Gothamist has retained its passes for the upcoming CMJ Music Marathon and is a bit overwhelmed by the schedule. Shows, lectures, panels and events we want to attend + time in the day is not equalling out very well, but we're going to load up on caffeine and do our best to attend and cover it all. Space-Time Continuum be damned, we'll be everywhere at once.
Some highlights for us are going to be...
The Keynote speech given by Al Franken, where he will discuss topics including politics, music, radio and activism. An important platform to reach out to the younger generation and industry folks alike just 3 weeks before the election.
Panels are a plenty and we're especially looking forward to the Brian Wilson panel, which will include the man himself as well as others who will comment on and celebrate the newly released lost work of Wilson's Smile.
The panels should not be overshadowed by the shows as they include everything from why Lollapalooza never happened last year to discussions on how Pitchfork could be the new Rolling Stone and what's next for the Indie Rock sound.
There are a lot of shows though, and they are kicked off by the opening night party starring Sonic Youth @ Irving Plaza.
A list of all of the performers at this years CMJ can be found here. We still can't wrap our brain around it. We can assure you we'll be checking out Clinic, Arcade Fire, the Thermals, the Concretes, Sufjan Stevens, Sondre Lerche, Ted Leo, the Decemberists, the Faint...and pretty much every band we possibly can. Stay tuned for a series of album reviews, live show reviews (from CMJ) and even some interviews with some of the above bands.
Some notes on CMJ [Tale of Two Cities]
