Blog: The Sky Report

So for me, CMJ kinda blew. Sure Crystal Castles were awesome. I'm a new fan of WhoMadeWho, Bad Veins and Heloise & the Savoir Faire. And Crystal Antlers rocked it all over the city. But my CMJ experience at first got off to a rough start . Then I hit the overwhelming fest for two nights. Friday I felt exhausted. Saturday I planned on going to the After the Jump day party, which was supposed to be at The Yard, then got switched to Market Hotel due to rain, then got cancelled [...]

Crystal Castles delivered a spellbinding set last night, headlining a CMJ showcase at Webster Hall. And though lead singer Alice Glass doesn't have a great voice, her spastic energy and demonic-like presence are what rock stars are made of. Swigging from a bottle of red wine and screaming into her echoed mic, Glass stomped around the stage like a caged animal. At times, she even kneeled on the hands of the crazed fans up front, creating the illusion of floating above the crowd like an evil princess. [...]

-Crystal Antlers at Continental Army Plaza, Brooklyn I started off Wednesday with a non-CMJ show, part of Todd P 's week of free shows at the Continental Army Plaza in Williamsburg. Yes it was outside. Yes it was cold. But that didn't seem to put a damper on Crystal Antlers ' ferocious performance. These guys are a loud and gritty, somewhat oversexed, desert rock band from Long Beach CA, whose music may have felt more at home in the grunge era. They sounded really great outside, with the J [...]

Here's the trippy new video for Tobacco 's "Truck Sweat", a highlight on the new must-have album Fucked Up Friends . This clip features a scene with dildos, so... NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!

What the F***!!!??? Your CMJ party at the new Studio at Webster Hall, was an RSVP-only event (via stereogum.com), to be held from midnight to 4AM on a Tuesday night. I RSVP'd. I made my way out in the cold. I waited outside in the cold for nearly 40 minutes. I got inside. I got a beer at the bar on the DJ level - bad dance music, hardly anyone was interested in dancing, or even hanging out in this room. In fact, Leo Fitzpatrick (of "Kids" fame) was standing [...]

I'll be posting all week from the CMJ Music Marathon, which kicks off tomorrow with a stellar Stereogum private bash featuring Crystal Stilts, Marnie Stern, Ponytail, and Gang Gang Dance at the brand new Studio at Webster Hall . Stay tuned...

Weird Tapes have been getting a lot of blog love lately , and deservedly so. With a seemingly endless stockpile of tracks popping up as free downloads , it's becoming increasingly clear that Philadelphia's Weird Tapes are an exciting new talent in the dark electro/dance world. Facts are minimal, but it seems Weird Tapes are part of a collective that also includes Memory Cassette and Hail Social , both also from Philadelphia. The latest track to emerge is "My Babe Walk", the hardest dance track I've [...]

Columbia are a two-man rhythm machine, made up of Jett Drolette (bass/vocals) and Ryan Sartin (drums/vocals). The duo intertwine ESG-like bass grooves with a cool 1981 downtown vibe and a modern post-punk synergy. Drolette and Sartin met in Bushwick and are making the neighborhood their musical haven. But they would probably be offended if I quickly dubbed them a Bushwick band, as their biggest gig yet was playing to a sweaty crowd on an East Village rooftop last week. Sartin hails from Kansas City, which sharply contrasts Drolette's east coast precision. [...]

Tobacco is the totally f***ed up side project from Tom Fec of Black Moth Super Rainbow fame. The debut album, Fucked Up Friends is one of the freshest albums I've heard all year. Clocking in at under 40 minutes, the psychedelic electronic jams here have an infectious undercurrent that really sticks with you. Take Ratatat , with a dash of Jefferson Airplane and a double dose of, well ...and slow it down - you've got Tobacco. Good, good stuff. Black Moth Super Rainbow [...]

Fans of MGMT should dig Passion Pit , an indie/electro-pop band from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their new Chunk of Change ep was released last month on Frenchkiss Records and you can buy it here . The band will be on hand for a string of NY dates during CMJ next week. Check out the full itinerary here . A new video has emerged for the track "Sleepyhead". Directed by The Wilderness , the clip was made completely without the use of CGI. Impressive, because it sure [...]

Menahan Street Band consists of members of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band, and other bands who producer Thomas Brenneck brought together to "record hits" in his Bushwick apartment. In fact the band is named after Menahan St. in Bushwick. " Led by Dap-Kings/Budos Band guitarist Thomas Brenneck, the album is, as THE FADER puts is, "filled with untouched palettes waiting to be sampled," while XLR8R says "most of the all-instrumental tracks waver between Motownish and Stax/Volt-esque flavor; the mood is very 'Soulsville'-era Isaac Hayes-meets-The Funk Brothers. Crisp, tight ensemble playing defines [...]

Of Montreal played a two and a half hour, mind-drenching set at Roseland Ballroom last Friday night, leaving the crowd both perplexed by the setlist and in total awe of the most original live act I've seen this year. With a cavalcade of characters, props, and costumes - lead singer Kevin Barnes appeared almost nude, sitting atop a real-life white horse at one point - the band served as the orchestra to Barnes' theatrics, which at times were beyond silly, and at others, positively brilliant. During the encore, Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT joined in (rushing over after [...]

Kanye West - Love Lockdown Robyn - Cobrastyle MGMT - The Youth

-Love Like Fire It came as a total surprise to me that Love Like Fire are a really great band, both live and on their recent ep An Ocean in the Air . A noise pop band from my hometown of San Francisco, Love Like Fire features the amazing presence of multi-instrumentalist/lead singer Ann Yu. How did I never know about these guys when I actually lived in SF? Love Like Fire will return to NYC with a CMJ date on Friday, October 24th at Ace of Clubs [...]

The first single from Love Is All 's forthcoming album is "Wishing Well", a three minute surge of Swedish indie fun. The track first premiered as the set opener on the band's mini US tour last June, then was subsequently released on the Wishing Well + 5 ep. Now the song finds its new home on One Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night , the sophomore LP due for release on November 11th. The accompanying video is super low budget and finds the five Swedes frollicking on a beach [...]

Poni Hoax are from France and have recently released their 2nd album, Images of Sigrid on Tiger Sushi Records. The first single "Antibodies" is the perfect summation of their sound - brooding disco with a dash of early 80's new wave cynicism. The band most recently released a new 12" for the track "Hypercommunication". Get Images of Sigrid at Tiger Sushi Records . I'll admit that the music video for "Antibodies" is a bit underwhelming, but at least you can check out the song. Poni Hoax [...]

You have never seen ABBA quite like this before. Leave it to blip duo Ratatat to twist the eternal joy of Abba inside out, making the "Mamma Mia" pioneers seem absolutely terrifying. I love how Ratatat have been consistently warping silly pop culture artifacts into mind-altering new music videos. Their latest album LP3 ain't half bad either. Ratatat - Shempi (music video)

Congratulations to Clement Picon, winner of the In Rainbows Animated Music Video Contest. His effort for the new single "Reckoner" has been chosen as the track's official video. The video depicts a world building up only to suffer total annhilation. It's futuristic, thought-provoking, and typical Radiohead. Good work. Radiohead - Reckoner - by Clement Picon

The one-man band that is The Legends first grabbed my attention with the 2003 debut LP Up Against the Legends . After two subsequent releases, as well as the downsizing from nine members to one, Johan Angergård is about to return with The Legends' 4th full-length. No date yet, but a brand new single is set for release on November 5. Of the new single, Johan says, "I need noise now, so this new single sounds like someone drilling a hole in your head. In a pleasant way that is. It's called "Seconds [...]

• The Legends - Seconds away

TV on the Radio's latest album Dear Science is in serious contention for album of the year honors, and what better way to celebrate this stellar effort than by presenting the album's second video? "Dancing Choose" is the raucous, horn-laden third track on the spectacular third proper album from the Brooklyn collective. I absolutely love this album and highly recommend it to anyone reading this. Expect Dear Science to appear on many, if not all year-end lists come December. TV on the Radio - Dancing Choose (music video)