Wednesday at CMJ--Mmm Mmm Good!

Warning: Indie pixie’s posts could become increasingly silly and irreverent as week goes on. Forgive her. Indie Pixie is tired. Indie pixie needs a good meal.

CMJ, you shouldn’t have! I was treated to a cornucopia of New York bands last night. Let’s dig right in.

To tempt me into hearing his band, Paul from Lungs of a Giant wrote a cryptic haiku about a protest song that would fire me up for the next venue. LOAG kicked off the CMJ music fest at Ace of Clubs, a very dark venue where I sat far from the wall for fear of roaches. I found no roaches, just unfettered rock. Paul and his staccato phrasing (he punctuated the beginning of each song with short barks I assumed were titles; Sentimental Dolphin! Gospel Christian Apesong! Magma! Think Fred Synder.) led the way to an all out assault that, according to the CMJ Guidebook conjures up early “Flaming Lips.” I would say there’s more melody here, thanks to those eclectic keyboards, and the occasional backup of Erin (chick bassist, yum). LOAG is anthemic, big, like the, ahem, lungs of a…well, you get it.

Then, to The Knitting Factory (farther away than it needs to be) to claim my honorary Panda status from Kendall Meade, indie entrepreneur, singer for the band Mascott, and founder and producer of Red Panda records. Mascott, as my friend Rocco offered, sounds like slipping into a warm bath. Red Panda records sponsored the first part of the night and then Kendall, I could be wrong, bartended for the Tap Room, cleaned up the downstairs and made it just in time for her night shift at Dunkin Donuts.

Shaggy haired Jennifer O’Conner, the ink on her deal with Matador records still shiny and wet, played for what seemed like an audience of People Who Want Her To Succeed. These happy observers took advantage of every lapse in sound to shout out “OC!” (nickname? I’m smart like that) or “How you Livin?” O’Conner’s sound is mellow, steely, mostly about love, the city, and distance.

Then to the Living Room who last night hosted a night of musicians I’d like to make a warm meal for. As satisfying as ending a sentence with a preposition, Chris Garneau’s show balanced the ethereal with the deeply morose. His voice, more of a suggestion of a voice, a minimalist “insert voice here” type deal, claws at the ins and outs of existence, akin to being licked to death by kittens. There was a long line to get his CD after his show, and I was in it.

Let’s take a breather to tie our shoes and have a sip of water. As we tie and sip, let us think about The Living Room. I know that when I am going to see a show there, it is going to be a.) unique and b.) lousy with talent. Additionally, they have soap in the soap dispensers and towels in the towel dispensers. Even though it does not look like my living room or anyone else’s I know, they are a welcome respite for an increasingly weary road warrior/pixie/panda. Moving on…

Next on the lineup at The Living Room was Jaymay, a happy sprite riding the wave of an overwhelmingly successful EP. Jaymay’s voice climbs the staircase to balconies you cannot see from where you stood on the ground. It is apparent that Jaymay has spent a lot of time exploring the nooks and crannies of her voice, carving out a labyrinth of a vocal range and providing some stunning moments. She is backed by extraordinary keyboard, cello, stand up bass/wine bottle (?) players who GET HER. Similar to my feeling when watching the wispy Garneau, I did worry how she was getting home. The optimism that fuels such sing-alongs as “You’re the Only One I love to love” (“Think about it,” she requested.) and her between and during song giggles is as adorable as it is, well, worrisome.

If I were to make Jaymay that meal, this is what I would say to her as we chopped vegetables: “Jaymay, you will have your detractors. There will be those who sit in your audience * and say things like, “This sounds like a soundtrack to a girly movie I would walk out on,” or want to throw heavy things at you, just to chip at your un-jaded veneer. Ignore them. You are a better person than they. They no doubt have ever had a man’s first words to them be “Jaymay, I love you, Jaymay, Jaymay, I love you.” Stay gold, Jaymay.

And then, the clouds rolled in. The Lower East Side showcased some torrential rain at around 11:30 last night. The rain, fresh off its tour of the Southern states, wasn’t as inventive as it was in the early days when it played small bars in Virginia under the name "Mr. Crowes Garden." The addition of Jay Ferrar on guitar is helping it out although, come on guys, 15 minutes to tune a guitar? It underwhelmed some, but did manage to make some of us very soggy pixies as we trudged across town to finish up our marathon with some good old-fashioned rock and roll.

Just last week at The Alphabet Lounge, I played my leg as a guitar to Van Halen’s “Panama.” Now, the very same space is playing host to some driving rock and roll, most notably Aeroplane Pageant. Did you ever think you’d have this much fun with some guys from Long Island? Asher from Pageant described their sound to me as Sonic Youth meets Modest Mouse, and I would add to that: the meal is prepared by Sioux chef New Pornographers.

My aching beige kicks with the pink piping then trekked back to The Ace of Clubs (symmetry, balance) to end the night where it began. NYC Smoke put on a solid show, living up to the influences Kevin their bassist listed for me in his 2 page exclamation of an email. I sat there and checked them off: Jane’s Addiction—check. Danzig—check. Statland’s voice is a hybrid of Tom Waits and a more interesting Jacob Dylan. NYC Smoke’s set left this indie pixie with a deep sense of pride in her city’s bands, rocking out with their game faces on for an inspiring, soul-welling first night of CMJ.

Ok Soft, Army of Me, Knife Skills, and the rest of you Thursday night bands, the gauntlet has been thrown down; you’d better bring your “A” game.

Going to get a good meal,

Your,

Tired, soggy, happy indie pixie/panda.

Don't take my word for it, check out my featured bands on their very own websites:

www.lungsofagiant.com
www.redpandarecords.com
www.chrisgarneau.com
www.jaymaymusic.com
www.aeroplanepageant.com
www.myspace.com/nycsmoke

*probably female