Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
After having to watch the bulk of our films from our living rooms in 2020, the slow but sure return to cinemas in 2021 was more than welcome. And the year rewarded us with many Top 10 list worthy contenders. I’ve narrowed mine down to the list below. You can also check out fellow film writer Chris Piper’s list here, as well as my 2020 list here. Now stop reading lists, and go seek these out!
Continue reading “Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2021”
2021 in American cinema was remarkable in how it seemed so… normal. Whatever the numbers say, my feeling was that the year started a little slowly, then found its footing around March, then kicked into something like a normal gear over the summer. As fall approached, and it seemed to me more theaters reopened, a slate of films pretty much like those in 2019 awaited. Winter seemed to bring somewhat larger than normal crop of smaller-budget films, and here we are, at the end of the year with a number of solid films released, awards season in full swing, and waiting for Oscar noms in just over a month.
So here are my top 10 films of 2021. See these 10 films in any order you want, preferably in the theater, but on your couch if you must. Here’s hoping for more of more of the same in 2022. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chris Piper’s Top 10 Films of 2021”
A special thanks to Paige Parsons for providing us with so many lovely photos this year. You should follow her on Instagram, as her feed will bring you many bursts of joy.
Outside Lands was the first concert I remember going on sale in the dark days of SIP. It sold out in two minutes, and my husband and I looked into our souls and wallets and sprung for VIP. And then, I wound up getting a press pass. Anyway! I was very very excited to go, and it’s been a long time since I reviewed anything. Continue reading “Outside Lands 2021 Diary”
I honestly wasn’t sure I’d get to post a “Top 10 From The Bottom Half Of The Outside Lands Poster” post this year. Delta hit shortly after 2021 was announced, and I started getting scared. However, after Lollapalooza gave excellent data about music festival infections, and the Bottlerock showed EVEN BETTER DATA, I’m feeling pretty confident that SF’s premier music festival is going to be a safe and fun affair. So here are my personal picks for the Outside Lands undercard. The full line-up is here, as well as the schedule, so you can start making the hard decisions about who you are going to see. The fest runs from October 29th-31st. Continue reading “Top 10 from the Bottom Half of the Outside Lands 2021 Poster”
One of my least favorite things about multi-stage music festivals is, well, having to decide who to see when multiple acts are playing at once… Remember having to pick between NERD and Carly Rae Jepsen in 2018? THAT WAS EVIL!!! How did I manage? By buying a ticket to see Carly Rae at her Outside Lands night show at The Independent the night before. That show was pretty much pure magic. Are you looking for a purely magical experience that’s slightly more intimate than your regular Outside Lands? Feast your eyes on their Night Show schedule:
To buy tickets, simply go here! The 2020 Eager Beaver presale starts Wednesday, September 22nd at noon PT, and the 2021 Outside Lands Ticket Holder presale begins Thursday, September 23rd at noon PT. Those passholders should be getting an email with a passcode shortly. If there are any tickets left, the general public gets their shot Friday, September 24th at noon PT. Good luck!
Habibi was one of like five bands to get to complete their 2020 tour before the world shut down. And their good fortune did not end there… Anywhere But Here landed the band on a slew of year-end lists, enough to get the attention of the legendary label Kill Rock Stars, which is AMAZING news because there were six years between the band’s self-titled debut and second record!
While the band is in the studio working on LP #3, they have treated us with an EP of cover songs from some of their favorite performers. The first single is a cover of the Kleenex classic “Nice,” translated into Farsi by lead singer Rahill Jamalifard. The EP, called Nice Try, will be ready for your ears very soon. You can watch this countdown clock with bated breath like I have to know the minute it’s read! And they are also going on tour! Check out the dates below: Continue reading “EP Preview: “Nice Try” by Habibi AND TOUR DATES”
The beauty of bringing a new body of work out on tour is that it allows the artist to find new ways to connect with their own music, oftentimes giving space for a song or collection of songs to grow and evolve. The performer-audience dynamic allows for both the fan and the songwriter to find new meaning and new layers in a piece of work.
Sadly, many of the best records of 2020 never got that chance to grow with an audience. I’ve spent the better part of a year and a half longing to hear what happens with Diet Cig’s Do You Wonder About Me? once given the chance for a live audience to take it in. Although that has yet to happen, the band has found numerous ways to reconnect with the songs and connect to fans without the opportunity to bring it live. They have done filmed livestreams. They’ve commissioned artists to reinterpret the album as a zine. And now they are blessing us with I Don’t Like Driving Like I Used To, and EP of alternate takes of tracks from Do You Wonder… that were recorded during this ever so lengthy quarantine.
This companion to a genius record is coming your way October 1st. You can presave your copy on your favorite streaming platform immediately.
Also breathing new life into their 2020 release is Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Temples is probably Thao’s most electric record to date, and like the Diet Cig album, a record that helped ease me through the despair of the last 19 months. On October 29th, she is bringing us Temples – Deluxe Edition, where she strips four Temples standout tracks free of the electronic elements and lays them down on acoustic instruments accompanied by strings, no doubt inspired by her neighbors that she introduced us to during her Tiny Desk Concert.
Preorders of Temples – Deluxe Edition will begin soon!
The Dreamspeakers Festival Society website states that “When the first Dene filmmaker returned home to Canada’s Northwest Territories, his people had no words for his new art. They call it ‘Dreamtalking’.” The term ‘Dene’ refers to both the native language (also called Athabascan) and also the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Territories in Canada. Dreamspeakers was founded in 1993, and for the last 28 years has highlighted the films and media art of Indigenous artists from nations around the globe.
Continue reading “Film Feature: 2021 Dreamspeakers International Indigenous Film Festival”
I’m forever grateful that the good folks of Another Planet and Superfly are working hard to make Outside Lands happen this year. And I know many of you loyal readers are sad that they missed out on buying 3-Day passes. Or didn’t buy them because they were waiting for the daily lineups to see if they can cancel their usual Halloween plans for this.
Well, cancel those Halloween plans because Outside Lands announced their single-day lineups, and, well, Tame Impala, Brittany Howard, Kehlani, and freaking Nelly are playing on Halloween! Also, whoever decided to book Neal Francis and Neil Frances for the same day deserves a prize. The rest are below the jump. Single Day Tickets are on sale Thursday, April 29th at 10 am! Continue reading “Outside Lands Daily Lineups & Single Day Tickets”
The 2021 San Francisco International Film Festival concluded yesterday, and announced its awards on Saturday. Those can be found here, but we have a final wrap up, too – nine capsules highlighting some of the Festival offerings – six dramas and three documentaries. Check them out below, and see you next year!
Continue reading “Film Feature: SFFILM Festival Spotlights #4”
