Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
I’m not that much of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas, I’m actually a bit of a nerd and enjoy it quite a bit, but even all the Christmas songs start to drive me crazy after a while. So here are my six songs I think it’s ok to like, or that won’t drive you crazy (I hope). Feel free to leave your favorite non-annoying Christmas song suggestions in the comments. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Christmas Songs It’s Okay to Like”
by The Spinning Platters Staff
The past month at the Spinning Platters offices (everyone telecommutes) was spent passing albums around to try to determine a staff list of the Top 15 Albums of 2009. We chose 15 because we had 15 voters, so maybe everyone would get one of their pet favorites on the list. There was a nomination step, a finalist selection step, a final voting step, some senior staff picks, and then we had a list. No list is perfect (and we recognize that albums are still coming out this year), 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 The Official List of the Top 15 of 2009. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Presents the Official List of the Top 15 Albums of 2009”
As the decade comes to an end, it means it’s time for lists. Lots of lists. All making a vague attempt at condensing the most pivotal parts of our popular culture, and spitting them out in a haphazard form. This is a list of what I, personally, consider to be the most important pure pop musical moments of our decade. You will be upset by things on this list. You may think I am a complete idiot for missing “____” by The _____’s. Just remember, this is a list of POP songs. I will not mis-estimate the importance of Radiohead, AR Rahman, The Strokes, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, and other acts that will appear on every other best of the decade list. This is just a pop list. I don’t have room for the Fleet Foxes, I’m sorry.
Please Read, then begin arguing about my picks in the comments area (In no particular order):
On Thanksgiving, the holiday season begins with family, stuffing your face, and thinking of the things you can give thanks to. As a music nerd I would like to take time to thank the albums that have changed my life in one way or another. Some of them have brought me comfort through the years and others have helped to shape my musical taste and turned me in to the reviewer I am today. Some may surprise you and others should be extremely obvious to those who know me. To all of the artists involved I say a warm thank you and a happy holidays. To you, dear readers, hopefully one of these albums can bring you a little warmth on a cold winter day. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Albums I Am Thankful For”
Like any other San Franciscan, I claim to abhor Los Angeles and all it stands for. Its sleazy, overtly sexualized, and full of plastic looking waiters trying to be actors. While trying to not enjoy the perfect weather in Venice Beach last weekend listening to a borrowed ipod, I stumbled upon a playlist called Songs to Get Down To. Naively, I thought I’d be bouncing through traffic to some dance hits. But as it turns out, the owner of the ipod is a Los Angeles Casanova, and what I got instead was a bunch of slow jams.
I was originally going to give this list a little feminine mystique and some sort of demure title hinting at what these songs are for. But in the spirit of the sleaziest city on the West Coast, I give you 6 Songs to Get Down To. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Songs to Get Down To”
The best thing about getting ready to go out is the cheesy cliche dance party in your room while half-dressed. There is a reason this scene is included in every teen film since the 80’s- it’s because it’s really fun to do and everyone does it. Even though I am beyond my teens, I still find myself jumping around my room singing into my lip gloss at least once a week a la Hillary Duff in the Lizzie McGuire Movie. (I mean, I never saw that movie. Who’s Lizzie McGuire?)
If you think you can stand the heat of being taunted by your roommates/neighbors/cat, here are my top 6 songs for getting ready to go out. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Songs For Getting Ready to Go Out”
Nothing too spectacular here: if you’re looking for groundbreaking bands you may be in the wrong place. This is a simple list of six English bands that I love but that have made little-to-no impact across the Atlantic here in the US. They mostly share a bouncy guitar based pop/rock sound and, to some degree, a sense of pseudo punkishness. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: English bands that should be more popular in the US”
Today I went to Target to buy some stuff, and as I do when I go to Target, I went to the CD section just to have a look around. I thought perhaps I would buy the new album by The Temper Trap, for Target was sure to have that. Well, they didn’t. As you might already know, these big department stores carry a tiny selection of the available CDs on the market, so unless you’re an established name, it’s hard to get in there. Then I noticed something odd. There were a bunch of featured artists that I had never heard of. How do they get into Target? I jotted down the names of six of these artists, and decided to see if I’ve been missing the boat on them. Enjoy six artists that I had never heard of until lunch today. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Bands I’d Never Heard Of Until Lunch Today”
Getting my first tape deck was an amazing event in my life. I went from constantly living on the whim of the DJ to being able to program my own little radio station of my favorite songs. The one recorded-from-radio mixtape I listened to most often before it met its sad and sudden end at some point in the early 90s was a 60-minute cassette of songs recorded in 1985 off of a radio show called The British Top 30. This show was amazing because it played songs by bands I’d never heard of, and surely never would. And then some songs from bands I had heard of, but new songs! How exciting! Imagine being able to hear songs that magically appear from all the way around the world! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Gems from My British Top 30 Tape”
[Editor’s Note: Spinning Platters does not actually encourage the murder of pop stars.]
I really can’t stand Kanye West. The character that he has created, the socially awkward egotist, comes off unnatural and a bit bothersome. He has become an icon that is bigger than the music he creates, which is generally a bit boring. His emotional outbursts in the beginning were funny, but now are just embarrassing. I agree that George W. Bush may not care about black people, but I don’t think Kanye was looking to make a statement, he was looking for a soundbite.
I should not be so judgmental. He may even be a nice guy! So, I will do the Christian thing and compile a list of six things that Kanye West has done that I believe are good things.
Thus begins my six reasons not to kill Kanye West:
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Reasons Not To Kill Kanye West”