Our CMJ Concert Picks Help You Separate the Don’t-Miss From the Dreadful

New York’s biggest annual music festival, the CMJ Music Marathon, kicked off yesterday. Now, over a thousand bands have descended on the city in hopes of a contract, an audience, a Filter review—anything to make it worth their while. Here are Spec’s picks for the shows you should catch if you’re wealthy or lucky enough to have a badge, or dedicated enough to risk a downtown trip without a ticket in hand.

KRS-One
Pick up a hip-hop album released in the last few years, and you’re bound to find a song featuring KRS-One. He’s collaborated with Kanye West, 50 Cent, Nas, Lyrics Born, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Run-DMC, and even R.E.M. Since he began rapping in 1983, his music has led the “Conscious Hip-Hop” genre, with songs criticizing the death penalty, Christianity, the media, and even the recording business itself. CMJ marks KRS-One’s ongoing journey to spread the “Gospel of Hip-Hop,” a movement he started in 2002, and though he has been criticized for this change in tone, his show at Club Element on Thursday night at 8 p.m. should be interesting.
-Nathan Miller

The Maccabees
In the spirit of their namesakes, the Maccabees are “a little band that can.” After some exposure in their native Britain, they are quickly reaching the lips and hips of the indie kids. Bloggers have called their upcoming showcase “the most exciting show of CMJ.” These literate Brighton-come-Londoners are impressing promoters, but their sound is basic, guitar-heavy indie rock which barely stands out from the masses of other CMJ showcased bands. While the Maccabees are certainly trying to mimic the indie beginnings of other British bands such as Arctic Monkeys, they seem more focused on the “cute” part, and less on the music.
Still, their new EPs show promise, particularly the song “Toothpaste Kisses,“ and their first full-length album Colour It In is a good beginning for a new band. Their live shows are supposedly a blast, and their showcase should be as well. The Maccabees play the Bowery Ballroom, Oct. 19 in a showcase which includes Sahara Hotnights, those much-hyped punk girls from Sweden, Columbia Concerts alumni the Spinto Band, fellow Brits and hard rockers Sons and Daughters, and a garage-band from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Drug Rug.
-Jennie Rose Halperin

Dan Deacon
As the captain of Baltimore’s Wham City collective, Dan Deacon’s shows are dance-festivals of the absurd. Guarded only by a lime-green light-up skull—recently recovered after an incident in Chicago—and strobe lights wearing bear masks, Deacon plays every show from the floor, amidst the ecstatic sweaty bodies of his fans. With a master in electro-acoustic and computer music composition, his lush and snappy sound is far bigger than the keyboard, iPod, and vocal distorter he plays. Make it to his show early and catch a bill stacked with Deacon’s friends, and stay for the final sing-along of crowd favorite “Wham City.”
-Sasha de Vogel

Spoon
Although Spoon is still classified as an indie-rock band, the title has been disputed due to their widespread success over the past few years. After “The Way We Get By” was featured on an episode of The OC, and later on the show’s soundtrack, Spoon was pushed into the limelight. Its sold-out show Oct. 20 at the Roseland Ballroom with the Pony’s should showcase a few tracks from their wildly successful latest album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard charts. Expect an infectious set: from its minimal rhythmic piano/guitar vamp style to its catchy yet abstract lyrics, Spoon will keep both your feet and your mouth moving.
-Jennifer Mayer

Holy Fuck
Toronto’s Holy Fuck has never written a set list in its three-year history. Graham Walsh and Brian Borcherdt, along with a rotating rhythm section of friends, improvise every show with other-worldly creative energy. Together with drums and bass, Holy Fuck conducts an orchestra of turntables, effects pedals, and keyboards to generate organic, computer-free electronica that borders on psychotic. After playing with everyone from Beans to Wolf Parade, the spontaneous band finally captured the energy of its live show on an album by logging hundreds of hours jamming in the studio, but the real thing is not to be missed.
-Sasha de Vogel

The Bowerbirds
With a strong review on Pitchfork and a much-anticipated tour with the Mountain Goats, the Bowerbirds made a strong showing in New York this month, playing at Studio Bas an opening act that often stole the show with its long set. (Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle calls them his “favorite band in forever.”) The Bowerbirds’ nu-folk roots and beautiful soaring melodies make them a band that is easy to like. However, it is often difficult to separate them from the folk movement which spawned them—they have moments that sound like Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, and Vetiver. Their LP, Hymns for a Dark Horse, is sweet—singer Phil Moore reaches unbelievable peaks with his voice, bringing the raw energy and emotion he feels into every note.
The three-piece band, which consists of a guitar (Moore), a violinist-drummer (Mark Paulson), and an accordionist (Beth Tacular), was formed after a long trip in a Winnebago across the country. They take themselves and their music very seriously, and Tacular’s accordion gives a seductive, sleepy, back-room whisper to their music.
-Jennie Rose Halperin