DJ Spooky |
Tue. November 03.1998 3:00 AM EST |
Annual CMJ Music Fest To Open With DJ ExtravaganzaTurntablists and electronica acts to dominate Wednesday launch of 18th CMJ Music Festival. by Contributing Editor Kembrew McLeod |
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NEW YORK -- If opening night of the 18th annual CMJ Music Marathon is any
indication, DJ culture is currently right on the bleeding edge of what's important in music. Artists drawn from the ranks of that culture -- top turntablists
The party will boast "the biggest international lineup of DJs that has hit the United States," according to CMJ spokesperson Peter LoFrumento. Starting with the opening-night bash, the College Music Journal-sponsored CMJ Music Marathon, MusicFest and FilmFest is slated to encompass four frenzied days of performances by more than 1,000 bands, 50-plus panels on various topics, several film screenings and constant general schmoozing by the almost 10,000 attendees who are expected to descend on Manhattan for the mother of all music conferences and festivals. On Wednesday, Greg Graffin, Bad Religion's vocalist, will give the keynote speech for the forward-looking conference, which offers leading-edge turntable artists an opportunity to showcase their most boundary-pushing work. "My record company keeps pushing me to do a more straightforward show," said turntablist DJ Spooky (born Paul Miller), who is one of the acts scheduled to appear at the opening-night party, and who is noted for his experimental onstage performances. "And I always want to get more 'out there.' Because it's CMJ, I can do whatever I want." Also expected to do what they want at the CMJ blast-off bash are the influential, British electronica-duo Coldcut, Asian breakbeat-pioneer Singh, Beastie Boys and Invisibl Skratch Piklz member Mixmaster Mike, Japanese trip-hopper DJ Krush, Brooklyn dub-hop artist Badawi, ill-bient scenesters We, turntablist Rob Swift, Japanese music-legend Ryuichi Sakamoto and Prince Paul and Automator -- the producers behind De La Soul and Dr. Octagon, respectively. "CMJ remains the largest and longest-running music festival in North America," LoFrumento said. This year, recognition of the current potency of the DJ and electronica scenes looks to be a key part of the CMJ message. Those scenes, with their battalions of experimentalists, are well-matched to CMJ's tradition of exploring new sonic frontiers. But disc-spinning and electronica aren't all that will be found at the fest. "One of the things that CMJ is noted for is that they cross all genre boundaries," LoFrumento said. "That's one of the signatures of CMJ, that there's a cornucopia of all types of music." A scan of the list of bands playing confirms that assertion. Between Nov. 4-7, the following artists are scheduled to perform: analog-synth artists Add N to X; digital-hardcore terrorist Alec Empire; indie-rockers Built to Spill; big-beat artist Dee Jay Punk-Roc; eccentric lo-fier Daniel Johnston; Beck- and Beasties-producers-of-the-hour the Dust Brothers; psychedelic-instrumentalists Hovercraft; popsters Imperial Teen; acid-jazz funksters Medeski Martin & Wood; space-surf instrumentalists Man or Astroman?; horror punk-rockers the Misfits; original 1960s garage-rockers ? and the Mysterians; the NYC turntablist-crew X-Ecutioners; Scandinavian avant-pop artists Whale; and the snow-white rapper-turned-metal-rap-imitator Vanilla Ice. The force behind the four-day conference is the College Music Journal. Since 1979, when it began as a magazine published from the basement of founder (and current president) Bobby Haber's parents' house, CMJ has risen to its current status as the sponsor of the largest gathering of music-industry professionals, music enthusiasts, musicians and film buffs in North America. The weekly CMJ New Music Report currently serves as one of the trade-magazine bibles of the music industry; its charts are considered prescient indicators of musical trends. Staying true to its tradition of showcasing promising up-and-comers, CMJ has populated this year's conference with bands that range from the unknown (Benna Cohen, Octant) to the widely respected, yet still "underground" (Hovercraft, Man or Astroman?, Mercury Rev). But today's unknowns may be the stars of tomorrow, as demonstrated by such past CMJ unknowns as Green Day, R.E.M., Jane's Addiction, Fugees, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Marilyn Manson and Rage Against the Machine. Notably, this year the CMJ conference is expanding its film component. Running concurrently with the CMJ MusicFest and Music Marathon, the CMJ FilmFest is co-sponsored by the Independent Film Channel and is housed in the Sony State Theater Complex within Time Square's Virgin Megastore. This year's FilmFest features a number of premieres, including "Hurly Burly" (directed by Anthony Drazan and starring Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Garry Shandling and Anna Paquin) and "Six Ways to Sunday" (directed by Adam Bernstein and starring Blondie's Deborah Harry). Also to be screened are Woody Allen's new film, "Celebrity"; Todd Haynes' ode to glam rock, "Velvet Goldmine"; and a new short film, "Strange Parallel," directed and co-written by indie-rocker Elliott Smith, whose contribution to the Good Will Hunting soundtrack earned him an Oscar nomination. Still, for most attendees, the music and the schmoozing are what the fest is all about. "I think it's interesting that a lot of bands are going to be in town from all over the world ... Snowpony, Add N to X and lots more," said Hovercraft bassist Sadie7 -- also known as Beth Liebling, the wife of Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder. "There's going to be a lot of good music in a short amount of time. It should just be fun to hear music and hang out with friends." |
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