Lots of people wore hats at CMJ this year. Here's proof. All photos Laura June Kirsch.

See Also:
- Photos: The People and Acts of CMJ 2012
- Photos: CMJ 2011

More »

Last week, as a self-assigned endurance test (and out of an occasional true interest in the subject matter), I attended as many CMJ panels as I possibly could -- the good, the bad, the sparsely attended, and the boring -- with a tape recorder, a cup of iced coffee (not quite willing to submit to the looming hot-coffee weather), and what was probably a poorly camouflaged smirk. The future of radio, social media, crowdfunding, launching a music start-up: I heard experts weigh in on it all in 10 panels. And it wasn't pretty.

More »

So come, won't you? Doors open at noon thirty at Cake Shop, and you're all welcome. All of you. Even if you don't have a CMJ badge. It's zero dollars, and we've got a stellar lineup which includes much buzzed-about ukele retiree Dent May, ramshackle trash-blues duo Deap Vally, the delicate Delicate Steve, the heavenly Heavenly Beat and New Orleans sissy bounce phenom Vockah Redu. Go and drink and dance and eat cake. We'll see you there. Set times and details in the giant flyer beneath these words.

Benjamin Lozovsky

Better Than: Assyrian Muzik

The joys of, private, unheralded CMJ events: free drinks, no lines, no crowding, and no pressure to challenge yourself and connect with a new artist. It's a luxury seldom afforded in a world of door quotas, fire-code violations, and leaps of faith.

See Also:
- Best of NYC, Best Producer: AraabMuzik
- Live: AraabMuzik Bridges The Gap Between Old And New At East River Park

More »

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire

By all means, enjoy the whispy waifs warbling their sensitive indie ballads up and down the city during CMJ. But make time for some hip-hop while you do. Here are a few acts worth your time.

See Also:
- Don't Miss These Bands At CMJ
- Handy CMJ Flowchart Panel Selector

More »

John Bylander

Welp, here we go again--Day 3 of CMJ 2012 serves up 23 music biz panels during the day which are accessible only to people with the all-access badges, followed at night by another frenzied shitstorm of concerts, the best of which probably will decide not to let you in even if you do have one of the damn things. For our money, the finest venue at CMJ is certainly NYU's Kimmel Student Center, on the southern end of Washington Square Park. Won't you join us?

More »

Savages

CMJ: So many shows (about 1,300), so little time (5 days). Poring through the schedule, separating the wheat from the chaff--and sorry, there's lots of chaff every year--and figuring out a plan of attack is time-consuming and headache-inducing. So to help you out a tiny bit, we've picked out 10 acts totally worth a shit at this year's fest. Yes, that's a mere .076% of the total number of gigs this week, and there's certainly more than 10 bands worth catching, but we're about 93.7% sure that these particular acts are gonna slay (or, at the very least, suck in a totally memorable way). Happy marathoning!

See Also:
- Ben Gibbard's Haircut Photoshopped Onto the Heads of Other CMJ Musicians
- Vagina Panther, Foxygen, Milk Dick, etc: Why 20 Bands Playing CMJ Chose Their Name

More »

John Bylander

While you folks were all wearing yourselves out running around between CMJ showcases yesterday, I just guzzled a bunch of free booze at a press-only party and then ran home to giggle at the two boring rich dudes angrily discussing the details of their pension plans on national television. Hope it was worth it, because my own personal energy strategy was to turn in early and rest up for today's daytime programming, easily the highlight of CMJ for those of us who have no idea who the hell any of these bands are. (Pleased to meet you, Milk Dick.) But I bet you've heard of Kickstarter, SoundCloud, and TechCrunch, all of which are sending their top brass to dispense pearls and/or turds of music industry advice at today's panel discussions. No, I won't tell you where to find any of them; instead, please parse your various options using the decision tree we've thoughtfully provided.

More »

John Bylander

Today marks the start of the CMJ Music Marathon, the annual festival during which zillions of allegedly up-and-coming bands take over Williamsburg and lower Manhattan for the better part of a week to schmooze with various music industry forces and perform at their heavily branded sponsored showcases. This makes it an especially great week for concerts in New York, as you are probably already aware. But those who were lucky enough to score one of the pricey all-access passes also get another lesser-known benefit: admission to an excellent slate of daytime programming, mostly panel discussions and presentations hosted at NYU's Kimmel Student Center, roughly two dozen every day. Since these often go unheralded and thus might be incidental to your existing CMJ plans, we've compiled a handy tool to help you assemble a schedule. See you there.

More »

Image courtesy of Vagina Panther

The only thing all of the bands playing CMJ have in common aside from the fact that they're all playing CMJ is that they all have names. As they have been in the "indie" world for quite a while, animal-inspired band names are very popular this year at CMJ. The most respected animal continues to be the bear: Bear Crossing, Bear Hands, Bear Trap, and Bearstronaut are all playing. Also popular this year is the word "blonde," as in House Of Blondes, Blonde Summer, Blondfire and BLONDS. (This makes sense because "blondes" are normally associated with "having fun.") Also trending this year at CMJ is the word "gold," as in Gold Fields, Golden Bloom, Goldenboy, and Goldroom. And, for what are most likely Derrida-related reasons, "ghosts" are really in, too: see Ghost Beach, Ghost Pal, Ghost Wave, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Ghost Inside, and Ghostface Killah.

More »