Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
In celebration of the release of Apparition Film’s The Runaways, Spinning Platters is giving away movie posters & copies of the recently remastered 2-CD set of Joan Jett & The Blackheart’s Greatest Hits. Click on to find out how to win! Continue reading “Spinning Platters presents a Runaways Movie Giveaway”
Chances are, if you’re a music aficionado, you’ve already heard of AM. If not directly from a friend or by way of online channels such as Lala and thesixtyone, where he currently enjoys a strong presence, then you’ve most likely been exposed through a more traditional medium.
This is due to the fact that every single track off of his 2006 full-length debut, Troubled Times, has appeared in either a film or TV show. Thus far, the Tulsa-born, New Orleans-bred singer-songwriter has been savvy enough to capitalize on the momentum of such a promising start. AIR has asked him to open for them on their North American tour and when that concludes, he’ll embark on a stint with none other than Charlotte Gainsbourg as she also treks through the U.S. and Canada.
Continue reading “Album Review: AM — Future Sons & Daughters”
While the photos on this post are all by David Price, he’s in Vegas this week, so all the text here is simply an …
Editor’s Note: Our photographer, David Price, dealt with inconsistent lighting, security that weren’t all on the same page, a lack of photo pits, and plenty of cameras in his face to take over 10,000 photos at SXSW. And then I went and boiled them all down here to 30 favorites. There’s other photos in individual posts, and we’ll be drawing from other ones as we continue our coverage as well. Inside, you’ll find several shots of the most photogenic guy at SXSW this year, Pink Eyes of Fucked Up, including one with our managing editor Dakin Hardwick. It’s not the most well-lit shot in the world, and it’s not particularly newsworthy, but we like it. And that’s how I picked these 30 photos. Because we like them. Continue reading “Our 30 Favorite Photos from SXSW 2010”
After all the chaos that was Spinning Platters’ visit to Austin, TX for a bit of SXSW action, it’s time to come home and do what we did while we were in Texas, see a bunch of great live bands. Many of them we will be seeing again. So, fire up those ear plugs and get ready to dance: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 3/24/10-3/30/10”
This year at South By Southwest Music, I lost my voice and my glasses, drank tons of free booze, walked for miles, collected paper wristbands, failed at my attempt at seeing a house party show, and saw a whopping 2.6% of all showcasing acts! (Remember, even an inspired effort will get you, at most, 6% of the acts, so when you see a Top 10 list, it’s working off of a small sample.)
In keeping with the tradition I started last year, I will now answer your important questions about SXSW Music 2010.
1. Who did I see playing on the street four different times?
2. Which Canadian band was my big Wednesday afternoon surprise?
3. What band got a $100 tip in their guitar case?
4. Who tested the stage to make sure it was OK to jump up and down on it?
5. Who took way too long to set up, but then made it worthwhile?
6. Of all the bands that “killed it,” which one killed it most often?
7. Who’s gonna make me skip Hot Chip?
8. What band should have said its name more often so I’d know to miss them in the future?
9. Which act seemed to appreciate my personal enjoyment of them more than any other?
10. Who made 50 people at a 1000-person venue feel like a packed house?
11. Which act finally made me lose my voice for good?
12. What was the best totally improvised, organized-on-the-fly event? Continue reading “Gordon Answers Your SXSW 2010 Questions”
One of the main benefits of being a student at a digital arts college — besides the access to thousands of dollars worth of professional audio and video equipment and studios — is the fact that my school has a performance hall. This is normally used for teaching a class on live sound, but thanks to our school’s industry connections, we are fortunate enough to play host to any number of music megastars. Tonight, the stars in question were Toronto indie rockers Metric, who dropped in for a short, acoustic set on their way to tomorrow night’s performance at the Fox Theater. Continue reading “Show Review: Ex’pression Session: Metric @ Ex’pression College for Digital Arts”
Do you like the White Stripes? Forget that…. Do you Love the white stripes? Maybe enough to renew your passport to pay them a visit? If you fall into this category, you may have been present for the most recent release, straight from our Northern neighbors: Under Great White Northern Lights.
Continue reading “Album Review: The White Stripes — Under The Great Northern Lights”
So, this was my 4th day of alcohol & barbecue sauce fueled and sleep deprived musical madness known as SXSW. After spending the early hours of Saturday morning chasing a secret 3 am Andrew WK show, I finally gave up and passed out around I have no idea o’clock only to wake up bright and early and hop around to the Saturday parties in 37 degree weather.
The most painful moment was freezing outside the Perez Hilton party waiting in the proper line, only to find that the only people that got in were folks that stormed the check in booth. It was chaos, but not fun chaos. Everything else was fun chaos. Here’s my highlights:
Tired. So very tired. It’s raining today. That sucks. I’m tired… Want to know why I’m so tired? Read on…
“This isn’t about women’s lib,” crows Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) in The Runaways, the feature-length debut from renowned music video director Floria Sigismondi. “This is about women’s libidos.” See what he did there? But this quote gets to the paradoxical high-wire act at the heart of this film: lib or libido? Empowerment or exploitation? A film that opens with a close-up of Dakota Fanning’s first drops of menstrual blood hitting the L.A. pavement could go either way.