CMJ 2010: The DiS Review

The 30th anniversary of the annual CMJ Music Marathon brought plenty of surprises. Daft Punk and Phoenix jammed on a Close Encounters of the Third Kind riff at Madison Square Garden, Pitchfork set up its rival #Offline festival and got Kanye West to appear, and the hotly tipped Glasser had to endure a power cut at the Fader Fort and a raid by the cops in Greenpoint. In amongst the chaos, DiS sent Amanda Farah and Nick Neyland to investigate the five-day event in New York City.

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The CMJ Music Marathon 2009: Best of the Panels

There are two sides to the annual CMJ Music Marathon, which exerts a vice-like grip on the music industry in New York in October. At night, there are fallen-down-drunk bodies strewn throughout the streets, as industry workers stumble out of venues after a selection of their bands play showcases all across the city. Free and cheap beer helps add to the madness, and corporate sponsors proliferate throughout-—it’s not unusual to see a group of people playing a demo version of Rock Band while an actual rock band plays in the same venue. Fortunately, the real-life musicians were just about winning the battle for attention at CMJ ’09.

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CMJ Days 4 & 5: The Drowned in Sound Review

It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, and a few world-weary souls have headed over to the Knitting Factory for the Village Voice showcase. New Thrill Jockey signings Javelin play to a barely mobile crowd, even offering to do a Q&A if anyone gets bored. Thankfully, there’s no need, as their shrill vocals and glitchy electronica brighten up the small audience. Javelin are likely to make a far greater impact when they get a chance to play at a decent time to a bigger crowd.

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CMJ Days 1, 2 & 3: The Drowned in Sound Review

Our first stop is at Le Poisson Rouge to see Bradford Cox in his Atlas Sound guise. Cox straps on an acoustic guitar, occasional harmonica, and a plaid shirt, and is backed by fellow Atlanta residents The Selmanaires. Is Bradford trying out a few Neil Young moves? There’s certainly a huge Crazy Horse-style guitar solo that rips right through one of the songs in this Logos-centric set, although the downbeat tone positions him closer to Tonight’s the Night than Ragged Glory. It’s a shift away from Cox’s recorded work under the Atlas Sound moniker, which might be a surprise to anyone expecting straightforward replication, but actually provides a neat counterpoint to the recorded versions of these songs. ‘Shelia’ is one of the best pop songs of 2009, and positively burns a hole through the venue when it emerges mid-set.

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The CMJ Music Marathon 2009: Tips, Hints, and Previews

The storied history of the annual CMJ Music Festival in New York City includes many legendary performances and panels. Who can forget Factory Records head honcho Tony Wilson and his infamous “wake up America, you’re dead!” conference from 1990? Or appearances by Nirvana, R.E.M., the White Stripes, Eminem, and countless others? It’s certainly not easy to obtain entrance to the festival—-the price is steep, the lines are long, and a badge doesn’t guarantee entry at the packed-out shows. But people come back undeterred year after year, and the 2009 incarnation of the Music Marathon will be no exception.

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