CMJ Tuesday: Sian Alice Group at The Knitting Factory

So in case you didn't know, The Knitting Factory is my new favorite Brooklyn venue (and not only because of its proximity to the G train, I promise), and seeing Sian Alice Group, a band freaky-hippie Brits with a flute, at The Social Registry showcase was a great way to chill out at the end of the night. Hell, even the bouncers, in contrast to wherever else I'd been, seemed jolly and rotund rather than enormous and threatening.

Mp3 - Sian Alice Group - Through Air Over Water

CMJ begins, I follow (Chikpiks CMJ Day 1 Edition)

So...so Grooms are just The Muggabears with a different name.


This is one of the many, many fun facts you can learn at this year's CMJ Music Marathon, which begins today. Grooms, in fact, are playing right now, at the Pop Tarts showcase at Cake Shop, along with, among others, Surfer Blood, Small Black, and Holiday Shores, all tinted various shades of pop. However, don't fret if you don't happen to be there, because Grooms will also be playing tonight at Death by Audio. And again tomorrow. And again on Friday. And finally, on Saturday, at the After the Jump party at Brooklyn Bowl. But that's just CMJ.

Deerhunter side project Atlas Sound plays tonight at 10 at (Le) Poisson Rouge.


Gritty, Kings of Leon-influenced rockers Black Taxi also plays tonight at 10:45 at Arlene's Grocery.


The Social Registry showcase is tonight at the Knitting Factory, headlined by British psychedelic experimentalists Sian Alice Group at midnight.


To be sure, I'm dubious about the effectiveness of CMJ passes for actually gaining admission to CMJ shows, considering that larger ones like Atlas Sound already sold out to the norms ages ago. However, they certainly are useful for partying with a bunch of New Zealanders at the opening night soiree at Red Bull Space. Pity the girl with the press pass.

Mp3 - Black Taxi - Head on a Pike

Sian Alice Group MP3 Review

I've been hearing this band's name floating around for what seems like forever, mostly because of my familiarity with their Social Registry labelmates Gang Gang Dance (at Beyond Race Magazine, I somehow overnight become the designated "GGD person"), but not until now, when I finally got around to listening to them, did it occur to me that they're actually British, which...cool. Their album 59.59 is just out, and they'll be in New York for two nights in September (13th and 14th).

So. The "heaven" referred to in "Way Down to Heaven" is more like "heaven" as described by a death-metal band. The bassline is hyper-insistent and sneaks up on you, starting out slow and friendly like an al fresco lunch date, coupled by high repeated repeated harmonic choruses that recall the more hippy-spooky side of Fleetwood Mac. All of this is later ambushed by some feedback-heavy lead guitar laced over and under the vocals, which somehow gives way to a sound that psychedelic-ish, but not quite. It's too controlled to give the sense of out-and-out primitive chaos you get from Gang Gang Dance. So basically, it's GGD more suitable for the dentist's office, but...if you're dentist don't, you know, actually play it in your office.


mp3 - Way Down To Heaven - Sian Alice Group