Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel, Bob Balaban
written by: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
directed by: Wes Anderson
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual content and smoking
starring: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Nick Frost, Toby Jones
written by: Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini
directed by: Rupert Sanders
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sensuality
Continue reading “Film Review: “Snow White and the Huntsman””
Everyone loves a big success story, and I’m included. Look, we’re huge fans of Amanda Palmer here at Spinning Platters, and we’re all very happy that she’s made over a million dollars on her Kickstarter page. That’s fantastic; I hope she spends it wisely.
But enough is enough. There are many other artists looking for money to help with their musical aspirations, and they’re not going to get there without a little boost. So please, stop giving your money to Amanda Palmer, and start giving it to these talented folks. Continue reading “Amanda Palmer Has Enough Money: Here’s 5 Music Kickstarters to Support Now”
The Bay Area is a great place to live because, well, we are never without amazing live music.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/31/12-6/6/12”
In 1997, Britpop was at an odd sort of crossroads. The Oasis/Blur feud had already sort of fizzled out. Coldplay and Snow Patrol were still trying to figure out their inoffensive brands of soft rock. During that in-between period, we got two of the most fantastic British rock records off all time: Radiohead’s OK Computer and Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. These two albums are both dark and intense bodies of work, and, to the surprise of nearly everyone, were both critical and commercial successes. The two bands even hit the road together, playing arenas around America, with their own different brands of apocalyptic, hypnotic, and vaguely psychedelic rock music. Of course, we all knew what happened to Radiohead- the remain one of the biggest bands in the world. However, Spiritualized ended up taking a very different path. Bandleader J Spaceman went through bouts of drug addiction and illness, causing trips to American to be few and far between in the last decade and a half. Thus making their recent trip to The Fillmore very special.
Continue reading “Show Review: Spiritualized with Nikki Lane at The Fillmore, 5/23/12”
If you search my iTunes account for “Jack Black,” you’ll find results in two separate areas: comedy films like School of Rock, and hidden in the music of a band known as Tenacious D. Their music has the distinction of being the only band on my entire iPod listed with the genre I call “comedy rock.” But the truth is, I never paid the band much mind. See, I love Mr. Black’s movies, and frankly I quite like everything I’ve seen of him as well. I’ve noticed over the years that he’s got a pretty great voice, too, which is how I came to acquire these Tenacious D albums. But the truth is, I’ve never really listened to them. I’m not sure why, but there’s the truth. So when I noticed they were headed my way (The Fox Theater in Oakland, to be exact) this week (Thursday night) promoting their newest album, Rize of the Fenix, I couldn’t pass up the chance to finally check out this band loud and live, the way I suspected they’re best experienced. Continue reading “Show Review: Tenacious D with The Sights at Fox Theater, 5/24/2012”
starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson
written by: Etan Cohen
directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content
Rising from the ashes of a former band can be a help or a hinderance to a new act that has cut their teeth in the music scene and is ready to unleash a fresh new set of tunes to the world. When you are as volatile and chaotic of an act as At The Drive-In, it can safely be said that people will be waiting to see where your musicians will head and what songs they will craft next. While the afro-clad frontmen of the El Paso post-hardcore quintet went on to form The Mars Volta, and burst back into the world with a mindbendingly-wild blend of fusion punk and Latin-flavored experimental prog rock, co-founder Jim Ward and drummer Tony Hajjar followed in their original band’s aggressive-but-pensive footsteps with the newly formed quartet known as Sparta. While both bands endured their respective sets of ups and downs in terms of popularity and following, and despite the titanic response of the reformation of At The Drive-In all but eclipsing the enthusiasm for their sister acts, Ward and his cohorts have lost none of the furious passion that drives the aptly-named four-piece, and on Monday night, they returned to San Francisco to prove just how excited they were to share their rekindled energy with their most devoted fans.
Continue reading “Show Review: Sparta with KI:Theory at The Independent, 5/21/2012”
The first of 400,000 outdoor music festivals of the Summer start this week, but there is plenty of other rocking for you, so good luck and make some excellent live music decisions.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/24/12-5/30/12”
Penelope Houston is a rock legend. She is the lead singer of seminal San Francisco punk rock band The Avengers, and actively performs with both The Avengers, and releases solo albums. She recently released a fine new record called On Market Street, as well as a 2-disc edition of the band’s 1983 debut full length, self titled release, often referred to as “The Pink Album.” The Avengers will be performing at The New Parish on Friday, May 25th. SpinningPlatters had the opportunity to sit down with Penelope to discuss her career and her writing process.
How do you feel about people constantly asking you questions about the Avengers?
Continue reading “SpinningPlatters Interview: Penelope Houston of The Avengers”