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1. Arp
In 2010, Alexis 'Arp' Georgopoulos released two albums: The Soft Wave, an album of stripped-down, synth-and-drum-machine workouts steeped in krautrock's airier ends; and FRKWYS 3, an experimental set of modern composition made in collaboration with pianist Anthony Moore. In response to a year spent working with synthesizers at the farthest reaches of minimalism, Georgopoulos set himself a brand new challenge: the write some songs. So comes More, an album of verses and choruses buoyed with melody and harmony, steeped in Sunshine Pop and '70s singer-songwriter records and Muscle Shoals productions. It's a beautifully-assembled record, and the fact that it's a mere 'guise' gives it a slightly-perverse quality.
2. The Cloak Ox
The Cloak Ox are a quartet of vets from the music scene of Minneapolis; a crew whose names —including leader Andrew Broder, of Fog and the Why?-associated Hymie's Basement, and Martin Dosh, the one-man-band who's warmed stages for and played in the band of Andrew Bird— are known far beyond the Twin Cities. The just-pressed debut LP for the Cloak Ox, Shoot the Dog, leans on friends whose names are even more known: like Justin 'Grammy King' Vernon of Bon Iver, and Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio. The record veers from Dirty Projectors-esque art-rock to '70s AM-radio homage to a weirdly straight-ahead rocker like "Josephine," the band yet to settle into an identity beyond Broder's wordy lyrics.
3. Coke Weed
Coke Weed —whose name is either enjoyably terrible or just terrible; your call— hail from the unlikely indie outpost of Bar Harbor, Maine. But their third LP, Back to Soft, feels like it dwells somewhere in the rock'n'roll netherworld. The ghosts of guitar-rock eternal lingering throughout its rehearsal-room-love-in of fuzzy riffs, squalls of psychedelia, and drawled vocals. Old age-of-Aquarius bands are Coke Weed's constant comps (particularly Jefferson Airplane), but their summer-nights-and-bummer-trips sound is, really, more evocative of the on-the-nod '90s, whether brattily verging towards Royal Trux or dreamily wafting towards Mazzy Star. They come to CMJ as a band a little more under-the-radar than their sound deserves.
4. The Dismemberment Plan
The Dismemberment Plan reformed in 2010 after a seven-year hiatus, initially playing shows just for the memories/cash. But come October 15 —the first day of CMJ!— Travis Morrison and co. will be turning out their first LP since 2001's Change. Where bands like Sebadoh are out to recreate their old vibes, Uncanney Valley is even-more-grown-up than the grown-up Change. Some of the manic energy and rubbery playing of their early records —which founded a mutant strain of proto-emo, math-rock, and disco-punk— persists; but largely it's a middle-aged record, exchanging urgency for contemplativeness. The industry of indie-rock nostalgia coaxed them outta retirement, but at CMJ the Dismemberment Plan will try and win new fans with new jams.
5. Glasser
Woah. Glasser's second record, Interiors, is really impressive; Cameron Mesirow's shapeshifting compositions sounding more thoughtful, her highwire voice more beautiful. Comparing any eccentric, electronic dame to Björk is lazy, troublesome, or both; especially given that comparison should be hard-earned. But here, it's apt. Interiors is about architectural constructions, the psychological experience of being in a building, and how memory and place can become indivisible; and the dense web of intricate electronics, if you don't want to cite Björk, is at least akin to the great Tujiko Noriko. Touring behind 2010's Ring, Mesirow already showed herself to be a commanding stage presence; playing songs this good may make her into a force-of-nature.
6. Jonathan Rado
Foxygen have been one of the breakout bands of 2013, blowing up behind Pitchfork-stoked buzz for their We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic LP. Yet, at SXSW, the played hyped shows that left crowds unimpressed; their festival shows descended into bickering; and then a widely-reblogged post from a former member said "there was no friendship at all, just contracts that needed to be fulfilled." In the midst of the buzz turning bum-ride, Foxygen co-founders Jonathan Rado turned out a solo record, Law and Order; another work of canny pastiche and earwormy melody. But with the bloom off the rose, will Rado's CMJ shows be met with outright hostility? Will crowds show up expecting a car-crash? Will the blogosphere fold in on itself in a black-hole of snark?
7. Luke Temple
Between albums for Brooklyn's Here We Go Magic, frontman Luke Temple has just put out his fourth solo album, Good Mood Fool. It has little in common with his first three; Good Mood Fool an album of oddball sound-experiments that dabble with sounds from glossy '80s shlock, prime Prince, and late-period Serge Gainsbourg. First single "Katie" is one of the album's weaker bits of pastiche; on a tune like the loping, funky "Florida," Temple is at his best. Temple has yet to take Good Mood Fool on tour, so there's a sense of mystery to his CMJ shows. Is he playing solo? Or with a fitted-out band? Will he be faithfully recreating the record? Or trying to make the liveshow its own thing? I've got no idea; only one way to find out...
8. Real Estate
Hard to believe it's been two years since Real Estate turned out 2011's greatDays, a record whose evergreen autumnal jangle still sounds fresh as a daisy. In the interim, Matt Mondanile's other band, Ducktails, have had a breakout 2013 behind The Flower Lane. But that certainly hasn't relegated Real Estate to the backburner: the Jersey janglers have been recording at the Wilco Loft in Chicago, and by the time they touch down at CMJ their third LP should be all finished off. Where most bands playing the fest are doing so in support of coincidentally-released records, Real Estate are giving fans a glimpse towards the future: their shows a chance to sample jams due to be dropped come 2014.
9. Sisu
Sisu is the band for Sandra Vu, whose rock'n'roll dayjob is pounding the drums in Dum Dum Girls. On Blood Tears, her first Sisu album, Vu doesn't stray too far from the sound for which her 'main' rockband is known. Across ten short, sharp pop-songs, Vu bashes out fuzzy-and-bubbly songs steeped in thick synth sounds and harsh guitar tones; drawing deep from the well of indie-pop eternal. If you're down with Dum Dum Girls —or any Captured Tracks band— then you'll dig the sounds. Blood Tears came out in September, after Sisu had spent much of 2013 opening up for Dirty Beaches. Meaning that Vu and her live band arrive at CMJ as debutantes, but ship-shape from a run of recent shows.
10. Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
When last we heard from Toronto's Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, they were charming all-and-sundry amidst a breakout 2012, on the back of their Polaris-nominated debut disc, YT//ST. It wasn't just their album that was winning converts, though: their Eastern/Western mix of Chinese opera, Japanese psychedelia, and stoner metal was best seen on stage, where the duo —and a cast of backing musicians— assembled a theatrical liveshow indebted to Kabuki theatre and, like, KISS. Which means that their CMJ shows are recommended as shows. To say nothing of the fact that the second Yamantaka // Sonic Titan LP, Uzu, is due out October 29, and is proceeded by the suitably epic, undeniably out-there first single, "One."
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