Spinning Platters – Page 321 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

Show Review: Phoenix & The Soft Pack at The Warfield Theater, 9/17/09

Thomas Mars feels at home among his fans

Phoenix is something of a rarity these days: they’re a band that can sell out the Warfield. It’s been a pretty slow-selling concert season here in San Francisco, and a lot shows are going undersold in many venues around town. Some venues are offering season passes, some are offering their shows for half price on sites such as Goldstar, and others are simply papering the house. None of that was necessary for Phoenix, who are riding the wave of their extremely well received album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Continue reading “Show Review: Phoenix & The Soft Pack at The Warfield Theater, 9/17/09”

New Release Round-Up, 9/15/09 – 27 Instant Album Reviews

This week was a little worrisome; the merging of hipsters and “rappers” is picking up steam as indicated by Skinny Jeanz. Get those bomb shelters stocked up it’s only a matter of time until the hipster apocalypse. Soon the coolest rappers will pretend there is no one like them and that they hate all those other rappers…oh wait. Continue reading “New Release Round-Up, 9/15/09 — 27 Instant Album Reviews”

Album Review: Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio

Heartbeat Radio - The musical version of a Snuggie?

Just in case you didn’t already know, Sondre Lerche is an indie-pop singer/songwriter from Norway. Heartbeat Radio is his sixth album and it has the more polished sound that a sixth album should have. It sounds like classic 60’s s pop songwriting with modern indie instrumentation. What exactly does that sound like? Like your parents favorite songs played by your favorite indie-pop band. Could be the greatest thing ever, but does it really work? Continue reading “Album Review: Sondre Lerche — Heartbeat Radio”

The Avengers, Pansy Division, Paul Collins Beat at The Uptown Nightclub, 9/17/09

So much notoriety on this bill! Every single act on this bill has been a major part of musical history, yet none of them have experienced much in the lines of commercial success. We have The Paul Collins Beat, featuring Paul Collins of The Nerves. Classic power pop band best unknown for originally recording “Hanging On The Telephone,” later made in to a monster hit by Blondie. (If you ever listen to Sound Opinions, their version is the one they sometimes play before going to the listener feedback portion of the show.) Pansy Division’s claim to fame is being the all-gay pop-punk band with innuendo filled lyrics that Green Day selected as the opening act for the big Dookie tour in 1994. It seems that the parents weren’t very happy with them in the Midwest. The Avengers were the band that opened for the Sex Pistols at Winterland Ballroom in 1978, which of course was the last show the Sex Pistols ever played. (We do not discuss the Sex Pistols reunion.)

Continue reading “The Avengers, Pansy Division, Paul Collins Beat at The Uptown Nightclub, 9/17/09”

Choosing My Top 13 Albums of the Decade

There’s this fun little website called The Top 13 Albums Project. For the last two years, they’ve invited anyone who’s interested to enter their top 13 albums for the year into the database. They then compile all of these lists into one master top 13 list for the year. Why 13? I have no idea. All I know is it tends to be a pretty good look at what the blogs are loving that year. Fleet Foxes and The Boxer by The National were the top albums in the last two years. Now, they’re doing a Top 13 of the decade, and in order to participate, you need to submit your list by October 2nd. Of course I’m participating. Follow me now as I run through my personal list. Continue reading “Choosing My Top 13 Albums of the Decade”

Album Preview: The Black Keys – Blakroc

It’s called BlakRoc, and it has just got me all hot and bothered because it’s apparently real. Back on June 4 Jim Jones tweeted, “I’m on my way to meet the black keys a new rock n roll group then summer jam rehearsal lg.” However, there was no proof that anything was really happening in that studio. Were the Black Keys really holing themselves up in there working on a rap-rock fusion project? Continue reading “Album Preview: The Black Keys — Blakroc”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 15th-21st

Welcome to the next part of the saga… I will tell you what shows you will be going to this week, and then you marry my 2nd cousin, but just so you can stake claim to his portion of the hope diamond.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 15th-21st”

Spinning Platters Picks Six Interesting Cover Versions from YouTube

A rather quirky habit of mine is to search through youtube looking for cover songs. I love to watch amateurs do covers of my favorite songs and I love to watch my favorite bands doing their versions of interesting tunes. I have to say there are some really good amateur performances out there but this list focuses on the pro’s. My biggest problem here was keeping this list down to six, but here we go Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six Interesting Cover Versions from YouTube”

Show Review: blink-182, Weezer at Shoreline Amphitheater, 9/13/09

This is your blink 182 concert on drugs. Or this is what it looks like when you take an iPhone picture in the rain.

We are a hip music site. We cover all the latest and greatest sounds that are bubbling under. So, one might ask why we are covering the blink-182 concert? Isn’t this just a cash grab spawned by the band’s recent return to the spotlight because of drummer Travis Barker’s plane crash? Even the most avid fan has to admit that the band’s performance on the Tonight Show was underwhelming at best.

I have always enjoyed this band, from my senior year of high school, when the new kid that just moved up from San Diego gave me a dubbed tape of his favorite band from his home town. That cassette was Cheshire Cat, which I still own and cherish. I was very split about whether or not I even wanted to attend this show, since I didn’t want my memory to be forever altered by the current version of the band. As the days led up to this show, I kept hearing “Josie” in places. At the grocery store, coming out of passing cars, and, well pretty much everywhere. I decided that I needed to go.

Continue reading “Show Review: blink-182, Weezer at Shoreline Amphitheater, 9/13/09”

Album Review: The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love

When we were sent The Big Pink’s debut album to review, I had never heard of them so I was excited to discover someone I didn’t know anything about. It was obvious to me that the band name was a reference to the classic album Music From Big Pink by The Band, a record that brought us “The Weight” and “I Shall Be Released.” So I was expecting a band with heavy Bob Dylan & the Band influences. Boy, was I wrong. Continue reading “Album Review: The Big Pink — A Brief History of Love”