Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Spinning Platters album reviews category. Click here to see all album reviews from the Bay Area Music Nerds.
Sorry to everyone who expected to see this last week. Due to some unexpected laziness I only listened to new releases and didn’t review them. There was general outrage and I won’t do it again. Continue reading “New Release Round Up, 4/13/10 — 35 Instant Album Reviews”
Truth time. This review is two weeks late and way beyond the relevant date for any She & Him fan. So I’m not going to write it for a fan, I’m going to write it for all you people who say Zooey Deschanel can’t sing or that She & Him is boring dreck. Because I think you’re wrong and if you are actually willing to have an open mind about it, you might change your mind.
When I first started listening to Volume Two and pondering the angle for my review I did my usual pre-writing ritual: hours of procrastinating on the internet. I ended up in one of my favourite places: ONTD (Oh No They Didn’t on livejournal.com for those not in the know). I was surprised by the amount of hate being spewed in She & Him’s direction, and started to wonder why. So I’ll take the negative comments posted to this entry, and do my best to prove them wrong. Continue reading “Defending Zooey: A Review of She & Him Volume Two”
If Olivia Newton-John was one possible destination in Goldfrapp’s continuing journey that began on the steps of the majestic Felt Mountain, then it seems like she’s inching closer and closer to that point. I might be panicking. I might be overreacting. Still in love with that first album, her subsequent records up to date, although dancier and poppier, still satisfied me in some way. But her newest release, Headfirst, has me thinking a hot tub time machine might have been involved in the recording process somehow. Continue reading “Album Review: Goldfrapp — Headfirst”
In 2007, a strange and unexpected musical collaboration was released. It was the brain child of legendary producer T-Bone Burnett who decided that a full album collaboration between Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and modern day bluegrass icon Alison Krauss would be a brilliant idea. The album, Raising Sand, came out, and it was a moody collection of covers and originals that was both a critical and commercial success. It was a rare album that nearly everyone enjoyed, and was also the first album released on a independent label to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.
Fast forward three years, and a rather suspicious record gets released. Jakob Dylan, son of Bob and vocalist of 90’s buzz bin two-hit wonder act The Wallflowers, releases a record called Women + Country, featuring production by T-Bone Burnett and vocals by Alt.Country Super Heroine Neko Case. It all feels, I don’t know, impure? I was curious about this record, but also a bit skeptical. So, when I got an offer to review the record for this site, I decided to take it upon myself.
Continue reading “Album Review: Jakob Dylan — Women + Country”
You know the 5 stages of accepting death right? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance… in the case of accepting your nerd-dom, you go through the same steps, but the best nerds go all the way back around to anger again, and there they will stay. Brian Posehn is an angry nerd, and fortunately a funny one, so he won’t completely alienate himself from his loving fans such as myself. His most recent comedy album, Fart & Wiener Jokes, has a little bit of old and a little bit of new, but enough raunchy material to keep the kiddies in the other room. Continue reading “Album Review: Brian Posehn — Fart & Wiener Jokes”
Instant album reviews is my favorite weekly column on the web, I use it as a way to filter out the LaLa.com list of stuff to decide what to listen to. With Pouria off in foreign lands, they needed a suitable fill in but since they couldn’t find one, you get me. I’ve been honing my pithy comments and I’m ready to go. Continue reading “New Release Round Up 3/30/10 — 39 Instant Album Reviews”
So I’ve been working a lot of long hours. It has sapped my will to be funny or amusing. Basically sapping my will…although I guess it could also be a direct result of listening to Bieber. Zing! Continue reading “Mega New Release Round Up 3/16/10 and 3/23/10 — 52 Instant Album Reviews”
Chances are, if you’re a music aficionado, you’ve already heard of AM. If not directly from a friend or by way of online channels such as Lala and thesixtyone, where he currently enjoys a strong presence, then you’ve most likely been exposed through a more traditional medium.
This is due to the fact that every single track off of his 2006 full-length debut, Troubled Times, has appeared in either a film or TV show. Thus far, the Tulsa-born, New Orleans-bred singer-songwriter has been savvy enough to capitalize on the momentum of such a promising start. AIR has asked him to open for them on their North American tour and when that concludes, he’ll embark on a stint with none other than Charlotte Gainsbourg as she also treks through the U.S. and Canada.
Continue reading “Album Review: AM — Future Sons & Daughters”
Do you like the White Stripes? Forget that…. Do you Love the white stripes? Maybe enough to renew your passport to pay them a visit? If you fall into this category, you may have been present for the most recent release, straight from our Northern neighbors: Under Great White Northern Lights.
Continue reading “Album Review: The White Stripes — Under The Great Northern Lights”
I first heard Marina and The Diamonds’ album The Family Jewels in my usual fashion: in the background while I did something else. It caught enough of my attention that four songs in I turned to YouTube, wanting to know more. What I found there horrified me. This travesty of a video made me spend the next two days telling everyone who would listen about this horrible woman they should never listen to. Now it’s three weeks later and per lastfm I have listened to these songs 186 times. So, what happened? Continue reading “Album Review: Marina & The Diamonds — The Family Jewels”