CMJ Friday Wrap-Up

Friday was a blur of blurriness for me, between free shows, free booze and free love, but here's a nice concise little highlight reel for those who missed it:

*The Brooklyn Vegan party at brand new Williamsburg hotspot Baby's All Right was absolutely fantastic from the get-go.  Add in the free drinks and tattoos compliments of Sailor Jerry and it was easy to see why this was the place to be all day.

The first band to christen the stage was none other than Seattle's The Head & the Heart who played a stripped down acoustic set to kick the day off. Seeing a band that is playing a sold out show at Terminal 5 in a few weeks in such an intimate and colloquial setting was a treat, and the band seemed to appreciate the relaxed feel of the show, joking around about hangovers, brunch and poking fun at the NYC lifestyle.  "How do you guys live without driving? I'm sitting here on this stage thinking Fuck, I miss my truck right now," quipped singer/guitarist Jonathan Russell, a sentiment shared by the audience.  The set was brief, but beautiful, with the trio's stunning harmonies reverberating through the freshly wallpapered halls of the venue.

Kirin J Callinan was up next, and unfortunately turned away a large portion of the audience that showed up to see Head & the Heart, although I found his freaky vibes pretty interesting once I got past the uncomfortable stares he and his band kept giving the crowd.  A man as intense as he is enigmatic, Kirin is definitely someone to watch in the upcoming months, but is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Caught the end of Veda Reys at The Flat and Pity Sex at Shea Stadium before heading over to Brooklyn Bowl to check out We Are Scientists,  who are surprisingly better than I remember them being in high school.

If only Saturday were already here...oh wait, it is!

CMJ Thursday: Panache Booking Showcase @ 285 Kent

For those of you reading that have never been to 285, whether due to lack of indie cred or geographical irrelevance, you should probably stop reading now and go to a show there.  It's dirt cheap, delightfully grimey and has an absurd amount of excellent bands playing there by the bushel.  Such was the case for Thursday's show from Panache Booking, [also the most buzzed about show in NYC that night, whatever the fuck that really means to anyone] a mix of bands diverse enough to keep the show entertaining but similar enough to keep a steady vibe going throughout the night.

Calvin Love spreading the love (and some legs)

First was Big Ups, a rowdy local favorite playing some loud abrasive proto-gutter punk that I was unfortunately not yet drunk enough to enjoy all that much. But whatever.

The next act I caught was Calvin Love, who worked his good looks and better songs to drop some serious panties in the front row.  There were several girls clammering and clawing at Love's blazer, groping his legs and offering him drinks, which set the mood for the frenetic energy that would rip through 285 as the night went on.  Also, Calvin is quite the friendly Canuck, in the realm of Mac Demarco bro-ness (who was actually at the show as well) and it was quite a pleasure hanging out in his van smoking cigarettes before his set.

Hunters and Ex-Cult were quite the intense back-to-back set to watch.  Isabel from Hunters is a fierce frontwoman who emanates an intense blend of radical riot grrl and raucous sexuality [think Karen O and Jemina Pearl of Be Your Own Pet] and she led the band through a romping set of quick numbers.  Once Ty Segall favorites Ex-Cult took the stage though, shit got pretty real.  Thankfully, I had consumed more alcohol than before so I was prepared for the mosh pit madness that inevitably appears when a band as rowdy as this plays.  Frontman Chris Shaw growls onstage like a child of Henry Rollins just as much as 70's Bowery punk and the rest of the band is tight throughout their fierce setlist, one that resulted in a few minor injuries and many a spilled beer.

Finally, headliners and blogosphere favorites Speedy Ortiz closed out the show close to 1 AM.  If you've been loving under an Internet rock and not heard of this fantastically authentic noise-pop (another terrible pigeonhole) group, I implore you to first slap yourself across your pallid face and then go check out Major Arcana, one of the best records of this last summer.

I feel dirty even talking about their show to those who haven't heard them, but for those who have, you've inevitably seen them and know that Sadie and Co. put on an amazing, truly rock n roll show.  Lester Bangs would be proud to call himself a Speedy Ortiz fan, and so am I, so the multifaceted moral of tonight's story is as such:

a)  Speedy Ortiz is amazing and if you don't listen to them you're probably a total dick.

b) Panache Booking is a fantastic boutique crew that love what they do, so give them lots of Internet buzzpoints and check out their site here

c) Don't bring anything valuable to an Ex-Cult show, and don't expect to leave with your dignity [which is basically my way of saying go see them ASAP]

d) Keep supporting independent music and their respective entities, venues, etc. We're all a team y'all, share the love.

CMJ Thursday: Dingo Pop and Indie Rock from the Sounds Australia Showcase

The Sounds Australia showcase at CMJ's College Day was an Aussie-tastic taste of up and coming musical goodness, starting off with a personal favorite of mine from Down Under, Ball Park Music.  These guys (and gal) play some radio friendly guitar pop full of vibrant harmonies and non-abrasive instrumentation, at least until they take a solo, which is when you hear a bit of J. Mascis and Stephen Malkmus popping out of their guitar pickups, something that is a welcome compliment to the wavy mix of happiness and frustration throughout the tone of their songs.

The next band ended up being by surprise favorite of this showcase, Brisbane's Sheppard.  They opened with their single Let Me Down Easy, a song that carries even more weight in the live performance.  Beginning with some saccharine sweet (in the most positive way) acapella harmonies before strolling into some handclappy, jangle pop vibes.  Their other selction, Halfway to Hell was stuck in my head for the rest of the day, a significant departure from the lighthearted feel of the first number, and really showcased (natch) the diversity in the band's sound.  Although, it has to be said that their main streamline is unashamedly hooky pop songs ready for dancing. They struck me as a significantly less weird Dirty Projectors live, in an alternate universe where Dave Longstreth grew up in Australia and listened to FM radio and didn't take himself so seriously, instead of drawing weird dudes with baby peens on his album covers and shrieking all the time. 

Amber Coffman: Indie BB Crush 5Ever

 [While this opinion may be due in part (or totally) to the fact that there are two color haired alt baguette QT's holding down some swoony harmonies,  it also is a good excuse to put up a picture of Amber Coffman, before I deny ever comparing the two groups and put this to rest forever, since they really sound absolutely nothing like Dirty Projectors #FooledYa]

[Also, I feel it necessary to say that Dirty Projectors are a huge favorite of mine and I <3 Longstreth and all of his weird culty vibes to the most #XTREME of levels. .]

My one complaint about this entire showcase was that, due to time constraints, the bands were limited to 2-3 songs each which was a bummer, but also left me hungry for more material (fortunately, the Sounds Australia team were wise enough to give out lots of free downloads of the showcase soundtrack, yet another reason why they're better than America.)  Singer-Songwriter (which is amongst my least favorite descriptor/pigeonhole for an artist, but since this is CMJ related and CMJ is essentially an industry dog and pony show, I thought it appropriate) Courtney Barnett was another highlight of the showcase, but since she is scheduled to play approximately 134,277,218 more CMJ shows, we'll get to her chillness later.

CMJ Tales, Vol. 1: Thursday

YEEEHAWWWW CMJ!!!!

Now that I got in my exuberant outburst (you should've seen it in person) we can continue on in a civilized manner.

For those of you who are unaware, CMJ Music Marathon is an annual week long event in NYC where the best new, up and coming artists are showcased. Last year's highlights and breakouts included bands like Foxygen and DIIV, and this year promises to be just as bitchin, for lack of a better term.

Since I am neither rich enough to pay or relevant enough to get a press pass, I'll be working the door today at the CMJ College Radio Showcase. The labor life is a fair lady though, and I'll get to catch some panels on radio relevance and defining authenticity, not to mention some sweet performances by Ball Park Music, Sheppard, The Preatures and more. 

That was basically all the CMJ advertising I'll bore you with for now, stay tuned for an absurd amount of liveblogging (such a stupid term) all throughout CMJ.

Later on we'll have reviews of the Speedy Ortiz show at 285 Kent tonight,  maybe even some Joanna Gruesome (not to be confused with my BB Ms. Joanna Newsom) and much much more.

Until we meet again beautiful blogosphere 

XOXO,

Gossip Girl

(Ok I'm done now, for realsies)