Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
People ask me all the time, “which band have you seen the most?” To this question, I answer Moxy Fruvous. If they ask me who’s in second place, I can answer that it’s Phish. Last night was the 22nd time I’ve seen Phish in concert, but for the first time in a dozen years. It’s hard to “review” a Phish show; it is what it is. Consider this a personal exploration into an evening of Phish. Continue reading “Show Review: Phish at the Shoreline Amphitheater, 8/5/09”
The tweet came a little while ago.
Breaking: John Hughes Has Died
Next thing I knew, I was on Youtube watching a video that was a compilation of great John Hughes movie moments. In that spirit, this is my tribute to the great musical moments (and a couple of others) from John Hughes movies. I don’t have a lot to say here; just watching the clips is enough. Pretty much everyone in my generation got a lot of personality shaping from his movies, so this is just my way of paying tribute.
John Hughes 1950-2009
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Classic Moments from John Hughes Movies”
Lets be clear up front – this is a personal list. I came across the Associates the other day and it got me thinking about bands that I was REALLY into in the 80’s that I had forgotten about. I dug into some old records and websites and came up with this six. Some bands from the 80’s that you may have forgotten and loved will not make the list because I have not forgotten them. This is not a best bands from the 80’s. Purely a personal list of bands that touched me in some way that I had forgotten about.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Bands I Forgot From The 80’s”
I’m a big Brendan Benson fan. I was a fan before The Raconteurs. Lapalco being one of my all time favorite albums but I was not overly happy with his last album, The Alternative To Love, which had its moments but was, overall, somewhat inconsistent. So how does his new one My Old, Familiar Friend stack up. Keep in mind that this review is all based on a first listen and of course songs may grow or otherwise on me given time. So what has spending his time with Jack White done for Brendan? Continue reading “Album Review: Brendan Benson — My Old, Familiar Friend”
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”