Noise Pop – Page 3 – Spinning Platters

Noise Pop Film Review: Ticket to Write: The Golden Age of Rock Music Journalism

Engaging new doc brings us back to rock criticism’s glory days

Last Sunday night, thanks to co-presenters Noise Pop and KQED, a crowd of music aficionados at the Swedish American Hall was treated to a viewing of writer/director Raul Sandelin’s documentary Ticket to Write: The Golden Age of Rock Music Journalism, followed by an engaging Q&A with rock critics Robert Duncan (Creem) and Joel Selvin (San Francisco Chronicle). Sandelin’s film had been making the festival rounds, but has just become available on Amazon Prime, which should please ardent rock history fans everywhere.
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Spinning Platters Interview: Jordan Kurland of Treasure Island Music Festival, Noise Pop, and Zeitgeist Management

Photo by Andrew Paynter

Jordan Kurland has been influential within the Bay Area music scene for over two decades. He helped make Noise Pop a major music festival, and is one of the masterminds behind the Treasure Island Music Festival, currently heading into it’s 10th year. As one of the primary forces behind the mainstream acceptance of Indie Rock, you probably owe about half of your record collection to him. Spinning Platters had the opportunity to talk to this legend about how to book a great festival, the future of Treasure Island Music Festival, and a bit about the new ways bands are getting creative with drumming up revenue.

FYI, Treasure Island Music Festival is October 15th and 16th, and tickets are on sale NOW! Also, Noise Pop 2017 (the 25th year!) Super Fan Badges, went on sale today, and are moving fast. These include admission to 25 shows in the months leading up to next year’s festival, in addition to the entirety of Noise Pop 2017. You can buy this here!

It seems that this is the last year that TIMF is happening on Treasure Island. What is the future of TIMF? Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Jordan Kurland of Treasure Island Music Festival, Noise Pop, and Zeitgeist Management”

Noise Pop Show Review: Kneedelus and Kamasi Washington: Two Nights of Jazz in San Francisco

San Francisco’s Noise Pop Festival has been well known for packing hordes of genres and artists into their lineup, but rarely have they picked a collection of artists that are so solidly categorized as jazz musicians before anything else. True to the latter half of its name, the festival tends to want to pick acts that have those hooks and rhythms which you want to sing or dance along to with a common familiarity, or even are comfortable with hearing on the radio. There are, of course, certain acts (like seminal hardcore favorites Drive Like Jehu this year, or Yoko Ono a few years back) that defy such conventions, but you can generally bet on finding the bands to be less on the blatantly esoteric side of things. Thus, it was a bit of a risk throwing some jazz artists into the mix; however, it absolutely paid off, as all four shows (spread across two nights, two artists, and two venues) sold out, weeks in advance, and the two performers — elecronic-wizard-plus-jazz-quartet Kneedelus, and newly-Grammy’d tenor sax master Kamasi Washington — definitely did not disappoint.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

Thao Nguyen is a hometown hero. She’s continuously pushing the boundaries of folk music, and making the acoustic guitar an instrument you can dance to. Her 2013 record We The Common is a beautiful and thought provoking piece of work. She’s headlining the 20th St Block Party this weekend alongside Nick Waterhouse, Dominant Legs and many more. This is a totally free event, so there is no excuse not to come.

Spinning Platters had an opportunity to chat with Thao ahead of this performance. Here’s a bit of what we talked about: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down”

Noise Pop 2015 Has Arrived, and It’s Brought the Best Music Venue in the City With It

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What’s the best music venue in San Francisco? Ask this question in a crowd of concert junkies, and everyone will have a different answer. Then mention Swedish American Hall to them, and you’ll probably hear something like “Oh that place was so great!” And it was, it is, and will continue to be, as the fine folks at Noise Pop have taken over events curation there, and will be bringing their taste to what was always the most tasteful place for music in the entire city. This is like a euphoria of tastefulness. And last night’s kickoff event with Ben Gibbard and Zach Rogue was just the beginning. Continue reading “Noise Pop 2015 Has Arrived, and It’s Brought the Best Music Venue in the City With It”

Noise Pop Review: Dr Dog, Moses Sumney, Saint Rich at The Warfield, 3/1/14

Moses Sumney was a sentimental surprise as he kicked off the evening. His emotional acoustic and soulful balladry lifted everyone to the smiling, smooth side of R&B. His performance gave an opening emotional dynamic to the show by allowing a vulnerable, emotional connection to what was yet to come.

Just prior to Dr. Dog was Saint Rich. Saint Rich, a New Jersey skateboarding enthusiast, had an eccentric life stage performance. Complimented with the musical harmony but not to duplicate Dr.Dog.

Closing the exciting Noise Pop Festival was – Dr. Dog. When their fans packed the Warfield, Dr. Dog knew exactly how to respond with current favorites “The Truth” and “Lonesome” while blending in a favorites from the past such as “These Days” and “Oh No”.

Dr. Dog certainly has a loyal fan club in the Bay Area. The simple reason is, each of their albums sequentially build on the one before while remaining true to the original unique sound. Each performance enhances an appreciation of their vintage harmonizing sound. Still true to the east coast vibe; yet, unique enough to remain unclassified from the common pop and indie trend. Just one of many reasons Dr. Dog will remain a Bay Area favorite.

Local Spin: Interview With Social Studies

Social Studies have had an amazing year… They are currently gigging in support of last year’s excellent Developer, and have played high profile gigs at Noise Pop, Phono del Sol, Converse Represent, and most recently opening the Twin Peaks stage at Outside Lands. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Natalia Rogovin, Michael Jirovsky, Tom Smith, Ben McClintock, and Jesse Hudson about the past year’s experiences and the plan for the future. Special thanks to Raffi Youssoufian for helping me out with this interview. Social Studies are playing Bottom Of The Hill on Saturday, September 21st

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Noise Pop Review: Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Before The Brave, Kacey Johanssing at Great American Music Hall, 3/1/13

Normally, four band shows are too much to bear. However, the good folks ay Noise Pop managed to piece together a complete package that more than impressed. We got to enjoy for distinct musical projects that both complimented each other, and still remained entirely unique. We ended up enjoying 4 straight hours of great music.

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Noise Pop Show Review: The Thermals with Dirty Ghosts and The She’s at the Rickshaw Stop, 3/1/2013

It’s about halfway through Goddamn the Light that I realize something is off about the song. Up to this point, the Thermals set has been impeccable, but now there’s something clearly missing. The rhythm is all off, and as I scan the stage for an explanation, it dawns on me: The Thermals don’t have their drummer anymore. We have their drummer. Westin Glass has abandoned his kit to crowd surf, and he’s loving every minute of it.

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Noise Pop Review: Francisco The Band, Kitten at Bender’s Bar & Grill, 2/28/13

Noise Pop Happy Hours are once of the better kept secrets of the festival. They all happen at Bender’s Bar & Grill in the Mission- a great spot that serves some of the cheapest drinks of any music venue in town. They also serve tater tots. And who doesn’t like tater tots? It also gets you some really intimate performances for free, and set times that are early enough for the fans to get with day jobs to get to bed at a reasonable hour, or the hardcores can tackle two shows in one night! On this Thursday evening, I managed to battle rush hour traffic in order to head out to see a couple of bands over a delicious grilled macaroni & cheese.

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