Cruel Summer - 2011-12-04 - TKT004, Oakland CA

Cruel Summer

2011-12-04

TKT004 

Oakland CA

Equipment used:  Olympus LS-5 (w/built-ins)

Setlist 

As reproduced below, but for those who are sight-impaired.  Titles given were what the songs were called at the time.

Skinwalker

Venetian Blinds

Silent Star

untitled new song

White Flag

Carquinez

Recording (FLACs in a zipfile))

The lineup:  Josh Yule - guitar, Thea Chacamaty - voice & guitar, Chani Hawthorne - bass, Sean Mosley - drums

Here were my right-after-the-show impressions to my friends: 

"For me, the standout was the first band, Cruel Summer, who were from SF.  If you have heard of or liked Cold Showers or Dunes [look for some upcoming writeups!], these guys had the same sort of thing going.  

Apparently, it's a new band who have been around for several months...the bassist is gorgeous...and they sing about the Carquinez Bridge, so what's not to love?   A giddy mix of swirlcore and shoegaze, *definitely* worth keeping an eye out on.  As you can tell, I'm a sucker for this stuff, and I'm sure y'all the same way.  Yes, that's me being asked what was the name of the band, right before they play their new song they don't have a title.  [Of course, I answer wrongly with 'Manatee', who are the next group on, stay tuned!]  I had no clue, who do people think I look like I know anything?"

Okay, I better head this off at the pass...

"The bassist is gorgeous" comment is going to get me into trouble in certain quarters...like my wife, the bassist herself, any self-styled moralists agog at my objectification, etc., so at some point I should learn how to better self-edit, but I really can't go back on what I said without feeling deceitful, and it truly is symptomatic about how the deck is stacked when you're a female musician, so I left that in there to prove a point, which is...well...I'm not sure now.  Help?

Back to the music, and here's where I get myself in even more trouble.  I didn't want to mention certain bands, but 'Skinwalker' reminds me of a particular 90s UK group whose name rhymes with "mush", which is probably your brains at the point having to contend with all of my needless verbiage, the folks at Bay Bridged have a much more informed article which you can read instead of any further stupidity from me.

One of my fellow contributors has already made the band aware of this recording and has passed it along to them.  Which is good since I'm not sure if they'll want to hear from me now.

More photos in my Fickr set

Listen to their FREE EP on Bandcamp

Weekend - 2011-12-03 - The Bay Brewed - Verdi Club SF

Weekend
2011-12-03
"The Bay Brewed"
Verdi Club SF

taper: tomzero



equipment: Sonic Studio mics -> Edirol R-09HR (24 bit / 48 kHz) -> Nero (level boost & downsample to 16 bit / 44.1k) -> cd wav -> flac level 8

setlist

Falling Away
Veil
End Times
Afterimage
The One You Want 
Untitled
Hazel
Coma Summer

Complete audio recording (FLACs in zipfile)

Exclusive video footage of an excerpt from 'Veil' / 'End Times' > 'Afterimage' (also linked above)

"And finally Weekend, who were well worth the wait.  thehappyone points out that this setlist wasn't as good as that from the apartment show. Still a great show. Oddly enough, the hall had emptied out a little by the end, and it was over by 7pm. It might have had something to do with the fact they stopped serving beer just after Weekend took the stage. Then again, anyone who'd like the previous two bands..."

Note:  There were two other bands that played "The Bay Brewed", we have exercised our editorial perogative in choosing not to cover them here at this time.

If you're liking this, please do yourself a huge favor and visit the Slumberland Records site and BUY their releases:

Red EP 12"/CD/Ltd Ed 12"

End Times 7"

Sports 2xLP/CD

For a list of all known Weekend performance footage...

Terry Malts - 2011-12-03 - The Bay Brewed, Verdi Club SF

NOTE: Due to other commitments, I wasn't able to make this show.  Plus, if I had drank $45 worth of beer, I wouldn't have remembered anything!

Terry Malts - 2011-12-03 
Verdi Club, San Francisco
"The Bay Brewed"

Sonic Studio mics -> Edirol R-09HR (24 bit / 48 kHz) -> Nero (level boost & downsample to 16 bit / 44.1k) -> cd wav -> flac level 8

setlist


01 Nauseous
02 I Do
03 What Was It?
04 Waiting Room
05 Something About You
06 Not Far From It
07 Where Is The Weekend
08 Tumble Down
09 Mall Dream
10 I'm Neurotic
11 Can't Tell No One

Complete audio recording (FLACs in a zipfile)

Some exclusive video footage from the end of 'What Was It?' and 'In The Waiting Room'


Notes from my partner in crime...

"It's taken a while, but I'm finally able to present Bay Brewed for your listening and viewing pleasure.

First off...the Bay Brewed. The idea is pretty clever. $45 to see 4 bands and drink as much beer as you can. The price was a bit steep, but judging from the crowd, it seems like some came mostly for the beer.

[The Verdi Club is also] where we went to the next day for Thee Oh Sees.  It is reminiscent of a high school auditorium during a battle of the bands competition, but I actually don't mean that in a negative way. And if Terry Malts and Weekend went to my high school, I'd be pretty happy.     [Note:  All these shows are forthcoming!]

Terry Malts kicked off the show and once again were amazing.  Don't know what else to say. You've seen em by now and know just how good they are. Phil only dropped his pick once btw. (Corey dropped his twice!)"

More photos from The Bay Bridged...

Thee Oh Sees - 2011-10-30 - Ukrainian Cultural Center LA

Thee Oh Sees live October 30, 2011 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Presented by FYF as a halloween party! Absolutely insane crowd. Thought I was gonna die in the first 5 minutes. 

Includes the amazing Lars Finberg as second drummer!!

setlist: 

01 soundcheck
02 Contraption/Soul Desert
03 The Dream
04 Enemy Destruct
05 Meat Step Lively
06 Carrion Crawler
07 Robber Barons
08 Block Of Ice
09 Destroyed Fortress Reappears
10 ?
11 Dead Energy

encore:

12 Tidal Wave
13 I Was Denied


COMPLETE SHOW VIDEO (now gone, sadly)


AUDIO RECORDING (resuscitated!)

Thee Oh Sees Tour Diary (via The Wayback Machine)

Video and audio courtesy of bcingyou and Moko117.

Total Control - 2011-10-30 - Ukrainian Cultural Center LA

Actual screencaps

Total Control opening for Thee Oh Sees at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Presented by FYF as a Halloween party. This was a KILLER show!!!!

01 See More Glass
02 Retiree
03 One More Tonight
04 AL Punk
05 Carpet Rash
06 Total Control
07 Stonehenge
08 Goth Plod
09 Love Performance
10 Meds


COMPLETE SHOW VIDEO


AUDIO ON DIME


(Courtesy of Moko117 and Bcingyou)

Weekend and The Soft Moon - 2011-11-09 - Secret Show, Oakland CA

Durkan, Johnson, Pedroza

Weekend
2011-11-09
Secret Show
Oakland CA

Kevin J.

Setlist

Falling Away
End Times
Sweet Sixteen
Hazel
untitled new song
Veil
The One You Want
Age Class
Coma Summer



Incubation bittorrent (FLAC files in zipfile).


I've added in my compatriot's recording, which sadly, ends at the start of Sweet Sixteen.

Video (Falling Away/End Times/last half of Coma Summer)

Anastasi, Vasquez, Way

The Soft Moon
2011-11-09
Secret Show

All smiles all the Way

Oakland CA

Setlist

Joy Divsion - As You Said intro
We Are We (alt vid of end)
Breathe The Fire
Circles
Out Of Time
Dead Love
Parallels
Alive
Tiny Spiders

Incubation bittorrent (FLAC format)

I'm not sure what this was about...


Two things about the 'secret location' (in effect, a house show) that caused a bit of trepidation right off the bat:

(1) there was a lot of people crammed in the small space
(2) we were up on the 2nd floor, how much weight can the floor bear?

But there was really nothing (well, not much) to worry about, everything turned out great in the end, and you couldn't beat the price (free).  Both these three-pieces have been getting some seriously good (and deserved) press, so that they would even consider doing this is cool beyond words.  

The Soft Moon went on and played a really good set, though I had seen them a few days before and so I wanted to give others a chance to get up close, at least that's my excuse, the truth was it was so crowded I got pinned a bit further back than what I was hoping for.  Weekend's set was amazing, and for that I was down in front, the video footage I shot should give you some idea, Kevin could have easily brained me with the head of his guitar, and probably *should have* for my impudence.

Due to getting bumped, my compatriot only recorded the first two Weekend songs, so we only have mine to go from, heavily re-EQ'ed as the mics were under somebody's purse at one point.  The Soft Moon effort is the usual dual-source blend.


Some more pics:

The location

This was pinned on the wall

80's era boombox somebody had brought for tunes

For more photos, see my Flickr collection.

Thee Oh Sees - 2011-10-27 - The New Parish Oakland

Up close and personal with JPD and crew, in glorious 1080p video.

Need I say more?  The photos accompanying this writeup are *actual screenshots* from the video...which I've since adjusted a bit to overcome the red lighting, so it actually looks even better than what you see here.

The audio is a blend of my Church Audio CA-11 cardoid mics plugged into an Olympus LS-5 and the native iPhone 4S capture for high-end sizzle, with the latter mixed -15dB down as it's otherwise distorted as all get out.

Setlist

soundchecking (check out Petey 

playing the bassline to PiL's 

'Death Disco'...there's a Beatles 

song in there too)
Contraption / Soul Desert
The Dream
Block Of Ice
Enemy Destruct
Meat Step Lively
Tidal Wave
Poison Finger
Destroyed Fortress Reappears
unidentified new song
Dead Energy

Video of complete show

Incubation bittorrent of audio recording [FLAC format]

Keep in mind this is but a pale substitute for seeing them yourselves. Both their tour split with Total Control (go here for my video of their set) and their latest album Carrion Crawler / The Dream both capture the sound of the band live.

The Soft Moon - Led Er Est - Chelsea Wolfe - 2011-10-31 - The Independent SF

The Soft Moon

2011-10-31

The Independent SF

taper: TH1, Olympus LS-5 w/built ins

Setlist

We Are We (1) (2)
Breathe The Fire
Total Decay
Dead Love
Bones
Out Of Time
When It's Over
Circles
Alive
Parallels
Tiny Spiders

encore

Into The Depths 

Impressive as they got into full All Hallow's Eve spirit and played the set wearing clear lucite masks.  Luis continues his amazing display of shirtwear with the Public Image Ltd tee.  The new tracks availed really well, especially Alive, which is shaping out to be the best thing they have done to date, and was pleased to see 'Bones' also appear in the set.  About the only thing we didn't get was 'Phantoms'.

I was wearing a Angry Birds pig mask...you can hear an amusing exchange befor the encore...the significance of this in light of what I was doing (TMQ/Swingin' Pig) not being lost on me.  This recording has quite a bit of audience chatter, which I actually didn't mind at all...there were a group of kids that were very excited and wanted to crash around, but there's also a faction that likes to stand watching in silence, and not be slammed...and as you can imagine, they came to loggerheads.

They only brought 20 copies of their EP, so I ended up having to go to the Captured Tracks site to order my copy.  You should too, if you haven't already!

Opening bands after the jump...

TOTAL CONTROL / Mikal Cronin - 2011-10-27 - The New Parish Oakland CA

Total Control

2011-10-27

The New Parish

Oakland, CA

taper: thehappyone

kit: Church Audio CA-11 > Olympus LS-5

Ended doing this one more alone, as my partner in crime was a bit tired, and we would be seeing TC again in December anyway.  Quite a few people were eager to check them out on the strength of Henge Beat, which many deem to have been the best release bar none of 2010.

Despite appearances, I'm not actually the loquacious sort, so I'll let sometime-contributor and Redlands legend Markie describe them:

Featuring the magnificent Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring on guitar and Daniel Stewart of UV Race on vocals . Stewart's monotone vocals fit perfectly with the pummeling rhythm section laying down a tense and infectious style incorporating late 70's postpunk/new wave with garage rock elements. But Mikey's off kilter licks and descriptive intonations on guitar are the real voice."

Let's just say that they lived up to expectations, and indeed may have exceeded them.  'Carpet Rash' is a juggernaut, and is one of the best things ever, and the rest of the set was not much worse.


Setlist is as you see it below, saves me some writing.

Because I was right in front and concentrating on video, my positioning was a bit sub-optimal in terms of the sonics, but I've done what I can to make it palatable.

Complete audio recording (Incubation bittorent)

 
A couple of songs really remind me of A-Frames, and of course the final song 'Meds' could easily be an ESCR jam.  Excellent performance all around, I was lucky to have caught the whole thing on film, right in front of Mikey and Daniel.

Complete video recording, done with my Flip HD

 

Deaf Wish / "Slødi Xaw" / Terry Malts - 2011-10-10 - 1-2-3-4 Go! Records Oakland CA

Going to do this a bit differently and start with the openers and work through the headlining (last band)...as of this writing, the Malts and Idols are two of my favorite groups at the moment, and are touring together.


First up:

Terry Malts
2011-10-10
1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Oakland CA

taper: tz0
equip: Sonic Studios DSM-6S/L > Edirol R-09HR

Setlist


soundchecking (background music: Television - Marquee Moon)
Nauseous
I Do
What Was It
Waiting Room
Something About You
Mall Dreams
I'm No Good For You
Where Is The Weekend
Can't Tell No One [Negative Approach]

I'm Neurotic

Malt it up (FLAC files in zipfile)

I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do...

Probably the Malts at their sloppiest show that I've seen to date, but sheesh, it was still head-bopping and body-shaking groovy.  Phil dropped his pick several times.   They lyrics are infectious and catchy beyond belief.  Examples abound.  "I Do", with some of the most affecting and heart-touching lyrics around..."People don't know what to make of you, they don't understand your point of view, but I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do...people say that you act so above, they say you don't know how to love, but I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do...just when I thought they might be right,  I hold you in my arms and just squeeze you tighter..."  And Mall Dreams' soon-to-be- legendary refrain "A zombie is still a zombie in J.Crew"...their full length will be out on Slumberland early next year, and hopefully everyone will be singing along.

Next up....

Slødi Xaw
2011-10-10
1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Oakland CA

tz0th1 three-source blend.
tz0:  Sonic Studios DSM-6S/L > Edirol R-09HR
th1:  Olympus LS-5 + iPhone 4


Setlist


All Too Human
Hitman
William Says
Human Condition
Hotel Room
Gold Sneakers
This Time There's No Happy Ending [Television Personalities]
Grey Area
Dead Like You

Xawsome (FLACs in zipfile)

Photoset

Hether Yell

Slødi Xaw are a new Eastern European punk goth garage group which has literally come out of nowhere to spew out peals of glorious feedback blended in with wry observations about the human condition ("we get down / we get high / we get born / then we die / this is the human condition") and to rip your fucking head off if you dare to call them a "girl group".

"All Too Human" is probably more than one person's choice for single of the year, but my favorite remains "Gold Sneakers", with it's rapid-fire drum into, flanged guitar noise and "I love...love you" chorus, disguising as a upbeat song when in fact it's anything but..."I know you've got some monsters in your mind / or maybe hiding up your nose / can't you just be happy to be alive?"...

The moment I saw Hether perform last November as a part of Blasted Canyons, I could feel she was someone very, very "special".  It's not often that a person is responsible for releasing not one but TWO great albums in the same year, and almost unheard of when it's for two different bands.  It's actually quite hard to say much more here, all I can do is let the music speak for itself and hope it moves you as much as does for me.

Last up...

Deaf Wish
2011-10-10
1-2-3-4 Go! Records
Oakland CA

taper: tz0
equip: Sonic Studios DSM-6S/L > Edirol R-09HR

Setlist

soundchecking
Green Flame
Take What You Want
Mum Gets Punched In The Face
Nerve Damage
The Line Between Us
Elementary School
Disappear
Make It Hurt
VHS and Cheese
White Heat / Bikini
Mercy

It is a testament to the good taste of the opening bands in Deaf Wish that I immediately knew they were going to be the real deal, even if I have to admit I wasn't very familiar with their ouevre
(I am now!)  Songs like 'Green Flame', 'Nerve Damage', 'Make It Hurt' and 'Mum Gets Punched In The Face' shake you and don't let go until you collapse in a heap.

Needless to say, after hearing them live, I bought all the vinyl on offer ("Reality and Visions", which I've been playing over and over and is a classic...and their newest, "Mercy")...

Sarah Hardiman's vocals in 'Mum Gets Punched In The Face' are stunning.  My compatriot thought they were a bit hit and miss, but I think if they missed, it's only because they wanted to, this is one of the most viscreal performances I've been lucky enough to witness.

Deaf Witness (FLACs in zipfile)

Fresh and Onlys / Tamaryn / Wax Idols - 2011-10-07 - Great American Music Hall SF

The Fresh & Onlys
2011-10-07
Great America Music Hall
San Francisco CA

All recordings are dual-sourced audience blends.

TZ0: Sonic Studios DSM-6s/L > Edirol R-09HR
TH1: Church Audio CA-11 > CA-9100 > Olympus LS-5

songs
 
Summer Of Love
Grey-Eyed Girl
Fascinated
What's His Shadow Still Doing Here?
Secret Walls
Waterfall
Strange Disposition
August In My Mind
You're Known To Wander
Dreaming Is Easy
Wash Over Us
Love & Kindness
Peacock & Wing
Diamond In The Dark

Dream Girls
Feelings In My Heart


Fresh...download (FLAC)



Tim Cohen and company put on a good show for a hometown crowd, even if I'm more than willing to admit I was primarily drawn to seeing Wax Idols and Tamaryn.  What struck me on playback is how tuneful F&Os are, along with Kelley Stoltz and Sonny and the Sunsets and the more laid-back Thee Oh Sees material, this is a signature San Francisco vibe (note: doesn't necessarily mean low-fi...)  

Speaking of which, spot anyone familiar?

JPD and Heidi Sandwitch

Opening acts after the jump...

Dum Dum Girls (w/Crocodiles and Colleen Green) - 2011-10-04 - Great American Music Hall

Dum Dum Girls
2011-10-04
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco CA


A TZ0/TH1 joint production.


Setlist

Bambi

Always Looking
Bhang Bhang, I'm A Burnout
Catholicked
I Will Be
Rest Of Our Lives
Bedroom Eyes
It Only Takes One Night
Wasted Away
Hold Your Hand
Teardrops On My Pillow

Sandra

He Gets Me High
In My Head
Jail La La
Heartbeat (Take It Away)
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out 
  [The Smiths]     (vid 1)  (vid 2)
 
---
Coming Down    (vid 1)  (vid 2)


The DDG recording is up on DIME.

Individual links are to YouTube videos.

I've been minimizing commentary (better to be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt) recently but have to say that the DDG set this time around, even with some technical difficulties surrounding Jules' guitar, was even more tight then the previous times we had seen them last year.  It's uncommon for me to enjoy a band's slower tracks more than their faster paced ones, but this was an exception...Kristin's...er, Dee Dee's vocal delivery was enough to bring the house down, especially on tracks like 'Hold Your Hand' and 'In My Head'...but most of all, the phenomenal encore track 'Coming Down'...I'm hoping they follow groups like The Joy Formidable in getting some national television exposure, even if I probably won't want to catch them in any venues much larger than the GAMH.

Opening bands after the break...

Terry Malts - 2011-09-30 - Hemlock Tavern SF

 

Terry Malts

2011-09-30

Hemlock Tavern SF

TZ0TH1 blend

TZ0: Sonic Studios DSM-6s/Ls > Edirol R09-HR
TH1: Olympus LS-5 w/built-ins

Setlist

Nauseous 

I Do

What Was It

Waiting Room

Something About You

Not Far From It

Mall Dreams

I'm No Good For You

Where Is The Weekend

Can't Tell No One [Negative Approach]

I'm Neurotic

Malted sounds

Setlist (changed up a bit)

We also filmed video of the first nine songs, not all of it because the batteries ran out.  It's somewhat dark, but is a quick, nice way to enjoy their set.  They'll be touring the US later in October with Wax Idols, so catch them if you get the chance...


Malted sights