W♥M

W♥M120: CMJ 2011 Recap

W♥M120 (52 mins) Download: W♥M120

Lara makes her annual W♥M Radio appearance. In part one, she tells us about CMJ Music Festival that took place in October 2011. Read her full CMJ report here.

Things covered on the show:

Advice: Don't be so strict on planning

Thursday: saw Silver Swan

Friday: Failed show at Pete's Candy Store, some of Riot Media's bands were playing that night. We used Sea of Bees' music.

Saturday: "Lonely/Lovely Hearts Club" and "Paper Garden/Hearts Records" relationship. Lara's undying love/stalker/obsession for Team Genius.

Sunday: Day of rest, but there was that big Slate Magazine party that was tempting.

Disappointed that En Vogue didn't play CMJ

Dum Dum Girls - too cute and popular for this earth ... and CMJ (yet they played some shows).

CMJ pricing is way too ridiculous

Lara's advice: couch surf and pick free shows and loads of coffee! Don't forget to have fun!

Snowmine is one of Lara's top pick from CMJ.

Song of the show is Snowmine's "Curfews", which is available as a free download via wvmusic.bandcamp.com.

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2011: Preview

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2011: Preview
October 18 – 22, 2011
New York

Free Download CMJ: September 2011 Playlist CMJ brings you FreePlay, a new monthly music sampler that lives up to its name by bringing you free tunes. Enter your email or like us on Facebook to download the new September mixtape featuring music from Stepkids, Grace Jones, VHS Or Beta and more. Subscribers, enter your code to download CMJ FreePlay: September 2011 here.

The College Music Journal’s (CMJ) annual showcase of rising talent in both music and film is a veritable wet dream for musicians and pop culture nerds alike. Five days of so-hot-you-haven’t-heard-of-them-yet bands, music themed films, and panel discussions with industry bigwigs doesn’t even begin to describe the CMJ experience. Between the shows and the parties there is little time to dawdle, eat, or even sleep. The festival organizers are determined to keep their attendees stimulated, and they should: at $475 for full-access admission* ($280 for students), this ain’t your parents’ Woodstock. But for many, the experience is priceless—think Disney’s “Magic Your Way” vacation package for music lovers. With less than a month to go before the kick-off, now’s the time to start pooling your beer money, kids.

This year’s lineup is a cross-cultural mix of the obvious (Neon Indian, Free Energy, Gang Gang Dance), the less obvious-but still obvious (Handsome Furs, Portugal. The Man, Dum Dum Girls), and the international wild cards (CSS, Zola Jesus, and South Africa’s Parlotones). Hip-hop fans will appreciate the inclusion of Talib Kweli, former Organized Konfusion rapper Pharoahe Monch, Brooklyn’s Smif-N-Wessun, and local girl made good/probable X-Men enthusiast Jean Grae. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; CMJ has maintained a reputation as being the prime venue for emerging artists to “make it,” so you can imagine that every indie band with Pitchfork aspirations is going to be there.

For a full lineup, visit www.cmj.com/marathon. You can also purchase festival passes and view a list of hotel partners. Stay tuned to the website, as more bands will be announced in the upcoming weeks. Weheartmusic will continue to post pertinent updates and will also be covering select CMJ events.

* $149 buys you a CMJ “Show Pass,” which allows access to all Music Marathon showcases and film festival screenings (but does not include panels, seminars, or other conference-related events).

lara () ♥ www.cmj.com

La Sera

La Sera: Never Come Around Discography [Nov 2010] Never Come Around [Jan 2011] Devils Hearts Grow Gold [Feb 2011] La Sera

Since I have been enjoying what I've heard from Vivian Girls, I was rather excited to find out that their bassist, Katy Goodman, is involved in another project, La Sera. Compared to a more indierock/punkish Vivian Girls, you can tell that La Sera's self-titled album isn't going to be all that aggressive, especially with its opening track, "Beating Heart", as Goodman slowly sings "aim for the heart" as if she's from the other side.

My favorite track off the record is "Never Come Around", I've a sneaking suspicion that this song will make it in our next podcast. The song sounds so familiar to me, especially the melodies. The song was the very first song that Goodman put out under the La Sera moniker.

I find that most of the record plays out to be like a dreampop record, sometime even twee (see "Sleeptalking" for example).

If you ever enjoyed songs by Tiger Trap or 4AD bands (particularly the ones with the ethereal girl vocals), you'll love La Sera. Like more produced bands like Cocteau Twins, La Sera's approach is similar in that the songs seems to be mostly mixed in post (with layers of vocals and backing vocals). It should be interesting to see her live, to see how she manages some of these songs.*

La Sera's self-titled album comes out February 15^th via Hardly Art Records. I've listed her tour dates below, if she's not coming to your town, I suggest looking up Vivian Girls' tour dates.

* To see her live, check out La Sera's appearance at Room 205.

02.11.11 - Berlin, Germany - Monarch 02.12.11 - Cologne, Germany - King Georg 02.15.11 - Dijon, France - La Vapeur 02.16.11 - Lyon, France - Sonic 02.18.11 - Paris, France - Club Folamour 02.19.11 - Bristol, UK - Start the Bus 02.20.11 - London, UK - The Lexington 03.02.11 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom ! 03.03.11 - Brooklyn, NY - Bell House ! 03.04.11 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's !		03.05.11 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel ! 03.07.11 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 ! 03.08.11 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle ! 03.10.11 - Nashville, TN - The Basement ! 03.11.11 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl ! 03.12.11 - Orlando, FL - The Social ^ ! 03.13.11 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum ^ ! 03.15.11 - New Orleans, LA - The Parish @ HOB ! ! - w/ Tennis ^ - w/ Dum Dum Girls

vu () ♥ myspace.com/iamkatygoodman ♥ www.hardlyart.com