RethinkPopMusic CMJ Promo Video

RethinkPopMusic hosted a CMJ showcase at The Bowery Electric on Thursday, October 20th 2011.

Artists performing that evening were:

The Yes Way
Black Taxi
Courtesy Tier
The Aviation Orange
Viva Mayday
Beast Make Bomb
Man on Earth
The Ruby Spirit

CMJ Night 2 feat The Yes Way

Surprisingly, I had not experienced The Yes Way live prior to CMJ.

Frontman Aaron Mendelsoh narrates a journey ranging from undeniably catchy, melodic pop, through spaced-out psychedelia, landing at times for hardcore garage-style grunge. All the while, it’s a tightly guarded secret hidden behind a coy smile what direction he might guide the show next.

I’ve only seen Radiohead do it better. Their New song “Anchor” appears to be an instant fan favorite, with all 6 feet and 6 inches of Nick Burleigh showing that his mastery of the guitar also translates to the spacey and reverb ablaze violin.

The word mastery absolutely applies… if Aaron is responsible for telling the story, than Nick certainly delivers the subtext with tightly-honed skill. Kudos are also in order for bassist Ian Mellencamp who didn’t miss a beat in just his second show with the band. This should probably be half credited to the flawless, yet often off-tempo drumming style of Jesse Bilotta, which one could imagine if even a note were missed the entire song would fall deep into a noisy abyss.

The Yes Way remain a change-up from what the rest of NYC has to offer and a cut above nearly any comparison you could make.

CMJ Night 2 feat Courtesy Tier

That sound can’t be coming from just two people, right? Seriously, I must not be able to see the other band members from the angle I’m standing. No? – Really? – Wow!

Nearly every Bowery Electric patron who previously never had the pleasure of hearing Courtesy Tier perform must have participated in that exact exchange. Wielding only a guitar and drums, Omer Leibovitz & Layton Weedeman proved excellent musicians require very little to produce complex and appealing genre-crossing music. During the course of their set, the Brooklyn duo applied shades of grunge, R&B, southern rock, and blues to a never-dull canvas, at times harmonic, ceaselessly captivating, and climaxing with Hendrix-esque prestige.

Vocal chords refused to be upstaged by such brilliant instrumentation, keeping all neck hair at attention with a resonant coax, full of conviction that lost none of it’s vibrance using less distortion than their recordings. “Friend” was a personal favorite, although one would be hard pressed to find a laggard in the setlist. Along with Hollis Brown the prior evening at Spike Hill, Courtesy Tier provide a shining example that blues are very much alive in the BK.

RethinkPopMusic CMJ Night 1 Recap

As CMJ week draws to a close, major media outlets everywhere will scramble to decide which acts won big and what “buzz band” is destined to be the media darling of the year. To believe that the newly crowned kings, whoever they may be, rose like cream on the merits of talent and performance alone would be akin to believing the most qualified person in the country is elected President. The former may involve the same degree of corporate interest, politics, and backroom dealing as the latter. While some past “buzz bands” like Arcade Fire have proven to worthy of such accolades, we here at Rethink like to connect with artists based on what they bring to the table musically rather than who’s in their back pocket. It was with this fan mentality that we assembled a stellar line-up of artists for showcases on back-to-back nights at Spike Hill and Bowery Electric.

We christened CMJ 2011 with an explosive performance from Virginia natives We Run. Their “foot on the gas”, guitar driven tracks grip everyone within earshot and shake vigorously. I was amazed to learn this only marked the band’s second show. Clearly they have been spending copious amounts time tightening their sound, which provides an edge similar to The Vines and a pure rock & roll spirit in the mold of Thin Lizzy—a noted inspiration according to the band. We Run have recently claimed NYC as their new homeland and I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to watch them slice their way through the Big Apple.

Little Racer next took the stage and reshaped the mounted energy with a California twist, losing none to spoilage. While actually hailing from Brooklyn, the band harkens to surf rock of the 60’s with a style similar to Weezer encompassing a wide range of sounds, from tropical to harmonic. (reference something they played)

Emily Greene blessed the Spike Hill crowd with her rousing pipes and finely tuned keyboard skills. Her backing band allows her greater versatility than comparable acts like Imogen Heap or Feist while matching them with the power of her hallowed voice. There is an incredible sweetness to her stage presence that presents a very intriguing dichotomy when she goes all Jerry Lee Lewis on the keys.

I profiled Hollis Brown leading up to CMJ and was even more impressed with what they brought to the stage in their live performance… no small statement, as I was blown away by their recorded material. Somewhat less blues based, their up-beat guitar driven brand of neo-southern rock had the crowd up and dancing for the entirety of the set. While I would usually advise bands to steer clear of Beatles covers, Hollis Brown brought the house down with a true-to-form performance of “Come Together” delivered with vocal conviction by front man Mike Montali.

It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of The Yes Way. While I plan on detailing their face-meltingingly wonderful CMJ set in part II of our CMJ afterglow, I couldn’t possibly recap night one without mentioning them. Blame the procrastination on my lungs and liver which are still struggling to understand what happened over the past week.

Hollis Brown Defines “The Brooklyn Blues”

It’s with trepidation that I attempt to craft with words what distinguishes Hollis Brown from a slew of other artists on the New York scene as they are like NOTHING currently gaining notoriety.

RethinkPopMusic has been fortunate enough to have spent a great deal of time with the band over the past couple years as Bob explained in an earlier post, before immediately demanding that they provide us with their recently recorded material from Nashville that went straight to tape. Well, we recently got our hands on the music and as someone not previously familiar with Hollis Brown, I demanded that I get to write the review… though his 2, or dare I say 20, cents is obvious throughout this review.

The unfortunately overused “soul” stands out as the word best encompassing the “it” quality that thrusts this band to the front of an ever increasing pack that isn’t quite as deserving. Front man Mike Montali conveys a feeling of honesty with every line delivered from his grainy pipes. Each pause and drawn out syllable is done so with such conviction as he gives life to raw emotion. If the vocal element serves as a confession of truth, the crude growl of the guitar answers like a priest from behind the lattice offering both condemnation and solace. If there were ever to be a reincarnation of the blues, this would be it as a band like Hollis Brown will never be a Brooklyn “buzz band” because they are simply too talented for the revolving door of most blogs’ mediocre content.

The new track that catches our attention first is “Cold City” which offers an exemplary peak at the range and talent of Hollis Brown, exposing the photo negative of “Empire State of Mind”. Lyrically loyal to pioneers such as Muddy Waters & John Lee Hooker, Montali gripes on the everyday struggles of life in NYC. This all while stamping each track with an impressive delivery that shows traces of Van Morrison. Each member of the band, including the edition of their new bassist and harmonizing key driven rhythm section, shows exemplary talent and a willingness to stay true to their roots all while expanding upon the status quo. A great example of the type of talent we’re referring to would be a recent performance of a “Revolution Blues” at Brooklyn Bowl with Ian Oneil of Deer Tick.

If you would like to take a far departure from the electro-pop dominant Brooklyn music scene, Hollis Brown will showcase their gritty, textured sound at 11pm TONIGHT at The Mercury Lounge and again TOMORROW at 10:30pm as part of our CMJ showcase at Spike Hill.