by Bill Pearis and Andrew Sacher

Rufus the cat getting good use out of CMJ badge (via @robotsvsghosts)

Oh hey, it's CMJ time again (Wednesday to be exact). Here's a little recap of what BrooklynVegan did on Tuesday (10/17) night with some you-are-there type Instagrams. (Follow along in real time with @Brooklynvegan on Instagram or @BVpics and @bvCMJ on Twitter.) Here we go...

Ghost Wave @ Le Poisson Rouge

I was a little thrown off Tuesday as my original plan revolved around seeing French acts Bertrand Burgalat and Juveniles at the Union Square Ballroom. When both canceled last-minute, I had zero plan. After picking up my badge (a breeze) at Judson Memorial Church, I headed over to Le Poisson Rouge for some of the New Zealand showcase that's become an annual CMJ kickoff event at the Village venue. I caught the latter half of Ghost Wave (horrible name, but pretty good classic Flying Nun-style indie) and stuck around for about half of Die! Die! Die! whose blitzkrieg punk was certainly fun to watch.

I then hoofed it over to the L.E.S. where fellow BV writer Andrew Sacher already was... (-Bill)

Indians @ The Living Room (via @llllbfgllll)

The ease of making a record by yourself in your bedroom has inspired countless artists to do so, resulting in a ton of filler, but every now and then some real gems pop up. If you're looking to find a new one of those gems at this year's CMJ, Copenhagen's Indians (aka Soren Lokke Juul) is a good place to start. He played his first CMJ show at Living Room last night (10/16) for a WFUV showcase, and though he didn't have the highest attendance (early Tuesday is tough), those who were there were attentive the whole show. Rather than hiding his voice behind reverb or distortion like many of his peers, Soren's voice is his strong point. He belted out every song while providing piano, acoustic guitar, drum loops, and ambient backing tracks. Even on his own everything was well put together, so when Soren begins playing with a full band (like the one in his 4AD Session video), it feels pretty safe to say it's gonna be great. You can catch Indians again tonight (10/17) at the Hype Machine party at Brooklyn Bowl and Thursday at Fader Fort.

Quilt @ Arlene's Grocery (via @brooklynvegan Instagram)

Boston's Quilt made their way over to NYC last night for their only CMJ show this year, the Easy Apple/Vinyl District/Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records showcase at Arlene's Grocery. The band have been in NYC a bunch of times (they called it their home away from last night) but I've somehow managed to miss them every time until last night, and glad I finally caught them. They filled the venue with trippy Haight-Ashbury vibes, and still managed to sound fresh despite their obvious lineage to an era which is almost half a century old. I guess I had assumed they'd be playing acoustic guitars, but they went strictly electric and still captured the delicate folkiness of the record -- plus it allowed them to throw in some noise freakouts. The band were charming on stage too, cracking tongue-in-cheek jokes about how Flea is no longer in their band, and they gave a shoutout to Bob Weir, who turned 65 yesterday and said he was on stage with them on spirit (which also came off as a joke, but to some extent, they weren't wrong).

If you haven't heard Quilt's self titled LP which came out in 2011 on Mexican Summer, you can stream it at bandcamp. They'll be back in NYC to open for The Fresh & Onlys on November 8 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that show are still available.  (-Andrew)

Back to Bill...

Foxygen @ Mercury Lounge (via @brooklynvegan Instagram)

After seeing Quilt at Arlene's Grocery with Andrew, I walked over to Mercury Lounge (a trip Michael Cera needed a car for in Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist) for the showcase put on by our West Coast blog friends Aquarium Drunkard. Waiting in line to get in I met, Foxygen singer Sam France's two aunts and grandmother who were very, very proud of him. Not sure if they had an influence on me, but I thought Foxygen was the best thing I saw last night, a confident melange of late '60s / early '70s psych pop and glam that was exemplified by the closing number that seemed to merge "Under My Thumb" and "Suspicious Minds" into a new baby. France was a funny frontman too who seems to really enjoy the frontman role. Catch them at our day party on Friday.

Tashaki Miyaki @ Mercury Lounge (via @brooklynvegan Instagram)

Los Angeles trio Tashaki Miyaki were up next. I enjoy their hazy sound (Mazzy Star-esque as noted before) but they were not completely on their game last night, though their laconic vibe is a tough follow to Foxygen's showmanship. I spent much of their set trying to figure out how leftie guitarist played his righthanded instrument upside down. (Some brains just work that way.) Still, current single "Best Friend" sounded pretty sweet, and they should be a nice soundtrack to the early afternoon of our Saturday day party at Public Assembly (where you can catch them again while getting a free tattoo).

BV photographer Amanda Hatfield (her cat Rufus is at the top of this post), who had been at Ben Gibbard's intimate HiFi show earlier in the evening, tried to get in to Mercury Lounge but found it sold out, or badged-out or both. Some venues adopt a one-in-one out policy during CMJ, others give you a stamp that allows you to get back in anytime and others have the old "no reentry" policy, though you don't see that so much in the 10 years since the smoking band came into effect. Whatever way, it pays to show up early to something you really want to see.

Orwells at Mercury Lounge (via @brooklynvegan Instagram)

At midnight it was the NYC debut of Chicago's The Orwells whose album is out on Autumn Tone records (which is run by Justin of Aquarium Drunkard). All still in High School (or should be) and looked it too, they cranked out a hyper set of angst-fueled garage pop driven by wild-eyed frontman Mario Cuomo (not that one) who stalked the stage and generally went apeshit. In a well-worn Batman tee, he definitely brings the danger to The Orwells that otherwise look like someone's nice younger brothers. They were all clearly stoked to be playing New York City. They're playing many times this week, including an opening slot on our Saturday day party at Public Assembly.

Then I went to bed. It was only Tuesday, plenty of late nights to come. (-BIll)

What are you seeing tonight?

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Savoir Adore played two CMJ shows last night, and one as part of the pre-CMJ Conflict of Interest party on Monday night at Rebel NYC. We missed all three, but check out a video from the Monday one, and a video of Spacehog playing "In the Meantime" at Rockwood Music Hall (true story), below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2012 kicked off Tuesday (Indians, Quilt, Foxygen, The Orwells, Savoir Adore, New Zealand bands + more)"

Die! Die! Die!

Like in past years, New Zealand is being represented at CMJ with a kickoff party at Le Poisson Rouge on October 16. The lineup includes Six60, Die! Die! Die!, Ghost Wave, Popstrangers, Lawrence Arabia and Tom Lark. That show is totally free to the public and will stream live at LPR's Concert Window beginning at 6 PM but you do need to RSVP (just email: Pamela@themusebox.net).

Noise punks Die! Die! Die!, who have recorded for a number of labels incuding Flying Nun, also play Death by Audio on October 17 with Roomrunner and a secret guest (not an official CMJ show). More CMJ shows for them will be announced soon. Their new album, Harmony, is due out November 9 via Golden Antenna. You can stream it in its entirety below.

Indie rockers Popstrangers also play the Carpark/Paw Tracks showcase at Cameo on October 18 with Prince Rama, Young Magic, Dent May, Dog Bite, Montag, and Adventure.

Ghost Wave have a few other CMJ shows, including SESAC showcase at Cake Shop on October 17 with ZZZ's, Hussle Club, I.R.O.K., Punks on Mars, Pyschobuildings, Half Undressed, Communist Daughter, and Blessed Feathers (free); and the Flowerbooking showcase at Knitting Factory on October 19 with Unicorn Kid, Ki Theory, Devin, Talk Normal, and CIties Aviv.

In other New Zealand artists playing CMJ news, as mentioned, Gotye collaborator Kimbra plays Webster Hall on October 19 and 20 with The Stepkids. Both shows are sold out, some CMJ badges will be accepted on at the 10/19 show.

Former Mint Chick Kody Nielson's (whose brother Ruban fronts Unknown Mortal Orchestra) project, Opossom has a few CMJ shows scheduled too. He'll play the Team Cleremont showcase at Union Pool on October 17 with Twin Tigers, Fantasmas, Grape Soda, and Koko Beware; the Wild Honey Pie showcase at Matchless on October 18 with Body Language, Devin, Donora, Echo Friendly, and Night Panther; the Windish showcase at Pianos on October 18 with Flume, American Royalty, Labyrinth Ear, The Luyas, Ape School, Duologue, and Moon King; and the Bowery Presents day party at Pianos on October 20 with The Orwells, Foxygen, Born Ruffians, Little Green Cars, Ava Luna, J. Thoven, San Cisco, Sky Ferreira, Murals, Zulu Pearls, and Blessed Feathers.

After CMJ, Opossom will be sticking around for more shows in NYC including the previousyl discussed show at Pianos (10/24) with Big Scary and Time Travelers and another at Cameo Gallery (10/26). Tickets for the Piano show and the Cameo show are available.

Some song stream and a video are below.

Continue reading "New Zealand artists playing CMJ (Die! Die! Die!, Lawrence Arabia, Popstrangers, Tom Lark, Opossom & more)"

by Andrew Sacher

Japanese-born/Brooklyn-residing post-punk trio ZZZ's were formed this past March with Youkaku (guitar/vox), Yukary (bass/vox), and Lyn (drums), all of whom were members of Hystoic Vein, who broke up in October 2011. They've got three bleak studio recordings online at the moment -- the piercing, Yeah Yeah Yeahs-sounding "Suicide," and two drearier, yet equally dissonant cuts, "Dystopia" and "Cut it Out" -- all of which you can stream below. You can also check out a few live videos of other songs from their Fontana's show this past April, the chugging "Busy Bee," and the no-wavey "Hour Glass."

The girls will be playing a handful of local shows during and before CMJ. First they'll play Glasslands on Sunday (10/14) with Pony Bones and Electric Set (tickets). Then for CMJ, they'll play Cake Shop on October 17 with Hussle Club, I.R.O.K., Punks on Mars, Ghost Wave, Pyschobuildings, Half Undressed, Communist Daughter, and Blessed Feathers; the Sam Mickens-presented show at Bowery Electric on 10/18 (4 PM) with Blue Hawaii, TOPS, and Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders; Grand Victory on 10/18 (9 PM) with The Netherlands, DON'T, Gentlemen, and Cinema, Cinema; and FreeCandy on 10/20 (905 Atlantic Ave, 2nd Floor) with The Suzan, Trabajo, 1200 Trees, and Unkle Yva Punkfaggot.

Those local dates are the only ones the band has scheduled at the moment. You can read them in list form, listen to those song streams, and watch those live videos below.

Continue reading "ZZZ's playing CMJ shows (dates, streams, live videos)"

The full list of artists confirmed for the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon so far is below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2012 initial lineup announced"

DOWNLOAD: Ghost Wave - Hippy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ghost Wave - Sunsetter (MP3)

New Zealand band Ghost Wave just released their self-titled debut EP which owes much to their country's indie rock past. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post, or stream them below. The band will be making their first trip to North America this fall for this year's CMJ Fest in NYC (Oct. 16 - 20), including the annual NZ showcase at Le Poisson Rouge on October 16. No ticket link or other performers for that one yet. They'll also play the Flower Booking showcase on October 19 and the Fuzz showcase on October 20 but those don't have venues associated with them yet. Probably more shows to be announced, too, knowing CMJ.

The band will hit LA before CMJ to play Part Time Punks on October 14. All listed tour dates are below along with song streams.

Continue reading "Ghost Wave released debut EP, touring this fall including CMJ (dates, MP3s and streams)"