NO SLEEP ’TIL BROOKLYN

Officially running from October 18 through Saturday, CMJ’s annual citywide music festival offers hundreds of bands a shot at the new American dream: 15 minutes of blog fame and a Best New Track on Pitchfork. Meanwhile, the rest of us get more shows than we ever realized we wanted, cabbing around town from one dimly lit venue to another. For today, we recommend using your lunch break to catch Givers at Ace Hotel (12:30), then taking the afternoon off for Dum Dum Girls (also at Ace Hotel at 2:30), and getting some rest before Cake Shop’s all-night bash, which features sample-flipper Wise Blood at midnight, Portland indie three-piece Unknown Mortal Orchestra at 1, L.A. punks Trash Talk at 2, left field rap duo Main Attrakionz at 2:45, and for good measure, a few elusive “special guests” at 3:30. Those with work in the morning might want to head instead to the Mercury Lounge, where Sub Pop is hosting a showcase that features artists from glo-fi-blog favs Memoryhouse to local rockers X-Ray Eyeballs (who kick off the event at 6:30) and Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis (who headlines). This showcase should have you in bed by midnight, but remember that like New York, the blogosphere never sleeps.

Oct. 18-22, 2011