[Live MP3s] The Softies in Vermont 1994
Posted on April 27, 2005 at 9:25 am | 1 Comment
The excellent Shumai–Icicles–Smittens–Specific Heats show at PA’s Lounge a couple weeks back put me in a very twee mood, so I thought I’d dig up, convert, and share some early live stuff from one of my favorite Slumberland/K records duos, The Softies.
Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia didn’t even have a full length out yet when they hit the road in the summer of 1994, making a stop at the 242 Main teen center in my hometown of Burlington, Vermont. This show was just a few days after the release of their ‘Love Seat‘ 7-inch, and all of these songs come from their early singles, except for ‘Half As Much‘, which would later appear on a Slumberland 10” EP. Rose also remarked that they had written “a new song, learned today at a laundromat”, which would become “Empty Patches”, a performance of which at the Yoyo-a-Gogo festival a couple weeks later would eventually be included on a collection of live recordings.
So here’s the whole set. Keep in mind that this audio comes from the single microphone of an old camcorder, copied to a now-ten year old VHS tape, then transferred into my pc last week. I’ve done my best to clean it up, but go easy with your free-audio standards, if ya could.
The Softies
live at 242 Main, Burlington, VT
Saturday, July 2nd, 1994
[ download the set in one .zip file ]
1. Goodbye
2. C.K.M.
3. Half as Much
4. Love Seat
5. You Don’t Like Me Anymore
6. Nothing Sincerely
7. That and Everything
Next week I’ll probably offer up some live songs from the Softies’ summer tour-mates, Crayon, who also shared that great night’s lineup with Huffy and Never Only Once.
Actually, the Crayon set might have to wait a bit, depending on how well my planned recording of tomorrow’s Wedding Present show turns out. (Gah! I’m seeing the Wedding Present tomorrow! Still hasn’t sunk in.)
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One Response to “[Live MP3s] The Softies in Vermont 1994”
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December 28th, 2011 @ 12:50 am
The sound quality is much better than I expected from the description – certainly far better than the concerts I used to record on my little cassette player way back when (with the happy exception of Jonathan Richman, the Band and a few others.) Half as Much does have a tentative feel to it, doesn’t it. Funny to hear a tune at its inception, like those early takes rescued from the Beatles studio bootlegs. And many thanks for sharing this gem.