Noise Pop Show Review: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Deerhoof at The Fox Oakland, 2/23/10

I have spent a lot of time defending different artists in my day. Usually this is because, well, my tastes are difficult to define, to say the least. (Case in point: two of my early reviews, which happened one right after the other were this and this) But, the one single artist that I come to the defense of more than any other is Yoko Ono. Everyone has an opinion about her, and generally speaking, this opinion is pretty negative. The primary cause of this is most likely either a.) they blame her for the break up of The Beatles (I still think that this was Linda’s fault) or b.) they blame her for the widespread acceptance of the avant garde. I personally don’t hold her responsible for either of these things. I also think people either don’t take her seriously enough, or take her far too seriously.

I must give a respectful shout-out to the good people of Noise Pop for making this show happen. They took a chance at booking such a divisive figure for their opening night show, and it paid off pretty nicely.

Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Deerhoof at The Fox Oakland, 2/23/10”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/10-2/23/10

Sharing a bill with Visqueen & 311 in Santa Cruz caused this goat to faint.
Playing at the Catalyst this Monday night.

As we warm up to the upcoming Noise Pop Festival, here’s a few shows to let you warm up your earplugs with.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/10-2/23/10”

Show Review: Fiery Furnaces with Cryptacize at Slim’s, 11/20/09

Not In Frame: Harry Partch or Harry Patch
Not In Frame: Harry Partch or Harry Patch

The Fiery Furnaces have been in the press quite a bit lately. Not because they put out a record of Fiery Furnace covers, but because of their mythical feud with Radiohead & Beck. My relationship with this band is a little strange. I saw them open for The Shins many years ago, and they blew me away. I ran out to purchase their current record at the time, Rehearsing My Choir, and was taken aback even more. They reminded me of everything the band Caroliner was trying to accomplish, only without the distraction on the costumes. I was hooked for months to this record, but never went further. I kept missing out on new releases, for one reason or another, and whenever they came around, I couldn’t make it. So, this cold November night, I decided to finally see them again. Continue reading “Show Review: Fiery Furnaces with Cryptacize at Slim’s, 11/20/09”

Spinning Platters Weekly Tip Sheet: July 28th-August 3rd

Follow these tracks to the Great American Music Hall on Sunday.
Follow these tracks to the Great American Music Hall on Sunday.

This is part 10 of a continuing series… Next week, we will discuss how race relations affected the reconstruction.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Tip Sheet: July 28th-August 3rd”