Cleveland's Shaky Hands return to CMJ this year (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

CMJ MUSIC MARATHON & FILM FESTIVAL
Multiple locations
Badge: $495
Individuals tickets available for nearly all events
www.cmj.com
If you’ve been a faithful reader of twi-ny, CMJ might not seem too overwhelming — more than a thousand bands at dozens and dozens (and dozens) of venues over five days. In recent years we’ve introduced you to such groups as Drink Up Buttercup, Takka Takka, the Forms, Nobody Can Dance, NYCSmoke, Die! Die! Die!, the Teenage Prayers, Team Robespierre, Robbers on High Street, the Shackeltons, Bear Hands, Das Racist, the Shaky Hands, the Wiyos, Japandroids, French Miami, Turbo Fruits, the Golden Filter, and Bajah + the Dry Eye Crew, all of which are playing the 2009 festival. In addition to relatively new bands, this year’s marathon also features a handful of old-timers, from Ted Leo + the Pharmacists and J. D. Souther to Bebe Buell (in a tribute to Joey Ramone), the Trashmen (“Surfin’ Bird”), and Busta Rhymes. Among the more interesting double bills is the Fleshtones teaming up with those reunited Hoboken heroes, the Bongos.

Full-access festival badges are $495, but tickets for nearly all shows are available to the general public and should be purchased in advance for the more hotly anticipated bands. This year the CMJ Web site has added a terrific new interface that allows you to make up your own schedule of movies, concerts, and panels; somehow, we’ve still ended up with way too many things we want to do each day. There’s so much to recommend, but we’ve attempted to whittle it down to our top ten highlights (well, maybe a few more as the week goes on), listed below in alphabetical order.

Naomi Shelton will lead the Gospel Queens at Daptone CMJ showcase (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

DAPTONE RECORDS
Friday, October 23, Knitting Factory, 6:00 pm – 1:30 am
www.daptonerecords.com
The folks at Daptone know how to throw a party. For CMJ, they’re unleashing a night of R&B, soul, and funk at the Knitting Factory, with the unstoppable Budos Band, the royal sounds of Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, the manly Menahan Street Band, and those old mainstays, the Dap-Kings. Be prepared to shake your booty off.

Pat Mahoney and James Murphy will host DFA disco party at CMJ

DFA RECORDS
Thursday, October 22, Brooklyn Bowl, 8:00 pm – 4:00 am
www.myspace.com/dfarecords
DFA will be giving Daptone a run for the best party honors as they get down and dirty at Brooklyn Bowl, with live performances by Yacht, Still Going, Holy Ghost!, and Sh*t Robot. But we’re most looking forward to the DJ set by LCD Soundsystem stalwarts James Murphy and Pat Mahoney, who will be leading what should be a sweaty crowd through what they’re calling Special Disco Version.

Drink Up Buttercup promises crazy fun at CMJ (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

DRINK UP BUTTERCUP
Tuesday, October 20, the Delancey, 9:00
Wednesday, October 21, Cake Shop, 7:30
Friday, October 23, Brooklyn Brewery, 4:00
Friday, October 23, Glasslands, 9:00
Saturday, October 24, the Delancey, 2:45
Saturday, October 24, Etnies Showroom, 7:30
www.myspace.com/drinkupbuttercupband
Drink Up Buttercup knows how to have a good time. They play with a reckless, infectious abandon that is sure to get your mojo working. The fearless Philly foursome features Farzad Houshiarnejad on bass and keyboards (as well as vocals, wolf howls, and melodica), Ben Money on bass, keyboards, and percussion (in addition to melodica, vocals, and mannequin head), James Harvey on guitar and vocals (along with sawed-off seagull, walki, opera sounds, and baby head), and Mike Cammarata on drums (with water, lemon, and sugar packets). Onstage they are reminiscent of such bands as the Black Lips, Islands, the Shaky Hands, and Gringo Star, as they switch instruments, goof around, and bang on an aluminum trash can. All of that is fine and dandy, but the key to the group is that their songs are fucking awesome.

French Miami come up north for CMJ

FRENCH MIAMI
Thursday, October 22, Death by Audio
Friday, October 23, Market Hotel
Saturday, October 24, Cake Shop, 8:00
www.myspace.com/mrfrenchmiami
French Miami is neither French nor from Miami; the Bay Area trio — synth specialist/guitarist Roland Curtis, singer/guitar/keyboard player Jason Heiselmann, and drummer Chris Crawford — do their goddamn best on their eponymously titled debut disc, which includes such psychedelic trips as “Science Fiction,” “SFO,” and “The God Damn Best.”

The Golden Filter will keep up the mystery at CMJ

THE GOLDEN FILTER
Saturday, October 24, Santos Party House, 11:00
www.myspace.com/thegoldenfilter
Enigmatic group the Golden Filter features Penelope’s breathy, whispery vocals, Stephen on keyboards and percussion, and Lisa on drums. The techno-disco trio have no last names, and they never show their faces in photographs. Fortunately, their songs kick ass, so they can get away with the eccentricity / gimmick, claiming that it’s only the music that matters. In addition to such hot originals as “Solid Gold,” “Moonlight Fantasy,” and “Hide Me,” the Golden Filter has done cool remixes of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Lay It Down,” Cut Copy’s “Far Away,” Empire of the Sun’s “We Are the People,” and Little Boots’ “New in Town,” while a bunch of other artists have remixed “Solid Gold.”

Jake and Jamin Orrall will get heavy at CMJ (photo by Bekah Cope)

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD
Thursday, October 22, Piano’s, 4:30; Crash Mansion, 6:00
Friday, October 23, the Charleston, 12 midnight
Saturday, October 24, the Knitting Factory, 2:00; Don Pedro’s, 6:00; Union Pool, 10:20; My Open Bar, 1:00 am
www.myspace.com/jakeandjamin
Nashville’s Jeff the Brotherhood, whose HEAVY DAYS disc is just out from Infinity Cat, play psychedelic garage rock on such tunes as “U Got the Look,” “The Tropics,” “Bone Jam,” “Screaming Banshee,” “Doo It,” and “I’m a Freak,” which features a great freak-out. Brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall let out a groovy barrage of sound with just drums and guitar, and they’ll be doing it all over CMJ; with seven shows scheduled, they just might be the busiest band of the week (before heading out on the road with Shonen Knife).

Sarah Guild will lead New Collisions in CMJ shows (photo by Liz Linder)

THE NEW COLLISIONS
Wednesday, October 21, the Delancey, 11:45
Saturday, October 24, Bowery Poetry Club, 8:00
www.myspace.com/thenewcollisions
“I can’t take it anymore / just standing still,” platinum blonde Sarah Guild declares on “Afterglow,” the opening song on the New Collisions’ fab debut seven-song EP, INVISIBLE EMBRACES, a gargantuan, refreshing blast of pure power pop that is due out November 17. There should be no standing around at their CMJ showcases; if you can’t move to “Parachutes on the Dance Floor,” well, then, there’s no hope for you. A sort of New Wave, edgy No Doubt — and we mean that in the best way possible — Boston’s New Collisions rock hard and sweet and are not afraid to have a lot of fun with their lyrics; witness these lines from the synth-driven “No Free Ride”: “There’s no free ride / for being pretty on the inside / The Berlin Wall’s still up in my heart, babe / Sam Walton stole the icing off of my cake / I’d be lucky to ride on a horse with no name / Oh, time to get away / The end is under way.” The end? No, this is just the beginning.

Turbo Fruits will turn things upside down in area shows

TURBO FRUITS
Wednesday, October 21, Cake Shop, 1:00
Saturday, October 24, Union Pool, 9:40
www.myspace.com/turbofruits
Turbo Fruits play an infectious mix of psychedelic retro garage surf punk with a heavy dose of humor, as one can guess from such song titles as “Mama’s Mad Cos I Fried My Brain,” “Broadzilla,” and “Naked with You” (which could be a lost Ramones classic) on their awesomely freaky new album, ECHO KID. Former Be Your Own Pet Jonas Stein Stein does a little Dylan on “Hold Me,” throws in a bit of the Troggs on “Get Up Get On Down (Tonite),” and really cuts loose on “Broadzilla.” It all makes for one hell of an impressive alterna-AMERICAN GRAFFITI meets QUADROPHENIA. The album is a nonstop party, one that should continue at their CMJ showcase.

Ume will be in town for several shows during CMJ week

UME
Wednesday, October 21, Ace of Clubs, 10:00
Thursday, October 22, Public Assembly, 12 midnight
Friday, October 23, Fontana’s, 1:00
Friday, October 23, Lake Johnson, 8:00
www.myspace.com/umemusic
The Austin-based trio of bassist Eric Larson, drummer Jeff Barrera, and singer-guitarist Lauren Larson are touring behind their explosive SUNSHOWER EP, which has been blasting out of speakers since its release this past February. Lauren Larson’s shrieking guitar rips it up through the five songs, tearing apart “The Conductor,” “Pendulum,” and “East of Hercules” while balancing in whispery vocals. Elements of punk, metal, and hardcore show up as well, with killer riffs driving the band’s powerful sound.

New indie supergroup will play CMJ

UNINHABITABLE MANSIONS
Thursday, October 22, the Bell House, 10:00
www.myspace.com/uninhabitablemansions
Uninhabitable Mansions is an art collective and Brooklyn mini-supergroup that features Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Chris Diken from Radical Dads, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Robbie Guertin and Tyler Sargent from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Their debut album includes a steady stream of inventive indie pop that enjoy stopping and starting, dropping in and out, with great harmonies, from the bouncy pop of “The Brain Is a Slow Wave” to the sweet urgency of “Do You Have a Strategy.” We particularly like the changing mood of “We Misplaced a Cobra in the UM,” which starts off slowly before kicking in with thrashing instruments and screaming vocals. (If you miss them at the Gothamist party at the Bell House, they’ll be at Union Pool on October 30.)

Elon James White will share his unique political and social insight during CMJ

ELON JAMES WHITE
Wednesday, October 21, the Living Room, 9:15
www.myspace.com/elonjames
Comedian Elon James White, a longtime FOT (friend of twi-ny), has had a breakout year, bringing his sociopolitical rants to the Huffington Post, CNN, and other major outlets, while his “This Week in Blackness” videos have been bustin’ loose as well. White’s take on everyone from Michael Jackson and Barack Obama to Henry Louis Gates and Kanye West are as insightful as they are funny.

The Wiyos' will bring their unique brand of Americana roots rock to CMJ

THE WIYOS
Friday, October 23, Gramercy Theatre, 10:00
www.myspace.com/thewiyos
With a calling card that reads: “Vaudevillian Ragtime Blues, Hillbilly Swing and Old Time Country,” the Wiyos are a four-piece who are in it for the love of the music and what it represents. Old 78 records. Jug band music. Gamblers and mule skinners. Twenties-era hokum. A healthy reverence for Harry Smith’s Smithsonian Folkways compilations. And a touch of what Greil Marcus once referred to as “that old, weird America…” The Wiyos reach for all of these touchstones of our musical heritage and more during their engaging live performances.