Free Energy was the local band that seemed to skyrocket from nowhere this year. They went from being Dave P’s fun-loving neighbors with a band to the torch carriers of classic rock ‘n roll who found themselves in the studio with LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy. With more hooks than the opening day of fishing season, they are making big guitar riffs, tight pants and having a good time a prerequisite for all their shows. This year was their coming out party with DFA Records, but expect the full monty when they release their first full length album Stuck on Nothing on Astralwerks this February 23, 2010. myspace.com/freeenergymusic – H.M. Kauffman
Philadelphia
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Artist(s) Who Deserve Your Friendship: The Spooks
The Spooks play unabashed garage/surf rock with guitar riffs that come from somewhere below the waist and vocals that could scare you into loving them. Their raw, punkish energy might possibly have you playing air guitar with some serious ferocity by the end of the night. Recently back from a tour down South in support of their EP Sea Monster, the boys should be well-practiced and tight when they join The G next Sunday night at Kung Fu Necktie. myspace.com/spooksquares (Photo by Megan Trosclair) – Q.D. Tran
NYC
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From our Open Blog: Childe
Some may say that by the sheer sound of their music, Brooklyn based trio – CHILDE – was born out of the side of a dragon’s fiery head or perhaps the hairy gut of a bearded gypsy. But reality has proven that the strangely heroic and poetic rock of this new band stems from the wit and spit of their hard work. CHILDE has sprouted a surprising new sound – something earth shattering and soul satisfying – a solid sense of proportion and passion amidst the vast vagueness of music in our culturally over-saturated contemporanea. A fiery blend of stoned-out punk rock and psychadelia with a pop sensibility to make any music lover feel they are on the edge of a great vastness with no strings attached. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).
Chicago
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Felix Culpa Record Release @ Metro (Tonight!)
I’ve had the good fortune to interact with a great deal of Chicago musicians in the last year, and I can honestly say that none have been nicer than Marky Hladdish. He is just one of the members of the four-piece band The Felix Culpa. Their latest album, Sever Your Roots, finds Marky and the boys in rare form. This is a full on assault of pure rock, and they truly hold nothing back. In fact, this double LP clocks in at over 66 minutes. The band has been together for the better part of ten years now, and this album is really a culmination of that history together. In fact the track “Because This Is How We Speak” talks directly to that history and all of the bands that no longer exist.
The Felix Culpa is celebrating the release of Sever Your Roots at Metro tonight, Jan. 23rd with Loyal Divide, Robbers, and Suns.
Chicago
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Concert review: Brighton MA @ Schubas
I was fortunate to be in attendance for the first of two shows with Brighton MA at Schubas last night. The night’s opening band, Flight, made the trip in from Madison and proceeded to win over the slowly building crowd. Lead by the intoxicating force and beauty of Jentri Colello, Fight gave out copies of their demo ep and is currently working on a full-length album. Blending the sultry nature of St. Vincent with the rockier side of Feist and a heavy dose of atmospherics, Flight was a pleasure to hear.
As the room filled to capacity, as the show was sold out, Elsinore took the stage. Coming from down state, the band brought a strong college following with them. Their sound was polished, but a little all over the board. With traces of Phoenix, Wolfmother, and even a Postal Service cover, the band is still searching for a true sound but still making radio ready pop in the process.
Finally, just after midnight Brighton MA took the stage and showed the crowd how it is done. This is a band that should be so much bigger than they are, and we are lucky they call Chicago home. Holding a clinic on alt-country, they played with precision and style and a maturity that is undeniable. Matthew Kerstein controlled the crowd, drank a beer, and sang with a passion and joy that transformed the songs from their full-length Amateur Lovers into something so much more.
The entire evening I was wearing my new set of EarLove earplugs. Created here in Chicago, these Hi-Fi earplugs surprisingly enhanced the sound of the while eliminated the background noise. This morning I report that my ears are not ringing as they would normally be post show.
You can catch Brighton MA again tonight at Schubas with Andrew Belle and Tacoma Narrows.
Philadelphia
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Northern Valentine Feelin’ Fuzzy at Green Line Cafe Jan. 23
Northern Valentine, the name and the band, captures the essence of the most remote corners of the earth, from expansive vistas to the depths of the ocean, and occasionally straight up through the stratosphere. A little over-dramatic perhaps, but it’s quite appropriate for an instrumental band who evoke post-rockers like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, but also embrace more shoegazey influences, like Flying Saucer Attack. Interestingly, all of the sweeping guitar symphonics and fuzzy drone soundscapes are created primarily by just two people, husband and wife team Robert and Amy Brown (along with a rotating cast of helpers and collaborators, of course). So while the band can weave epic build-ups just as well as any of their type, there’s something about them that feels much more intimate. If you’re looking for an ambient trip to get lost in, look no further than the Green Line Cafe, where the group is playing with CJ Boyd, The New Heaven and The New Earth, and Sensory Whore. Green Line Cafe, 4426 Locust Street, 7p., All Ages myspace.com/northernvalentine – Joe Poteracki
Philadelphia
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Do You Need the Service? at KFN Jan. 23
Before forming Do You Need the Service?, Mark Sconyers and Justin Hallman made up the rhythm section of The Vanishers. When that ended they became a rhythm section for hire, while creating songs of their own. They also found the time to collaborate with people like Ken Brune and Michael Tramontana of Black Landlord. They also managed to create music that’s a jazzed out psychedelic trip that will easily unfold when they play the early show at Kung Fu Necktie. They’ll be joined by percussion heavy ghost rock legends Northern Liberties, who haven’t played a show since they shook the foundation of Code Space during the release of their 7” split album with Lesser Known Neutrinos on October 10th. So this show should be action packed. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 7pm, $5, 21+ myspace.com/doyouneedtheservice – Bill McThrill
New England
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Lawrence Welks & Our Bear 2X “Cam Couger” CD Release 1.23
Burlington’s premier basement dwelling cacophonizers are releasing their newest offering Cam Couger tomorrow night at Enter aka The Bakery. The festivities are under way at 9pm and others from Burlington’s experimental offering will be slicing your head wide open all night: Chubby Wonder (Nosebleed Island), Caring Babies, and tooth ache.
—The Deli Staff
New England
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Haiti Relief Show @ Radio Bean 1.23
Maga, evilhero, and Sad Bastards will be playing at the bean tomorrow from 11pm to close to raise funds for the Hatian Earthquake relief effort. Wild sounds will be made to fuel this fundraiser. Head down the Bean to attend Burlington’s part in relief via music.
Radio Bean
8 N. Winooski Ave.
Burlington, VT 05404
–The Deli Staff
Chicago
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Mako Sica
There is a thriving music scene here in Chicago that to many publications goes virtually unnoticed. However, on February 16th Mako Sica may begin to breakthrough. With Przemyslaw Krys Drazek on guitar and trumpet, Michael J. Kendrick on drums and Brent Fuscaldo on vocals, guitar, and various percussion, Mako Sika plays an experimental and free form psychedelic jazz and punk. They wholly embrace the freedom of sound and the power of exploration.
Dual Horizon is the bands debut album and it was recorded by Todd Rittmann (D. Rider) and Jim Zespy (Magnolia Electric Co.) at Logan Hardware. The session were recorded live and left untouched. The texture, the multi-layers, the echoing and searching is all their own. Side A of the album kicks off with the twenty track “I’toi”, a song named for a mythological Native American god who lives in a mountain cave and watches over the desert. The words Mako Sica come from a Sioux Lakota Native American term meaning, "land bad." This album is spiritual if you let it be, the form and nature is that free and ever-changing, but it is also an impressive display musical craftsmanship. You can preorder Dual Horizon here.
San Francisco
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Congratulations to the winners of our Best Emerging Bay Area Artist of 2009!
We’re happy to be finally closing the book on 2009 and wanted to take a moment to congratulate the winners of our Best Emerging Artist of 2009.
First, the Readers Poll where San Francisco’s Orchestra of Antlers (in the picture) reached the top spot in a heated race with Oakland’s Grand Lake. Both bands made major waves in the Bay Area music scene throughout 2009 and since the bands were only 2% apart in the total number of votes, we decided to split the banner up top to recognize everyone’s hard work. You can catch Orchestra of Antlers at the Retox Lounge on January 30 and Grand Lake on February 2nd at Thee Parkside as part of SF Winterfest. In third place was Bay Area Hip Hop artists Le Vice who played the West Beach Music & Arts Festival last year along side Ben Harper and Ozomatli. Thier debut release is due in March and they play El Rio on March 11th. See the full Top 10 of our Readers Poll here.
The top winner in our overall Best Emerging Artist of 2009 was San Francisco’s Girls. The band seemed to blow up in the second half of the year and their debut release Album, was widely reviewed and talked about on music sites throughout the country. Girls will be playing the Great American Music Hall on February 14th. The second spot went to another band with a lot of buzz last year, Oakland’s Man/Miracle. Their LP The Shape of Things quickly sold through the first pressing and is expected to be re-released this year on Third Culture Records. Man/Miracle are playing a FREE show tonight at The Speakeasy [604 56th St., Oakland] and at Bottom of the Hill with Rogue Wave on February 24th. The third spot went to a a staple in the Bay Area music scene, Or, the Whale. This year saw them recording for Daytrotter and their self titled second release made a couple "Best Of" lists for 2009. Or, the Whale’s next local show is in March at The Independent. You can see the full list of nominees and their standings here.
A big thanks goes out to all of the readers that voted, The Deli staff that helped compile and vote on the nominees an the local bloggers, engineers and musicians who acted as jurors to help deliberate over a years worth of fantastic Bay Area music! Our jurors this year were: John Flores [owner of Studio SQ] Christian Cunningham [The Bay Bridged], Nate Seltenrich [East Bay Express], Anna Gazdowicz [Stranger Dance] , John Vanderslice [musician and owner of Tiny Telephone], Mark Taylor [KQED], Ted Leibowitz [Bagel Radio] and Peter Arko [Ears of the Beholder].
The Deli SF is looking forward to lots of amazing music from Bay Area artists in 2010!
-Nicole Leigh
Philadelphia
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Weekend Warrior, January 22 – 24
The Spinning Leaves will be celebrating the release of their vinyl record entitled LOVE on Rope A Dope at newly re-opened MarBar this Saturday. A pleasant trip down folk lane, this boy-girl duo is a minimalist’s delight, utilizing their few elements and producing a surprising amount of force and emotion. The vocals presented by both Michael Baker and Barbara Gettes mix splendidly – the right touch of tragedy and hope. Sweet lyrical melodies are reinforced by horns, piano, and other miscellaneous instruments that are lent to the record by special musical guests. One such guest is Hezekiah Jones a.k.a. Raph Cutrufello who will also be performing in support of the release. He leads a ragtag crew of talented musicians full of veterans from the Philly folk scene. Well, they are really family so just call them the Joneses. In addition to both of these amazing groups, one of our personal favorites in Philly lately, The Great Unknown, are scheduled to make an appearance. If you haven’t checked out The Great Unknown yet, now is a pretty good time to start listening. MarBar, 200 S. 40th St., 9pm, $7/students $5 also $20 entry + record, 21+ myspace.com/thespinningleaves
More stuff to do…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Toy Soldiers, The Great Unknown, TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb, SAT Bo Bliz and Emynd, Reef The Lost Cauze
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT Do You Need Service?, Northern Liberties
MarBar (200 S. 40th St.) FRI Steppin Razor
Green Line Café (4426 Locust St.) SAT Northern Valentine and Sensory Whore
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) FRI Absolute Zeros, Parsnip Revolt, Dani Mari
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI (Early – All Ages) Kevin James Devine (CD Release Party)