2015 CMJ Music Marathon Now Underway in NYC! Ideas on Who to See

See below for recommendations on what to see at CMJ 2015.

The five-day live-music extravaganza known as CMJ is on again! The annual CMJ Music Marathon, now in its 35th year, started today and runs through this Saturday, Oct. 17th. Besides multiple official showcases each night in a range of venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn, there are day parties as well at some of the same venues, sometimes starting as early as 11 a.m. Plus there are numerous unofficial shows.

So what should you see? Begin by going to the CMJ Music Marathon website. Then download the official CMJ mobile app, available for iOS and Android. With the app, you can listen to bands, read their bios, connect with their social-media accounts, and, of course, discover where they're playing at CMJ. Wondering which bands you'll like? The app's "Recommender" feature connects with your Facebook account to suggest artists that might be right up your alley.

Speaking of recommendations, here are some suggestions from the music blogosphere on who to catch:

• CMJ staff picks
• The Oh My Rockness guide to official CMJ 2015 shows
• OMR's 15 bands to see at CMJ (with Spotify playlist)
• L.A. radio station KCRW's seven amazing bands to catch (with Spotify playlist)
• England's influential magazine NME tells you the 15 bands playing CMJ that everyone's going to be talking about

Some of the names that show up on a number of must-see acts: Protomartyr, Car Seat Headrest, Diet Cig, The Big Moon, Methyl Ethel, The Gotobeds, Dilly Dally, Perfect Pussy, and Hooton Tennis Club, to name a handful.



Among the events we're looking forward to seeing:

• The Outlaw Roadshow, put together by Ryan Spaulding (of RSLblog.com) and Adam Duritz (of Counting Crows), which runs Thursday through Saturday at Bowery Electric (doors at 6 p.m.) See what we wrote before last year's CMJ Outlaw Roadshow
• the Kiam Records showcase Wednesday at Brooklyn's Union Pool, featuring label-mates including Jennifer O'Connor, Amy Bezunartea, and Tim Foljahn, staring at 6:30 p.m. See a recent New York Times article on Amy Bezunartea
• The Unblinking Ear show with The Gotobeds, Spray Paint, and other acts, MC'd by WFMU DJ Pat Byrne, also at Union Pool, on Saturday starting at 2 p.m.

Cake Shop (on Ludlow St.) has plenty of CMJ gigs; see their full calendar. (Diet Cig plays there Wednesday; Car Seat Headrest and Hooton Tennis Club on Thursday.)

Rest up, bring your earplugs, and get ready for as much live music as you can possibly handle.