Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
What you might be thinking is, “why does he get to write all of his Noise Pop comments in one post when everyone else did full reviews of each night they went?” From an excuse standpoint, I’ll just say that I’ve been so busy editing posts, resizing & captioning photos, and redesigning the website, I decided to give myself a little slack. (Editor’s privilege?) But really, this all started because of Wednesday night.
The well matched line up at The Independent on Thursday night was a reinvestment in soulful swagger of rock n’ roll. Even from the street, I could hear the wailing from the stage. As I stood impatiently in the rain, chomping at the bit to get inside, I realized that I was not the only one. My lovely neighbor in queue Erica, with her beautiful rainproof parasol, had just walked 13 blocks after looking for parking for an hour to see them. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: The Stone Foxes, The Soft White Sixties, The Ferocious Few and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Indepdendent, 2/24/11”
Last night was freezing, and the hot toddies at Café du Nord hit the sweet spot. The waft of warm whiskey, lemon and clove set a tone for the evening filled with intoxicating songs, indie style. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Versus with Telekinesis, The Love Language and The Burnt Ones at Cafe Du Nord, 2/23/2011”
Nearly a year ago to the day, the Fox Theater played host to the first big act of the 2010 Noise Pop Festival, which arrived in the form of Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. The group’s first arrival to the Bay Area was met with wild enthusiasm, and the set itself was a scene of sonic mass hysteria, with the warbles and shrieks of Yoko accompanying the wild swing and over-the-top rock of her backing band. It seems only fitting, therefore, that the following year needed to be kicked off in a similar manner — a night of balls-out rock, groovy jams, and snarling static chaos — which is probably the main reason why the New Jersey indie rock trio Yo La Tengo was invited to the Fox Theater for the first night of the 2011 Noise Pop Festival.
Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Yo La Tengo with The Urinals at The Fox Oakland, 2/22/2011”
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”
Sure, one could write hundreds of words about each band on the bill at the Treasure Island Music Festival, but then the entire comment section would be filled with a lot of “tl;dr” comments, which aren’t much fun. And I could write a “best-of” post, which basically translates to “I took a nap during Jamaica’s set.” Instead, in the tradition of our fan-favorite Instant Album Reviews columns, I instantly review Saturday Treasure Island Music Festival, with the help of some great photos from David Price. Continue reading “Day 1 of Treasure Island Music Festival 2010 — Instant Band Reviews”
On episode 18 of the Spinning Platters Podcast, we welcome Carlos Rodela of All of Us Are Famous to discuss Noise Pop, the best way for bands to sell music, our own history in bands, and various other topics. You can subscribe to the podcast by pushing the giant button to your left, or you can listen below. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Podcast: Episode 18 — Too Late For Goodbyes”
The Limousines
The Limousines were already on stage when I walked in a bit late. The first thought that popped into my head was “this is going to be boring, because the music was very bland.” First impressions though are a dangerous thing because they are often way off the mark. After less than a minute, when the song changed and the beat started resonating with my heart beat, I started swinging my hips a little bit. The crowd was very much loving The Limousines. I can’t say the drunk energy was infections, rather it made me a bit envious that I wasn’t as drunk as everyone else; because maybe I would have enjoyed them more. By the end of their set there was still a little blah quality that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. At one point I thought it was either the singer’s voice or the lyrics. And since I didn’t particularly dislike the singer’s voice, I guess by default that means the lyrics were what I didn’t like. I felt that there wasn’t anything being said in the lyrics of the songs, as if a bunch of random words were strung together; nor was there any obvious difference from one song to the next.
Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Wallpaper, The Limousines and Butterfly Bones at Slim’s, 2/26/10”
Noise Pop is over, and what better way to bring the festival to an end than Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It was a lazy Sunday here in the city, so lazy that I lazily missed the opening bands at Bimbos and spent 20 minutes looking for parking because I was too lazy to take public transportation to beautiful Bimbo’s 365 Club.
But enough about my inability to be on time, let’s talk about Mr. Sharpe (actually Alex Ebert, front man of Ima Robot), his merry band of bards, and their ability to perform. It would be an understatement to say that they put on a great show. They had the crowd at a very giggly “Hello, San Diego!” There was enough flannel in the audience to clothe Williamsburg in the winter, and by the smell of things, everyone was a jolly as the crowd at Woodstock. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes at Bimbo’s 365 Club, 2/28/10”
“You’re REAL handsome.” This is what the toothless bum, who was propositioning me for a 3-way said, as I made my way to the Herbst Theater for The Magnetic Fields. I was running a real tight schedule and unfortunately I had no time for a toothless-three-way, I had a show to get to.
The Magnetic Fields were first introduced to be in the form of 69 Love Songs. I was amazed that I’d never heard of the band and even felt a little embarrassed. Since then the Merritt-led band have been gracing my iPod playlists, adding some unique perspectives on love and sound. They’re the type of band that most of your friends don’t know about and you feel real proud when you’re the one to pop their Fields cherry. Continue reading “Noise Pop Show Review: Magnetic Fields at the Herbst Theater, 3/1/10”