I’ve been busy as a B-list promoter these days. It's Good Friday and I see no reason not to make it great. Tonight I should be cloned, as two "must attend" events are happening at the exact time. I will attend the Limelight film premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. I was interviewed about a year and change ago for the flick, and I hope I am portrayed correctly. I was assured that I am, but I have been divorced a couple of times, and my reliance on assurances have diminished.

Mapping out a schedule for the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival is an overwhelming logistical nightmare. Over five days, bands and DJs all over Manhattan and Brooklyn perform for 20 to 60 minutes a pop, and the marathon keeps going. Un, deux, trois, bang, bang, bang. So if you are at a loss for where to begin, here’s a proverbial play-list that includes recommendations on what to see, and where to unwind, wind-up, and grab a bite between sets. We had to restrain ourselves a little, so check under Williamsburg, the East Village, and the Lower East Side for the best this weekend has to offer (starting tonight).

The "Party Monster" was not released, as many had expected. Instead, the powers that be in Albany have decided that Michael Alig will walk amongst us next November—provided that he behaves himself. Although this has been viewed by many as an unfair outcome, it was expected by me and mine. Alig, who was sentenced to serving ten to twenty years for the murder of Angel Melendez, has almost reached his "due date.” The date that peeps serving that sentence are normally set free, with a big "unless" attached to it. This particular "unless" has to do with behavior and "good time.” Michael, always good at showing people a good time, violated a rule here and there, and experienced a loss of "good time," totaling six years. You do the math. That six year loss brings him up to his twenty. However, (another huge word) inmates have opportunities to earn back their "good time" by doing extra work, and completing programs.

Cake Shop.

Cake Shop

Cake Shop.

If exposure is the reason that the College Music Journalism Marathon takes over every single venue in the city each October, then there's no reason to see bands you already know are good. Bands like Cold Cave, The Atlas Sound, Deer Tick, or Ted Leo + The Pharmacists have gotten enough attention so far. Instead, here's a list of shows that basically explain why CMJ was invented.

Baltimore may be "the new Brooklyn,"" but they still don't have the free music scene that New York (or at least Manhattan) does. Take for example, our "secret" show scene. Nowhere else in America can you so often end up seeing a bunch of bands simply for wearing jeans, Twittering, or simply begging. You know what they say: in New York, you're always somebody's plus-one. Two more examples besides last Thursday's Diesel show are Stereogum's Peter Bjorn & John show on Monday night and Kanye West's "secret" Casio show tonight at Cipriani.

School of Seven Bells have Interpol to thank for their togetherness. Alejandra Deheza laughs when I suggest this, but really, it’s sort of true. The New York trio made up of Benjamin Curtis, Alejandra, and her twin sister Claudia, met while supporting Interpol on tour -- Ben with the band Secret Machines and the Deheza twins with On! Air! Library!. As Alley tells it, she was enamored with the way Ben played guitar, watching him every night, and amazed that no two nights were ever the same. And though they didn’t leave their respective bands to start School of Seven Bells until a couple years later, the rest, as they say, is history. And so I stand by my suggestion of sending the boys in Interpol some flowers.