Author: Gordon Elgart

A music nerd who probably uses that term too much. I have a deep love for bombastic, quirky and dynamic music.

Spinning Platters Presents The Official List of the Top 10 Albums of 2011

Finished 11th, but I really like it.

 While other magazines, blogs and newspapers release their Best Albums of the Year super early, obviously before they’ve even heard some of the albums on their list, we wait until the last possible minute, sharing dozens of nominations with each other while participating in an overly complicated voting process that leads to a Top 10 that looks completely different from anyone else’s. It’s rewarding and fun, and we always find room for small albums that usually get ignored. One person’s favorite gets a real chance to get heard in our system as it becomes the favorite of many. So know, dear reader, that the albums you’re about to see listed have passed a multi-level test of quality. And now, I end my introduction by asking you to click the more tag and see our Official List of the Top 10 Albums of 2011.

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Film Review: “The Muppets”

Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Kermit, Walter and Rowlf in THE MUPPETS

starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones

written by: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller

directed by: James Bobin

MPAA: Rated PG for some mild rude humor

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/17/11-11/23/11

Opening for The Sounds on Saturday night at The Warfield

Dakin’s taking the week off from recommending shows. He’s busy shopping for just the right turkey for his Thanksgiving dinner, I guess. Personally, I recommend getting a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau to bring wherever you do end up going for Thanksgiving. It’s the ultimate Thanksgiving wine.  But enough booze talk. Let’s go see some shows! (And don’t forget to tip your bartenders.) Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/17/11-11/23/11”

Show Review: Brandt Brauer Frick with Psychic Friend and James & Evander at Rickshaw Stop, 11/11/2011

An age old argument in music is this: is this band better live or on record? Electronic music seems to be the ultimate fertile ground for this argument because essentially the live show is the record plus lights, isn’t it? Well, not if it’s done right.

Brandt Brauer Frick perform in two different varieties. There’s the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, an 11-piece combo that plays the material as written on composition paper. Then there’s the core trio, which leave the paper at home, and take chances on stage.  Is this electronic music done right? Continue reading “Show Review: Brandt Brauer Frick with Psychic Friend and James & Evander at Rickshaw Stop, 11/11/2011”

Not Necessarily New Release Tuesday, 11/8/2011

What do arrows sound like? They sound like awesome.

Welcome to a new, and possibly recurring feature on Spinning Platters, Not Necessarily New Release Tuesday. In this, I’ll recommend some new music to listen to. Some of these will be actual new releases, but not necessarily. I’ll also be including recently discovered imports, leaked albums, and rediscovered music as well. Sometimes I’ll just try to get you to listen to a forgotten record that I love. Since this is a new feature, I’ll be making it up as I go along so I absolutely want your feedback; therefore, please comment below and together we can make this the best Spinning Platters recurring feature ever.  (Take that, Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts!) Continue reading “Not Necessarily New Release Tuesday, 11/8/2011”

Festival Diary: The 2011 Treasure Island Music Festival, Day 1

The glamtastic Saturday headliners

The details of the Treasure Island Music Festival are well known to Bay Area music regulars. I’ll go over them briefly.

The setting is beautiful, on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. There are only two stages that alternate acts, so there’s never any clashes. There are two days: Saturday leans toward dance music, and Sunday is for indie rock. It’s small so you can easily get close to the stage whenever you want, without having to park yourself in the front row all day long. Those are the basics — everything else changes year to year. In fact, the organizers — Noise Pop and Another Planet — intend to never repeat a band. So here’s a quick look at this year’s collection of talent.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 10/13/11-10/19/11

Will be playing the classics for two nights at The Regency Ballroom

Dakin’s taking the week off to play with his cat and get ready for the Treasure Island Music Festival. I’m ready for the festival — Friendly Fires, Cut Copy, Explosions in the Sky, Death Cab For Cutie, Empire of the Sun, Battles, Geographer, Aloe Blacc, many more, bring it! — so I’m suggesting shows for the rest of the week.

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Show Review: Club BFD with Surfer Blood, Innerpartysystem, The Vaccines and Geographer at Mezzanine, 6/4/2011

Surfer Blood are head and shoulders above the competition

This is the first time I can remember Club BFD being better than original BFD. First off, there’s the lineup which has more melody in four bands than there’d be in 11 hours on Sunday. Then there’s the Mezzanine, which welcomes its visitors with a high-res screen featuring sharp animations about tonight’s show and future events. At “real BFD,” there’s a static monitor. And in a club that holds somewhere in the 1000-person range, there’s a multi-camera shoot being projected on walls throughout the venue; at big BFD, there were no screens inside the amphitheater at all. I’m not even going to discuss the drink price competition. So the Mezzanine is all class, we know that. But how were the bands? Continue reading “Show Review: Club BFD with Surfer Blood, Innerpartysystem, The Vaccines and Geographer at Mezzanine, 6/4/2011”

Show Review: Architecture in Helsinki with Hooray For Earth at Great American Music Hall, 6/2/2011

Architecture in Helsinki is an unfortunately named band. Whenever I tell people about them, the response I hear has something to do with traveling in Europe. I have to explain that, no, they’re a fun, synth heavy band from Australia. Or more recently, since I’m going to Finland this summer, they’ll think I’m mentioning the architecture in Helsinki, for real. I can’t imagine what they go through. Apart from answering questions about their band name (which they’ve had for years — get over it already), they also come to San Francisco to play shows, including this week at Great American Music Hall.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/28/11 – 5/4/11

He thought he was playing The Fillmore tonight, but it's not him.

Since I’m filling in recommending shows to see this week, I’m changing things up! Some nights, I’ll recommend only one show, meaning if you’re not seeing this, you can stay home, play with the cats, cook dinner for your loved ones, or anything else you feel like doing. And other nights, I’ll recommend many shows, which means if you’re not at a show, you’d better have a darned good excuse!  (And if you’re in Vegas this weekend, say hi. Click that cool floating contact bar on the left.) Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 4/28/11 – 5/4/11”