As years go, 2020 hasn't been all that hot. Not to us, not to most people. Environments like this - once the basic set in the hierarchy of needs is met - usually kick us into creative ways to vent our experiences. Yell at the world, if you will.
So when self-quarantine and masks and economic problems and injustice and riots and Murder Wasps came, the brothers let it out in new ways, and a new set of tracks was pushed out: A fleshed out and conceptual whole. Backbeat-heavy, sometimes danceable, hopeful chord progressions laced with a bit of the craziness that is this time we live in. This is the downcast album we thought - we hoped - the brothers would never produce. But we're nothing if we don't have a smile on, so it's got one. Maybe not that genuine, but it's there. It's Happy To Be Here:
Hitting the streaming platform of your choice 7/24/20. But before that - One of the tracks - Grouse - has been single-ized:
You can pre-save it if you want to be ready the moment it's available. Do that here.
'Tis a new year, and the brothers busted out some old songs. A counter-intuitive move, you'd think, but it worked out in this case. But let's be honest - It's all about Spotify. But first, a bit of back story. The producer has never been happy with the way "A Work In Progress" was received. In a non-helpful, nostalgic fashion, he considers it their best work (this was before the fiasco that preceded the blank years before "Limbo"). Time goes by, and the rosy glasses grow foggier, and the past looks better than ever. He looks lovingly on those "A Work In Progress" cuts, and realizes that they have never been Spotified. He sees an opportunity to scratch his itch and fill in the Spotify catalogue at the same time. And thus is born the "Hop Skip Jump" EP.
You can presave it here. And for maximum nostalgia, hit up the music vid (which, we admit, is showing it's age):
We've never disclosed this, but Isaac and Horace are court-ordered to have bi-weekly "cleansing sessions" with a trained staff member at the place where they reside. Like most things in "the home", the title given to these appointments is misleading. Nothing is actually cleaned, and no one likes them. Least of all Horace, who finds them degrading. However, due to the stress they invoke, the resulting clarity does sometimes reveal surprising details about what they find important (in a hierarchy of needs sort of way). Isaac and Horace place cats at the top of their needs list.
'Tis official - "Fill in the Blanks" arrives Friday, 3/15/19, in all it's danceable, ironic glory.
This one is more "accessible" (which is another word for "what we're used to"), and the comments have been pretty good, for a Brothers Burn release: "...Nicked Fedora [is] an instrumental track with dexterous use of vox samples making this the tap-along, foot stomp track of the album." "It's a banger [What Jessica Said]." "...the originality can’t be questioned, and it’s a pleasure to hear something so creatively unique right now." The good folks at Stero Stickman had much more to say: Check out their review here. Here's a tracklist, FWIW - 1 · What Jessica Said 2 · Escape 3 · Nicked Fedora 4 · Fill in the Blanks 5 · Buddha Be-Bop 6 · The Road Not Travelled 7 · Gotta Run If you want, you can pre-save it to Spotify by clicking this here.
Most every day - when the orderlies allow - Isaac and Horace twiddle on their software instruments. There are a ton of these doodles, some OK, some just puzzling. And after a year - WTF was released March '18 - the producer decided it was Time. He sifted through all those doodles, and lo and behold, there were some good ones in that pile. He earmarked these and "suggested" (his bitter tone difficult to convey here) that they "finish what they started" with these particular ones. The result - still being worked on - is "Fill In The Blanks", which is hoped to hit availability 3/15/19. Yes, that's a Friday. Album artwork? Subject to change of course, but here's the current favorite -
Whilest doing social things, the producer sometimes has the good fortune to meet people much nicer than himself. Such is the case with unlikely-named Casimir Engine, the prestigious, gentlemanly host of the world-famous Casimir Engine Podcast.
We met Mr. Engine via that newfangled Twitter thing that people are so nuts about. He was good enough to include not just one, but two of The Brothers Burn numbers on his show - "Nicked Fedora" (on 11/5/18) and "We Live On (In Desire)" (on 11/12/18). And if that wasn't enough, he went further and spun "Nicked Fedora" on his inaugural Analogue Trash radio show (which, foreverafter, will be on Tuesday nights, 8-10 PM, Manchester UK time). You should give Mr. Engine's podcast a listen or three. THEN go tune into that outstanding Analogue Trash show as well. Find him on Twitter and at his little home on the web.
Despite all the confusion - and after three too-many cups of espresso - the producer realized that perhaps the "music video" genre isn't just a fad after all. He talked to the gullible folks at Burn Films, and managed to persuade them to pick a song or three and produce a video. He described the work to the production team as "something you are very lucky to have a part in" and that it was an excellent chance "to showcase your work". Though perhaps not the defining examples of music videography they could be, the brothers now have two new shiny videos to showcase their work to those wacky music fans who get their music from a video site (instead of off an AM radio station as God intended). So, it is with great pride that we present the Official Music Video for On The Way Out (from WTF):
Please give a warm round of applause for the Official Music Video for You Are Old (from WTF):
