Tidal Arms - Live at the BAL CMJ Showcase

Tidal Arms - Several Circles / Hair and Teeth

So CMJ came and went. Holy god, was that shit weak sauce or what? No, seriously, what of value actually happened over the annual conference that is supposed to drench Manhattan and Brooklyn in some acute, fall freshness? By our count, other than the usual free liqs that we hook up with precision, it offered not much at all. 

The music/media/ancillary business behemoth that this conference has become offered us a week dominated by either bland, "is-this-2002?" indie pop/rock/whatever, or fuzzed out, reverb heavy electronic noise, swooned over by tired voices - be they rapping or singing. 

But it's not all gimmicky trash, we swear. See, this is where us BAL boys come through. We put on a dope showcase. It had bands that fit together on a bill. Shocking! Really strong, sturdy songwriting - imagine that! Not to mention, actually invigorating performances where the artists put energy (you know, not the ironic/detached boredom type) into their playing. Holy shit, it's like we reinvented the whole damn game. 

Coming to you live in full effizect are our boys, Brooklyn's Tidal Arms. For those that may not know them, we strongly urge you to check out their debut LP, The Sun Exploding. Shit is on straight repeat like it's jamming out the old Aiwa 3-disc changer as we get ready for school in the morning. 

Plundering the depths of heavy rock/metal, Tidal Arms leveled us in the room with an amazingly tight set. Combing across some of our favorite genres - Tidal's addictive combination of post-hardcore riffage, math-rock time signatures, and fat slabs of startlingly pretty melodies - we were more than impressed. For evidence, check out what we cut together, the swirling, slow-building "Several Circles", and the apocalyptic churn of "Hair and Teeth".

Your Guide To Free Booze at CMJ 2011

CMJ is finally here, and with it brings our annual guide to free boozing. You gotta love how far some of these hosts go to convince you to come. You see, almost all the free booze events are the smaller, "neffed the f- out," headscratch "who?" type shows where the music itself isn't enough to bring a crowd of any size. Most of these presenters are well aware of how average their particular bands are. They know the deal. How to convince someone to see a crappy band? Same way most of us get laid - alcohol!

Peep the quality Google Calendar technology below. Notice how we've color-coded each entry depending on type of booze. Yellow for free beer events. Green for hard alcohol sponsored events. Blue for a mixture of both, or an unspecified open bar. Red for BAL events that we squeezed in. Click on each entry to load more details like where the event is located, or how to RSVP. You can even subscribe to this calendar on your Android/iPhone and get alerts as you get wrecked. What less do you expect from BAL? Oh yeah, a beastly 4 band rock showcase (open bar from 8-9 PBR + well) Wednesday and a dubiously dicey 8 band loft party on Saturday. 

Presenting...The Graveyard Smash (An Unofficial CMJ Rager)

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We all know that CMJ is the most anarchic music festival in the world, but did you know that a majority of CMJ events are non-official and “off the books”? In the spirit of things, we decided to “cook the books” with a delicious smorgasbord of ear-tingling goodness. With 8 bands occupying two separate stages, this is our most ambitious, devious, and straight-up diciest show yet.

Straight out of Brooklyn’s favorite “artistic community” of Bushwick, BAL Presents: The Graveyard Smash, a mini music festival with all the rapport of a big fest, with none of its comforts, prestige, or celebrity. Instead of $4 waters, help yourself to an unlimited supply from the bathroom tap. Instead of the fresh air of an outdoor fest, breathe in the stale air of a dodgey, 100+ year old industrial loft. VIP bracelets? Everyone is VIP!

With so many bands spanning so many genres, there’s bound to be something for everyone. From the pop-deconstructing Idiot Glee, to visceral art-rockers Grandfather and raucous hardcore noisemakers Descender, our lineup is chock full of new sounds, up-and-coming talents, and animated sets.

Filling in the bill will be Brooklyn-based solo troubadour and loop machine master Idgy Dean, Shoegazers Sight Seeing, and experimental rockers Leonia. Get ready rock out, cocks out, in a massively fucked-up concert only BAL could have possibly dreamed of.

NEVERLANDS STAGE:
Grandfather: http://grandfathermusic.bandcamp.com/

Descender: http://descender.bandcamp.com/

Life Size Maps: http://lifesizemaps.bandcamp.com/

Leonia


BAL STAGE:
Idiot Glee: http://idiotglee.bandcamp.com/

Idgy Dean: http://idgydean.bandcamp.com/

Sight Seeing: http://sightseeing.bandcamp.com/

Gospels: http://facebook.com/gospelsnyc

Directions:

L train to Jefferson Ave, hang a LEFT on Wykoff till you get to Flushing Ave.
Make a LEFT on Flushing Ave till you reach Stewart Ave, make a RIGHT
Take a LEFT onto Johnson Ave ½ block. There will be people outside to let you in.

BAL Presents: The Graveyard Smash
Live at The Neverland
538 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn
8:00 doors
$5 to get in
For help dial (646) 481-7032

Presenting...The BAL CMJ Showcase

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Four months ago, when we brought you the first BAL showcase at Northside Festival, we told you to come support us in our first attempt, and how important it would mean to us if you were there. Unfortunately, many of ya'll were bad friends and decided to sleep on it. You know who you are. Kids we grew up with, went to college with, drunkenly hooked up with... Thanks for coming through for us when we needed you the most.

As for the rest of you who came that night and left with ringing ears of festive merriment, we’re glad you got to see things our way. You know how we roll. We give you the full sensory package - great music, chill atmosphere, and this time around, free tater tots. That’s right, we’re doing our next CMJ Showcase at Trash Bar in Williamburg. Home of the $6 Jack and Back, elaborate neck tats, and of course free, on-demand, and pipingly delicious tater tots.

On Wednesday, October 19th, BAL presents an astonishingly focused and curiously compelling CMJ showcase featuring four caliber bands of our day: Boston’s expressive yet piercing noisemakers Pile, Brooklyn bulwarks Tidal Arms, the wistful and strident King Owl, and of course our boys Grandfather, who played with us at our previous Northside Show. All worth seeing on separate occasions; all together for one awesome night that defies the usual haphazard CMJ experience.

BAL Presents: The CMJ Showcase
Wednesday, October 19th
Trash Bar
Brooklyn NY
$5 at door

FEATURING

Pile: http://pile.bandcamp.com

Tidal Arms: http://tidalarms.bandcamp.com/

Grandfather: http://grandfathermusic.bandcamp.com/

King Owl: http://kingowl.com/

Dirty Dishes - Live at the BAL Showcase

In our final set of videos from our BAL Northside Showcase, we look at one of the more genuinely intriguing bands that graced our stage: Dirty Dishes. Hailing from Boston, this 4-piece shoegaze troupe create an enveloping, yet finely developed sound that follows in the tradition of great 90’s bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, and Sonic Youth. Anchoring the group’s vast and widely encompassing influences, singer/Guitarist Jenny Tuite delivers dreamy vocals that embody the title of their first EP, In the Clouds.

Many thanks to all who helped out in this show, in particular Jon Silverman who handled post-production sound, Brian Butnick who provided additional photography, and Will Armstrong for his amazing light show that amazed us all. Don’t forget to check out our events during this year’s CMJ…more info to follow!