Gothamist's Year in Rock 2008
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<strong>Surprise of the Year: All Points West is a Success</strong><p>Nobody expected much out of the inaugural All Points West festival across the river in Liberty Park late this summer. The New York metro area hasn't had much luck in getting these types of festivals off the ground as many Field Day hopefuls know too well, and with the Vineland Festival getting canned before ever getting off the ground, it was only more evidence of how tough it is to pull off. The enormity of setting up a multi-day, outdoor festival for the first time in a new location made it seem like a disaster waiting to happen. But with the combination of a double night headliner of Radiohead, and the experienced team that has made Coachella such a unique success, they pulled it off. The setting was perfect and the crowds, stages and concessions were all well managed. Most impressively, perhaps, was how easily they were able to get everyone in and out of the fairgrounds, with a ferry system and light rail connection that ran about as smoothly as anyone could have hoped. While there are always improvements to be made, there is little argument that All Points West was a success, and hopefully will be around for years to come. Our recaps from the weekend can be found <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/08/09/all_points_west_radiohead_andrew_bi.php">here</a> and <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/08/10/all_points_west_saturday_more_radio.php">here</a>.</p>
<strong>Disappointment of the Year: CMJ Slips</strong><p>One of the more disappointing trends of 2008 was the seeming decline of genuine independent music. As the industry continues to struggle to figure out how to exist, the big labels have co-opted 'indie' into a mainstream genre, not unlike 'alternative' in the 90s. While the popularity of 'indie' seems to be growing, it has little to do with the actual indie labels that put many of these bands on track. No clearer was this trend than at the CMJ marathon this fall. Once an orgy of emerging bands that nearly rivaled SXSW in Austin, this year seemed to lack much of the oomph of years past. Many of the bigger indie labels sat this one out, keeping some of their more prominent bands at home and scaling down their showcases to a fraction of the previous years. what was left was a mix of lower to middle level acts, without much direction or promotion, leaving attendees without a whole lot to grasp onto throughout the week. Perhaps it was merely a down year in a rough economy, and it will bounce back strong in the coming years. Hopefully it's not another casualty of the industry's depression.</p>
<strong>Jeff Baum's Band of the Year: MGMT</strong><p>There have been a number of local success stories this year, from TV on the Radio and the Walkmen continuing to win over critics to Vampire Weekend's and Santogold's freshmen breakthroughs, but none of them have achieved the quiet dominance this year of Brooklyn's <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mgmt">MGMT</a>. They opened for the likes of Radiohead and Beck, licensed songs out to just about every video game and TV show they could find, and released an impressive major label debut that <a href="http://stereogum.com/archives/yearend-list/nmes-top-50-of-2008_041012.html">NME called</a> the best of the year. Few other bands were as likely to be heard at a suburban house party as they are on a Williamsburg deejay set this year, and much of this was accomplished without many of the traditional methods of promotion. Like many of the other big acts to break out of New York this decade, they found their greatest success in Europe first, but have managed to completely integrate themselves into the American consciousness this year. An impressive feat.</p>
<strong>John Del Signore's Band of the Year: Dirty Projectors</strong><p></p>Since their big blog buzz <a href="http://stereogum.com/archives/tour-dates/dirty-projectors-played-mercury-lounge-we-secondha_006626.html">show at Mercury Lounge in October of '07</a>, Brooklyn-based Dirty Projectors have been steadily rising above obscurity to indie rock prominence. They've done NPR, sold out the big Music Hall of Williamsburg, and evenâgulpâcaught <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/01/11/mtv_embraces_br.php">the dark, sinister eye of MTV</a>. (The latter bit of exposure was redeemed by <a href="http://gothamist.com/2007/09/27/dirty_projector.php">chief projectionist Dave Longstreth</a> telling the network: "F*ck this we can do it ourselves, we're not represented by MTV.") The band's unpredictable, idiosyncratic sound is distinguished by dizzying time signatures, soaring vocal harmonies, and infectious passion. And miraculously, you can sort of dance to it. Or at least bob your head until your neck hurts. Which we'll be doing tonight at <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/12/29/miles_seaton_akronfamily.php">their sold-out New Year's Eve show</a> at the Knitting Factory, where they'll be joined by Deerhoof, Akron/Family, and a cast of thousands in a fitting climax to Dirty Projectors' breakthrough year.
<strong>Goodbye to McCarren Park Pool</strong><p>While venues like <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/12/19/studio_b_now_closed_forever.php">Studio B</a> are closing, and the <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/06/17/luna_lounge_morphs_into_knitting_fa.php">Knitting Factory</a> will make its move to Brooklyn in 2009, <em>this year</em> brought a crushing blow to the Brooklyn hipsters and out-of-borough music lovers: McCarren Park Pool hosted its last summer of music. <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/08/25/goodbye_mccarren_ool_arties_hello_p.php">We were there</a>, and JellyNYC organizer <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/07/01/sarah_hooper_jellynyc.php">Sarah Hooper</a> gave us hope that the free Sunday Pool Parties would live on elsewhere in the neighborhood in '09. To be continued...until then, Sonic Youth's choice of "Expressway To Yr Skull" to close out three great years of shows was pitch perfect. <em>- Jen Carlson</em></p>