The Beets deliver their music with raucous, adolescent fun coupled with an otherwise obnoxious sense of humor. Their album covers snarkily display hand-drawn cartoons featuring such priceless advice as: "Hey you!, get off of that cloud. That’s Mick Jagger’s Cloud!" from their newly pressed 2-track 7" Time Brought Age/Pick Another Corner and, "If I’d only stayed in Queens, and just read about Africa" taken from the crayola’ed album cover of their second full-length The Beets Stay Home, released from Captured Tracks (home of Blank Dogs and Mink) last year. Carrying their penchant for no-fi cool to an almost absurd level of commitment, these Jackson Heights residents have recorded their albums using what sounds like it could be a Fisher Price tape recorder. Hearing band members Jose Garcia and Juan Waters scream their rough harmonies over such stifling equipment, I keep wondering if these bedroom recordings work because of, or in spite of this messiness. The Beets are the "Thee Oh Sees" for a younger generation looking for their fix of jangly, pop nuggets. And like Thee Oh Sees, The Beets get right to the point (only one track on The Beets Stay Home clocks in at over 3 minutes). Obnoxious or puerile, this music is a lot of fun, and catchy enough to make you want to stay home yourself with their latest record. – Mike Levine

A-yo readers!

Finally you can all vote for your favorite emerging DC/Baltimore artist of 2010 from the list on the right!

I know, it’s a long list, but that’s what our jury of scene makers (see list below) passed us – there was hardly any consensus amongst them, they almost all voted for different artists, and that’s why the list is so long.

The band/artist from this list that wins on the poll’s composite chart (i.e. jurors + Deli writers + fans’ votes) will receive a plethora of prizes provided by the sponsors of The Deli. Right now all the artists in the list have accumulated some points from the votes cast by jurors and writers, now it’s the fans and readers’ turn!

JURORS:
Here’s the list of jurors in random order: Andrew Bucket (Velvet Lounge), Denman Anderson (AllOurNoise.com), Neal Becton (Som Records), David Hintz (DC Rock Live), Cale Jr. (BrightestYoungThings.com), Mark Mangold (Rams Head Live), Adam Savage (Sonar), Kelly Green (Asylum), Will McCrory (Recher Theatre), Steven Lambert (Rock & Roll Hotel), Jimmy Rhodes (Red Palace), Lisa White (9:30 Club), Matty (Sidebar), Chris Buresh (DCHeavyMetal.com), Reese Higgins (WMUC), Daniel Brindley (Jammin’ Java), Dawn Reed (The Deli).

After two years of traveling and playing shows, U.S. Royalty is finally ready to release their debut full-length album, Mirrors.  I recently got a chance to sit down with lead singer John Thornley to talk about the record, his family, fashion and the ways we all connect with the music in our lives.

Read the full interview here.

Mirrors is scheduled to be released on January 25th.  You can catch the band at Rock and Roll Hotel this Saturday, January 22.  Doors open at 8:30.

–Jarrett

With a distinguishable pop sound that encompasses electronic keys, digital drums, and a plethora of synth instrumentation, it seems only fitting that the conception of Argon 40 began over the Internet. Adam Williams and Heather Greene, the duo who make up the mellow, cyber-sounding Argon 40, created a handful of tunes simply by pressing the send button. Heather Greene, both accomplished musician and Scotch whiskey expert, already boasts two albums – 2005’s “Five Dollar Dress,” recorded alongside guitar luminary Bill Frisell, and 2009’s “Sweet Otherwise,” a lauded success with audiences in Europe and the UK. Dubbed “American Ambassador of the Year” by Whisky Magazine, Heather also splits her time with Glenfiddich, taking on the role of Scotch specialist with the Banffshire-based company. Together, Adam and Heather are teaming up to host the Glenfiddich Artist Series, sponsored listening parties featuring tracks from the duo’s new album “Fair Lawn,” and other Argon 40-inspired music. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Sounding like a lo-fi mélange of The Feelies and Stereolab, Les Bicyclettes Blanches formed in the summer of 2005, in Woodstock NY, in a barn of an old mill turned into a Native American ceremonial center, blessed by Tibetan monks. The core of the band is Magnolia Santibanez (vocals/guitar/bass/keys), from Paris, France and Mackenzie Miller Parker (drums/guitar/bass) from the Catskills. They have created music together and collaborated with other musicians they have encountered on their tours of the US and Europe like Amanda Jo Williams, Venture Lift, Paul McMahon, Christian Naess, Paul Peterson. They have recorded 9 albums and can be heard on some radios stations as well as a few compilations from LA Record, Manimal Vinyl, and Winter Records. Check them out at Public Assembly on February 1st, 2011, 8pm. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).