wilco – Spinning Platters

Album Review: “Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Record” by Various Artists

Dig Me Out is a classic record. In many ways, it opened up the worlds of both Riot Grrl and Indie Rock to bigger, more mainstream audiences. It’s also nearly perfect as it is. When it was first announced, Dig Me In left me with mixed feelings… There could be some truly great interpretations of these songs on this record. But why mess with a good thing? I mean, other than to raise money for SMYRC, an organization that provides queer and trans youth a safe place to make art, 25% of the proceeds from this release go to.

Anyways you can check this out yourself here, but my thoughts on it are below: Continue reading “Album Review: “Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Record” by Various Artists”

Album Review: Big Walnuts Yonder: Big Walnuts Yonder

What happens when four musicians record an album in three days? Well, as luck would have it, something amazing happens. At least, that’s the case for the debut release of Big Walnuts Yonder. Though they prefer to consider themselves an anti-supergroup—in that they consciously rebel against the cliche of bringing their known sounds to the group—when your band consists of Mike Watt (Minutemen, The Stooges), Nels Cline (Wilco, Nels Cline Singers), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof) and Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos), it is hard to resist slapping the “supergroup” label on them, but be warned, because this band is no mere supergroup, and they are full of surprises.

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Outside Lands 2015: 19 Instant Gig Reviews

Just a bunch of hippies in Golden Gate Park

Every year Outside Lands gets bigger and better. This year was a great year for a lot of reasons – it was an excellent, diverse and well-paced line up. They also switched up the set-up of the grounds this year, opening up walkways, adding more bathrooms and in general, making a much more comfortable festival experience. The weather was amazing, as well. None of the usual ice cold and overcast OSL, this year was all about having fun in the sun. I also got to see a slew of excellent sets of music & comedy!

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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 Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 8/1/13-8/7/13

The lack of bunnies will be at El Rio on Saturday

We are only about a week out from Outside Lands, so you better get warmed up.

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Show Review: Wilco with Cibo Matto at The Greek Theater – UC Berkeley, 9/21/12

Wilco-Greek-Theater-By-Emily-Anderson893 — Guitar god Nels Cline, as photographed by Emily Anderson.

When The Whole Love was released late last year, I believe that anyone that heard it knew that it was a record that was screaming for a tour. Of course, when it came out, instead of doing a big road show, they opted to play midsize theaters, locking out only the folks with the fastest internet connections or the pockets deep enough to purchase from a scalper. It took almost a year for these guys to finally book a full fledged tour, playing these songs the way they should be played- outdoors, in front of thousands of people. I guess they needed to really get to know these songs before playing them on the big stages. The wait paid off.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 9/20/12-9/26/12

littleboots — “I’m not going to the Folsom Street Fair, but my footwear is!”

Officially, this is the last weekend of Summer. Which means, of course, a lot of weird festivals. Including a 90’s rock festival, a leather fest, and an amazing multiband gig full of wonderful jangle pop!

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Show Review: Wilco, White Denim at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 1/31/12

The success of Chicago experimental-alt.country-indie rock combo Wilco really defies the conventions of a successful rock band. Where most bands become as big as they will get within about 5 years of performing, these guys seem to get bigger and bigger every year. At nearly 20 years into their career, they are doing a “small venue” tour of 3,000 seat theaters, and each date on this tour seemingly sold out in minutes. SpinningPlatters were lucky enough to check them out on the third night of a mini Bay Area tour, where the hit San Jose and San Francisco on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 1/26/12-2/1/12

awk — Tickets to see this guy go on sale Friday morning, but his pants are opening for Wilco all throughout the Bay Area this week.

The brain of Dakin Hardwick, our managing editor, looks like this right now: Sketchfest, Sketchfest, Sketchfest. So when he sat down to write our weekly guide to Bay Area Concerts, he just wrote “Sketchfest” next to everything. Now, I’m going to deny that you should be going to lots of Sketchfest events (and then reading about them here on Spinning Platters), but there are a few concerts worth mentioning this week. And if I mention a Sketchfest event, too, well …

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Spinning Platters Guide To Important Musicians That Passed Away In 2009

This is a list of musicians of import that passed away in 2009. There will be many that are missed. You will be upset about some that I may have passed over. (I’m looking at you, Man In The Mirror) So, get ready to pour one down for:

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