All the pictures in this article were taken by Joshua Rainwater. (http://thatrainwater.com)
CMJÂ 2011 was a 5-day festival held in New York City from Oct 18-22 and featured over 1000 bands. Most of these bands are ones that are “buzzing” at the moment and looking to break into the popularity zone. It also featured bigger bands such as Neon Indian and The Wombats but most of the bands were names I had not heard of when the lineup was released. It’s been compared to SXSW but not as huge and in New York. It was looking to be an insane music-filled week so I was extremely excited when we finally arrived in New York after our 12-hour car ride.
WEDNESDAY
After picking up our badges the next day we were going to check out Zola Jesus’ KEXP session but it seemed to be half an hour away from us so we didn’t bother. Instead, Josh (who took all the pictures that are featured in this article) and I went to a lecture about the intersection of hip-hop and jazz. CMJ not only boasts a huge music lineup but they also have a good amount of lectures pertaining to all areas of the music industry. The speakers for the hip-hop & jazz one included Miles Davis’ son and nephew as well as Andre Torres, the editor of Wax Poetics magazine. They all knew exactly what they were talking about and there were some very interesting conversations going on and there was a whole lot of participation from the audience. I did not say anything, as I don’t really know much about hip-hop or jazz so it probably would not have gone over so well. We were also treated by appearances by Jean Grae and Pharaohe Monch who spoke their mind about the topic. Jean Grae was so intelligent and seeing someone who’s so involved in music know exactly what they were talking about was refreshing as sometimes a lot of musicians really have no idea what they’re doing. It was a highly rewarding panel to go to and it ended up being the only panel I went to the whole weekend.
I was planning on going to a whole lot more panels but Rhett and I ended up walking around New York a bit and went to the Ace Hotel to see Portugal. The Man’s set. It was a special acoustic set for the radio so they played about 6 songs without saying anything since it was being broadcast on the radio. They were very good and I feel like their music would translate really well into a full non-acoustic live show. After this we were already tired so we went back to the hotel to rest for a bit before our first night of music.
That night we went to a venue called (le) Poisson Rouge to see Zola Jesus. An awful DJ called Xanocopiton opened and it was literally like he was purposefully trying to break my eardrums in half. Just a bunch of awful sounds and I was not happy with it at all. The venue was awesome though. Then Zola Jesus came on and she was absolutely fantastic. Her voice is operatic and piercing and none of the instruments really mattered compared to her voice. We left halfway through her set to head to Brooklyn since it was a pretty far ride. I then headed to a random house show to see Chrome Sparks, a band I have written about on this site twice and was very excited to see. It took me about 45 minutes to get there but it was so worth it. Chrome Sparks were everything I was expecting and more. Steph Thompson (or Steffaloo) had an amazingly dreamy voice which was accompanied by instruments such as an electric xylophone and Jeremy Malvin’s brilliant drumming. I’m glad I got to see them and I’m pretty sure that after the 5 shows they played at CMJ they created a good buzz for themselves. I was going to see the rap collective Doomtree that night but I ended up sticking at the house party for a bit then going home.
THURSDAY
The next day I had planned to go to some more panels, but then I didn’t. Instead I headed to the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and saw Yellow Ostrich and Still Corners play an early show. Yellow Ostrich were brilliant, using layering equipment and the three members to create the vocal harmonies that are so perfectly laid out on their album. Highlights were their most popular song WHALE and new song Marathon Runner. This band have a lot going for themselves and their 35-minute set was a great way to start the day. Next band were Still Corners, a band from England who play sort of dreamy, female singer music. I had heard them before this and had liked it but they just didn’t work for a 2pm set. I would have liked to see them play at night when I was a little tired and could get lost in the music but it just didn’t work at that time. They were still good but I left halfway through because I was really that into it. I then headed to Spike Hill to see a band that my friend Cal Stamp plays in called Spirit Animal. They were so much fun and definitely exactly what I wanted to see that day. The lead singer was also over the place and the whole band just seemed like they were having a great time. Cal’s guitar playing definitely steered the show in the right direction and I was very impressed by all of it. They had a song called Black Jack White, which was also a dance. It was amazing.
I met up with Josh and Rhett at Occupy Wall Street, which was interesting to see. It wasn’t as big as it had been before as it had kind of died down a little and it was in the middle of the day on a weekday. There was still a lot going on and it was just a good thing to see. The problem about having a music festival in New York City with panels and music throughout the day and night is that there is already so much going on in the actual city that I wanted to do so I missed out on a whole lot of things. I could have done so much more but the travel between everything took a long time and walking around wore me out quite a lot. Also, while I’m talking about it, a major gripe I had with this festival was that it caters towards a college audience – even having a whole College Day – but most of the shows were 21 and up! Most college students are under 21 for at least two years of their college career so it just doesn’t make much sense to me. I guess it’s not really the festival’s fault but the venues’ but still… I think it’s kind of dumb. I was highly limited in the shows that I could go to and I could pretty much only go to the bigger shows, and barely any of the up-and-coming showcases.
One thing that I really liked about the festival though was that even when shows were sold out, they still let a good amount of people with CMJ badges into the show. I was originally not going to go to the show I went to that night but I found out they were letting badges in so I went. Before headed to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, we went to Rockefeller Center and I had a mini photo shoot with Josh. I recently was sent a new onesie by a company called OnePiece (http://www.onepiece.com) based out of Norway and we took some pictures of me in it for an article that my mum is writing about it. I ended up wearing it to the show that night and it was literally the best thing I could have done. The show I went to was Metronomy with Class Actress, Caged Animals, and True Womanhood. I got there early since it was sold out and I for sure wanted to get in so I had to wait about an hour and a half in the cold. Luckily, this OnePiece was literally the warmest thing I had ever worn. Imagine a hoodie attached to sweatpants, and that’s what I was wearing. Onesies are the best thing ever.
ANYWAYS, I went to this show. True Womanhood played first and the only part about them that impressed me was their fantastic drummer. He was great to watch but unfortunately the rest of the music was not so good. I literally can’t even remember what they sounded like but I know that at one point they did a cover of My Love by Justin Timberlake and it was utterly dreadful. It was like watching someone do bad karaoke, which should definitely not happen at a big show like this. The next band were Caged Animals who I posted about last week and was very excited to see. They definitely lived up to expectations, their 6-piece band wearing all white and providing a great amount of energy. They were very fun and I pretended that they were the opening band and that True Womanhood never played. The next band, Class Actress, had a female singer who could take her voice to some pretty impressive levels. They had cool beats and the singer was very attractive and energetic. So I liked it.
METRONOMY WERE AMAZING. If you don’t know Metronomy, KNOW METRONOMY RIGHT NOW. Oh my goodness. They were definitely my favorite part about this whole festival. I don’t even know. Okay, their bassist…fantastic. He was the most stylish man and he destroyed all his bass parts. Most of their songs rely heavily on bass and he was just too good. Then their drummer was a pretty redhead girl wearing a green, glittery pantsuit and she was phenomenal. She sang in their first encore song Everything Goes My Way and it killed me. When musicians sing and play drums at the same time it is one of the most impressive things in my opinion. I can’t even play one handed drumming so when they sing, play with two hands, AND play the bass drum, oh my goodness. And then their keyboardist was too cool. He danced really weirdly the whole time and had this crazy energy and yeah, it was the best. He had amazing sounds and also had a vocoder on his mic that made his voice sound brilliantly robotic. And finally, the lead singer was just incredible. He played keyboard, guitar, and used his wonderful voice to full advantage. I can’t even explain how amazing they were. Please check out Metronomy, every song they’ve ever written, you’ll be blown away.
After the show, I was going to go to the Cake Shop to see Chrome Sparks and the rumored Odd Future secret appearance but ended up not going because I was mega tired and the show was 21+ anyways. Luckily for me (unfortunately for others), OF had cancelled their appearance and Doomtree played instead. I heard the show was phenomenal anyways but it went until 4:30am and I would have been dead by then. I ended up in Times Square at 2:30 in the morning and that was very cool. New York is absolutely the most beautiful city if you see it in the right light. I hated Times Square when I went there in the day because it was gross and busy but at night it was empty and amazing. I went to bed after that and dreamt about piles of cats in onesies.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
Next day, I don’t think I really did a whole lot. We saw a fantastic movie called Take Shelter in which Michael Shannon from Boardwalk Empire did a fantastic job and should win every award for it. I then went to the Music Hall of Williamsburg again and saw Pepper Rabbit and Active Child. Pepper Rabbit play fun, indie-pop music and they won over the growing crowd. The main guy in Active Child had an amazing professionally trained voice and played a harp which is something I have never seen in a live act. I had a cold and we were all so tired so we didn’t stay for BRAIDS and went home to sleep. The next day we didn’t see any bands because there were no good under 21 shows and I was tired.
My verdict on this festival is that it was good but not absolutely amazing. I probably would have enjoyed myself more if I was over 21 but it still was a good time. It’s a good and a bad idea to hold a festival in New York City. Good because there are so many people and bands and venues, but bad because there is so much to do in New York already. I don’t think that I took full advantage of this festival because there was just so much going on while I was there. But it was great, and I’m excited for next year.
Thanks to Big Picture Media for letting me cover this festival. They were super helpful and made my experience that much better.
