CMJ Wednesday Awesomeness

I've been going through a whole bunch of annoying personal stuff, so it's taken me way longer than usual to actually look into and get excited about CMJ. Thankfully it has finally happened! I'm not really looking forward to anything happening Tuesday, so here are some suggestions for Wednesday (10/21):

In terms of actual CMJ showcases, there are two I am really excited about. In the grand tradition of CMJ, they are of course on the same night with some overlap in terms of set times:

M for Montreal has hit the road and come to New York for CMJ. They are putting on a showcase at Arlene's Grocery featuring a bunch of bands from Montreal (and free poutine!). The line-up & set times are on the flyer below and more details on the bands can be found here. Out of the line-up I've only seen We Are Wolves, and wasn't really into them. I've heard good things about Malajube and my friend Eddie who has steered me wrong, maybe once in the 5 years that I've known him, has reported that Duchess Says (who is also playing the BrooklynVegan day party at Pianos on Thursday) is awesome.




Another showcase I am really looking forward to is happening at Bowery Ballroom. I'm not familiar with most of the line-up, but the two acts I do know of are really great. The first is Findlay Brown who manages to channel an array of great artists (Roy Orbison, Elvis, the Beatles, Johnny Cash) without being irritating or sounding clichéd. He was excellent when I saw him back in February, as well as the two times I saw him in April. Check out those posts for reviews as well as some downloads.

The second act I am very familiar with and delighted to be seeing again is Midnight Juggernauts. After witnessing their live show in many different venues in which the loud, almost metal-ish guitar and drums dominated, Le Poisson Rouge finally got the sound right last September allowing all of the bits of electronic loveliness that make Midnight Juggernauts so good shine through.

You can download some tracks from both Findlay Brown (including "Holding Back the Night" and a solo acoustic version of "I Had A Dream") and Midnight Juggernauts ("This New Technology" remixes by Memory Tapes, Nile Delta, and the Juan Maclean, plus a b-side - "Fantastic Valleys") here.

You can read more about the rest of the line-up (which includes Fanfarlo, The Postelles, TigerCity, and Freelance Whales) here and if you don't have a badge tickets are available here.

Also, FYI...Findlay is playing a second show at Littlefield on Sunday and Midnight Juggernauts are playing a bunch of other shows over the course of CMJ:

October 21 - Hype Machine Day Show at Santos



October 24 - The Windish Agency Presents at Santos.


Also on Wednesday:

Takka Takka are playing in a showcase at the Knitting Factory (which I still can't believe, is now in Brooklyn). The first and last time I saw Takka Takka was at last year's BrooklynVegan day party at the Knitting Factory (there are some pics and an interview here)...I saw maybe 2 or 3 songs, but that was enough to make me like them. Info on the rest of the line-up & ticket info is here.

They are also playing Union Pool on the 21st and Popgun's CMJ party on the 23rd at Glasslands.


Moving away from showcases and getting into more late night/dance-related activities...

I think my only exposure to Aeroplane has been their remix of Friendly Fires' Paris, which is honestly all I need to be convinced to see them at Fixed's CMJ Freakout Chapter 1 at Santos. More info below:



Aeroplane will also be at Fixed CMJ Chapter 2 the following night (10/22) at the Tribeca Grand Hotel and at Insiders 2009 at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza on Friday (10/23) (more on that later).


Also Thursday night, Fool's Gold is having a CMJ rager at 88 Palace with a pretty big line-up...though the only act I've seen before is Vega (who I didn't like live). The rest of the line-up looks promising though:




Nicky Digital is having his own CMJ showcase at Ella. I've seen Kap10Kurt deejay before and he's on Plant Music, so I'm pretty sure his set should be good and Bad Brilliance's live show is apparently a sight to see. The rest of the line-up & info is below:




Young Robots (a new label launched this year by Pittsburgh's Relative Q, Philadelphia's DJ Apt One, and New York's Skinny Friedman) is having a CMJ Jumpoff at Pianos:




Disco Social at Trophy Bar! Not sure about the rest of the line-up but Amir will play some good stuff: