CMJ: Day One

Cloud Cult at the Knitting Factory

Recap:
With four hours of sleep under my belt (red-eye flights are accurately named), I jumped on the subway over to NYU's Kimmel Center, where one found badges in the lobby and the convention center on the tenth floor. I'm sad to say that there were even fewer participants with booths than last year, which was already significantly fewer than the year before. I did pick up a few mix-CDs of up-and-coming acts, something to spin when I return home and see if there's a hidden gem lurking in the stack.

After dropping my luggage off at a generous friend's place uptown, I relaxed for a while before heading back out to the Knitting Factory to catch an early evening show with Sister Suvi, Paramount Styles, and Cloud Cult. Following a brief chat with a girl who turned out to be a friend of Cloud Cult's and with whom they were staying while in NYC, I headed northbound to Webster Hall. Therein, I caught the tail end of Tigercity and a DJ set by Friendly Fires. After some milling around, the Stereogum After Party kicked off at the same venue, showcasing Gang Gang Dance, Ponytail, Marnie Stern, and Crystal Stilts.

Highlight:
The best show of Day One, hands down, was Cloud Cult. The singer announced that this set was an experimental first try at the band going 'acoustic' though it was anything but mellow. His wife stood at the back of the stage with her back to the audience, painting a canvas which was then sold at the end of the show. Several songs in the set were almost difficult to process with the amount of emotion the singer poured into them. There is a distinct possibility that they have secured themselves within the top ten best live bands I've seen.

Honorable mentions go out to Paramount Styles (alternative singer-songwriter style in the vein of The Wedding Present with a singer who bears a striking vocal similarity to Mark E. Smith of The Fall), Gang Gang Dance (electronic walls of noise, steel drums, and tribal singing come together in an oddly perfect way), and Crystal Stilts (lo-fi psych-rock not unlike contemporaries The Gris Gris).


Left to Right: Paramount Styles, Crystal Stilts, Ponytail