As predicted, CMJ Festival was a little cray this year – and not just in Brooklyn. 5 days, hundreds of showcases, thousands of bands, and smack dap in the middle of Fall flue season, even veterans like us could barely keep up! Luckily, an an obligation to Bushwick Daily readers (aka a press pass) blazed our tissue-littered trail, and we hit 2-5 showcases a day, chasing that new music. Out in the peaks and valleys (well, gutters and rooftops) of the musical cradle that is NYC, we found it, in local groups to those hailing from Scotland. Here are our 18 favorites acts of the festival (spoiler: the ladies killed it this year) and a playlist to go along with it so you can let all your friends know that you heard of these soon-to-be big name artists first.
The Babe Rainbow (Australia)
This psychedelic trio (sometimes a 4-piece, depending on where the percussionist wandered off to) so convincingly embodies 1960s Aussie hippies in the getups of 1990s grudge rockers that I temporarily transcended space and time to join their journey, guided by a soundtrack jangly enough to get the whole crowd swaying.
