New England

Haiti Earthquake Benefit at Great Scott in Allston

Posted on:

Keep the love and the funds flowing out to Haiti on this MLK eve while rocking out in Allston.

The music venue  Great Scott is partnering with the online arts mag, Boston Tea Party and the Boston-based charity Partners in Health to present a rockin’ Haiti Earthquake Release Benefit.

The $10 cover goes entirely to Partners in Health to support their ongoing efforts to provide quality health care to the people of Haiti.

Emceed by Foxy Action Group, (Featuring members of Mystery Roar), the night’s entertaininment includes music from The New Collisions, D.J. Die Young, Southern Belle, E-603, and Key Brook. The music kicks off at 8PM. Get tickets here.

Chicago

Last Minute Plans: Partners in Health Benefit @ The Hideout

Posted on:

With all of the tragic reports of the devastating earthquake is Haiti many people around the world have stepped up to help. I am sure many of you reading this have already contributed in some way, but even if you have you should consider stopping by The Hideout tonight. Local bands Waco Brothers and Eleventh Dream Day play this special show benefiting Partners in Health, which has been working on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years. That’s right, two great Chicago bands, a soild and reputable charity, and you stepping and helping the people of Haiti… You really can’t lose. Tickets are $20 and the event begins at 8:00pm.

 

Chicago

Deli’s Year End Best of Chicago Fans’ Poll

Posted on:

The results of the reader’s poll are in and the winner by a slim margin was the superhero tee sporting, NES freaks, I Fight Dragons. In fact, the margin was so close that we have decided to let the second place winner, King Sparrow, share the banner.

The final results of all the polls, jury, open poll, reader’s poll, and so on will be released on Wednesday win the overall winner is announced, so stay tuned!

Nashville

The Protomen win Deli’s Year End Best of Nashville Fans’ Poll. Composite Chart announced soon

Posted on:

It was a long and complicated process, but our Best of Nashville Poll has finally come to an end. We have gathered all the data from jurors, writers, and readers, and we have indeed the first verdict: Alt Rockers The Protomen (once again) are The Deli Readers’ Best Emerging Nashville Artist of 2009 – they took our Fans’ poll by storm with more than 400 votes. Congrats to them! The results of our Composite Chart (the one including the votes from the jury and the writers which will elect the Deli’s Best Emerging Nashville Artist of 2009) will be announced on Wednesday, as we need a few days to organize it and add up the votes (yeah, we suck at math).

Congrats also to PUJOL and Bad Cop – who placed 2nd and 3rd in the Fans’ Poll.
 

Chicago

Kid Savant

Posted on:

It’s an addictive formula, tight electro synths, big beats, and smooth vocals, but it’s not that easy to achieve. That is unless you are a savant, Kid Savant that is. Kid Savant consists of Ryan Weisberger, John Sullivan, Kevin Pariso, and Andrew Wendahl. Last year the band released their second ep called Second Servings, and already have begun to put up new tracks on their myspace page. Their sound is densely layered, highly electronic, and heavily danceable. Keep and eye out for this up and coming band.

NYC

Midnight Spin wins Deli’s Year End Best of NYC Fans’ Poll. Composite Chart announced on Wednesday

Posted on:

It was a long and complicated process, but our Best of NYC Poll has finally come to an end. We have gathered all the data from jurors, writers, and readers, and we have indeed the first verdict: Alt Rockers Midnight Spin are The Deli Readers’ Best Emerging Artist of 2009 – they took our Fans’ poll by storm with more than 1k votes. Congrats to them! The results of our Composite Chart (the one including the votes from the jury and the writers which will elect the artist that will grace the cover of our spring printed issue) will be announced on Wednesday, as we need a few days to organize it and add up the votes (yeah, we suck at math).

Congrats also to Cavalier Rose and The Shake – who placed 2nd and 3rd in the Fans’ Poll. These 3 bands will win some prizes offered by our sponsors, and Midnight Spin also a full feature in a future issue of The Deli.
 

Philadelphia

Artist(s) Who Deserve Your Friendship: Mammal of Paradise

Posted on:

 

If you made it out this past Friday to Orbit to Leslie’s SOLD OUT CD Release Party that The Deli presented, you learned that the boys behind the indie pop flying machine known as Aderbat have a new project in the works to unveil to the music world. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Taylor, drummer Todd Scheid, bassist Brad Kunkle and multi-instrumentalist Craig Hendrix will be now known as Mammal of Paradise. Check out a sample of what they are working on at http://www.myspace.com/mammalofparadise. Both unmastered tracks, “Anyone’s Song” and “Freeway” were mixed by anti-music industry producer Andrew Weiss (Ween, Akron Family, Rollins Band). “Anyone’s Song” is sure to be their debut single with its chill, groovy “Walk on the Wild Side” feel. Hopefully someone better than Marky Mark will be smart enough to sample or remix it. I had a chance to catch up with Matt Taylor after the show to talk about Mammal of Paradise.
 
Q.D. Tran: With such recent critical acclaim for your full length We Belong to the Sea and your EP Man Overboard as well as your debut full length Rabbits and Rocks, why did you feel that now was the right time to change your name?

Matt Taylor: A bunch of reasons actually, Mammal of Paradise is more of a new project for us than a name change. When we became a four piece with Craig Hendrix and started to record a new Aderbat record this past year, it felt like a new band. Our whole dynamic changed and not to mention our personal lives. It was then I first thought about making the album under a different moniker. Also, Brad, Todd and myself started Aderbat way back in 2003, so we have a long list of songs…too many really. Most I can’t remember or I just don’t feel excited about playing anymore. This gives us the opportunity to have a new set of music without feeling obligated to throw in the oldies. Its a new decade…new ideas. 

QDT: What is the meaning behind Mammal of Paradise? Where did the name Mammal of Paradise come from?

MT: As a child in this industrial landscape, it’s a way of thinking, being and escaping. It’s romanticism, its emotion and intuition over rationalism. More importantly, it’s taken directly from a book by Lord Whimsy called The Affected Provincial’s Companion Vol. 1. 

QDT: Did the new name come to you easily or was it a grueling process?
 
MT: Grueling. Making up band names can become an obsession. Drunk, high, early in the morning, I would make a list then scrap it, then do it again. I’ve got some for future projects that I’m going to start. Mammal of Paradise came early actually, but I thought we couldn’t use it until I wrote Mr. Whimsy for permission and he so eloquently said “Matthew–words are for everyone, wear it in good health”.

 
QDT: That’s pretty cool. How has the reception been with the new name from your fans and friends?

MT: Awesome, I met a guy yesterday and he asked what my band was called, I told him, and he didn’t say, “How do you spell that?” Otherwise, no one really knows.

QDT: What should we expect from Mammal of Paradise in the new year?

MT: I’m very excited for the new year. We have the Mammal of Paradise debut record presently being mixed by our friend Andrew Weiss and new songs to write. We have a couple up online now. 

QDT: Would you consider yourself a "mammal of paradise"?

MT: Absolutely, I’ve got my own exotic paradise going on right now, somehow, it’s a mystery how I do it sometimes.
 
QDT: What is your favorite thing to get at the deli?

MT: Whatever I forgot to get at the grocery store…cream, cafe bustello.

 
 
(Photo by Ed Roper)
 
– Q.D. Tran

 

Philadelphia

Gene Ween Solo at WCL Jan. 16

Posted on:

 

 
If you haven’t heard of Gene Ween, you probably haven’t heard of Ween, and if you haven’t heard of Ween, where have you been for the past twenty-some years? The duo from New Hope, PA has skewered every possible genre over the last few decades, infecting everything they touch with an unequaled level of musicianship and a crudely bizarre sense of humor that borders on the surreal. Naturally, Gene Ween’s solo project doesn’t fall too far from the tree, but there is a heightened emphasis on simplicity. Lots of classic rock riffing, with creamy, distorted leads and Gene’s trademark congested crooning. Who else could pull off both the Zeppelin-like guitar lines of “Ooh Va La” and the ‘77 punk of “It’s Not Cool” and still sound totally apart from everyone else in music? No one, probably. If you’re one of those who already inhabit the goofy Ween universe, or if you’d like to try it out, head on over to World Cafe Live where Gene is playing with indie-folk man Thom McCarthy. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, 8pm, $25, 21+ myspace.com/geneweenband – Joe Poteracki

 

Philadelphia

Blood Feathers Album Release Party at JB’s Jan. 16

Posted on:

 

 
Blood Feathers became the first band signed to the fledgling Philebrity label this fall. We’ve been anxiously waiting for their debut label full length Goodness Gracious since November, its originally scheduled release date. Well, tonight the wait is over! Join the boys and their snarky blogging backers at Johnny Brenda’s when they celebrate this momentous occasion with eccentric piano pop maestro BC Camplight, who was dubbed “a name to become synonymous with star quality” by Time Magazine, and the vintage 70’s revival rock sound of the Josh Olmstead Band. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ myspace.com/bloodfeathersrockandrollband – Bill McThrill

 

Portland

Last Empire Unfurls Geek-Metal Flag at Satyricon Saturday

Posted on:

 

Last Thursday night, I had dinner at Bar Carlo with my good friend and her one-year-old son Lucian. As the adults sat perusing over the menu, Lucian took it upon himself to bang two knives against the table and crank his head up and down, as he sang a song at the top of his lungs that only he knew the words to. This might have been annoying to the staff and other patrons of the restaurant, but for me it was an enjoyable experience watching a very intelligent child express himself. I turned to my friend in the midst of the noise and said, “Your son is so metal.” And if you think about it, what I said to my friend was completely true. What is metal if not someone pounding on the drums, head banging and bellowing lyrics that you usually can’t understand?

It is generally the high energy, screaming and testosterone that makes us love metal, not necessarily the message behind the music. But many metal bands like Manowar, Iron Maiden and Portland’s own Last Empire do have a message, and for Harry Potter nerds like myself, it is a message of heavenly geekiness.

Fantasy-metal purveyors Last Empire sing about unicorns, falcons and kings of the throne. Their sound has a definite old school ’80s feel, but mixes in a new school style and swagger. The band has received nothing but great reviews, especially for the out-of-this-world vocals of singer Brian Allen; but they haven’t quite caught on the same way in the U.S. as they have in Europe. Portland is lucky to have access to such a talented band, so you listeners out there need to take advantage of it by seeing them play on Saturday, January 16th with an all-Oregon bill also featuring Portland’s Goatsoldiers, Excruciator and Salem’s Filth-Machine at Satyricon. 8:00 p.m. All ages. $8.

– Deanna Uutela

Chicago

AM Taxi The Mistake

Posted on:

AM Taxi will make their debut on Virgin Records this summer, but we have a sneak peak at the shiny punk-pop that just might make them famous. The album promises to hold a wide range of style containing sounds resembling everything from The Hold Steady and The Replacements to Wilco and Sam Cooke. However, that remains to be seen because this first single, “The Mistake (available for download here), is highly polished and filled with pop. The album is called We Don’t Stand A Chance and will be released right before the band jumps on the Warped Tour, starting June 24 through August 15.

Chicago

A Winter Block Party

Posted on:

If there was one dominate form of music in Chicago it would have to be Hip Hop. There are so many different forms and characters and even superstars, but Kevin Coval may see the scene a little differently than others. He is hosting Chicago Public Radio’s Winter Block Party for Hip Hop Arts. This special event will be an exhibition of style, mash-ups, collage, and conversation, demonstrating with living/breathing examples of how hip-hop has manifested throughout these fields and why cultural vanguards are pushing us all forward. Those in attendance will see hip hop not through bling, pro nails, and spinning rims, but through Dance, Visual Art, Literature, Political Organizing, Journalism, and more. An all day event combing the various elements of hip hop is sure to be an enlightening event for even the biggest hip hop fans.

It all takes places at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater on Sunday January 17th, and you can find more information at Chicago Public Radio website.