This Weeks Live Music Picks: CMJ '06 Edition

The 2006 CMJ Music Marathon is finally here, and everyone is really excited for tons of fantastic lineups all over New York City. Unfortunately for me I will be unable to make the day shows during the week because of my new job. It sucks but you guys can still hit up all the fantastic shows going on each day. For this week's live music picks I'll be spelling out my plan of attack each night offering you one way in which to spend that night at CMJ. Remember though, there are tons of other parties and shows going on all over the place so be sure to check all the updates everywhere to find out what you want to see. Good luck getting to everything you want to see, and maybe I'll catch you at one of the shows!

Monday: Officially CMJ doesn't start until Tuesday, but don't tell that to all the people that have things listed as CMJ events tonight. The official pre-party is over at Webster Hall tonight featuring The Rapture, but the real party is over at The Annex where Oh My Rockness! will be celebrating their birthday. If you head down there to celebrate you'll be seeing Apes & Androids, Cause Co-Motion, and Titus Andronicus! The show starts at 8pm and its $6 to get in.

Tuesday: The madness that is CMJ truly begins tonight with a ton of fantastic shows both day and night. My CMJ experience will be getting started at 7pm at Hiro Ballroom where The Bird and the Bee will be hitting the stage. From there I'm heading downtown to Sin-e for one act of the Myspace Showcase - IMA Robot at 8pm. I'll be forced to leave before IMA Robot finish up though if I want to catch The Muggabears at Club Midway cause those guys get going at 8:45pm. The next stop is for two bands at KCRW's Showcase at Piano's. Birdmonster goes on at 10:00pm followed by Irving at 11:00pm. If you haven't had enough at this point pause at Fontana's at 12:00am for a set by We Are Wolves before heading over to The Annex for Shout Out Out Out Out and Foreign Islands. After that its off to bed for me to catch a couple of minutes of sleep before my day begins again.
The Bird and the Bee - "Fcking Boyfriend" (via Rock Insider)
IMA Robot - "Creeps Me Out"
The Muggabears - "Married to the Moon"
Birdmonster - "Cause You Can"
Irving - "Situation" (via Galaxy fm)
We Are Wolves - "Little Birds"
Shout Out Out Out Out - "Forever Indebted" (via Keytars & Violins)
Foreign Island - "Fine Dining with the Future"

Wednesday: Tonight I'll be hanging out at Piano's for the majority of the night as Kanine Records takes over with an awesome showcase. Starting at 7pm with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin the lineup just gets better and better as the night goes on. After SSLYBY comes The IO's, White Rabbit, Professor Murder, and Mixel Pixel. Following Mixel Pixel I'll be busting it around the corner to catch Figurines at Mercury Lounge at 12:00am and finally Girl Talk at 1am. This will probably be one of the most exhausting days as I plan on busting a groove during Girl Talk!
Someones Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - "Oregon Girl"
The IO's - "Every Waking Moment" (via One Louder)
Professor Murder - "Free Stress Test"
Mixel Pixel - "You're the Kind of Girl"
Figurines - "Rivalry"
Girl Talk - "Friday Night"

Thursday: I'm basically going to stick to one show tonight, but I'm not quite sure which one it will be. I may try to get into the Sub Pop Showcase at Bowery Ballroom even though its probably the hottest ticket during the entire marathon. Featuring Oxford Collapse, The Elected, CSS, The Thermals, The Album Leaf, and The Shins you have to get to the venue early to get into this one. The other option is to head to Mercury Lounge for the other great show of the evening. At Mercury Lounge you'll see Nicole Atkins and the Sea, Malajube, Archie Bronson Outfit, and Forward, Russia!. No matter which one you go with you are more than likely going to see a phenomenal show. Both shows start at 7pm.
Oxford Collapse - "In Your Volcano"
The Elected - "Greetings In Braille"
CSS - "Alcohol Failed Rehab"
The Thermals - "Here's Your Future"
The Album Leaf - "Always for You"
The Shins - "So Says I"
Malajube - "Montreal -40 C"
Archie Bronson Outfit - "Cuckoo"
Forward, Russia! - "Four"

Friday: So after two days of practically staying put in one venue tonight presents a plethora of decisions at multiple venues. Here's my plan of attack for the evening, but tonight is probably the most likely to change out of the entire week. I'll be starting at Bowery Ballroom at 8pm catching Annuals because I adore Annuals. After that I'll try to stay nearby and head to Lit Lounge for some Oh No! Oh My!. Once I'm done with that I'll head over to Mercury Lounge to catch Cloud Cult at 10pm. Califone at Tonic will be next and I'll finish that up choosing between Architecture in Helsinki, Chin Up Chin Up, or Albert Hammond Jr.. But by going this route I'm passing up sets by The Decemberists, Deerhoof, Mew, Apples in Stereo, and Bound Stems among others so you never know.
Annuals - "Brother"
Cloud Cult - "Living on the Outside of Your Skin"
Califone - "Spider's House"
Architecture in Helsinki - "The Owls Go"
Chin Up Chin Up - "This Harness Can't Ride Anything"

Saturday: Today I'll take advantage of being able to finally see one of the day shows by checking out Brooklyn Vegan's Day Show at The Annex. The bands playing don't have times listed yet but the roster is damn good. Silversun Pickups, The Big Sleep, Tokyo Police Club, Elvis Perkins, Annuals, White Whale, and Takka Takka are all playing between noon and 5pm! After that I'm heading over to Mercury Lounge to see Bon Savants. From there I'll hit Club Midway for some Ra Ra Riot. There's a little bit of choice at 9pm with The Fall playing at Hiro Ballroom, Pablo playing Rockwood and The Secret Machines playing Warsaw. I'll probably stay in Manhattan and check out Pablo though. At 10:30pm I'll head to the Knitting Factory for what is sure to be a packed show featuring The Clipse. Then it's off to Rebel for Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, before finishing my night at Arlene's Grocery seeing Forget Cassettes and De Novo Dahl to wrap up my CMJ experience.
Silversun Pickups - "Well Though Out Twinkles"
The Big Sleep - "Murder"
Tokyo Police Club - "Cheer It On"
Elvis Perkins - "May Day"
Annuals - "Complete or Completing"
White Whale - "The Admiral"
Pablo - "Get Around"
De Novo Dahl - "Shout"

Sunday: Even God rested on Sunday.