Sound Check

In my first column, I thought I’d let my readers know what I’m most excited about in music this year.

Album: MGMT’s “Congratulations”
On the heels of a pair of Grammy nods, MGMT is poised to grab 2010 by the horns with their sophomore LP to be released in the spring. The psych-pop duo blew up last year when their debut album “Oracular Spectacular” hit shelves and the Web, graduating them from their dorm-jamming days at a Connecticut liberal arts college to collaborating with the likes of The Flaming Lips, Kid Cudi, Beck and Jay-Z in no time.  
The duo recently announced that “Congratulations” won’t produce a single, which probably means no carefree take-these-drugs-and-dance-cause-life-is-short anthems like the synth-charged “Time to Pretend” or their breezy mega-hit “Kids.” But have no fear: If their most recent release (13-plus minute “Metanoia”) is any indication, MGMT is not out of their element with larger ideas. If “Congratualtions” ends up the fully intact, well-rounded record they intend it to be, expect more spectacular music.
 
New Band: Broken Bells
Danger Mouse, otherwise known as the technical half of Gnarls Barkley, joins forces with James Mercer, frontman for The Shins, to create one very curious super-duo called Broken Bells. Here we have a couple dudes who began the millennium as complete nobodies and ended with an album on our best albums of the decade list. If that doesn’t catch your attention, the one song they’ve unleashed will. “The High Road” weaves digital beats and harmonies into Mercer’s wonderfully imaginative lyrics for a fresh-sounding pop product.
 
Old Band Reuniting: Pavement
Blink-182’s long-awaited comeback last year hinted we can expect to hear from all our favorite ambiguously separated groups of the mid-to-late ’90s. A couple other notable reunions coming soon have confirmed this: Pavement and Soundgarden.
While the two gained their own turf and dissolved at the height of their game, they were polar opposites as far as successful ’90s bands go. Denied publicity when the hunt was on for the next Nirvana, indie-rock pioneers Pavement barely had success getting on MTV at all while grunge catalysts Soundgarden became the face for a trend that had a commanding run – then dropped completely dead. Pavement’s cult fan base hasn’t stopped influencing younger indie enthusiasts since the band disbanded in 1999. Bigger than ever now, they’ll tour the world this summer.
 
Show: The xx with jj – April 6, 2010, Buskirk-Chumley Theater
A suspicious amount of similarities exist between The xx and jj. On the surface, they both come from Europe, had eponymous debut LPs out this past summer and best of all, picked a single repeated letter for their name. Not to mention their undeniably related sounds: a heavily sedated, hypnotic brand of stunning electronic pop. So when they announced their plans to tour together this year with a stop in Bloomington, I already had reason enough to hurry in and snatch my $13 tickets. It could be the best local concert you’ll see all year, unless Yo-Yo Ma is your game.