The Mae Shi

These guys were just a blast. They play anthemic style of spazz punk and are just one big ball of energy. What’s better, is their over the top show was supported by some solid tunes, which surprisingly wasn’t always the case at CMJ this year.

Yo Majesty!

If you’ve never seen these guys, you should. Crazy female hip-hop duo who spin hyper-sexual rhymes over southern style bass beats. Their shows are generally NSFW, but are always a blast. The one I saw on Saturday was riddled with technical issues but still better than most bands peak performances.

The Octopus Project

There’s something incredibly organic and amazing about these guys’ live shows. I can’t for the life of me listen to their studio stuff, but their brand of trip-hop on speed electro-rock is just freakin’ awesome live.

Theresa Andersson

Singer songwriter from Sweeden but got her musical start in New Orleans. She uses a lot of looping, both of instruments (violin, drums) and her voice, which was just fucking beautiful. At times she effortlessly looped her voice to create four and five part harmonies, each of which were perfectly executed. Just amazing.

An Albatross

In the what the fuck file, these guys were just psychotic. Their singer fashions himself as some sort of Steven Tyler evangelist for nightmares. I’m not even sure what kind of music they play to be honest, but I’ll remember their show to be sure. The frontman played most of the show standing on top of the crowd, while the rest of the band took frequent breaks to contort around stage like they were possessed by demons.

Akimbo

These guys just flat out rocked, no frills or anything. Which was a nice reprieve considering all the bands around them had some sort of prop or gimmick (giant inflatable gargoyles for example). They’ve been around a while, so some of you may know them already, but they put on a solid straightforward performance.