Though he'd been playing a variety instruments and styles for years, Oakland music Luis Vasquez never intended his current project, The Soft Moon, to catch on. A true bedroom project, The Soft Moon was originally meant to be a device of self-exploration, a spelunking of the depths, as it were, of Vasquez's own psyche. As a result, the 2011 self-titled debut was dark, brooding and even a bit sinister, full of 80's post-punk and goth influences, recalling Faith-era The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and Suicide, but still unique with its whispered vocals and more contemporary twists and distortion. After the debut's success and a bit of touring, Vasquez brought the songs for his next album to a full fledged studio, assisted by an engineer and producer, to give 2012's Zeroes a deeper and more resonant sound. Recently, Vasquez and his touring band brought those dark sounds of The Soft Moon new LP to the KEXP studio and provided the perfect live soundtrack to a dreary December day. Dig deep here:
Full Performance:
Seattle-based musician and producer Scot Porter makes beautifully layered electronic music under the name Vox Mod. Recently, he stopped by to perform live in the KEXP studio for Audioasis -- and it's good the cameras were on him because Porter also creates wonderfully strange animations, which are…
It's hard to think of another band that has not only lasted as long as but has also never lost their knack for sonic adventure like Yo La Tengo. After nearly 30 years, and through 13 studio albums and who knows how many singles and EPs, the Hoboken, NJ, trio still sounds like no one else, even with…
