CMJ 2010 Report Part 6 of 10.
This past Roctober, New York hosted its yearly CMJ (College Music Journal) Music Marathon. As the name indicates, The CMJ Music Marathon is a massive concentration of 100s of bands that descend on NYC like locusts and swarm every NYC venue over the course of a week leaving hangovers and ringing ears in their wake. There are those out there that like to believe that it is an indicator of the stylistic forces that will drive major musical themes for the coming years.
The most notable bands of CMJ 2010 will be featured here on TSOI as part of a 10 part series so be sure to check back daily!
Other than the slew of keyboard fronted bands, the other trend, or mini-revival if you will, is the continued return of the shoe-gaze sound. In recent years with bands like A Place to Bury Strangers and Film School the genre was dusted off and given a new take. Crocodiles, Candy Claws, and Dead Leaf Echo, who all performed at CMJ2010, are making a point of keeping the shoe-gaze torch going.
It was fairly hard to truly appreciated the short but excellent Candy Claws set at Glasslands, due to incessant chatter – a common CMJ liability. Upon initial listen, it is evident that Candy Claws hedge more to the barely-intelligible vocals of My Bloody Valentine of the shoe-gaze/noise spectrum. Upon further listening I become increasingly impressed by the songs buried under the fuzzed squall – like listening to a good Mercury Rev song in the middle of a tornado. I found them really interesting particularly seeing how young they are and that they come out of Colorado. I certainly will be keeping a bead on them for future output.
Download: Candy Claws: Catamaran (Live)
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I made the big-time mistake of missing this band when they played here in LA this fall. I’m hoping the close proximity of Colorado to California will make for higher odds of a return performance. Nice choice for the post as well. Catamaran is my favorite track off the record.