One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on:

Hip-hop is already pretty scarce at the indie-rock focused CMJ, so it didn’t help matters that the fest’s two best rap lineups were scheduled for the exact same time on Saturday night in different parts of town. At the Lower East Side’s 205 Chrystie, hot underground Pittsburgh MC Wiz Khalifa (a former RS Breaking artist) was holding it down with mixtape-circuit star DJ Green Lantern. But further uptown, at the Highline Ballroom, an indie-rap all-star team proved to be the stronger draw. Sweet-voiced female MC Psalm One from Chicago kicked it off, followed by a solo set from Dilated Peoples’ Evidence.

But the place didn’t really erupt until albino legally-blind Muslim rapper (yeah, take a minute with that) Brother Ali brought his fiery rhymes to the stage. With a preacher’s cadence and poetic couplets on everything from his failed first marriage to civil liberties (he calls himself “Howard Stern meets Howard Zinn”), the MC, who recently released The Undisputed Truth on Rhymesayers Entertainment, had the crowd screaming “A-li! A-li! A-li!” (more…)

One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on:

The copious bitching and moaning that precedes CMJ — the exhaustive hype, the hordes of bodies, the wristband drama — all but vaporizes once you’re actually at a show, anticipating the goods. And if there’s one up-and-coming band whose songs can send whiners packing, it’s MGMT. They might not be an outright psychedelic band, but there’s no way around the colorful escapism provided on their mercurial electro-pop debut Oracular Spectacular. Friday night’s audience of evenly divided male and female, washed and unwashed attendees was a little worn out by the time the band hit the stage a bit before 1 AM, but bobbed in place to their Flaming Lips-like fantasy jams. MGMT themselves were more timid than expected, and didn’t totally harness their music’s potential to beam listeners out of a dank basement club and into the clouds — but there’ll be plenty of time for that in the coming months. MGMT seem poised to ride excellent track “Time to Pretend” into a realm where they won’t have to visualize success. (more…)

One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on:

One night after Dan Deacon metaphorically brought the house down, the Bowery Ballroom played host to another anticipated CMJ showcase. First up on the bill were the Tiny Masters of Today, featuring two siblings, thirteen-year-old guitarist-vocalist Ivan and eleven-year-old bassist-vocalist Ada, and a father-figure-like man on drums (yes, folks, we know it’s onetime Jon Spencer Blues Explosion kitman Russell Simins). The wear-and-tear of CMJ showcases seemed to drain the youngsters, as the duo seemed lethargic throughout their performance, like they’ve been staying up way past their bedtimes. When they were on, they sounded like pre-teen Ramones playing Paddy Cake, especially on songs like “Hey Mr. DJ” and the Ada-sung anti-George W. rocker “Bushy.” The band closed out their set with a Kidz Bop-esque version of House of Pain’s “Jump Around.” Yeah, they were cute, but hopefully this band’s sound continues to mature or they might grow up and no one will like them anymore, like Frankie Munoz. (more…)

You know Chicago’s hip-hop scene is on the rise when a) Kanye West cameos on hometown rapper Kid Sister’s “Pro Nails,” and b) big, beer-chugging guys wave their cuticles in the air to its girlie chorus: “Got her toes done up with her fingernails match.” Last night at Hiro Ballroom, the pint-sized diva, backed by West’s DJ A-Track and sporting a platinum-blonde bob, got the crowd bouncing to kiss-off anthems like “Telephone” (chorus: “Nigga, quit callin’ me!”), the Tangerine Dream-remixing “Let Me Bang” and the old-school banger “Control.” But “Pro Nails” topped the show. “You ladies remember when you went to prom just because you wanted to dress up like a bride and get your nails did?” she asked, by way of introducing the track, and at least one quarterback-shaped dude hollered back in response.

Earlier that night, Cool Kids echoed the same Eighties-style vibe as Kid Sister, adhering to the golden rule of old-school hip-hop: As one journalist in the crowd put it, “When in doubt, rap faster.” While a video screen mashed up Muppet Babies footage with clips from Michael Jordan-era Bulls games, the Chicago duo kicked things off by asking everyone to shake their key rings to their version of LL Cool J’s “Jingling Baby,” moved on to the M/A/R/R/S-sampling “Pump Up the Volume,” and even played a track called “88,” where they bragged about taking things back to the days of acid-washed jeans. At nineteen years old, the group’s MCs, Chuck and Mikey, are probably too young to root their nostalgia in that part of the past. But their fresh, stripped-down sound definitely feels like it has a future.

[Photo: Dziekan/Retna]

One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on:

“Fuck, yeah!” shouted Randy Randall of the guitar-and-drums avant-rock duo No Age at the beginning of the pair’s set at Bowery Ballroom. It was a neat summation of last night’s lineup: No Age, Dan Deacon and Deerhunter all revel in the art of glorious, sloppy, demented noise.

No Age rocked the stage as if they had written the greatest guitar riff since AC/DC’s “Back In Black,” even though their songs are supremely messy two-minute bursts of chaos. Plus, they had a great spirit: Randall took turns playing from the top of the P.A. speakers or banging his head into his amp while drummer Dean Spunt at times slapped hands with the kids in the front row. When Randall claimed “We’re really excited to see you guys,” to the audience, you believed him.

A performance artist from Baltimore, Dan Deacon performed at his table of mixers, samplers, ring modulators and pitch shifters on the floor of the venue. (more…)

One thousand or so bands (give or take a few shaggy haircuts) hit New York City every fall for the CMJ Music Marathon, a five-day band-a-palooza where new acts get noticed (see Arcade Fire) and scores more get drunk at open-bar showcases. For the next few days, Rock Daily will be bringing you reports on the bands we consider most worthy of your time after CMJ has packed up and moved on:

Given the success of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, it’s no wonder that there would be groups like the Most Serene Republic cashing in on the whole “collective” thing at this year’s CMJ. But this Canadian septet came off more like an indie-rock version of High School Musical at their Bowery Ballroom gig last night. The band turned in a forty-minute set of too-over-the-top anthems, which showed off their jazz-and-classical-influenced chops (that’s good) and Broadway-ready vocals (in this case, bad). Their second record, Population, is much, much better: a thirteen-track headphones-appropriate disc that takes its time unfurling some pretty orchestra-heavy tunes. Frontman Adrian Jewett seemed to pick up on the disappointed audience. Toward the end of the group’s set, he said, “You’re all critiquing us. You all probably have a blog or a Web site and you’re going to write [bad things] about us.” That neatly summed up the vibe of CMJ: many bands like Most Serene Republic get hyped, then disappear. But thankfully, twenty minutes after they exited the stage, Dean and Britta — tireless professionals who used to front the excellent dream-pop band Luna for over a decade — came out to show the new kids how it’s done.

[Photograph by Ryan Muir]

Another year of CMJ draws to a close and the smelly, tight-jean-wearing kid that’s been crashing on your couch for a week heads back to college in Arkansas. Check out the highlights of the weekend’s shows after the jump.

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It can take a lot to get New York’s indie-rock lovers to schlep across the East River. But Missouri band Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin — whose catchy, hook-laden tunes remind us of early Weezer — have already won their share of fans. And from the headbopping and foot-tapping that their their sunny twee-pop sound inspired, the crowd seemed satisfied to have made the journey for the foursome’s CMJ performance last night. The boys seemed unsure of themselves on stage at first: Except for occasional asides like, “This is for anyone who’s from Columbia, the country or the city” between songs, they kept audience interaction to a minimum. Endearlingly awkward for the first part of their set, the guys loosened up halfway through when three of the four members rotated instruments. With a long-winded (and painfully of-the-moment) name and some more experience, SSLYBY could well be the next Clap Your Hands.

Throngs of suburban college students flocked to Times Square last night for their hip hop fix as old-school Bronx rapper Percee P took the stage at B.B. King’s Blues Club. Joined onstage by former Lootpack emcee Wildchild — whose own energized set had the house bouncing — Percee made a point of encouraging up and coming rappers in the crowd to keep pushing their tapes on the street. (He made a name for himself selling his mixtapes on the streets of Brooklyn.) “I meet so many of you out there pushin’ your tapes,” he shouted. “Don’t give up on your dreams. I’m livin’ my dream up here.” After guesting on a crowdpleasing new Wildchild track entitled “The League,” (whose chorus, “We are the league of extraordinary gentlemen/The fantastic five MCs,” inspired the audience to sing along), Percee got down to business, backed by veteran turntablist J-Rocc of the Beat Junkies. The rapper wasted no time blazing through his half-hour set, including a five-minute a cappella performance that had the crowd on their knees. Closing with a solid mix of new rhymes and classic tracks from his nearly twenty-year career, Percee thanked the audience and humbly took his place among the crowd.

The two faces of electronica showed themselves last night with two dramatically different CMJ shows: One, a cinematic performance from Swedish duo The Knife at NYC’s Webster Hall; The other, a sweaty, full-on dance party courtesy of mash-up/raver Girl Talk at Mercury Lounge. (more…)

We should probably mention right off the bat that New Orleans foursome Mute Math is kinda sorta a Christian rock band. Despite this, they a) sound nothing like Creed and b) never flat-out name-check Jesus. In fact, the group actually sued their label when they were marketed as Christian rockers, fearing it would limit their fan base. So we’re giving ourselves permission to like them. And apparently so are the scores of folks who showed up for their gig at B.B. Kings’ Blues Club last night. For almost two hours, the quartet brought the house down with their emo-meets-Radiohead brand of atmospheric rock, ripping through tunes from their debut album. Frontman Paul Meany (who plays keyboards and a keytar) hopped around stage like a chimpanzee on a sugar high, and drummer Darren King taped his monitor headphones around his head to allow for maximum rocking out. And unlike most every other CMJ act, these guys supplemented their songs with a killer light show: Rows of fluorescent tubes were illuminated behind them, lending them a downright ethereal glow. Praise the Lord, we guess.

Perhaps we just have nukes on the brain, but last night in the basement of B.B. Kings’ Blues Club, Chicago prog-rockers Wax On Radio kicked up ambient explosions to rival Kim Jong Il’s latest nuclear tests. Already darlings of the indie music scene in their hometown, the foursome snagged their first headlining show at venerable Chi-town venue Metro less than a year after they formed, and subsequently got signed to Downtown Records (home to Gnarls Barkley and Art Brut). Their debut album, Exposition,was released in September.

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I’ve seen lots of bands worse than The Horrors. I saw Morningwood once. And Jamiroquai, they weren’t very good at all. Neither were Jonathan Fireeater. I used to live behind a bakery whose staff had a Dead cover band called Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks)–they sucked. Okay, I never saw Jonathan Fireeater. The point is, The Horrors could have been much worse, and they looked great, and they played this “garage rock” music that I hear is going to be the next big thing, and they were like the scenes in late Woody Allen movies where there’s a wacky “rock” “band” to show how sick our society is today, and you could tell they were trying, plus cool hair, that’s gotta count for something, right? But did they suck? Yes they did. Have I already heard Birthday Party records? Yes I have. Would I go see this band again? Depends on (1) if they learn any songs, and (2) how much the beers are. Last night the beer was free. Awesome!

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Say what you will about jam bands, you gotta give Medeski Martin and Wood props. What other group can get a room full of people to dance to freakin’ keyboard jazz? MMW did just that when the costumed threesome returned to New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom for their annual Halloween bash, one of the best gigs they play all year. (more…)

This afternoon a care package composed of bandages, Band-Aids, aspirin, and Jack Daniels may be delivered to the hotel rooms of UK goth-punks the Horrors. Why? Because band frontman Faris Badwan was, as you may have heard, attacked onstage at Stereo in NYC last night. Originally it seemed like the incident wasn’t a big deal, and Badwan was joking about the experience after the show. “I would never hit someone unless they hit me first. You should have seen his face afterwards,” Badwan reportedly joked post-battle. But in truth the band was more shaken up than they let on, or at least their handlers were.

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