PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond

CMJ in NYC

October 25th, 2011 by chocko

The CMJ Music Marathon came through NYC leaving music fans thirsting for more. It was a physically draining last couple of days and most of us are still suffering from the post-CMJ blues. Here’s a meager slice of what went down…

Wild Flag, an all female band consisting of members of Sleater-Kinney, Helium and The Minders played Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 18. Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony exchange lead vocals on the songs. Mary gets the girls singing backup for most songs and Carrie just rocks out…kicking and screaming. The songs are raw, no holds barred rock songs and the girls play like a band that’s been playing together for a long time. I went to their other recent shows. They played a Misfits cover, “She” during their encore at The Bell House in Brooklyn! There was no encore at their Maxwell’s show in Hoboken, NJ. Was it the lame crowd? Their set list at the Bowery Ballroom consisted of tracks from their self-titled debut album and two non-LP songs, “Nothing” and “Winter Pair.” They played 2 covers during their encore: “See No Evil” (Television) and “Ask The Angels” (Patti Smith). Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) opened the show. Her songs are less experimental than her Fiery Furnaces stuff, but they just ooze with coolness. Her new band is great and play her catchy songs with the greatest of ease. “My Mistakes” will stick in your head long after the song is over.

Under The Radar had a free (if it’s free, it’s for me!) showcase during the day on Oct. 19 at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. U.K.’s Chad Valley a.k.a. Hugo Manuel opened up the show. It sounded like Rick Astley doing electronic music. Norway’s Casiokids were the next to bring the noise with thundering percussion and fun dance music. They intend to tour Japan for the first time in November. Next, was a man who kinda looked like George Michael who performs under the name Porcelain Raft. His real name is Mauro Remiddi and he sings with a guitar with samplers and loops to beef up the sound. Great, dreamy pop from the label, Secretly Canadian! Eleanor Friedberger played a nice set of songs from her new album before breaking out to Philadelphia to open for Wild Flag again. Still Corners played some dark, mysterious songs with the alluring Tessa Murray on lead vocals. Her soft, whispery voice drew me in while twangy guitars played and psychedelic visuals projected swirled around on the screen behind the band. I was hypnotized and bought the new album on Sub Pop titled, “Creatures of an Hour.” It’s awesome! If you like bands like Cults, Mazzy Star, The Cranes, then Still Corners is the band for you. The Step Kids (Stones Throw Records) closed out the showcase with some bonafide soul and funk to shake your trunk.