During my first trip to New York, circa about eight years old, my parents took me to the Whitney Museum to check out a (very) contemporary art exhibit. In hipster retrospect, this is cool; yet all I remember from this freaky exhibit was a television screen of a white painted dude eating the bloodied flesh of a buffalo. Call me a little bitch, but ever since then, I have stayed away from the Whitney during my yearly museum visits. However, since the start of the “Whitney Live” this summer (concerts “with upstarts in experimental pop, tropicalia, chill-wave, beach music, garage rock, post-punk, and globe-trotting bass-inflected DJ beats”) I have decided to put aside my irrational fears of cannibalistic art forms in order to rock out for free. On that note, Brooklyn-based Tanlines, will be performing this Friday for your dance floor pleasures! Incorporating hints of African percussion, ritualistic chanting and a mix of instrument-heavy-vocal-steady beats, this duo produces music with sun-drenched, poppy life. Who knew the Whitney could put on a hella fun beach party? Anyways, it’s totally worth it. Just don’t forget your Bull Frog. – Alex Daly

If Devendra Banhart was a little older, Larkin Grimm could be his rebellious love child (unsurprisingly, the two share the same record label, Young God Records). There is just enough of an artistic personality crisis in Grimm’s music that moves her beyond the folk-Appalachian-meets-avant-garde we’ve heard before. The soft acoustic notes and simple melodies of “The Butcher” and Eastern-inspired, high-pitched strings and chanting rhythms of “Durge” are equally accessible. Grimm’s life reads like a modern fairy tale, from her childhood in a cult to being a former member of Dirty Projectors, and her raw talent and creative urges should only continue to develop. Catch one of her intense live shows on Sept. 2 at the Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY with Birds Fled from Me. – Whitney Phaneuf

Birmingham-born and now, Brooklyn-based Deluka deliver delectable dance tracks suitable for clubs across all ponds on their latest record, “You Are the Night,” due out September 14. Ellie Innocenti’s brooding but lush vocal quality blends perfectly with accompanying bass drones, electronic effects, New Wave nuances, and techno trends that permeate Deluka’s eleven tunes. The immediately attention-grabbing album jumps into high-gear with “OMFG,” guitar-riff driven “Snapshot,” and invigorating “Nevada.” The melodious “Come Back to Me,” single, “Cascade,” and tender “Name On My Lips” surge forward into the irresistibly danceable “Mean Streak,” the record highlight that is worthy of numerous spins.“Trespasser” walks on sultry rock territory, while “Waves’” reverberation and free-flowing style reflect the song title to a T. Humming synthesizers and crunching guitars awaken listeners on “Morning Comes,” and “Capital City” closes “You Are the Night” with a six-minute, infectious dance- punk finale. Deluka will hit the Pianos stage for free on August 25 at 8PM and Ella Lounge (9 Avenue A, Manhattan) on September 1. – Meijin Bruttomesso

We quote from our NYC Open Blog (we gave up editing this): "Long ago in the days of ancient kings there was peace, and all were happy – but HARK! A sudden darkness en-cloaked the realm of Brooklyn, and hailing from the outer reaches of the galaxy came ELKS shooting lasers from steel antlers, shattering souls and melting brains. They brewed a drought of New York souls from New York bros and subjugated the realm. Never satisfied, they loaded what terrified wretches remained into a gold sarcophagus and aimed it at the sun. Soon all would be melted by the glory of their heaviness. ELKS recently completed their first EP, three of the six tracks can be heard on their Myspace. Upcoming dates: FRI 9/3 @ SANTOS PARTY HOUSE w/ Today is the Day, A Storm of Light THUR 10/28 @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG w/ JEFF The Brotherhood, Ninjasonik, Liquor Store" – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Miniature Tigers‘ "Fortress" was definitely one of our favorite "Made In Brooklyn" pop albums of the summer (it just officially released a couple of weeks ago, but we had a press download since June – ah the privileges of the bloggers). The band is about to embark on a fall tour with Neon Indian (a group we’ll have to start covering in this blog because also partially based in Brooklyn – although  mostly in Austin) and Japandroids. This is a lo-fi, quirky video of the single "Gold Skull" – which was actually co-produced with the Neon Indian folks.