Single of the Week: “Dope” by John Legend featuring JID

WHAT?!?! Someone your grandmother has heard of as our single of the week? Yup. It’s been a bit since John Legend has impressed me. But this track is equal parts perky and smooth. It could be dirty, but it could also get played at a wedding. And he’s got a verse from famous venue destroyer JID that’s pretty fantastic. 

“Dope” is out now at your favorite Digital Service Provider. There’s a full-length record coming in the future at a time yet to be determined. And, speaking of a place where time doesn’t exist- John Legend is doing the whole Vegas Residency thing, which should be fun. 

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/27/14-4/2/14

One of these two people will be playing Bill Graham Civic on Saturday.
One of these two people will be playing Bill Graham Civic on Saturday.

Thursday, March 27th Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/27/14-4/2/14”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/4/12-10/10/12

Playing at Slim’s on Monday night? Or what people will be doing all weekend at Golden Gate Park? You decide.

Oh, man. Rocktober continues! This weekend in the Bay Area is completely crazy. Fleet week, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a 49ers game, the Giants and A’s in the playoffs, Oracle Open World, Castro Street Fair … and all the shows and concerts I’m about to suggest that you do otherwise. This is the absolute best time of year to live here, so enjoy it all!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/4/12-10/10/12”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/29/10-8/4/10

Look how much your girlfriend is enjoying herself at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga. So many concerts! So much wine!

As July transitions into August, The Mountain Winery continues to generally kick the ass of every other Bay Area concert venue this week—and it’s actually kind of an off-week for them. Nobody likes a showoff, Mountain Winery! Other highlights this week include Joanna Newsom, a free concert by Rickie Lee Jones, and the final performance by local favorites Make Me before they take an indefinite hiatus. All that and more, after the jump…

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/29/10-8/4/10”

Album Review: The Roots – how i got over

The Roots have had an unheard of career trajectory for the hip-hop world. They quietly came onto the scene in 1993 with an organic form of hip hop that was created entirely with live instruments, and were often thrown in with the jazz/rap fusion acts like A Tribe Called Quest and Digable Planets. Although they didn’t reach the same level of success as those two acts, they were definitely one of the most determined acts in hip hop, touring non-stop, which is rare in hip-hop, and eventually became one of the most revered live acts in the country. They managed to build a following the old fashioned way, and have managed to become a little more successful with every passing year.

Fast forward to 2010, and The Roots are practically a household name, with several hit singles under their belt at this point as well as an extremely high profile gig as the house band in Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Their latest record, how i got over, might be the record to finish that process off, and become that household name.

Continue reading “Album Review: The Roots — how i got over”

Show Review: John Legend, India.Arie, Vaughn Anthony at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, 9/6/09

He wants you... He wants you so bad...
He wants you… He wants you so bad…

I’m not really sure why I volunteered to cover John Legend at the Greek. My feelings of him have always been pretty negative. I used to call him things such as “the music John Tesh uses to fall asleep” and “Soul Music’s answer to Yanni.” So, I wasn’t expecting much. I thought I was going to enjoy India.Arie, and then I would sneak out after a few songs, just enough to be able to fake a review… Continue reading “Show Review: John Legend, India.Arie, Vaughn Anthony at The Greek Theater in Berkeley, 9/6/09”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th

Millions Of Darling Cats will be playing at The Knockout tonight!
Millions Of Darling Cats will be playing at The Knockout tonight!

As we recover from our wonderful weekend in Golden Gate Park, dealing with our sunburns (Friday & Saturday) and our hypothermia (Sunday), here’s a few more shows to keep you going. All of them good, or at least have the potential for good.

On a side note: the Bay Bridge is closed this weekend, but BART will be running all night, so if you wanted to get wasted on the other side of the Bay on which you reside, this is the weekend to do it!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th”