Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2008: Part 5

Magnetic Fields
"Nun's Littany" and "California Girls" - two examples of Stephen Merritt channeling the Jesus and Mary Chain and running away with it. Remember when the Raveonettes sounded like this? I wish they still did.

Maps of Norway
One song - "The Runout" and not much more is known about this Minnesota band. Just one compelling song, recalling the best of Blondie, New Wave, and the early 2000's revival. A beautiful female voice leading a crackerjack band. Thanks to MPR's Song of the Day for this.

Metric
Metric technically put out nothing in 2008 but that mattered none. With a late 2007 release of their Live at Metropolis DVD, and working on their new record for most of this year, the band didn't lose a step. The August concert at the Highline Ballroom may have been the show of the year for its consistency, for its absolute perfection. A month later, Emily and Jimmy showed up at Union Pool to play an acoustic set of the upcoming record, sans the much loved "Stadium Love". Late in the year, they gave Canadian radio "Help I'm Alive", a hopeful signature of a stellar album to come. If 2009 isn't going to be dominated by Metric, I'll be very surprised.

Murder by Death
With the stunningly good Red of Tooth & Claw, Bloomington's Murder by Death ended its long New York drought with a killer show at the Bowery Ballroom. They returned with an opening slot for Gogol Bordello at McCarren Park, and they'll be back again soon, making up for all the lost time. Considering how great Red of Tooth & Claw is, it should keep them going for a good couple of years.

MGMT
MGMT owned 2008 in both the mainstream and Indie circles. And though their shows are impossible to get into their music is not. "Time to Pretend" became a real hit in 2008, while "Kids" backed it up with an even catchier melody. "Electric Feel" had both of those songs beat plus the rest of the record and most of the music of the year. In fact, one of the best songs of the decade and one of the best party songs of all time.

My Teenage Stride
On the strength of the exceptional "To Live & Die in the Airport Lounge", one of the great local bands kept the spirit of pop alive. Their show at Don Hill's was fun and they promise to keep making good music but it will be hard to top that instant classic.

The National
Unlike most years, in which a Best Album of the Year loses its title to something from the same year heard in the ensuing 12-24 months, the National are looking good to hold onto 2007's title with Boxer. They didn't need to do much in 2008 so they put out The Virginia EP, a pleasant collection of Boxer excess plus some other tidbits. Ignoring the pretentious and poorly-directed documentary made about them, and considering their exquisite show at the BAM Opera House, as well as their fine opening for R.E.M., the National are heading into 2009 with the signature of a band with one foot in the door of all time greatness.

O’Death
Like a grimy snowball, the O'Death boys took their 2007 shenanigans and turned it into a full-on scuzzy hoedown in 2008, with extremely good opening slots for Murder by Death and Flogging Molly. And now they have the money to buy shirts so they have no excuses.

Obama
He may not play an instrument, he may not be able to sing, but Barack Obama either was part of or inspired a church of music that energized and emboldened a couple of generations to get together and elect the man President. With Stevie Wonder's "Sign, Sealed, Delivered" leading the charge, with Jay-Z and Will.I.Am keeping the youth involved and Will in particular making poetry of the man's words, with a couple of fellows named Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel playing TOGETHER for him, and a host of DIY tunes in the man's name spanning genres and continents, music never played such a big role in an election. Best moment: The use of U2's "City of Blinding Light" for his stage entrance at the Convention, capturing a slice of American history we will never forget and inspiring a re-evaluation of a forgotten gem from the band's last record.

The Okmoniks
Sexy, sexy, sexy. Oh and rock n' roll.

The Orion Experience
From their Luna Lounge performance early in the year to their CMJ jamboree at Public Assembly, the Orion Experience essentially introduced themselves in 2008 and aim to be sticking around. The band's album is a bevy of sexually charged bubblegum delight, led by "Sexy Dynamite", "The Queen of White Lies", and "Obsessed with You".

The Ting Tings @ McCarren Park Pool...Kind of.

The Ting Tings
@ McCarren Park Pool
Brooklyn, NY - July 27, 2008

So I went a bit late to the MGMT/Black Moth Super Rainbow/Ting Tings free show at the pool today. I arrived to the area with the Ting Tings already blasting from the speakers into the neighborhood. I intended to go in. But the line was just about the longest line for anything I have ever seen. It nearly wrapped around the entire square block of the pool (which if you haven't been there, is a BIG square block). Word came in late on other blogs that people were still waiting in the line to get into the show while MGMT was on. And no one was being let in by that point anyway.
From what I heard of the Ting Tings - which was pretty much the entire set - it actually sounded pretty darn good, considering they are a one hit wonder summer band that is reviled by anyone worth an ounce of Indie cred. In fact, they actually sounded VERY good. All that really matters are three nuggets: "Shut Up and Let Me Go", "Great DJ", and "That's Not My Name" and they all sounded exceptionally excellent. It must have been a lot fun inside the damn place. But the line proved to be too much, and then something came up so all Sonic Parthenon gig reviews for this day had to be shelved.

Should this really count as a gig review? Not really. But then again, if this could count, then why not the Ting Tings today?

And yeah, MGMT is THAT big. It's rather amazing. "Electric Feel" is one of the best songs of the year and the decade and that's all well and good - but THIS big?

MGMT

MGMT is one of the current crop of Brooklyn hipster bands but their big story is that they were discovered early by Columbia Records and signed to a major deal right off the bat, a sign that the big labels are looking to rethink their gameplan in the current music scene and industry.

"Time to Pretend" is a deserved hit, but "Kids" is their real showcase for just how good they actually are:

The Reign of Brooklyn

Again borrowing from Stereogum and again MTV profiles music: It's just about official now that Brooklyn not just dominates over Manhattan but exists as an independent, unjoined entity.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Brooklyn - and by Brooklyn this means only Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and now parts of Bushwick - is self-sustaining. Bands reside, record, and perform all in Brooklyn and now there are a host of different sized venues (from the holes-in-the-wall that Todd P cultivates to the Luna Lounge and Music Hall) for these bands to scale the ladder of.

This is all a bit confusing as it didn't seem that there would be any reason to disassociate Hipsterville East - Williamsburg - from Hipsterville West - The LES. One would truly have to be in the know, in the "scene" to distinguish a happening, creative flourish of activity in Brooklyn from one not happening in Manhattan. But in a way, it does make sense. The garage rock scene did die off - all the "the" bands seem to have disappeared, moved on, or changed their game. And while the Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Pianos, Cake Shop, and Arlene's Grocery all pack in a ton of excellent and creative acts - there is a sense of being stifled in the LES. If anything, it's a product of rent and migration. As more and more artists moved to Brooklyn as a means of survival, they turned Brooklyn into the self-sustaining city it is today. Why trek across the packed L train or pay expensive cab fares over the bridge when you can set up shop a few blocks away in a loft?

A few observations on the piece:
-The dismissal of not having Brooklyn roots was sort of obnoxious. It is doubtful that there is some backlash against these bands for not being made up of born-and-bred Brooklynites. Rock n' roll has never been organic to Brooklyn. It has been to Queens for some reason, but not Brooklyn. Brooklyn natives used to be pop singers and now they're mostly rappers. So relax. Fuggedaboutit!
-While Todd P is mostly correct in that none of these bands sound the same, most - at least those profiled on MTV - all seem to be inspired by the DIY-keep-it-dissonant ethic of the No Wave movement that were headlined once by Sonic Youth, again by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and will be headlined again by one of these bands. It all does sort of blend together after a bit.
-Kyp Malone may be seen all over Williamsburg but you know - you can see him all over Chelsea too. So there.

As all things of this nature go, there is always instant nostalgia for a few years before. All these come-and-gone live spaces longed for and remembered by a dwindling few as new blood comes to roost in the new hot spots. It's happened to Manhattan neighborhoods over and over and it will happen again in Brooklyn. As Zebulon has replaced Tonic, something in the next few years will probably replace Zebulon. And in 10-15 years, people in Sheepshead Bay, Canarsie, and Coney Island will talk about the old days of Yeasayer and MGMT at a Todd P party on Bushwick Ave (or something to that effect).
Of course by that time, Brooklyn may very well just be independent from Manhattan altogether (let's face it, it isn't just the hipsters that don't need Manhattan to survive...all the new immigrant communities all over the borough seem to be doing just fine) and we'll all be distracted by the Mayoral election contest between the incumbent old fogey Bruce Rattner and the insurgent relative youngster Elwood Pennypacker, whose coalition of Carribean, Russian, Chinese, and Hipsters, combined with a surprise endoresment from former President Bloomberg, could deliver City Hall at Erasmus to the upstart. Plus, the TV on the Radio reunion show at the Brooklyn Dodgers first game back home since '57 will be all the rage. You never know...