Sonic Parthenon's The Year In Music 2007: Part 5

“Shabop Shalom” by Devandra Banheardt
This one got annoying really fast, especially lyrically, but the melodic roots of weirdo Devandra’s shane madel soliloquy are hard to pass up.
Listen here

Spoon

• Songs: “The Underdog”; “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb”

Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was more than praised on the year-end lists and whatever whatever, the point is, these two tracks showcase Britt and the gang at their best. Pleasant and pop-filled, that is where Spoon succeeds and always with a little bit of funk or soul to boot. If only they had more oomph, they would be all over this blog like some other bands.

Cherry Bomb on SNL

Southpaw
If Terminal 5 owned the major acts during the final quarter of the year, Southpaw held down the fort for the entirety of it. The Dirtbombs, Reigning Sound, the Raveonettes, Black Tie Revue, Electric Six, and Les Sans Culottes all had fun there this year.

St. Vincent

• Song: “Paris is Burning”

“Marry Me” and “Paris is Burning” are but two of the reasons that Annie Clark is a resident Indie cutie. Oh yeah, and she has substance too. Just make sure she has a band backing her.


Stephanie’s Id

• Live Show
• Record: Grus Americanus
  

One random night at Sidewalk can do wonders. One of the great secrets on the Indie circuit (a secret for now at least), Ashevillians Stephanie’s Id should be a force to reckon with in the coming years.
Live Slice

Terminal 5
I think I live here. That’s right, there’s a little cubby hole for Elwood D. Pennypacker to crawl into at night. This makes it easier since it feels like there is a Sonic Parthenon gig review from Terminal 5 just about every night of the week. The National kicked off the joint (with St. Vincent), and very quickly the place was overwhelmed by Gogol Bordello, Band of Horses, the Hold Steady, Art Brut, 1990s, and Ween. And in the interim, the Shins, Justice and M.I.A. held down the fort. Quite the line-up for a brand new place, right off the bat. It’s like an expansion team starting out with all-stars. And the madness continues next year with Blonde Redhead, the Raveonettes, and Cat Power, among others, booked. But it’s all going to be a wash if the Bowery Presents can’t find a way to improve the sound quality in the house. It’s too drum and bass heavy. Vocals are done a disservice. And even worse than that, crowd control and movement is a problem on many nights because of the way they laid out the place. And of course on top of all that is the out of the way location. They may want to consider shuttle busses or vans to Columbus Circle.

Uncle Monk

• Live Show

Ol’ Tommy Ramone is having a blast with his bluegrass project and he’s making us all have a blast with him.


Union Hall
Not to be outdone by Southpaw or even big, bad Terminal 5 – yuppie Union Hall, the most beautiful looking venue in the city, had a very good year with the Hard Lessons, the XYZ Affair, and a trio of the Chicago bands – the Changes, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and the 1900’s. Rumors are going around that the owners will shift the venue to an out of the ways spot in Sunset Park (offset by rumors that the owners of the old Bottom Line are contemplating a joint in the same place). They shouldn’t do it.

Vampire Weekend
The most pushed blog band of the year, Vampire Weekend delivered on all the promises by other people and even withstood the insta-backlash. More one dimensional with their Afro-centric pop than the last mega-hyped band, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, VW will nevertheless be good to have around for a long while.
SPTV's Most Popular Video:


VHS or Beta

• Live Show
• Record: Bring On The Comets
• Songs: “Can’t Believe A Single Word”; “Burn It All Down”
  

Kinda dorky and so-cool-they’re-square, VHS or Beta is certainly not afraid to do what they do. And they do it damn well. Be tough all you want, you are dared not to move to “Can’t Believe A Single Word” and “Burn It All Down”. And quiet, alone time is what “Fall Down Lightly” is made for. Very sneakily, they are kind of one of the bands of the year. Yeah, go figure. Good for them!

November 2007 Concert Calendar Highlights

-Four nights in a row at Terminal 5 put the new venue into the big time starting tonight: 2 nights of the Decemberists, then Gogol Bordello, then Band of Horses.

-Josh Rouse lights up the Blender this Friday and Saturday while Josh Ritter does it at Webster Hall a week from Friday.

-Carina Round has a month-long Wed residency at the Living Room for most of the month but she makes a stop over at Zebulon on Sat 11/17.

-Talk about contrasts: The Pipettes on Mon the 12th at Blender and Reverend Horton Heat with Hank 3 the next night at Highline.

-The Hold Steady and Art Brut and 1990's all together at Terminal 5 on Wed the 21st. Could be the show of the year...

-Some guys named Gene and Dean Ween. Last day of the month. Again, Terminal 5. Fiesta!!!!

-Also this month: The Sonics, Sea Wolf, VHS or Beta, Electric Six, the Woggles, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Battles.

Sonic Parthenon TV Insta-Clips

Ta Da!

Presenting a series of short clips, taken mostly from Mr. Pennypacker's mobile cellular device. These clips are, for the most part, utterly horrible - not because of the bands obviously, but because of the nature of the device used to take them. But nevertheless, they stand as a record of Sonic Parthenon giggage, and also they stand because Mr. Pennypacker does not know how to use Bluetooth.
As a sample, here is a little of Camera Obscura (yes, I know, I can't stop writing about them!) from their intimate performance at Sound Fix:

Also, the DirtBlanche clips have been moved to this playlist.

Cheers for Louisville Asian Dance Rock AKA VHS or Beta

VHS or Beta; Walter Meego; Team Robespierre
@ Studio B
Brooklyn, NY - August 30, 2007

Boy if I had a nickel for every Louisville, Kentucky-based dance-rock band led by an Asian-American...
VHS or Beta has had some bad hairdo's. But they cut those messes down en route to their first full fledged Brooklyn show. And it was a show that revealed the best and worst of the club-beat sub-genre of rock n' roll. It was plenty of good-time rockin' dance beats but the laptop which the drummer used went on the fritz and the show had to stop. At the second stoppage, with the crowd getting restless, I hightailed it out of there but not before catching "Can't Believe A Single Word":


More Photos Here
Walter Meego was the straight up club act of the night, mixing the Pet Shop Boys with rave/techno and typical club music. When they leaned towards the first element, they were pretty solid but overall - as is par for the course with club music - it got tiring pretty quickly. More importantly, the Meego gang are from Chicago, adding the dance-rock element for what appears to be a growing eclectic Windy City scene.

Team Robespierre are named after one of the most intriguing and compelling figures in world history. The band's music, however, is slightly less compelling. A hardcore punk band with rapid club and electro beats behind them, Team R is probably considered art-punk in some Brooklyn circles but really it's just a bunch of noise. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's just not for everyone. But one word to the moshing hipsters: Take off your backpack when you mosh, you muppets!

Artist of the Week: VHS or Beta

The Louisville dance-rock band known as VHS or Beta will boogie down for all the kids at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday and Studio B on Thursday. Listen to "Can't Believe A Single Word", the ultra catchy new single that ought to be the number 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, and watch "Night on Fire" below: