#matt barrick

[seethesound]

Remember remember all we fight for

[bandcampsnoop]

11/25/24.

I bought Dark Tea "Dark Tea II" during Plaid Room Records' amazing annual fall sale. This album has been out since 2021 and I wanted to post about it right away back then, but it just got lost under the avalanche of music in my life.

I'm rectifying this mistake. Listen to this album for some great summer vibe feeling pop. Dark Tea (Gary Canino - Brooklyn, New York) gets a lot of help - from Matt Barrick (Walkmen) to Paco Cathcart (Eyes of Love) to Jason Quever (Papercuts), Canino enlists the help of many a fine songsmith in their own right.

I can't help but be reminded of Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Thee Conductor (or any number of artists on Perpetual Doom) or deine Mutti.

This was released by Fire Talk Records.

[jennyowenyoungs]

Beautiful friends, I am so unbelievably thrilled to tell you that I have a NEW RECORD coming out September 22nd! It's called Avalanche, it was produced by Josh Kaufman (who absolutely rips), and it will be released by Yep Roc Records, my magnificent new label home. The album cover was shot by Josh Goleman, who spent a day in the studio with us working his photographic magic. This will be my first full-length studio album in (brace yourself) over ten years. Time flies when you're cowriting songs with other artists, making a Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast, and raising a Boston Terrier. While I've definitely been staying busy (and putting out EPs along the way), I have really missed making albums. Everything about this body of work is a culmination of those intervening years, from the subjects of the songs, to the incredibly talented people with whom I wrote them and recorded them. I cannot wait for you to hear it all. And holy smokes you can start TODAY! The first single, the title track "Avalanche," is out now! I wrote it with my amazing friend Madi Diaz, one of my most treasured collaborators. In addition to me and Josh Kaufman on the track, you'll hear the extremely satisfying Matt Barrick (of The Walkmen) on drums. This song, and the whole record, was engineered, mixed, and mastered by D. James Goodwin, and production assistance was provided by Gillian Pelkonen. Big thanks to Paste Magazine for premiering "Avalanche" this morning - what an honor! You can check out their write-up over HERE.

The album is now up for preorder, including some pretty dang sumptuous deep purple vinyl!  

Listen to "Avalanche"

Preorder Avalanche (U.S.)

Preorder Avalanche (International)

Watch the “Avalanche” visualizer below:

[speakspeak]

Timeless Cool: The Walkmen, and their children

[sinceileftyoublog]

The Walkmen Live Show Review: 5/18, Metro, Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“It’s good to be back,” said Hamilton Leithauser in the middle of The Walkmen’s second show on a four-night run at Metro, in what’s surely been a triumphant return. “I don’t know what ‘back’ means, but we’re back right now,” he clarified. Of course, any time a band doesn’t really break up but takes an indefinite hiatus, and then announces a reunion (or revenge) tour, fans invariably consider the prospect of new music. Instead, right now, at least for the time being, The Walkmen are reflecting on a storied discography, revealing to crowds on a nightly basis where they started and how far they’ve come.

Entering the stage to little banter, perhaps The Walkmen wanted to show us that, indeed, they never really left. They certainly sounded like it, Leithauser’s twangy sneer and Matt Barrick’s chugging drums propelling “On the Water”, Paul Maroon’s angular stabs and Leithauser’s trademark screams lifting “In the New Year” to the heights at which it previously soared, the entire band blasting through “The Rat” like they had little time left on earth. But as the set went on, Leithauser’s contextualization of their songs surfaced the raw imperfections underneath the band that always dressed perfectly, like the debonair socialites of Aughts post-punk. (I’ll never forget a fall 2013 Walkmen show where Leithauser clarified the band bought all their clothes at Costco and Target.) The band formed in the early 2000′s in Harlem from the ashes of Jonathan Fire*Eater and The Recoys, and their back-to-back performances of “Little House of Savages” and “The Blizzard of ‘96″--meant for those previous bands, respectively--showcased how the two disparate sonic aspects of The Walkmen for so long have worked in tandem. That is, many of their best songs start with, simply, sheer blasts of instrumentation, like “The Rat” or “Little House of Savages”, but equally impressive are the plinking, jangly exercises in collegiate and urban nostalgia like “The Blizzard of ‘96″, “138th Street”, and “We’ve Been Had”, the last of which was the first song they ever wrote, Leithauser a ripe 21 “writing forlorn lyrics about being 19.”

Though the band prioritized their back catalog over strong later career albums like Lisbon and Heaven, I was glad to see them recognize the brilliance of a few more recent tracks. The first couple times I saw The Walkmen, they played songs from those records that had not yet been released, and hearing “Blue As Your Blood” and the anthemic “Heaven” took me back to my initial transfixation. Lisbon, especially, established a newfound emphasis on country-adjacent music, the most Leithauser’s ever sounded like a raspy Bob Dylan, songs like “Blue As Your Blood” carried by Maroon’s Spaghetti Western guitar plucks and Barrick’s galloping percussion. You could say such songs were foreshadowed by You & Me’s gorgeous “Red Moon” (“I prefer it without the horn section,” admitted Leithauser), but to me, Lisbon was the album where The Walkmen most successfully honed in on what made them tick. “This song took the longest to record of any Walkmen song ever,” said Leithauser introducing “Juveniles”, joking, “I don’t know why: It’s a simple song.” On the surface, “Juveniles” is simply, a gentle sway, but something about its clanging treble worms into your head, Leithauser’s chants of “You’re one of us or one of them” practically made for an audience to shout back.

When Leithauser told the crowd, “We didn’t know whether anybody would remember us,” it came at first as a shock. The Walkmen were one of the most critically acclaimed indie rock bands at a time when indie rock dominated the critical discourse, for better or for worse. Of course people would remember them! Thinking back, though, as the years passed since Heaven was released, maybe the band was simply stored in people’s memory banks, perhaps precisely because they never technically broke up or announced a big farewell, leaving a permanent-feeling void in their fans’ hearts. In essence, then, their entire set felt like scratching a giant itch you didn’t know you had. What a thrill it was to hear Peter Bauer’s mammoth basslines, and Walter Martin’s synths adding to the whirr and swirling noise of “All Hands And The Cook” and “Thinking Of A Dream I Had”, Maroon’s sharp tones, Barrick’s meaty, precise fills, and Leithauser’s desperate wail. We were “one of us” once again.

[madewithonerib]

RE: Munk Debate: Malcolm Gladwell vs. Douglas Murray

I've only heard about this debate debacle in passing, not seen it in long form, but it is unanimous that Malcolm wasn't listening to the other side.. which is too bad, given his books were so insightful.. which is probably the reason of his downfall. Success breeds contempt, which makes it impossible to hear what others have to say

The Munk Debates are a semi-annual series of debates on major policy issues held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are run by the Aurea Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by Peter Munk, founder of mining company Barrick Gold, & wife Melanie Munk.

2022 Munk Debate - Mainstream Media ft. Douglas Murray, Matt Taibbi, Malcolm Gladwell, Michelle Goldberg

Showing up for work as a centrist at an American Newspaper should not require bravery. Bari Weiss

The Munk Debate on the Mainstream Media was held on November 30, 2022. The resolution to be debated was, "Be it resolved, don't trust the mainstream media." On the PRO side of the debate were Douglas Murray (The Spectator) and Matt Taibbi (TK News on Substack). On the CON side of the debate were Malcolm 'Malc' Gladwell (The New Yorker, Revisionist History) and Michelle Goldberg (The New York Times).

At the beginning of the debate, 48% voted in favour of the resolution, while 52% voted against the resolution. At the end of the debate, 67% voted in favour of the resolution, while 33% voted against it, representing a 39% switch to the PRO side, the biggest switch in Munk history.

Peter Munk 1927-2018, Founder of Munk Debates You have to argue both from sides beforehand with an open mind & curiosity to learn something from.

1.] Matt Taibbi [10:10] Instead we sell narrative, rather than designed for everyone to watch, talking to everyone instill trust. Some news outlets now pick one demographic & try to dominate it; how? Just pick an audience & feed it news you know they will like [branding].

Instead of starting with a story & feeding it the facts, [12:30] you start with what pleases your audience & work backward to the story.

This process started with Fox, but now really everybody does it, from CNN to the Washington Post.. nearly all media organizations are in the same demographic hunting business. [Including musicians, they are asking their fans what they would like to hear rather than creating what is authentically what the artist is experiencing..]

According to a Pew Survey from a few years ago, 93% of Fox's audience vote Republican & in exactly mirroring phenomenon 95% of MSNBC audience votes democratic, NYT readers are 91% democrats; left or right most audiences (in America anyways) are politically homogeneous.

This bifurcated system is fundamentally untrustworthy, when you decide in advance to forego half of your potential audience to cater to the other half, you're choosing in advance which facts to emphasize & which to downplay. [13:40]

Based on considerations other than truth or newsworthiness.

Note: Malcolm Gladwell is scribbling down a rebuttal upon hearing a choice is made to downplay facts. He is not even listening to the rest of what Matt Taibbi has to say; only making this inference based on the actual outcome of the debate, realizing that some actually make notes of what points being presented. MG ignores the timeline Matt Taibbi made that this only applies to the current trend in reporting, rather MG relies on his experience at WP from mid-1980's to the mid-1990's to declare that stories which were unsubstantiated were not printed. And how he once wrote something without checking & it very nearly cost him his job - to demonstrate the commitment to accuracy the WP had. Then proceeds to attack Matt's naive view of what goes on inside the institutions of mainstream news, standards which have been held for decades. [Showing his hand much? The losing side always resorts to personal attacks.]

This is not journalism, this is political entertainment.

And it's therefore fundamentally unreliable.

With Editors now more concerned with retaining audience than getting things right, lots of guardrails have been thrown out.

Silent edits have become common. [14:05]

Silent edits are small, unnoticeable changes to content or tone. They can be made to written or video content. Silent edits in writing: [a] Replacing straight quotes with curly quotes, [b] Moving punctuation within quotation marks, [c] Removing extra spaces, and [d] Correcting typos. Silent edits in video Removing audio from a video. Online News: Making subtle changes to the content or tone of a published news article

Serious accusations are made without calling people for comment, reports get too cozy with politicians, and report things without attribution, or source the people unfamiliar with the matter. [14:16]

Like Scientists, Journalists should be able to reproduce other people's work in the lab; but with too many anonymous sources, this is impossible. [14:25]

We just get a lot of things wrong now, in the Trump years, an extraordinary number of quote-unquote bombshells went sideways. From the P-tape to the Alpha Service story, to a speculation that Trump was a Russian Spy recruited before disco started, to false reports of Russians hacking a Vermont Utility. [14:45]

We have accumulated piles of these wrong stories.

Now I'm no fan of Donald Trump, I wrote a book about the guy called "Insane Clown President." [14:53] But these stories offend me, a good journalist should always be ashamed of error; and it bothers me to see so many of my colleagues not ashamed.

News Media shouldn't have a side, it should focus on getting things right which believe me is a hard enough job. [15:13]

Until we get back to the basics, we don't deserve to be trusted, and we won't be, thank you very much. [15:19]

2.] Michelle Goldberg [15:41]

Admits that she is not going to say the media never gets it wrong bc we are all subject to human frailties like group think & fads -- cleverly cites Politico polling showing Democrats ahead but then dismissing it as an outlier in an article. What she argues the media doesn't get things wrong bc of ideological capture, how it certainly didn't help the Democrats when NYT kept reporting a Republican Landslide win.. it affected ppl's donations & volunteer, a lot of ppl would have reallocated a lot of their resources differently if they had any idea that some of these races were as close as they were. [17:34]

The media tends to over-correct, it tends to respond to the mistakes that it made & this can result in new mistakes. [17:47]

NOTE: Douglas Murray is triggered by this last statement on over-correcting on past mistakes, covering his mouth with both hands.

It also means that it is a mechanism that is inherently self-correcting.

I think when you ask: Can we trust mainstream media? Obviously you should seek out lots of sources right? People should read Matt's blog, they should read conservative media; but think about the big stories of the last five years or so.. [18:12]

Trump Presidency to COVID, to the war in Ukraine.

If you had just followed the CBC/NYT/WP/BBC, they all got some things wrong. I think a lot of the media didn't pay enough attention for example to the problems quote-unquote s/o with young children in remote learning. [18:37]

I think we got a lot of things wrong during COVID.

But in terms of the big stories, if you paid attention to the mainstream media, you were likely to be much safer & much closer to the truth than if you followed the kind of contrarians. If you were listening to the ppl who were saying don't trust the mainstream media. [18:58] You know trust the alternative sources of information.

lol check out Douglas Murray's facial reaction, frozen in place.

A common refrain, one that Matt made again & again, throughout the Trump Presidency that people who were extremely alarmed about the prospects of authorianism, who believed that Donald Trump would try to overturn our constitutional order were hysterical. [19:23]

I think the POV of the hysterics has held up kind of well, in light of Januaray 6th.

[Matt didn't go into specifics, he talked about party politicking news which biased reporting to downplay facts to cater to demographic]

Starts getting personal as to what Matt Taibbi has gotten wrong with COVID & the Ukraine War; then finishing off that mainstream media gets the big things right & you are better off with staying informed than listening to the alternative.

Churchill said "It is the worst system in the world, except for all the others." [21:29]

3.] Douglas Murray [21:40]

As Rudyar said I've come a rather long way to be here, from the frontlines of the Ukraine conflict bc I like to see these things with my own eyes & come to my own conclusions. [strong opening statement]

Sore point 48/52, exactly the results we had in the Brexit Vote.

You what? When we voted to leave the EU, we did so against all the implications of the NYT (Michelle's Employer).. we just didn't listen to them & the NYT never forgave us!

Ever since 2016 there has not been one story in the NYT that's positive about Britain; we have had & I'll run through some of them: [1] We had a culinary review that said the British people still survive on mutton & oatmeal. LOL he is such a snob & I love it.

[2] We had an anti-Brexit piece from the North of England, from Lancashire, a piece of reporting where the author ended up having to admit every single one of his facts was wrong; but his "perception" was correct. [23:30]

[3] Recently the NYT drafted in somebody from Russia today, Vladimir Putin's propaganda channel, as an employee of the NYT to attack Brexit Britain. And when her Majesty the Queen died, not 10 days of mourning was observed at the NYT. Three hours before they started attacking the Queen, and they did so day after day after day!

Because they hate Brexit Britain, that is just an agenda ladies & gentlemen. That's not anything else!!!!! [axe to grind]

That's an agenda, one that they have decided to take. Now I said I want to be here in Canada to talk about this bc I think this country has been through something absolutely extraordinary. You really know that the world is in trouble when Canada becomes very interesting. [24:15]

Why? bc there were really large numbers that showed up in Ottawa from January-February 2022 to protest. And the job of Reporters is to go ask "Why are you out on the streets? What brought you here? Why are you here with your kids? Why have you got a bouncy castle in the middle of Ottawa, that's a bit strange?"

Ask them questions, just find out the story, but you know what? The government didn't want that in Canada.

Your Prime Minister decided in advance that these ppl, oh what did he do? All the modern excommunications, [slap unflattering labels on]: "They were Nazis, they were white supremacists, they were anti-semites, they were probably homophobes, they were misogynists, they were probably transphobes, et cetra, et cetra, et cetra" It did all the things you do in the modern political age, if you want to defenestrate somebody who's awkward to you, then he brings in the emergency powers act.

defenestrate: remove or dismiss (someone) from a position of power or authority

Now at such a time, what would mainstream media do?

It would question it.

It would question it. The Canadian mainstream media did not, it acted as an armed chorus of the Canadian government.

Ladies & gentlemen I could go on for hours with examples of this!

You had the CBC Host describing the Freedom Convoy as a quote: "Feral Mob," You had a Toronto Star Columnist saying, sorry for the language, "It's a homegrown hate farm that was then jet fueled by an American Right-funded rat-fucking operation."

JESUS, they can't even write at these papers anymore. [26:03]

Now why is this so rancid? [26:30]

Utterly, utterly rancid & corrupt?

Because in this country, your media & your mainstream media is funded by the government.

A totally corrupted system, in 2018, Oh election year? Coincidence, the Canadian media is given $595 Million over five years; the Toronto Star estimated it was going to be getting $3 Million from the government in the first half of year. It went on & on.

NOTE: Malcolm Gladwell sqribbling again. [27:05]

So you see the government in Canada can tell the banks to shut down ppl's bank accounts. Oh yeah, your government can do that, and if you're happy with that just think what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot...

The government can do that, but in Canada, they can also tell the media what to do. And when the media does the bidding of the Canadian government, that isn't a free society's media.. That is, I've seen unfree countries all my life, but this in a developed liberal democracy like Canada is a disgrace. [27:16]

We're not saying don't read the mainstream media, we're just saying don't trust them. [27:39]

Finish to applause & cheers

4.] Malcolm Gladwell [27:47]

1.1] Taibbi's First Rebuttal [34:25] 2.1] Goldberg's First Rebuttal [36:56] 3.1] Murray's First Rebuttal [40:06] 4.1] Gladwell's First Rebuttal [43:17] 1.2] Taibbi's Second Rebuttal [46:41] 2.2] Goldberg's Second Rebuttal [49:45] 3.2] Murray's Second Rebuttal [51:55] 4.2] Gladwell's Second Rebuttal [54:02] Open discussion [56:10] 1.3] Gladwell's Closing Statement [1:22:17] 2.3] Murray's Closing Statement [1:24:55] 3.3] Goldberg's Closing Statement [1:28:12] 4.3] Taibbi's Closing Statement [1:31:49] Debate results [1:35:01]

[the-hindu-times]

The Walkmen - London Mornington Crescent Koko - 30/8/23

On the same evening that revolving-door, alt-country Chicargo band, Wilco, were on at Kentish Town Forum, New York indie rockers, The Walkmen, were also across the pond, and just 5 minutes down the road in the middle of their hat trick of shows at Koko in Mornington Crescent. It's still as posh a venue as its previous title 'the Camden Palace' suggests, with sofas at the top of the venue complete with plug points, tables, and a seemingly private bar.

Hot Hot Heat's front man, Steve Bays, has always championed The Walkmen, as has Idlewild's Roddy Woomble, who had them support his band in their heyday. In fact, I believe that The Walkmen may have been first on when I saw Idlewild at Brixton Academy in 2002 but we only got into the venue in time to see main support, The Star Spangles.

Tonight, the favour would be returned as Roddy Woomble was the opener with his new outfit, Almost Nothing, and it would be my first time seeing and hearing The Walkmen, to my knowledge. For us, we hadn't even noticed the 10 year hiatus but would have enjoyed some of, drummer, Matt Barrick's work with Fleet Foxes and Phoebe Bridgers during that time.

With differing setlists, a great deal of tonight's show came from 2008's 'You & Me' and 2004's 'Bows + Arrows', with at least one song from all of their other albums. So, anyone who came for an extra helping tonight way well return again to complete the trilogy tomorrow.

Nic Bennett

[theftliabletoprosecution]

The long awaited return of the Walkmen is here with a stop in Chicago and four sold out shows at Metro Chicago May 17-20. Of all the things happening this Summer I'm probably most excited about this one.

Whether or not you can make a show or two there's quite a bit on their website and if you've been following the band this year you know they are very excited to be back together and hitting the road!

[eartapas]

"Ashes Are Ashes" is Dead Professional's melancholy new single, which features Matt Barrick of The Walkmen. The song marks Dead Professional's return after a lengthy layoff, during which the artist's voice and guitar-playing abilities were nearly lost due to a spinal cord injury. The incident galvanized Dead Professional's renewed commitment to prioritize music in their creative activities. "Ashes Are Ashes" expands the bounds of Dead Professional's previous work, venturing into new emotional and musical realms. The eerie, atmospheric production of the song, combined with the introspective lyrics, creates a sense of melancholy and meditation. Overall, "Ashes Are Ashes" is a dramatic and thoughtful track that demonstrates Dead Professional's artistic perseverance and growth.

[somekeepsakes]

Muzz - Red Western Sky (x)

[angelolsenwife]

no thoughts head empty, only fade into you cover by muzz

[midnight-log]

MUZZ

[jennyowenyoungs]

very excited to share a new song today! “someone’s ex” was recorded during the Avalanche sessions, but didn’t feel like it quite fit on the album. I decided to hold onto it until the time was right, and it turns out that the time is right right now! all these beautiful people helped out: co-written with Tom Peyton. produced by Josh Kaufman, who also played a ton of instruments. drums drummed drummily by Matt Barrick. engineered, mixed, and mastered by D. James Goodwin. production assistance by Gillian Pelkonen. cover photo by Josh Goleman.

listen here: ffm.to/someonesexsingle

[speakspeak]

Timeless Cool: Walter Martin, Stewart Lupton, and Matt Barrick of Jonathan Fire* Eater

[soundchxck]

Muzz have shared their new EP featuring covers of Arthur Russell, Bob Dylan, Mazzy Star, and Tracy Chapman. Stream it now!

[brusiocostante]

The Walkmen - Wake Up [OFFICIAL AUDIO]