This year's CMJ cluster fuck culminates once again in New York and litters the city with industry suckerfish-types, complete with sweaty necks and all the laminated all-access passes they can get their hands on. As with the other open-ended music festivals like Austin, TX's South By Southwest, there is an endless list of shows and bands to the point of just reading through them results in exhaustion, but we'll help you cut through the garbage and point you to the real deal. Of course, every opportunistic booking agent and record label jumps at the chance to host a showcase in the midst of these overzealous fests, so it's not surprising that almost every singular entity in "indie rock" is represented at least in some faction, all spread across New York's vast club circuit. If you find yourself bewildered while wading through the thousands of bands inevitably filling the streets, be sure to make a point to stop into the Blender Theater at Gramercy tonight to see Mika Miko open the show, then over to Glasslands Gallery to check out the mind-bending sounds of the Psychic Ills, then finally dart over to the Lion's Den to catch what will surely be a classic set by the one and only Meat Puppets. Or, you could stop by Don Pedro (one of the unofficial venues usually means less overall douchebaggery) for a scathing set from the Coathangers, Clean Teens, and Mannequin Men. Keep in mind, this is still Wednesday night, so if you're still running at full steam, head over to Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn to see the noisy and hypnotic grooves of A Place To Bury Strangers, who have the early Jesus And Mary Chain sound down so well, they're already in the the running for a tour in support of JAMC sometime next year.
Thursday's highlights include a mandatory stop at Don Hill's for a salacious set of rock'n'roll by the French Canadian hit-makers, Les Breastfeeders, oddly paired with Nebula and Nashville Pussy, and you'll still have time to make it over to Luna Lounge to catch the prog-punk monolith known as Danava. If uncut rock'n'roll salvation is on your agenda (and it better be) then you'll really have no choice but to head down to Mercury Lounge for the In The Red Records line up, one of the only label showcases that matters at this year's CMJ Fest. Starting with Nashville's Turbo Fruits, who aren't on In The Red, but rather Ecstatic Peace, it's an explosive lineup destined to blow the power supply out by the middle of the Cheap Time set. Speaking of that, Jeffrey Novak's new streamlined Cheap Time unit is running at full bore and with their impending debut album due out on In The Red in the next months, and especially after the leaked Peoploids demo recordings (now Cheap Time songs) made the rounds this past summer, to say it's highly anticipated would be a severe understatement. Chicago's Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra take the stage next and just as they've done before, with a tornadic burst of exasperation, they will bring New York to its knees with their painfully real and simplistic formula that's too mesmerizing to resist. Seattle's The Intelligence need no introduction either, yet they continue to convert the curious with their robotic and rhythmic recordings that latch onto your frontal lobe and lock into your pleasure receptors, and their impending success in the Big Apple is just mere moments from fulfilling its realization. Capping the rest of the In The Red bill with Jay Reatard and The Dirtbombs was a wise choice and with the growing legions of fans for both acts, it'll surely bring out a good chunk of the well-informed masses who will hopefully forget their blinders and latch onto the other great bands on the bill as well.
Friday's outlook is a little bleaker than Thursday, but again don't miss Chicago's bombastic Mannequin Men at The Delancey, then head over to the Knitting Factory to cauterize your soul with Load Records' Sightings supporting Old Tyme Relijun, Ruins, and Japanther. If your juice is still running loose at midnight, head over to the Luna Lounge again for a dripping and lethal dose of The Warlocks and especially Earthless, who are guaranteed to tenderize your withered spirit like a raw flank steak. Saturday's highlights include the unmissable lineup of Clockcleaner with Wooden Shjips at The Annex, and the early show with The Ponys at Roseland Ballroom, and despite any real depletion in physical endurance, it's one of the best weekends for live music in New York in a long time, or more specifically until next year's Radio Heartbeat Festival.
check out a clip of Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra from their recent European tour courtesy of ak47cam right here...
check out a clip of A Place To Bury Strangers from earlier this year at Hiro Ballroom, courtesy of swirlgazer, right here...
