Review: Moonface @ Swedish American Hall, 11/19/13
Curling piano riffs and looming heartache fill the songs of Julia With Blue Jeans On, the latest LP from Canadian songwriter Spencer Krug, who performed Tuesday night under his Moonface moniker at the Swedish American Hall. Despite the relationship-under-a-microscope lyrical focus of his piano ballads, Krug was in good spirits — cracking jokes throughout the night with a shot of whiskey in hand. He was quick to point out he'd arrived late and started chugging whiskey, forcing the audience to sit and wait. When the crowd cheered, he smiled and sarcastically told us great work for applauding alcoholism. Still not ready [...]
Editors' Picks: What We've Been Listening to This Week (Mike Donovan, The Head and the Heart, Poliça, Moonface)
Mike Donovan (photo: Christian Faustus) Jason: Following Sic Alps' dissolution earlier this year, frontman Mike Donovan has struck out on his own, releasing his solo debut Wot last week on his old band's former label, Chicago's Drag City. The two tracks I've heard so far, "Do Do Ya?" and "New Fieldhand Bop", veer far off the garage rock course of Donovan's former band, delving into a bluesier sound than we've previously heard from this fixture of the SF scene. Listen to "New Fieldhand Bop" below, and watch the video for "Do Do Ya?" here. Anna: I'm late to the Head [...]
Review & Video: Moonface, Foxygen @ Independent, 9/12/12
According to beloved Canadian indie rocker Spencer Krug (formerly of Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown), Wednesday night’s show at the Independent was all about moving forward. Krug’s struggle is relatable — compared to the complex, intricate, and spastic styles of his older work, Moonface inhabits a far more subdued and rhythmic musical space. With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery is the album his critics always wanted Krug to make, stripped down, restrained, minimalist. But were the doubters right in the first place? As on the album, backing band duties were admirably handled by Finnish three-piece prog-rock group Siinai, along with additional keyboards [...]
Live This Month: September 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #286)
Live This Month: September 2012 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #286) In Live This Month, we sample some of the great local and out-of-town bands performing in the coming month in the San Francisco Bay Area. September is overflowing with compelling live music choices -- so many so, in fact, that a bunch of significant concerts didn't make the podcast. Of the picks that did make the cut, however, our top pick is our fifth annual Rock Make Street Festival, which brings 70 arts and crafts vendors and twelve local bands to 18th Street and [...]
Video: Moonface — "Faraway Lightning" (plus tour dates)
In Spencer Krug's dense, sprawling musical domain, bands come and go — whether that means putting Wolf Parade on indefinite hiatus or seemingly neglecting his former side-project Sunset Rubdown — on an almost annual basis. His newest project under the pseudonym Moonface (after releasing three previous EPs that were startlingly different in style) is a minimalist rock collaboration with Finnish band Siinai entitled Heartbreaking Bravery. Compared to his denser, more complex compositions in previous Moonface releases (and really, Krug's entire back catalogue), Heartbreaking Bravery is the kind of work many fans have been asking for — controlled, melodic, and (relatively) [...]