Gordon Elgart – Page 23 – Spinning Platters

Album Review: Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back

Peter Gabriel’s new covers album Scratch My Back is the beginning of a “song exchange” project. This means that every artist covered on this album is being asked to cover one of Peter Gabriel’s songs in exchange. This collection will then be released under the title …And I’ll Scratch Yours. That’s the intention. Whether or not the second part ends up happening seems to be up in the air so far, but Stephin Merrit has already recorded “Not One of Us” as a b-side to Peter Gabriel’s Magnetic Fields cover,”Book of Love,” so the project has begun. Continue reading “Album Review: Peter Gabriel — Scratch My Back”

Show Review: Styx at the Regency Ballroom, 1/17/10

Styx gets a bad rap. They’re one of those punch-line bands that people claim to like ironically. This is both unfair and stupid. There’s a subset of great classic rock bands that are being kept out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for having the gall to be too popular. Along with Journey, Kiss, Rush, Boston and Chicago, it seems that success and longevity have worked against them. No matter, though, because an evening with Styx is what rock n’ roll is really all about. Continue reading “Show Review: Styx at the Regency Ballroom, 1/17/10”

Show Review: Hockey with Asa Ransom and fakeyourowndeath at Bottom of the Hill, 1/15/10

Hockey Vocalists — It's Hockey, but he's not singing Oh Canada.

I like going to see hockey. I’m always telling people that they can’t appreciate hockey unless they see it live. You can’t see the speed, the positioning, or really feel the hits unless you’re in the arena. But what about Hockey, the band? Do you need to see them live to truly appreciate them? Do they bring something to the table live that you just can’t hear on their excellent record, Mind Chaos? Continue reading “Show Review: Hockey with Asa Ransom and fakeyourowndeath at Bottom of the Hill, 1/15/10”

Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 14 – Too Much Jersey Shore

On episode 14 of the Spinning Platters podcast, we welcome Gary Baker of Universal Music Group for a discussion of his work, including an in-depth discussion about the continued place of major labels in today’s music. We also talk about some upcoming music and shows, and we talk way too much about the Jersey Shore.

You’ll also notice that we discuss Jay Reatard as “what Gary’s been listening to,” and you should know we recorded this the day before he passed away. This episode is dedicated to his memory.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 14 — Too Much Jersey Shore”

Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 13 – Eric Frederic of Wallpaper and Facing New York

On episode 13 of the Spinning Platters podcast, we welcome Eric Frederick of the bands Wallpaper and Facing New York. We discuss his music, other people’s music, and for once, stay mainly on topic. Thanks to Eric for joining us, and we recommend checking out Wallpaper on New Year’s Eve at Club 1994. Click the giant button to the left to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, or listen below.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 13 — Eric Frederic of Wallpaper and Facing New York”

Top Albums of 2009: Our Staff’s Individual Lists

Wayne — We'll let anyone make a list, even these guys.

Recently, we published our Official Top 15 Albums of 2009 list. This represented the combined opinions of many of our writers here. Everyone was then invited to provide an individual list of their favorite music of the year, in any category. Look for your favorite writer’s list, and if you don’t have a favorite writer, find your favorite list. That may then lead to your favorite writer. Each writer gets their own page, so be sure to read them all! Continue reading “Top Albums of 2009: Our Staff’s Individual Lists”

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Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 12 – The gift of Sonic Living

For our holiday episode of the Spinning Platters podcast (released after the holiday), Dakin, Gordon, and D.P. welcome Amy Miller of Sonic Living to talk about some of our favorite Christmas songs before going into an in-depth discussion of Sonic Living, which of course leads us off in a million different directions. Click the giant button on the left to subscribe, or you can download or listen below. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast Episode 12 — The gift of Sonic Living”

Album Review: Yeasayer – Odd Blood

The immediate reaction to the opener on Yeasayer’s upcoming release Odd Blood, “The Children,” is that it sounds like the band decided to play a joke on downloaders by starting with a song designed to make the listener feel as uncomfortable as possible. It’s a weird cacophony of bells and creepy vocal processing, all played at a lumbering pace, seemingly built to frighten. What the heck happened to Yeasayer? Continue reading “Album Review: Yeasayer — Odd Blood”

Show Review: Brian Setzer Orchestra with Lavay Smith at The Warfield, 12/20/09

Setzer Girls — This cat brings his "vixens" out to play.

I emailed a friend talking about how I was about to see Brian Setzer, and she responded, “is he still around?” Well, thank goodness he is, because last week he collapsed on stage, making me wonder if the tour would go on. It got me looking him up on Wikipedia to see that he’s 50 years old, and that it was 15 years ago that he put out the first Brian Setzer Orchestra CD. He’s had a long and varied career, and he’s definitely still around. So how’s he holding up? Continue reading “Show Review: Brian Setzer Orchestra with Lavay Smith at The Warfield, 12/20/09”

Gift Guide For Music Nerds: 10 Quick Questions with Kevin Tong

Atlas

Kevin Tong is a favorite among much of the crew here at Spinning Platters. We aggressively shopped his booth when we discovered him at Flatstock last year, and his output is consistently top notch. If you’re still looking for the perfect rock posters to buy the music nerd in your life, you can’t go wrong with Kevin Tong artwork. We asked Kevin if he would answer some questions for us, and he graciously agreed. Read on, and then go visit his site to see more.

Spinning Platters: What was the first work of art you did for money? Continue reading “Gift Guide For Music Nerds: 10 Quick Questions with Kevin Tong”