CMJ Report: No More Trumpets! Ever!
October 23rd, 2007 | 3:30 pm est |
CMJ was a headlong rush of dingy basement venues, an endless parade of bands with trumpets, cloth-eared soundmen and lots and lots of facial hair. While sitting and soaking my feet in a hot bath and reflecting upon the days gone by, a few things stood out:
Though Brooklyn itself was fairly annoying, the Sound Fix Cafe was a brilliant place to see a show, best venue of the week by far. The sound was almost perfect, the setting was wonderfully laid back, and the crowd was about as polite and enthused as you could hope for. And seeing the Ladybug Transistor for the first time made the whole week worthwhile.
Standing in the crowd waiting for the Harlem Shakes‘ show to start, some hipster sidled up and said, “Good set.” I said, “Yeah…um…,” and he’s like, “You guys were great.” He must have seen that I had no idea what he was talking about because he said, “Aren’t you the singer for Professor Murder?” Dude, I wish. That guy is a stone fox!
The Brooklyn Vegan party at the R Bar was probably the most unpleasant concert experience I’ve ever had, and that includes almost being crushed to death at a Rolling Stones show. Being smashed into a tiny room jammed to twice its capacity with sweaty, cranky, and extremely tall bloggers, liggers, and curious industry types waiting for Black Kids to finally get their gear sorted out was as close to hell as I ever want to get. Once the band started playing, it was like being transported to some heavenly place where the Ronettes are making out with the Go! Team while the Cure plays croquet with the staff of Pitchfork and the Motown session cats cut the Arcade Fire’s hair. Or something. It was really too loud and hot to hear anything.
Fishboy!!
In the “Hey, You Can’t See them All” file:
Saturday Looks Good to Me
Drug Rug
The Broken West
Apollo Heights
I completely agree with your sentiments regarding the Ladybug Transistor. That, too, firmly established my belief that coming to NY this year was a good choice.
i’m glad you had fun, tim.
LadyBug Transistor is great…I cover them and a bunch of other great known and relatively unknown indie artists and bands. AMG is, by the way, the best music guide - EVER!
“Though Brooklyn itself was fairly annoying”? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Way to write off a city of 3 million people. Brooklyn is not annoying, but out-of-towners who think that crossing a bridge is a bold act and that they know anything about Brooklyn because they’ve been to the Bedford stop one time, are.
You are a lazy writer. “Some hipster…” You were reporting on CMJ. Hipster is redundant. The only people that go to CMJ shows are hipsters. You’re just using the word to separate yourself from a crowd of which you are obviously a part.
I was at that Brooklyn Vegan party as well and though the whole show was completely unremarkable, there was also nothing particularly hellish about it either. There 400 shows to see during that festival and Black Kids probably played five times. If you didn’t like it, you should have left. And if you just wanted to hear the set, there was a huge empty front room where you could have nursed a beer at the bar and listened in comfort. You are whiny and you annoy me. And I do not write snarky things on blogs on a daily basis. But calling Brooklyn annoying is asking for it. What do you really know about Brooklyn? Brooklyn is not ten blocks along Bedford Avenue. I like to go see things at Sound Fix too, but it’s a record store and cafe. It is not New York’s best venue by far! And claiming as much just screams, “I have no idea what I’m talking about.”
Go to SXSW next year and leave us alone. Maybe Brooklyn was annoying because you were surrounded by a bunch of other out of town wannabe internet stars on North Sixth Street and you didn’t like the smell of your own.
So to sum up trrricky. Brooklyn’s not annoying if you avoid certain areas, go to the best venues, and live there your whole life.
No, Brooklyn just isn’t annoying.
I’ve only been here a year. And there’s nothing wrong with visiting NYC for CMJ. It’s obviously not designed as a fest just for locals. It’s just silly for whohisname up there to visit hipster ground zero that is Williamsburg one time and then make some blanket statement about the whole boro. Billyburg is just one tiny part of Brooklyn and an anomalous one at that. If you find pushing your way through a bunch of kids in tight jeans gawking at used books on the sidewalk annoying, then try a different neighborhood! I hang out in Williamsburg all the time and yes, it can be hipper-than-thou and annoying, but that’s also kind of funny and it doesn’t speak for the rest of Brooklyn which is NOTHING like that. It’s just dumb and lazy to make the kind of statements Tim does because he went to an in-store (that’s what Sound Fix shows are) during CMJ week. All I’m saying.
I just wrote what I did because I think All Music does serious music writing and they should have standards and I respect All Music a lot and this guy is just a really bad writer and a crappy tourist to boot. This isn’t a college newspaper. AMG is some good stuff. There’s just nothing of value in what Tim wrote here and that sucks.
i agree that brooklyn can be pretty hipster but it is only in some areas… put an end to the skinny jeans kids and whatever hipster band theyre in
yo trrricky, nice post…haha totally agree. “The only people that go to CMJ shows are hipsters.” - EXACTLY, and brooklyn is not annoying. you can have the most annoying time due to personal circumstances but that doesnt make the whole city annoying.
I know its dumb to post that but its seriously his own opinion. Annoying is different to a lot of people. All I know is I would rather be annoyed in Brooklyn then bored in Oklahoma.