Spinning Platters – Page 259 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

Spinning Platters Interview: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim on “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie”

Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is a play on precision and expectation. Ricocheting, hazy-vision precision, and constantly fragmenting expectation. The movie stars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim as actors/directors facing unmitigated evil after wasting a billion dollars. Their solution: revitalize a mall. Such wonkiness is the epidermis of a diseased body containing awkward, obtuse, and hilariously horrible circumstances. Here is an interview elaborating on said horribleness. Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is now available in theaters and VOD. Enjoy. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim on “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie””

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/1/12-3/7/12

reptar_by_contrapposto-d32ptcs — Appearing tonight at Rickshaw Stop

As we near SXSW, we find that the quality of touring acts increases dramatically. This week is full of difficult decisions, and even a farewell tour by one of the most underrated and innovative bands of all time.

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Show Review: Nellie McKay: “I Want To Live” at The Rrazz Room, 2/28/12

There aren’t enough artists like Nellie McKay in the world. Stylistically, she sounds like classic jazz pop, but she isn’t afraid to push those boundaries. Unlike many similar artists, her politics are always worn on her sleeve, and she isn’t afraid of offending people. Her records have explicit lyrics stickers on them, yet you wouldn’t realize it if you weren’t paying close enough attention. Which surprised me that she ended up booking the traditional jazz lounge The Rrazz Room, inside the upscale Hotel Nikko.

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Sketchfest Review: Killing My Lobster (2/1/2012)

In the fast-paced, cutthroat, Wild West of Bay Area sketch, few are in league with enterprising comedy tycoon, Killing My Lobster. Barons and Baronesses of the Neo Internetdustrial Revolution, the troupe has made appealing regional satire a booming forte. Powered by live action and recorded skits, and coupled to A.J. Schroder Esq. and the duchess, Jill Bourque, the KML Express set across the Eureka prairie. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Killing My Lobster (2/1/2012)”

Noise Pop Show Review: The Fresh & Onlys, Disappears, Talkdemonic at Bottom of the Hill, 2/22/12

the-fresh-onlys-promo — The Fresh & Onlys gaze on...

The Bottom of the Hill is one of those venues where amazing things can happen. Its intimate space creates a setting where bands, their friends, and patrons can all rub elbows without the pretense of Rock Stardom bogging down a conversation. Many a band right on the verge of blowing up have graced the stage fully aware of their sparkling future and have played to it, creating an “I was there” situation where one constantly reminds his or her friends (or just about anyone who happens to be around) of the night they saw so-and-so play Bottom of the Hill. I’ve been known to drop an “I was there” once or twice myself (cough Arcade Fire cough).

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Sketchfest Review: Mahan/Leon/Vermeire @ Eureka (1/25/2012)

SF Sketchfest has a brilliant ability to capture the Bay Area’s attention and imagination. Benefactors of this allotted spotlight are local artists, made bolder and louder by proper production value. In the case of Scott Vermeire, Harmon Leon and Colin Mahan, the added bells and whistles enhanced their rustic independence, demystifying each artist’s vision. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Mahan/Leon/Vermeire @ Eureka (1/25/2012)”

Show Review: Buck 65, Busdriver, Kristoff Krane at Slim’s, 2/19/2012

6917580719_13d993dbbb_b — The is how we dance in Canada. (All photos by Kara Murphy)

Canada has had a very difficult relationship with hip hop in the US. It seems that very few acts can break through, despite all the talent that is brewing in our great white north. Aside from Drake, there has yet to be a true superstar to come from the great white north. Which means that such great acts like k-os, K’Naan, and Buck 65 are stuck cris-crossing America, playing small clubs on weekday nights to have full rooms. Which is a shame, because there is so much serious talent coming from our “America’s hat.” On a a cold Sunday night, San Francisco was treated to a performance from Nova Scotia’s Buck 65.

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Noise Pop Show Review: The Flaming Lips perform The Soft Bulletin at Bimbo’s 365 Club, 2/21/2012

Everything's explodin'! (photo by Paige K. Parsons)

Twenty years. For many fans in the live music scene, this is an impossible amount of time to fathom. The concert demographic, wide as it might be, generally seems to fall between teens and people in their 50s, and if you go twenty years back, you’ve got a whole group of people who weren’t even born yet, to those who were solidifying their first solid years of adulthood. The amount of music, live or otherwise, that has been recorded, performed, and otherwise created in that timespan is magnificent in its breadth and depth. For twenty years, the Noise Pop Festival has helped to bring acts of all leagues and backgrounds to the San Francisco music scene, peppering venues with marvelously-clashing lineups and intimate gatherings that blow the minds of even the most seasoned veterans of the club-hopping world. After twenty years, it’s good to know that the Bay Area can still be stunned, which happened when the Noise Pop folks pulled out their trump card of the 2012 lineup — The Flaming Lips were making an appearance at the barely-700-person-capacity Bimbo’s 365 Club, and were performing their magnum opus The Soft Bulletin from start to finish.

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Show Review: The Fray with Scars on 45 at The Fox Theater, 2/20/2012

P1020387 — The Fray's Ben (drums) and Isaac (atop the piano, singing his ass off)

The Fox Theater. Scars on 45. The Fray, live. A crowd that actually applauds with their hands more than with their voices. These are things that, until Monday night, I’d never before experienced. And all were, as it turned out, the beginning of a wonderful cure for a stereotypical “case of the Mondays.” Though I’ve been listening to The Fray for several years, this was my first chance to catch a show, and until last week, I’d never even heard of English opening band Scars on 45. They did, however, come highly recommended by a friend, and so I couldn’t wait for the show to start. Lucky for me, the lights went down promptly at 8:01 pm. Continue reading “Show Review: The Fray with Scars on 45 at The Fox Theater, 2/20/2012”

Film Review: “This Means War”

Screen shot 2012-02-16 at 4.42.01 PM — Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon, and Chris Pine in THIS MEANS WAR

starring: Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Chelsea Handler, Til Schweiger, Abigail Spencer, Angela Bassett, Rosemary Harris

written by: Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg

directed by: McG

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, some violence and action, and for language.

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