Good morning!

Perhaps you read Maura Judkis' great feature this week on Andrew Wodzianski, the local artist who for the last two weeks has been living in a comfy 10 by 10 by 10 habitat in a retail space on U Street. It's actually the first of five pop-up projects—think low-concept art meets high-concept real estate—sponsored by the Cultural Development Corporation, and Borderstan has the skinny on what the firm has planned next.

The music-streaming service Lala is shutting down after today, and I am heartbroken. (Last.fm was neutered earlier this month. Not long ago, Imeem died a terrible death at the hands of MySpace. So, um: Whither Pandora?) Apple bought Lala five months ago, and today's move presumably lays the groundwork for the giant to launch its own streaming service, perhaps a subscription-based one. Undoubtedly, it will be less awesome.

DCist has two Three Stars interviews worth reading, with locals Lightfoot and the Underwater Peoples label.

Mount Pleasant Music Festival? Yes, please. It's Saturday, and Deleted Scenes are headlining.

Should the National Gallery mount more 21st-century art? Sure. WAMU explores.

Happy Friday!

Read the full City Lights pick here; show details after the jump:

FAMILY PORTRAIT PERFORMS WITH ANDREW CEDERMARK AT 8:30 P.M. AT DC9, 1940 9TH ST. NW. $8. (202) 483-5000.

As promised, the D.C./New Jersey upstart label Underwater Peoples dropped its Winter Review compilation today, and you can download all 15 tracks at the Chocolate Bobka blog. There's lots of lovely lo-fi therein, including new songs by Real Estate, Ducktails, Julian Lynch, Pill Wonder, Air Waves, Mountain Man, and more. Full tracklist after the jump:

1. Julian Lynch – Es's
2. Pill Wonder – Restless
3. Ducktails – Apple Walk
4. Fluffy Lumbers – Adoration
5. Big Troubles – Former Selves
6. Andrew Cedermark – Ad Infinitum
7. Frat Dad – Totally Afraid
8. Dana Jewell – My T-Train Girl
9. Air Waves – Sweetness
10. Family Portrait – Killer Statements
11. Alex Bleeker – These Days
12. Mountain Man – Dog Song
13. Real Estate – Orchard
14. Rainbow Bridge – Rain Nair
15. Liam the Younger – Please See

Direct download here.

- Before the Washington Times said it will kill its Sunday edition, the paper announced the end of its Sunday comics page, ComicsDC and the Daily Cartoonist both note. Says a Daily Cartoonist commenter: "Having first scrapped the intentionally humorous part of their Sunday coverage, they’re now dropping the unintentionally funny stuff, too."

- D.C.-based lo-fi label Underwater Peoples is dropping its free winter compilation on Christmas Day. Check out the label's Sawyer Carter Jacobs making the announcement—from Vietnam:

- Regulators approved the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger in the U.K., while the U.S. Department of Justice should finish its review of the proposal soon. (Meanwhile, opponents of the merger launched this Web site last week.)

- Lists! The year's biggest art auctions! Actual sales figures of albums on Pitchfork's Best of 2009 list! The most memorable critical dustups! (This last one via Roger Ebert's Twitter, which has become as essential as his wonderful blog.)

- On song covers.

- John Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is missing. Hardly as bad as stealing the Auschwitz sign, but still...

- Venomous turkeys! Possibly related: Half of Sweden watches a Donald Duck special every Christmas Eve.

That's all! Have a good day! Follow me on Twitter!

Best happy hour in recent memory: Spending the first few minutes of my Friday night purchasing records at Red Onion. What did I buy? The Flaming Lips' Embryonic LP (colored vinyl) and Alex Bleeker and the Freaks' debut LP on the local Underwater Peoples label [you can listen to an officially leaked Bleeker track here]. Both are more than worth your time and money. Besides, Underwater Peoples deserves your respect. I can't think of a better local label at the moment.

Other new LPs at the shop include the new Sex Workers album, the Ghana Special box (amazing), some krautrock reissus, and the stunning, thumping Pyramids reissues (containing some of the best outsider soul-jazz freakouts ever made).

Used vinyl list after the jump.

USED VINYL:

rock:
leonard cohen: songs of
blind faith: self-titled (band cover)
rolling stones: between the buttons (later pressing)
them: the collection (2LP)
ruthann friedman: constant companion
go-betweens: 16 lovers lane
nico: drama of exile
novalis: wer schmetterlinge lachen hort (sky records)
ramses: light fantastic (sky records)
renaissance: illusion (w. keith relf)
bruce springsteen: greetings from asbury park
paul simon: rhythm of the saints
pacheco & alexander: self-titled
noah: peaceman's farm
flying island: self-titled
dusty chaps: domino joe
dd smash: the optimist
skeletal family: futile combat
pierce turner: the sky and the ground
mandalaband: self-titled
bruce mann: the ormstown fair affair
pete kennedy: bound for glory
elliott murphy: affairs
l.a. express: shadow play (joni mitchell's backing band, on brother records)
judy & david: friends
sudden sway: '76 kids forever
yukihiro takahashi: wild & moody (YMO & sadistic mika band)
23 skinner: stretchheads 12" (blast first, 23 skidoo related??)
jeff thornley: locked inside
howdy moon: self-titled (lowell george)
matthew herbert big band: goodbye swingtime
jennifer o'connor: over the mountain, across the valler and back to the stars
tommy roe: it's now winters day (c. boettcher, perfect wintertime album)
pezband: laughing in the dark
ohio express: self-titled
kenny o'dell: beautiful people (sunshine pop on white whale)
crackpot: the wrong party
vitapup: an hour with... (candy-ass records)
three johns: never and always 12" (adrian sherwood)
three johns: brainbox 12"
telex: neurovision
trio: trio and error
slow children: self-titled (w. spring in fialta)
sonny & cher and friends: baby don't go (with the blendells)
kimberley rew: the bible of bob (w. soft boys, dbs, waves)
darkel: self-titled (jb dunckel of air)
apple pie motherhood band: self-titled
elo: out of the blue
holy cow: suggested reading/apocolypse wow
nazz: III (rhino pressing)
jimi hendrix: my best friend (german bootleg)
jimi hendrix: welcom home (german bootleg)
jimi hendrix: early (live from '65)
material: american songs
steve howe: self-titled
brian auger's oblivion express: self-titled
brian auger's oblivion express: reinforcements
brian auger's oblivion express: live oblivion vol. 2
dan hicks: it happened one bite (music from an unreleased ralph bakshi film)
masha qrella: unsolved remained
the third eye foundation: little lost soul
david santo: silver currents

jazz:
herbie hancock: the prisoner (liberty pressing)
ivan boogallo jones: snake rhythm rock (prestige, WLP)
johnny hammond: storm warning
dexter gordon: one flight up (70's pressing)
art pepper: omega man
world saxophone quartet: rhythm & blues
world saxophone quartet: dances & ballads
freddie hubbard: ready for freddie (liberty pressing)
ornette coleman: crisis (impulse)
ornette coleman: dancing in your head
lucky thompson: i offer you
neal creque: creque (cobblestone)
ramsey lewis trio: upendo ni pamoja
mahavishnu orchestra: birds of fire
airto: i'm fine how are you?
pete jolly: give a damn
stanley turrentine: nightwings
paul horn: inside II (he plays flute to a killer whale!)
chuck mangione quartet: self-titled
cannonball adderley: the price you got to pay to be free
joe castro: groove funk soul (mono, atlantic black label)
henry threadgill sextet: you know the number
sil austin: sil and the silver screen

funk/soul/disco:
moe koffman: moe's curried soul
mandrill: just outside
mandrill: solid
andy bey: experience and judgement
dramatics: dramatically yours
harvey mason: marchin'
aretha franklin: live at the fillmore east
delegation: promise of love
various artists: new orleans ladies
marvin gaye: i want you
quazar: self-titled
willie mitchell: hold it!!!
nino tempo & 5th avenue band: come up and see...
lenny white: astral pirates
bloodstone: unreal
temptations: in a mellow mood
stevie wonder: music of my mind
minne riperton: young willing and able/stick together 12"
roy ayers: running away promo 12"
war: all day music
brick: dusic/fun 12"
kelly marie: run to me 12" (vanguard)
marvin hamlisch: bond '77/james bond theme 12"
pete brown: do you wanna get funky with me 12"
lowrell: overdose of love/smooth and wild 12" (avi)
earthquire: self-titled (natural resources)
dennis coffey: back home
space: magic fly
don armando's 2nd ave. rhumba band: self-titled
apollonia 6: self-titled (with poster!)
bt express: greatest hits
instant funk: self-titled
instant funk: looks so fine
various artists: steppin' out (chakachas, bionic boogie, roy ayers, fatback band, trax...)
nikki giovanni: the way i feel
john valenti: anything you want
funk factory: self-titled
meters: cissy strut (super nice copy)
mike nock: magic mansions

world:
joao gilberto: brazil's brilliant... (capitol rainbow)
egberto gismonti & academia de dancas: sanfona
mireille mathieu: self-titled
missa luba: a mass sung in pure congolese style (i love this album)
bob marley & the wailers: legend
luis bonfa: jucaranda
ken boothe: let's get it on

male/female vocalists:
claudine longet: we've only just begun
ray charles: invites you to listen
ray charles: a man and his soul (2LP)
sammy davis and sam butera & the witnesses: when the feeling hits you!
frank sinatra & duke ellington: francis a. & edward k. (3 color label)
bonnie koloc: you're gonna love yourself in the morning

folk/blues/country:
cleanliness and godliness skiffle band: greatest hits (vanguard)
william ackerman: turtle's navel
hank williams jr. (golden archive series)
don nix: hobos, heroes and street corner clowns
bb king: better than ever

xian/religous:
the unknown quatity: self-titled
spirit in the flesh: self-titled
lorraine louvat: love is a magic feeling
lorraine louvat: i could have been a bumblebee
blue aquarius: self-titled (sealed)

classical/avant-garde:
henry brant: kingdom come
george crumb: ancient voices of children
william bolcom/william albright: new music for organ
milton babbitt/mel powell: a solo requiem/haiku settings

miscellaneous:
how to plan the perfect dinner party
here history began (son et lumiere pyramids and sphinx)
neighborhood rhythms (2LP spoken word/soundscapes with rollins/mike watt/exene/jeffrey lee pierce/kid congo/kim fowley...)

Salome, one of the few metal bands that performed at this year's CMJ.

For D.C. bands, the takeaway from CMJ seems to have been this: It will not pluck you from obscurity, but it can't hurt. Also: Don't believe the hype.

"The myth that you can land the perfect agent or manager at a place like that—I don’t think it pays attention to the reality that you’ve been talking to that person for seven months already,” said Jesse Elliott, whose polymathic alt-country band These United States played a handful of shows during this year's College Music Journal Music Marathon. The annual industry gathering featured over 1,000 artists, close to 100 venues, and around a dozen acts from the D.C. area.

Elliott's got a point: Most of the young bands I heard chatter about during the festival—like Florida's Surfer Blood, New York's Freelance Whales, and London's Golden Silvers and Mumford and Sons—had recording contracts, significant blog buzz, or both going in, not to mention full management teams in place. These are not bands whose success lives or dies according to an industry festival.

"Most of the bands at these festivals are already signed," wrote Todd Hyman, who runs the District-based labels Carpark and Paw Tracks and hosted CMJ showcases for both, in an e-mail. "Though this year there seemed to be a preponderance of unsigned blog bands. Seems folks were complaining about that."

Like many of the D.C. bands who played the festival, Hyman questioned CMJ's usefulness. "CMJ used to be really influential 15-20 years ago," he wrote. "College radio's influence has waned with the rise of the Internet. [Austin's South by Southwest] seems to be the main festival these days. I suppose CMJ benefits college radio music directors the most. And now bloggers." Nevertheless, Hyman's labels have hosted CMJ showcases several times since 2000, and he estimated he's attended the festival 13 times.

When you cast aside the make-you-or-break-you narrative, though, there are subtle benefits to CMJ, bands said. "Though everyone likes to fantasize about big crowds and label offers, I think realistically we just wanted to play for a few new people at a new venue and to add CMJ to our collective resume," wrote Nate Frey, whose band Last Tide played a set at the Brooklyn venue Littlefield, in an e-mail.

The Annandale, Va.-based doom-metal band Salome performed at one of CMJ's only metal showcases, which Relapse Records sponsored. The band signed to Profound Lore Records over the summer, and said it sees CMJ the way most bands do: as an opportunity for exposure. Rob Moore, the group's guitarist, said that performing under the Relapse banner meant a large turnout, and that as much as the music industry has changed in recent years, labels remain important as brands and filters. "If I were just to record something and stick it on the Internet, the chances of somebody hearing it are next to none," Moore said. "So you still need a record label or blogs or Web sites or something to guide your path." CMJ, he said, can connect bands to all those things, even if it may not deliver a recording contract.

Following exposure comes networking. "You’re basically going to meet people and hope something good comes out of it," says Patrick Kigongo, of Ra Ra Rasputin. "As long as bands realize that they’re not going to have some sort of miracle happen to them, they’ll have fun." He said his band—which CMJ initially wait-listed but later asked to a join a showcase—met other artists and a label with whom it may release something soon, not to mention a dubious show promoter who didn't carry business cards.

Elliott, of These United States, said he appreciates CMJ for its more serendipitous possibilities—like meeting a band whose music you admire, or scoring a short write-up on a New York Times blog. These United States also met up with a producer from a studio where it may record its next album, and took some time to check out the space.

Evan Brody, who helps run D.C.'s Underwater Peoples label even though he lives in New Jersey, said someone from the Mexican People Summer label came to one of his showcases, and that he even had a conversation with Ryan Schreiber, the founder of the influential review Web site Pitchfork. And he met some of the bloggers that helped Underwater Peoples become one of this year's most-talked-about petri dishes for young bands. "I think it helped put a lot of faces to a lot of people who I’ve spoken to," he said. "There was a lot of IRLing going on."

Photo courtesy of Salome's MySpace page.

Middle Distance Runner performs at the CMJ Music Marathon in 2008.

Every CMJ has its success story—the unknown act who, thanks to buzz and grit and talent and luck , tickles the right trigger of the wayfaring label rep or taste-maker who, for whatever reason, has decided to see it. But most of the thousand-plus little-known bands and artists who descend on New York City each fall for the College Music Journal Music Marathon don't walk away with freshly inked contracts or top-tier management. Their game is more incremental: A write-up here, a handshake there. So whether they're dampening expectations or they mean it, it's probably unsurprising that most of the D.C. bands performing during this year's CMJ say their primary goal is just to "have fun."

"These things are kind of a madhouse, and there's a lot of talk of ‘there’s gonna be a lot of industry people,'" says Matt Dowling, whose band Deleted Scenes has two CMJ gigs and a meeting with a marketing firm. "I don’t mean to be a cynic, but we’ve been playing for long enough and pined over certain goals to realize that the bottom line is to have fun. If the industry happens to like it, then great."

John Thornley, of U.S. Royalty, is equally cautious: “I don’t think we’re going to go there and get a record, and I mean, it may happen. The goal is just to go there and play a show and get a lot of people." But he also sees less tangible benefits. “If you meet a band at a party, and you like their music and they like yours, it’s that much more easy to work with them.”

At least a dozen bands and artists from the District will play gigs during this year's CMJ, which starts tomorrow night and runs through Saturday, and includes about 75 different venues across New York City (there are also panel discussions and a film festival). Some acts already have recording contracts, others don't, and all of them—once you get past their shared enthusiasm for merriment—have different goals.

For Middle Distance Runner, which already has a record label, management, and a promotions firm, CMJ is all about exposure. "To get our name out there in people’s minds more, it makes it easier to do our job," says Stephen Kilroy, the group's frontman. His band has played at CMJ during each of the last three years. "Our manager would have an easier time dealing with other bands' managers if we’re more well-known and well-thought-of. So we’re going to go up there and try not to embarrass ourselves."

Rapper Tabi Bonney said he doesn't really know what the festival is, but that he's happy to perform there all the same. "This is my first time ever going to CMJ," he says. "I’d kinda heard about it, but my booking agency just set it up for me."

CMJ Network, which publishes a college-radio top-30 list and a magazine, started the festival in 1980 as a way to expose underground artists to the recording industry. These days, well-known independent acts—like Hercules & Love Affair and Saul Williams—headline many of the bills. The bands encompass dozens of genres, and nearly as many nationalities. And while the industry presence (major labels and indies, managers, agents, PR firms, and lawyers) is substantial, for unsigned bands the rewards seem diminished, partially because of the ailing record industry, increasingly because of the down economy—this even as interest in independent music has ballooned in recent years and CMJ has grown. The 2009 festival had 10 percent more applicants than the previous year, Robert Haber, the founder and chief executive of CMJ Network, told Newsday this week.

The role of college radio seems particularly anachronistic. "Ten years ago or even longer, college radio had a bigger impact," says Mike Mori, an agent in New York who represents fairly successful acts like Noisettes, Ra Ra Riot, Dalek and The Antlers. "It’s still a factor. It’s a piece of the puzzle but it’s a lot less important."

But, Mori says, "any of these festivals"—like South by Southwest in Austin—"are great for music because they give small bands an outlet."

That's how Evan Brody sees it. Along with three other musicians with whom he attended George Washington University, Brody runs D.C.'s Underwater Peoples Records. Most of the bands that have released music through the DIY label are based in New Jersey, and several of them—like Real Estate, Ducktails, and Air Waves—have become blogosphere favorites in recent months.

So, Brody says, the label set down some goals for the three showcases (one official, two un-) that it's hosting during CMJ: "No. 1 is have a good time. No. 2 is chill really hard. No. 3 is meet new people. I love meeting new people. And No. 4 is just making sure that everything is going smoothly."

John Davis, who has performed at CMJ several times with Q & Not U and Georgie James, says young bands shouldn't worry too much about the industry aspect of the festival. "You just need to make sure that something about what you're doing is good (even if it's form over function) and people will come to you," he wrote in an e-mail. "That's not to say that reaching out to people is bad or pointless—it definitely isn't.  But I feel that you don't want to spend too much time on that stuff when working on your music is always what really gets you someplace."

As for Davis' new band, Title Tracks, he wrote, "our schedule is drive up, play, get back in the car, drive home. Literally. We'll be home later that night."

Photo courtesy of Middle Distance Runner's MySpace page.