Fayway is a NYC quartet influenced by Joni Mitchell’s more "adult" sounding albums (late ’70s-early ’80s), when the Canadian songwriter’s flirt with jazz became more obvious. Singer songwriter and keyboardist Morgan Heringe leads the group with her pristine voice and sinuous melodies, built on chords whose name would puzzle most rock musicians. On their brand new third record "Dreamboat" – the more linear and less experimental in her repertoire – her band mates gracefully seconds her songwriting style. Single "Pretty Crazy" (streaming below) is the album’s highlught – at least in our opinion. – photo by Sean Pierce

Brooklyn based electronic producer/songwriter Pepi Gingsber (whose previous band Companion was featured in our blog and mag back in 2012) has just unveiled a new project called N-A-R-C, with this new video inspired by Korean ‘Mukbang’ performances, in which cam-stars eat food in front on an online audience for entertainment – a brilliant idea to… push fame-seeking anorexic models to gain weight and attention at once? The single comes from her forthcoming debut EP ‘New Age Real Change,’ due February 26 via INSCAPE. 

The quietly celebratory music video for Brooklyn-via-Detroit singer/songwriter Victoria Reed‘s "Make It Easy" (playing below) is an ode to resilience. Showing the twenty-something Reed wandering through a sunny wood before coming to a blissful scenery at a waterfall, the crisp clip elegantly portrays internal struggle with compassion. Reed wrote the track (featured in her forthcoming debut album ‘Chariot’) as a kind of letter to herself and, with the serene imagery of director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, she has imbued these accompanying visuals with reflective warmth. ‘Chariot’ is scheduled for release on February 26th, 2016. In the meantime, Victoria Reed plays at Baby’s All Right on Monday (11.2). – Zach Weg

Portland-based group, Paste, just released their first EP, “Amoral,” at the beginning of the month. The group describes itself as “ferocious” – probably an overstatement, considering their not overly aggressive sound sound, but they are indeed correct when they say that their "songs cover a wide variety of styles and moods.” All four tracks on their EP waver between rock, pop, and electro, seamlessly merging qualities of all three. “Carnivores,” the third song on their EP, exemplifies the group’s tendency towards glam rock with a creative use of effects and a melody that plunges in and out of distortion. On the other hand, “Spring” (streaming), uses bright harmonies and catchy rhythmic patterns inherent to pop. Their music’s variation in genre will, as promised, satisfy any musical mood. – Isabel Rolston

Like the 2014-released music video for its track "Channelling," the clip for New York rock duo Elysian Fields‘ "Alms for Your Love" (streaming below) is not just a compelling visual accompaniment to the song but a beguiling work of art in itself. Starting with the striking image of a shooting heart, the string-girded video shows EF singer Jennifer Charles following a quiet panther through a valley of sharp-tipped trees and finally seeing herself lying on the floor, chest gushing with what appears to be blood. Elusive yet moving, the Kevin Weir-directed video emerges as an allegorical, almost biblical tale of the search for love and its explosiveness once found. While Elysian Fields hasn’t perhaps been as known as other two-pieces such as The Kills or The White Stripes since its inception in 1995, the compellingly enigmatic group is slowly unveiling its netherworld beauty and will hopefully continue to do so in the near future. The band is not only readying the release of a new album but also its own music venue called The Owl (in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens) where they will play several shows to celebrate the band’s twentieth anniversary. The first of these performances will happen on Thursday 10.29 at The Owl. A full list can be found at Elysian Fields’ website. – Zach Weg

Almost a year ago, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Joni Fatora released her latest EP, ‘Navigator.’ Featuring mural-like cover art pleasantly reminiscent to that of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Helplessness Blues,’ the five-song effort also has one of the most beautifully-rendered songs of recent memory: the pretty yet serious "Blueless Bird" (streaming below). A tropicalia-sunned piece of folk, the guitar-curled track has the early-twenties Fatora impressively employing the image of a forlorn winged creature to convey larger themes of solitude and longing, her patient voice almost coddling the listener to a kind of calm acceptance of life’s more melancholic moments. Following performances during CMJ this past week, Joni Fatora plays on a Sofar Sounds Secret Show and on 11.8 at Pete’s Candy Store. – Zach Weg

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Mellow Songs by Emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Towering Trees, a band of four from Portland, Oregon, make music they describe as, “contemporary snake charming,” but "indie rock with roots influences" is quite appropriate too. Their first album, “Hangover Hearts,” released in 2013, is a compilation of the band’s best qualities: warming vocals, jangly electric guitar, and ardent melodrama. A good example of this is their track “Misfortune.” The song starts out with a plucked guitar melody that pierces through the steady percussion undercurrent, while the vocals, “I feel so sick, I feel so weak,” oscillate above the instrumentation, sounding almost like a whine. Towering Trees will be playing tonight at Kelly’s Olympian for the first time in six months! If you can’t make it, or don’t live in Portland, give their Kickstarter-funded album a listen on Bandcamp. – Isabel Rolston

Over the past few months, Rockaway Beach-docked duo Lewis Del Mar has accompanied its celebrated singles, "Loud (y)" and "Memories," with passages of Pablo Neruda’s and Gabriel García Márquez’s and, on the June-born group’s latest track "Wave(s)" (streaming below), the elegant poignancy of those late literary giants is mixed with a compelling kind of chill-pop. A sunset romance set to gentle guitars, ambling vocals, and lyrics that are both grounded and abstract, the melancholic but ultimately content song proves Lewis Del Mar as an act that can intriguingly bring its poeticism down to earth. Lewis Del Mar plays at Rough Trade on 12.2. – Zach Weg  

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Saturday night at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village started with the serene songs of Huntington, Long Island-hailing quintet NY Lights (pictured). Sounding out few kinds of genres – indie, psychedelic rock, and Americana, amongst them -the one-year-old band struck an intriguing balance between warmth and edginess, its drum slaps and sandy vocals riding along the ear with steady drive.

Later, on the Lower East Side, in the oaken cellar of Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3, the standout of this viewer’s CMJ experience was seen: Grey McMurray. Enveloped in a low red light and aided by a trio of deft musicians (including a cellist), the Brooklyn-based artist played a kind of freak-soul as he dipped down into often uncomfortable yet sometimes inviting visions of spirituality and love, his drooping guitar and cavernous voice simultaneously chilling and moving the listener. Antony Hegarty and Nick Hakim are probably his musical siblings but McMurray conjured a creepily warm aura in Rockwood’s downstairs room that is perhaps his own.

Upstairs on Stage 2, fellow Brooklyn act EMEFE blasted its synth-lined afrobeat, its rubbery horns and perky electronics showing reverence for Fela Kuti and Talking Heads while culminating in its own pop-oriented, bold funk. The six-piece also allowed for some spontaneity, though, bandleader Miles Arntzen during one track recording the audience’s handclaps for inclusion on a forthcoming song.

Next door on Stage 1, Brooklyn three-piece Lazyeyes broke into a relentlessly ringing set that, during one song, brought to mind the rough innocence of ‘Pablo Honey’-era Radiohead and, during others, the foreboding catchiness that Joy Division displayed on "Disorder." Towards the end of its set, the frontman Jason Abrishami of the young group said that they "have a couple of songs left" while bassist Paul Volpe joked that they "have a couple of years left" but one hopes that they keep up their compellingly raw energy.

Back at Stage 2, New York outfit Nuf Said ended the night with its jazzy R&B, the group’s swirling horns proving a pleasant and compelling addition to the gently strong vocals of lead singer Ioana Vintu and the mellow guitar-bass combination in the background. Like other New York outfit Mad Satta, Nuf Said seamlessly melds genres such as jazz, R&B, and funk while showing that they can end a talent-packed festival such as CMJ with festive boldness. – Zach Weg 

Strumming on their ukuleles, The Prettiots make the horrors of young adult life into comical, playful, and more importantly, reassuring tunes. Comprised of two New Yorkers, Kay Kasparhauser and Lulu Prat, the duo soothes growing-up anxieties with a fatalistic attitude, but listen closely and you’ll hear The Prettiots’ talent for catchy melodies and memorable hooks. On their single “Suicide Hotline,” Kasparhauser sings  "Woolf took a dip with some rocks in her pockets / I’d say comparatively I’ve got a bad case of the fuck-its.” Their melodies, light and airy, mask their troubled, but relatable, and ultimately, reassuring lyrics – who hasn’t had a “bad case of the fuck-its after all?” The trio, who played three CMJ shows last week, just released single “Stabler” (under Rough Trade’s wing!), in a classic cassette format, as the video below makes clear. They will be traveling to Europe for a two week tour.

Last night at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village was a refreshingly feel-good, mostly funk affair. First on the neon-lit stage was Nashville/New York quartet Anna Haas + The Effect whose loud, rollicking tracks fondly recalled such iconic bands as The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac but burst to their own life with frontwoman Haas. With her rock-strong voice and fluid dance moves, she wasn’t so much the head of a band as much as the bearer of a flickering rock torch. New York five-piece Animal Reporters were next, performing similarly funk-influenced songs of jumping keys and virtuosic guitars that, at one point, surprisingly yet thrillingly dipped into psych-rock. The group’s funked-up cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff,” a song that is perhaps reinterpreted too much, also proved intriguing. A somewhat more ominous funk hit the room next with Brooklyn quintet Ferrari Truck. Beginning with a slow, stormy song that reminded one of The Doors’ darker cuts, the Flatbush-rooted group then went into a warm, blues-inflected track that sounded like something The Dude would zone out to. As heard in their guitar-fuzzed, poignantly-titled track “Whispering You,” though, the band seemed keen to move as well as thrill the listener. Fellow Brooklyn five-piece Cousin Earth (pictured) took the stage next, beginning their set with an unabashedly glorious rendition of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," lead singer Terry Brennan using a mini mouthpiece to simulate that track’s perky instrumentation. Then, after playing one of the loopy, effects-oriented songs from their forthcoming new album (due 11.20), the band segued into an amusing yet rocking medley of what seemed to be Kermit the Frog and a reggae-tinged version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” displaying this group’s fun-loving nature. Over at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1, New York quartet The Amigos ended the night with its bluegrass-inflected, accordion-based tracks that blasted the longing of the blues in a pleasantly sunny way. – Zach Weg

For my last night of CMJ, I started at Alphabet Lounge to see Timbre and Siblings. Timbre, a harpist from Nashville, Tennessee, took the stage accompanied by a violinist and drummer – her sound was unparalleled. Seamlessly increasing and decreasing in both dynamics and tempo, Timbre defied what I believed to be true about the harp. Each song had a driving momentum that contrasted with Timbre’s almost angelic voice floating above the instrumentation. Next at Alphabet Lounge was the NYC-based band, Sibling.  Sibling is comprised of six musicians: a guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, drummer, and two vocalists. As a larger group, their music crosses and blends genres; they merge the melodies and articulations of jazz and funk, while the vocalists blend R&B and rap. Although many of their tracks sounded similar, Siblings music undoubtedly makes you groove. From Alphabet Lounge, I headed to Drom and there I saw another NYC-based artist: Kendra Morris (pictured). Morris’ music, a fusion of soul and rock, was sung with control while still demonstrating her expansive range. Luckily, Morris’ voice, an odd mixture of operatic and Amy Winehouse rasp, was enough to distract from her backing track and the one other musician on stage. Nevertheless, there was a command of the space, and audience, that has been rare the past three days of CMJ. – Isabel Rolston