Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Guy Pearce
written by: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
directed by: Ridley Scott
MPAA: Rated R for sci-fi violence including some intense images, and brief language
It’s fairly easy to forget that one of the most important factors of a live performance that distinguishes it from a record is the sheer loudness of the music being played. Concertgoers far and wide are usually pretty good about remembering earplugs, as a result of this fact, and those that don’t can usually protect themselves with handy booths located within the walls of whatever theater they’re ready to get sonically disintegrated within. Generally, though, one can take a blast of churning riffs and thundering beats to the face for a few hours over the course of one evening, and come out relatively unscathed, albeit with their ears possibly ringing for a day or two afterwards. Thus, there lies an entire world of experimentation in the form of performing music at tremendously high levels of volume — although the songs can become almost painful in their intensity. Channel that sound into baleful, fearsome riffs, add a rhythm section that seeks to destroy bricks with its ferocity, and back it up with ludicrously powerful bass and howling, hellish vocals, and you’ll begin to glimpse what a set by the San Jose doom metal trio known as Sleep is like.
I like all the different people
I like sticky everywhere
Look around, you bet I’ll be there!
Hot metal in the sun
Pony in the air
Sooey and saints at the fair
Saints alive you’re saying
Walk in … squares
The hid are out, out for the year
It’s a lot of face
A lot of crank air
Eroding around here
Summer’s ready
Summer is ready when you are
Sorry, The Breeders aren’t playing…
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/7/12-6/13/12”
No sooner than completing his run of four January shows at SF Sketchfest (including one at each respective Yoshi’s and one with Garfunkel & Oates at the Mezzanine), musical comedic mastermind Reggie Watts returned to the Bay Area on the first of June for another night of his mesmerizing, otherworldly and hilarious improvisational performances. In his classic style, Reggie brought an hour of solid craftsmanship to the tiny, dark club, with pulsing loops, whimsical tales, and a collection of characters as bizarre and fascinating as only he could tell them. Spinning Platters was able to secure a photo pass this time around to capture the man in action – check ’em out after the bump!
Continue reading “Photo Gallery: Reggie Watts at The Independent, 6/1/2012”
When a band releases a self-titled album after their debut record, I always take it to mean they’re making a statement of intent. They’re saying, “this is what the band’s going to be about. Everything else before was just a warm up.” But when your warm-up album has the gigantic hit single, “Sweet Disposition,” on it, should you really be calling that practice? What if you don’t have a worthy follow-up? With that in mind, does The Temper Trap make a statement? Or is it just the next album? Continue reading “Album Review: The Temper Trap”
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”