The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ The Cake Shop, New York, NY 10/24/08 (CMJ)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are everything their name suggests. A cute band composed of cute boys (and a girl) who sing cute songs that make you fall in love with falling in love. They've got the jangliness of the Smiths, with a smidge of reverb, ala the Jesus and Mary Chain but with 21st century sensibilities -we are living in a world of hook-up culture and friends with bennies after all. Catching them live was definitely a highpoint of CMJ. Check out Amy's photos and then enjoy their uber-catchy (and catchily titled songs).


This Love is Fucking Right! - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Doing All the Things That Wouldn't Make Yout Parents Proud - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

CMJ - Brooklyn Vegan Showcase @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg 10/21/08

Ah, it's that time of year again -CMJ. And you know what that means. The city is overrun with five days of marathon concert events, a bevy of industry people, wide-eyed college kids, and irresistible drink specials. We chose to kick our week off with the Brooklyn Vegan Showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and spent the subsequent six hours drinking three-dollar beers while trying to find your next favorite band. Oh and I forgot my camera, which basically makes me the worst music blogger ever. Perhaps enjoy my words instead.

England's Emmy the Great kicked the night off and managed to even live up to their name, a hard task to do for a relatively sober seven o'clock opening slot. The British indie-folk pop collective, lead by singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss played a mellow set of lovely, lilting songs that ebbed and flowed with mandolin, violins and plenty of heartbreak. But it was Emmy's sweetly girlish voice that truly impressed us.

Next up was The Sammies, a rock band from North Carolina that reminded us a lot of the Strokes circa 2001 –unpretentious and fun. Except with Southern accents and facial hair. Despite their occasional tendencies to veer toward country jam-band territory, they probably would have been way buzzworthy half a decade ago. About halfway through their set I found myself getting antsy for the next band Shearwater, who were the recently announced special guest band of the night and wow, did they not disappoint. Lead singer ex-Okkervil River member Jonathon Meiburg's expressive, nearly operatic voice often strained to its falsetto heights and filled the venue to haunting effect, backed by a dramatic array of obscure percussion, woodwinds and strings. Gorgeous, gothic and baroque are really the only apt adjectives that come to mind when describing just how darkly beautiful their music is.

The much-hyped Ponytail was up next and could not have provided a more jarring and antithetical change of pace. The Baltimore four-piece play what some call experimental art-rock and what others more simply call noise. With their prickly riffage and intense drum banging, they get a lot of comparisons to Deerhoof, but the thing that really sets Ponytail apart, for better or worse is Molly Siegel's vocal stylings, which are unique to say the least. To call it singing would be a great injustice –monosyllabic grunting is probably a more accurate term, or just plain screaming –that works too. Also despite being an adult she looks about 14 years old, but then again so do all the members of this band. Also one of the guitarists kept hopping on one foot for the entire duration of the set, alternating legs while still playing the guitar. It was exhausting to watch, yet the indie kids went ape shit for it. While I kept feeling like I was missing something, one thing's for sure –Ponytail is the kind of band that'll either keep you young or make you feel old, very old.

I was happily surprised with the next band, Passion Pit. They were yet another extremely buzzworthy young group, the kind that CMJ-ers eagerly anticipate on their five day quest to hear the next-big-thing. But Passion Pit brought what none of the other acts of the night had brought –a beat! They played highly rhythmic electro-pop, the kind that allows even the most disaffected hipster to bob their head and tap their feet. Four hours into the night, it was nice to finally dance.

Endearing Swedish pop star Jens Lekman kept the dance floor going with his specially billed "Singing DJ" set. There was much speculation as to what a "singing DJ" set would actually entail. (Would he sing while DJing?) Turns out first he spun a set of crowd-pleasing party tunes –everything from Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" to hipster faves like Lykke Li's "Dance Dance Dance" (who was actually playing a set of her own at the Bowery Ballroom that night). And then once the crowd was wildly moving, he segued into spinning –and singing- a handful of his own songs karaoke style, thus singing AND dj-ing. Perhaps I would have preferred a bit more singing, but really Jens' very presence was enough to make me smile. He can do no wrong.

We didn't stick around to see the Phenomenal Handclap Band, as we were a little dizzy from all the dancing (not to mention 3 dollar drink specials) but we're guessing there were lots of handclaps involved.

1 day down, 4 to go.

Short Country Song - Emmy the Great
Glisten - The Sammies
Century Eyes - Shearwater
Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From An Angel) - Ponytail
Sleepyhead - Passion Pit
Into Eternity - Jens Lekman

Bon Iver

Bon Iver's yet another artist I've been meaning to mention forever, but just never have gotten around to doing so. And I guess "forever" is an apt word choice here, because with an album titled For Emma, Forever Ago, there seems to be an eerie timelessness in Justin Vernon's haunting music. Lots of music is made by recluses in the woods, but rarely does it sound this good. Let's be thankful that his debut album will get a proper release on Jagjaguwar on February 19th. I only managed to snag one dark and blurry photo of him during his set at CMJ, but that's because I was so arrested by the otherworldly soulfulness of his voice that I honestly was too mesmerized to hit the flash button. This guy's good.

For Emma - Bon Iver
Skinny Love - Bon Iver

The (Obligatory) Black Kids Post

I've been hesitant to write about Black Kids because everyone and their grandmother has been writing about Black Kids. I will try to make this entry devoid of hype, hyperbole or trash-talking because the Jacksonville, Florida quintet has already had its fair share of all of the above, on the sole basis of a four-song EP no less. Instead, I will
attempt to eludicate and inform you of a band that you may or may not like, but that decision should be made based on the music and not my words.
See, here's the part where I could tell you about how only two of the members (siblings Reggie and Ali Youngblood) are actually black and how the other three-fifths of the band maybe represent ironic cultural appropriation. But see, none of that matters. Because when I hear the first downbeat of "I'm Not Gonna Teach Him" I don't want to think; I want to dance! For some, Black Kids veer a little too checkily to early 80's synth-pop. You can make all the Human League-Cure-New Order references you want. They are apt, but only partially. There are doo-wop-y harmonies and girl-group, cheerleader chants plus an occasional self-depricating lyrics (Like "It's Friday night and I ain't got NOBODY" on the awesome "Hurrican Jane").
By now you might have also read about all the technical SNAFUs that plagued their Annex performance at CMJ. Luckily, I caught them the following day at R Bar, where their show went off without a hitch. Off course, lead kid Reggie acknowledged this saying how the audience of wannabe tastemakers would all go back and "write about them in their blogs." Well, hey, he was right.

I've Underestimated My Charm (Again) - Black Kids
I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You - Black Kids
Download the entire "Wizard of Ahhs EP" (it's free!) on their MySpace page.

Justice @ Terminal 5, NYC 10/20/07 CMJ

If you had told me a week ago that I would forsake an opportunity to see Spoon and that I would go see a French electronica duo instead, well I would have thought you out of your mind. But such is the schizophrenic nature of the CMJ music marathon -you never know what you are going to see -or going to want to see- next. By Saturday evening, the fifth and final day of the marathon I had pretty much had my fair share of guys with guitars and thanks in part to the pleading of a friend who didn't want to go see Justice alone, I decided to venture into uncharted territory -that of (gasp) dance music of the decidely non-Mountain Goat variety.

I opted to stay on the second floor balcony, overlooking the crowd, which looked liked a sea of glowsticks from above. Prior to the concert, I was only familiar with their ubiquitous summer anthem D.A.N.C.E. Oh and dance we did, as two leather-clad, chain smoking French men twidled knobs and laptops to create some damn intense, pulsating music. The walls of speakers blared. A massive electric cross glowed and man, did we dance. Justice was served

D.A.N.C.E. - Justice
Phantom Pt. II - Justice

Islands @ R Bar, NYC 10/19/07 CMJ

"Rocking" and "bass clarinet" normally do not belong in the same sentence together. Islands, however obliterated that rule. Playing for over an hour in the confines of New York's teeny-tiny R-Bar, hundreds of people scrunched together to catch a glimpse of the eclectic Canadian pop collective.It was all a part of Brooklyn Vegan's CMJ day party (one of three actual, plus an official CMJ showcase), which ran nearly seven and nine bands long, but more on those bands later. Lead Islander Nick Diamond pranced around the stage (or rather step in the back of the bar) and into the crowd, snatching hats and umbrellas from unexpected audience members. Meanwhile the violinists swung from poles (there were an inordinate amount of stripper-like poles for a non-strip club, ha), while simultaneously playing there instruments no less, making them by far the most acrobatically proficient musicians you're bound to ever see.


Word on the street (or rather from the band) has it that a new album will be out sometime in the Spring. They literally just finished mixing it three days ago. The tracks all sounded superb, bounding with energy, the as of yet titled album is looking to be one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.



Rough Gem - Islands
Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby - Islands

The Felice Brothers @ Avalon, NYC - CMJ 10/17/07

The Felice Brothers set at CMJ's Unsigned Artists Showcase proved to be one of the highlights of the night. Of course that came as no surprise, having seen them play many times for events at my college lit-mag. Drummer (and published novelist) Simone Felice was lively and animated, praising the crowd with "Amens". They were playing in a converted church-turned-indie-rock-venue after all. And then the guitar and accordion wailed in beautiful gothic harmony.

I briefly spoke to Simone prior to the show. I noticed him lying on a small patch of grass outside the venue, limbs sprawled out. This is a man who uses the term "psychedelic" unironically. Needless to say he is quite a character on and off the stage.

Catch the Felice Brothers opening for Bright Eyes this Fall. Hmm, maybe I should have warned them about the audiences they might have to endure?

Whiskey in My Whiskey - The Felice Brothers
Radio Song - The Felice Brothers

Mates of State @ CMJ - Avalon, NYC

I just got back from Mates of State's show at CMJ. They are more adorable than kittens and rainbows. Additionally Kori Gardner is very, very pregnant, although she reassured the audience that she wouldn't give birth on stage. I guess the Mates have mated.



Look for more CMJ posts throughout the week.