Album Reviews – Page 7 – Spinning Platters

Album Review: The Temper Trap

When a band releases a self-titled album after their debut record, I always take it to mean they’re making a statement of intent. They’re saying, “this is what the band’s going to be about. Everything else before was just a warm up.” But when your warm-up album has the gigantic hit single, “Sweet Disposition,” on it, should you really be calling that practice? What if you don’t have a worthy follow-up? With that in mind, does The Temper Trap make a statement? Or is it just the next album? Continue reading “Album Review: The Temper Trap”

Not Necessarily New Release Tuesday, 11/8/2011

The Sound of Arrows Voyage — 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”

Live Blogging With The Devil: Lulu – Lou Reed & Metallica

Tonight is an experiment. A record by the odd pairing of Velvet Underground leader Lou Reed and bay area metal titans Metallica. I’ve tried hard to avoid any press or tracks from this record, so this will be as fresh as possible. I am not a fan of either act. I do consider the Velvet Underground to be one of the most important bands ever, and much of Reed’s solo work is fine. I even enjoyed some elements of elements of 2003’s The Raven. As for Metallica, I think that Master Of Puppets and Ride The Lightning are great records, but I haven’t liked much after that. I will admit that I don’t consider St Anger to be absolute garbage. I love the drum sounds on that album, but the songwriting could use some editing.

Anyways, keep refreshing, because I will be updating this throughout my entire listening experience. I don’t know what to expect from this, but I hope you enjoy it:

Continue reading “Live Blogging With The Devil: Lulu — Lou Reed & Metallica”

Album Review: Playing In The Streets – Right There For You

I have received a lot of free music over the years and all of it has either been good enough to steal or bad enough to be free. I’m happy to say that this was a rare exception to my klepto habit from an up and coming Antioch rock group called Playing in the Streets and their new album Right There for You.

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7″ Review: Schande – “Still Returning”

Jen Schande is one of the Bay Area’s most tried-and-true indie workhorses. She’s been at it in one band or another for damn near two decades: she played pre-fame shows with bands ranging from No Doubt to The Gossip, released a long-sold-out split 7″ with The Cribs that commands quite a high asking price on eBay, and famously saw PJ Harvey at the Whiskey in 1992. In addition to her prolific DJ work, Jen has her namesake band, Schande, which she began focusing on exclusively after parting ways with Boyskout several years back.

Schande are playing at the Hemlock this Saturday, July 30, along with Bam!Bam! and Silent Pictures. And they have a new 7″ out on Future Farmer Recordings, titled Still Returning. Let’s have a listen, shall we?

Continue reading “7″ Review: Schande — “Still Returning””

Album Review: Tearist – Living: 2009-Present

Tearist’s debut record, Living: 2009-Present, is one of the riskiest debut records in the history of the medium. Instead of taking the traditional route of going into a recording studio, or even bringing a laptop into the rehearsal space to make a solid, consistent sounding record, this band opted to make a record that consists entirely of audience recordings of live shows. The end result is, although a mixed bag, one of the most interesting records that I have heard in a long time.
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Album Review (with bonus movie talk): Daft Punk – TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack

I’m a fan of the original 1982 movie TRON, even though I’m aware it’s kinda crappy. So I’ve been following the TRON: Legacy hype pretty closely for the last few years. And when I was sent Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack for review, I immediately emailed our lead film reviewer, Jason LeRoy, and called dibs when he got his tickets for a preview screening. Then I began listening to Daft Punk’s film score to get myself psyched. And it worked. I was psyched. Continue reading “Album Review (with bonus movie talk): Daft Punk — TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack”

Album Review: Belle & Sebastian – Belle and Sebastian Write About Love

Belle & Sebastian is not the kind of band that jumps out and grabs your attention, instead they plant a seed which needs time to grow. When my friend gave me the spectacular If Your Feeling Sinister in 1997 it was with the promise that I would listen to it at least five times in the background before I gave it my full attention. He was right; it haunted me, it seeped into my soul, and I loved it. So now I’ve spent two weeks with Belle & Sebastian Write about Love their newest effort, and I can’t say that same feeling of love and musical bliss has washed over me. Though I keep waiting and hoping it will. Continue reading “Album Review: Belle & Sebastian — Belle and Sebastian Write About Love”

Album Review: The Corin Tucker Band – 1,000 Years

The Corin Tucker Band – 1,000 Years.

Corin Tucker was one-third of one of the greatest bands the world has ever known.

In Sleater-Kinney, she made powerful, personal music strong enough to restore a person’s conviction in themselves or rock-and-roll or both. Her voice arced through speakers and rock clubs like the weapon in a video game that could cut through all the enemies in one stupendous blast and keep going to and through the edge of the screen.

Then, in 2006 Sleater-Kinney went on hiatus.

Now what? Continue reading “Album Review: The Corin Tucker Band — 1,000 Years”

Album Review: Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern

I’ve been following Marnie Stern’s career nearly from the get-go. Her first record, In Advance Of The Broken Arm, is still one of my all time favorite records, and hardly a week goes by without giving it a listen. I enjoyed her second record, This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, but, as is the case with many sophomore releases, I didn’t become infatuated with it as much as the debut. So, here we have record number three. A record that’s pre-buzz has led me to believe that we have a “serious departure,” and, what may be the one thing that has me approaching with the greatest caution, “ballads.” My biggest fear would be that one of the most aggressive players in rock music today has gone gentle.

Continue reading “Album Review: Marnie Stern — Marnie Stern”