Single of the Week: “Practice” by Jamila Woods featuring Saba

Chicago’s poet/singer/rapper Jamila Woods is very quickly becoming one of those rare artists that I’d buy anything from blind. Her latest record, Water Made Us, keeps dropping great singles. “Practice” is a sexy, romantic, and genuinely happy track. It’s such a nice relief from the exceptionally stressful news week we’ve had to listen to a song that’s such a joy. It’s also a rare video where every single person is naked, yet it’s somehow not NSFW?

Water Made Us is available to stream wherever you pay your monthly streaming dues to. The physical version of the record is coming October 24th, just a few days before my birthday, so if you feel like buying me this on vinyl, I’ll gladly accept it! Woods is also touring, and I’m pretty excited to see this show live. Tickets went on sale today! Continue reading “Single of the Week: “Practice” by Jamila Woods featuring Saba”

Show Review: Ladytron w/Danz CM @ The Belasco 09-22-23

“Destroy Everything You Touch”

Despite what most of my articles may have you believe, I don’t solely listen to Metal and Punk music. I know, I know, illusion shattered, but I like to believe that despite my inkling towards heavy music, I still have a fairly eclectic taste. The commonality is probably in the thematic songwriting, which almost always leans a bit toward the darker side of things. What I’m trying to say is that I’m a pretty damn big fan of Ladytron, and I have been since my high school days.  So of course, I jumped at the chance to catch them at The Belasco Theatre, a venue which is fast becoming my home away from home, in DTLA.

Continue reading “Show Review: Ladytron w/Danz CM @ The Belasco 09-22-23”

Film Review: “She Came to Me”

Dinklage, Tomei can’t save Miller’s embarrassing misstep

Depressed opera composer Steven (Peter Dinklage) and tugboat captain Katrina (Marisa Tomei) chat over an afternoon drink.

Twenty-one years ago, writer/director Rebecca Miller won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for her drama Personal Velocity. Other well-received films followed, including her last film, Arthur Miller: Writer, a 2017 HBO documentary about her famous father. She returns now with She Came to Me, her first narrative feature since 2015’s terrific Maggie’s Plan, and, given her past successes, the results are disappointing. 

Continue reading “Film Review: “She Came to Me””

Single of the Week: “Out Alpha The Alpha” by Megan Thee Stallion

I guess we are getting a raunchy, musical adult update on The Parent Trap. And it’s called Dicks and it stars Nathan Lane, Megan Mullaly, and Megan Thee Stallion, and it seems pretty absurd. What isn’t absurd is how I’ve spent most of 2023 learning that Megan Thee Stallion is really, really talented. This piece is just chock-full of witty braggadocio, and I’m sure within the context of the film, it’s even wittier, but she is just a beast on the microphone. 

Dicks is in theaters on October 20th, and the soundtrack is out NOW! 

Film Feature: Preview #3 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival

The 46th Mill Valley Film Festival is now underway! For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is our third preview of the Festival, featuring brief looks at four more films (If you missed our other preview posts, you can find them here and here):

Continue reading “Film Feature: Preview #3 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival”

Film Feature: Preview #2 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival

Our coverage of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival, which starts tomorrow, Thursday Oct. 5th, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 15th, continues below. We take a look at four titles worthy of your attention: two documentaries and two narrative features. You can browse the full program here, and read our first preview post here. Be sure to bookmark Spinning Platters to check back for more film snapshots during the Fest! And special note: although the Festival’s in person screenings end on the 15th, several films will be available for streaming after the Fest closes.

Continue reading “Film Feature: Preview #2 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival”

STOP THE PRESSES!!! NEW SLEATER-KINNEY SINGLE!!!! TOUR DATES!!! ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT!!! HAPPINESS!!!

Good news! The *actual* greatest rock band in America has gifted us a new single, “Hell,” and it’s a cathartic piece of anxious psychedelic darkness. This is probably the biggest song to come from Sleater-Kinney- in a short 3:22, we are taken on a cinematic roller coaster that builds and releases and contracts and I haven’t even started on the video. Miranda July is making her third appearance in a Sleater-Kinney video, and, really, she is so good at expressing a wide array of emotions with just her eyes. Brilliant. 

2024 marks the 30th Anniversary of the band’s first release, “You Ain’t It.” To mark this momentous occasion, they are releasing their 11th studio album, Little Rope, on January 19th. And, of course, they are going on a Spring North American tour! Dates are here, and tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. local time on October 6th! 

Film Feature: Preview #1 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival

 

The 46th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 5 – Oct 15, 2023, with screenings at theaters all around the North and East Bay (and a few in SF).

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at four films:

Continue reading “Film Feature: Preview #1 of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival”

Show Review: Mac Sabbath drives thru the Great American Music Hall!

Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @AlanHasPicks

“More Than Meats the Eye” is what happens when McDonald’s worst nightmare Mac Sabbath books a tour with a bunch of Transformers and they all Drive Thru the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on a warm Thursday evening.

Continue reading “Show Review: Mac Sabbath drives thru the Great American Music Hall!”

Show Review: Lauren Mayberry with Alaska Reid at August Hall, 9/28/23

Brilliant. Chvrches lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry decided to share her first solo album by touring it BEFORE releasing it. It’s such a brave endeavor- we all know her band’s work, but anyone who bought a ticket to this was taking a risk that this project would be worth their time and money. I decided it was worth my time because the curiosity was killing me. Continue reading “Show Review: Lauren Mayberry with Alaska Reid at August Hall, 9/28/23”