There was the music of 2008, and then there was all the wacky and notable stuff that happened in between. Pitchfork's intrepid team of newswriters work full-time to bring that stuff to your computer screen, but we're always too busy looking ahead to spend much time looking back. Except for right now.
Today we continue an annual tradition with the 2008 Year in News, a roundup of music-related triumph, tragedy, and kookery from the pages of Pitchforkmedia.com over the past year.
Or, if you will, all the news that's fit to reprint.
__ JANUARY __
"TURN ON ME"
- Detail from photo by Brian Tamborello *
The year began on a sour note, as the fallout from a lovers' spat between Shins keyboard player Marty Crandall and his model/reality TV star girlfriend Elyse Sewell careened headlong into cyberspace.
Charges of domestic assault were hurled in both directions, landing the combatants in jail for a spell and sending their case to court, where it was swiftly dismissed.
Here's what we learned:
1. Don't air your dirty laundry on the internet. 2. Be nice.
PORTISHEAD RETURN
- Photo by Eva Vermandel *
Like the, uh, Guns N' Roses of trip-hop, Portishead made a long-awaited return to record store shelves in 2008 with their own sort-of Chinese Democracy (and first studio album in some 11 years), __ Third __ .
The brooding Bristol three-piece also followed the success of a December 2007 ATP appearance with a headlining spot on the Coachella bill (at least until Prince came along) and a full-blown tour of, well, a bunch of places not even remotely close to where I live. Hey, good thing there's this new Portishead record in which to drown my sorrows.
INDIE ROCK HUNGER FORCE
In what will no doubt prove a touchstone in the careers of these two musicians, Neko Case and Queens of the Stone Age frontguy Josh Homme saw cute little cartoon likenesses of themselves appear on Cartoon Network program/parade of postmodern weirdness "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". Homme had the honor of joining T-Pain in portraying homicidal ventriloquist dummies (that's homicidal , not homo phobic) in a March episode. Case, fellow alt-country chanteuse Kelly Hogan, and, for some reason, former Philadelphia Phillies all-star John Kruk played a trio of alluring singing sirens in January. Man, and people say Lil Wayne is on some next-level shit.
DAVE "DAY" HAVLICEK, EVAN FARRELL, OLGA SARANTOS, R.I.P.
January saw the passing of Dave "Day" Havlicek (pictured at left), electric banjo player for pioneering proto-punks/concept rockers the Monks. The same month we were also saddened to learn of the late 2007 deaths of Magnolia Electric Co. touring member and former Rogue Wave bassist Evan Farrell (pictured at center), and Olga Sarantos (pictured at right), grandmother to the Fiery Furnaces' Friedberger siblings, and whose voice should be familiar to fans of the Furnaces' 2005 album Rehearsing My Choir .
__FEBRUARY ____
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CONVERSE ADVERTISES VIA DEAD PEOPLE, DEAD SONG
Because nothing says "buy shoes" like a bunch of dudes who died too soon, Ian Curtis, Sid Vicious, James Dean, and Hunter S. Thompson were among those whose images were appropriated for a mildly bizarre Converse shoes ad campaign. These dead icons went toe-to-toe-- literally-- with a number of living ones in the ads, including M.I.A., Karen O, Common, Joan Jett, and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong.
A later portion of the same campaign utilized the likenesses of the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Pharrell Williams, Santogold, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger, Kid Sister, and YACHT's Jona Bechtolt, among others.
Just in case all that didn't get you reaching for your wallet, Casablancas, Pharrell, and Santogold also joined forces for a stinker of a sneaker tune that probably made a few people at least contemplate an early demise.
__ NO DEPRESSION IN HEAVEN__
Lighthouse Digest-- "the magazine for lighthouse enthusiasts!"-- is somehow still a thing that exists, but alas, No Depression magazine is no more (on paper, at least). The folks behind the alt-country/Americana/twangy stuff monthly announced in February that their forthcoming 75th issue would be the magazine's last. But weep not, for No Depression has passed on to a better place: the internet.
JOHN MCCAIN'S DAUGHTER LIKES MUSIC, IS POSSIBLY CONFUSED
Long before there was Joe the Plumber or Gayle the Crazy Lady, indie folks had a few election season LOLs thanks to Meghan McCain the Music Blogger. In February, the spawn of Republican Presidential candidate John McCain tried to pass off posting an anti-Reagan Ramones song by citing Johnny Ramone's conservative bent. But the real head-scratcher came as the Presidential race was heating up in late September: Meghan followed the first McCain/Obama debate by highlighting as her "Song of the Day" a certain "Ping Pong" by staunch capitalists/raving neocons Stereolab. Yeah, just read the lyrics.
As Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier later quipped in her delightful French accent just before performing the song at a show in Chicago, "The irony!"
WORLD'S GREATEST WASTE OF SPACE?
A Pennsylvania man made headlines in February after putting the self-described "World's Greatest Music Collection" up for auction.
At 3,000,000 records, it was hard to argue the "world's greatest" claim, although apparently it was even harder to argue the necessity of such a veritable warehouse full of music: to date, the buyer is still seeking a new home for his crazy thing.
HENDRIX COLLABORATOR BUDDY MILES, R.I.P.
On February 26, the world lost veteran drummer, Jimi Hendrix collaborator, and voice of the California Raisins Buddy Miles, who passed away in his Austin, Texas home at the age of 60.
Other notable deaths in February included those of Dave Clark Five vocalist Mike Smith, Pere Ubu guitarist Jim Jones, Void drummer Sean Finnegan, and "father of Christian rock" Larry Norman, as well as a pair of legendary producers: Joe Gibbs and Teo Macero.
MARCH
BJÖRK BEEFS WITH SERBIA AND CHINA
- Photo by Kathryn Yu *
What's in a word? Plenty, if that word is "Kosovo" and it's uttered by Björk in the context of her hyper-protest-song "Declare Independence". Same goes for "Tibet" when shouted out during a performance of the same song in, whoops, China. Iceland's finest found herself in hot water with officials at Serbia's EXIT Festival following the first incident; after some he-said/she-said, Björk ended up not playing the festival. She also managed to upset some folks and actually influence Chinese policy-makers with the second outburst.
In a show of true Björkian awesomeness, the lady stood by her words. Still, uh, maybe it's a good thing she didn't play, like, Georgia this year.
PULLED A RADIOHEAD
Trent Reznor continued the now-familiar In Rainbows model of spontaneous album releasing by springing instrumental opus Ghosts I-IV upon an unsuspecting world in March, complete with a modified pay-what-you-want plan. He did it again with the free download release of The Slip in May, while the Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Girl Talk, and Bloc Party all pulled similar stunts throughout the year with Consolers of the Lonely, The Odd Couple, Feed the Animals, and Intimacy, respectively. Golly, it's as if the way people consume music is fundamentally changing or somethin', huh?
CONDOMWATCH 2008
It's like my mama always told me: "Son, you're going to reach an age when you'll be with someone special and you'll start to get certain... feelings. When that happens, you just ask yourself: What would Marky Ramone and Lil Wayne do?"
BE YOUR OWN PET ALMOST KILLED ME
Nevermind that they toured with She Wants Revenge, a band who made a freakin' chorus out of the line "I wanna fucking tear you apart". Be Your Own Pet were the ones in the hot seat after Ecstatic Peace's major label overlords Universal made the decision to cut three songs from the U.S. edition of the righteous rockers' sophomore album Get Awkward-- three songs deemed "too violent." Oh excuse me, did I say "cut"? I meant "gently remove."
XL Recordings had the last laugh, capitalizing on the controversy by issuing the "banned" tracks in the U.S. on the Get Damaged EP in June.
Meanwhile, frontlady Jemina Pearl shared her frustrations with Pitchfork, declaring, "We just do the things we like to do-- like set things on fire." Which reminds me: Why, God, did this band have to break up?
RACHAEL RAY, TOTAL HIPSTER
Well, we knew Rachael Ray had good taste, but not quite like this: in March, the "30 Minute Meal" maven hosted her very own SXSW party, complete with DJ Efren "Vote for Pedro" Ramirez on the decks, a cameo from ZZ Top front-beard Billy Gibbons, and live sets from the Raveonettes, the Stills, and Holy Fuck. You can't say that on television! Not even basic cable. Had the logistics worked out, Battles may well have been a part of the proceedings, too.
Naturally, the food at Ray's SXSW party was at least a 9.2. Best New Mac 'n' Cheese Suiza!
BILLY CORGAN (SIGH)
- Photo by Matt Ziegler *
Another banner year for Billy Corgan foibles and follies began in March as Billy and his Smashing Pumpkins sued former label Virgin for some kind of Pepsi promotion that apparently compromised the band's "artistic integrity" (durr). It was followed by Billy suing some dude he hired to videotape his solo performances and also being cited in another lawsuit against Virgin from ex-Pumpkins James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky-Brown over digital royalties. Sheesh.
Then Corgan did some constructive stuff, like putting out single through Guitar Hero , playing a benefit, issuing a signature guitar, and planning an anniversary tour or whatever.
But the inanity would return in full force come November as the Pumpkins embarked on said anniversary tour, which had Billy boy confounding longtime fans with formless noise jams, lousy setlists, and bizarre audience-baiting stunts. You know, I never in a million years thought I'd say this, but I'm starting to miss Zwan.
APRIL
__
__ BORIS MAKE EARS BLEED, LITERALLY
At a particularly raucous Boris gig in Marfa, Texas in October of 2007, bar owner/Boris nut Josh Baish was assaulted by four bad dudes, one of whom sunk his teeth into Baish's ear and ran off with a piece of it. The members of Boris found the ear, put it on ice, and gave it back to Baish. Then, in April 2008, they released a song about it called "Floorshaker". It was kind of like that time that Teddy Riley found someone's zooma-zoom-zoom in someone else's boom-boom, and then he wrote "Rumpshaker".
PITCHFORK.TV: PITCHFORK, MINUS ALL THOSE PESKY WORDS
April 7 saw the launch of our sister site Pitchfork.tv, the eye-dazzling ying to our wordier yang. We kicked things off with an exclusive video of Radiohead playing the In Rainbows bonus disc jam " Bangers and Mash " that featured Thom Yorke playing the drums.
Since then, Pitchfork.tv has let Tim Harrington find his inner "Beardo", given Bradford Cox free reign at the Pitchfork Music Festival, hung out with GZA and his son, gotten a guided tour from David Byrne, and done so, so many other wacky things that you just had to see to believe. For rundowns of the year's best performances and features, check out our Best of Pitchfork.tv 2008 lists.
RECORD STORE DAY PROVES FAR MORE EXCITING THAN "BLOG YR RECENT DOWNLOADS" DAY
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Record Store Day__ was awesome! Personally, I snapped up my second favorite album of 2008, a whole bunch of those awesome exclusive Record Store Day goodies, a few classical jawns, and even some crap I probably haven't listened to yet. Such is the joy of buying records from actual humans in a place where you can touch things. You know, just like it usedta be in the good ol' days.
Not to mention the obvious pleasures of playing Menomena in foosball, watching the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer paint in her underwear, getting a sneak peek at Bjö____rk's unbelievable "Wanderlust" video, or getting Metallica to sign your copy of Master of Puppets.
Your next opportunity for such fun will come again April 18, 2009, when Record Store Day returns for round two.
BYRNE AND ENO: STILL GOT IT (DUH)
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My Life in the Bush of Ghosts* is a record far too dense and singular to follow up, so David Byrne and Brian Eno didn't even try. Instead, the two icons, together for the first time in decades, announced in April that they'd crafted the very pleasant self-released "electronic gospel" LP __ Everything That Happens Will Happen Today__, which saw its digital release in August and hit CD in November. Byrne embarked on the "Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno" tour in the fall, playing selections from the pair's decade of collaborations. Unfortunately, Eno did not join him on the road.
Eno's 2008 also included making music for the game * Spore * and the release of __ Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends__, the latest and arguably greatest Coldplay record, on which he served as producer and spiritual sage. Byrne, meanwhile, turned a building into a musical instrument, designed bike racks, and hung out with the Dirty Projectors and Fatboy Slim.
JAY REATARD SHOW ERUPTS INTO CHAOS
Things got more than a little hairy at a Jay Reatard gig at Toronto's Silver Dollar on April 17. It began with an audience member freaking out on the band and ended with Jay abruptly pulling the plug on his set, resulting in a fight with the gig's promoter. Jay claimed the show was oversold and lacked security, though the promoters felt quite differently about the situation.
All I know is, I'm busting out the Horace Grant goggles for Jay's show here in Chicago on New Year's Eve.
CRYSTAL CASTLES: RIP OFFS?
Most people can agree on a few things about Crystal Castles: They enjoy the color black. They sound like video games on cocaine. And they are always getting into trouble.
This spring, the band was accused of ripping off artist Trevor Brown's portrait of Madonna, and then accused of ripping off the sounds of the "chip music" collective 8bitpeoples. Crystal Castles and Brown settled the Madge mug debate amicably in September, though the band professes complete innocence in the chip music debacle.
And to think, this all could have been settled with a game of Tetris .
4AD ABSORBS TOO PURE, BEGGARS BANQUET
The Beggars Group consortium of labels did some reshuffling in late April, when it was announced that the 4AD imprint would absorb affiliates Too Pure and Beggars Banquet.
4AD, already home to the likes of the Breeders, the Mountain Goats, Scott Walker, and Blonde Redhead, welcomed such acts as Stereolab, the National, and St. Vincent into the fold. We hear that Vaughn Oliver's arm hurts a lot more these days.
SPRINGSTEEN KEYBOARDIST DANNY FEDERICI, R.I.P.
On April 17, Danny Federici, keyboardist and founding member of Bruce Springsteen's legend-spawning E Street Band, passed away after a battle with melanoma. The relationship between the Boss and Federici spanned nearly four decades; the pair met back in Jersey in the late 1960, when Bruce was just a young ruffian playing to whoever would listen. After Federici's death, Springsteen wrote on his website, "He was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and a pure natural musician. I loved him very much...we grew up together."
In April, we also reported the death of Klaus Dinger, Kraftwerk drummer and co-founder of Neu!, who died on March 21. Dinger trademarked the steady, propulsive drumming style that came to define the motorik sound associated with krautrock.
MAY
TOM WAITS ANNOUNCES RARE TOUR, SCARLETT JOHANSSON'S WAITS COVERS ALBUM NOT AS TERRIBLE AS ANTICIPATED
Gregarious sort though he is, Mr. Tom Waits isn't exactly a road warrior, having toured only a handful of times over the last few decades. Each time he gets back out there, it's an event, and May's announcement of the "Glitter and Doom" tour was a spectacle in an of itself. For a fake press conference video, Waits hopped in front of a camera to growl out his plans to chart a tour around the constellations.
When he wasn't looking heavenward, Waits had his gaze towards the gates of Hades, as he's been slated to play the devil in a forthcoming Terry Gilliam flick. Truly, this was an inspired casting choice.
Also in May, rather nice-looking actress Scarlett Johansson finally made good on her promise to deliver an album of Tom Waits covers (plus one original), when she released __ Anywhere I Lay My Head__. The album featured the work of TV on the Radio's David Sitek and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as David Bowie. It generally bettered critics' expectations-- which, okay, weren't exactly Neon Bible high.
A similar strategy of low expectations/high yields would later bring Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin within 97 electoral votes and a heartbeat of ruining America forever.
RADIOHEAD CAN'T CONTROL RAIN, PURPLE OR OTHERWISE
Radiohead kicked off their North American In Rainbows tour, their first extended trip to our shores in quite some time, on May 5 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Though weather put more than a bit of a damper on the band's May 11 gig in Bristow, Virginia, the rest of the tour went off virtually without a hitch, resulting in one of the year's live music highlights.
Radiohead also made their way to iTunes for the first time in April and got into it with Prince over YouTubed versions of his cover of "Creep".
SHEARWATER'S JONATHAN MEIBURG OFFICIALLY LEAVES OKKERVIL RIVER
Photo by Kathryn Yu
Jonathan Meiburg had been inching away from Okkervil River for some time,concentrating more and more on his band Shearwater. In May, he finally made his exit from Okkervil official. By the time the year was up, Shearwater had issued the sublime __ Rook__, Okkervil River dropped the excellent __ The Stand Ins __ (which featured Meiburg on the sorta-farewell "Lost Coastlines"), and many grad school theses had been soundtracked.
NAS CHANGES CONTROVERSIAL LP NAME TO...UH, HE'LL GET BACK TO YOU
Nas, who spent much of the year telling anyone who'd listen that he was calling his next album Nigger, was inevitably forced by his label brass to change the name not long before its release. The record was eventually dubbed __ Untitled__, but Nas insisted anyone who knew anything would know what to call it. Unfortunately for Nas, the non-title is, at this point, just about the only thing anybody remembers about the album.
"CHRISTMAS ON MARS" NOT A STONED DAYDREAM AFTER ALL
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Christmas on Mars*, the Flaming Lips' long-in-the-works film about crazy happenings in space, was finally screened for the public at the Bumbershoot! Festival in May. After screenings at several other festivals, as well as a NYC run in a custom-made theater, Christmas on Mars arrived on DVD in November coupled with an excellent soundtrack.
"The movie that we could've finished in 2002 would've just been a disaster," Wayne Coyne told us in October. He envisioned the movie as "some kind of drug-damaged foreign film." And we have to say, he succeeded.
EDDDY ARNOLD, LONPAUL ELLRICH, CAMU TAO, R.I.P.
May saw the loss of quite a few bright lights along the musical spectrum: country music hitmaker Eddy Arnold, Marmoset multi-instrumentalist and Bloomington, Indiana scene mainstay LonPaul Ellrich, and Def Jux rapper/producer Camu Tao.
JUNE
R. KELLY ACQUITTED OF CHILD PORN CHARGES
On June 13, R. Kelly, R&B living legend and frequent defendant, was acquitted of all charges in his high-profile child pornography case that spanned six years. He celebrated by recording an album of sex jams. __ 12 Play: 4th Quarter __ leaked to the internet around the time of his acquittal and was planned for a summer release, but never made its way to record store shelves.
It was suggested that Mr. Kelly had nixed the rather salacious set in order to pick a more redemptive tone for his follow-up to last year's Double Up. But maybe he just realized that "Hair Braider" kinda sucked.
__M.I.A., HARDEST WORKING RETIREE SINCE JAY-Z
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- Photo by Kathryn Yu *
On June 13, M.I.A. told the crowd at Bonnaroo that her set there was her "last gig ever". It wasn't-- she returned to the stage for a Diesel party in October-- but the lady clearly needed a breather.
During her time off, M.I.A. watched her song "Paper Planes" climb to the top of the charts and get nominated for the Record of the Year Grammy, got sampled by Jay-Z, T.I., Kanye West, and Lil Wayne, and lent her talents to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, and fought accusations of terrorist sympathies. Oh yeah, she also created a baby.
Not a bad bit of rabblerousing from one of the world's great upsetters of the status quo, in a year in which she didn't even have a new record out.
KANYE WEST DELIVERS NONSTOP ENTERTAINMENT, ON AND OFF STAGE
In April, Kanye West, along with opening acts N.E.R.D., Rihanna, and Lupe Fiasco, embarked on the traveling technological marvel known as the "Glow in the Dark" tour. It looked fancy and it was fancy-- too fancy, in fact, for Kanye to properly port the thing over to the stage at Bonnaroo in time for his early AM set. His tardiness caused much consternation on the part of attendees and many hilarious bloggings on the part of Mr. West. "IT'S NOT CALLED GLOW IN THE DARK FOR NO REASON SQUID BRAINS," Kanye noted, and all of a sudden, those anger management rumors started making a bit more sense.
In other 2008 news from the always newsworthy MC, he was beat by Beyonce at Connect Four, joined with MTV for a documentary about Iraq war vets, tussled with Stephen Colbert, got sued by Suge Knight, made friends with Jenny Lewis, laid plans to bring West Coast fast foodery Fatburger to his native Chicago, was arrested a couple times for run-ins with the paparazzi, and teamed with old buddy Rhymefest started work on a puppet show.
Oh, and he also put out an album or something?
LIL WAYNE HITS NEW HIGHS
Hardly anybody had a better '08 that Dwayne Carter, the young money we call Lil Wayne. His highly anticipated album __ Tha Carter III __ was finally released in high style in June to rave reviews; it would go on to become the biggest-selling album of the year, and get nominated for a truckload of Grammys.
Wayne also put in work as a columnist in the fields of sexin' and sportin', he was arrested for doing what he does, and he made a few wacky appearances in some unlikely places. Not bad for a guy too stoned to remember any of it come 2009.
JAY-Z HAS 99 PROBLEMS, BUT NOEL GALLAGHER AIN'T ONE
Some people don't lose their shit when Jay-Z sets foot onstage. Silly, misguided people, these. One of them is Noel Gallagher of Oasis, who complained quite loudly in the press when the Jigga Man was selected to headline the Glastonbury festival, rather than a traditional big British guitar band that typically fills the spot.
Many cried foul, others racism, but it was Jay himself who came up with the finest solution to the pesky Gallagher problem. Turns out, imitation truly is the sincerest form of "Fuck You".
MY BLOODY VALENTINE HAVE RETURNED FOR YOUR EARS
Iconic shoegazers My Bloody Valentine announced plans for a full-on reunion late last year, and whaddya know, they weren't funnin'. In June, the band finally took the stage for their first shows in a stupendously long time. By all accounts, these shows were monsters.
Kevin Shields and co. went on to tour the world in 2008, and also curated a killer All Tomorrow's Parties festival packed with bands who probably owe them back royalties (which they could certainly use, given the cost of the tour). Now if only Guns N' Roses would make another album...
Bo DIDDLEY, R.I.P.
On June 2, rock and R&B pioneer Bo Diddley passed away from heart failure at the age of 79. He left a staggering legacy of innovation; the influence of Diddley's late 50s and early 60s recordings on the rhythm, guitar style, and spirit of rock'n'roll was enormous. His 1955 debut single "Bo Diddley" is credited with inventing what became known as the "Bo Diddley rhythm," a variation on the clave also known as the "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Fleetwood Mac, have all covered the song, and countless hits-- from "Not Fade Away" to "I Want Candy"-- have copied the rhythm. He was also one of rock'n'roll's early innovators of the electric guitar, pioneering the use of tremolo and reverb effects.
June also saw the passing of George Carlin, comedian and spiritual kin to all things rock'n'roll.
__JULY __
IAN CURTIS' GRAVESTONE STOLEN
Someone stole Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' gravestone from the Macclesfield Cemetery in the Joy Division frontman's hometown of Macclesfield, England.
This news came as a particular surprise given the sunny disposition of most Joy Division fans.
SUB POP: ALMOST LEGAL
Seattle's Sub Pop label celebrated its 20th anniversary with a weekend of music July 12–13 at Redmond, Washington's Marymoor Park. SP20 featured reunions from the Vaselines, Green River, Red Red Meat, Eric's Trip, Les Thugs, the Fluid, Seaweed, and Beachwood Sparks, as well as sets from Sub Pop bands like Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, No Age, Wolf Parade, Low, and many more.
Still, no Soundgarden, no credibility.
We also did a little celebrating of the label ourselves.
SHUDDER TO THINK REUNITE
Photo by __ Kirstie Shanley __
Underappreciated D.C. post-punk outfit Shudder to Think announced a handful of reunion tour dates, including an Obama fundraiser.
Glam dads everywhere rejoiced. So did we.
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER GREAT PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Chicago's Union Park hosted the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival on July 18-20. We got ATP/Don't Look Back full-album performances from Public Enemy (It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back), Mission of Burma (Vs.), and Sebadoh (Bubble and Scrape), plus sets from Animal Collective, the Hold Steady, Jarvis Cocker, Ghostface and Raekwon, and many more. As usual, it was awesome.
Deerhunter's Bradford Cox tore into "Mountain to Sound" with Spoon, then jammed with King Khan and Jay Reatard when Cut Copy were running late. Meanwhile, Fleet Foxes continued to sound really good outdoors.
Pitchfork.tv and Bradford Cox had the scoop.
__JOHN LYDON IS A DICK, SURPRISE, SURPRISE
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*Kele Okereke photo by Kathryn Yu *
John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols (who were once relevant, he swears), stirred up trouble at the Summercase festival in Barcelona in mid-July. Bloc Party's Kele Okereke accused Lydon of "an unprovoked racist attack," which Lydon denied.
Between this and the assault suit brought against him in June by a former assistant, Lydon is a shoe-in for the Nobel Peace Prize.
COMBO OF SOLACE
Jack White and Alicia Keys teamed up to record the theme song for the newest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Coke Zero used the song in an ad, an act from which Jack White distanced himself. He has, however, done a Coke ad before.
AUGUST
BURIAL'S IDENTITY UNEARTHED
Surprise, surprise: Will Bevan, the London producer behind the lonely music of Burial, likes to keep to himself. Bevan revealed his identity in a MySpace post and said he "just want[s] to make some tunes."
Bevan unintentionally succeeded in keeping his profile low when Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid beat Burial's Untrue for the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Prize.
ISAAC HAYES R.I.P.
Isaac Hayes passed away August 10 at the age of 65. The Hot Buttered Soul singer left behind a legacy that included everything from Shaft to Chef (his "South Park" character). Soul, funk, R&B, pop: the man was a pioneer in multiple genres, and paved the way for disco and rap.
JERRY WEXLER R.I.P.
Legendary producer and music businessman Jerry Wexler died at his Florida home on August 15. He was 91. Wexler coined the phrase "Rhythm and Blues," headed Atlantic Records during some pretty plum years (1953-1975), and mentored Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin.
We also said goodbye to producer Jerry Finn and Adam Nodelman of Sunburned Hand of the Man in August.
__SEPTEMBER __
__NOEL GALLAGHER TOPPLED BY 47-YEAR-OLD GUY
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On September 7 in Toronto, a guy jumped onstage during Oasis' set at the Virgin Festival and bum-rushed guitarist Noel Gallagher.
Hilarious, right? Actually, no. Noel was hurt, and the band had to cancel some shows as a result.
Wait, the dude was 47? Hilarious!
SONIC YOUTH SIGN TO MATADOR
- Photo by Will Marsh *
After years on a major label, Sonic Youth are finally going indie. In early September, the veteran noise-rockers announced their partnership with Matador Records for the release of a new album next year.
This will hopefully be an example of two great tastes tasting great together, like peanut butter cups. But what if it's more like chicken ice cream?
SOUNDS GOOD, LOOKS GOOD, IS GOOD FOR YOU
Speaking of strange food combinations, a Japanese blogger recreated various album covers using food products-- mostly rice. Strangely enough, the blogger has not yet tackled the White Album.
MASTODON GUITARIST PUNCHES KING KHAN IN THE FACE
- Photo by Kristin Klein *
Two egos enter, one guy bleeds. Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds punched Arish "King" Khan in the face after crashing the stage at a party for Khan's terminally ill friend on September 18.
Khan responded by taking a bunch of goofy pictures, including one featuring bling. Obviously, he wasn't too upset.
MEGAWANG
Devendra Banhart has a penis, which he will gladly show you if you buy the Megapuss album (NSFW). Alternately, you could see him live wearing a whole belt full of penises (also NSFW, don't let the "probably" fool you). Oh joy!
RICK WRIGHT R.I.P.
Founding Pink Floyd member Rick Wright died on September 15 at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer. He primarily worked as a keyboardist, though he also contributed vocals and had numerous songwriting credits on a number of Pink Floyd's records, including Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.
NORMAN WHITFIELD R.I.P.
Motown producer/songwriter Norman Whitfield died September 16 at the age of 68. Whitfield was credited with helping to usher Motown's sound from its smoother early days into the headier psychedelic era. His songwriting credits (with partner Barrett Strong) included "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and "War".
Other deaths in September included Willy Graves, bassist for now-defunct band the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, and L.A. session drummer Earl Palmer.
OCTOBER
__VIDEO GAMES KILLED THE RADIO STAR
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The interactive music video game truly came into its own in fall 2008, with Guitar Hero and Rock Band battling each other for ultimate plastic instrument supremacy. __ Rock Band 2 scored the official premiere of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy track "Shackler's Revenge"__, not to mention the video game debuts of Bob Dylan and AC/DC. The Smashing Pumpkins debuted their single "G.L.O.W." via Guitar Hero World Tour, and Metallica's Death Magnetic was released as a download on Guitar Hero III the same day that the album became available in stores. Even the Beatles got in on the action, announcing they will release their own Rock Band-esque game in 2009.
OF MONTREAL PROPAGATE EXCEPTIONAL OBJECTS
Because an album on which a young, white indie rock dude pretends he's a middle-aged African-American transsexual named Georgie Fruit just wasn't weird enough. In addition to the standard CD and LP formats, Of Montreal released their latest full-length, __ Skeletal Lamping__, via t-shirt, button set, tote bag, wall decals, and paper lantern, each accompanied by a download code.
In an essay titled "We Will Only Propagate Exceptional Objects," Kevin Barnes wrote, "We hope this idea catches on and, in the future, square CD packaging will be abandoned forever and only interesting art objects will fill record stores. We envision a time when you'll be walking around your local record shop and be like, 'What's the new Radiohead album again? Oh yeah, a bonsai tree in the shape of a deformed goat, I see it over there.'"
MY MORNING JACKET'S JIM JAMES TAKES A NASTY FALL
- __ Photo by Kathryn Yu __ *
At an October 7 My Morning Jacket show in Iowa City, frontman Jim James rocked a bit too hard to "Off the Record", and took a nasty tumble off the stage at the end of the song. James was rushed to the hospital for what a band statement referred to as "traumatic injuries to his torso," and several weeks' worth of My Morning Jacket shows were subsequently canceled.
It was an otherwise banner year for MMJ, who notched a Top 10 debut for their latest album Evil Urges, performed on "Saturday Night Live", and even got an episode of "One Tree Hill" named after one of their songs.
NO AGE FIGHT THE MAN
Everybody and their mom campaigned for Barack Obama's Presidential run this year, but apparently only No Age ran into trouble for it. Randy Randall, guitarist for the hard-touring California punk band, claimed that he was prevented from wearing an Obama t-shirt during a taping of "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson". Randall said that CBS brass told him that his Obama shirt violated FCC rules designed to give political candidates equivalent airtime. Randall called it "extreme censorship."
Rather than cancel, Randall wrote "Free Health Care" on the shirt and played anyway. Even Ferguson himself agreed with Randall, introducing No Age's performance by saying, "The guy got really mad and he wrote a blog about how he'd been censored and all that, and everybody got all mad, and it's AWESOME! I love it 'cause they're a young punk band and they're causing trouble!"
Somehow, Barack Obama was able to overcome this grave setback and go on to win the election.
BRIAN ENO, TRENT REZNOR, WEEZER MAKE IPHONE GAMES
In between jobs with David Byrne, Coldplay, and Dido, Brian Eno somehow found plenty of time in 2008 to play around on his cell phone. So did Trent Reznor, when he wasn't self-releasing albums or touring with an impeccable roster of opening acts. Both longtime early adopters of new technologies, Eno and Reznor were quick to embrace the manifold possibilities of the mighty iPhone, including music games. Eno's Bloom application encouraged the user to embrace the power of randomness in the service of bleepy bloopy music-making, while Reznor put his own spin on the Tap Tap Revenge skill game, in which you, um, tap along with the music.
Weezer joined the fun in December, recording covers of Christmas carols exclusively for a new game from Tapulous, the makers of Tap Tap Revenge.
Yay for the further erosion of face-to-face interaction among human beings!
JEFF MANGUM GRACES US WITH HIS PRESENCE
The Elephant 6 "Holiday Surprise" tour didn't coincide with any holidays, but it sure offered a surprise. Indie rock's J.D. Salinger, Jeff Mangum, crawled out of his secret underground lair to sing a few songs with his friends on several tour stops, joining in on Elf Power's "The Arrow Flies Close", Olivia Tremor Control's "The Opera House" and "I Have Been Floated", and even his own Neutral Milk Hotel tune "Engine". (He wore the same red-and-black checkered lumberjack shirt every time-- secret underground lairs aren't known for their fashion selection.)
Then he disappeared again.
__THE LONG BLONDES CALL IT QUITS
__
Photo by Devon Banks
On the same date that the Long Blondes released their singles compilation "Singles", the Sheffield post-punk band announced via their MySpace page that they had "decided to call it a day." The reason behind the split wasn't your usual run-of-the-mill infighting or "creative differences." Rather, it was something more tragic: in June, guitarist Dorian Cox had weathered a stroke. "I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again," he wrote on MySpace.
This unfortunate turn of events meant the end of one of the smartest, sharpest bands in Britain, who left behind two albums-- 2006's Someone to Drive You Home and this spring's "Couples", as well as the material collected on "Singles".
In early December, Cox revealed to The Guardian that he had begun rehabilitation on his right hand using a therapeutic mechanical glove. He said, "I know things might never be the same again and nobody can give me a definite answer about whether I'll play guitar again but I'm getting back on track."
BJÖRK ENLISTS THOM YORKE IN FIGHT TO SAVE ICELAND
Björk made headlines early in 2008 with her controversial stance on Tibetan/Chinese relations, but her primary political concern this year lay much closer to home. Alarmed by the destruction caused by the building of aluminum factories in her native Iceland, Björk co-founded the Náttúra Campaign, a movement aiming to turn the world's attention (and, hopefully, money) to the plight of the Icelandic environment.
The campaign kicked off in June with a concert in Reykjavik headlined by Björk and Sigur Rós that drew 30,000 people-- 10% of the Icelandic population, and the largest concert in the country's history. Spurred on by the success of that event Björk recruited an all-star team to record the benefit single "Náttúra". Radiohead's Thom Yorke contributed backing vocals, Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale banged the drums, and Matthew Herbert provided the bassline.
However, due to the global financial crisis, by the time of the "Náttúra" single release in October, the Náttúra campaign attained an unexpected level of urgency. The Icelandic economy collapsed, inciting increased governmental enthusiasm for constructing more aluminum factories as an immediate economic stimulus, the environmental consequences be damned. As Björk explained to Pitchfork in an interview about Náttúra, the campaign's focus is now on creating grassroots, sustainable Icelandic businesses that offer an alternative economic future for the country. "You cannot just buy a package deal," she said. "Everything that's good takes a long time to grow."
WEEZER MAKE TROUBLE, BREAK RECORDS
Most bands mature as they age, exploring more "adult" themes with the passing of the years. Not Weezer. They just get sillier.
For the "Troublemaker" video, Weezer rounded up a crowd of enthusiastic fans to join them in a marathon session devoted to setting all sorts of stupid world records, verified by the Guinness Book and everything. Records set included world's largest game of dodgeball, most people in a custard pie fight, most people riding on a skateboard, largest air guitar ensemble, and longest Guitar Hero World Tour marathon. Because that wasn't crazy enough, Weezer then made a second, "pop-up," version of the video.
2008 was all about stunts for Weezer, from Rivers Cuomo collaborating with fans on a "sawng" via YouTube to the internet celebrities starring in the "Pork and Beans" video to the various "hootenanys" the band staged while on tour. Their latest full-length musical release could also be classified more as a stunt than an album, with its in-joke title (Weezer, aka "The Red Album"), goofy cover art, and um, terrible songs.
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE'S BEN GIBBARD SURVIVES SCORPION ATTACK
"So tonight in San Diego, Ben got stung by a SCORPION. Twice. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried, file this under 'things that really happen on rock tours.'" Thus began an October 30 blog post by Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer, describing an ordeal endured by frontman Ben Gibbard.
It was the most notable thing to happen to the band this year... just kidding!
THE FOUR TOPS' LEVI STUBBS, R.I.P.
The legendary Levi Stubbs, leader of Motown staples the Four Tops for over four decades, passed away October 17 at the age of 72. His legacy of soul hits from the 1960s and 70s could fill a whole jukebox, including "Baby I Need Your Loving", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)", "Reach Out (I'll Be There)", and "It's the Same Old Song". He gained a whole new audience in the late 1980s, when he voiced the evil plant Audrey II in the 1986 musical Little Shop of Horrors.
In October, we also said goodbye to Grateful Dead collaborator Merl Saunders, Jamaican rocksteady pioneer Alton Ellis, and Terrin Durfey of Pinback, Boilermaker, and the Jade Shader.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT, BANDS FORCED TO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO RAISE MONEY FOR
The biggest rock star on the planet this year wasn't a rock star at all. It was Barack Obama. The candidate-turned-President-elect brought everybody and their mom out of the woodwork and onto the campaign trail, with Obama rallies, benefits, and voter registration drives dominating our news cycle from January through November. Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Joanna Newsom, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Fleet Foxes, the Breeders, Bright Eyes, M. Ward , Superchunk , Andrew Bird, Les Savy Fav, Fiery Furnaces, and the whole damn noise community were just a sampling of the long list of artists who drummed up support for the Illinois Senator.
The Decemberists found themselves caught up in a minor controversy when they "opened" for Obama at a Portland, Oregon rally, while the National's "Fake Empire" soundtracked an official campaign advertisement that blasted across Jumbotrons before Obama's speeches at the Democratic National Convention and his victory party in Chicago on election night. Obama also inspired artistic responses from Common, Nas and Young Jeezy, the Mountain Goats, Ludacris, Kanye West, Big Boi and Mary J. Blige, Q-Tip, and many others.
Of course, immediately upon Obama's election on November 4, world peace was achieved, enemies became friends, wolves lay down with lambs, and all pain and suffering came to an end.
THE PITCHFORK 500 IS THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE
On November 11, Simon & Schuster imprint Fireside Books published Pitchfork's first music guide, __ The Pitchfork 500: Our Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to the Present__. We couldn't be prouder of our big orange book, which chronologically explores Pitchfork's 500 favorite songs from 1977-2006, constructing an alternate history of the past three decades of popular music. Amazon reviewers tagged it "elitist," "corny," "stupid," "lame," "gay romance," and "insight bathed in wisdom." What more could you want?
TOKYO POLICE CLUB ROCK DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Wisteria Lane joined the blog rock era on November 16, when Saddle Creek phenoms Tokyo Police Club crashed ABC primetime soap opera "Desperate Housewives". The TPC boys portrayed a local act called Cold Splash that competes in a battle of the bands against a group formed by the middle-aged husbands of the titular housewives, bringing the house down with a performance of their song "In a Cave". Then the husbands play, a fire breaks out, people get trampled, etc., etc. DRAMA!
" You can let everyone out there know that if they're writing for a television show, Tokyo Police Club is now the hottest actor-band in Hollywood," Tokyo Police Club keyboard player/vocalist Graham Wright told us in an interview.
November was a good month for indie rock stars on television, with Thurston Moore teaming with ex-Be Your Own Pet frontwoman Jemina Pearl on a cover of the Ramones' "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" for "Gossip Girl" and Feist hanging out with Stephen Colbert (and Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Jon Stewart, and John Legend) on his Christmas special.
MARNIE STERN KISSES AND TELLS
It's a tale as old as time: Girl gets in trouble. Girl needs money. Girl resorts to selling her body. But in the case of Marnie Stern, this same tale was...kind of adorable?
While on tour with Gang Gang Dance in November, Stern rang up a hefty traffic ticket. In order to pay for it, the guitar goddess set up a kissing booth, with $3 getting you a peck on the cheek, $10 for a bit of lip, and $100 for some tongue. It came with the following caveat: "Marnie reserves the right to refuse anyone a kiss subject to poor physical and mental hygiene, general dementia, and overall grossness."
Unfortunately, by late November, the kissing booth had failed to raise enough money to pay for the ticket. As Stern put it, "The boys are so sweet. They're nervous. It's the sweetest thing ever in the whole world. But, I mean, how hard is it to make $300 with smooches? Apparently very difficult."
CHINESE DEMOCRACY RELEASED, WORLD SOMEHOW STAYS SAME
- Original photo by George Chin *
On November 23, 2008, after a colossal 14 years of buildup, Guns N' Roses (or what passes for Guns N' Roses these days) released their new album, Chinese Democracy . Hardcore fans were excited, but mostly the album was greeted with a resounding "meh." It sold a disappointing 261,000 copies in its opening week, debuting at number three on The Billboard 200 , behind Kanye West and Taylor Swift.
Chinese Democracy 's formidable back story proved to be far, far more interesting than the album itself, and that backstory only got weirder in 2008. Dr. Pepper offered free cans of soda to every single person in America if Chinese Democracy was released within the calender year; while initially pleased with the surprise promotion, Axl Rose became angry with the negative publicity surrounding the convoluted dispensation of said free Dr. Pepper, and threatened to sue the soda company.
A blogger who leaked nine Chinese Democracy tracks in June was arrested by the FBI in August, prompting no bigger a GN'R defender than Slash to proclaim, "I hope he rots in jail." One track, "Shackler's Revenge", was legally leaked to Rock Band 2, while the entire album streamed on MySpace a week before its release. And when it finally came out, Chinese Democracy was a Best Buy exclusive. What a buzzkill!
KANYE WANTS YOU TO FEEL HIS (T-)PAIN
The biggest emo record of 2008 wasn't by Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance. It was Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreaks, a hastily-assembled collection of downer new wave and electro tracks inspired by the death of his mother and breakup with his fiancee. The album contained very little rapping, with most of Kanye's vocals filtered through Auto-Tune, that ubiquitous technology that has stealthily taken over mainstream hip-hop and R&B ever since T-Pain touched down on our planet in 2005. 808s' departure from Kanye's usual sound angered many fans, but, naturally, Kanye didn't care. "If you don't like autotune... too bad cause I love it," he wrote on his blog. Later, he added, "People really have their feathers ruffled about this album don't they? Good!"
It still managed to sell almost 200,000 more copies than Chinese Democracy in its first week.
THE JESUS LIZARD REUNITE TO SHOW YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPERS HOW IT'S DONE
- Photo by Steve Gullick *
On the day before Thanksgiving, the Jesus Lizard gave us all something to be thankful for: the announcement that in 2009, David Yow, Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly would embark on a brief reunion tour. It would be the noise-rock gods' first time together since 1999. To mark the occasion, Touch and Go announced their intention to reissue the band's first four albums.
JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE DRUMMER MITCH MITCHELL, R.I.P.
Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the mighty Jimi Hendrix Experience, died in Portland, Oregon on November 12 at the age of 61. Mitchell cemented his place in rock'n'roll history while keeping the beat behind Hendrix in the late 60s, but he also played with the Pretty Things and the Dirty Mac supergroup that John Lennon assembled for the Rolling Stones' 1968 "Rock and Roll Circus" event, playing alongside Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Lennon himself. He died while on the road with the "Experience Hendrix" tribute tour.
November also saw the deaths of South African singer/activist Miriam Makeba, Jamaican music ambassador Byron Lee, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention drummer Jimmy Carl Black, and founding Descendents member Frank Navetta. Also, Richey James Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers, who has been missing since 1995, was finally pronounced "presumed dead" by his family. In December, influential activist folk singer Odetta passed away.
