2013 CBGB Fest Is On Now: Picks on What to See

The second-annual CBGB Festival is underway at venues near and far from the original Lower East Side club, and music lovers will be able to continue their festival bingeing when the CMJ Music Marathon starts on Oct. 15th. Here are some places to find listings of the many events, with picks by music critics and other sources.

The CBGB Festival is back, with shows throughout the city.

See the official 2013 CBGB Festival schedule to get the lay of the land for the showcases, panels, films, and more still to come. The Village Voice offers its picks for bands and speakers to see, and for music-only events, check out the Oh My Rockness guide to the CBGB Festival.

As with last year's CBGB Fest, there will be a free concert in Times Square with multiple stages, and it's taking place tomorrow from 10 a.m. till 7 p.m. The festival says there will be five stages and more than two dozen bands and performers. The South Stage will feature Lisa Loeb, The Wallflowers, a DJ set by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem), and My Morning Jacket.

The North Stage will have "up and coming artists," the site says, as well as supergroupthe Divine Fits and Brooklyn indie favs Grizzly Bear. There will also be music on acoustic stages.

Last year's free Times Square show was fun (though eerily sparsely attended until the late afternoon), and featured performances by The Hold Steady and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, among others. 

Out in the clubs, tomorrow features highlights including Bell X1 at Bowery Ballroom and Meat Puppets at Brooklyn Bowl. On Sunday, the festival's final day, the schedule looks to be all films, except for one notable live music event: legendary rock and jazz drummer Ginger Baker at Iridium.

Now Streaming: New CDs from Divine Fits, Steve Vai, Yeasayer, & More

There are albums from a veteran artist and a new supergroup headlining the releases that are streaming this week. The veteran is Steve Vai, who's back with his latest album, "The Story of Light." The new supergroup is Divine Fits, a band that includes Britt Daniel of Spoon, Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade, and Sam Brown of New Bomb Turks.


One of the album trailers for the Devine Fits' debut album.

Among the other albums streaming this week are new releases from Yeasayer, Antony and the Johnsons, Yellowcard, Black Light Burns (fronted by Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit), and Los Straitjackets, the Tennessee surf rockers who perform wearing Mexican wrestling masks.

[Update, Aug. 16th: CBC is streaming F*cked Up's "David Comes to Life" this week in honor of the album being named to the shortlist of the Polaris Prize. You can stream it here.] 

NPR First Listen:
"Fragrant World" by Yeasayer
"A Thing Called Divine Fits" by Divine Fits
"Tracer" by Teengirl Fantasy
"Mature Themes" by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Cut the World" by Antony and the Johnsons
"Cycles" by This is Cinema
"Jet Set" by Los Straitjackets
"Trying" by Spook Houses
"Raised by Wolves" by Jenee Halstead
"An Aside" by Black Swan Runners
"Southern Air" by Yellowcard
"Dark Star (Remix EP)" by Polica

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"The Story of Light" by Steve Vai
"The Moment You Realize You're Going to Fall" by Black Light Burns
"Mile Highby" by Kottonmouth Kings
"Hold Your Fire" EP by Sierra West
"Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies" by The Dirty Guvnahs