Film Review: “The Good Nurse”

A bad nurse rising: Horrifying true story becomes chilling thriller

ICU night shift nursing colleagues Charlie (Eddie Redmayne) and Amy (Jessica Chastain) become close friends.

Anyone who has ever spent any significant time in a hospital knows how much blind faith patients put in the medical staff. You’re sick or injured and helpless and scared: you not only trust the doctors and nurses caring for you, but you’re beyond grateful to them for helping you get healthy and back to your life. But what if a nurse didn’t have your best interest at heart, but the exact opposite? Suddenly the hospital would no longer be a safe space of healing and comfort, but a house of horrors. Such is the chilling premise of the terrific new film The Good Nurse.

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Film Review: “Tár”

Blanchett delivers award-worthy performance in imperfect classical music drama

Cate Blanchett as world famous conductor Lydia Tár.

Cate Blanchett can play icy cool confidence like nobody’s business (see Carol and Nightmare Alley), but she won an Oscar for having an emotional breakdown in Blue Jasmine. That skill at playing a woman on the edge of madness just may yield her another trophy for her stellar work in writer/director Todd Field’s problematic new film Tár.

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Single Of The Week: “Flip It” by Bleached

I am ALWAYS ready for a new Bleached track. This one is a big, classic power-pop number. Heavy in the riffage, and colors of Bangles-esque minor key harmonies… A catchy, optimistic number from a band from Jennifer Clavin, a songwriter that, somehow, always knows exactly what I need right when I need it. 

You can buy/stream “Flip It” in all the usual places. Bleached are also playing a handful of dates this November, including a 5th Anniversary show for the Lodge Room in LA on November 9th and a 10th Anniversary show for The Chapel on November 15th. They put on a fantastic show. So get your Omicron booster and party with us! 

Picks Six: Six Defining Tracks from 5RC Records

The pandemic has put is knee-deep into MySpace-era nostalgia. Bands like My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit, and The Strokes play bigger venues than in their heyday. So, obviously, it’s time for the weirdest of the 00’s to get a chance to return, too! Kill Rock Stars have resurrected 5RC (5 Rue Christine), a home for more experimental works. The video above is their first release of the 2020’s, “Glass from Sand” by MV Carbon + Charlemagne Palestine (Full Length out Nov 4th)/ I spent A LOT of time with 5RC bands in the early ’00s, as I wanted desperately to be welcomed by the noise community. 

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2022 Journal

At the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival, you may arrive as an orphan, but you will leave with a close adopted family of one million.   Hosted within the iconic Golden Gate Park, an all-inclusive backyard. 

Each stage appeared to have a theme of strict bluegrass, Americana, funk, rock, or soul.   It didn’t matter where you were all the stages hosted extremely talented artists with bookshelves of Grammy awards.  Even when Marcus Mumford was introducing his guests and missed one; the trust was evident.  If you were playing at Hardly Strictly, your talent is recognized, and you are welcome to collaborate.   Wondering with discovery was encouraged.  My least favorite part of the festival was making decisions, and my favorite was all decisions were good decisions. Continue reading “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2022 Journal”

Single of the Week: “Loving You (Demo)” by Wet Leg

Wet Leg are arguably one of the few bands to have a “really good pandemic.” They broke through with amazing videos and the right hooks to rise above the misery. And they have been excellent at giving back when they can, sort of thanking the world for their success. In 2021, they donated merch money to Afghan Refugee women. And now they are donating the original demo of “Loving You,” one of the most beautiful and serious tracks off their debut album, to The Brigid Alliance, an organization that helps connect women with abortion services. 

“Loving You (Demo)” is the first track from Good Music To Ensure Safe Abortion Access For All, a digital compilation available TODAY and only TODAY from Bandcamp! It’s chock full of exclusive tracks from Sleater-Kinney, Bully, Ty Segall, and many more. There are also a slew of alternate takes and live versions of tracks, including a re-recording of David Byrne’s “Empire” with help from Devo, a much desired Thao & tUnE-yArDs collaboration on “Meticulous Bird,” and, really, too much more to name. Oh, and 100% of the proceeds will go to The Brigid Alliance and Noise For Now! Full tracklisting after the jump! Continue reading “Single of the Week: “Loving You (Demo)” by Wet Leg”

Single of the Week: “This Is Why” by Paramore

It’s been about five years since Paramore has graced our eardrums. Normally arena-level acts get bypassed in this column, but holy fucking Gang Of 4 groove punk shit?!?! In a time when MySpace-era emo is having a bit of a resurgence, the third part of the My Chemical Romance / Fall Out Boy holy trinity of this scene came back with a post-punk gem that would’ve been perfectly at home on 4AD in the late 80’s. Like, I almost used the word “angular” here and not in a 00’s disco punk way. 

“This Is Why” is the title track of their forthcoming record due out February 10th, 2023. You can get reserve this perfect Valentine’s Day gift here! 

 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 4, Episode 1 with Sergio Dias of Os Mutantes

We’ve made it to the fourth season of How Did I Get Here?!!! And our first guest of a bonafide rock legend- Sergio Dias, founding member of the groundbreaking rock n roll band Os Mutantes. We made a good-faith attempt to cover a 50+ year career in about 30 minutes, but I can already tell you that we could use another 4 hours to scratch the surface of his career. 

Os Mutantes are hitting the road, headlining Freakout Festival outside of Seattle, November 10th – 13th, and coming to The Chapel in San Francisco on November 16th.

Film Review: “Don’t Worry Darling”

Wilde should be worried: Pre-release hype overshadows mediocre picture

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) live an idyllic life. Or do they?

Even if you’re not one to follow celebrity gossip, no doubt you’ve seen at least a headline or two about director Olivia Wilde’s new film Don’t Worry Darling. Stories about casting, the Venice premiere, tensions between director and star, and salacious sex scenes have saturated the Internet gossip machine. All this chatter either speaks to genuine interpersonal problems among the cast, or reveals a sly and savvy PR move by Wilde, who gained notoriety when she began dating her film’s star Harry Styles after her much publicized divorce from nice guy Ted Lasso himself, Jason Sudeikis. All publicity is good publicity, as the saying goes, and all the frenzied rumors certainly have kept Wilde’s film in the spotlight. So much so that I have to admit that the constant titillating headlines worked on me: when the screening came through, I of course had to see what all the fuss was about.

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Single Of The Week: “Ex-Girl” by Alexis Castrogiovanni

It’s funny… Alexis Castrogiovanni sent me a different track for single of the week, and I thought, this is really good. And then I clicked on “Ex-Girl,” and was taken aback. This driving cello puncutated by lyrics that puncture your heart? OH SHIT! And then a baritone sax kicks in? MY GOD! This song is so brutal! 

“Ex-Girl” comes from Alexis Castrogiovanni’s EP, Someday My Thoughts Will Be Like A Range of Mountains, which is availble NOW from her Bandcamp page.