Continue reading “Better Things To Do This Week Than Cleaning The Bathroom”
Spinning Platters Picks Six: Rock Poster Artists
If you come to my apartment, you’d see walls coated with rock posters, boxes full of poster tubes, and a giant flat file under the bed with even more posters. So to kick off this feature, where Spinning Platters writers will pick six of something in music that they really like, I’m going to share a quick list of some of my favorite poster artists.
I’m not trying to make a “Best Of” list here, just sharing some of my personal favorites. I’d love to see comments about your favorites, so leave them in the comment section. That way I’ll know of more artists on which to spend my money! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Rock Poster Artists”
Animal Collective at The Fox Oakland, 5/26/09
Animal Collective are one of those bands that people either love or hate. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground with them. Yet I found myself smack dab in the middle before seeing them live. Admittedly, I don’t know their material all that well. I love some of their songs; I hate some of their songs. My favorites of their songs are ones that sound an awful lot like Conspiracy, the ridiculously obscure Yes side project that featured tons of vocal interplay. The songs I can’t stand are the ones that meander endlessly, seemingly without purpose.
So what was the live experience like? A little from column A, a little from column B. Continue reading “Animal Collective at The Fox Oakland, 5/26/09”
This Week In Shows That We Think You Will Enjoy
Continue reading “This Week In Shows That We Think You Will Enjoy”
Album Review: Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
Further Complications sounds more like a midlife crisis than a record. There are a couple of great classic Jarvis songs, some really good lyrics, and some really awful hard rock music. I was nervous to hear that Jarvis Cocker was working with producer Steve Albini and my nervousness was founded. There is some Jarvis left in there somewhere, but on some songs the vocals are mixed so low you can barely make out the lyrics; and what is the point of that when you are listening to a record from one of the world’s greatest lyricists!?!
Further Complications indeed. Continue reading “Album Review: Jarvis Cocker — Further Complications”
TV On The Radio w/The Dirty Projectors at The Fox Oakland, 5/22/09
The old story is that whenever The Velvet Underground came to town, everyone at the show started a band. On the contrary, whenever TV On The Radio come to town, everyone gives up. Few bands seem to set the bar as high as these gentlemen from New York.
Continue reading “TV On The Radio w/The Dirty Projectors at The Fox Oakland, 5/22/09”
The Leaky Faucet: Mika – Songs For Sorrow
Retail Release Date: June 8th, 2009 (only available on mikasounds.com)
Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date: May 15h, 2009
Mika is a singer-songwriter from Lebanon via England. He released a record in 2007 called Life In Cartoon Motion, a glorious pop record that was equal parts Donna Summer, Queen, Rufus Wainwright, and Erasure. He also writes songs that tell stories so vividly that one could call him the Bruce Springsteen of disco.
On May 15th, he’s releasing an EP of acoustic songs to tide people over until his next full length record, due out next year. He also enlisted some of his favorite artists to make original works to help tell the stories on this EP. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Mika — Songs For Sorrow”
M. Ward at the Fox Oakland, 5/16/09
Dear M. Ward,
I went to your show this weekend at the Fox, and I have to be honest with you, I was a little apprehensive about seeing you again. The first time I saw you was in Brooklyn a few years ago (or at least long enough for me to forget the name of the venue). I had just started to listen to End of Amnesia after discovering Transistor Radio, and I was completely enamored of what I heard. There was no song that could do wrong on either album. I enjoyed the dark moodiness of your songs dispersed by charming tract about inanimate objects, and instrumentals. The show was equally compelling, especially when guest star Jim James came onstage to lend a hand.
It’s hard to top such an exciting show that manifested all my warm fuzzy feelings of the time.
Which brings me back to the topic at hand. Saturday night’s show at the Fox. Continue reading “M. Ward at the Fox Oakland, 5/16/09”
The Decemberists at The Fox Oakland, 5/20/09
The Decemberists live in an exciting gray area between folk and rock, between pop and prog. How they keep playing to bigger and bigger audiences continues to amaze me. Perhaps it’s the indescribable that people like best? They came to the Fox in Oakland last night on their tour for The Hazards of Love, promising to play that new album in its entirety and then follow it up with a set of fan favorites. Continue reading “The Decemberists at The Fox Oakland, 5/20/09”
Dredg at Great American Music Hall, 5/19/09
Dredg was nice enough to schedule two hometown shows on their tour with Torche and Judgement Day. Because of this, neither one sold out and I was able to go to the show at the Great American Music Hall. Hometown shows are usually great because the band will play longer and bring a lot more energy into it. So how did this one stack up? Continue reading “Dredg at Great American Music Hall, 5/19/09”