Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Michael Butler, Bay Area based musician and one of the original podcasters, runs the Rock and Roll Geek Show podcast along with playing bass for 80’s revivalist rock band Jetboy (and recently playing bass for live shows with Ginger from UK rock underground stars The Wildhearts.)
Continue reading “10 Quick Questions with Michael Butler, Podcaster and Bass Player”
I’m the sad case of a middle aged man who only likes to listen to new music and refuses to buy in to “it was all better when I was younger.” So this gives me a problem – How do I find new music? Well I have come across some excellent methods that work well for me. They allow me to discover new bands, listen to them and decide what I want to buy.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Ways To Discover New Music”
Here we go again… Make sure you take public transit or car pool!
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: August 4th-10th”
For most of my life as a music nerd, Tuesdays were always my favorite day of the week. On Tuesdays, I’d stop at Strawberries Records in West Springfield, MA and shop the new release rack. I wouldn’t let myself leave without buying at least one thing. This is how I ended up with The Bends, as I had liked “Creep” but not Pablo Honey, but there really wasn’t anything else interesting out that week. As time has passed, Tuesdays have become less and less important, because now the release date for an album is somewhat random: when it shows up online, it’s released. Yet for some reason, the record labels are clinging to these release dates. And in many cases, they still release albums on different dates in different countries. This, for obvious file-sharing reasons, is beyond lunacy. This post is a plea for record labels to end the archaic practice of release dates. Not to help me–I’m well served by the Internet–but to help themselves.
The company I work for in my everyday life has a saying: “We make it easy for our Customers to buy from us.” When will the record labels adopt this attitude?
Continue reading “Record Labels, Please Change Your Archaic Release Date Practices”
(Update: Another Planet announced today that Tenacious D are going to be replacing The Beastie Boys… Odd choice, and one that I never would have expected…)
So, it seems that the good people at Another Planet are taking their time with revealing who will take over the headlining slot for the Beastie Boys. I’d like to take the time tell you which six acts are likely to take it over. This isn’t a wish list, this is a well researched list of acts that are popular enough to headline a large outdoor festival, that are currently active, are available August 30th, and do not have any other shows in the Bay Area within 3 months before and after the show. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Bands That Seem Likely To Headline Outside Lands”
Sonic Youth released their first record in 1982. Since then, they have averaged a new release every year and a half or so. (15 full length releases, in case you are keeping track.) This doesn’t include eps, singles, benefit compilation tracks, soundtrack work, side projects, parenting, eating, sleeping, or other such things that take up time. And, arguably, none of them have been “bad.” Sure, you might not have listened to Murray Street in a few years, but it’s still a good record. They are without peer in terms of longevity and consistency. They have a live presence that has always been a force to be reckoned with. The youngest member of the band is 47, but they still play like they are in their early 20’s.
Continue reading “Show Review: Sonic Youth, Awesome Color at The Fox Theater, 8/2/09”
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Retail Release Date: August 25th, 2009
Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date: July 30th, 2009
The negative of listening to an early leaked version of an album is the possibility of subpar sound quality. I really hope that this is what’s going on with the new Arctic Monkeys album Humbug and not that this is the way they meant it to sound. Continue reading “Album Review: Arctic Monkeys — Humbug”
What do you get if you take a sampling of the Scandinavian delights of Abba and the rock-based Backyard Babies or Hellacopters ? Add in some Max Martin style production and maybe even some A-Ha and you have The Sounds new album, Crossing The Rubicon.
Continue reading “Album Review: The Sounds — Crossing The Rubicon”
Episode 2 of the Spinning Platters podcast has us finding our way into a regular format. Join us this episode to hear us talk about:
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast — Episode 2 (The Co-Pilot)”
I took quite a few photos at Wanderlust Festival: nearly 500 of them. Since I didn’t have any sort of media credential, you’re not going to see any amazing closeups of performers’ nostrils, but my handy pocket camera does a pretty good job of it. I’ve selected 19 of my favorites, showing every musical act I saw over the weekend and more. If you were there, I hope these act as a nice reminder of a wonderful weekend; if you weren’t, I hope it will inspire you to go next year. Feel free to share these photos around. Please just tell everyone where you found them! Now, on to the photo gallery. Continue reading “Wanderlust Festival Diary: The Photos”