CMJ Music Marathon 2010: The Acts To See

Tuesday, Oct. 19 | Wednesday, Oct. 20 | Thursday, Oct. 21 | Friday, Oct. 22 | Saturday, Oct. 23

Yo La Tengo

TUE 10.19 [Click for full line-up]

Yo La Tengo @ Brooklyn Bowl, 8-9 p.m.
While they’re arguably the biggest name on this year’s bill, Yo La Tengo is still considered a cult band by many accounts. They’ve spent the last 26 years stirring just under the radar and are often cited by critics as the litmus test of cool. If they’re new to you, the encyclopedic arsenal of covers in their repertoire will make you feel a bit more at home.

Onra @ Cake Shop, 9:20-9:50 p.m.
If J Dilla grew up in France and had an affinity for electronic music, his name would probably be Onra. Over the course of 21 tracks and one hour on his newest album, Long Distance, he constructs clean, stuttering beats. And right about when you’ve had your fill of one, Onra anticipates it and starts something different.

Das Racist @ Pianos, 11:30-midnight
When your first hit song is called “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” there’s probably nowhere to go but up. But Das Racist didn’t just go up, they went up. Sit Down, Man, their full-length album, is probably a good instruction before listening to it: You’d never know the duo—Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez—who spent three minutes playing a sort of Marco Polo inside a fast food place offering two types of cuisine, were this capable of making excellent, thought-provoking music. And they are. (Also appearing Thursday @ Santos Party House, midnight-12:30 a.m.)

Jenny & Johnny @ Irving Plaza, Midnight-1 a.m.
Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice are CMJ’s “it” couple. The Rilo Kiley front woman and her singer-songwriter beau are hot off the heels of their debut album I’m Having Fun Now, a dreamy, surf-rock excursion. And although they often draw comparisons to fellow indie duo She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), their harder sound and Lewis’ well-documented past romance with RK bandmate Blake Sennett lend greater depth to their songs. They’re the Fleetwood Mac to Deschanel and Ward’s Sonny and Cher.

Jenny & Johnny

MEN @ Santos House Party, 12:20-1 a.m.
Does your life lack turntables, live instrumentals and transgender awareness? MEN, the performance collective founded by Le Tigre’s JD Samson, is just what you need. The DJ/remix duo raises awareness of hot-button issues through the “radical potential of dance music” and regularly includes themes of sexual compromise and wartime economy as part of their live sets, and have a damn good time doing it. Indie Disco just got political.