Marcia Strassman, ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ actress, 39dead at 66 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014

The Irish Band “September Girls” perform at the Knitting Factory in New York. More than 1,300 musicians descended on New York for the annual CMJ Music Marathon, which provides a stage to emerging artists vying for greater recognition in the industry. — AP Irish gloom girls among highlights at taste-making CMJ

ore than 1,300 musicians descended on New York for to Icelandic post-rock icons Sigur Ros, except Pompeii crafts to be released for the song “Blueprint,” in which the band went on stage, with the Belfast-bred Blair prancing around the the annual CMJ Music Marathon, which provides a its sound into concise rock tunes with vocals. “I was 19 when to a ranch and blew up an old Honda Accord. stage as the Brazilian-French Collet keeps cool, Slash-style in a Mstage to emerging artists vying for greater recogni- the band started in ‘04 and now I’m 30, so basically we’ve black overcoat and top-hat. tion in the industry. While the number of music festivals has reached the point where the band went through this neces- Ballet School The band played first but enjoyed the warmest reception soared in recent years, 33-year-old CMJ-originally named for sary puberty,” Stafford told AFP after a CMJ show. Ballet School’s rhythm section could have come straight at a CMJ showcase by the Bella Union label, run by Simon the College Music Journal-is credited with helping discover “We had to take this time to figure out-how do we want to from the 1980s, with a synth bass line that Whitney Houston Raymonde of Cocteau Twins fame. As the band spoke to AFP, artists who quickly became big including Lady Gaga, Arcade change the sound? Because we felt we were a little melodra- would have danced to, but the Berlin-based band is defined one stranger even approached Blair and said that Ballet Fire and, much earlier, R.E.M. No selection can be exhaustive, matic in the early days,” he said. For “Loom,” the band’s third by the soaring voice and presence of singer Rosie Blair. School made him enjoy music again. but here are some highlights from CMJ which ran over five album, Pompeii tapped the Tosca String Quartet, which had Blair, who has had no formal vocal instruction, empowers Blair, a self-described “provincial kid from Ireland,” said she days through Saturday at clubs across New York. its start as a popular tango orchestra in Austin; guitarist/key- each song with her vast-ranged voice in a delivery that bears came of age “when authenticity was at a certain apex” with boardist Erik Johnson brought in analog synthesizers. similarities to Siouxie Sioux, even though Blair prefers to wear artists such as Kurt Cobain, who killed himself in 1994 when September Girls Stafford voiced hope that Pompeii would work on sound- white instead of black. she was 10. “What I found was this huge conflict between With a hazy guitar reverb, dominating bass-lines and a tracks, saying: “We’re a very cinematic band by nature.” But the synth sound is deceptive, with guitarist Michel Jun wanting to be successful and also wanting to maintain some touch of psychedelia in the keyboards, the Dublin-based Pompeii had a taste of cinematic drama as it filmed a video Collet giving a rock kick. The dichotomy is all the more striking integrity,” she said. “On stage, the tension is tangible between September Girls conjure up a landscape of overcast skies but those two things,” she said. “But that conflict, I think, is what framed through pop melodies. makes great artists really great.” All but one member of the five-woman band takes turns on vocals, with songs on the debut album, “Cursing the Sea,” Stars from Taiwan revolving as often as not around relationship dysfunction. Numerous countries-including Australia, Britain, Canada, “How long must I be lost at sea? Take these pills and swal- France, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand-seized on low me,” runs the pop-catchy chorus of “Ships,” set to a CMJ to send emerging artists to New York. shoegazing guitar that could have come from The Jesus and In contrast, Taiwan sent stars with already established cre- Mary Chain. “We all kind of have pop sensibilities but are more dentials for a packed show at the Highline Ballroom on Friday interested in the darker side of it,” guitarist Caoimhe Derwin headlined by A-Lin, who has been nominated three times for told AFP after one of September Girls’ seven shows at CMJ. best female singer in Mandarin at the island’s Golden Melody Fellow guitarist Jessie Ward, who unlike her Irish band- Awards. The show also featured the US debut of Dwagie, a Guitar player mates is a transplant from California, said the sound had a Taiwanese rapper known for his social consciousness. He part- and vocals, “dirtiness and the darkness (that) is part of the Irishness.” “We ed the stage with a shoutout to the Dalai Lama, showing a Jessie Ward of write pop songs, but we think a straightforward pop song is a snippet from the spiritual leader on the screen. the Irish Band bit boring,” Ward said. Ed Yen, the executive producer of the Taiwan showcase, “September Pompeii said the push was looking not necessarily at winning US fans Girls,” per- “Loom,” the first album from Austin, Texas-based Pompeii but at persuading Western artists to look to Taiwan when forms at the in six years, starts gently with melancholic piano chords seeking collaboration in Asia. — AFP Knitting before sweeping strings foreshadow a bigger sound to come. Factory in The title song gradually climaxes into the ferocity of frontman New York. Dean Stafford’s guitar. The band bears a strong resemblance

Dean Stafford (R), lead guitarist and vocalist for the band Pompeii, performs at the club The Delancey in New York. Taiwanese singer A-Lin performs at the Highline Ballroom Taiwanese rapper Dwagie performs at the Highline in New York as she headlines the Taiwanese showcase at Ballroom in New York as part of the annual CMJ Music the annual CMJ Music Marathon. Marathon. — AFP photos