CMJ '07: A Quick Recap

Well, it's over. And I'm still exhausted, but satisfied. I had a great week working and hanging out at Indaba and meeting tons of people along the way. First of all, a HUGE thanks goes out to the wonderful folks at Indaba Music for letting Seth and I take over their work and home space for an amazing lineup of bands. Every person that climbed those stairs was happy they did in the end, and we couldn't have had such a great time without them. All of the bands that played were simply wonderful. I'll have all my pics and a couple videos up in a bit, but for now..let's look at what went on this week.

Best Show (Other Than Indaba): We Are Wolves @ Annex. Wasn't expecting these guys to do much for me live, but I was totally blown away. Talk about a nice way to rock out on a Thursday night. Couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Worst Show: Black Kids @ Annex. Perhaps due to the technical difficulties, but it was an uncomfortable show going experience. Took the band too long to get on stage, and when they finally did, after one song their guitar amp blew out. I still like the band, from the four songs I've heard, but would have passed on this had I known it would have ended this way.

Overrated Act: Cut Off Your Hands. One big "eh".

Underrated Act: Tim Williams. Saw him twice and was completely blown away both times. His album is quickly rising to the top of my favorites this year, and his live show has been brought to new levels with his band. Totally amazing. Followed, of course by Wakey!Wakey!, Mason Proper and...

Best crowd: Jukebox The Ghost @ Indaba. Holy Crap! Packed to capacity and all singing along. I found myself front and center of a sweaty sweaty room and the boys just nailed each number to their adoring fans. The "yeah's yeahs" during "Good Day" was classic. Close second? The intense fans at the Jesse Lacey and Vince Accardi show at Mercury. Pretty cool to see first hand.

Best meet up: Shiv from WOXY! I heard his voice across the way at San Loco and couldn't have mistaken it for anything. Was so nice to finally meet the guy, albeit short. Followed by West Coast favorites, Princeton and Let's Go Sailing.

Best panel: The Almighty Blog. Was horribly disappointed the day before sitting through "PR On A Shoestring" (where they blatantly bashed blogs and gave no help for bands trying to get their names out on a small budget) but was brought back to sanity by the amazing panel for "The Almighty Blog." It was nice to see a very diverse panel with a unique conversation about where we are going in this crazy world of musical journalism.

I didn't see a whole lot outside of Indaba, but must say I had a great week seeing some of my favorite people and bands. Can't say I'm not ready to get back into a regular schedule though. My TV is calling me...

Thursday @ Indaba Loft

I feel reenergized today. Yesterday was a bit rough—I was hungover and exhausted for most of the day, but managed to make it out til about 11 PM when I decided to call it quits. After a nice sleep and a lot of water, I'm ready to go back out there. Let's see if I can make it to Highline Ballroom for Islands tonight. Probably doubtful, but it's early, so let's be optimistic.

Today at the Indaba Loft are some of Underrated's all-time favorites, from A Brief Smile kicking things off to Tim Williams (who killed it last night at the Dovecote Showcaset), Mason Proper, The Jaguar Club...you name it, we probably booked them.

Indaba Loft is located at 268 Bowery. It is a free show for all ages, and free beer for those 21+. See you there!

A Brief Smile - Big Sky

Let's Go Sailing - Icicles

Tim Williams - Novel

Mason Proper - My My (Bad Fruit)

The Jaguar Club - The Sirens

Mancino - Five Blades

Blog Show # 14!!

We've gotten so good at this that Nora has lost count on our actual shows. That's just how we roll.

So you can expect the same digressing (we kick it off with a major tangent right from the beginning), the usual babbling and banter, and the always enjoyable music selection. But I do NOT speak French (which is a good thing.) Oh yes, and we play "Ruby" and you can hear how crazy Nora is.

Success!

Playlist...

Fine Dining With The Future - Foreign Islands
We Know You Know It - Foreign Islands
That's How This Goes Down - Foreign Islands

Icicles - Let's Go Sailing
Sideways - Let's Go Sailing
All I Want From You Is Love - Let's Go Sailing

Animal - Saints + Lovers
Kiss It Goodbye - Saints + Lovers
To Pieces - Saints + Lovers

Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games - Of Montreal
Suffer For Fashion - Of Montreal
She's A Rejector - Of Montreal

Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs

Tune in at www.breakthruradio.com and click on "The Blog Show."

Band Of The Week: Let's Go Sailing

I've made a valiant effort to go out less, stay in more for 2007. No, this is not a new year's resolution. I won't give it that kind of label. Instead it's just an idea, an attempt...we'll see how long it stays. Regardless, after coming back from Philly and being completely exhausted, I took an early night and woke up invigorated. Not only did I clean my entire apartment, but I decided it was time to tackle that ever-growing pile of cds that I receive in the mail. Look for many new band posts in the coming weeks, but I must immediately point you towards the best I've heard so far: Let's Go Sailing.

JAX has been talking about this band for sometime now. I should pay more attention. Hailing from LA, the band is headed by Shana Levy (previously of the band Irving) who brought a bunch of songs to four friends in hopes of recording a demo. They teamed up with Chris Chandler (Flaming Lips) and Rod Cervera (Rentals/Weezer) and finished a collection, but that wasn't enough. Levy worked on her own to produce a full-length debut, the impressive The Chaos In Order.

I listened to the album while cleaning my apartment but had to put down the vacuum cleaner to really give it the attention it deserves. Shana's dreamlike vocals combined with sweet indie pop would make this album an enjoyable listen, but far from rare. You can point out a million albums that are warranted of that description. But what sets Let's Go Sailing apart is that sound, combined with thoughtful, simple lyrics.

It's become more rare these days to find impressive lyricists, and (although I hate to say it) much harder with female vocalists. Very few can sound sincere. Even fewer can match music and words in a way that is unexpected and brilliant. Off the top of my head, I can only think of The Boy Least Likely To and Rilo Kiley who have been able to do this successfully in contemporary music.

For example: you take a song like "Icicles" which is painfully sweet in sound, with Shana oohing and cooing her way around the playful accompaniment. And then I almost gasped when she says "Truth be told, I'm better off dead," without a skip or hesitation in her voice. It's that lack of fear and a mischievousness in Shana that helps her personality shine through the music. And even when she says "all I want from you is love" in the song by the same name, when she sings that one line over a bouncing piano...you can't help but believe her.

The Chaos In Order is an incredible listen from beginning to end, the kind of easy listening indie pop that you know I love with a sophisticated execution. I highly recommend you pick up this debut by Let's Go Sailing and to do so you can clickity click right here. (Oh and PS - their shirts are adorable as well)

Let's Go Sailing - Icicles

Let's Go Sailing - All I Want From You Is Love