RethinkPopMusic CMJ Showcase

On Thursday, October 22nd RethinkPopMusic hosted an unofficial CMJ Showcase at Crash Mansion with the assistance of Absolut, Spaten Beer, Red Roof Inns, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, U-Haul and Yak Pak.

Once again we had 350+ through the door but I think that has much more to do with great performances by Ambassadors, The Vanguard, The Aviation Orange, The Glorious Veins and our late night guests Lindsay Luv and Mikealis.

Thanks to everyone who came out including all our friends from MTV, S1Songs, The Postelles and ALL!

RethinkPopMusic Covers CMJ

New Villager review through the eyes and ears of Alex Beninato of The Aviation Orange

New Villager – Bowery Poetry Club – 10/21/09

New Villager must pride themselves on their stage ingenuity to pull off their dense sound. The fact that the band is only a duo (made up of Ben Bromley & Ross Simonini) must have forced them to get creative with their stage instrumentation. They don’t take the easy backing track way out that is the downfall of many bands now a days. The pair actually play their drum parts with their feet as they interchangeably play keyboards, bass, guitar, and sing. This combined with looping pedals allows the band to create a sound that seems like it would take about 4 people to make. It also keeps the set from getting stale and lifeless. We’ve all heard horror stories of MGMT’s live shows, I can assure you this is not a problem with New Villager. Although their style is a bit similar to MGMT, New Villager comes off a bit trippier. They move from pop to soul to psych. Their playing at Bowery Poetry Club was extremely tight and the band had great energy. I enjoyed their set tremendously. Despite this they didn’t really get the crowd into it. It seemed as though the audience didn’t know how to react to their music. There were a lot of blank stares. Maybe everyone was too enthralled with their show to move or maybe they were all waiting for the next band.

After Bowery Poetry we made are way to the Purevolume house where massages almost distracted from the amazing music of Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

MBAR hit the stage with a brand new band and made us very excited for a hopefully upcoming follow up to his epic Self Titled debut.

Bowery Ballroom with Temper Trap and The Postelles reviewed by Bob Berman of RethinkPopMusic.

Already familiar with both acts I was in attendance as more of a friend/fan than angry journalist. The Postelles play straight forward pop/rock very much the likes of their obvious predecessors The Strokes and The Ramones. However, The Postelles add a sexy element that obviously gives them more mainstream appeal and rock much more lighthearted singalong choruses. While The Postelles are New York favorites and definitely in the running as the new LES torchbearer a little more refinement and variety in the setlist would definitely expedite the process.

Following The Postelles was Temper Trap who are riding on the epic single Sweet Disposition. Unfortunately, that was the only song worth hearing. While frontman Dougie Mandagi has a voice that is unparalleled their songs seem to blend into each other leaving the audience unable to differentiate. Nevertheless, riding the buzz off the first single will definitely allot for a plenty of ears to give a follow up a fair shake.

RethinkPopMusic CMJ Showcase – 10/22 – RSVP Today!

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Passion Pit Will Rock Your Socks

When you first play Passion Pit’s debut EP Chunk of Change, their fun collection of electro – pop will make you wanna dance on your chair. When you go see them live, (and you are dancing on your chair! )you’ll be surprised to find more than a lone dude with his synth on stage.

The blogging bees have done nothing but buzz about how the EP was recorded in front man Michael Angelakos’ bedroom as a poor man’s Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend. What you might not know is that Passion Pit’s live set (and band) consists of 3 guys on 2 guys playing bells, a bassist, a guitarist, and a drummer totaling 5 band members rocking on stage.

After seeing them now twice last week during CMJ and a few times previous, they are officially one of my favorite bands to see live. Theses talented guys crank out such a fun set, you would have to be dead not to enjoy yourself.

So if you’re not dead, and you own some sort of device to play music, than by all means go ahead, turn it up, and attempt to sing along in falsetto. But please, if you’re at work, you might want to get down off your chair.

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More photos from the Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Showcase after the jump… Continue reading »