Kara Murphy – Page 3 – Spinning Platters

Review: Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque at The Fillmore

I was a bit disappointed with the Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque show that took place this past Friday at The Fillmore. Don’t you hate that feeling of eagerly anticipating something, only to be let down? Perhaps my expectations were set too high when I read this preview piece of the 46-show tour in Inked Magazine? Maybe I’ve already been spoiled by shows including performances in Los Angeles’ world-famous Forty Deuce or Las Vegas’ Zumanity (the former focusing a lot more on acrobatics)? Or, I could’ve just been a little bit shellshocked from the beer that ended up in my wig and all over everyone else in the first few rows when someone in front carelessly left a full one on the stage.

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Win a pair of tickets to see Junip at Bimbo’s 365 Club this Thursday

José González has a beautifully tranquil voice. Oddly enough, whether covering The Knife’s hit “Heartbeats,” or mustering a sense of urgency at the climax of his group Junip’s 2013 breakout track, “Line of Fire,” he’s able to lure listeners in with his flawless delivery. The latter has received so much attention that it was recently featured in the teaser trailer for the grand finale of the smash TV series Breaking Bad.

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First City Festival Highlights, Day 2

Akron/Family at First City Festival — Akron/Family absolutely killed it.

This past weekend, First City Festival made its debut at Monterey County Fairgrounds (if it sounds familiar, the annual Jazz Festival is also held there) and the stellar turnout ensured that this won’t be the last time we witness the two-day event that was named after Monterey’s claim to be the “first capital” of California.

With a line up containing Neko Case, Toro Y Moi, Akron/Family, and the Antlers, on day two alone, it was definitely worth making a two-hour road trip from the Bay Area. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was mellow, and lines for food and beverages were reasonable. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t make a top five list. Before you look at the photos, humor me in reading my thoughts on the highlights and lowlights of the day’s events.

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The Matrix, Live with The San Francisco Symphony

On Saturday night, The Matrix, a 1999 sci-fi cult film absorbed by the generations raised on computers, was screened at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in downtown San Francisco. The man responsible for the movie’s original score, Don Davis, conducted The San Francisco Symphony in a riveting two-hour-long performance that brilliantly complemented the pivotal moments of the movie displayed directly above their station.

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Save Big on SF MusicTech Summit #13

Robert Kaye of MusicBrainz at SF MusicTech Summit 12 — People, including Robert Kaye of MusicBrainz, take their SF MusicTech seriously.

The next installment of SF MusicTech Summit is a week away. If you tend to follow the biggest music + tech-related events in the Bay Area, you might be asking yourself something along the lines of “wait, didn’t they just throw one of these events a few months ago?” Yes, it’s not your imagination; the last conference took place in February.

Why did the organizers decide to follow up so soon on their bi-annual event? Besides the basic logistics involved in organizing a massively popular conference, there’s a deeper progression at play. Read on to find out why everyone involved in some aspect of music should especially attend, this time around, and how Spinning Platters can save you 20% on registration.

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Highlights from SF Music Hack Day, 2013

This was the 4th time Music Hack Day visited San Francisco. — Music Hack Day visited San Francisco for the 4th time since 2009.

This past weekend, close to 200 music tech enthusiasts packed the lofty office space of TokBox, in the SOMA district, to build the future of music apps at SF Music Hack Day.

Participants were given 24 hours and 19 different APIs to pick and choose from including the likes of Mashery, Spotify, Rdio, Twilio, and Gracenote (who just opened their APIs and SDKs to developers for the very first time on Saturday, the 16th).

The results came in the form of some truly inspiring hacks that were creative, entertaining, and might even change the future musical landscape for the better. While covering all 60 demos that were slotted into 2-minute time frames would be exhausting and, ultimately, counterproductive, I do recommend you check out all of the project proposals on the Hacker League page.

In the meantime, here are 6 hacks I enjoyed for their ingenuity, usefulness, or both.

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Stop SOPA/PIPA – 4 Ways You Can Help

Today some of the largest entities on the Internet including Wikipedia, Reddit, and MoveOn.org will go completely dark, for 24 hours, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA – fun fact: “Sopa” means “trash” in Swedish) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). These two bills, introduced to the House and Senate back in October, respectively, would allow the U.S. Department of Justice and copyright holders to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. I should mention that action can be taken without due process. So, for example, if I posted a YouTube video on Spinning Platters, the copyright holder could have this site (and even YouTube, itself) shut down without any notice. Continue reading “Stop SOPA/PIPA — 4 Ways You Can Help”

Why you should attend SF MusicTech Summit, Music Hack Day, and Music Startup Academy

This February, make something happen with all the right resources.

“We should start our own group; I’m not sure what the title would be but it has to encompass the fact that we are some of the few, the brave, that have attended every single SF MusicTech Summit in existence.” That’s basically what my friends, Scott Schiller, Jordan Harband, and I were joking about as we basked in the sun flooding Japantown’s mall courtyard during lunch break at the last event in September. Continue reading “Why you should attend SF MusicTech Summit, Music Hack Day, and Music Startup Academy”

Wanderlust Festival, 2011: The Best from the Bay + the Rest

It definitely wasn’t my imagination when I felt that some of the lines for the most sought-after yoga courses were excessively long or the crowds that flocked to the stage for the live musical performances were exceedingly large; as it turns out, this year’s Wanderlust Yoga + Music Festival in Squaw Valley saw some 14,000 attendees solely for yoga.

Despite the 65% increase in attendance from last year, there was still a unique intimacy, not to mention sense of spiritual community, that enriched the entire experience. Yogis and musicians from the Bay Area were there to represent and impart their talents in full force. Thus, I present the best from our area plus the rest that made my trip a truly transcendent experience.

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Win a Pass to SF MusicTech Summit #8

A few updates: First, R.I.P. Max Matthews. You will be missed. Second, I will extend this contest to Friday, April 29th as the first Musica Tecnomica 2.0 in a long while is taking place on Thursday the 28th.

Here we go again…another contest! For those of you not yet familiar with the event, SF MusicTech Summit was created by Brian and Shoshanna Zisk several years back to help music business professionals keep apace in an industry that is notorious for rapidly transforming, innovating, and developing tools for the development and distribution of music. What initially started out as a local gathering has gradually evolved into the third most renowned music and tech event in the world (behind MIDEM and, of course, SXSW).

I’ve already covered reasons why I think you should attend SF MusicTech Summit and this recent Fast Company interview gives even more insight into its benefits plus other projects Brian’s been involved with for the greater good of the community. Luckily, two free conference passes (one per online publication) are up for grabs here and through my own personal blog, karaemurphy.me. Read on to learn more about what to expect as an attendee and how you can potentially win…

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