The constant onslaught of music festivals these days makes it nigh on impossible to keep track of who’s playing where and when. Happily, the fall brings something of a respite — with clouds gathering and temperatures dropping, the number of festivals on any given weekend also starts to decline, leading to a more sensible distribution of acts across line-ups, and a selection of excellent (and reasonably priced) festivals to choose from. If you’re thinking of getting in a sneaky festival trip before winter takes hold, then look no further — here’s our essential guide to the best US-based music festivals this fall.
The folks over at Pitchfork have just posted some eyebrow-raising news: They’re throwing a festival. It’s called #Offline. It’s only a little over a week away. It features lots of awesome bands, including Times New Viking, Marnie Stern, How to Dress Well, Javelin, Avey Tare, and more. Oh, and it happens to be taking place at Brooklyn Bowl for three of CMJ Music Marathon’s five days. Many considered Pitchfork’s avant-garde offshoot Altered Zones an attempt to overtake bloggers’ territory. So, is it possible the indie mega-site is making a play to hijack CMJ? Well, what do you think?
Fall may not officially begin until late September, but we all know that summer unofficially ends Labor Day weekend, as temperatures plummet and kids head back to school. It’s an especially sad time for live music fans, with the Coachellas and Bonnaroos and Lollapaloozas but a distant memory. Thankfully, though, there are more incredible autumn audiophile events than you might guess. After the jump, we round up 10 of our favorite upcoming happenings from around the country. Add your suggestions in the comments.
“These are unique times to be living though,” declared a winded Saul Williams (aka Niggy Tardust) to a packed house at New York’s Blender Theater. Decked out in his signature silver face paint, with long blue feathers staked throughout his hair, Williams thrashed around the stage rhyming and wailing into his microphone as a mosh pit gathered below. The crowd was eclectic and the mood electric. Artists swirled paintbrushes across a mural on the floor as Williams sang songs from his Trent Reznor-produced album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, eliciting punk rock riffs passionate enough to rival the artists’ own famed slam poetry. Between songs, the crowd was treated to these poems; they roared back in unison when Williams proclaimed that “music is our alchemy.”
Flavorpill spoke with Williams as he relaxed with his daughter Saturn between stops on his national Afro-Punk tour.
One week each year, New York City is positively glutted with indie-music fans, bands, and industry folk for the annual CMJ Music Marathon. It’s madness. To help you navigate things, we came up with a handy guide of pared-down music picks.
CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2009 will hit New York City from October 20-24 and for five days and nights, over 1,200 artists and 120,000 fans will take over more than 75 of the city’s greatest nightclubs and theaters. Don’t miss your chance to participate in New York City’s largest music festival; we’re giving away a pair of CMJ badges to three lucky *Flavorpill NYC readers. Read More »
Every night you’re out there — hitting up a gallery opening, first in line at the movies, fighting the crowd at a sold-out concert — and then you hear it: someone in the crowd says something that makes your jaw drop.
The best way to cope is by sharing your pain publicly through Heard In the Crowd.
Every Monday Flavorwire will post our favorite overheard bits of conversation submitted by readers to tips@flavorpill.com — from the extremely hilarious to the undeniably juicy — and invite you to judge perfect strangers.
Despite last week’s glut of CMJ coverage on music blogs (we’ve done it too in past lives), the most pressing question went virtually unasked: does anyone actually care about this industry conference outside of New York?
Sure, next to its BBQ-obsessed brethren SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, CMJ is pretty much the biggest game in existence, but that doesn’t mean much in the real world.
Our friends at Idolator (who, ironically, devoted a number of posts to the event) contend that the “breathless commentary…doesn’t mean much to those outside your particular favorite coastal metropolis.”
After the jump, why we think that they’re wrong. Read More »
Behold the unstoppable femme-rap force that is YO! MAJESTY — we did at their free CMJ show at Hiro Ballroom last Thursday night.
(See the rest of Tom Starkweather’s CMJ photo coverage for Flavorwire here.)
If you’re like us then their hardcore rap will make you blush, but that’s no reason not to grab their highly-anticipated debut album, FUTURISTICALLY SPEAKING…NEVER BE AFRAID and start shaking your booty.
It’s just a reason to make sure you never, ever play Yo! Majesty around yo mama — we don’t care how old you are.
