Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
As November rains its way into December, the Bay Area does its part in the War on Christmas with the onset of our annual secular holiday concert season. Relive that scene in My So-Called Life where Rayanne went flyering drunk in the school parking lot when Toad the Wet Sprocket play not one but two full-length album shows. And also: THE BOSS. All this and more after the jump.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/29/12-12/5/12”
They said it couldn’t be done: a movie version of Yann Martel’s bestselling novel Life of Pi, an intensely visual parable that consists almost entirely of a teenaged Indian boy named Pi lost at sea on a tiny rowboat with a wild tiger as his only companion? Bah, said some. Blergh, exclaimed others. Bloop, said NeNe Leakes. But clearly the naysayers hadn’t considered the possibility that Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning 58-year-old director of such contemporary classics as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, would consider taking the helm. But take it he did, choosing the spiritual allegory as his follow-up to the modestly received Taking Woodstock.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Ang Lee on “Life of Pi””
As a human being, expanded your horizons is vital to ones’ own well being. Sometimes you need to jump into something completely blind. Sometimes, you just need to experience music that’s outside of your comfort zone. These experiences are vital to human life. That need is what brought me to La Peña Cultural Center on this drizzly November Thanksgiving Eve. I went into this show knowing one thing: Ana Tijoux is a Chilean born rapper that had a song in an episode of Breaking Bad. And that’s all I needed to know.
Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening With Ana Tijoux at La Peña Cultural Center, 11/21/12”
Did you really think I’d live you hanging on Thanksgiving day? Of course not… If Henry Rollins is working on Thanksgiving, then I am, too!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/22/12-11/28/12”
Right at the beginning of the new millennium, sudden bursts of musical creativity formed a genre-bending confluence as post-rock, alternative, and indie rock collided together, and a wave of bands sprung forth, each carving out its own unique path as the new century was brightly birthed. New terms such as “post-hardcore”, a modern definition of “emo”, and even heavier concoctions such as “metalcore” came clawing their way into existence, each with a collection of bands that took these sounds and made them their own. In the few short years that we transitioned into a new century, groups rose and fell, and new beings were born from their ashes. Ten years later, two of these acts found themselves on the road together, and fans that had their music playing on CD-changer stereos and the first waves of MP3 players flocked to catch their heroes continuing their journey, ten years later: the Omaha indie quartet known as Cursive, and the groovy, funkily-experimental Seattle five-piece called Minus The Bear.
In the 22 years since the release of Wilson Phillips’ debut single, the still inescapable “Hold On,” the group has never toured. There was never really a reason to- during the height of their popularity, artists made their money from record sales, and they promoted their releases using radio and television. There was never a real need for them to hit the road. It came as a pretty major surprise to see that they actually decided to start touring so many years later. I hadn’t listened to them much since my middle school days, but the whole idea of seeing Wilson Phillips live piqued my curiosity. Would the show be an utter travesty? Can they still sing? Will I be bored listening to a bunch of songs I loved when I was 12? Will my mind be blown? This could have been in many different ways…
Continue reading “Show Review: An Evening With Wilson Phillips at Davies Symphony Hall, 11/17/12”
“I cannot believe that I am less important than Tyra Banks!” Joe Wright exclaims with mock-indignation. He has every reason to be nonplussed. Through a bizarre chain of last-minute developments, I have found myself with a direct conflict to our scheduled interview time: the opportunity to ask Tyra Banks a question over the phone for a rare pre-taped episode of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live. The call had originally been scheduled over an hour prior to my interview with Wright, but TyTy took her sweet-ass time arriving to the taping; so now here I am, sitting at the Ritz-Carlton with my iPhone flattened against my ear, waiting anxiously for my Tyra cue while Wright, the British director of such Oscar-nominated dramas as Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, paces in front of me with an unlit cigarette. I am fully aware that I am showing questionable judgment and hope that Wright’s next interviewer will show up so that we might reshuffle our schedule, but the next interviewer is nowhere to be found, and I am now personally responsible for keeping Joe Wright waiting.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Joe Wright on “Anna Karenina””
The impala is a swift and sleek creature that has ultimately found itself endangered, much like rock ‘n’ roll these days. It makes up the latter half of Tame Impala’s name, the former creatively and aptly chosen by this group of mellowed out lads from down under. Hailing from the Western Australian town of Perth, whom you may or may not know is also home to INXS, Tame Impala bring forth sort of a revival of psychedelic rock, packaging it in a fresh, edgy and dance provoking product that has thwarted them to rising acclaim and continues to generate buzz amid the music world while toeing the line between pop and psych rock. Vocally and instrumentally speaking, the band seems to naturally draw off late-Beatles work, with lead singer Kevin Parker’s thin falsetto vocals frequently compared to that of the late John Lennon. Their San Francisco appearance sold out fairly early on and was a highly anticipated date on the calendar of Bay Area music fans. Fittingly performing at the legendary Fillmore, who is no stranger to psychedelia, would Tame Impala deliver a night worth of causing Bill Graham to look down with a nodding grin? Continue reading “Show Review: Tame Imapala with The Amazing at The Fillmore, 11/15/12”
François Truffaut once said that a great movie is the perfect blend of truth and spectacle. This is one of Robert Zemeckis’ favorite quotes, and as evidenced by his staggering filmography, a guiding principle in his work. From his 1984 action-comedy Romancing the Stone onward, he has displayed an virtuosic ability to craft culture-defining megahits that use cutting-edge technology to tell unforgettable stories. Comedic VFX-driven comedies like the Back to the Future films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Death Becomes Her led to such powerfully soul-searching dramas as Forrest Gump (which won him the Oscar for Best Director), Contact, and Cast Away (which came out a few months after his deliciously sinister suspense flick, What Lies Beneath). Zemeckis’ interest in new filmmaking technology then led him on a decade-long detour into animation, and for a time, it seemed like we may have lost the visionary who so radically broadened the horizons of live-action film. But now, twelve years after his last non-animated movie, he is back with Flight.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Robert Zemeckis on “Flight””
I first stumbled across Japandroids while waiting to see No Age at SXSW in 2010. These were a bunch of noisey rock duos playing a venue that was normally set aside for DJ dancing. The sound guy had no idea as to how to deal with a band. As Japandroids were doing their line check, the sound guy yelled into the PA, seemingly frustrated to no end:
“That’s Loud As Shit!”
The singer / guitarist responded, even more upset, “IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE LOUD AS SHIT!!!”
That’s when I knew that this band was going to be great. And they killed it. And, finally, three years later, they are playing the legendary Fillmore Auditorium. Few bands deserve this honor as much as these guys do.
Continue reading “Show Review: Japandroids with Bleached at The Filmore, 11/12/12”