Spinning Platters Presents the Official List of the Top 10 Albums of 2010

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No, it's not an album, but what you see here sure helped one album make our list.

by The Spinning Platters Staff

Unlike last year, we spent more than a month at the Spinning Platters offices (our homes) passing albums around to try to determine a staff list of the Top abums of 2010. We were going for “Top 10 and ties,” and that ended up at exactly 10. There was a nomination step, a finalist selection step, a final voting step, and then we had a list. No list is perfect, but ours is not only pretty darned good, it also manages to represent the wide variety of  musical tastes among our team here (i.e. some of us hate some of these albums). Now, read and enjoy our Top 10 for 2010. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Presents the Official List of the Top 10 Albums of 2010”

Spinning Platters Picks Six: Rock Poster Artists Coming to Flatstock 25

Flatstock is coming to the Bay Area for the first time in years, thanks to a new team-up with the San Francisco-based TRPS.  I’m pretty darn excited, let me tell you. On July 10, at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park, nearly 50 great poster artists, both local and national, classic and brand new, will be showing and selling their posters. It starts at 10AM, but I promise you there will be folks lined up for hours to get first shot at some of the hotter artists at the show.

About a year ago, I posted a list of six of my favorite artists. I’ve mentioned and interviewed two of them that are coming to the show: Kevin Tong and Gregg Gordon. And now, I present six additional artists that you’ll be able to see on July 10th in Golden Gate Park. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Rock Poster Artists Coming to Flatstock 25”

Spinning Platters Picks Six: Reasons You Should Still be Going to Warped Tour

It's time to party!

Summer’s finally officially here, which means it’s time for yet another Warped Tour to begin. Yes, the Warped Tour you went to in your youth, and now make fun of in your adulthood, is still going. If you ever catch yourself saying something like “I’m too old for that crap,” you should resign from the music nerd community immediately. There’s some great reasons to continue to go to Warped Tour, even if you’re no longer in the pit but sitting on the picnic benches in back. I’ll give you six good ones here (specifically for June 26 at Shoreline Amphitheater); feel free to leave more in the comments.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Reasons You Should Still be Going to Warped Tour”

Spinning Platters Picks Six: European Pop Acts You Should Go See at SXSW 2010

Here's one of six bands you shouldn't miss in Austin this March.

You could go to SXSW and see lots of indie buzz bands from Brooklyn. If that’s your thing, great! As for me, I’ll be running around Austin chasing down the chance to see bands from other countries visit our shores, sometimes for the first time, sometimes for the only time. (I even have a tradition of seeing a band I’ve never heard of, from a country I’ve never been to. Give this one a shot.)

So if you go to Austin, and want to hear the best of pop music from the Old World, make sure to check out these six bands.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: European Pop Acts You Should Go See at SXSW 2010”

Spinning Platters Picks Six (More): Fun Cover Versions

... or is he dancer?

Back in September I revealed my secret love of searching out cover versions on Youtube and posted six of them.  You can read/listen to that here

So here we are in February 2010 and I decided to do it again.  Check out these six songs and let me know what you think.  Maybe post some of your own ? Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (More): Fun Cover Versions”

Spinning Platters Picks Six (plus three) Music Nerd Gadgets from CES 2010

This product puts the nerd in music nerd.

In case you got too caught up by Polaroid announcing that Lady Gaga was going to be their new Artistic Director, and missed all the actual music gadgets that came out in Sin City this week, well then Spinning Platters is here to help in your misguided priorities! We at Spinning Platters love our conventions especially when it’s a “convention of nerds.” See, they’re our people, and we of course love all the amazing toys that get announced there, and just in general love Las Vegas. So, here are the top six nine gadgets to come out of CES 2010. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (plus three) Music Nerd Gadgets from CES 2010”

Spinning Platters Guide To Important Musicians That Passed Away In 2009

This is a list of musicians of import that passed away in 2009. There will be many that are missed. You will be upset about some that I may have passed over. (I’m looking at you, Man In The Mirror) So, get ready to pour one down for:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Guide To Important Musicians That Passed Away In 2009”

Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2) – 12 Best Musical Moments of 2009 from TV or Movies

Since I probably watch more TV and movies than 98% of the population I thought I would bring you a list of great musical moments I saw in 2009.  Please enjoy the videos below whether they are new to you or a reminder of your favorites.  Please leave your choices in the comments, though I must mention two things were left off this list on purpose.  First, the Michael Jackson movie This Is It which I did not see and will never see. The second, Kanye making an ass out of himself during Taylor Swift’s VMA award speech, isn’t really musical, or at least there is no song associated, so it didn’t qualify.  Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2) — 12 Best Musical Moments of 2009 from TV or Movies”

Top Albums of 2009: Our Staff’s Individual Lists

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”

Looking Forward: My Twenty Most Anticipated Albums for 2010

‘Tis the season to be bombarded with more requisite year-end “Best of” and “Top Album” lists than one person could ever possibly absorb. MOG took notice and created a list culled from over eight hundred blogs that are affiliated with their network. On the other hand, Pitchfork found it necessary to add in a section titled “Honorable Mention” on top of their “Top 50 Albums” roundup. To top it all off, as the first decade of the 21st century comes to a close, we have a whole new beast to contend with: The “Best of the Decade” lists. Do not get me started with how completely and totally out of touch Billboard magazine is with the current musical landscape. Nickelback is not the ‘band of the decade.’

Instead, I’d like to take this opportunity to look towards, not to mention forward, to the future. From what I’ve heard throughout the musical blogosphere of strategically leaked singles, 2010 is going to be an incredible year for releases from some of my favorite artists. This revelation alone has inspired me to share a list of my twenty most anticipated albums that will be legally available in the first few months of next year. One honorable mention goes to a band I personally don’t care for too much but most everyone else seems to go crazy over. Without further ado, here we go….

Continue reading “Looking Forward: My Twenty Most Anticipated Albums for 2010”