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. … Read More