CMJ 2009 - Bill's Friday nighttime picks (Immaculate Machine, Infinity Cat, Seaport Music & more)

by Bill Pearis

Immaculate Machine

NIGHTTIME:

BrooklynVegan’s got two parties tonight. Black Bubblegum is hosting an official metal showcase tonight at Fontana’s (which happens right after our day party at the same venue), and we’ve also got the teeny tiny Loft Space party that is sold-out at this point.

One of the bands playing the loft party is Victoria Canada’s Immaculate Machine, who may or may not have the lineup pictured above…

…To make life even more tricky for the band, vocalist and keyboardist Kathryn Calder, one of the remaining original members, has had to absent herself from touring after the terrible news of her mum’s diagnosis with motor neurone disease; although Lynn Calder very sadly died earlier this year, Kathryn was not with the band this evening. Indeed, the touring line-up looked very different from the line-up advertised on the band’s web presences, two boys apparently replaced by two girls.

So, amid confusion that appeared to verge on turmoil, could the band deliver the goods live? It turned out they very much could… [John Kell, Oct 20, 2009]

Immaculate Machine also play early-ish tonight (8:30) at the equally tiny Fat Baby for a showcase for their label, Mint Records. They’ve got trio of Canadian bands playing, most of whom rarely seem to make it down to America. Or, the East Coast at least — most of their bands tend to be from Vancouver. In addition to Immaculate Machine, there’s the garagey Pack A.D. and Hot Panda, who I caught last year at CMJ and are pretty good. The Mint Records showcase is also a good place to pick up their great fanzine, A Taste of Mint, which always features at least one classic Narduwar interview.

And a bit off the beaten path, the folks at the Seaport Music Festival are putting on a great showcase at their Seaport on the Side gallery space (corner of Front and Beekman). The line-up, which runs from 7PM – Midnight, includes Montreal’s We are Wolves, the Danish electro sounds of Spleen United, and UK hip hop act Man Like Me. UK pop artist Dan Black was supposed to play but cancelled and has been replaced by Sweden’s Moonbabies who played a killer opening set at yesterday’s Brooklyn Vegan day party. Do go see Moonbabies if you can. They also play earlier in the night (8:30) at Crash Mansion.

One of the many, many highlight’s of yesterday’s Brooklyn Vegan day party at Piano’s was JEFF the Brotherhood who put on an absolutely kick-ass closing set. Tonight, they’ve put together a showcase for their label, Infinity Cat, featuring a slew of Nashville bands: Heavy Cream, Natural Child, Denney & the Jets, Daniel Pujol, as well as Brooklyn’s Sisters.

And, of course, JEFF who you should really try and see this weekend at some point. If there was one thing missing at Pianos yesterday, it was the smoke machines Jake and Jamin tend to use (Pianos doesn’t allow them) and I have a feeling they’ll be in full effect tonight.

And lastly, fellow Brooklyn blog Chocolate Bobka has teamed with Underwater Peoples and twosyllable records for a pretty great night of music at The Delancey, including Holiday Shores, Real Estate, Frat Dad, Pill Wonder and more. They’re also promising free moonshine, which sounds a bit deadly to me but, hey, it is Friday night.

Daytime highlights HERE. Hip Hop highlights HERE. Fliers, a Moonbabies video, and other stuff below…

Moonbabies @ BV day party @ Pianos Thursday

Immaculate Machine – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 23 – Fat Baby (CMJ Music Marathon) New York, New York
Oct 23 – (CMJ brooklynvegan loft party) Brooklyn, New York
Oct 27 – Capital Bar Fredericton, New Brunswick
Oct 28 – Paragon Lounge Halifax, Nova Scotia
Oct 30 – Hunter’s Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Oct 31 – Timothy’s (all ages in-store) Charlottetown, Prince Edward
Oct 31 – George’s Roadhouse Sackville, New Brunswick
Nov 2 – The Mansion Kingston, Ontario
Nov 3 – Casbah Hamilton, Ontario
Nov 4 – Townehouse Sudbury, Ontario
Nov 5 – Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario
Nov 6 – Maverick’s Ottawa, Ontario
Nov 7 – Il Motore Montreal, Quebec
Nov 10 – Phog Lounge Windsor, Ontario
Nov 11 – Red Dog Peterborough, Ontario
Nov 12 – Forwell Hall (Fanshawe) London, Ontario
Nov 13 – Out Back Shack London, Ontario
Nov 19 – The Queens Nanaimo, British Columbia
Nov 20 – tba (all ages) Courtenay, British Columbia
Nov 21 – tba (all ages) Campbell River, British Columbia
Nov 27 – Lucky Bar Victoria, British Columbia
Dec 3 – 1 Du Tang Shenzhen
Dec 4 – Fringe Club Hong Kong
Dec 5 – 191Space Guangzhou
Dec 6 – Cat & Rabbit Club Guilin
Dec 8 – Love Drinking Bar Nanning
Dec 10 – 4698 Changsha
Dec 11 – Vox Wuhan
Dec 12 – Yuyintang Shanghai
Dec 13 – Travellers Bar Hangzhou
Dec 15 – Castle Bar Nanjing
Dec 16 – Redstar Qingdao
Dec 18 – nic Club Tianjin
Dec 19 – Yugongyishan Beijing