the julie ruin – Spinning Platters

Robert Plant, Grace Jones, and more make up the best of 2015 concert photos

Grace Jones at Fox Theatre Oakland — Grace Jones is an icon in her own right. Her sold out show in Oakland, this past September, exceeded my wildest expectations.

Like many people contributing to Spinning Platters, 2015 was a full and busy year to the point where I didn’t have the time to write and share as much as I would’ve liked. I didn’t go out often and chose to prioritize client work (and a burgeoning drone hobby) over excessive concert-going.

However, quality of the subjects trumped the quantity of shows I attended – especially compared to years past (apologies for the over-used analogy, my mind is on Holiday break). Legendary acts, big names, and a combination of both crossed my lens in the pit this year alongside some up-and-comers that should be on your radar if they’re not already.

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Preview: Pitchfork Music Festival, 2015

This Friday, July 17th, through Sunday, the 19th, 45+ bands will descend upon Chicago’s Union Park to perform at the 10th annual Pitchfork Music Festival. Tickets are officially sold out and that’s hardly a surprise. The stellar line-up consisting of the most iconic underground acts includes Wilco, Run the Jewels, Sleater-Kinney, Jamie XX, Future Islands, Perfume Genius, The Julie Ruin, Caribou, and Shamir.

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Spinning Platters Presents The Official List of the Top 10 Albums of 2013

Though this album is great (and my favorite of the year), it just wasn't good enough for this list. It came in at unlucky number 11. — Though this album is great (and my favorite of the year), it just wasn’t good enough for this list. It came in at unlucky number 11.

If there’s one thing Spinning Platters does differently, and especially nerd-ish, it is our Album of the Year list. All the contributors get to nominate their favorite albums of the year (there were 53 nominees this year) then a grueling listening/voting process starts until we have it narrowed down to the top ten. While not everyone may agree with the final list, it is democratic and popular opinion that must rule. So without further ado, here is our top ten!

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/12/13-9/18/13

Remember when Adam Ant was a guest star on Northern Exposure? Remember Northern Exposure? Am I the only one that watched this show as a kid?

It’s another good week for rocking… We have a known recluse doing a rare tour, a bunch of holograms of rappers, an R&B singer that cannot allow more than two e’s in one word, a bay area classic rock double header, and half of Bikini Kill. Not bad, if I say so myself!

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Album Review: The Julie Ruin – Run Fast

The Julie Ruin will make existing Julie Ruin fans happy, as well as the younger siblings, nieces, and nephews of said fans. “Run Fast” is occasionally brilliant and rarely annoying. I had really high expectations, and they were almost met, with the tracks at the end of the album sounding about 20x better than the pre-release singles.

This paragraph is dedicated for some information fans may already know. Kathleen Hanna was a one-woman show using a pseudonym when she released the self-titled “Julie Ruin” in 1997. It was tremendous, but it was also the only release under that name. Fast forward 16 years, and Hanna leads a group called “the Julie Ruin,” who have released an album called “Run Fast.” Whether this has anything to do with Le Tigre’s “Let’s Run” is beyond me.

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