Spinning Platters – Page 237 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

Show Review: The Revivalists, Great White Buffalo, Solwave at The Independent, 2/23/13

Saturday night, San Francisco. An unexceptionally brisk evening stood to be made swampy from down home revelry. The Independent, Alamo Square’s intimate, inky chamber, stood to facilitate the subdued, sweet swelter. Everything happened so fast. One stride past the evening’s threshold and…

“How we doing?”

Boom! A swell of supersonic rock-and-roll erupted inside the belly of The Independent; the backdraft of bowling bass and erratic electricity swooped through the venue’s history-laced entranceway. Continue reading “Show Review: The Revivalists, Great White Buffalo, Solwave at The Independent, 2/23/13”

A Music Nerds Guide To Noise Pop 2013

Every year, for one week, the good people of Noise Pop with their epically refined tastes put together the best week of live music program of the year. And, of course, it could be highly intimidating as well. So, here is a well thought out guide to Noise Pop 2013.

Continue reading “A Music Nerds Guide To Noise Pop 2013”

Photo Gallery: Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Foxygen at the Great American Music Hall, 2/13/2013

Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra

As of late, the ever-shifting tide of new music that continues to surge its way into existence seems to be drifting more and more into a haze of dreamy, warbly tunes, evoking the warm nostalgia of 60s psychedelia and fuzzy lo-fi rock, while also pulling from newer, contemporary songwriting styles. In addition to the snarling analog tidal wave of garage punk that has been barreling its way into the world, care of surf-cum-garage-rock acts like Ty Segall, FIDLAR, and Wavves, the good-time-loving, hippie-mindset tunes are bringing a gentle glee back into the musical world, happily paired with the shimmering, dissonant production of yesteryear. The intercontinental throwback rockers Unknown Mortal Orchestra bring their own take on the retro rock with their new record, II, and set off on tour with their Jagjaguwar label mates Foxygen, themselves hot on the heels of their sophomore release We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic. Spinning Platters took a little trip with them to the dimly-lit, hazy stage of the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco to document the action!

Continue reading “Photo Gallery: Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Foxygen at the Great American Music Hall, 2/13/2013”

Show Review: Pink, The Hives at HP Pavilion, 2/18/13

I wasn’t expecting to review this show. I went to see Pink because a good friend of mine is a fan of the support on this tour: The Hives. I thought we’d enjoy The Hives and then go home after a few Pink songs, just because we paid the money. Instead, we ended up entranced for nearly two straight hours, watching one of the greatest performers I have ever seen!

Continue reading “Show Review: Pink, The Hives at HP Pavilion, 2/18/13”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/21/13-2/27/13

Headlining the Take Action Tour at The Fillmore on Tuesday

It’s the week before Noise Pop, so you might think “lemme get some rest,” but no! The world of live music in the Bay Area will never let you rest. Get out there and see some shows, because the band that wrote the best song ever is playing this week, and local heroes are all over town, playing farewell shows, covering classic artists, and generally being amazing. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/21/13-2/27/13”

10 Quick Questions with Dawson Ludwig: Marketing Director for Noise Pop

The only time a Dave Matthews Band picture will be featured in a Noise Pop Preview

Noise Pop is having it’s 20th birthday this year, and it’s bigger than ever! What started out as a small, one night mini-festival at The Kennel Club (now The Independent), has evolved into a week long event that takes over nearly every venue in San Francisco. In addition, it’s organizers have also created Treasure Island Music Festival (aka The Best Music Fest in America in my opinion) and opened do415, a site to help music fans find shows. SpinningPlatters got the opportunity to talk with Noise Pop’s Marketing Director, Dawson Ludwig, to learn a bit about this year’s festival and his own evolution as a music listener.

Continue reading “10 Quick Questions with Dawson Ludwig: Marketing Director for Noise Pop”

Album Review: The Hot Toddies – Bottoms Up EP

Bottoms Up

In a previous life I was a KSCU DJ, and we’d received an advance of this EP, which had three of the five tracks. So the good news is I really know some of these songs. The bad news is that it still isn’t a full-length.

For those of you just joining us, the Hot Toddies are an Oakland band that continues the Bay Area’s history of girl group garage indie rock. I’ve been fortunate to see bands such as the Kirby Grips, Minipop, Brilliant Colors, She Mob, Run for Cover Lovers, the Reaction, Apogee Sound Club, Persephone’s Bees, … I’m just showing off now. That’s what people in their 30s do when speaking to people in their 20s. If I’m going to be older than you, I might as well be pretentious about it. Continue reading “Album Review: The Hot Toddies — Bottoms Up EP”

Highlights from SF Music Hack Day, 2013

This was the 4th time Music Hack Day visited San Francisco. — Music Hack Day visited San Francisco for the 4th time since 2009.

This past weekend, close to 200 music tech enthusiasts packed the lofty office space of TokBox, in the SOMA district, to build the future of music apps at SF Music Hack Day.

Participants were given 24 hours and 19 different APIs to pick and choose from including the likes of Mashery, Spotify, Rdio, Twilio, and Gracenote (who just opened their APIs and SDKs to developers for the very first time on Saturday, the 16th).

The results came in the form of some truly inspiring hacks that were creative, entertaining, and might even change the future musical landscape for the better. While covering all 60 demos that were slotted into 2-minute time frames would be exhausting and, ultimately, counterproductive, I do recommend you check out all of the project proposals on the Hacker League page.

In the meantime, here are 6 hacks I enjoyed for their ingenuity, usefulness, or both.

Continue reading “Highlights from SF Music Hack Day, 2013”

Film Review: Safe Haven

Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough frolic in SAFE HAVEN

starring: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons, Cobie Smulders

screenplay: Leslie Bohem and Dana Stevens

directed by: Lasse Hallström

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving threatening behavior, and for violence and sexuality.

Continue reading “Film Review: Safe Haven“

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/14/13-2/20/13

We’ve got a really fun week for shows! Not only do you have some fine Valentine’s Day options, but you also still have two more days to enter our Hives Prize Pack contest before they play in San Jose with Pink!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/14/13-2/20/13”