Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
I’ve often said that the most rebellious music is disco. Being able to dance in the face of darkness is a far bolder move than anything presenting anger and violence. “sad disco” is one of the most vivid presentations of that feeling that I’ve ever heard. Oakland’s mxmtoon is clearly ready for the next level in her career, and this song is going to be the anthem for what may be the most confusing and weird Summer of our lives.
“sad disco” is the first single off mxmtoon’s upcoming record, rising… out May 20th. You can enjoy the single here! And, after the jump, you can get an eyeful of tour dates! Continue reading “Single Of The Week: “sad disco” by mxmtoon”
Holy hell, it’s been a while. It’s been more than two years, in fact, since I last saw a show. For a music nerd like me who considers live music vital to her mental health, that’s saying a lot. But as things slowly seem to be moving closer and closer to what we considered “normal” pre-pandemic, I’ve been missing the whole concert experience more and more. Fortunately, the arrival of John Mayer‘s Sob Rock Tour at San Francisco’s Chase Center arrived just in time – last Friday night, to be exact… Continue reading “Show Review: John Mayer with Yebba at Chase Center, 3/18/2022”
HOLY SHIT! I said that out loud when I hit the 2nd minute of this song. It’s not so much a song as it’s a sonic journey that takes you through nearly a dozen emotions and genres in a tight 3 1/2 minutes. This song is potent and powerful. It’s “experimental” but doesn’t sacrifice emotion for being clever. Our single of the week is an adventure for the ears and the heart and even on the 100th relisten, you’ll still find something new that you missed.
“IF THERE’S NO SEAT IN THE SKY (WILL YOU FORGIVE ME???)” the first single off Saya Gray’s debut record 19 Masters, is available in all the usual places on June 2nd.
I was in a music discussion channel on a Slack I frequent and I mentioned how I had bought a ticket to see my favorite obscure Norwegian popstar in Los Angeles. To this, my Norwegian friend told me that Sigrid was anything but obscure. Yes, having discovered her while living in Europe, I’m wholly aware she’s playing arenas across the ocean, has won a Brit Award, and that this same song I’m about to talk about was just BBC Radio 1’s “Hottest Record in the World.” She remains obscure to most pop music fans in America. This is a travesty! To see what I mean, watch this filmed set of performances as it’s a total joy from start to finish.
Sigrid’s new song, which she’s been teasing for months on her social media outlets as her favorite song that she’s written, is “It Gets Dark.” It re-teams her with Emily Warren, co-writer of “Mirror” and “Sucker Punch” (as well as Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”) and this is some alchemical magic the two of them have.
This song is cinema. It starts with a synthesizer orchestra leading into aa slow first verse which channels Sigrid’s hero, Adele, as she tells us she wants to leave the world behind to travel into space, and by the time the beat drops and the pounding, stuttering bassline kicks in, she’s there and telling us what she’s learned. By the end, as she continually repeats her discovery, “it gets dark so I can see the stars,” cosmic voices join her as she floats away into space on a bed of electric guitar. It’s a beautiful ending that I found gleefully surprising the first time I heard it.
This is the kind of music you might fly down to Los Angeles the day of the show and then fly back the next morning in time to get to work the next day, not that I know anything about that!
I accept artist submissions for Single Of The Week. All you need to do is email me at promo@spinningplatters.com. But I get literally a hundred songs sent to me a day. I can’t listen to all of them. But I listen to the ones that I can, and hopefully, I can find a story to tell with the song, so you have some reason to listen. That being said, I found “Past Lives” by kohanna during a week of listening to a LOT of new songs, and this one’s hook just stuck with me. The opening notes- what I think is an African thumb piano- kept bringing me back. This gem of an electro-folk single reminds me of the debuts from Lorde and Sylvan Esso, putting her in great company.
You can learn more about kohanna here. She has a pretty extensive YouTube archive, and you can also find “Past Lives” on all the DSPs.
As with every other music blog on the planet, the editor in chief is allowed to play favorites and over-blog about their favorites. And, right now, Wet Leg is my favorite. And they finally have a fifth song out in the world! “Angelica” has a nice, clean, jittery riff that’s a little bit 60’s psych, a little bit Elastica, and definitely designed for getting “just drunk enough” at an indie dance club. Also, I definitely miss indie dance clubs.
Anyways, this song rips just like the other songs. They are playing the US this spring, but every show is sold out, just like God intended. (Try heading to SXSW or This Ain’t No Picnic in LA or Thing near Seattle.) You can also preorder their debut record, out April 8th, in a myriad of lovely ways. They even FINALLY have a t-shirt, just like Rhian prophesized in our interview last year.
This spoken word track from Tianna Esperanza, granddaughter of Paloma McLardy of both The Slits and The Raincoats, two of the most pivotal acts of the UK punk world. “Lewis” is an homage to Lewis H. Michaux, the owner of Harlem’s historic African National Memorial Bookstore. It’s a thoughtful song about connecting the words of a legend and connecting them to your life and the struggles of the day. It’s a stunning, emotionally direct piece of work that forces you to listen and sit with it for a bit.
“Lewis” is available at all of the DSPs for you to enjoy at your leisure. Keep an eye out here for more news about Tianna Esperanza!
Amid mask mandate confusion (NOTE: venues are still mandating masks in SF, so MASK UP AND DON’T KILL YOUR BARTENDER), uncertainty in Ukraine, and a general malaise of life, I forgot about Noise Pop this year! But, my good friend Ashley Graham of Fast Times Presents reminded me that there is still joy in this world, and if you feel safe, she’s got a nice assortment of events this week. And if you don’t feel safe going out, you should re-listen to our interview with her from late 2020! Continue reading “Noise Pop Preview: Fast Times Presents”
The video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was released in November, 2007 for the Playstation console. It was an immediate hit, spawning four main series sequels and a handful of spin-offs. When Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released in 2009, chatter about a film adaptation began to take shape, since the series began earning fame for its cinematic presentation, and Among Thieves is widely considered by many to be among the best video games of all time (including me). Alas, we finally have the Uncharted film adaptation we’ve waited over a decade for, and it’s, well, meh. Much of the plot turns, action set pieces, and dialogue is inspired by, if not directly taken from, the video game series. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The film also pays fan service by sprinkling a handful of easter eggs (and a special cameo) throughout. All of this adds up to a moderately entertaining action adventure, but the best thrills are few and far between, and don’t measure up to the iconic gameplay.
