rufus wainwright – Spinning Platters

Film Review: On My Way

Deneuve’s compelling performance salvages run-of-the-mill French dramedy

Catherine Deneuve’s Bettie and Nemo Schiffman’s Charly share a tranquil moment in On My Way.

With her new film On My Way, French writer/director Emmanuelle Bercot has made a fairly standard finding-yourself-late-in-life picture (see About Schmidt and Something’s Gotta Give, among others), with the saving grace that the inestimable Catherine Deneuve is its star. Deneuve elevates what could have been a dime-a-dozen quirky French dramedy into a picture worth watching, if only for her performance. Continue reading “Film Review: On My Way”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/11/2010-11/17/2010

Old queen extraordinaire Rufus Wainwright brings her latest extravagant musical project to San Francisco for its world premiere this weekend. Photo by Michael Forester.

Check out the concerts happening around the Bay Area this week — after the jump.

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 11/11/2010-11/17/2010”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/19/2010-8/25/2010

full-house-1 — Pictured: Crowded House, playing The Warfield on August 23rd.

Howdy, Bay Area live music fans! I’ve got a great week for you! It’s a good time for you to stop sleeping for a while!

Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/19/2010-8/25/2010”

New Release Round Up 4/20/10 – 43 Instant Album Reviews

Kitsune9 — What's better than some 420 on 4/20? When one of these comes out.

Man I got through a lot of albums this week. Not a record but I kinda don’t know where I’m at right now. Need to go outside and lay in the sun. Continue reading “New Release Round Up 4/20/10 — 43 Instant Album Reviews”

New Release Round Up 9/22/09 – 29 Instant Album Reviews

This band is not made up of girls. Didn't they learn their lesson from Barenaked Ladies?

When Pouria started writing this weekly column, he said there might be weeks where he was too busy to listen to 30-or-so albums. I said, “no problem, we can get a guest columnist on those weeks.” So when he told me this week that he was too busy doing stuff like seeing Bon Iver to write this week’s column, I said “wait, you were serious about that?” Since I hadn’t arranged a guest, I’m doing it myself. Let’s just say that doing this is a lot harder than Pouria makes it look. Now, on to the mini-reviews. Continue reading “New Release Round Up 9/22/09 — 29 Instant Album Reviews”

Spinning Platters Picks Six: An Early Educated Guess At Bridge School

So, Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit is October 24th-25th. For those that aren’t already aware, Neil and Pegi Young have a school for the developmentally disabled. Every year, they put together an acoustic show with a few friends in the business. In the past, these friends have included Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, Green Day, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ministry, and, well, the list can go on for miles. Today, I am going to try to predict six of the bands playing. They usually announce the bill about six weeks in advance, so we have a bit more time, and as some acts get confirmed, I will revise the bill. Well, on with the show: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: An Early Educated Guess At Bridge School”

The Leaky Faucet: Mika – Songs For Sorrow

Retail Release Date: June 8th, 2009 (only available on mikasounds.com)

Leaky Faucet Acquisition Date: May 15h, 2009

Mika is a singer-songwriter from Lebanon via England. He released a record in 2007 called Life In Cartoon Motion, a glorious pop record that was equal parts Donna Summer, Queen, Rufus Wainwright, and Erasure. He also writes songs that tell stories so vividly that one could call him the Bruce Springsteen of disco.

On May 15th, he’s releasing an EP of acoustic songs to tide people over until his next full length record, due out next year. He also enlisted some of his favorite artists to make original works to help tell the stories on this EP. Continue reading “The Leaky Faucet: Mika — Songs For Sorrow”