Over the next five days we’ll be bringing you coverage of the biggest bands and best surprises from New York City’s largest annual music festival. From highly anticipated acts like The xx and The Antlers to those with underground buzz like Boogie Boarder, ZAZA, Bodega Girls and nearly a thousand others, you’ll find complete festival coverage right here.

We’ll also be Tweeting from shows, so if you want to be in the know as we know, follow us over at our Twitter page. And hey, if you didn’t score a badge this year or just don’t have the money to fork over for a zillion shows, do it the Mogwai way.

Artists will perform at venues all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, films will be screened at two theaters and panels will be held at NYU’s Kimmel Center. “The Messenger” starring Woody Harrelson, and “The Men Who Stare at Goats” starring George Clooney will be screened, while Rakim and Andrew W.K. are scheduled to appear as panelists.

For the full CMJ schedule, searchable by venue, date and more, click here.

And perhaps after playing this year, The xx will add the CMJ Marathon to their list of favorite music festivals.

Best Dressed, Male: Project Jenny, Project Jan (Wednesday @ Pianos)
I expected some stiff competition from Yip-Yip in this category, but their new costumes aren’t quite as amazing as the old ones. As a result, Jeremy Haines from Project Jenny, Project Jan easily snags this spot by donning his white suit looking sharp and stylish at Ear Farm’s party Wednesday at Pianos.

Best Dressed, Female: Hottub (Tuesday @ Lit Lounge)
“Best” being a relative term here. One of the members of Hottub wore a red sequin top and blue spandex-style pants. Maybe I should’ve called the category “most interestingly dressed.”

Cutest Couple: Hexes And Ohs (Thursday @ Spike Hill)
I don’t know if these two are dating, but they should be.

Band I Didn’t Ever Intend To See But Ended Up Seeing Multiple Times Anyway: Crystal Antlers (Wednesday @ Todd P Party, Saturday @ Music Hall of Williamsburg)
I had seen Crystal Antlers earlier this year and thought they were alright. I didn’t feel their performance to be too spectacular; certainly nothing that would warrant show after show at various places around the city during CMJ. In fact, they ended up playing so much that I saw them twice without even trying.

Best Effort: Totally Michael (Saturday @ Music Hall of Williamsburg)
Totally Michael is like Matt & Kim’s offspring raised by Atom & His Package. His show involved a few audience participation parts, which I actually usually enjoy. However, the parts were either too speedy or too complicated to sing-along. Nice try, but, eh–it was a disappointment.

Best Performance: Monotonix (Saturday @ Music Hall of Williamsburg)
If I had seen one of Monotonix’s other performance, this might be a toss-up. I’m sure that the band just go fucking nuts interacting with the crowds and surroundings no matter where they are, possibly getting wilder with each effort. The music was actually pretty good too, when I was actually able to pay attention to it.

Best Party: Uncensored Interview (Friday @ Santos Party House)
Did you really expect me to say anything else?

Best Showcase: Panache Showcase (Friday @ Knitting Factory)
Best Fwends, Akimbo, An Albatross, The Mae Shi, Monotonix, Catcall, Shellshag, DMBQ, AIDS Wolf, The Homosexuals, Screens, Fiasco, Yip-Yip, Sole and the Skyrider Band, Aa…need I say more?

The best performance of the day was easily from Monotonix. In hindsight, I was sort of sad I left before their performance the night before at the Knitting Factory.

Monotonix threw water and beer all over the crowd, moved their drum set all over the venue (without really missing a beat), and made a complete mess of everything.

This isn’t to say other performances weren’t also great. The high energy of DMBQ at Monster Island packed the small space, and the guitarist climbed a nearby pole to poke his head above the crowd in classic punk rock fashion.

Upon returning to Music Hall of Williamsburg, I got there in time for the one and only Juiceboxxx, who continued in the vein of bands exerting a non-stop barrage of energy. In addition, I also caught performances from Totally Michael, Shout Out Out Out Out and Team Robespierre at iheartcomix’s showcase.

Performances took place on multiple stages on the three-floored venue and sometimes the artists broke some of the rules. I probably would’ve completely missed some of the singer-songwriters on the middle floor had one not barged into the upstairs bar to perform unplugged spontaneously in the middle of his set. Rob Wamart set up in an ice cream truck outside of the venue.

Of course I couldn’t make it through the day without stopping by our own Uncensored Interview party at Santos Party House. I arrived early to scope out the scene and drink some free booze from Aperol and PBR. I think we all had a few pre-party jitters, but after downing a few as the crowd started to come in, they faded away as our DJs for the evening (DJ Rekha, Aaron LaCrate, and DJ Boo) pumped up the jams.

After our Uncensored Interview party, I returned down the street to the Knitting Factory for the Panache showcase which featured Best Fwends, Shellshag, Yip-Yip, DMBQ, An Albatross, AIDS Wolf, The Mae Shi and Fiasco:

Fiasco ended up performing on a short stage on the bottom floor of the venue, but it seemed the floor would’ve been too packed to perform alongside the crowd as they usually do. About halfway through the set, I ran upstairs to catch Shellshag in the middle of their performance, which ended ceremoniously with the destruction of one of their drum heads:

Every band on the bill seemed to have a high level of energy and an amazing performance aesthetic, though it was hard to catch a full set from any band because generally at least two of the three stages had performances taking place on them. I caught only a single song from The Mae Shi and not many more from DMBQ. However, I did make sure to catch the entire set from Montreal’s AIDS Wolf. What can I say? The noisy band just has a special place in my heart.

The night was pretty relaxing as I kept to one venue for the entire night, the Mushpot Records showcase at Spike Hill. As full disclosure, I performed right in the middle of this showcase. My original plan was to liveblog from the stage, but I had technical difficulties with my laptop.

Mushpot Records can’t help but associate with cuteness. After my set, Magic Magic and A Faulty Chromosome performed and were your standard indie pop bands. Four or five members each crafting instantly enjoyable tunes.

However, the two bands that opened up the night (who technically weren’t part of the Mushpot portion of the evening) both left an impression with me. First up was the Italian band Thank You For The Drum Machine. The band were able to get the crowd energized with indie electronic dance tunes. Hexes and Ohs took the stage next. The Montral duo were instantly adorable, and on a night filled with cute bands, they were easily the cutest.

Before:

After:

Notice those awful circles developing under my eyes? Yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t sleep for two days! Though being able to chug down a free PBR while I got my haircut was certainly a unique CMJ experience.

The service was provided by Hawleywood-Layrite. Thanks to Winifred Chane from CMJ for taking the photos!

Crystal Antlers:

NYC promoter Todd P always does a few “anti” CMJ shows, but somehow many of them end up fitting perfectly into the mix. Probably most notable this year are the free shows that are going on all day at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge (on the Brooklyn side). I had heard rumors that Parts & Labor would be making an appearance. They turned out to be false and when I got there Crystal Antlers were playing instead. A full schedule of Todd’s shows can be found on his website.

Arkadelphia:
Since I was already in the neighborhood, I decided to check out a friend’s band at Trash Bar, Arkadelphia. The Birmingham, Alabama boys played some authentic southern rock; not exactly my favorite musical style, but they were damn good at it.

Adventure:

After a quick bite to eat, I was off to the next venue for Adventure! (Doesn’t that sort of sound like I’m a pirate hunting for buried treasure?) Aside from a fun name, Adventure’s set is an 8-bit dance party that was part of the larger Carpark/Pawtracks showcase. The stage had been set up in the round, which had some interesting potential. I think all the bands’ equipment were set up for quicker turnover; however I didn’t stick around enough to really figure it all out.

Mahogany:
Peeking my head into another nearby venue, the Friendly Fire showcase was in full swing. I was hoping to catch Faunts (who I missed earlier at Terrorbird’s day party), but instead Mahogany were still performing. Not wanting to miss the next band on my schedule, I had to miss Faunts once again.

So Many Dynamos/Ho-Ag:

By the time I arrived at Bowery Poetry Club, my entire body was tired. Hello Sir’s showcase did not disappoint. So Many Dynamos synthy-punk set was worth it; followed by a noisy performance by Ho-Ag.

I really had no clue exactly what it meant to be a “man-on-the-scene” at CMJ for Uncensored Interview, but I think today I officially got the hang of it. Initially, I thought I’d spend the day seeing some bands at the numerous day parties in the city.

However, when I got to Terrorbird‘s day party at Cake Shop (which included a performance from Takka Takka, who’s video I’ve included below) I realized I might be able to hear these performances, but seeing them could prove to be a little difficult. With bands loading equipment to and from Cake Shop and neighboring Pianos (the location of Ear Farm‘s CMJ party) as well as a host of industry insiders spilling out onto Ludlow Street, the sidewalk became as much of a party as the venue itself. Man-on-the-scene quickly became man-on-the-street.

Also, if you have a chance, check out The Fader Fort at 169 Bowery. As with most CMJ parties, there are drinks and performances from some of the buzz-iest bands. I caught another short set from Chairlift there today, but there will be a bunch more bands playing there throughout the week.

Chairlift:

Chairlft’s set at The Annex was short, four songs if I counted correctly. The band probably had to keep it short because of a poor mix delaying the start as well as a show at Hiro Ballroom right after, meaning they had to get out of there as quickly as possible. The venue was packed–probably due in no small part to their song “Bruises” being recently featured in an iPod commercial, yet it wasn’t among the four songs played.

French Horn Rebellion:

Next stop was the Lit Lounge for Project Jenny Project Jan, but the show was running late. I caught the last few songs of French Horn Rebellion, who (true to their name and despite a rather electronic sound) incorporated an actual French horn in their songs.

Hottub:

The show at Lit Lounge was running VERY late. Oakland-based Hottub played at the time Project Jenny Project Jan were slated. Think Northern State but more in-your-face.

Project Jenny Project Jan:

After going back and forth about Project Jenny Project Jan’s take on major labels and Top 40 music the other week, their performance seemed like a good way to spend the first night of CMJ. Though the frontman’s microphone kept cutting out mid-performance, he was still a sweaty mess by the end of the night.

The Bronx:

After the intensity of performance at the Lit Lounge, I didn’t think anything could top it, but The Bronx’s performance at Fontana’s certainly gave them a run for their money. However, whereas Hottub and Project Jenny Project Jan were electronic-oriented and playing to a modest crowd, The Bronx had a more traditional rock setup and the benefit of a packed house.

Maybe it was just my particular selection of bands, but the first night at CMJ seems to have geared up the energy level in preparation for what is to come…