CMJ From A to Z – Part 2

Today we continue our alphabetical account of the 2010 CMJ Music Marathon with four under-appreciated consonants and one self-absorbed vowel.  As discussed yesterday, we’ll be spending this week taking a comprehensive view of the alphabet if not of the festival itself.  We hope you enjoy the Frontier Psychiatrist mixtape in progress.

Food Will Win The War (Brooklyn) – “Traveling”

Herbert Hoover may not be the most progressive president to be honored in band-name form, but then again there is little progressive about Brooklyn’s Food Will Win The War.  Any young man who has picked up an acoustic guitar and strummed a few chords in an effort to get the girl will recognize the plaintive sounds of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith underwriting this band’s music.  Still, songwriting ultimately wins the day, and these young men and women deliver the goods.  Play this one while peering out the window in profile on a rainy day.

Gobble Gobble (?, Canada) – “Lawn Knives”

Canadian conglomerate Gobble Gobble churn a strange and interesting mix of psychedelia, laptop-driven electronics, and theatrical vocals.  In other words, they’re really into Animal Collective.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  Recent single “Lawn Knives” jumps effortlessly from sounds you’ll associate with Flying Lotus to sounds you’ll associate with Kid Icarus, all tied together by the manic singing of some crazy guy. 

How To Dress Well (Chicago) – “Decisions”

Along with a few other FP favorites (Wild Nothing, Glasser, Perfume Genius), How To Dress Well is one of the best new projects of 2010.  The brainchild of one Tom Krell, How To Dress Well re-interprets the radio-friendly R&B of the 90s (Keith Sweat, Shai, etc) through haunting loops and a ghostly, lo-fi aesthetic.  If you have yet to hear his debut full-length Love Remains, get your ears on a copy a.s.a.p.

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Infernal Devices (Brooklyn) – “Fast Enough”

Hot disco on fire.  This group of Brooklynites centers their live show around a contraption called “The Phenomatron,” and their name comes from a 1987 steampunk novel, with “steampunk” being a sub-genre of science fiction that actually exists.  That’s really all you need to know.  Get down below:

The Phenomatron

Johnny Flynn (London) – “The Box”

Johnny Flynn plays traditional folk in the style of Mumford and Sons and Laura Marling.  His most recent record, Been Listening, was recorded with a backing band named The Sussex Wit.  In his downtime, he works as a Shakespearean actor.  In other words, he’s British.  And the girls go wild.

Johnny Flynn

L.V. Lopez is co-editor of Frontier Psychiatrist.  He lives in Brooklyn and shops at thrift stores.  He writes the weekly advice column Ask a (Frontier) Psychiatrist and owns more records than is normal.  He recently ordered a cocktail off-menu and felt pretty cool.