When The Darkness exploded onto the British music scene back in the early 2000s, I could never decide with any certainty whether or not the 4-piece glam rockers were serious about the music they made, or just out there having a laugh.

The constant radio play of the 2003 single “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”, featured the piercing operatic falsetto vocals of front-man Justin Hawkins, and was a drastic departure from all other music getting played at the time. Add the spectacle of Hawkins gleefully parading around in skin-tight 80’s hair-metal outfits; it’s not surprising I missed the fact that beyond all the distractions, The Darkness was actually a damn good rock band. Sadly, the limelight was short-lived as Hawkins struggled with substance abuse and ultimately decided to leave the band in 2006.

A few days into a national tour supporting a new release, Anthony Gonzalez of M83 sat down in a room full of press and public at the Moog Factory in Asheville, North Carolina. He had just arrived in town for a stop at Moogfest, the annual music festival in late October honoring synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog. Just weeks after his sixth album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, dropped, Gonzalez was game to discuss how he approaches creating music in a charming French accent while flashing an impish grin. With a band named after a spiral galaxy (Messier 83) and a love of all things electronic, Gonzalez felt right at home. He was also looking forward to seeing James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem (who was playing a dj set with Pat Mahoney as ‘Special Disco Version’) and seeing fellow tour band Active Child on a larger stage.

“It’s fantastic to be here with a ton of synthesizers all over the place—it’s like a museum and I’m super excited to play,” Gonzalez said. “We started the tour four days ago so it’s kind of a work in progress, but I’m super amped to be back on tour and connect with my fans”.

Hospitality should be doing quite well for itself by this time next year. No longer a more stripped-down affair, the band now plays a winning brand of warm, Americana-inflected rock, with just a touch of twee. Vocalist Amber Papini proved herself a natural charmer, leading her group with a disarming sort of speak-singing, while her male bandmates provided airy falsetto harmonies in a higher register. The guitar work here usually stayed in solidly melodic, Wilco-toward-Belle-&-Sebastian territory, creating quietly resonant waves of gentle melancholy; however, occasional—and very fleeting—bursts of dissonance brought a welcome St. Vincent-esque sense of adventure to a few tunes. Though Papini often seemed to be singing about loss (more than one track alluded to a lover leaving for Japan), she and Hospitality do what classic American pop-rock does best: they make sadness sound pretty happy. It’s difficult to imagine not feeling better with Papini’s songs on your soundtrack.

The CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival continues to grow to epic proportions since its debut back in 1980. This year includes over 1,300 artist performances and dozens of cutting-edge films at 80 venues, nightclubs and theaters around New York City. Notable bands include Wild Flag, Neon Indian, Portugal. The Man., Active Child, Weekend and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. But it’s the bands you haven’t heard of that give this festival its raison d’ être.

There are also close to 70 panels, seminars and special events to keep things going around the clock. Topics include A&R, Artist Management and Publishing/Licensing as well as anything to do with social media. A CMJ Full Festival Badge costs $495 (with a CMJ Student Full Badge priced at $295) but new this year is a CMJ Show Pass for $149 which allows access to all CMJ Music Marathon Showcases and Film Festival Screenings—based on venue capacity on a first come first serve basis. For those not planning to attend, PopMatters will have a team spreading out across the city to bring the event to life online. More details at cmj.com.

PEARL JAM TWENTY
Director: Cameron Crowe
Cast: Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder, Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, Neil Young
Country: USA
 
Documentaries made by non-documentarians can be exhilarating since, new to the form, the filmmakers tend to break old rules and push into interesting territory. But they can also wind up looking something like Pearl Jam Twenty. Confusing (even to this follower of the group), scattered, and unaccountably incomplete (one longtime member of the band is never even mentioned aloud!), this one is for fans only.