Vinyl Reissue Spotlight: Spend The Night and Gold Medal by The Donnas

                                

The Donnas have been on hiatus since 2012. As quickly as they disbanded, their catalog seemed to disappear nearly entirely. Their CDs and records had all quietly fallen out of print, and their Lookout Records-era catalog, which amounted to the bulk of the band’s output, never made it to streaming. Interviews with band members have shown that they really don’t have any interest in looking back on this project, so I started to think this Palo Alto-based hard rock powerhouse was going to remain a memory for the folks that got to experience them during their tenure. Continue reading “Vinyl Reissue Spotlight: Spend The Night and Gold Medal by The Donnas”

Show Review: Wynonna & The Big Noise featuring Bob Weir and Cass McCombs, Christina Vane at The Fillmore, 2/6/2020

All photos by Tiffany Black-Darquea

Tonight was an intimate, unique, and heartwarming night of music at the Fillmore, despite being a little rough around the edges at times. Continue reading “Show Review: Wynonna & The Big Noise featuring Bob Weir and Cass McCombs, Christina Vane at The Fillmore, 2/6/2020”

Film Feature: Carrie and Chris Pick the 2020 Oscars

Film critics Carrie and Chris on who will – and who should – win the 92nd Academy Awards

The 92nd Academy Awards air tomorrow, Sunday, February 9th, on ABC at 5:00 pm PST. Once again, Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chris Piper share their predictions — and hopes — for the major categories. A lot of the winners feel like locks, based on earlier award season wins, but, honestly, we’d rather have some upsets to make for an interesting show then have all our predictions come true. Fingers crossed for some liveliness!

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Single of the Week: Let’s Be Friends by Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen, Canada’s greatest export since Rush, has done it again. She’s released another single outside of the standard album cycle that is bound to outlast anything that appeared on the album that preceded it. Much like “Cut to the Feeling” has become one of her most beloved songs, her newest single “Let’s Be Friends” is poised to become another standout in her unimpeachable songbook. 

Co-written and produced by CJ Baran, whose credits include “Let’s Get Lost” and “Emotion” from Carly Rae, “Let’s Be Friends” is a bouncy breakup song that examines the lie that couples will stay friends after they’re done being lovers. Full of playful vocals and clever turns of phrase, its catchy chorus is ready for singing along or for quirky short dance videos. The song even features a funny spoken-word breakdown, perfect for TikTok lipsyncing, that “coincidentally” lasts exactly 15 seconds.  

We’re big, big fans of Carly Rae here at Spinning Platters, so much so that we’re on a first-name basis with her in our heads. So it’s exciting to note that at the same time this single was released, she also announced a show on April 12 at The Fox Theater in Oakland. 

SF Sketchfest Review: Everything’s Great! at Cafe du Nord, 1/25/2020

Winding down my time at this year’s SF Sketchfest, I wanted to make sure to catch one more stand up variety show. Everything’s Great!, hosted by Demi Adejuyigbe, Nick Kocher, and Addie Weyrich, has been on my list as a must-see in Los Angeles. Past guests on their line-up have included Sasheer Zamata, Joel Kim Booster, Kyle Kinane and Rachel Bloom, amongst other big talents. Plus the hosts themselves are ridiculously entertaining; each of them has their own extensive and cool list of projects in comedy. Catching their SF Sketchfest show was exactly how I wanted to wrap up this year’s festival.

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Film Feature: Highs and Lows from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival

The 2020 Sundance Film Festival concluded this weekend with Festival jurors bestowing prizes upon 28 of the 128 films shown during the ten-day Fest. All the winners can be found here, but, as I did last year, below I present my own highlights — good and bad — and let you know which films you should SEE or SKIP, should any of these be widely released at some point.

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SF Sketchfest Review: UCB East (Highwater) vs. UCB West (Leroy): The Harold Competition at PianoFight, 1/24/2020

I’ve studied improv throughout the last 15 years, but nothing has been more simultaneously challenging and rewarding than studying the Harold, a longform improv style that became popular back in Chicago, thanks to legendary improvisation teachers Del Close and Charna Halpern. This particular style of improv is taught at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) Training Centers in New York and Los Angeles, where house Harold teams perform weekly to packed houses. It is a genuine treat to see UCB’s Harold Night, and I was delighted to catch two teams from New York and Los Angeles come together to compete for SF Sketchfest.

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Show Review: Dermot Kennedy with SYML at the Masonic, 1/30/2020

Dermot Kennedy’s got that power over me.

I don’t know what it is about Dermot Kennedy. I first discovered his music when I heard “Power Over Me” on a music channel on my TV. It was literally love at first listen. Kennedy’s voice is unlike any other I’ve ever heard: haunting, soulful, and incredibly powerful. Add to that his ability to write lyrically and musically beautiful works of art, and I’m a fan for life. For now, Kennedy is still relatively unknown in the US, but those who know his music flock to his shows, resulting in regularly sold-out shows. Such was the case at last night’s show with SYML at the Masonic.

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SF Sketchfest Review: Fred Armisen: Comedy for Guitar Players but Everyone is Welcome at The Chapel, 1/26/2020

Photo by Tommy Lau Photography

Fred Armisen has come a long way since his days drumming for Trenchmouth. He’s been the bandleader for Late Night with Seth Meyers. He’s drummed for Devo. He had a sketch comedy series with Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein where he took every opportunity he could to show off his musical chops. He’s had success in multiple fake bands on his other show, Documentary Now!. Despite acclaim as an actor and comic, he always seemed most at home as a musician. It came as no surprise when I learned he was doing a stand up special called Stand Up For Drummers, in which he exclusively told drum related jokes. When SF Sketchfest announced that he was branching out to guitarists this year, I decided that it was necessary for my own survival that I attend one of these. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Fred Armisen: Comedy for Guitar Players but Everyone is Welcome at The Chapel, 1/26/2020”

SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020

Years ago, one of my closest friends introduced me to BriTANick’s videos. I was instantly hooked. I’ve always loved sketch comedy, but BriTANick was the first sketch comedy group of my generation that seems to truly understand and master absurdity in their work. So when I learned that Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher were bringing BriTANick back to SF Sketchfest, I lost my goddamn mind—I had to go to this show. I wasn’t in town during their previous Sketchfest appearances and was over the moon to finally see them performing live. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: BriTANick and Friends at the Gateway Theater, 1/23/2020”