Jay Reatard drops his Flying V, recreates the cover of ‘Superfuzz Bigmuff’

Photos by Andrew Parks

All right, we gotta be honest here: Brooklyn, you nearly brought self-titled to tears on Saturday. While the weather outside looked like monsoon season as Glasslands opened its doors, you guys packed the place within a few hours. As a thank you, we encourage anyone who had a hell of a time with us to e-mail events@self-titledmag.com about who you’d like to see at s/t’s next party, as we plan on booking more cheap, intimate, no-bullshit shows in the coming months. More details to come soon. For now, the evidence …

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Best. Night. Ever.

It’s after 11 on Sunday evening, just 10 hours since The CMJ Virgin opened one eye at a time and hesitantly removed himself from beneath the covers of his bed. A little less than 24 hours since Jay Reatard rocked his face off at the self-titled/R5 CMJ bash. A solid day since Amazing Baby packed a full band plus backup singers onto a tiny Glasslands stage. And slightly longer since Crystal Antlers and Women brought him to tears. Throughout today, our Virgin has survived on a steady diet of peanut M&Ms and Hint of Lime tortilla chips as he remembers the ferocious beats served up by DJ Blaqstarr and the Mad Decent crew as the prior evening rolled to an end.  He wants to do absolutely nothing at all for at least a week (or three). He looks back on the week that was CMJ with fond memories (as well as some frustrating ones). In conclusion: The CMJ Virgin’s cherry has officially been popped. Rejoice!

Check out his photos from Saturday night after the jump. Read more

Please buy this man—Jay Reatard’s bassist, Stephen Pope—a beer tonight

Just five more hours until we open the doors at Glasslands tonight and bring you ridiculously intimate sets from the following people:

Women - 9:30

Crystal Antlers - 10:30

Amazing Baby - 11:30

Jay Reatard - 12:30

Limited advance tickets are still available at Ticketweb for just $12, but we’ll be closing that deal down in a couple hours. So be sure to head over there ASAP if you want guaranteed entry, as Glasslands only holds around 250 people.

If you’re not in the mood for raucous garage rock, one of Brooklyn’s most buzzed-about unsigned bands, and this crazy, Crystalline motherfucker, we’ve got you covered, too. Since self-titled would rather keep the party at Glasslands than move it in the middle of the night, we asked Diplo’s Mad Decent label to provide us with DJ sets at a FREE after-party between 1 and 4. Expect appearances from DJ Sega, Dirty South Joe and one of M.I.A.’s main producers at the moment, Blaqstarr.

E-mail events@self-titledmag.com if you have any questions!!

Part of the weekend never dies.

In all fairness, Ms. CMJ Virgin has gotten a shit deal this week. Typically, her concert-going relies upon +1 guest-list spots, which our dear ol’ Mr. Virgin is always happy to provide. But the admit-one-only CMJ badge (a useless tool if ever there was one) has nixed any prospects of the missus joining her man on for the week’s exploits. So Friday evening’s excursion to Pete Tong’s Insiders showcase–featuring Late of the Pier, James Lavelle and Soulwax–was planned, strategized, executed and +1-equipped with her in mind. Girls just wanna have fun, too, right?

Several weeks ago, Mr. CMJ Virgin proclaimed Late of the Pier “annoying” and “unlistenable” after delving through their debut. But he ate his words as the baby-faced four-piece tore through a unbelievably polished set of scatter-brained, impassioned dance-rock. Shame on whoever mixed their album. James Lavelle, however, failed to really connect with the audience–though Soulwax tore the roof off. The CMJ Virgin has never done cocaine, but he imagines it’s something like seeing Soulwax live. In conclusion: Pete Tong looks and sounds exactly like Ricky Gervais.

Read The CMJ Virgin’s notes from the evening and see a few photos he snapped after the jump. Read more

Good decision-making can lead to excellent life opportunities (and sometimes free beer).

Last night, The CMJ Virgin had an important decision to make. And having been denied entry to several shows the night prior, he found himself conflicted about how to proceed for the evening. The options were plentiful: He considered catching The Muslims at Mercury Lounge. He contemplated trekking to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to see Mission of Burma and Jay Reatard. He thought about just walking down the street from his apartment to watch White Rainbow at Union Hall. He was tempted by the thought of catching Au, Fight Bite and Cause Co-Motion! at Pianos. He weighed heading back to the CMJ Artists Lounge (for the third day in a row!) for Oxford Collapse and The Broken West. And he even considered a complex cab-ride-catalyzed journey between no fewer than three of the night’s options. 

He pondered this decision long and hard (giggle). So much music. So little chance of actually getting in to see any of it. Would tonight be different? Would his CMJ badge actually grant him access to CMJ shows? He certainly hoped so. For his sake. And yours. Check out his solution to this dilemma after the jump. Read more

self-titled ignores Santos’ ‘no photos’ rule to score a disco inferno shot

Text/Photos by Andrew Parks

While our beloved CMJ Virgin had a hell of a time at the ‘Red Bull lounge’ on Tuesday night, it took the rest of self-titled’s staff all of 10 minutes on Wednesday to realize why we skipped CMJ last year. See a more thorough explanation here, but suffice it to say that we feel horrible for anyone that spends $495 for an official CMJ badge—money that ought to be spread between a handful of must-see shows and a lot of dranking … if that’s your kind of thing. If it isn’t, you could probably buy tickets to five solid bills and save hundreds, all while spending the rest of your time at parties that are free to begin with.

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CMJ does not care for The CMJ Virgin. Apparently.

And now, The CMJ Virgin presents a brief history of success and failure: Arriving at Bowery Ballroom for a showcase of bands no one cares about, our Virgin is informed that no more CMJ badges are allowed inside (fail). Hitting Mercury Lounge to catch another band no one cares about, the Virgin discovers it will be an hour before any more badges are allowed in the venue (fail). Strolling past a Stones Throw showcase, V-Money sours at the 200-plus line outside (fail). Discouraged, he hails a cab with self-titled Editor-in-Chief Andrew Parks and heads back to the CMJ Artists Lounge (where he caught shows the day prior). No line. Small crowd. (Success!) Sets by Women and Takka Takka there are worth the trip. The Women guys look bored (or maybe just tired), and Takka Takka transforms songs from Migration into dynamic, earnest and emotive catharsis. Out the door and off to Santos for Free Blood. No line. Small crowd. Best set yet of CMJ (success). 

To summarize: The CMJ Virgin is confused. What’s the point of buying a CMJ batch if it doesn’t give you access to all the shows? Why are showcases that are populated with awful bands full while sets by good bands are sparsely attended? Does the CMJ Virgin just have really bad taste? Does the rest of the CMJ-going public know something our precious Virgin does not? How angry would he be had he actually paid for his badge? And most importantly, what do you think of Andrew’s new glasses?

Read The CMJ Virgin’s notes from the evening and see a few photos he snapped after the jump.

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Balancing a beer on your head (disguised as a can of Red Bull) is a skill and a fine art. 

If The CMJ Virgin were ever to get married, win the lottery or die, skuzz-bucket rockers Cheeseburger would play his party. No doubt. So it made perfect sense that on Day 1 of CMJ, our brave Virgin hit up the Red Bull CMJ Artists Lounge to catch sets by Wild Light, Cheeseburger and Vivian Girls. No line outside. Small crowd inside. White Light, the only band no one knew from last year’s epic Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem bill at Randall’s Island, chugged through sound problems but showed a lot of exuberant tenacity, even if the songs weren’t quite there yet. Cheeseburger got naughty and showed a bit (read: a lot) of ass crack. And Vivian Girls peeled through its blisteringly cuts before a tiny crowd. Isn’t there significant buzz surrounding this group—with a terrific re-issued debut to back up the hype? Weird that barely anyone showed. In summation: The CMJ Virgin’s mood is positive. He’s tired (definitely). Pretty fucking exhausted (actually). But he’s ready for more nights of music. Four more nights of music to be exact. 

Read The CMJ Virgin’s notes from the evening and see a few photos he snapped after the jump. Read more

Waiting outside Rebel to see Rival Schools and …Trail of Dead is stupid and takes forever.

This evening past, The CMJ Virgin had an itch for which the combination of loud guitars, ferocious vocals and ridiculous stage banter was the only calamine lotion. Which is why he met up with self-titled contributor Michael Tedder for the unofficial CMJ kick-off party at the MSG-area club Rebel to catch sets by Rival Schools (!) and …Trail of Dead (!!!). Outside the venue, The CMJ Virgin remembered his distaste for people (in general) and college students (in particular). He also dislikes standing in lines. In conclusion: The CMJ Virgin’s excitement for the week continues, so long as he can generally avoid people, particularly avoid college students and not stand in any lines. Stay tuned to see how his mood progresses throughout the next five days.

Read The CMJ Virgin’s notes from the evening and see a few photos he snapped after the jump. Read more

This is what a CMJ virgin looks like. He wears thick glasses. And has a recently grown beard–it’s slightly trimmed but mostly unkempt because he wants it to get quite bushy. (And yes, that is a bulldog puppy calendar over his shoulder. It’s adorable as hell. So shut the fuck up.)

It’s true: He has never before attended CMJ, despite the fact that he’s lived in New York City for several years now. He is somewhat excited but somewhat hesitant as well. Mostly, though, he just wants to see some bands he loves, discover some bands he’s never heard of and get this damn thing rolling. So please, dear reader, follow the CMJ virgin’s exploits throughout the week. Say hi if you see him out. He will be taking notes to share with you. After all, he loves you. And don’t you forget it.