NYC

NYC rappers on the rise: Warren Britt

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Dust off your muskets, Freedom Fighters, the Britt ISH is here and it’s time to lick some shots. This album is true hip hop; it’s honest, gritty, and brimming with swagger. The beats, drawn from a diverse battalion of upcoming producers, maintain a head- nodding cohesion. The vibe channels that classic mid-90’s sound, but is also spiked with a subtle urgency that speaks more to the current cultural climate. They’re the type of songs that induce both sweaty dance floors and sweaty philosophical discussions. Warren’s dynamic delivery launches from quick machine gun barrages to slow shotgun blows to your chest. Topically, he runs the gamut from seduction to sedition combining a mainstream flow with an underground sensibility. From visceral storytelling to audacious clowning, from Queen samples to Passion Pit references, Warren Britt’s first ep is an epic victory. – Broke MC

Philadelphia

Kurt Vile Releases New Album and Chilly Performance Video for Pitchfork’s “Don’t Look Down” Series!

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Kurt Vile’s new album Smoke Ring for My Halo drops today via Matador, but you should know that already. And hopefully you’ve heard it by now since it has been streaming at NPR here. It’s The Deli’s March Album of the Month, and you can check out our review to the right or here. Below is footage from a chilly outdoor recording session by Vile and the Violators for Pitchfork’s rooftop performance series “Don’t Look Down”. The video features the songs “Jesus Fever”, “Runner Up”, “On Tour”, and “Ghost Town” from Smoke Ring for My Halo, which was also picked as “Best New Music” by Pitchfork yesterday. Vile will be back in Philly performing on Wednesday, March 23 at World Café Live opening for tour mate Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
 

NYC

Lightfoot Opens for Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea

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Lightfoot

This Wednesday is going to be fantastic. There. I said it. Utterly fantastic.

Former Deli Artist of the Month, Lightfoot will be kicking off a kicking show at Rock and Roll Hotel that will also include Cotton Jones and Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea. Expect a night full of gospel and soul and blues and doo-wop and whiskey and just generally a whole lot of heart. Don’t miss it – this show is a sell out risk, so buy your tickets now! Order them here. Doors open at 8:00. $12 if you buy ahead, $14 at the door.

Lightfoot also rocked a living room courtesy of Sofar over this past weekend. I had the privilege of catching that show and I’ll have more to say on it very soon…

In the meantime, have a listen to Lightfoot’s new acoustic video of their song, "City Girls."

–Jarrett

 

NYC

Crystal Stilts share track from upcoming album “In Love With Oblivion” + play 2 NYC gigs in April

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Lo-Fi-Psych-Gazers Crystal Stilts may be remembered as one of the most influential bands of the 2000s – as they triggered the reinassance of psych rock with surf influences in NYC. They actually where on one of our coolest covers back in 2008 (picture). The band just shared this free track from the upcoming album "In Love With Oblivion", due in April on Slumberland.

They also announced 2 NYC shows in April – they might sell out…
04/16 New York –  Le Poisson Rouge
04/17 Brooklyn – Music Hall of Williamsburg

Read the cover feature from that issue here.
Read two Deli article about the Brooklyn DIY scene here and here.
 

 

New England

The Sound of Growing Up “Drifting” EP Release Tomorrow 3/8, Free Track!

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The Sound of Growing Up
The Sound Of Growing Up is the moniker of singer/songwriter Justin Kao. A Boston transplant via Long Island, NY, Kao moved to Boston shortly after finishing college to pursue his career in music. Having played small shows and open mics in the local area, Kao began building up a network of fans, friends, and musicians with his catchy melodies and earnest lyrics.

The band’s aptly titled debut EP, Drifting, releasing tomorrow March 8, 2011, is a sweeping range of emotions that travel from uncertainty and apathy to hope and promise.  Hints of The Beatles and the Beach Boys mingle with the power pop sensibilities of Jellyfish and Weezer, building upon Kao’s insightful lyrics to create what he affectionately calls “smart pop.”

Recorded at Barefoot Studios in Boston, the record was produced by Kao with arrangement help from band guitarist Thomas Meunier. The pair also enlisted the help of veteran studio drummer Mike Levesque (David Bowie, Susan Tedeschi, Juliana Hatfield) and engineer Nate Christy (Al Jardine, Casey Desmond). The record was mixed by Jon Castelli and mastered by Grammy Award winner Nathan Dantzler of  LA’s The Hit Lab Studios.
 
Having since filled out the band’s lineup to include Gerard Beaudoin (son of New England jazz/blues legend Gerry Beaudoin) on drums and Steve Tagarelis on bass, The Sound Of Growing Up looks to continue captivating fans with their unique brand of insightful smart pop.

The Sound of Growing Up will be playing at  TT The Bear’s on Thursday, March 17.

"Drifting" Tracklist:
01.  The Kite
02.  Swing
03.  Drifting
04.  I Have No Reason
05.  The Kite (Acoustic Demo) 

Click here to download "Drifting," the third track on the EP.

–The Deli Staff

Philadelphia

Album Review: Wide Awake – Arches

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Philly duo Arches describe their latest release Wide Awake as a concept album, a foray into the world of an anonymous city dweller as he leaves his lonely life behind and heads towards a hopeful alternative to places and spaces unknown. The album buzzes with a sense of collision, not heavy or violent, but like kicking up sand and watching it settle. Arches waver and quaver with gentle bends that push and build and threaten to break, sounds that echo and open up, mixing with wind and rain. Layered vocals weave wistful lyrics with wordless harmonies, nine quiet howls sung against the soft strum of a guitar.
 
Opening track, “This Isn’t a Good Night for Walking”, creeps in quiet towards a momentous percussive peak complete with twinkly cabaret piano. The track rises and falls, and rises and falls, again, a seeming onslaught of crescendos. Sounds literalize the band’s name; shifts between ups and downs drive much of the album, couplings that entice the ears and inspire both collective and anthemic rallying as well as a more quietly cooing sentimentality. “Headlights” starts low in near whisper but quickly blooms into booming vocals and churning guitar before ebbing back out. From track to track, the LP winds and unwinds, many loosely drawn strands charting the grey in betweens of departure and arrival. Perhaps the most fulfilling song on the album is its title track, “Wide Awake”, a slowly lulling hymn humming what could be the albums mantra: “Living in a dream/wide awake it seems”. Meandering movements of melodious pop twists and turns through worlds of sleep and insomnia, and while movement is constant, a journey is afoot, one well worth hearing for yourself.
 
Congratulations to Arches for reaching their Kickstarter goal! There will be a vinyl version of Wide Awake coming soon. Until then, you can purchase a digital copy here. You can also check out Arches live tomorrow night March 8th when they perform at Danger Danger Gallery with Shark?, Levek, and Cough Cool. – Amanda Lindsay
 

Philadelphia

Video from Total Fucking Destruction’s New Album

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Below is a video that is almost a year old, but it’s a track, “Time Theft”, from Total Fucking Destruction’s new release Hater, which was recorded and mixed at Mark-it-Zero Music Studios (Brutal Truth, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, XXX Maniak, Vulcan, Old Head) by Dan O’Hare. You can purchase the album here. These guys are straight-up badasses! Also, if you don’t have Peace, Love and Total Fucking Destruction, we suggest that you go out and grab a copy. You can catch the madness live when they perform on Saturday, April 9 at Pilam’s Human BBQ XXXIII. (BTW: The Deli Magazine is not responsible for any readers’ ears bleeding and heads exploding.) Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
 

Austin

Ringo Deathstarr: Colour Trip released today!

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So much to love about Ringo Deathstarr…starting of course with the name, neck and neck right now with I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness for My Favorite Austin Band Name. But mostly of course there’s the music, a loving shoegaze revival that’s been greeted with open arms in the across the Atlantic in the birthplace of shoegaze, and enjoys a devoted, if smaller, following here in Austin. And today is the day their debut full-length Colour Trip arrives, complete with appropriately anglicized spelling. 

Ringo Deathstarr will be a part of the (free!) Eastbound Getdown at 1500 E. 2nd, Thursday 3/17 during SXSW. 

Portland

The Builders and The Butchers

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“Relevancy” may not be the first word to spring to mind when listening to The Builders and the Butchers’ latest, Dead Reckoning. That is, unless you’re a weathered seaman, a 1920’s industrial worker, or a filthy orphan abandoned in a desolate mining town. It’s desperate and despairing, but it utilizes the grit and gristle of dark old America to reframe more modern woes, and its exaltation of a steady hand in unsteady times is not only relevant, but timeless.

The tunes are damn good, to boot. Ryan Sollee wails like an apocalyptic, alcoholic prosthelytizer beset with woman troubles—stylistically and thematically—and the more sparse accompaniments of the album sets him off nicely. The subject matter may be macabre, but blood, drugs and death make fine fodder for knee-slappin’ bone-rattlin’ ditties like “Lullaby,” the funereal laments of “All Away,” and the sly, sinner’s appeal, “Family Tree.” Obviously, it’s fine drinking music, so slop some fresh corn whisky into your cleanest mug and feel all your troubles gain the weighty significance of historical parallels. Or dance around like a boneless lunatic, which has been my go-to each and every listen. – Jenn Fritschy

NYC

NYC Artists on the rise: Yellowbirds

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Yellowbirds is the moniker for the latest musical exploits of Sam Cohen (main force behind the NYC psych rock band Apollo Sunshine). This new project holds on to the psychedelic atmospheres and sonics, but in a "rootsier" contest, with very convincing results. Check out the DIY stop motion video for "The Rest of My Life", but also the embedded song "Beneath The Reach of Light", one of our favorites from the debut album "The Color".

NYC

Daniel Wayne final residency show at The Living Room on 03.09

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Daniel Wayne and his mostly Midwestern amalgamation of musicians are a breath of fresh air in the big city. The group is playing the New York scene with an as-of-yet unrecorded collection of haunting Americana tracks; heavy, blue tunes that bounce like pop songs and twang like country standards. Although Wayne is the front man, his creative process is far from solitary. Collaborating with producer Oliver Labohn and drummer Brent Follis, Wayne runs the musical company like a family band. If you are a fan of the genre don’t miss his final Living Room residency show on March 09 at 10pm. – Jenny Luczak