The Soft Moon - Jan/Feb shows

What better way to celebrate my 100th post with posting some shows by THE group that pretty much revitalized my love of some of the groups that call this place home whom I've been fortunate enough to see perform.  Still amazes me I had no idea of what they were doing until another blogger (the guy who runs this site) made me aware of them.

The Soft Moon
2012-01-19
Cafe Du Nord
San Francisco CA

Recorded by thehappyone, with Church Audio mics into Olympus LS-5.  This ended up being a solo outing, as this show sold out, so my compatriot wasn't able to get tickets.

Setlist

...PA music, soundchecking...
We Are We
...we fucked up some shit on stage...
Alive
Dead Love
Into The Depths
Circles
Out Of Time
Breathe The Fire
When It's Over
Parallels
Total Decay
Tiny Spiders
Bones

Inaugural performance with Keven Tecon (Veil Veil Vanish/ Wax Idols) on the sticks.  There was NO announcement beforehand, this took me by surprise, but not unpleasantly since he had played with Justin before and fit right into the darkness woven by the prior three-piece, and definitely added some dynamics to the new songs, and was no worse than the drum machines for the tracks on the eponymous release.

Photoset (Flickr).  Most taken with Canon T2i, though clearly I was having trouble due to the strobe, a video would have been better.

It continues...

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.

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...

The Soft Moon / Craft Spells - 2011-08-25 - Rickshaw Stop SF

I can't think of a better way to break my dry spell other than posting the setlists for these two wonderful groups.  If you don't already own the CDs/vinyl, PLEASE, PLEASE head over to Captured Tracks' site to purchase these. 

As of this writing, this was the fourth time capturing The Soft Moon and the second for Craft Spells.  Both of these are the usual "TZ0TH1" blends, with an additional twist in that before Craft Spells went on, I inadvertently sprinkled my M10 with essence de Anchor Steam, and while the unit continued to do its fine job capturing tracks, it started to malfunction and gave up the ghost afterwards, so a hearty RIP to my Sony.  I have an Olympus LS-5 on order, let's see how that does.

The Soft Moon
2011-08-25
Rickshaw Stop (Popscene)
San Francisco CA
TZ0TH1 blend

Setlist

Into The Depths
Dead Love
Circles
Breathe The Fire
We Are We
Out Of Time
When It's Over
Parallels
Phantoms
Tiny Spiders



The crowd begged, pleaded, and cajoled for an encore, but there was to be none, with Luis instead inviting everyone to come out to the Independent on Halloween for their EP record release party.

Craft Spells
2011-08-25
Rickshaw Stop (Popscene)
San Francisco CA
TZ0TH1 blend


Setlist


Love Well Spent
Scandinavian Crush
Your Tomb
From The Morning Heat
Beauty Above All
After The Moment
The Fog Rose High
Party Talk
Given The Time
You Should Close The Door

While there was nothing in the way of video from this show, probably due to the dim lighting, I've put together an addendum for all summer 2011 Craft Spell footage that I've managed to scare up.

Enjoy!

2011-05-11 - The Soft Moon in London

Video still credit: TheButteflywheels

The Soft Moon
2011-05-11
Lexington Arms
London

Whiskybob recording.
Church Audio CA14 omnis > CA batt box > Edirol R-09HR.

Setlist

Into The Depths
Dead Love
Circles
Breathe The Fire
We Are We
Out Of Time
When It's Over
Parallels
Tiny Spiders
Phantoms


For other May 2011 European video clips...

The Soft Moon - 2011-03-18 - Klub Krucial SXSW Austin TX

The Soft Moon
SXSW
2011-03-18
Klub Krucial
Austin TX


Video by Shawn Breen (Mogwaione)
Photos and editing by Shantell Mitchell

I've been looking for any TSM performances (audio or video, basically anything) from SXSW.  Mogwaione replied to one of my recent posts saying that he filmed the Klub Krucial performance, 
and has given me permission to post the link through AMH.

Here Luis can be seen wearing a Screamers T-shirt, yet again showing off his good taste.  He was also fighting losing his voice, not a surprise since he and the rest of group typically give their all for their live shows, even in abbreviated format here due to the number of bands playing.

Setlist

Into The Depths (0:07)
Circles (4:10)
Breathe The Fire (8:08)
We Are We (11:45)
Parallels (15:53)
Tiny Spiders (19:10)

Click on the photo above or go here to view.

More screencaps, this time of bassist Justin Anastasi and synthist Damon Way:

Craft Spells w/The Soft Moon - 2011-04-03 - Vera Project Seattle WA

Photo courtesy of virtualsound

Another show taped by SR of two outstanding Captured Tracks artists, one of course being The Soft Moon, which have been amply covered elsewhere in this here blog, and the other are the excellent Craft Spells, playing selections from their new album 'Idle Labor' for this record release party.


Again, the quality of these recordings should cause your jaw to drop and hit the floor, they put my own meager efforts to shame.  Enjoy!


Craft Spells
2011-04-03
Vera Project
Seattle WA


SR master.  Gear: Schoeps MK4 active setup > Nbox > Sony PCM-M10 (wav @ 48KHz 24 bit) > Adobe Audition 1.5 (tracksplits, normalization, downsampling to 44.1/16 > FLAC

Photo courtesy of virtualsound

Setlist

Love Well Spent
Scandinavian Crush (alt video)
The Fog Rose High
After The Moment (pt 2)
Beauty Above All
Given The Time
Party Talk
You Should Close The Door
From The Morning Heat



Volume got turned up a bit during the second song, I've normalized levels so hopefully this is not noticeable.

Photo courtesy of virtualsound

The Soft Moon

2011-04-03

Vera Project

Seattle WA

SR master.  Same as above.

Setlist

Into The Depths

Dead Love

Circles

Breathe The Fire

We Are We

Out Of Time

When It's Over

Parallels

Tiny Spiders

Coverage on other blog sites:

Finest Kiss:  Genetic Reengineering 
 (video for 'Scandinavian Crush')


Virtual Sound
 (video for the other linked selections)

The Soft Moon - 2011-03-30 - 103 Harriet SF

Of course, at this point, I've been well-habituated to The Soft Moon's live set, this being the third time seeing them over a two-month span, but that did not lessen their impact in the slightest, and it was heartening to see people who were obviously not familiar with their material stop and take notice.

We came in a bit late (bad habit, and not normal practice, but we had to get something to eat) but did catch half of Water Boarders set and generally liked what we heard. 

"When It's Over" was played here for only the third time, it was debuted at the Feb 6th show at the Echo and LA and played again on one of their other SoCal dates (Long Beach, I am informed).   It's quite rightly deemed the emotional centerpiece of their album...and this show.

Luis wearing a Bad Brains shirt was a nice touch, which he revealed after the first song (was hot on stage!). 

I can't say enough for how good these guys are, so I won't bore you trying.   Credit goes to the bloke who runs ESWA who turned me onto something that was in my own backyard the whole time.

As for any comments about the headliner, I'll pass.  I refer you instead to Bob Duvet's excellent article, who also has very nice things to say about The Soft Moon.

Setlist
 
Into The Depths
Dead Love
Circles
Breathe The Fire
We Are We
Out Of Time
When It's Over
Parallels
Tiny Spiders

(individual songs linked have their own video clips, 'Into The Depths' and 'Circles' shot by Nakoeth, the rest shot by my friend with his Panasonic TZ7) 

And debuted here, the COMPLETE VIDEO,  shot with my Flip UltraHD at 720p and stabilized with a Ready Steady, I declare this amazing, yes it's weird to make this comment as if it were somebody else filming.  

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.