lose Today (DeStijl) Bill Callahan - Apocalypse (Drag City) Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Domino) Cass McCombs - Humor Risk (Domino) Condominium - Warm Home (Condominium) Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky) Zomes - Earth Grid (Thrill Jockey) Stan Hubbs - Crystal (re, Companion) Martin Newell - Songs for a Fallow Land (re, Fixed Identity) Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge) Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Society - Father of Origin (re, Eremite) Various - Still Going in Offices (Savoury Days) Der Teenage Panzerkorps - German Reggae (Holidays) Horrid Red - Celestial Joy (Holidays/Brave Mysteries) Angus Maclise / Tony Conrad - Dreamweapon III (re, Boo-Hooray) Vernon Wray - Wasted (re, Sebastian Speaks) Sic Alps - Napa Asylum (Drag City) Jerusalem & the Starbaskets - Dost (DeStijl) Grouper - A I A (Yellow Electric) Jakob Olausson - Morning & Sunrise (DeStijl) Matthew De Gennaro - Adversaria (TU-134) The Axemen - Three Virgins, Three Versions, Three Visions (Siltbreeze) Ryan Garbes - Sweet Hassle (Hello Sunshine) Lighted - Queendom (Lighten-Up Sounds) Papercuts - Fading Parade (Sub Pop) Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Floodplain (Drag City) Total Control - Henge Beat (Iron Lung) Kitchen's Floor - Look Forward to Nothing (Siltbreeze) Various - Krypton Ten (Unwucht) Belong - Common Era (Kranky) KWJAZ - KWJAZ (Not Not Fun) The Garbage & The Flowers - Stoned Rehearsal (re, Quemada) Steven R. Smith - Old Skete (Worstward) Myrrh - Myrrh (Self-Released) Tinariwen - Tassili (Anti/V2) Larry Marshall - Queer & Wonder (re, Rare Youth) Bobb Trimble - Crippled Dog Band (re, Yoga) Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador) Pigeons - No Shore (Sixteen Tambourines) Slugfuckers - Three Feet Behind Glass / Instant Classic (re, Insolito) Suspensers - FMLOL (Self-Released) Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
Singles / EPs
Real Numbers - Tear it in Two (Florida's Dying) Lower Dens - Deer Knives (Sub Pop) Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Walking in Unison (Captcha) Mad Nanna - Mad Nanna (Eggy) Mad Nanna - I've Been Talking (Albert's Basement) Jonathan Halper - Puce Moment (Bootleg) Art Museums - S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G. (Dulcitone) Grudge - When Christine Comes Around (re, Mighty Mouth) The UV Race - Acid Trip (Sweet Rot) The Mantles - Raspberry Thighs (SDZ) Muura - Untitled (Albert's Basement) Scrotum Poles- Revelation (re, Ducitone) Just Urbain - Everybody Loves (re, 540) Three Legged Race - Raining Order (NNA Tapes) Cuffs - Privilege (Ride the Snake) Lures - New Boy (Salvaged) The Moondogs - Heads I Win (re, Sing Sing) Gold-Bears - Something to Think About (Cloudberry)
Last but not least, a recap of all things Soft Abuse from 2011, listed chronologically --
Minneapolis' Brute Heart are ending 2011 on a high note thanks to some year-end nods. First there was the pizza party at Soft Abuse HQ (much-belated), then their profile as one of the best bands in Minneapolis from Lavender Magazine hit the newsstands / web ("...with a sound that’s like some kind of Middle-Eastern Velvet Underground"), and today their brilliant second album, Lonely Hunter, was named one of the best Minneapolis album of 2011 by City Pages.
2011 was a banner year for the band, with the arduous recording & massive release of Lonely Hunter, a tour of the west coast in the summer, a trip to NYC for CMJ in the fall, and dozens of gigs in-between. 2012 should be just as bright, with two singles imminent via M'lady's and Mississippi-offshoot imprint Water Wing, more touring & who-knows-what. Expect good things.
...a few photographs from Brute Heart's show at Public Fixture Gallery in LA (they performed behind the BELIEVE sign). Great sets all-around from Brute Heart, Warm Climate, and Metal Rouge at this awesome venue...
Minneapolis art-punk trio Brute Heart will release their second album, Lonely Hunter, on June 7th. Fans and friends in the Minneapolis area will have the chance to spin it sooner; the band is throwing a release party this coming Saturday, May 14, at the Turf Club. Also appearing will be Jerusalem & the Starbaskets (check their new LP Dost on DeStijl), Tender Meat, Lighted, and Patches, with DJ Tumbleweed spinning between bands. All of this for $6. The release show poster comes courtesy of LandLand.
Last week the band filmed a music video with MPLS.TV in their practice space (Jackie's garage). Despite interference from the authorities, the video was actually completed & will be released this coming week. In the meantime check out the photo session from that evening...
Minneapolis trio Brute Heart have amassed a grip of fans in their brief existence, thanks in no part to the depth of their songs & strength of their live performances; they even landed a Daytrotter session last fall. They've toured a bit in the midwest and east, and are set to play their first west coast shows in June, on the heels of their upcoming album, Lonely Hunter. Lonely Hunter finds Crystal Myslajek, Jackie Beckey & Crystal Brinkman pushing further into the blurry fringes of art-rock, post-punk and dark folk, treading the same turf as the likes of Dog Faced Hermans, Grass Widow, Quix*O*Tic, The Raincoats and Family Fodder. They've moved far ahead of their stellar debut, Brass Beads, incorporating more of a hypnotic, Eastern influence than before & deepening their cathedral harmonies and trancey / dancey rhythms.
Lonely Hunter is now available for pre-order; the official release date is June 7. For those in the Minneapolis area, join us for a release party at Turf Club on May 14, with Jerusalem & the Starbaskets, Lighted, Tender Meat, and Patches (Isa Gagarin). Pre-orders will ship to arrive before the release date...
Brute Heart are headed into the studios of The Current, Radio K and KFAI here in Minneapolis in the coming weeks -- we'll share more info about those appearances as its available. In the meantime, preview the song Blindfolded from Lonely Hunter here.
