Music weekend

When I started hearing about this music-filled week/weekend deal in the city, I wasn't too keen on it. Scott was bummed he didn't find out about it sooner so he could have gone to more shows. But I figured it was all music I wouldn't like. It's called CMJ — which apparently stands for College Music Journal. It's basically 40-minute shows by unsigned and indie bands. LOTS of them. All across the city. A lot of industry people check it out to see if they can find new talent. But anyway, I wasn't too interested. And I couldn't even remember the name of it. I kept wanting to call it CMYK. (*snicker*) Finally I was nearly able to remember it by thinking, TMJ, only with a C. CMJ. So yeah, every time I actually said it, there was a slight pause while I thought "Like TMJ, only with a C. CMJ!"

Anyway, Scott really wanted to see some bands this weekend. I wasn't really into it, but I figured what the heck. I've spent plenty of weekends sitting here staring at the computer, so why not go try something essentially New York. Last night, Scott found a band he wanted to go see, so we went. We stayed for them and two more bands after them. IT. WAS. LOUD. And if I ever go to another one of his shows (and I'm sure I will), I am totally investing in earplugs. I honestly didn't hate the music, it was just SO loud that I felt like my ears were going to start bleeding. The first band, the band we went for, they were ok. Four out of about six songs all sounded the same to me. I guess the other two were slightly different. The next band was decent, they weren't quite as painful, and were probably my personal favorite act of the night. The last band was from Sweden. They weren't quite as loud as the other two, but I found myself zoning out while they were playing, so I guess their music wasn't that captivating. At least not for me.

Here's who we saw, in order of appearance:
http://www.myspace.com/cruelblackdove
http://www.myspace.com/bridgesandpowerlines
http://www.myspace.com/moonbabies

The venue, Crash Mountain, was pretty cool. It was kinda like, I dunno, a swanky castle bar. Stone on the walls and stuff. There were long leather sofas lining the walls and and one in the middle of the space. There are some pictures of it here.

There were more bands on till like 3 a.m., but we had only planned to stay for three sets, so we left. But after we got home, Scott said maybe we could find some bands that *I* might like to see today. I didn't think anything like that existed at this event, but I guess I was wrong. We found three acts I was interested in. Unfortunately, they all pretty much played on top of each other but at different venus across Manhattan. So I had to pick one. Tonight we saw Katie Costello, and I really enjoyed it. She plays piano and sings, and she had two guys with her, one playing the cello and one doing percussion.

Here's the link to hear some of Katie's stuff:
http://www.myspace.com/katiecostellosongs

We liked the venue for this show. It was only a few blocks from last night's sets. It's actually two venues in one. The Living Room is downstairs, and seats about 150 people. There were other bands down there tonight. But upstairs is Googie's Lounge, where we were tonight, which is a small space with seating for about 50 people, so it was really nice and intimate. Here's their website, but all their pics seem to be of the downstairs space. Oh well.

The other two people I didn't get to see tonight can be found here:
http://www.myspace.com/paulavalstein
www.junumusic.com (Go to videos and watch Build Me Up Buttercup, it'll make you laugh.)

Next year, when...(CMYK, no that's not it, like TMJ, with a C) CMJ rolls around, Scott will be ready with a game plan for who he wants to see and when. And so will I.