Indians
CMJ
CMJ 2012 Roundup - Wild Nothing, Indians, Foxygen, Savages, DIIV, Chad Valley, IO Echo, METZ, and mo,
Oct 24, 2012
CMJ
New York’s CMJ Music Marathon is an annual reminder of just how spoiled you can be as a music fan living in the city that never sleeps. And for five days you probably won’t sleep much at all, as hundreds of up-and-coming acts play day-and-night at dozens of venues across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Many of these bands we’ll never hear of again after several months, but likely a few will end up becoming some of indie rock’s biggest acts within a year or two. Half the fun is trying to weed out which bands will end up which.
Tuesday, October 16th
One of CMJ’s first official shows of this year’s marathon went down at The Living Room. Hosted by Fordham University’s WFUV public radio station—their first-ever CMJ showcase—a light crowd gathered in the cozy downtown venue, enjoying a little bit of elbow room before all of the shows became too packed to breathe comfortably. Hailing from Copenhagen, singer/songwriter Søren Løkke Juul—who records under the much easier-to-type name Indians—uses synth loops and an acoustic guitar to make a dreamy musical backdrop for the sweet, soothing tones of his voice. The whole sound strikes a feeling of chillingly pretty isolation that’s similar to the one Bon Iver broke out with years ago. (Imagine taking the log cabin narrative of For Emma, Forever Ago, but transplanting it from rural Wisconsin to a lonely lunar space station.) You could hardly ask for a more impressive set to kick off the CMJ Music Marathon with; Indians’ debut will get a U.S. release from 4AD in January.
Next it was off to Glasslands Gallery for a showcase hosted by Terrible Records. Formerly local (and now L.A.-based) trio Regal Degal celebrated the release of their new record—Veritable Who’s Who, put out the same day by Post Present Medium—with one of the showcase’s earlier sets. Led by former Dinowalrus member Josh da Costa, the band mixed their set between catchy post-punk songs and lengthy—unfortunately, not as interesting—mostly-instrumental jams that made you wish they’d stuck with less aimless numbers. Australia’s Kirin J Callinan fared a little better. The singer/songwriter was playing his first U.S. show; with a guitar, a single snare drum, and more than a dozen BOSS pedals splayed out around him, he powered through several strangely-structured songs with a voice that leaped from indecipherable muttering to a room-filling howl. However odd, his vocals and jittery stage presence are his biggest strength; the looped pedal bleeps and random-sounding bursts of guitar noise that accompanied his sweeping baritone theatrics only dragged them down.
A party broke out when Brooklyn’s own Light Asylum took the stage. The crowd, who a half hour early were quietly rapt in Callinan’s set, shuffled about as a rowdier, dance-ready bunch slid their way to the front. Singer/percussionist Shannon Funchess—along with keyboardist Bruno Coviello—knows how to make an audience move. Brandishing a drumstick violently about in the air like a wakizashi, her own wild movements set an example for the crowd, who just ate up their industrial-tinged sound. They turned out song after song from their recent self-titled LP, as Funchess growled, howled, and spit her vocals with a contagious energy. Their lone CMJ show proved Light Asylum are every bit as exciting live as they are on record.
New York’s Chrome Canyon had already taken the stage by the time we made it to Cameo Gallery for the Oh My Rockness showcase. Mastermind and frontman Morgan Z wore a flashy, reflective jacket that picked up every flash of the strobes and change of colored lighting; it was perfect for the 1980s sci-fi movie party tone that his music often sets. Playing a mix of songs from his brand new debut LP and earlier work, the late-night show was a good place to get one last groove on before the long train rides home.
Thursday, October 18th
While the majority of CMJ acts were putting on their A.M. sets in the wee hours of the night, Denmark’s Choir of Young Believers took it upon themselves to put on a show while most festival-goers were having their first cup of morning coffee. Normally quite a large group, the band was stripped down that morning to just singer/guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis and cellist Cæcilie Trier. The recently-renovated turn-of-the-century lobby of the Ace Hotel was a beautiful locale for the soothing, unplugged performance of songs from the band’s stellar Rhine Gold LP, released earlier this year.
Seattle’s KEXP radio station set up shop in the Union Square ballroom to broadcast live performance from several key CMJ bands throughout the week. Brooklyn’s DIIV played an exciting early afternoon set. The reverberating guitar licks and swirling, motorik pulse quickly shook the crowd into motion; Zachary Cole Smith and cohorts swing and bounce about constantly onstage, seeming to have as much fun as their audience. DIIV are an even better live band than they are on record, which says a good amount considering the broad acclaim of their Oshin LP.
The next stop was Pianos on the Lower East Side, for a performance from Levek of Gainesville, Florida. Hosted by music blog I Guess I’m Floating, the band—singer/writer/multi-instrumentalist David Levesque and five of his friends—crammed onto the small stage to play songs from his brand new LP, Look A Little Closer. Unfortunately, the strange acoustics marred their audio, causing their many instruments to blend together into a bit of a mess; however, several of the songs fared better than others, particularly the fun, bossa nova-flavored “Muscat Mingle.” What wasn’t jumbled sounded very good; we’ll just hope those in attendance at one of Levek’s several other CMJ performances had better audio luck. Great Britain’s Chad Valley—aka Hugo Manuel—had an easier time being heard shortly later. The singer, who’s released two good albums this year—his new solo record Young Hunger, which features collaborations with Twin Shadow and Active Child, and another as frontman for the band Jonquil—manned a case of samplers and a pair of microphones, one mounted on a stand and one handheld, taking turns singing into each. His powerful voice and the expansive, retro production of his music, remind you of classic New Romantic bands with its glossy, pop vibes. His engaged, soulful performance was stunning.
CMJ attendees had plenty of opportunities to check out Foxygen throughout the week. Singer Sam France is a ham, and that’s meant in the most positive way you can say it in relation to a rock and roll frontman. Bouncing from an improbably low croon to a Jagger-like growl in their best live song, “Make It Known,” the gangly singer flails and mugs for the crowd in a fully-dedicated performance. While the young band seemed to have a few minor issues with equipment—France and Foxygen co-pilot Jonathan Rado record most of the material themselves, but live they’re a full band—they also seemed to be having a hell of a lot of fun, and it was hard for that not to rub off on you. Their Take The Kids Off Broadway EP is still streaming and well worth your listening time.
Friday, October 19th
Friday began at KEXP’s temporary broadcast headquarters in Union Square, where Jack Tatum’s Wild Nothing performed a mix of old tracks and new cuts from Nocturne for a crowd of early risers. Playing his C86-remniscent bedroom pop with the help of a full band, Tatum looked like one of the more comfortable acts caught at CMJ this year; mostly unfazed by the festival’s intense scheduling demands, he even cracked a polite joke about how busy both the attendees and the musicians had been during the week. He did seem a little embarrassed to remember that he was on the air while making small talk with the studio audience (“I’m babbling on live radio across the entire nation. Hello, everyone…”).
The bulk of the day would be spent at Brooklyn Vegan’s day party, held at the multi-staged Public Assembly. L.A.‘s IO Echo didn’t let the shortened sets and minimal setup time keep them from putting on a flashy stage show. Strobe lights and fold-out shoji screens were utilized to strong effect, and singer Ioanna Gika’s flowing, long-sleeved robes helped add flare to the visual package. Unfortunately, the sound could have used some tweaking, as her vocals—perhaps the best aspect of their self-titled self-titled goth-pop EP—were swallowed up in the mix.
Savages was easily the most buzzed-about band at CMJ this year, and with the high number of sets they played throughout the week, they were hard to miss. They drew an incredibly packed audience for a mid-afternoon performance, forcing many there to watch them on tip toes from the back of the room. The all-female post-punk band from London brought a reputation for intense live shows with them for their first foray stateside, and that rep was well-earned: their blistering attack was pure—and simple—rock and roll, without any unnecessary accompaniment. When so many new bands at this year’s festival opted to work samplers, looping pedals, and multiple synths into their sounds, Savages’ minimalist approach was refreshing. Noisy Canadian rockers METZ were similarly straight-forward. The powerful—and incredibly loud—three-piece forced earplugs into more than a few audience members’ ears, more for the sake of hearing protection than any dip in musical quality. Their aggressive, distorted guitars and vocals aren’t for everyone, but should have appealed to anyone in the mood for something heavier than the average CMJ fare. Local buzz band MS MR were, in practically, the opposite of the two bands that played on the stage immediately before them: slick, poppy, and just unable to match that same energy. It’s tough for an electro-pop act to follow a hard-rocking power trio.
In the end, it often feels like you missed out on more bands you’d like to have seen than the number of bands you actually saw. It’s impossible to see everyone—or even to see half of everyone—but you’ve gotta make your picks and just take in as much as you can. The CMJ marathon is an exhausting experience, but if you’re a New York indie fan, there’s no better opportunity to check out as many new bands in one place.
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