the newmusic does cmj/nyc

the newmusic is exhausted. well I am, at least. i just returned from a cmj inspired trip to new york city to hang out and watch some bands. the city was beautiful as always and the festival and parties were fantastic. this was my first cmj and… i'm pretty sure i'll be going back.

for the uninitiated, hundreds of bands play cmj showcases and many of them also play parties and various other shows throughout the week. without a festival badge, it was my goal to exploit these bonus/peripheral events as best as possible. and that i did. here's a bit of point form timeline/blow by blow of some of the awesome stuff i stumbled upon and around during cmj.

wednesday



11:30pm
- checked out Thunderbirds Are Now! at the Awesome Inc. party at Galapagos in Williamsburg
- killer bar, amazing atmosphere/crowd. They were giving out this free new energy drink/malt liquor thing called Sparks. It was pretty gross.
- I arrived just after Lo-Fi Fnk (playing their first ever North American show!) finished, which was a bit of a bummer. They’re a totally fun dance/rock type band worth checking out.
- but Thunderbirds were pretty decent, playing a good mix of fun, upbeat, jangly pop with some of them obtuse type melodies.
- the show became incredibly entertaining when some guy from CSS's posse (who were there to dj later) poured beer over the head of Thunderbird's singer Ryan Allen. dude was furious and tried damn hard to start of fight with the CSS related dude/prankster/douchebag.
- the situation diffused when Allen agreed to accept an apology through their myspace
- totally fkn lame.

2:00am
- moved on and back into Manhattan, lower east side to watch 120 Days play this Vice jam downstairs at the Cake Shop (another awesome venue, that actually has cakes upstairs)
- the basement was dark, grimey and perfect for 120 Days.
- and the band was great! totally energetic and intense in just the way you want a band to be a whatever bloody hour it was
- look out for 120 Days on the NewMusic in the new year.

thursday

3:00pm
- poked around Chelsea and some galleries then made my way to soho to watch Cold War Kids do an in store at the apple store
- first off, big ups to the apple peeps for hosting wicked shows all week (Asobi Seksu, CSS, the Decemberists, Tokyo Police Club etc.)
- the store is gorgeous and has a wicked comfortable set-up for in store performances or nerdy presentations
- Cold War Kids totally brought the goods and played a super-tight, sweaty, soulful and energetic set of tracks off their new record
- everything sounded great, though maybe a little too diverse. I find that despite really liking what they do and pretty much everything I’ve heard, its just a touch too all over the place
- recommend nonetheless. Plus Hospital Beds is one of the best tracks of the year.

4:00pm



- hustled over to the White Rabbit in the lower east just in time to watch my favorite CDN band du jour Land of Talk at the low key Gothamist party
- i've said it before - Land of Talk is fantastic! far and away the most exciting new CDN band i've heard all year. Oh, and they’ve just been signed to MapleMusic. I’m not sure if they’ve got an international/us deal yet, but if they didn’t have one by the end of the weekend, i'd be shocked
- b/c of the setting, Land of Talk played a slowed-down more hushed set with a pared down drum kit. And as if their record doesn't showcase Elizabeth Powell's voice enough, the quiet intimate setting made her sound like even more amazing
- these guys are the future

11:00pm



- went back to Williamsburg again for the insound party at Studio B
- caught Thunderbirds Are Now! again by some fluke. they sounded good and probably better than the previous night, though i wasn't paying too close attention
- i was really there to watch French Kicks. i thought it was awesome b/c i love these guys, i love their records and i've seen them a good chunk of times, but this was a hometown gig!
- spare a few technical poo poos, the Kicks killed it (as usual)
- they played a bit of an odd set, mixing tracks off the new record with a few late album songs off Trial of the Century, plus one new song they closed with.
- cool

1:30am
- caught the L train back into Manhattan and continued the night at the Pure Volume loft on Broadway
- the kind folks at Pure Volume were hosting unofficial showcases almost all day and night of the entire festival. They were also kind enough to keep the beer taps free and open all night long
- a few bands played, though I only caught the name of one called Rediscover- pretty straightforward indie-pop/emo. fun and perfect for the setting
- too bad though that Lo-Fi Fnk didn’t perform as scheduled, nor did I see joe from Hot Chip who was supposed to be spinning records, but whatevs

friday



5:00pm
- spent most of the day shopping/mulling about around soho (came wicked close to buying a new pair of campers) before heading to Fontana’s for a late afternoon set by the Thermals
- the fantastic nyc based music blog BrooklynVegan hosted killer unofficial afternoon showcases 3 out of the 4 days of the festival. The Thermals were closing the afternoon on Friday and holy fk they were amazing!
- the basement of Fontana’s couldn’t have been smaller, sweatier or more perfect for the Thermals fantastic blend of upbeat power-pop and punk
- they played a good chunk of the songs of their amazing new record ‘The Body, the Blood, the Machine'
- probably the best set I saw all weekend. Period.

11:00pm



- back into Williamsburg again tonight for the Crashin’ In party at Galapagos
- this party had a killer line-up of djs and bands including Dirty on Purpose, Born Ruffians, Cities, the Bound Stems, the Big Sleep, the Old Soul – and one of my most anticipated bands of cmj: Headlights
- headlights are kind of a more stripped down, efficient starsish type band. Lush and beatiful music, still with the guy/girl vocal thing, yet more focus on keys and reverby type guitar than bass
- they opened with a smashing rendition of ‘Put Us Back Together Right’ off their new record ‘Kill Them With Kindness’
- if you haven’t heard it yet, go. listen. now. Totally one of the best tracks of 2006.

2:00am
- in another repeat of Wed. night, I went back to the Cake Shop in the lower east for the Vice sponsored after-party, this night featuring music from the inimitable dj a-trak and Chromeo!!!
- now I knew this already – Chromeo is an unbelievable party band. Of course, and that’s why I went to check them out
- the Cake Shop was rammed and full of people totally keen to party their faces off
- Chromeo didn’t disappoint. Dave 1 and P Funk were in fine form playing wicked tracks from ‘She’s In Control’ and a few new ones too, capping off an amazing day for music at cmj

saturday



1:30pm
- holy fk was I tired by now
- I literally rolled out of bed, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and raced to the annex in the lower east to watch the much buzzed about Annuals play the afternoon Brooklyn Vegan party
- the annex was rammed. I was a little surprised considering it was only 1:30 and I could barely see my way around the dark club – which totally not the ideal place to be at 1:30 in the afternoon after a night spent on the town
- regardless, Annuals were fantastic and wicked impressive. a late start and long set-up kept them to a short set of only 4 songs, but each one was fantastic

6:30pm



- spent most of the afternoon doing more milling about and taking it ease in preparation of one more big night
- at around 6:00ish I (and by I, I mean my crew – you didn’t think I did this all by myself did you?) hustled our way into the Fader magazine party on Delancy
- while I prided myself on assembling a great list of parties/events and goings on, I was totally out of the loop on the Fader party front. They had some of the festival's best bands playing in this crappy storefront all week long. And free stubbies too! How cute.
- closing out the Fader jam on Saturday was Malajube. Yes, Polaris Nominated, pitchfork loved, stereogum adored: Malajube
- watching these guys in a room full of nyc’s hipster elite was an absolute trip!
- their set was flawless and full of the best songs of Tromp L’oeil – closing with one of the year’s best songs Etienne D’Aout
- It was a perfect finale

7:30pm
- still reeling from the amazingness of Malajube I hustled over to the White Rabbit on Houston to watch Mr. Charles Bissell of the Wrens do his solo thing with loops and pedals
- I can’t remember if I’ve written before about how much I love the Wrens. They’re absolutely one of the best American rock bands today and their last record the Meadlowlands is a total masterpiece. The story of the band along is the stuff of legends. Love these guys!
- the Bissell solo thing was very laid back and pretty AND awesome. he’s totally got a good handle on the looping technology and used it to his advantage
- big-ups to Bissell and come back to Canada soon dear Wrens

2:00am
- the earlier part of the night was a bit of a bust, again going back to Williamsburg for some party that didn’t seem like it was worth going to – who knows
- at around 2:00ish, me and my main compadre who accompanied me to most of the week’s events headed to the Pure Volume loft again for what we thought would be a guaranteed good time
- the party was a lot busier and a bit tougher to finagle into, but once I said I was with Jason from the Good Soldiers they practically carried us up the 6 floors
- our final nyc jam was filled with more emo bands, free beer and lofting about
- big ups to the Pure Volume kids for throwing some wicked parties

Ahhh... yea that’s about it. so maybe it was obvious, maybe not but I had an amazing time at cmj. It was totally great too that you could do so much stuff and see so many great bands and not require a festival pass. Again, big thanks to everyone who hosted the free afternoon shows and free late night shows and who gave out free refreshments and sparks.

Posted by Geoff M at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

Nudes And 'Fros

Here is how I sum up my past two days: Naked Norwegians and being blunted by my Friends in 'Fros. Let me explain.

Yesterday I interviewed the very sweet and pale boys from 120 Days at their dodgy motel. Their take on Toronto? It looks like a sci-fi city and makes them think of Barbarella. Ok then. So they are a small town Norwegian electronic rock band signed to Vice records who have this as their promo picture:

Needless to say they aren't shy. When I asked them if they had their backs to the camera to cover shrinkage they smirked and said no comment. I took that as a yes. They also told me about the Bergen versus Oslo rivalry that exists between bands in Norway. Sort of like an East Coast versus West Coast gangsta thang.. except no one gets shot. And apparently a certain lead singer of a certain band also on Vice tried to steal one of their girlfriends and there is going to be a showdown in NYC. Who knew Norway held such drama? All nakedness and beefs aside, I really dig their track "Come Out, Come Down, Fade Out, Be Gone". If you feel like being transported into a sleepy dead-end town in Norway via some chill music grab yourself a little 120 days. Make sure you keep your eye on The New Music for more on these nudie talented lads...

Moving on ... I love afros. I don't care of they are fake. I don't care if they look cheap and tacky. I just love big wild curly hair. Anyway, I just happen to have a huge 'fro wig kicking around and happened to have it on me when I interviewed Lil' Pete and Swet from Soundbluntz. Imagine my glee when I saw Lil' Pete standing there in a particularly wonderful 'fro. What’s a girl to do? I threw on the huge hair, did the interview and we became kindred spirits. If you have never heard of the boys, they are a couple of homegrown DJs that have been kicking around the scene since the mid-80s and have managed throughout their careers to make a huge impact in Europe (Hello? Ministry of Sound?). Their first full length album has covers of Young MC, Michael Jackson and The Cars plus a few original tracks. If you want to dance dance dance then I suggest you grab a copy of Blame the Bling and get cracking. The album is worth it for the Billie Jean track alone.

P.S. I have a soft spot for Soundbluntz. Not only do we have a mutual love for 'fros but I also found out that Lil' Pete's wife is from Cyprus! Holla! We discussed how we, like all other Cypriots in Canada, watch The Family Restaurant on The Food Network religiously. (Take a peek if you want a little insight on how a slightly loopy island in the Mediterranean works). By the end of the interview they told me I had been "blunted". I'll take that as a good thing.

Till next time,
hx

Posted by Hannah Simone at 05:34 PM | Comments (1)