Up next after Division Day was Melbourne Australia's blues-garage masters The Drones. I've had The Drones' amazing "Here Come the Lies" and "Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By" albums for a while now and was looking forward to seeingthe free experimental energy of the music live. These guys are the descendants of a long tradition of high-quality no-bullshit Melbourne rock bands like Bored! (I'm pretty up on the newer down-under rock but I got schooled on the classics by some friendly Aussies before the set) so the intensity level was appropriately on ten as the band burned through classics like "Shark Fin Blues" and newer tunes like "I Don't Ever Want to Change". Unfortunately there were a few prolonged pauses due to various technical difficulties that dulled the impact & momentum of the performance somewhat but it gave the band time for some amusing banter including what may be the quote of the week "Yeah we played South by Southwest and now this. We're tired of playing these crazy showcases over here because well... They don't work!"
However once singer/guitarist Gareth Libbard & company got going again it was clear something was working as the power of the awesome attack had the packed room hooting & stomping for more. The blistering dual guitar shredding of Libbard & Rui Pereira over Michael Noga (Drums) and Fiona Kitschin (Bass) rumbling rhythms built steadily towards a raging finale. After the set Rui took a nasty bonk on the head from a low-hanging PA speaker as he was leaving the stage but looked ok after reorienting himself for a bit. The Drones are not to be missed for any lovers of garage or harder-hitting indie.
So CMJ week got off to a pretty good start last night with a couple of very different but entertaining bands on the Lower East Side. I popped into Pianos to check out the final night of the clubs' week long 4th anniversary celebration. When I arrived LA rockers Division Day were on were on stage previewing selections from their newest LP "Beatrap". The band stayed mostly in the American Analog Set, My Bloody Valentine territory adding some impressive drumming & tempo changes to the mix to keep things from getting dull.
A bunch of emails came in this weekend for CMJ recommendations, postings, schedules, etc. Well, there's tons of parties going on. My final schedule isn't set but all I can say is don't be afraid to wander around & explore. Also, here's twenty bands that are playing this week in NYC that we haven't featured yet on the site that are worth checking out (of course the bands we've already posted on FWYB are our favorites & not to be missed!!). Click on the links below (or here) for info on when & where they're playing & sound samples:
Post a Comment More CMJ week fun - RSVP here for a free live performance by Philly MC Lupe Fiasco, LA Rockers Monsters are Waiting with some good bands & DJs. It's my birthday that night so if you see me at the party - holla!
Post a Comment Assemble your crews! This should be a perfect way to end CMJ week - RSVP here for a free live performance by Wu-Tang Clan (Raekwon, GZA Inspechtah Deck & U-God) on Sat Nov 4th @ BB Kings. Scion usually throws good parties so hopefully this won't be a clusterfuck at the door like the Ghostface show at Avalon a few weeks ago.
After being pretty under whelmed by the happenings at the Bowery Ballroom I decided to head around the corner and check out the Vice party at Fontana’s (Vice always throws good parties). I hadn't heard much about this band before hand and was worried I might be in for another indie shoegaze snooze session but I couldn't have been more wrong. Brooklyn trio the Big Sleep rattled the walls in the dark basement of Fontana’s with some HEAVY sounds that reminded me of old-school Kyuss a bit. The band's mostly instrumental set would've fit nicely on a bill with some of the better alt-metal bands touring right now (like say Wolfmother). The Big Sleep have a bunch of shows coming up soon and are definitely worth checking out if you like your rock with some heavy crunch.
I couldn't really get into UK flavor of the month the Kooks. They're being heavily hyped by the UK media & the crowd tried hard to get into it but I found the whole thing laughably boring & bland. To be fair none of the songs were particularly terrible but none were really outstanding either - it was basically one ok song over and over again for 45 minutes with some clichéd Brit-Rock by the numbers stage moves thrown in. If you put these guys on a bill with any of the other thousand UK bands that have been hyped over the past few years (i.e. Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, Arctic Monkeys, etc.) I doubt if anyone would be talking about the Kooks after the show.
I was really impressed with this energetic band from Toronto. Small Sins got things off to a good start playing a set with of melodic, catchy tunes that definitely made a positive impression on the sold out crowd. It's funny with the whole ridiculous Tapes N' Tapes, cold war Kids backlash going on because live this band actually reminded me of a mix of both - hopefully they can avoid the bandwagon jumping haters.
Small Sins are playing during the the CMJ festival on Friday November 3rd @ the Canal Room in NYC
I wasn’t sure Beck could improve on his amazing acoustic set he did at Lincoln Center a few years ago but he topped himself once again with a fun multi-media freak-out in which his whole band was mimicked onstage in real time by a team of puppeteers. In the live setting the level of Beck’s musical ability is really just awe-inspiring as he just flips effortlessly through just about every genre of modern music all while cracking jokes with the audience and having fun with his band. At one point he mentioned how he had just been fired by the Rolling Stones and then ripped into the best cover of “No Complaints” I’ve ever heard - so good you had to wonder what the hell the oldsters were thinking when they let him go. At another point his band brought a table onto stage, sat down and started eating salad while Beck serenaded them acoustically (including an acoustic version of “Debra”). Then they all started playing the plates and glasses with their silverware so Beck joined in with his guitar and the whole thing morphed into a song. Beck also had about the most energetic hype man on stage with him dressed in a button down shirt and computer geek thick framed glasses doing karate kicks, jumping jacks, disco twitches, and robo b-boy dance moves through the whole concert (this guy could give hype-man king Flavor Flav a serious run for the money).
So, some things never change – Beck is one of the most talented & consistently innovative musicians of our time and its cool to see he hasn't lost his touch or his sense of humor.
There was no opener listed for the Beck multimedia extravaganza in Jersey City so it was a pleasant surprise when experimental Electro-Rappers Spank Rock bumrushed the stage. Spank Rock has either been on stage or on the stereo at pretty much all of the best parties I've been to so far this year so I was only a little bit surprised when they turned out to be Beck's surprise opening band. What can I say? Beck's got great taste in music and Spank Rock's Hip-Hop / Electro sound is Hot to Death. After one song it was clear my seat just wasn't the place to be, so I slipped down front and mixed in with a crew of kids in hoodies who claimed they were from "B-More". From there we set off the partying in the aisles.
FWYB Contributor Angry Citizen was front & center as experimental indie-rockers TV on the Radio rocked the sold out Irving Plaza. You can read his full review of the show on his music blog AngryCitizen.org.
I've seen the DC Snipers a few times now & this set was the best set so far. The band was fired up & played with a ferocious energy that got the crowd cheering and bouncing along.
The DC Snipers are playing Sat. November 4th @ 4p, Free! (maybe free beer) @ Passout Records (Daggerman CMJ Day Showcase) w/ the Tampoffs, the Night Terrors, LiveFastDie, Imaginary Icons, VCR
There was some Serious garage-punk going on Saturday night in the dank basement of Williamsburg rock palace Northsix. Beantown underground legends the Tampoffs fired up the crowd with a blistering set of catchy selection of tunes from their unreleased new album. The bands headed back into the studio before returning to NYC for the CMJ Indie Music Fest.
The Tampoffs are playing Sat. November 4th @ 4p, Free! (maybe free beer) @ Passout Records (Daggerman CMJ Day Showcase) w/ the Night Terrors, DC Snipers, LiveFastDie, Imaginary Icons, VCR Listen: the Tampoffs - "All the time"
Nashville Pop-Punks the Pink Spiders played an impressive collection of tunes off their new album "Teenage Graffitti". Their sound includes elements of Punk, Rockabilly, and 80's pop & judging by the crowd's reaction to their single "Little Razorblade" these guys might be headlining these shows soon. There was some unusual lighting at Webster Hall so did my best to capture the band's signature pink & black look.
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