Think About Life (Photo: Richmond Lam)
Day 2 of CMJ I chose to catch the first set at the Windish Agency showcase at the Mercury Lounge, where Lia Ices started the night, followed by Javelin's boombox-stacked stage and goofy, tropical jams and The XX's bedtimey pop. After Lia, I headed down to Arlene's Grocery to catch the "M" for Montreal Showcase, then went to Santos to see upstairs headliners Cymbals Eat Guitars. I was using a little Lumix, and it died about five photos into Lia Ices' set. It came back for Beast's set at Arlene's then died completely. It turned out to be a blessing, because taking pictures of Think About Life with a point-and-shoot would have been virtually impossible, and there was too much dancing to care about photos. So here's a recap of the shows, with links to photos by a few talented photogs.
Lia Ices
Windish Agency Showcase
Mercury Lounge
The majority of the audience at Mercury Lounge likely stumbled upon Lia Ices after making an impressive early arrival at the cramped venue, where a line snaked around the block for main act The XX. But each Lia Ices show captures more attendees and ends with a new collection of fans.
Playing her first CMJ show following a Joe's Pub performance the night before, Lia was supported by a guitarist, drummer and, later, a string section. Choosing two promising new songs from her second album, she also showed off more intricate and powerful arrangements of songs from her debut, 2008's Necima. Closing with the long, thunderous "Twins," which is kind of an anomaly on the album, the venue actually felt too small for the sound, which seemed like an exciting foreshadowing of what's to come for Lia's second album and her career as a performer.
What's fascinating about her is the mystery she conveys on stage. You can compare her to Fiona Apple, Cat Power, et al., but there is something spooky and dazzling about her stage presence that the others don't have. It's partly shyness, but that's not the whole story. The music may be strong and structured, but the lyrics are arcane and haunting. On "You Will," for example, she gets the meat of the song out very early on: "I know, I know / that you're a volcano with / too much heat to hide in."
Photos of Lia Ices on Prefix by Maryanne Ventrice
Beast
"M" for Montreal Showcase
Arlene's Grocery
Beast is an eclectic four-piece trip-hop band helmed by Betty Bonifassi, the voice behind The Triplets of Belleville. This was their first of four (!) shows at CMJ. Betty began the night with an army-green jacket over a sleek, figure-hugging black dress. The show got going around the time she unzipped the jacket and threw it aside. Her powerful, throaty vocals and expressive face captured photographers' attention. Beast's music is dark, brooding and unsentimental ("Now I'm living like a cigarette in an ashtray" is one memorable refrain), and in its poppiest moments, harks back to trip-hop crossovers of the early to mid-90s. The audience was quiet and thin, but as the band selected more raucous numbers and chose the close the set on an upbeat note, the crowd seemed increasingly charmed by their onstage antics (walking down into the audience, tossing tambourines, rapping through a loudspeaker).
Think About Life
"M" for Montreal Showcase
Arlene's Grocery
I'd never seen this delightful Montreal dance act live before, and despite the set's brevity (five or six tracks including one encore song), this may remain my favorite show of the festival. The band's eclectic fashion choices are a good indication of how much variety they bring to the stage: Caila Thompson-Hannant, with a short, fringed bob decorated here and there with crimps, sung backup to Martin Cesar's lead, but she also performed a 60s-infused dance routine by his side for much of the set. Meanwhile, spindly, t-shirt clad Graham Van Pelt plays the guitar and controls the boards, throwing in Motown and hip-hop samples, gritty, rabid beats, and pretty little synth lines while new drummer Greg Napier, in a floppy winter hat and white tee, kept the rhythm organized in the background. For our part, crowd jumped up and down, sang along wherever possible, and made room on the floor for the charismatic Cesar, clad in a silk green shirt, black jeans, and black Ray Bans, which didn't look played out on him at all.
For more on this show, read my full recap on Spinner.
Photos of Beast and Think About Life on Metromix by Ryan Muir
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Santos Party House
Front-row antics, people-watching, fancy cameras, and a room seemingly full of leather jackets comprised Cymbals Eat Guitars' headlining act at Santos' main stage as Real Estate played in the basement. It was dark, dry-icy and otherwise strange in the room, but then, Santos usually looks this way. I think the band could have used a different setting of the same size, and perhaps an earlier slot. There was a lot of drunken antsiness in the room, but a lot of the band's songs deserve pre-drunken attention (then there are the other songs, like "And The Hazy Sea," which demand inebriated, neighbor-knocking thrashing).
Cymbals are inheriting The Wrens' mantle, I think. Their emotive, sometimes deafening and often very pretty rock is well-led by handsome dork of a lead singer, Joseph Ferocious, who maintains rhythm, composure and musical storytelling skills even while impossibly drenched in sweat.
Photos of Cymbals Eat Guitars on PopMatters by Thomas Hauner
