HEADS UP: The FREEwilliamsburg/My Social List un-official CMJ showcase is tonight at 7 PM, with some minor changes.

Unfortunately, Gary War canceled all of their CMJ shows, but never fear, Kristina Tequila was able to grab a worthy replacement; Led Er Est’s Shawn Devin O’Sullivan.  He’ll bring the dark industrial sounds of his side project Vapauteen to XPO 929’s dreary floor-level stage in their place.

I’m not one for the rain, but it’s as if the weather gods made good on a favor they owed the music gods for tonight.  They’ve cast a dark cloud over the city, a stark contrast from the clear and sunny skies we’ve enjoyed for CMJ thus far.

Vapauteen will be supported by a pair of somber and tenebrous post-punk acts, the more cold-wave leaning Black Marble, and your new neighbors, the more garage-leaning Weekend, who I recently sat down for an interview with.

Black Marble JUST released their debut album, A Different Arrangement, which is streaming on Brooklyn Vegan.  Don’t miss this special opportunity to hear it live in an intimate setting. I’m a few listens through and can already say that this is one of my favorite records of the year.

Weekend are hard at work on the follow up to 2010’s excellent LP Sports, and this show finds them smack in the middle of their first tour of Brooklyn as residents. Better hop on this one; they’re already playing bigger stages… like Bowery Ballroom tomorrow.

They’ll be supported by electronic acts Plastic Flowers, Dark Sister, and Yvette, one of our favorite local noise bands.

ANDDDDDDDDDD THERE WILL BE CHEAP DRINKS, namely $1 Rolling Rocks all night, and $4 Rolling Rock/shot combos.

Doors are at 7 PM and tickets (which are just six bucks) are on sale now.  Of course, badgeholders will be granted free access, with limited capacity.

CMJ 2012

The My Social List team has covered CMJ extensively over the past two weeks.  We’ve listed over two-hundred shows. We’ve interviewed bands. We’ve provided handy guides to each day of the festival, and alerted you to all the best free shows. There’s so much going on, that it’s almost tough to keep track of US, let alone the festival itself.

That’s why I’m posting an official guide to CMJ here on FREEwilliamsburg.  Five can’t miss shows for every day of the “music marathon,” in no particular order.  There’s still a couple of shows that haven’t been announced (the Brooklyn Vegan day parties come to mind;) but rest assured, they’ll be added to our comprehensive CMJ list as soon as they’re announced.  For the budget minded, check out this list of free shows.

TUESDAY:

My Social List Official CMJ Showcase: Thieves Like Us, Teen Daze, Delicate Steve, Dent May, Heavenly Beat, Mac DeMarco, Bleeding Rainbow, The Young Evils, Grand Resort, Lingerie DJ set (Marlin Room at Webster Hall, 6:00 PM) $12

Why you should go: Because despite my obvious bias, this is probably the best collection of buzzed artists for the entire week.  Don’t believe me? Keep reading, and you’ll see. Oh, and we’re giving away a pair of tickets to this one. (more…)

My Social List & Freewilliamsburg presents

That’s right.  CMJ Music Marathon is probably the absolute best week to be a New Yorker.  For a few days, all of the best buzzbands and buzzhumans descend on the city to play music, drink and network with one another.  And this year, the FREEwilliamsburg and My Social List team is taking the whole damned thing over.

Well, not EXACTLY, but we do have a bunch of great showcases to share with you.

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Animal Collective

A rapper from the Marcy Projects is playing eight nights at a professional sports arena on Atlantic Avenue.  A North 11^th street bowling alley and concert venue is opening a second location on the Vegas strip.  This could be the lead for yet another “Brooklyn has arrived” piece for the NY Times.  Instead, it’s a lead for a neighborhood blog whose weekly concert recommendation post is contextually two parts existential-crisis and one part bemused excitement.

I refuse to pen yet another “Brooklyn has arrived” hype piece, or conversely, a “Brooklyn is over” takedown; though it’s serendipitous that the most blogged about shows this week are the very same notions personified.

Animal Collective play our most blogged about show for the week, and they’re bringing their enigmatic live show to the very same stage Counting Crows played earlier this summer, on Friday night.  Flying Lotus has become the standard-bearer of electronic music here in 2012, and he plays Bowery Presents’ grandest stage on Sunday.

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The Black Keys

The city seems to be hungover from this past weekend, even as I write this on a Tuesday afternoon.  All Tomorrow’s Parties made a strong case for the viability of festivals in New York with I’ll Be Your Mirror.  Brooklyn’s finest partied in a mansion in Bushwick.  We put on a show in a tea house, followed by an all-night rager with Total Slacker and Pictureplane (who plays a free show at PS1 on Saturday, by the way.)  Now it’s time to get up and do it all over again.

When The Black Keys are third on a bill, you’re sure to grab the MOST BLOGGED ABOUT crown for the week.  That’s precisely what has happened with Saturday’s FREE show at Central Park, the Global Festival.  It’s headlined by the timeless Neil Young, who, six decades in, remains respected and revered by even the most jaded of bloggers in Brooklyn.  Cascaded in between Young and the Keys, are two bands who have not fared as well in the eyes of said bloggers; Foo Fighters and Band of Horses (who’s latest album is getting destroyed by reviewers.)  This one is so big it’s moved from Summerstage to the Great Lawn; expect tens of thousands for this one.

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Frank Ocean

I’m not sure what’s up this week, but it feels like EVERYONE is here in the city.  Some days are so stacked that they warrant their own MOST BLOGGED post, and a teleportation device to shuffle from event to event, in between sets.  I can’t help you out with either of those, but I can tell you about THE MOST BLOGGED ABOUT SHOWS this week.

Two of them are brought to you by yours truly; yours truly being My Social List.  On Thursday night, we’re taking over the Ran Tea House for some DIY insanity in a non-traditional space in tandem with (who else) John Rambo and Todd P.  The lineup?  A who’s who of North Brooklyn.  Oberhofer headlines, with support from Darlings and Lazyeyes… and then things get crazy.  Your friends from Night Manager (RIP) and Total Slacker have teamed up as “Astral Locket,” and not to be outdone, members of Friends have teamed up with members of Small Black as “Kissing is a Crime.”  Cassie Ramone, of Vivian Girls and The Babies, is in the booth in between sets, and may or may not be serving green tea during them (may not.)  Try winning a pair of tickets to the tea house here.

Save some energy for Friday night, because our dear old friend Kristina Tequila has outdone herself and booked the My Social List party of the year at Public Assembly; PERMANENT SOUND.  It’s part of the venue’s Et Cetera Festival, which consists of “mostly free” art shows, talks, panels, shows and parties, and while ours isn’t “free,” it’s certainly “free-ish” and “awesome.”  Doors open at 8, and the live part of the party gets started with sets from Total Slacker, Indian Jewelry, Black Marble and Plastic Flowers, with John Pena of Heavenly Beat DJing in between sets.  Don’t show up too late; there’s a half-hour vodka open bar at 10.  At midnight, we open up the doors (for free), the lights dim and the dance party begins, with DJ sets from Pictureplane, Creep, The Death Set and Le Sphinxx, which should wrap up sometime around, oh, 4 AM or so.

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Kendrick Lamar

If you listened to our blog-o-meter last week, then you attended Warm Up and were privy to three brand new songs from Atoms For Peace; so new that Thom Yorke was singing lyrics out of a little book on at least one of them.  It was quite the spectacle: moist pony-tail peering over a composition notebook full of unintelligible lyrics (they need to do something about that PA at PS1.)  We’ve got a host of bloggable shows for you again this week, as you could have guessed.

The most BLOGGED ABOUT show this week is one for the kids; a hip-hop show from the ultra-buzzed Kendrick Lamar at Terminal 5 on Saturday, with support from fellow blog rappers Ab Soul, Jay Rock, Stalley and Fly Union.

That’s all well and good, but this week is all about Thrill Jockey for me.  The label is celebrating their 20^th anniversary, and they’re doing it in style with two incredible showcases.  Friday night, Death By Audio hosts a virtual whos-who of today’s experimental scene: White Hills, Guardian Alien, Man Forever, Dan Friel and Rhyton and on Saturday, TORTOISE RETURNS to headline the night’s festivities with Future Islands, Matmos, Liturgy and D. Charles Speer in this week’s EDITOR’S PICK.

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Azealia Banks

NOTE – We’ve added St. Vincent, Three 6 Mafia, Questlove and more to the list below!

This Thursday is Fashion’s Night Out and My Social List is happy to partner with Freewilliamsburg to bring you our list of the best live performances.

6PM:  Chairlift at Prada (Soho)

6PM:  La Sera, Icona Pop (DJ ) at Helmut Lang (Soho)

6PM:  Haim at Topshop (Soho)

6PM:  Ladyhawke (DJ), Mick Rock (DJ) at Allsaints (Soho)

6PM:  We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Lonely Forest at Rockefeller Center (Midtown)

6PM:  Solange Knowles (DJ) set at DVF (Meatpacking)

6PM:  Oh Land (DJ) at DVF (Soho)

6PM:  Revered Run, DJ Ruckus at Piperlime (Soho)

6PM:  Maxwell at Jean-Michel Cazabat (West Village)

6PM:  Vanessa Carlton at Sak’s Fifth Avenue (Midtown)

6PM:  Questlove at The Hoodie Shop (Lower East Side)

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Thom Yorke

Labor Day.  A day of rest.  A day to honor the working class.  A day to nurse your Monday morning hangover.  A day to watch bad horror films on Netflix. Have you guys seen “Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead” yet?

Fuck that.  Labor Day is a day of freedom.  Why waste it on delivery and laptop movies, when you can go to a free “Day Off” party with some unreal hip-hop acts?  The folks at Fool’s Gold are responsible for today’s debauchery at City Winery, highlighted by performances by French Montana, Danny Brown, Brothers Macklovitch (A-Trak and Dave L), Just Blaze, Flatbush Zombies, Party Supplies and much, much more.  I’m guessing there’s bound to be some cameos as well.  It’s a hip-hop show with plenty of local acts, after all.  Oh, and this one is our MOST BLOGGED ABOUT show this week, so there’s that too.

This week’s EDITOR’S PICK is unique in that it’s a DJ set. I don’t like to christen a DJ set the “can’t miss” show of the week, but when Thom friggin’ Yorke is involved, all rules go out the window.  MoMA PSOne’s “Warm Up” series draws to a close on Saturday with a DJ set from Atoms For Peace, Thom’s side project with Flea and Radiohead producer, Nigel Godrich.  I’m not sure if Flea or Nigel will be on hand, but I can assure you Thom will, given his penchant for throwing down DJ sets once every blue moon.  Even if you take Thom Yorke out of the equation, you’re still left with the perfect swan song for 2012′s warm up series, with performances from Holy Other, whose quizzical album is one of this year’s best, and Maria Minerva, whose upcoming LP may soon boast similar bragging rights.  Rustie and Justin Strauss are also on the bill.

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Louis C.K.

Louis CK.  That is all.

No, but seriously.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or if you just woke up, and in that case, I am jealous), you already know that Louis CK is playing THREE TEN DOLLAR shows, tonight at Bell House.  If you’re like me, you’re wayyyyy too far away from Gowanus right now to have any chance of getting tickets, because they’re only available at the venue’s box office.

Relax.  You should know by now that I’m here to console you with incredible shows that you actually CAN attend.  Like Train and Mat Kearney tonight in Central Park.

Just kidding.  Serious salt in the wound there, soul sister.

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