Flavorwire

CMJ: they don’t call it a music marathon for nothing, y’know. An insane number of bands will descend on NYC next week for the annual five-day non-stop assault of shows and showcases. With them comes an even larger number of music lovers, who spend most of their time trying to work out how to make a connection from the F train to the L train in order to make it to Williamsburg for that next awesome gig. Even if you live here, trying to keep track of who’s on where, and when best to catch the artists you’ve got circled on your schedule with “MUST SEE” in thick magic marker, can be kinda confusing.

So if negotiating the official schedule’s iPhone text conversation layout is giving you as much of a headache as it gave us, then rejoice! Here’s the Flavorpill guide to what you really should be seeing this time around, whether you want to follow the CMJ tradition of racing around town to see as many bands as possible, or just pick one great showcase where you can settle in for the night. We’ve also included helpful links to where we’ve talked about these bands in the past (we told you so) and commentary from our highly learned team of musical experts.

Tuesday October 18

Zola Jesus (credit: Angel Ceballos)

If you want to charge around town like a lunatic…

Titus Andronicus
Glasslands, 9pm
Read Titus Andronicus guitarist Amy Klein’s epic tale of the band’s time at Coachella here.

The Grates
Cake Shop, 9pm
Exuberant Australian two-piece whose sound falls into Yeah Yeah Yeahs territory.

Zola Jesus
Knitting Factory, 9:30pm
Nika Danilova tells our resident witch house expert Russ Marshalek about the films that inspired her latest album Conatus right here.

Cerebral Ballzy
Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10:20pm
Check out Cerebral Ballzy’s appearance in The Flavorpill Fix from last October.

Wild Flag
Bowery Ballroom, 10:30pm
We nominated Wild Flag’s self-titled debut as one of our albums you needed to hear in September. We hope you’ve followed our advice by now, because it rocks.

The Duke Spirit
Brooklyn Bowl, 11pm
Liela Moss is a fine frontwoman, y’know. And the music’s not bad, either. 

Teen Daze
Pianos, 11:30pm

The Death Set
Studio at Webster Hall, 11:50pm

Class Actress
Public Assembly, Brooklyn, 1am
Check out our write-up on Class Actress from last year as one of a selection of new women in music for your iPod.

If you just want to stay in one place all night..

Afro-Punk “Death to Hip Hop” Showcase
Death, Cerebral Ballzy, Ninjasonik, Jersey Klan, DJ Stack-Aly
Music Hall of Williamsburg, 8pm-2am

Carpark/Paw Tracks Showcase
Class Actress, Dent May, Cloud Nothings, Young Magic, Adventure, Jimmy Whispers
Public Assembly, 8:20pm-2am
Lots of great bands here to kick off your CMJ, but of particular interest is the longtime Brooklyn fixture Class Actress, who played our SXSW showcase this year and, on the heels of her first long-player, will hopefully have updated her Madonna-circa True Blue-meets-burlesque stage show to reflect the glistening charm of her new tunes. (RM)

Stereogum/PopGun Showcase
Titus Andronicus, Delicate Steve, Chelsea Wolfe, Mr. Dream, Cuckoo Chaos, Hollerado
Glasslands, from 8pm