On Tuesday, October 21 thousands of bands flooded into NYC from across the world for the CMJ Music Festival.

KCRW co-sponsored the CMJ Artist Loft at the Red Bull Space, along with Paste and indie outlaw. Live performances included sets by KCRW favorites the Broken West, Delta Spirit, Boat People, and Takka Takka, as well as Luke Temple, Portatastic, Gringo Star, Cotton Jones Basket Ride, Vivian Girls and more. Read below for exclusive band interview videos, performances, blogs, photos and more from the scene.

Click play below - or the "shows" tab in the upper right-hand corner - to check out exclusive CMJ videos.

CMJ 08 Wrap Up

What a week! I probably saw an average of 10 bands a day while in NYC for the festival. My favorite bands were, for the most part, bands I was somewhat familiar with, including Takka Takka, Miniature Tigers, Rumble Strips, Women, Princeton and the Boat People. There were some suprises though - DRI sounded unlike anything I heard at the festival and was one of the few female artists I came across. The Subjects are based in Brooklyn and have elements of the Kinks. They are currently working on new material...MORE

CMJ 08 Final Days

The last two nights of the CMJ Artist Lounge were all over the map -- from the psychedelic reggae and soul of DRI to the Aussie pop of the Boat People and my favorite cover of the festival - Portastatic's version of "Dancing in the Dark." During the day, I saw one of my favorite sets courtesy of the Miniature Tigers. I was looking forward to seeing this AZ-based band going in and they did not disappoint...MORE