OK. I’m in New York, at the CMJ2010 Music Marathon & Film Festival. Attending panel discussions, checking out the Exhibitors’ Loft & Registrants’ Lounge, grilling colleagues on this and that, hopefully checking out some of the approximately eight thousand bands playing this week. First up, I have one question… This is the CMJ Festival. Where the hell is the CMJ? There is the CMJ Play series of talks… there is a table for DMDS-which CMJ is somehow involved with… but where is CMJ? They have no booth. There was no sign of the CMJ New Music Report in the newsstand area (I will look harder for it on Friday). Where are these people? What are they doing?
Moving along. Let’s look at the schwag. CMJ attendants do not go hungry. I had homemade cookies, Israeli Kit Kat Bars, Raw Rev bars with Sprouted Flax Seeds, Blow Pops, mints (don’t skimp on the mints folks, there is lots of close-up talking at these things), peanut butter cups, a Hershey Special Dark mini bar and much more. Much appreciated were the earplugs (from Sennheiser – ironically – and SESAC – possibly even more ironically) and guitar picks (from picktheband.com, audimated.com and hellomusic.com). Clearly, however, the star item was the truly awesome YouTube Socks (pictured above) What else could be said about that…
Still a few days to go. On the live music front I’ve heard of, well, no one. I like to think I’m a little up on what’s going on in music. Maybe not. I think my hopes are a bit high from the Narnack Records CMJ showcase gig a few years ago with Bunny Brains, Guitar Wolf and The Fall (A show never to be repeated… one of Bass Wolf’s last… R.I.P.). I have very little history with this event, but I have the sense that this is an odd year compared with past years. I seriously hope some band blows my freaking mind over the next couple of days.
