All that time on the Lower East Side sure does increase one’s chances of getting food poisoning. Don’t believe me? I have evidence…yeah, I didn’t think so. Thus, I am finally giving you my last words on my CMJ Lite of 2009.

I caught the Young Love Records showcase at Sidewalk Cafe on Thursday, October 22nd, and like I said, I have to give it a little love before we forget about CMJ for another year. Despite the venue’s strange setup (amiable yet slightly awkward announcer, anyone?),
 
Setting Sun seemed at ease when I stole in and ordered a drink at one of the back tables. Frontman Gary Levitt has been called “a less-depressing Elliott Smith” by NPR Music, and his relaxed rural acoustic style was a welcome break from the rampant posturing filling the city that night. A violin and cello further sweeten the deal, but this is no gentrified Woodstock snoozefest, as Levitt tends to tackle darker themes with songs like “No Devil Me No More.”

New Paltz, New York-based Quitzow’s personnel draw almost exclusively from the Setting Sun lineup, as Young Love Records is somewhat of a creative collective. Erica Quitzow runs the show, coaxing stunning and terrifying sounds from a vocoder and Moog to beats and samples straight out of a Lady Gaga single. Quitzow’s organic electropop is Prince meets Pavement; a marriage of two genres at their finest. Instead of guitar, cellist Topu Lyo guides the melody wherever it may go, as a driving accompaniment, screaming wail, or a hijacker of the song altogether. I felt as if any audience member who’d never seen Quitzow before would walk away knowing these three truths: cats are people too, drug dealers who drink Hennessey from paper cups are not to be trusted, and art college is, in fact, a waste of money.

Live Footage grabbed my attention at Coco 66 in Greenpoint almost a year ago, as I sat absolutely mesmerized by the skill with which Topu Lyo turned his cello into a self-sufficient synthesizer, with help from drummer Mike Theiss. They blew me away again at the Sidewalk, both seeming to be completely one with their huge array of pedals and samplers, creating an all-encompassing, otherworldly, druggy sound that left me speechless. Filmmakers, take note: you’ve got your surrealist soundtrack composers right here.