Portland

Deli Portland Readers Poll Winners Bodhi Featured in Latest Edition of “Feels Like Home”

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We’ll let the video for Bodhi‘s "Warm Side" speak for itself. If, for some odd goddamn reason, you had not heard or seen the band before, here’s your chance. This is part of the ongoing rad film featurettes over at Into the Woods. These series’ are fast becoming the talk of the indie-rock film game, and I’m glad to see them representing such a vibrant, diverse scene like Portland’s.

I’m almost tempted to write more about how awesome this song is, too. But, well, you’ve got eyes and ears, right? Besides, I’m pretty sure Bodhi knows we love them at the Deli Portland already.

Apologies to those deaf, dumb, blind kids who stumbled onto this site all willy-nilly. We’re sure you play a mean pinball.

– Ryan J. Prado

San Francisco

In the studio with Chloe Makes Music

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For some artists, their time in the studio can be a working environment that is rather personal and closed off, not for the public. For those of us on the outside of the event, it can seem like a mysterious and secret process that piques the curiosity of those that appreciate a persons ability to communicate through song.  That’s why when Chloe Roth of Chloe Makes Music contacted The Deli to see if we’d like to sit in on a recording session at Studio SQ we jumped at the chance. Who wouldn’t want to observe and listen like a fly on the wall in the moment that an artist puts their creative expressions into a fixed medium?

Twice a month, the readers of The Deli SF vote for their favorite nominated artist of the month. These artists not only rewarded with a banner on the site but also with free studio time from the poll’s sponsor Studio SQ. As a musician trying to make it in the second most expensive city in the US, free studio time is a very good thing. Back in the second half of October 2009, Chloe Makes Music was chosen by the Deli readers as the Artist of The Month and this was the first time that anyone at the Deli was able to see the poll process come full circle.

We visited Chloe in the studio on day 5 of a 6 day recording marathon as she laid tracks with producer Chris Chu [vocalist for The Morning Benders] for her upcoming debut LP. Studio SQ has a nice warm welcoming feel. You’re greeted by a friendly brindle boxer the door who naps on the couch when shes not monitoring the activity around and the studio itself is large and open and filled with a lot of wood which gives it that comfortable, home-y feel. It’s almost hard to believe that such an intimate place can exist in what is a primarily industrial part of the city.

Chloe is recording backing vocals for the current track that they’re working on, "The Puppeteer," and Chris is preparing to sit at the piano for the next segment of the recording. Chloe explains, "I want it to sound like there are puppets singing" – an appropriate request for a song about a person that manipulates marionettes. Chloe was concerned that I might be bored but I wasn’t, not even the slightest bit. Boring is watching me sit in my small studio apartment trying to create sentences to describe what had taken place. Mostly, I was intrigued by what sounded to be an almost complete track with some lovely haunting harmonies.

As the afternoon begins to wind down, Chloe and Chris discuss which elements are left to record and begin to coordinate their final day in the studio. I decide to take this as my cue to slip out and allow the creative flow to be uninterrupted. I say a quick goodbye and quietly leave. Outside, the sun is almost gone and I realize that there is a catchy melody of puppets still singing in my head.

The Deli SF would like to thank both Chloe Makes Music and Studio SQ for allowing this unique opportunity and we look forward to hearing the finished product!

-Nicole Leigh

NYC

New Video by The Phenomenal Hanclap Band: “Baby”

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NYC’s own The Phenomenal Handclap Band recently debuted their video for "Baby" on Stereogum. Likened to a Dario Argento film, this trippy, color-saturated, and beautifully dark video is directed by Steven Agnew, formerly of The Futureheads’ "Walking Backwards" video fame. Band member Sean Marquand said about the filming of the video, "we went upstate to our friend Paddy’s house, which was incredible, but the surreal serial killer aspect colored everyone’s mood. Even when we weren’t filming, there seemed to be someone sneaking up on us in the forest. The video reflects some of the highs and lows of our weekend. There’s kinship and celebration there but there’s also an underlying paranoia attached to being at such a remote location."

Chicago

Cobalt and the Hired Guns @ the Metro on 2/19

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A life is made up of time, some points more definitive than others; for Cobalt and the Hired Guns, opening for State Radio at the Metro on February 19th will certainly be an unforgettable set of moments.

To play on the same bill has been a long time dream of Chicago band, ‘Cobalt’, a bunch of guys passionate about music and environmentalism. Their upbeat songs and ebullient stage presence has given them the opportunity to tour and share the stage with other big names like Dashboard Confessional and I Fight Dragons.

State Radio, formed in 2002 by former member of Dispatch, Chad Stokes, plays anthemic Americana. A band also bent on using their musical influence to for societal betterment, State Radio has undoubtedly made a stamp on both the sound and mission of Cobalt and the Hired Guns.

Check out Cobalt and State Radio February 19th at the Metro. All Ages, tickets $21. Doors at 6pm and show at 7pm. – Erin Keane

NYC

Deranged NYC garage rock: The Natch! Live at The Delancey on 02.19

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The Natch is a new local female fronted trio that plays some kind of deranged garage rock in the best NYC tradition: lots of attitude, big distorted guitars, crooked vibe and a coordinating wardrobe. The band is currently working on their debut CD, scheduled to be released in the summer, but they haven’t put their live appearences on hold because of this: you can catch them live at The Delancey on Friday 02.19 and in several other cities in May during their East Coast tour.

New England

Theodore Treehouse @ Slainte Wine Bar, Portland, ME, 2.16

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 TT

Theodore Treehouse is relatively new to Portland, but thanks to a grand network of friends and a venue that will welcome almost anything that resembles a music group, Treehouse was given a vessel to kick the ass of 100 or more ears on Tuesday night. Despite the band being in an early stage, their songs were incredibly catchy and well-crafted. The core of every song was poppy, but there were some more experimental elements (repetition, jamming) that kept the band from being just another pop act. It’d be safe to say these guys (and gal) are garage pop, very much like Portland’s Metal Feathers. The timbre can make or break a band, and this band’s timbre has a wonderful coat: guitar on distortion, fuzzy synthesizer, forward bass, dynamic drums and a scratchy, but lovable voice. You could say Treehouse can fall in somewhere between Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade and earlier Animal Collective, but comparisons like this ultimately do the band a disservice, especially when they bring a completely new sound to the table and deserve the credit. If you’re interested in following the Portland music scene, Theodore Treehouse is definitely a band to take note of. I can sense that they’ll be playing a lot more shows with better-known bands real soon.

–Dylan Martin

Chicago

Ok Go on Fuel TV

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You know you’re big time when… It seems like a set up to a punchline, but the truth as soon as Ok Go hit those treadmills they became “big time”. Their latest trick is a partnership with Gibson Guitars that has now found them playing on Fuel TV tomorrow night with their ultra-customized Gibson guitars. Ok Go will be performing song from their latest album Of The Blue Colour of the Sky with their new equipment that have been modified with interactive laser systems that respond to the playing of the strings, which then project abstract images that are graphic interpretations of the music. The group collaborated with artist Moritz Waldemeyer and Fendi to create these incredibly elegant and wholly unique instruments. The instruments will make their TV debut on Fuel TV’s “The Daily Habit” tomorrow night (Feb. 18th) at 8:00pm.

Chicago

Concert Review: Coach House Sounds Night @ The Whistler

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It happens all the time, right? You walk into to your local bar and pounding drums, swirling organs, and measured guitar. You turn to look at the stage there you see a man in a peach dress were a sort of headdress make out of flowers and banging on sheet metal. Well, it is only happened to if you had walked during a performance by the Chicago legends ONO like I did last night at The Whistler. ONO has been perfecting their wild performance art since 1980, and completely wowed the crowd. Lead singer Travis merged the presence of Saul Williams, the darkness of Mike Patton, and the fashion of Courtney Love. His is a frightening crooner that often breaks to the darker side of things.

Following ONO was the psychedelic furry or Moonrises. This band was a sonic explosion and they played with passion and plenty of feedback. They combine elements of popular acts like Wolfmother or The Black Keys, but adds a fierce darkness to their sound.

The night was incredible, but I had to leave before the gentler Lesser Birds of Paradise took the Stage. Coach House Sounds had done it again, combined inventive music with live literary reading and created an atmosphere charged with creativity.

You can catch ONO and witness the madness in person on Feb 26th @ The Woodlawn Collaborative with Suckling Pigs and Anemrosetone.

Austin

T Bird and the Breaks!

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T-Bird and the Breaks can fully be described in the word ‘classic.’ Soul music with mastery of all the familiar and effective hooks and blues bass lines that defined early rock & roll. T-Bird & The Breaks seem to be ripped right from that era, back when parents were squares, music was the devil’s work, and kids couldn’t get enough of it — which is fitting enough, because T-Bird is just like that, makes you feel young, makes you want to get up and move around, and you just can’t get enough of it. The 10-piece band ranges everything from funk to soul to blues to funk to rockabilly; listening to T-Bird & the Breaks is like experiencing the history of Texas Music, like listening to the soul of the state. 

 

Since November, T-Bird and the Breaks have been releasing a single the first Tuesday every month that will keep going on ’til April – that’s right, two new songs, every month.  Following in their yesteryear style – though the new music attempts to stray away from this sensibility, making style their playground – the singles are available on 7" vinyl as well as digitial download.  Giving them a chance to flex a more experimental muscle, the most recent single, “The Piano Joint” showcases two different songs toying with a more hand-churned, hip-hop-meets-big-band-meets-funk feel.  Not to say that’s not what T-Bird & the Breaks had going on before, but this hits you in a different way.

Playing next Friday, Feb. 19 at Antones, end your President’s-Day-Week right with some jazzy-bluesy, bluesy-jazzy, sweet funky soul music that’ll warm you off from the cold and get you moving, dancing and sweating.

–Mitchell Mazurek

 

Philadelphia

Grandchildren and Pink Skull Bring Their Circle of Life to JB’s Feb. 17

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JB’s is hosting a bill that should have your head spinning and your ass moving. Grandchildren, runner-up of our recent Best of Philly Emerging Artist(s) Poll, with their bombastic sound that slips and slides into ethereal moments that might be found “the day after” nuclear devastation, will be opening for local DJs turned full fledged band Pink Skull, whose time travel electronica will get survivors of Grandchildren’s set dancing towards a new world. But before this apocalyptic event and rebirth, Brooklyn’s Dinowalrus will bring you the feelings of chaos and acceptance that ensue before such momentous occasions. Survivors will be rewarded greatly! Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Q.D. Tran
Philadelphia

Kurt Vile Comes Home to The Barbary Feb. 17

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Philly’s “childish prodigy” Kurt Vile will be hitting up the Barbary tonight. He’ll be bringing along his steadfast companions The Violators and hopefully that great looking hair. Vile delivers noisy, deliberate pop-rock tunes compared to folks like Tom Petty and The Boss, but his sound is not at all stuck in the past. On his newest album, Childish Prodigy, out on Matador, his arrangements are intricate, entwined and washed in distortion. His deep, lazy drawl nicely compliments the psychedelic tunes. Kurt Vile and The Violators will be swinging home for the evening along with his Canuck tour mates Fucked Up before continuing their travels up North. The Barbary, 951 N. Frankford Ave., 7pm, $12, 21+ myspace.com/kurtvileofphilly – Adam G.
 
NYC

Submit to play during SXSW! – Music Tech Mashup Party!

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Deli readers who play in bands,

The Deli has reserved 3 showcase slots at Music Tech Mashup during SXSW, which will take place at Rusty Spurs in Austin, TX on 7th St. on March 17. Rusty Spurs features 3 stages with an 800 person capacity in the middle of it all and is an official SXSW venue. During SXSW it will host shows by heavy hitters like Echo and the Bunnymen, Vega (Neon Light side project) and Semi Precious Weapons (recently on tour with Lady Gaga) amongst others.

To apply to play this SXSW show all you need to do is fill in this form HERE and click on the confirmation email you’ll receive (this will simply add you to our mailing list and enter your band in our fabulous charts organized by genre and region – one day we’ll also create band profiles!). 3 artists will be selected by the organizers (one of them will be a local Austin, TX artist). Any band that is available to travel to Austin is eligible. Submission deadeline is Monday 02.22 at 11.59 pm.

Music Tech Mashup Showcase (hosted by Coast to Coast Models & Events and presented by The Deli, Hunnypot, GreenShoeLace) will celebrate the convergence of music and technology and the opportunities it presents for everyone involved just as SXSW itself switches gears from Interactive Week to Music Week.This is a list of some of the artists already booked: Jada – Universal Motown Records (Boston, MA) – Bamboo Shoots – Epic Records (New York) – Shinobi Ninja – (Brooklyn, NY) – McAlister Drive – (Boston, MA) – Odd Modern – (Los Angeles, CA) – Keys and Crates (Toronto, Canada) – Curtis Santiago (Toronto, Canada) – Keith Masters (Chicago, IL) – FutureCop! (UK) – Mark Foster (Los Angles, CA).

The Deli’s Staff