CMJ Wrap-Up

The CMJ Music Marathon happened this week. What is CMJ, you ask? Well, it’s a magazine: College Music Journal, which is a music bible for college students and recent grads. It keeps young kids working at their school radio station up-to-date on all the latest new groups, albums and music news. Students hear these new sounds and they seek out their albums, along with similar acts — which makes the CMJ Marathon great exposure. It gives new groups a chance to win over a new & larger audience (and maybe get noticed by a record label), while acts that have been around get to reconnect with old fans, while making some new ones.

Our favorite place for this year’s Marathon was The Hiro Ballroom, where we caught great shows by Excepter and The Fall. (We recommend Excepter’s Throne and the latest Fall, Fall Heads Roll, for rock that’s unlike anything else you’ll hear.) We were also lucky enough to catch Mary Timony there — she impressed us with her spare-but-heavy sound and werid-but-personal lyrics.

We also got to see The Decemberists at the Hammerstein Ballroom. That wasn’t as much fun — the place was packed & we could only get seating in the upper mezzanine. We had no idea these guys were so popular, but we’re glad to see it. Their music is fun, clever pop - not something you hear much these days. Check out Picaresque and Her Majesty The Decemberists, or their latest The Crane Wife, to see what we mean.

Here’s a list of some other acts we think deserve your attention, if you didn’t make it out to any CMJ shows(with handy links):

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