Welcome back to Almost Famous, where we select an artist we deem to be on the verge of spreading beyond our illustrious tastemaking boundaries and taking over the cultural zeitgeist at large in the coming months.

Slightly mad and wholly irresistible, flame-haired singer Florence Welch first nudged her way into my music-addled mind via a demo spun on BBC Radio 6 Music, the alternative digital station, around late 2007 (perhaps it was a cover of Beirut’s “Postcards From Italy”). At South By Southwest that March, I arrived early for BBC deejay Steve Lamacq’s terrific showcase at the Mexican restaurant Rio, where MGMT, Florence and the Machine, Wild Light and the now-belated I Was A Cub Scout held court.

MGMT might have had the Austin buzz, but Welch stole the show, slyly armed with her ferocious voice, plaintive delivery and daft on-stage persona. Barefoot and dressed in a diminutive frock, she gleefully channeled Zelda Fitzgerald, and mid-set, galloped to Rio’s ornamental pool and dived in, capriciously pulling in a friend after her. She emerged dripping wet and then, daring electrocution, strode back to the mic and finished her set. It was a magnificent moment of insane bravado.

Later that month I wrote about Florence’s infinite promise as part of a feature on fast-rising chanteuse Adele (for a jazz magazine, of all things), prodded another publication onto her path and then waited, spending the rest of the year wondering what South London’s Welch had up her sleeve and when she’d finally release a debut album (not yet).

(CONTINUE READING THIS WEEK’S ALMOST FAMOUS)

I found myself overloaded on CMJ last week and my brain hasn’t really been able to think of much else since. Though I did day-by-day coverage over the course of the week, I thought I’d do a look-back and run some superlatives just like in high school.

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.

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CMJ is finally over. For the fifth and final day I mainly stayed at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg for AAM’s day party and then iheartcomix’s party at night. In between, I stopped by Todd P’s free day show once more, which was outside on previous day but had been moved inside to the DIY venue Monster Island due to rain.

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.

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It’s easy to be a little tired by the time the fourth day of CMJ’s Music Marathon rolls around; however, it didn’t stop folks from getting out to some awesome parties throughout the day. After stopping by the Pirate party at Fontana’s early in the day, I stopped by the Knitting Factory for Spectre’s Portland 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.

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It’s almost hard to believe that yesterday marked the halfway point of CMJ. We’ve seen so much already, but it’s also unbelievable that there are two more full days left. During the day I returned to the Red Bull Artist Lounge for a haircut and Todd P’s outdoor party as well where I caught a performance from Best Friends Forever.

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As I promised in a previous post, I returned to the Red Bull Artist Lounge today to get my hair cut and styled. I present to you before and after photos of the incident (click for “more” to get the after photo…it’s worth it). The stylist kept raving about how much he loved my hair and insisted that I keep the waves (my hair has a natural curl to it). I told him he could do whatever he wanted. I think he was a little wilder earlier in the week with the stylings.

Before:

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It was apparent yesterday that CMJ is now in full swing. Even the daytime parties were packed, but I managed to catch a few songs from Rainbow Arabia, Starfucker, Shugo Tokumaro, Sister Suvi, Drink Up Buttercup, Project Jenny Project Jan and Chairlift. After recharging my batteries at home, I headed back out for another night on the town.

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.

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