Class Actress

I think the Mayans were trying to bait us all into thinking the world was going to end a few weeks ago so we’d all panic and kill each other in some sort of vile, nuclear bloodbath, so that they may rise from their subterranean enclave and reinhabit the seemingly perfect world we’re enjoying in 2013. It’s a glorious world, with an active David Bowie, naked waitresses serving up artisanal pies at Roberta’s and a new Silent Barn and Market Hotel (soon enough?)

It’s a world where Class Actress and Au Revoir Simone’s Erika Spring roam free, or at least play for free with DJ sets from Neon Indian, Chairlift and Lemonade at 285 Kent on Thursday nights.

It’s a magical world where a Montreal-based producer who works with Grimes called Majical Cloudz emerges from obscurity to play alongside of darkwave acts with chilling visuals like The Soft Moon down at Mercury Lounge on 58 degree January nights like tonight.

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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…)

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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Governor's Ball

As made evident by the content of this and the previous edition of “The Most Blogged About Shows This Week,” New York City is increasingly overrun by festivals.  There’s a few going on this week, most notably Hillstock (Bushwick), Rockstock (Rockaway Beach) and, with some of the biggest names to hit NYC this summer, Governor’s Ball.

Festivals can be a crap shoot… so many things can go right (Northside) and so many things can go wrong (Googa Mooga.)  Governor’s Ball’s lineup is awesome on paper and is well put together (more on that later), but the Randall’s Island location presented some issues last year (longggggggggg ass lines for the ferry.)

It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out this year.  There’s a shuttle bus running from Williamsburg this time around (right in front of Brooklyn Bowl, every hour from 11 am to 6 PM), but the price was steep ($50 round trip) and they’re sold out.  Last year, patrons reported waits of upwards of 2 hours for the ferry, so I’m a bit wary this year.  I’ll likely walk across the RFK Bridge from Queens, which takes about 30 minutes.  The temperature is supposed to drop about 10-15 degrees from the oppressive and record-breaking temperatures we’ve seen the last couple of days, so it should be rather pleasant.

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The Northside Festival

The Northside Festival can be intimidating if you have a badge… so many shows, so little time.  And while our own humble Brooklyn-based festival isn’t as massive as similarly-modeled “showcases” like SXSW or CMJ, it also won’t put as massive of a dent in your wallet.  There are plenty of free shows worth seeing, and most others are $12 and under.  Or hey, you could pick up a badge for just $80 (which could have been had for AS LOW as $52.50 for our loyal readers), and you’ll have free reigns to run wild up and down Williamsburg and Greenpoint for a long weekend.  Rather than discuss everything that’s awesome (because there’s a lot of awesomeness) I thought I’d share how I plan to map out the weekend, with the hope of maximizing said awesomeness.

The music portion of the festival begins tonight, and who better to get things started than Kool Keith?  That’s right, KOOL KEITH.  The enigmatic absurdist underground rap deity has been pretty quiet the past couple of years, but he has a new LP Love & Danger out later this year and plays Brooklyn Bowl to kick things off (and closes things out with Ultramagnetic MC’s on Sunday.)  Doors open at 6.

Cold Cave fronts an awesome lineup at 7 PM (their set at 10) at Europa with White Ring and Burning Star, which is really tempting, but I’m planning on staying closer to North 6^th tonight (more on that later.)  Instead, I’ll probably catch the first couple bands at 285 Kent’s showcase at 8 PM.  Local fuzz-punks Eula are up first and are followed by New York experimental legend Dave Shuford’s (No Neck Blues Band, Speer) new instrumental outfit Rhyton, who play incredibly loud reverb-drenched psych jams.

After those two wrap things up, it’ll probably be wise to get on line to catch GZA’s second Liquid Swords set over at Music Hall of Williamsburg, the first absolutely CAN’T MISS performance of Northside.  He plays earlier in the night as well (doors, 8PM), so I’m hoping a lot of people decide to go to that one (which is sold out) so I can check out some of the above shows earlier in the night.

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CMJ 2011

Welcome to Part 2 of our 2011 CMJ picks.  We teamed up with My Social List (of The Most Blogged About Shows of the Week) to give you the rundown of some of the best music of the fest.  Last time we covered the first two days of CMJ; today we finish up with Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Hopefully you already have your CMJ pass — or maybe you’ve been occupying Wall Street and want to enjoy some free music and booze.  Regardless, we hope to have you covered.

Thursday Afternoon Shows:

10:30AM:  KEXP CMJ w/ The Lonely Forest, Givers, Dum Dum Girls, Widowspeak @ The Ace Hotel – Free!

1PM:  Purevolume Smartlounge w/ Dum Dum Girls, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Araabmusik, The Stepkids, Gotye, Talib Kweli DJ Set, Nancy Whang DJ Set, Amrit Singh DJ Set – RSVP HERE & Download APP!

2PM:  SPIN PUMA Social Sessions w/ Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Maluca, Class Actress @ Puma Store Union Square – Free!

12PM:  Floating Fest w/ Body Language, CSLSX, Caveman, High Highs, Grimes, Warm Ghost, Porcelain Raft, Hands, Guards, Doldrums, Beat Connection, Little Red, Parlovr @ Pianos – Free!

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CMJ 2011

Welcome to Part 1 of our 2011 CMJ picks.  We teamed with My Social List (The Most Blogged About Shows this Week) to give you the rundown of some of the best shows of the fest.  First off, a quick tip: This year CMJ show-only badges are $150; in years past (unless you were a student), trying to get an all-access pass could cost you three times that much. Meanwhile, we’ll try to help you save a few bucks by recommending primarily cheap and free shows.

This list includes official CMJ shows & unofficial shows alike.  We tried to throw in some counter-programming so that those who don’t partake in music (losers!) or those sick of it can still be entertained.

Tuesday Evening Shows:

6PM: Live4ever Media CMJ w/ The Duke Spirit, Damndogs, Figo, Pint Shot Riot, The Minutes, Fifth Nation, 1,2,3, Le Blorr, The Dirty Grand, LA Riots DJ set, VHS or Beta DJ set, Boyhollow DJ set @ Brooklyn Bowl – Free with RSVP

7:30PM: Car Park / Paw Tracks Showcase w/ Class Actress, Dent May, Cloud Nothings, Young Magic, Adventure, Jimmy Whispers @ Public Assembly – Price TBD

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