Single Of The Week: “The War Clock” by Various Artists

One the list of things you don’t know you needed- Kyp Malone of NYC art-rock legends TV On The Radio is in a psych-jazz band with John Dwyer of OSees and Dwyer-verse players Tom Dolas and Brad Caulkin. They are called Various Artists and their debut album is called Moon-Drenched. Or maybe this is just the band Bent Arcana’s second record? Either way, this track of a fierce piece of brain-melting fuckery that’s also 12 1/2 minutes of pure energy. Do you need something to help you focus on spreadsheets or cleaning the bathroom? This is it. Looking to get lost in your own head? This is also it. Just looking for guitar and sax fury? Yup! This is it.  The one thing “The War Clock” doesn’t sound like to me is actual war… The song is “happy” exciting, not “scary” exciting. You may interpret it as you wish. 

“The War Clock” can be played loud off Bandcamp and a full length, Moon-Drenched, is coming to this world on May 28th

Show Review: TV On The Radio, Nostalghia at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 3/31/15

_MG_7023TV On The Radio are at an interesting point in their career. The band’s age is such that they are no longer actively buzzed about, yet they don’t stay far enough removed from the music scene to ever be experiencing a “comeback.” A lot of bands can become a little lazy at this point, opting to simply release likable records that don’t really push any boundaries, and serve just as an excuse to tour; TV On The Radio, however, simply have too deep of an imagination to go that direction. As 2014’s Seeds will go down as one of the finest records of their career, the set they played at Oakland’s Fox Theater (their first proper headlining show around here since its release) may go down in history as their finest performance in the Bay Area.
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Spinning Platters’ Best Of 2014: Individual Staff Lists

One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014
One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014

2014 was a good year for music — you just had to lose yourself in something unsafe. – Staff Writer Jonathan Pirro.

A lot of people seemed mighty nonplussed by 2014’s recorded music output. Sure, there was a lot of somewhat generic, unimpressive stuff. However, if you did some real hunting, you’ll find that there was some incredibly impressive stuff out there. Here are Spinning Platter’s Staff’s individual lists of favorite records of 2014, starting with my own list:

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Treasure Island Festival Diary 2014, Day 2

All photos by Kelly Hoffer unless otherwise noted.
All photos by Kelly Hoffer unless otherwise noted.

I love a good music festival. Especially one where you can bask in the sun in October. It was another gorgeous day on the island. With even better music than the day before, if you could possibly believe that.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/5/11 – 5/11/11

Obvious photo choice. See Monday at Regency!
Este es el Cinco de Mayo edición de la lista semanal Mostrar, por lo que, por supuesto, me vino a la traductor Google, sólo para ver lo que pasó. Apuesto a que es todo un galimatías, pero le hará saber de esta manera codificada que tenemos un concurso. Correo electrónico promo@spinningplatters.com para ganar 2 entradas para ver A-Trak y Kid Sister a Mezzanine el 16 de Mayo. Comprar Entradas Aquí!

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Dakin’s SXSW Journal: 47 Instant SXSW Gig Reviews

 

It ain't no party unless the cops show up!

Another SXSW has passed, and this year, I intended on doing a daily diary, but the internet kind of sucked in our hotel, and I also really wanted to sleep, so instead you get this: a big, huge list of everything awesome at SXSW, including some amazing day parties thrown by our friends at Terrorbird, Force Field PR, Ticketfly, SPIN, NPR, and MOG (thanks!), leaving me pretty tired and delirious. For those of you that don’t want to read, I’ll sum it up: Best bands that I’ve never heard of before were Attic Ted, The Death Set, and DOM. The Kills did not kill, but TV On The Radio, Death From Above 1979, and The Dead Milkmen all played great comeback sets. Now, sit back, relax, have a Shiner Bock and read on:

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Outside Lands Festival Journal: Log 1, Day 2

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Os Mutantes!!!!!!!!!

Here’s my Outside Lands story. You may already be asking yourself why I am starting on Day 2. The answer is simple. I did not attend the first day. I went last year on Friday, and was so annoyed by the set up of the festival, that I did not attend again, and I was considering not doing it at all this year. I felt that security was far too sparse throughout the inside of the venue, and I also felt that they layout of the stages made it difficult to navigate through the venue. The biggest issue from 2008 was placing Radiohead on the main stage immediately after Beck played a side stage, which was about 15 minutes away by foot on a normal day, but they also made the walkway between the two stages about 2 people wide. To make matters worse, the audio kept cutting out during Radiohead’s set.

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Outside Lands Festival Diary: Part 3 — Saturday, 8/29/08

Like watching TV on the Radio in my backyard
Like watching TV on the Radio in my backyard

I was excited to wake up and find my cold had subsided, and off I went back to Golden Gate Park for an early afternoon of volunteering and listening to bands chosen especially for me based on their proximity to my volunteering site.  My exciting adventures for today included potentially getting food poisoning, a random passerby saying some really strange stuff to me, and almost getting into a fight.  Join me on Saturday at Outside Lands. Continue reading “Outside Lands Festival Diary: Part 3 — Saturday, 8/29/08”

TV On The Radio w/The Dirty Projectors at The Fox Oakland, 5/22/09

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Not everyone finds the same thing funny...

The old story is that whenever The Velvet Underground came to town, everyone at the show started a band.  On the contrary, whenever TV On The Radio come to town, everyone gives up.  Few bands seem to set the bar as high as these gentlemen from New York.

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