Mos Def – Spinning Platters

Photo Journal: Rock The Bells at Shoreline Amphitheater, 8/27/11

Guerilla Union’s annual traveling hip hop roadshow touched down in Mountain View recently, and it may have been the best one yet. It proved that Lauryn Hill can still play the big rooms. It proved that The Infamous Mobb Deep, Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, and Illmatic by Nas are all classic records have stood the test of time. We saw that comedian Donald Glover’s alter ego Childish Gambino is doing some of the most inventive stuff in hip hop. We also learned that no matter how much critical acclaim you’ve got, you still have to contend with nature, causing east coast rappers Mac Miller and Doom to stay behind.

Without further adieu, here are the sites of Rock The Bells 2011:

Continue reading “Photo Journal: Rock The Bells at Shoreline Amphitheater, 8/27/11”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/11 – 2/23/11

GreasePic1 — A different gang of four guys is playing at The Fillmore this weekend.

Next week is Noise Pop! If you’re not excited about Noise Pop for some reason, get excited about it! Look left, right now, see the pretty advertisement for the festival, click on it, and buy some tickets to something. But if you’re some sort of meany who hates Noise Pop and everything they stand for, there’s still plenty of shows for the likes of you. We don’t support the skipping of Noise Pop, but we do appreciate the variety of shows available this coming week. You can dance, wear purple, or be a black emperor. It’s a doozy!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 2/17/11 — 2/23/11”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 7/29/10-8/4/10

Wine girl — Look how much your girlfriend is enjoying herself at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga. So many concerts! So much wine!

As July transitions into August, The Mountain Winery continues to generally kick the ass of every other Bay Area concert venue this week—and it’s actually kind of an off-week for them. Nobody likes a showoff, Mountain Winery! Other highlights this week include Joanna Newsom, a free concert by Rickie Lee Jones, and the final performance by local favorites Make Me before they take an indefinite hiatus. All that and more, after the jump…

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Show Review: Mos Def, Jay Electronica and Supernatural for Haiti relief at The Independent, 2/3/10

The character that is Mos Def never stops to entertain, on stage, in film or in person. His music is layered with decades of influence and years of knowledge wrapped up in a style that undoubtedly his very own. This night is no different than the Mos Def that we’d expect. Arriving ever so fashionable, and fashionably late, with an entourage to boot. He takes the stage with his bright red mic, circa 1960, and a perfectly knotted bow tie. Clean and smooth with a swagger that makes it clear that the show is completely under his control. Continue reading “Show Review: Mos Def, Jay Electronica and Supernatural for Haiti relief at The Independent, 2/3/10”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/27/10-2/2/10

Tonight at Bimbo's. Babies not included.

This weekend finally sees the first music festival of the season, the young but promising Winter Music Festival, popping up at venues all over town. Check out at least one of those shows this week so that SF Indie and Talking House Records feel your love. Plus, you’ll be supporting local music more than once a year, and that should make you feel warm all over. As to which shows to see? Read on, music lovers! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/27/10-2/2/10”

Album Preview: The Black Keys – Blakroc

It’s called BlakRoc, and it has just got me all hot and bothered because it’s apparently real. Back on June 4 Jim Jones tweeted, “I’m on my way to meet the black keys a new rock n roll group then summer jam rehearsal lg.” However, there was no proof that anything was really happening in that studio. Were the Black Keys really holing themselves up in there working on a rap-rock fusion project? Continue reading “Album Preview: The Black Keys — Blakroc”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th

Millions Of Darling Cats will be playing at The Knockout tonight!

As we recover from our wonderful weekend in Golden Gate Park, dealing with our sunburns (Friday & Saturday) and our hypothermia (Sunday), here’s a few more shows to keep you going. All of them good, or at least have the potential for good.

On a side note: the Bay Bridge is closed this weekend, but BART will be running all night, so if you wanted to get wasted on the other side of the Bay on which you reside, this is the weekend to do it!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide To Bay Area Concerts: September 1st-7th”