Familiarize Yourself

Currently reporting live from New York City (about a block from Times Square right now to be exact!) to update you about the happenings at the CMJ Music & Film festival. We are well into Day 2 right now, but to hear about our exciting panel with Andrew W.K. you’ll have to check back in tomorrow.

After an early morning flight from Chicago to NYC, we kicked off the festival by conquering the public transportation system in New York to pick up our “offical” CMJ badges. The weather in the city has been beautiful, especially considering Halloween will be gracing our calendars next week so rather than walking in halfway on the panels we decided to enjoy SPICE Thai food outside of NYU’s campus on the steps of Union Square.

Titus Andronicus

For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a proud member of AEMMP Records, Columbia College’s student run record label. My role with AEMMP Records is the director of marketing and promotions, but I spent my summer sending out press releases and contacting blogs (besides my own) for additional exposure. One of the guys I had been contacting, Mike Spinella, just happens to be a big-wig over at Spinner.com, one of FYW’s FAVORITE music websites (that’s your hint to go check it out). My partner-in-crime for this trip, Kate Kennedy and I kicked off our first night (and her 21st birthday!) at the Spinner.com/Going.com showcase at Webster Hall. The showcase featured some amazing new bands like Titus Andronicus, Woods, Here We Go Magic, and a few other openers we missed. For those of you traveling through NYC anytime soon, Webster Hall is definitely a place to check out. The main hall is two stories that features a gorgeous balcony with prime views of the bands. The set-up was also original since it featured two stages, eliminating the need for the 45 minute change overs from artist to artist.

After leaving Webster Hall we met up with our friends who were playing, managing a showcase over in Brooklyn called the Glasslands Gallery. The gallery was in the middle of abandoned factories right on the river under the Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately the most spectacular part of this showcase was the location because the DJs were unimpressive and our friend was very sick so he never managed to play.

Needless to say, last night was not up to our normal CMJ expectations, but now we are heading out to catch the XX, Malajube, Empires, and some of the artist’s playing the VICE party with promises of bringing you back some quality artists.