Now into its 3rd decade of existence CMJ Music Marathon has earned a reputation for picking largely unknown acts and ushering them towards imminent success. With 1400 acts playing across 80+ venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn there really is something for everybody.
Here are our personal highlights:
Torres | Pete’s Candy Store
Pete’s Candy Store‘s train carriage performance space is an unusual venue to say the least but to catch a part of Torres‘, AKA Mackenzie Scott, set I was more than willing to put up with it. Flanked on the small stage solely by her drummer The Nashville-based 22-year-old’s singer/songwriter managed to maintain the stripped down qualities that made her self-titled debut so endearing while managing to inject some much needed live energy too. Scott‘s harrowing vocals are the real attraction here conveying sentiments and feelings that are far more insightful than anyone at her age should be feeling let alone expressing. The crowd reacts with a hushed reverence occasionally pierced by polite applause and the overwhelming feeling is that Torres has hypnotised us all. Whatever she is doing I hope it continues.
Birth Of Joy | Knitting Factory
Fresh from a whirlwind tour that has seen them hit Culture Collide in Los Angeles Birth Of Joy are the kind of band whose music it is impossible not to nod your head along to. The Dutch power trio bring to mind power bands of the 60’s and 70s bringing to mind a collision between the MC5s and The Doors. A shirtless Kevin Stunneberg nails every note he sings without missing a beat all while shredding his guitar and offering riff upon riff all like the best of them. His bandmates are no less proficient with the organ playing it’s part and the enthusiastic drumming offering a heartbeat to proceedings. They end the show sweaty and satsified safe in the knowledge that a few more people have been converted to the Birth Of Joy cause.
Ava Luna – Muchmores
Venturing over to Muchmores as much for the pre-announced free beer as to get away from some pretentious act that just hit the stage we were in for a pleasant surprise in the form of Ava Luna. It’s really hard to pigeonhole this Brooklyn 5-piece’s sound when I’m not even sure the guys and gals themselves know what kind of band they want to be. They alternate between high tempo angular garage, shoegazy and retro-soul within their set altering vocalist accordingly. They’re still a little rough around the edges but there’s plenty to look forward to in the future.
WET | Santos
For such talented people creating beautiful dreampop beats, displayed brilliantly on “U Da Best,” it was disappointing to see what little movement there was between WET‘s three band members. Perhaps too new to the performance game, it seemed this trio was simply standing on a stage only focused on playing their instruments as though there was no audience to entertain. Their harmonies worked well, with the two men backing the solo lead female, and their sound was still exciting and different – I just wished they showed the heartbreaking emotion of some of the songs they were singing. I still have confidence that with all this room for growth, they may stun me at their next show with their presumably longer set list.
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