The Sonic Parthenon Playlist: Autumn and the End of 2010, Part 2

Land of Talk - "Sweet Coin"
Land of Talk returned in 2010 with another dose of doe-eyed melancholy. This one has a pulsing beat that can actually make you move.

The Limousines - "Internet Killed The Video Star"
If/When the Sonic Parthenon Radio Hour actually takes off the ground at Thor Radio, don't be too surprised if this is the first song played. Apart from its obvious message, this song from a San Francisco duo, pulls a fast one - complaining about the youth's turn from instruments and three chords to synths and pop factory tween hits by sounding just like the latter. Except in a good way. I haven't seen an ironic soap box stand like this since Sideshow Bob used television in order to decry it.

Menomena - "Taos"
Menomena - Dooo Dooo Dooo Dooooo - Menomena - Dooo doo doooo doooooo. Sorry. This eclectic Indie band has a fun, fast, noisy shambles here.

Nick Curran And The Lowlifes - "Kill My Baby"
Nick C and the somethings eh?Hey he's allowed, lay off him. Besides have you heard this pyschobilly boogie swing number? He's going to kill his baby if she don't stop messin' around. I'd believe him if I was you.

Pomegranates - "Skull Cakin'" and "50's"
I first heard Pomegranates on a WOXY live session in 2007 or 8 or so. It was nice but it didn't get me. NOW they got me. Holy moly - out of nowhere, Pomegranates belted out a superb punky song in "Skull Cakin'" and they also threw out there a charming, more (oh no) 80's-ish, power pop song in "50's". One of the best surprises of the year. Good work boys!

Ra Ra Riot - "Boy"
Ra Ra Riot finally, finally, finally have a new album and it took three years to put out more of the same. But that's OK. They still got the charm and the grace.

Stars - The Five Ghosts
While it's by no means another In Our Bedroom After The War, The Five Ghosts is also not the total clunker I've heard described as such. Stars are so smooth as to barely count as anything other than lite music - but they do it with such a fine knack, who could argue?

Superchunk - "Digging For Something"
As I slowly work my way through the years of rock music, going back and picking up the bands I didn't catch on my initial forays, I finally caught up with Superchunk this year, no doubt aided by this fantastic anthem off their new record.

Tired Pony - "Get on the Road"
When I first listened to this song, I was struck by its dramatic beauty. I immediately pictured a solo guy or a male/female duo specializing in alt-country style Indie rock. Probably hailing from the mountain or plains states but too pop for Saddle Creek. But it turns out Tired Pony is Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol with a bunch of friends. Namely Peter Buck. On this song, his best friend is Zooey Deschanel. First, it all makes sense - the song has that familiar slow, build-up, repeat, slow, build-up, repeat Snow Patrol pattern. Second - Zooey has passed the test. Without hype, instant obvious appearance, or any warning - it was just a natural positive response to what I heard.

Thee Oh Sees - "I Was Denied"
Oh I'm tired of garage rock and child-like playing and attitudes. I'm tired of noise and volume for volume's sake and the "la la la la"'s. Except - I like this garage rock and this kind of attitude and this kind of noise and this kind of volume and I love this kind of "la la la la"'s. Damn You Oh Sees!

Wavves - "King of the Beach"
Man Wavves was crap when he debuted. And his behavior didn't do him any favors. Well he grew up fast and made this exceptional rock song, an anthem for the summer (if I had heard it in the summer) and one of the best songs of the year.

Wolf Parade - Expo '86
It took a long time but I finally got around to hearing the rest of this (final?) record from Wolf Parade. In addition to the two great songs I heard before, add "Pobody's Nerfect" to the list of the best of 2010.

Honorable Mentions:
Maximum Balloon - "Absence of Light (feat. Tunde Adepimpe)" (Sitek's solo project)
The Mean - "Mahalia" (sounds like relatives of the Black Keys).
Stag - "These Times" (the last number 1 song of 2010 on the weekly countdown and likely to be the first of 2011 - more on this in the first recap of the next year).

Ra Ra Riot; The Antlers @ BAM

Ra Ra Riot; The Antlers
@ BAM
Brooklyn, NY - February 5, 2010

Ra Ra Riot should in theory have a new record coming out soon and one or two of the songs during this set at the Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival at the Howard Gillman Opera House should have been from that new record but the band made no mention of it. It didn't matter as what they played was focused and captivating, and all the songs from The Rhumb Line continue to give this Syracuse band a worthy lease on life.

The Antlers are not like any other band that bridges the gap between distortion no wave and pop music. Rather than meld the two together, they force these two styles to smash against each other and then fall back leaving both parts equally concrete as they stood before. This isn't always effective. Additionally, the serious, nervous band's penchant for flourishing, rising build-ups that then just peter out are a few too many. But it does come together. It certainly came together often on the Hospice record. It really comes together on one magical number called "Two" though there were enough deviations from the recorded version to make you wonder where this band was going to go.

Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2008: Part 6

Pela
A spectacular live show at the Music Hall in February and the continued strength of "Waiting on the Stairs" really brought home the notion that Pela is one of the seriously good bands out there.

Jack Peñate
"Second, Minute, or Hour" and "Spit at Stars" were just two of the reasons that Jack Peñate was one of the good surprises of 2008 but they were all he needed. Insatiably catchy, Mr. Peñate's music should be a hit not just in his native England but here in the States as well. He ought to be bigger.

Ra Ra Riot
Without question one of the best albums of the year, The Rhumb Line showcased that the only thing more dramatic than Ra Ra Riot's story is their music. Picking up where Arcade Fire left off, these Syracuse cohorts may be even better than that generally considered Indie Pop Band of the Decade. So far, they've established a perfect record, nailing each and every one of their songs with the right texture, density, and pacing. Being one of the few genuine highlights of the Siren Festival this year certainly helped make their case.

Ray LaMontagne
"Meg White" was more creepy than good, but the soul-drenched "You Are The Best Thing" was one of the great stand-outs of the year.

R.E.M.
"Supernatural Super Serious" was evidence that R.E.M. was coming back in a solid way and their show at Madison Square Garden proved it. One of the all time great live bands and one of the few who can tame big, bad, hollow, MSG.

Raphael Saadiq
His 2008 record, The Way I See It, is a wonderful romp through vintage 60's soul and R&B. "Love That Girl" is not just the standout, it's the best Soul song of the year and frankly, of the decade. Vintage and retro sounds may be growing tired to some, but no one can deny the power, spirit, and execution exerted by Saadiq.

She & Him
Few had a year quite like Zooey Deschanel, and by extension Matt Ward. Actually, it's a safe bet that no one else did. Their meeting on the set of The Go-Getter led to the birth of She & Him and the exceptional Volume One LP. Crass cynicism dictated Zooey would be weak and Matt would suffer for it. It turned out that Zooey has a tasteful devotion to quality American music, and a knack for how to write it and sing it herself, aided by the surefire hand of Mr. Ward. They put on a couple of more-than-decent live shows to boot, at Webster Hall and Terminal 5 respectively.
If that wasn't enough, The Go-Getter is still the best movie I've seen all year, fueled in part by filmmaker Martin Hymes' excellent soundtrack (that included artists like the Black Keys in addition to Ward), to say nothing of Zooey's sharp performance (arguably her best work). Hell, she even made Jim Carrey's weak-looking Yes Man movie appear halfway decent with the jokey 80's pop novelties that were released in advance of the film. Now if only she hadn't also starred in the Worst Movie Ever Made that also happened to come out this year (The Happening) and her 2008 would have been perfect.
Late breaking gossip news: Apparently, Zooey is now to be hitched to Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie who this year put out their first batch of music that did not put me instantly to sleep. It does seem now that with the exception of M. Night Shyamalan, Zooey indeed has the Midas touch.

Sons & Daughters
The great Scots came to NYC with some excellent shows in support of This Gift, and while "Rebel With the Ghost" was enough to keep people interested, it was "Gilt Complex" that cemented Sons & Daughters in our minds.

Submarines
"You & Me & The Bourgeois" from Honeysuckle Weeks was a track to remember and their live show at the Merc was one of the sweeter nights of a roller coaster year. Seriously, what a single though.

Siren Music Festival 2008: Ra Ra Riot, Jaguar Love, Times New Viking, Annuals, The Dodos

Siren Music Festival 2008: Ra Ra Riot, Jaguar Love, Times New Viking, Annuals, The Dodos
@ Coney Island
Brooklyn, NY - July 19, 2008

The location of SPHQ makes for a quick report from this year's heat-drenched, over-stuffed, poorly laid-out Coney Island affair. Let's do it in order of the bands seen.

It was hard to tell whether the poor Main Stage sound system was at fault for not hearing the Dodos or if it was the Dodos themselves. I couldn't tell when they stopped or started playing a song. Nor did it sound like anything of shape was coming out anyway. Once I saw the Xylophone being played on what seemed like mute, I decided to check out Annuals over at the Stillwell Stage.

Annuals' indie pop sounded pretty decent for the few minutes that I caught. No complaints here except that I wanted to check out Times New Viking AND get a Warriors t-shirt from the surf shop so I had to go.

A t-shirt, a lamb/chicken/rice platter, and a walk later, it was time for Times New Viking. The first batch of songs sounded peppy, highly spirited, and not too dissimilar from Titus Andronicus. And everyone was having a good time including all the big sunglasses wearing hipsters, the shirtless men (of which there were enough to constitute their own demographic), and the annoying beach ball throwers. After a bit however, the band started to sound a bit redundant and sloppy, and the personal space was also becoming a bit eradicated, so it was time for another trip to the Stillwell Stage.

After about a full minute, I had enough of Jaguar Love. I don't quite know what the hell that was but it wasn't the band that made "Bats Over The Pacific Ocean", no sir.

Back at the Main Stage for the last time, it was time to settle in for Ra Ra Riot and Islands.

Ra Ra Riot probably sounds pretty darn good in a nice, small, well-spaced venue with adequate temperature. Their sweet, well-crafted orchestral rock sounds are more down home in spirit than they are proggy, but there is still something vaguely classical about them and it's a good thing. But alas, the poor sound system at the Main Stage struck again and the band became drowned out in a chorus of hipster talk, Cyclone screams, an echo chamber, some kind of a speaker sound delay in the back, and various Astroland cacophonies. Shade had begun to win out the day over the heat but it wasn't enough, and old Pennypacker had to pack it in and forgo a listen to Islands.