Record Store Day 2020: A Woefully Out-of-Date Preview of What Was Supposed to Happen

Record Store Day didn’t really happen this year, but tomorrow is the first of 3 “RSD Drops” where most of what was intended to be released back in April is finally being sent to your local independent record store. Methods of sale vary wildly from store to store so be sure to call or email ahead to find out how to wait in the queue, if you’re even able to. Records will be online much faster than ever before, so keep your eyes on the independent sellers who also sell online. For actual, final Record Store Day info, visit http://www.recordstoreday.com. And now, travel back in time to early April when I was about to press publish …

For a dozen years now, independent record stores across the world have celebrated Record Store Day. At first, a small initiative to get people to shop at their local record stores, it’s now an excuse for thousands of people to join hours-long queues at record shops across the world to buy one (or several) of the several hundred special releases made for that day that will only ever be sold in stores, and for which pre-orders are not allowed to be taken. As the list of releases has grown, the quality of those releases has diverged. While some of the announced records are long-awaited reissues of rare and important material, others are obvious cash grabs meant to appeal to the completist nature of a certain type of collector. Now, I’ll sort some of these in buckets for you, starting with the most essential, ending with the least essential. Continue reading “Record Store Day 2020: A Woefully Out-of-Date Preview of What Was Supposed to Happen”

Film Review: Centigrade

Tension piles up in snowy survival thriller

Matt (Vincent Piazza) and Naomi (Genesis Rodriguez) fight to survive after becoming trapped in their car during a huge snowstorm.

Regular readers of this site may know that I have an affinity for survival pictures. The terrific Mads Mikkelsen vehicle Arctic was number one on my Top 10 list last year, and over the past few years I’ve also enjoyed Adrift, Walking Out, The Mountain Between Us, and Everest. The latest entry to earn my approval is Centigrade, the first feature from television director/writer Brendan Walsh (Nurse Jackie) and his co-writer Daley Nixon. That this novice duo has created such a taut, tightly constructed film bodes well for their future cinematic projects.

Continue reading “Film Review: Centigrade“

Vinyl Reissue Spotlight: Pylon Box by Pylon

Pylon Photo By Brian Shanley

When Corin Tucker, of Sleater-Kinney fame, first brought her solo band to SF to play a show at Great American Music Hall, I had the pleasure of speaking to her after the show. My giddy fan boy heart was aflutter, and all I could think of to ask her was “What should I be listening to?” She had one word for me: Pylon. 

Pylon were an early dance punk band out of Athens, GA. The same scene that gave us REM and The B-52’s. I went to investigate, and was saddened to learn that nothing was in print by this band, so I didn’t get to have the shopping spree that I had hoped for. I did get to dance in my apartment to videos I found on YouTube, however. Continue reading “Vinyl Reissue Spotlight: Pylon Box by Pylon”

Spinning Platters Presents: How Did I Get Here? Episode 3 with Vickki Acuna of General Election LA

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Vickki Acuna has been working in music for years, putting on shows before she was old enough to drive, street teaming for Part Time Punks, running the Box Office at The Echo in LA, and working as the Digital Coordinator for Goldenvoice Festivals in LA, including Coachella & Stagecoach. Now she runs General Election LA, an organization leveraging our darkened venues to help get out the vote! 

Vickki is active on social media as herself, in addition to General Election LA. To follow: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Presents: How Did I Get Here? Episode 3 with Vickki Acuna of General Election LA”

Inside Lands Schedule IS LIVE

The “Inside Lands” schedule is up and live!!! And, as I hoped, that legendary Gorillaz set, including one of maybe five times Damon and Del played “Clint Eastwood” together, is part of the mix for a late night Friday set! They also added some Gatromagic fun for the 10pm hour, and sets by LP and Elton John have been thrown in, too! This is starting at 4pm on Friday at twitch.tv. 

The full schedule can be found here.

They are even selling merch, which is kind of awesome. Especially since they are doing this for free, and are missing out on 2020. 

And, don’t forget to buy tickets for 2021. I know I’m chomping at the bit to get “Outside” again, and I don’t even care how bad that pun is. 

Single Of The Week: Bitch On Wheels by Body Double

“Bitch On Wheels” is the second single off Oakland-based punk band Body Double’s forthcoming album, Milk Fed. It’s a dreamy, fuzzy song with a wonderfully weird video attached. If you want to really understand what “awkward bliss” is, this is the track that will teach you about that. If that isn’t enough of a selling point, here’s what bandleader Candace Lazarou has to say about the track:

“At around 30 years old, underground musicians start admitting they like very popular bands. It’s too exhausting being niche! I wrote “Bitch On Wheels” right after I was in an all-girl Nine Inch Nails cover band called Miss Piggy, and I was finally forced to love a synthesizer. This song heavily features an Akai AX60, which I like because it only listens to my instructions half the time.”

Now I really want to see Miss Piggy play live, which will hopefully happen after the pandemic is over. In the meantime, you can preorder Milk Fed here on vinyl, or here on the streaming platforms. The record is due out September 18th!

BREAKING: The Line-Up for Inside Lands 2020 Has Been Announced

We all spent that last two weeks looking at our Facebook memories of photos from 12 years of Outside Lands, noticing how perfect the weather was two weekends ago, and being sad, and then angry, and then sad again that we weren’t going to get to commune together in Golden Gate Park for music, comedy, food, and community this year. (Especially since Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is also off the table) 

I know it’s not the same, but August 28th – 29th, starting at 4pm each day, twitch.tv is broadcasting a whole new special event called “Inside Lands.” We are getting archival performances, and although we don’t know exactly what we are going to see, but I hope to got we get to relive the portion of Gorillaz EPIC 2017 set with that bone chilling, inhuman scream that Maseo belted out at the beginning of “Feel Good Inc.” We will also be getting new, exclusive performances, including sets from Outside Lands 2021 acts Sharon Van Etten, Hinds, Brittany Howard, Beach House and more. It’s not the same as being in the park, but I hope this gets you close. May I recommend having some delicious take out from a local restaurant on hand, and maybe even see if your favorite local bar is doing craft cocktails to go so the experience is complete? If you want, you can even have your roommate spill beer on your blanket to make it feel right. (Kidding) 

The event is hosted by Lyrics Born, and can be streamed here at twitch.tv/outsidelands. While you are there, be sure to pick up tickets for Outside Lands 2021 with Lizzo, Tame Impala, The Strokes, Tyler, The Creator, Kehlani and more! And, of course, keep practicing social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands, and let’s crush this disease to make sure we can party next year.

To quote Lyrics Born: “Don’t worry about the president. He can’t stop the show.” Here’s the line-up: Continue reading “BREAKING: The Line-Up for Inside Lands 2020 Has Been Announced”

Spinning Platters Presents: How Did I Get Here? Episode 2 with Mike Ziemer of Third String Productions

 

Mike Ziemer is the founder of Third String Productions, a popular concert promoter based in Texas. He spoke to us about his humble beginnings as a concert promoter, how, 15 years ago, he learned how to leverage MySpace to help promote your shows and bands, and how he got to where he is today- a social media expert, concert promoter, band manager, record label owner, and owner of a recording studio. 

If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. To subscribe, here’s a link to find us on your favorite podcasting platform! If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick.  And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!

 

 
 
 

Single Of The Week: SULA (Paperback) by Jamila Woods

In 2019, Jamila Woods gave us LEGACY! LEGACY!, a profound piece of work about reflecting on how your heroes connect to your own life. At least, that’s what I got out of it. As we know, art is subjective and you get out of it what makes sense to you. Woods could have continued spent 2020 completely quiet, but that doesn’t seem to be her way. Instead, she dropped this beauty of a ballad, “SULA (Paperback),” a reflection on the Toni Morrison novel, Sula. The song is pure Woods, drawing on elements of the piece of literature that inspired her, and making it something deeply personal. The arrangement is refreshing and tender, combining jazz ballad guitar with pedal steal and layered harmonies that just hit that part of your gut that makes you feel all warm and alive inside. 

“SULA (Paperback)” can be streamed in all the usual places, or you can purchase it off Bandcamp. While you are there, if you don’t already own LEGACY! LEGACY!, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It may never leave your turntable. 

Announcing Inside Lands, A Virtual Festival Celebration

This morning, I woke up and started getting ready for my day, and it dawned on me: I was supposed to be gathering sunscreen, a couple of empty bottles, a few layers of clothes, a blanket, snacks, and such for my day in Golden Gate Park. Instead, I’m sitting at home, feeling about peak darkness over the state of the world, and just feeling, well, blue. 

I know good news isn’t has good as it could be, but the good folks at Outside Lands did give us a lovely surprise today! They have teamed up with Twitch.tv to bring us a weekend of streamed archival performances, interviews, and fan testimonials to help us get through the lack of getting together to enjoy music outdoors this year. Go to https://www.twitch.tv/sfoutsidelands to stream this starting at 4pm August 28th & 29th. More details to come soon at https://www.sfoutsidelands.com/insidelands/!

Also, don’t forget to buy tickets to Outside Lands 2021, with the amazing lineup of Lizzo, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Tyler, The Creator, Kehlani, Hinds, and many, many more!