New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
Bailiff recorded a session with Audiotree on Nov. 29th, and here is the track "Little by Little" from that session. You can watch their full session here. The track comes from their 2011 release Red Balloon which can be stream and purchased here.
You can catch Bailiff tonight, Dec. 9th, at Subt with Young Buffalo and Distractions.
We guess New Beard is a kind of band where lady musicians are (implicitly) not invited, since it looks like to be in it you MUST proudly wear some kind of facial hair. Now, while we are aware of the existence of bearded women, we have to say that for some reason they don’t seem to live anywhere near NYC…
The four "beardos", including Ben Wigler (who was wearing one back in 2007, when he appeard on the cover of The Deli Magazine with his previous band Arizona), are all very accomplished musicians and play some very eclectic and pushy indie blues-rock with influences ranging from the exotic to the psych/prog. The band will be releasing their debut EP "Moment of Peace" at Cameo on 12.18, which we are sure will be a good old fashioned rock’n’roll blast. Recommended.
Young Magic is the Brooklyn based collaboration between two Australian musicians (Isaac Emmanuel and Michael Italia) and Indonesian singer songwriter Melati Malay, who made it into our Best of NYC emerging artists poll last year (see our writeup about her here). This project sounds like a more mature development of the direction taken by Malay in her most recent solo material, in which world music influences are rendered through lush and atmospheric arrangements rich in percussions, layered electronic sounds and celestial choirs. The band recently signed to Carpark Records – their LP "Melt" is scheduled to be released on February 14th 2012.
We announced several months ago the Felix Culpa were calling it quits and this Friday, December 9th they will play their final show. Joined on the bill by friends El Oso, Sainthood Reps, and Monday’s Hero, the Culpa will be celebrating their final performance with a special two-hour long set playing a combination of album-favorites past and present, for what will ultimately serve as a memorable event for both fans and band members alike.
The band formed back in 2002, and have release two LP’s and two EP’s. The most recent release being this past February and "Sever Your Roots / Bury The Axe" which is available through No Sleep Records.
Plains have released a video for their track "Black Feeling" which appears on their self-titled debut album. The album was released earlier this year, and is the brainchild of Michael McGinnis. The bands next single "Judy" premiered this week on ABC’s Revenge.
SF’s favorite electro pop quartet The Frail is playing favorites with the Deli, giving our readers a first look at its new video for single "Frenemies." The video chronicles the boys out on a crazy night in the city. Its catchy chorus of “1,2,3,4 can’t see me anywhere, 5,6,7,8 get seem to get away” makes the song a perfect party anthem. Crank it up, nine-to-fivers.
Download the entire “Lovers Over Lasers” EP and catch the guys tonight at Popscene, opening for fellow local troublemakers The Hundred Days.
–Amanda Dissinger
Prior to their November 2011 EP release, Adventure Set haven’t felt a pulse since the mid 1980s. In their heyday as contenders in Boston’s altrock scene, the band reached second place in the WBCN Rock and Roll Rumble, an annual battle of the bands hosted by the renowned and now-defunct radio station. Soon followed a hiatus in which the members pursued careers and other musical endeavors.
The 5-song EP Centuries to Go draws heavily from the New Wave vein– it’s in Ken Scales’ beguiling, looming vocals and Mark Pothier’s arty lyrics– as if Scales and Pothier weren’t quite finished with whatever business they left behind in the eighties. Saying that they are stuck in the past would be inaccurate. The songs from Centuries to Go are more precise and keyboard-driven than their older material. Stereo Hands opens the album in an upbeat and eerie way with hints of David Bowie peeking his way through Scale’s vocals as he sings about the limitations in using technology to communicate. Fueled by synths and an energetic catchiness, Paler Faces is the most dynamic track of the five, making the most out of both the electronic and pop aspects of Adventure Set’s style.
The EP’s biggest upset is that it takes almost no risks as each song follows the formula until it reaches the average four-minute mark just as expectedly as the last one. It would be great to hear Scales and Pothier take their material a step further and see what else can be explored with their jaunty New Wave-flavored pop.
–Sarah Ruggiero
The Los Angeles-based psychedelic outfit Secret Alphabet put out an album, played some shows, and then they kind of just disappeared earlier this year, leaving us all twiddling our thumbs. To be fair, the band did notify its fans on its site that it would be on hiatus until October, but the month came and went with no sign of the experimental droners. In mid-November, the quartet finally broke its silence, announcing plans to record a second (and possibly last) album. If Secret Alphabet can release something as colorful and melodic as its debut, it will be a good year for the four-piece. I look forward to seeing what 2012 has in store for these guys. – Katrina Nattress
Congrats to Rock to the Future for receiving a $3000 grant from the Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial to help continue their programming for the 2011-2012 year! The Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial is a charitable nonprofit foundation that directs grants towards supporting needy children and the elderly in Philadelphia. "As a young organization that provides a free service, it is necessary for us to continue securing funding," says Jessica McKay, Founding Director of Rock to the Future. "This grant will allow us to continue providing music lessons to low-income, at-risk youth." You can also help Rock to the Future win a much-needed $25,000 grant by voting for them HERE! Much love – thanks in advance.
New England doom rock trio Black Pyramid will release its long awaited sophomore album Black Pyramid II on Jan. 31, 2012 via MeteorCity Records.
Recorded at Black Coffee Sound and mixed by Justin Pizzoferrato (Sonic Youth / Witch / Dinosaur Jr), the record features nine tracks of the band’s self-titled "galloping war metal". Known for its dynamic sound that blends towering riff cosmos with magnetic psychedelic rock, Black Pyramid has been turning heads in the underground music scene since its formation in late 2007.
Black Pyramid II is available for advance purchase here.
–The Deli Staff
Lowell trio Big Mess put out two new songs in October to follow up their self-titled release this past January. MOLD is twelve minutes of ominous, instrumental doom metal marching through a downpour of sludge. As opposed to their first album, which mixed in bluesy rock parts, MOLD adheres to a slow and straightforward brand of hardcore. Heaviness builds up in the desolate Side A and then trudges off to the dirge’s conclusion, and crunchy guitar distortion bookend Drone Bee.
–Sarah Ruggiero
