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Entries tagged with 'CMJ'
Posted Oct. 24, 2007,
PAPER TV: The Cool Kids Got All Up in CMJ
By PAPERMAG Editors
The Cool Kids, aka Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish, aka a bad-ass Chicago-based hip-hop duo, played about 857 shows during CMJ. In the (very little) down-time that they had, the boys did some blogging for us. Remember? Here they are doing their thing -- in video form!
Posted Oct. 23, 2007,
Yeasayer Record Release Party Tonight: Go!
By Alexis Swerdloff
Yeasayer, the Brooklyn-based duo that NY Doll used to wax on and on about, are really quite a splendid buzz band that deserve all the buzz they're receiving! I really can't top her description of the band: "If Queen hadn't done the soundtrack to the 1986 masterpiece, Highlander, Yeasayer would've been my second choice." Here, here. After playing about 87 CMJ shows, with whatever last bit of energy they have, tonight they are throwing themselves a record release party at Glasslands. They won't be playing, but they will be dancing. Head over at 9!
Posted Oct. 20, 2007,
The Cool Kids Are All Up in CMJ: "I'm Starting to See Flying Squirrels and Tall Babies."
By Chuck Inglish
So this is the last day... and I'm on my last leg. I seriously think I've slept maybe five hours in the past two days... and I'm starting to see flying squirrels and tall babies. In retrospect I think I laid it all out this week. We had a show every night, which is an amazing thing to say... It's really an honor to be in the company of all these bands and groups, but I'm completely out of gas -- and I wouldn't change a thing. I could do this for a year. But now I'm gonna go get some cheese pizza.. and head to our last show of the
marathon.
Posted Oct. 20, 2007,
The Cool Kids Are All Up in CMJ: "I Feel a Tap on the Back and Hear a Voice Say 'Hi, I'm Maya.'"
By Mikey Rocks
I didn't know if I could do it. But I did it... Three shows in one night and I didn't half ass even one of em. Mama would be proud lol. So I'll start with the M.I.A. show. I'm by my dressing room and I decide to head to the bathroom and I'm walking past DJ Blaqstarr, Rye Rye and some shorter girl with a green hoodie on... I almost pass them when I feel a tap on the back and hear a voice say "Hi, I'm Maya." So I turn around and it was definitely M.I.A. I was mad embarrassed lol. But it was cool because she seemed glad to see me. Then she whipped out this funky looking camera that takes pictures and prints out these mini polaroids... awesome. She tells everybody to get together for a picture and before she snaps it I tell Victor to take a picture of her taking a picture of us lol. It came out dope and then we kept chatting for a while before me and Chuck had to head down to the stage. I'm headed back home tomorrow for a week of rest and all that good sh*t before we head out for the tour. I'm about to go get some free stuff and I didn't even take a shower yet so I'll talk later...
Halla at ya llama.
M.rocks
Posted Oct. 19, 2007,
The Cool Kids (Finally) Blog!
By Mikey Rocks
Our favorite new band to grace the CMJ lineup this year is the Chicago-based electro-meets-old-school hip-hop duo to end all Chicago-based electro-meets-old-school hip-hop duos The Cool Kids. They are really a force to be reckoned with. Which is why we were pleased as punch that they came by the PAPER offices the other day and agreed to do a little guest-blogging for us, when they're not playing about 875 CMJ shows. Catch 'em tonight as they open for MIA at Terminal 5. Here's Mikey Rocks' first installment...
Yoyoyo what up peoplesss? I'm in New York right now... It's raining, I'm hungry, and confused all at the same time. But before I get into that, let's talk about the past few nights I've been here! OK, the Fools Gold show at Hiro was like 2 days ago... It was ill all across the board... (*side note* in chicago "ill" means good but I've noticed some NY people use ill to describe something bad or lame.) But anyway, it was a lot of fun. Seemed like the crowd was definitely rockin' with us and that's all I could ever ask for. Then after that we headed over to a club called Room Service where a bunch of the homies were at. It was crackin pretty hard. Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri were in there along with Cuba Gooding Jr. I think I saw Silk the Shocker and Mike Ditka as well but maybe I was just trippin? Lol. Chinatown smells like fish. A lot. And New York homeless guys are way less pushy than Chicago homeless guys. Out here they just shake the cup and make eye contact. Back home they like to touch -- haha. Anyway, I'll be back soon with more. Right now we're headed to soundcheck for tonight's show at Terminal 5 with the beautiful miss M.I.A.
Halla at ya llama.
M.rocks
Posted Oct. 17, 2007,
Regina Spektor at Hammerstein: "Someone Next Door's Fucking to One of My Songs"
By Alexis Swerdloff
Last night, I kicked off CMJ by catching Miss Regina Spektor at Hammerstein Ballroom. "I'm home!!" the New Yorker cried as she skipped on stage. She fumbled a bit throughout the set, but in an endearing way, saying, "I'm just so overwhelmed... My friends and family are all here..." Spektor, who has been touring her gem-filled masterpiece Begin to Hope since its summer 2006 release, played a mix of oldies and newbies... I saw Spektor in the spring of 2006 at Warsaw and seeing her a year and a half later at Hammerstein, it was interesting to see how her fans have changed and seriously increased in quantity! Last night's crowd seemed younger than I remember. Or maybe it's just that I'm older... Anyway, this all may have something to do with the fact that her songs have been all over the radio and TV (on JC Penney commercials, Grey's Anatomy and Weeds) of late, but at both shows her fans were rabid and they tend not to sing, but actually shout along to her songs. Even the ones partly in Russian! Her song, "Bobbing for Apples," was quite the crowd pleaser, with the audience hollering along to the lyrics: "Someone next door's fucking to one of my songs." Which is actually a pretty cool concept... Her softer, more ballad-y songs "Us" and "Samson" were audience favorites as well. All in all, a delightful show... but when's the new album coming out...? We want more!!
P.S. Regina was a Beautiful Person back in 2004!
P.P.S. Here's a music video for "Us":
Posted Oct. 5, 2007,
Eight Items or Less: "I'm Not There" Is "Not a Bob Dylan Movie," The Bowery Hotel Has Slippery Bathrooms and Thursday Nights Just Got Busier
By Gari Pini
1. The cover story in this week's New York Times Magazine claims that the new Todd Haynes film I'm Not There is "not a Bob Dylan movie." Cate Blanchett, one of the six actors portraying Dylan in the film, tells the magazine that "I don't know that it does make sense," and Richard Gere finds the film "kind of cosmic." (via Editor and Publisher)
2. The Wall Street Journal sends a writer, unannounced, to the Gramercy Park Hotel and the Bowery Hotel. Besides spending a small fortune at both, she can't get into the bar at the Gramercy and slips on the floor of the bathroom at The Bowery ("The bruise was not pretty.")
3. DJ Danny Tenaglia is selling his "DJ Booth/Spaceship" for $25,000.
4. Another new club night starts next Thursday, October 11. This one, presented by Kenny Kenny and Josh, is called Sebastian, located at 27 West 24th and features Scissor Sister DJ Sammy Jo. Hosts include Amanda Lepore and Sophia Lamar.
5. Sony has introduced a new Cyber-shot camera that they claim can sense when people are smiling and then automatically shoots a picture.
6. In the just released list of the thousands of bands scheduled to play at this year's CMJ music festival we were intrigued by these numerally-monikered two: 1900 and 1990. As Alexis said, the 20th century is the new wolf!
Posted Sep. 13, 2007,
You Have the Power Decide Who'll Open for Datarock During CMJ
By PAPERMAG Editors
It's kind of like American Idol -- but less lame. The folks at Eclipse Gum have teamed up with the fellows over at Amie Street to give one up-'n'-coming band that you may never have heard of the opportunity to play at the CMJ Music Festival and win $10,000. Head here and decide whether the EPOCHS, Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves, Casey Shea, These United States or Blue Scholars will be opening for Datarock at the Blender Theater on October 18. We're rooting for These United States (pictured above) -- very M. Ward-y! Voting ends today, so hustle!