Photograph: Michael J. Chen
Photograph: Michael J. ChenNeon Hitch performs at Gramercy Theatre during the 2013 CMJ Music Marathon on October 17, 2013.

CMJ Music Marathon 2013: Our favorite 100 photos (slide show)

Check out the action at Gotham's biggest music fest.

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Exhausted? Excited? You should be, having just completed this year's installment of the CMJ Music Marathon. The annual fest gives New Yorkers the opportunity to check out ten zillion* (*estimated figure) hot new bands and established heavyweights from around the globe right here in Gotham—just like SXSW, only a bit colder, and cooler. Our writers and photographers swarmed the city last week, taking it all in. Above is a slide show of our favorite pics from the fest, including shots of Savages, Lou Doillon, Father John Misty and those young scamps Placebo. Below are a few choice recommendations of acts you shouldn't miss next time they come to town. By then, you'll have recovered from CMJ and will be ready to do it all over again. Right?

RECOMMENDED: Our full guide to the CMJ Music Marathon

Arcade Fire
299 Meserole Street; Oct 19
It's questionable as to whether anyone believed Win Butler when he told the crowd that his band was nervous to play CMJ (they killed it at their debut show in 2004)—but the group’s knock-’em-dead performance at this not very secret show was undeniable. Billed as the Reflektors, the Montreal art-rockers hijacked a warehouse venue in Bushwick to showcase songs from their new album, Reflektor. Formal attire (or a costume) was mandatory, and gig-goers' fulfillment of the dress code (black balloons, tuxedos, a glowing umbrella jellyfish) made this show feel like a true New York happening. As for the songs? Think “Billie Jean” + LCD Soundsystem + Toto + an unquenchable, teary longing, and you’re getting close.Throw in a couple of Haitian drummers, fluorescent flags, glittery everything and Butler crowdsurfing at the end, and you have—well, the triumphant return of Arcade Fire.—Sophie Harris

Wreck and Reference
Saint Vitus; Oct 18
The Wreck and Reference live show is so bleak, it feels like an outtake from The Road. At Saint Vitus on Friday night, drummer Ignat Frege smashed out fractured doom beats, while Felix Skinner stood in front with a sampler strapped over his shoulder, alternately cradling it as if it were an infant and hammering on it like a cyborg who's grown to hate his mechanized appendage. Too abstract to be called metal and too focused to be pegged as noise, this California duo is a must for anyone in search of extreme music's next frontier.—Hank Shteamer

Empress Of
Music Hall of Williamsburg; Oct 15
It was the first night of CMJ and already I was struggling for words to describe Empress Of’s unconventional pop. The Brooklyn three-piece, led by sample-triggering singer Lorely Rodriguez, mixes electronic thumps, disco grooves, bossa nova rhythms and a base layer of synthesizers, never quite giving way to the washed-out reverb that can hamper similarly textural music. Rodriguez's nuanced, focused delivery, on what seemed to be mostly new material, stood out even on a stacked bill of vocal talents (worthwhile acts Kelela and Glasser rounded out the night). It turned out to be the best performance I saw all week.—Andrew Frisicano

Courtney Barnett
The Delancey; Oct 19
At the Delancey's Aussie BBQ on Saturday, Courtney Barnett showed off scrappy lo-fi rock and deadpan storytelling, most notably on "Avant Gardener," a gem of a song about having a panic attack while pulling weeds. I'm currently hitting repeat on her recent release The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas—and eagerly awaiting the 24-year-old singer's return to NYC.—Marley Lynch

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