MGMT vs The Aviation Orange

Are we paranoid over here at RethinkPopMusic? I know people often say that imitation is the best form of flattery, but that usually doesn’t involve someone well known imitating the lesser. Take a moment to watch The Aviation Orange’s “Radio” which debuted on mtvU last October and the second video off MGMT’s new album.

RethinkPopMusic Best of 2009

RethinkPopMusic’s Top 10 Singles, Albums and Videos of 2009… don’t mind our bias.

Top 10 Singles of 2009

1. Empire of the Sun – “Walking on a Dream”

2. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”

3. Animal Collective – “My Girls”

4. Mumford and Sons – “Little Lion Man”

5. Florence and the Machine – “You’ve got the Love”

6. White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”

7. Passion Pit – “The Reeling”

8. Manchester Orchestra – “I’ve Got Friends”

9. White Lies – “Farewell to the Fairground”

10. New Villager – “Rich Doors”

Top 10 Albums of 2009

1. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

3. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimist

4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

5. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

6. N.A.S.A. – Spirit of Apollo

7. Fever Ray – Fever Ray

8. The Antlers – Hospice

9. Paper Route – Absence

10. Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Top 10 Videos of 2009

1. Ambassadors – “Tropisms”

1.The Aviation Orange – “Radio”

1. The Vanguard – “Both Sides”

4. Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Heaven Can Wait”

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

5. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”

6. Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”

7. Fever Ray – “Triangle Walks”

8. The Walkmen – “On the Water”

9. MGMT – “Kids”

10. Miike Snow – “Black and Blue”

The Vanguard is a Top 15 Indie Pop band – The Deli Magazine

RethinkPopMusic’s artist The Vanguard are listed in the Top 20 indie pop bands by Deli Magazine. They are in good company with artists such as Santigold, Islands, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Chairlift and Ra Ra Riot. Check out the full list here: The Deli on the left side of the page.

Catch the Vanguard on Sept 17th at the RethinkPopMusic Launch at Crash Mansion: RSVP at http://RPM-RSVP.com

About the Vanguard:
In order to create the Vanguard, Zeus pinned a gigantic map of the world to the wall in his office. He picked up four golden darts. Blindfolded, he reached for the first dart, drew his hand back and flung it to the map. “Ah I see, the singer shall be from the mountains of Virginia,” and so, Aaron Barr was born. Flying through the air, the second dart dropped down in Przemysl, Poland. “How cute, a potato baby will be the guitarist.” The next was raised and thrown, descending upon the spot of earth called Serbia. “This little guy will witness the partition of his country. This will make him very good on the keys and bass guitar.” The creator reached for the final dart, but stopped before throwing it.” I need someone steady and dependable, unlike those other kookie kids. A drummer to hold the beat to the music.” He let it fly and it touched down in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “Young man you will be the drummer,” the creator told the tango baby who had yet to be born. And, my friends, the rest is history. Since then, The Vanguard was featured on Matt Pinfield’s Morning Show on 101.9 RXP. The boys also just returned from playing five shows in four days at SXSW 2009 in Austin, Texas. SPIN.com named them a buzzworthy up-and-coming band because of their “bubbling melting pot of sounds, influences, and ethnic backgrounds.” They have pre-released two songs off their forthcoming LP to be fully released later this year. Make sure to look out for their music video directed by Patryk Rebisz for their song “Rio.” – Maria Clark

All Points West 2009

As many of you know I had a bit of a problem with the police at All Points West last year. That being said, I had no intentions of returning this year. However, since the doors didn’t open until 4pm on Sunday due to weather I figured I could score a ticket mad cheap. So I grabbed a car, a couple of friends and we set out to the fine state of New Jersey.

Shockingly, traffic wasn’t bad and we made it across Manhattan and through the tunnel in a jiffy. However, this last minute adventure and lack of preparation would come to bite me in the ass.

We arrived in time to see Lykki Li and Echo and The Bunnymen. I was wearing my limited edition Jeff Grosso Vans and was doing my best to avoid the 12 inch deep sewage-water, pock-marked landscape.

However by the end of the Bunnymen set the sun went down and avoiding the dangerously swamp-like areas of the park became nearly impossible. My abnormally small friends were much more nimble in negotiating the landscape but “Big tree fall hard!”

Luckily for me MGMT mucked it up with all their fans and no one seemed to care who smelled like sewage and who smelled like sweat. People actually wanted to be there. The music was OK, the sound was far from audible, but the overall vibe was incredible. Despite getting totally ripped off the attendees on Sunday were in high spirits and MGMT definitely took advantage. Not to mention their crowded destroyed Coldplay’s.

However as the crowd dispersed and we began our trek back, one questioned remained… how are our filthy asses going to get back in the car?