Album Review: Spoon – Transference

Amoeba Records always has been and always will be my favorite store to purchase music. Obviously, I’ve joined the legions of savvy music aficionados online and freely choose to spend an inordinate amount of time on the likes of lala.com, The Hype Machine, and Pandora…to name a few. Yet part of me still loves the feeling of vinyl (actually, who doesn’t) and, yes, the occasional CD in my hands. I have been told time and again that I am one of the few people anyone knows that still buys CDs. So what? I don’t claim to be all that cool. Therefore, when Amoeba recently announced they were having a “clearance CD blowout,” I immediately headed to the Berkeley location after work and rummaged through the thousands of marked down discs. Continue reading “Album Review: Spoon — Transference”

A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2010

Music and Sketches? Get It? Ha Ha Ha!

As San Franciscans, we love festivals. We also love music and laughs, and it seems that line is blurring between the two worlds more & more everyday. And, although our music festivals have been littered with comedians quite a bit lately, especially with Tenacious D functioning as headliner at least year’s Outside Lands Festival, the music leaking in to the comedy festivals has been a bit subtler. That’s why we’re here to guide you through the music of San Francisco’s Sketchfest. There is lot going on, and a lot of very special things that will pique the interest of any music nerd.

Continue reading “A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2010”

Album Review: Fucked Up – Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009

The band Fucked Up are. No one can live the punk rock dream anymore in 2010, right? Whatever. This odds and sods two-disc compilation details the swath that this group has cut across North America from their Canadian base.

Fucked Up sound like heavy rock and roll. Buzzsaw guitar hooks whir like electric razors, danceable drumbeats, and size-of-a-small-bear frontman Pink Eyes’ winsome RRRARRRR-GARRRRGH riding gleefully atop the mix like a dolphin frolicking in a ship’s wake.

With b-side cuts, import singles, kinda sorta cast-off cover tunes, Couple Tracks shows the breadth of how far Fucked Up have gone and how far they’re willing to go.

The band Fucked Up are. No one can live the punk rock dream anymore in 2010, right? Whatever. This odds and sods two-disc compilation details the swath that this group has cut across North America, sweeping south out of Canada and wreaking havoc in the form of raucous, sweaty live shows.

Fucked Up sound like heavy rock and roll. Buzzsaw guitar hooks whir like electric razors, drumbeats compel you to jump about, and their size-of-a-small-bear frontman Pink Eyes’ winsome RRRARRRR-GARRRRGH rides gleefully atop the mix like a dolphin frolicking in a ship’s wake.

With b-side cuts, import singles, kinda sorta cast-off cover tunes, Couple Tracks shows the breadth of how far Fucked Up have gone and how far they’re willing to go. Continue reading “Album Review: Fucked Up – Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009”

Book Review: A Heartbeat And A Guitar: Johnny Cash The Making Of Bitter Tears by Antoninio D’Ambrosio

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Johnny Cash might be the most chronicled musician in pop music history. There are literally hundreds of biographies, authorized and unauthorized. The best, of course, is Cash by Johnny Cash. This book is not a biography of Johnny Cash. It’s the story of a record, one of the greatest records ever made.

Continue reading “Book Review: A Heartbeat And A Guitar: Johnny Cash The Making Of Bitter Tears by Antoninio D’Ambrosio”

Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Contra

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been impatiently waiting for this album to leak for months.  The teasing release of “Horchata” made me super excited (it is still available as a free download on the band’s website).  Then, the next leak brought “White Sky” which made me stop and wonder if I really would like the album, or if Vampire Weekend would take it too far from their roots of mixing indie rock with beautifully complex afro-beats.  After 24 hours of listening pleasure I can tell you that Contra is everything you wanted whether you knew it consciously or not.  Somehow Vampire Weekend took 2008’s indie-juggernaut Vampire Weekend and ran it through a strainer, taking it apart and putting it back together with a controlled modern twist giving us a record that is smart and fresh, while still sounding like the band we know and love.  There’s a heavy hand with the production polish, but that is what makes Contra different enough to keep it exciting and new. Continue reading “Album Review: Vampire Weekend — Contra”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 6th-January 12th

Opening for Devildriver.

Next week brings us Sketchfest, where some pretty amazing musicians will be in town to accompany some pretty amazing comedians. Then we have the Winter Music Festival, which will be followed by Noise Pop, which will be followed by a series of bands making there way through on their way to SXSW, and then Coachella, then it’s summer. So, please enjoy your last week of regular programming before summer.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 6th-January 12th”

Show Review: Hunx and His Punx, Brilliant Colors and Gun Outfit at Hemlock Tavern, 1/3/10

I miss the days when the Hemlock looked like this.

I was such a good little soldier. I took notes on my cell phone, but I was so cheap that I didn’t email them to myself because my data plan is a bit limited, and not in a good way like the 38L is. I figured I would just read them when I got into work the next day. But then the battery died. So my phone is at home, charging and watching Drew Carey butcher The Price Is Right. Good thing Brilliant Colors played, because I don’t need notes to talk about them and their heavenly sound. (Did you see what I did there?)

Continue reading “Show Review: Hunx and His Punx, Brilliant Colors and Gun Outfit at Hemlock Tavern, 1/3/10”

Spinning Platters Guide To Important Musicians That Passed Away In 2009

This is a list of musicians of import that passed away in 2009. There will be many that are missed. You will be upset about some that I may have passed over. (I’m looking at you, Man In The Mirror) So, get ready to pour one down for:

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Guide To Important Musicians That Passed Away In 2009”

Spinning Platters Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 1st-5th

A rare screening of Penelope Spheeris' most disturbing film outside of Wayne's World

The holiday gives a short week this week. I’m sure you are eager to start the new year by seeing live music as often as you can in the coming year. Here’s a few days of good fun!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Guide To Bay Area Concerts: January 1st-5th”

Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2) – 12 Best Musical Moments of 2009 from TV or Movies

Since I probably watch more TV and movies than 98% of the population I thought I would bring you a list of great musical moments I saw in 2009.  Please enjoy the videos below whether they are new to you or a reminder of your favorites.  Please leave your choices in the comments, though I must mention two things were left off this list on purpose.  First, the Michael Jackson movie This Is It which I did not see and will never see. The second, Kanye making an ass out of himself during Taylor Swift’s VMA award speech, isn’t really musical, or at least there is no song associated, so it didn’t qualify.  Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six (x2) — 12 Best Musical Moments of 2009 from TV or Movies”