Brooklyn by way of Louisiana duo Home Video played the Studio at Webster Hall this past Thursday evening. The majority of songs performed were off of the band’s latest album The Automatic Process, which was released on November 16th of this year. David, Collin and live drummer Jim Orso sounded on Thursday evening and the new songs that were played were very impressive.
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My first stop for CMJ Day 3 was Bowery Electric where I caught Savoir Adore. Savoir Adore is one of my favorite Brooklyn bands with their sweet, new wave, quirky fairy tale sound. Their set this evening was solid with the only negative thing being that they were plagued by sound problems for the first two songs- which went UNnoticed by most of the audience. Savior Adore played off the problems though with their infectious charm and by the third song everything was ironed out.
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Day 2 of CMJ 2010 brought me to Bowery Electric where I was treated to a set from Smile Smile. Smile Smile’s music is simple, catchy and really nice alt-pop that can easily be heard on the indie station and the adult contemporary station. Basically Smile Smile is a band both you and your mom can enjoy.

Feeling the need to get my hard/punk groove on I headed over to The Cake Shop to see Freshkills and they did not disappoint. The band played a hard rockin’, blistering and very sexy set, giving CMJ the much needed punk shot in the arm it often times lacks.
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I checked in to CMJ headquarters, aka Judson Church in the West Village, at around 6pm to pick up my pass for the 2010 CMJ festival. From there I headed over to the Pure Volume House in the East Village, the Pure Volume house is a lounge for the press/VIPs and of course the artists participating in CMJ 2010. There are pool tables and a bar with free vodka and beer and lots of coffee drinks, Kangol hats and potato chips. At the Pure Volume House I had the pleasure of meeting New York by way of Alaska band The Lives of Famous Men who are playing a CMJ showcase at Arlene’s Grocery this Saturday 10/23.
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Friday evening, I attended the Gold Lake, Basia Bulat, The Acorn show at Littlefield here in Brooklyn. The opening band, Brooklyn’s Gold Lake, got the crowd rockin’ with their brand of new wave/rootsy alt rock. The band’s songs were well crafted, well played and front woman Lua Rios has a certain sweet, but yet edgy, very rock and roll stage charm about her.

Click through to see more photos and read the rest of the spirited review from Amy Grimm… (Read the article)

No Age rocked The Music Hall of Williamsburg in every way possible last evening, The band sounded tight as hell and had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, including this roving reporter!

No Age’s opening acts of Small Black and Soft Circle were equally as impressive. Small Black won the crowd over with their brand of Depeche Mode like melodies. And in nearly 20 years of going to shows (my hippy mother took me as a child to concerts) I’ve never seen a crowd so receptive to an opening band as I have this evening to Soft Circle and rightfully so!

Soft Circle is one of the most technically astute bands, in the best way possible. Just soooo BRILLIANT! Every band on this bill this evening was major and impressive; one of the best shows I have ever attended!

The Summer of 2010 was an indie country summer for me. I found myself listening to and really enjoying a lot of artists such as These United States, Ha Ha Tonka, Jonny Corndawg and Megafaun. On September 14th, Megafaun released a “mini album” called Volunteers and sent out into the blogosphere “Carolina Days.”

Click through for a review and free mp3 of ‘Carolina Days.’.. (Read the article)

San Francisco garage rocker Ty Segall’s new album Melted is out now on Goner Records and as a preview, he has released two tracks. The first track, ‘Caesar,’ is an uptempo rocker with a heavy acoustic guitar intro and a melody that harks back to a 60′s Brit invasion band think the Kinks. Segall’s vocal on “Caesar” reminded me of the late great Lux Interior of the Cramps, but I felt he made his vocal very much his own and I found myself bopping my head in pure enjoyment as I listened.

The next track is ‘Girlfriend,’ which reminded me of what a collaboration between Jack White and Jay Reatard could have sounded like. The song roars with Ty Segall’s powerful vocals, killer guitars, a MAJOR beat and half way through the song, there is a blistering piano solo that has not been heard since Little Richard. If ‘Caesar’ had me bopping my head, ‘Girlfriend’ had me dancing around the room like a maniac!

Tour dates and mp3s after the jump… (Read the article)