Violet Tremors - February 2011 shows

 

For fans of minimal electronic drone, LA brings us Violet Tremors, playing their fourth and fifth ever shows.   They are Jessica White on vocals and synths and Lorene Simpson handling synths and beats.  

"Concentrate, concentrate to what I am saying. Concentrate, concentrate to what I am saying.  Children are dying parents are crying. Concentrate, concentrate to what I am saying…"

Get a load of their light boxes.  As far as I can tell these are more aesthetic than functional, but most of what matters is the same.

.dot.  -dash-  .dot.

2011-02-06 

The Echo 

Los Angeles CA

taper: bcingyou, using ECM-990F > M-Audio Microtrack II, and Kodak Zi8 for video              

Setlist:  Between Us / Concentrate / Control Submarine / Violet Trance / Caution / Future Love

Video recording, filmed with Flip UltraHD
(720p of full show)

 

2011-02-10
Milk Bar 
San Francisco CA

taper: TH1, using Sony PCM-M10
and Flip UltraHD

Setlist

soundcheck:  Between Us (take one) / Between Us (take two) / Concentrate / Caution / Between Us (take three)


show:  Between Us / Concentrate / Control Submarine / Violet Trance / Caution / Future Love

Recordings from this show:

Video recording, filmed with Flip UltraHD 
(720p of full show)


Other videos of the group that have shown up can be found here.

The Soft Moon - February 2011 shows

 The Soft Moon , Noise Pop 2011.  RIP Luis.

February 2011 was a fairly busy month for me (so busy I forgot that 2010 had passed, apologies for the incorrect labelling!), so I didn't have much in the way of downtime to catch my fellow readers/viewers/listeners up to some of my recent exploits.  So there will be a series of nightly posts which should allow me to catch up.

By far, one of the best discoveries of the past few years have to be The Soft Moon.  Led by Luis Vasquez, and also featuring Justin Anastassi (who also plays in Veil Veil Vanish) on bass and Damon Way on keyboards, they have astonished listeners and electrified audiences since they appeared out of the blue to claim the legacy for darkwave music in San Francisco set forth by bands like Chrome and Tuxedomoon (obscuros would also throw in Swell, but even I haven't heard any of their work).  But I ultimately think they have their own unique sound and approach, you'll just have to listen and form your own opinions.

You can go to a hundred other places if you want to get your fill in for superlative reviews; all I can tell you is that the moment I heard their self-titled album, I knew they were going to be something special.  And it doesn't hurt to be on one of the hottest labels presently operating, Captured Tracks.  If the hairs on the back of your neck don't stand up for "Into The Depths" and "We Are We", check your pulse, it has stopped.  And as amazing as their recorded output is, they're even better live, if you can believe it.

Anyway, I have several recordings to feature here, so without further ado, here they are.

SETLIST FOR ALL SHOWS

Into The Depths
 Dead Love
 Circles
 Breathe The Fire
We Are We
Out Of Time
Parallels
 Tiny Spiders 

2011-02-06  The Echo  Los Angeles CA

taper: bcingyou, Sony ECM-990F > M-Audio Microtrack II (audio)

Kodak Zi8 (video) (720p, synced to above audio source)

Complete video recording

(on YouTube)

Alternate versions of Into The Depths, Dead Love, and Circles  (soldiersdisease)

Alternate version of Circles (0ariana0maria0)

Yet another alternate version of Circles (fatalblades)

Alternate version of We Are We (0ariana0maria0)

Alternate version of Tiny Spiders (soldiersdisease)

Pitchfork.com pro-shot footage of Tiny Spiders, in black and white

2011-02-10  Milk Bar  San Francisco CA

taper: TH1, Sony PCM-M10 built in mics 

Flip UltraHD (video) (720p, above audio source synced to digicam audio)

What Duvet Says blog review

Complete video recording 

(on YouTube)

 Alternate version of Into The Depths (blaire789, 22s)
 Alternate version of Dead Love (fuhserous, iPhone '8mm' app)
 Alternate version of Circles (phantonleader, HD)
 Alternate version of Breathe The Fire (bobduvet)

2011-02-25  Noise Pop  Cafe Du Nord  San Francisco CA

tapers: TZ0 + TH1 blend, Sonic Studios DSM mics (audio)

Flip UltraHD (720p video), synced to audio source

Complete video recording
(on YouTube)

Alternate version of We Are We (mhc660, HD)
 Alternate version of Out Of Time (mhc660, HD)
 Alternate version of Parallels (mhc660, HD)

All known footage of The Soft Moon is linked here.

The Intelligence - 2010-11-11 - Eagle Tavern SF

MOON BONG LIFE

PUKE LIKE UNIVERSE

ESTATE MOM DEBT HORSE

COPS THANK COSMIC MALES

Catchy "lo-fi" garage-y rock.  Like like like like like like like. While some wonder why the Intelligence's pop ditties aren't more popular, some have a greedy desire to see them remain underground, so they remain all yours.  The paradox of Indie, I guess.  I'm not going to go there.  This is not Pitchfork.  I had a blast, and while not as insane as they were during Thee Oh Sees set, the crowd certainly were buying what Finberg and Co. were selling.

Tuning a 'tar, taking a swig

I had seen The Intelligence once before, at Part Time Punks in 2009.  They made a positive impression then, and it continued forward to seeing them a year later.  I quite liked "Block Of Ice" not realizing it was a cover of the group they played after.  Or is it the Thee Oh Sees who cover it?  No, I was right the first time.                                                

My recording was done with the trusty Sony PCM-M10, which I had set on top of a video poker machine stage left-ish.

Setlist (the entire set was filmed with my iPhone 4, all songs linked):

Moon Beeps / Bong Life / Life Preserver / Tuned To Puke / Like Like Like Like Like Like Like / The Universe / Estate Sales / Mom Or A Parking Lot / Debt & ESP / Horse Glue / Dating Cops / Thank You God For Fixing The Tape Machine / The Unessential Cosmic Perspective / Males // Pony People

Thee Oh Setlist

Setlist: 

The Universe / Nice Tries / Debt & ESP / Dating Cops / Thank You God For Fixing The Tape Machine / The World Is A Drag / The World Is Not A Drag / Block Of Ice (Thee Oh Sees) / Like Like Like Like Like Like Like / Black Hole (The Urinals) / The Unessential Cosmic Perspective

Photos of PTP taken by All Music Guide reviewer Ned Raggett...

And a video, put up by yours truly taken from bcingyou's Kodak digivid, featuring "The World Is A Drag", "Like Like Like Like Like Like Like", and "Black Hole", a Urinals cover.