I don’t think we need to reiterate how much we love Brooklyn songstress Lia Ices, who graced the cover of our Winter 2011 issue of The Deli. Lia has recently premiered a new video of the arresting single"Little Marriage" (streaming below) and also released a newly recorded cover of Pink Floyd’s ginormous single "Wish You Were Here" on Fader.
We are getting there folks, sorry for the delay! We just uploaded the full list of artists nominated for our Best of Austin 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists. It’s in the right column on this same page and also HERE, where you can actually vote. Some bands in the list were selected through a submission process and some others were picked by our jury of local scene-makers, who could freely choose 3 bands each in order of preference. Points were already assigned to each band according to how well they did in the selection process. Now the readers’ and fans’ votes will also influence the final chart. Each vote will count!
After a month and a half long painstaking process, we finally have the overall results of The Deli’s Best of Chicago 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists! Unlike in NYC, where Caveman was a clear winner with 5 jurors vote, scores are very close this year in our Chicago poll, due to the fact that our jury’s vote was extremely fragmented.
Congrats to heavy rockers Mutts, who won the overall competition in virtue of points accumulated through the Open Submissions, the Fans Poll and the Jurors votes (see below – they were picked as 2nd and 3rd choice by 2 jurors, and therefore were assigned 2 + 1 points in the jurors column).
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2. DRIFTLESS PONY CLUB
Driftless Pony Club grabbed 2nd place thanks to the 3 points assigned to them because of their win in the Fans Poll, plus one extra point earned through the Open Submission contest.
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3. SHARPLESS
Winners of the Open Submission contest – which earned them 3 potins – Sharpless also stacked up 517 fans votes, which granted them 3rd position in the overall poll. These indie rockers blend crooked melodies a la Modest Mouse with uplifting and dense choruses – definitely an emerging Chicago band worth checking out.
Here’s the final chart of The Deli Chicago’s Year End Poll for Emerging Artists – thank you all for spreading the word!
Totals still aren’t final for the overall winners of the DC Deli Best Emerging Artist of 2011, but for now we can reveal the top voted bands via our recent Reader/Fan Poll. It was another year of close calls, and your love for local music has helped these acts get pushed further to the top. So until the final results are revealed later this week, check out some tracks from this round’s top scorers.
The results are in for The Deli’s Best of Nashville 2011 readers’ poll. Protomen nailed this one big time with a ridiculous 879 votes (click on “last poll results” to the right to see). Christopher Wild came in second with 179 votes, and Natural Child was a close third with 164 votes. Thanks for voting, and check back tomorrow to see the overall Nashville winners (this means the fans’ votes will be combined with all other votes).
Being a band with a “thing” or a “shtick” can as easily work against you as it can for you. For The Kominas, their radical Islamic punk ideology was picked up by various notable publications that focused mostly on the disparate image of the defiant Muslims rather than discussing the music they were making. People say that there is no such thing as bad press, and ultimately The Kominas succeeded in opening eyes, rejecting preconceptions and fueling the Taqwacore scene, but writers and critics seemed more concerned with the idea of the band than the actual execution of their music. Now, after a bit of a lull, the band has “reinvented” itself (in a way) on its latest full-length Kominas, and enmeshed itself in the Philly music scene with the addition of Hassan Ali Malik a.k.a. Sunny Ali. With the new line-up, comes an arguably more casual agenda with less direct protest as much as tongue-in-cheek cynicism. They have the same goals; they are just taking a different route.
The album’s opener, “Aviation,” is an instrumental interlude that is punk and anthemic, down to the drum corps-style snare work. It is playful and full of attitude, much like the rest of the album. “Tahrir Square Dance” kicks the album into gear with reckless abandon and plays on the “Walk Like an Egyptian” trope in a way that actually makes the original song seem kind of racist. The following track, and my personal favorite, is “Disco Uncle” which is effectively a song long metaphor about the death of an “era.” The tune, along with the rest of the album, will remind most people of The Clash both lyrically and musically, especially the chorus that sounds like the long lost brother of “Rudie Can’t Fail” and includes the memorable lyrics: “Uncle took us to the show/He even got us blow/Now he’s spinning on his head/Uncle Disco’s dead.” The LP continues in a similar infused punk style with the skittering disco-punk “Left, Right Left” and the rollicking surf rock tune appropriately titled, “No One Gonna Honor Kill My Baby (But Me),” another flash of humor and arguably the best title on the full-length.
The album succeeds by keeping things loose, but making poignant statements within all the mockery and wit. The band is punk with or without the music, so even the more psychedelic backend of the album including “Nafs Said” and “My Friend, My Friend” have jagged edges. The closer, “Bhung Ho,” leaves the album on a clamoring but somewhat serene note. It ambles, it patters, it crashes, it squeals, and it dissolves. Kominas is gone as quickly as it came leaving behind a trail of inflammatory statements and battered eardrums. Once the ringing in your ears subsides though, hopefully some of the message will persist. You can download Kominas for free HERE. – Adam G.
Gerhardt Koerner will be performing tonight at Kung Fu Necktie. You may know his genteel, wafty vocals from his work with HiSoft where he was their lead songwriter. Koerner also spent a stint with the Lilys and as of recent with local psych rockers The Sound of Kaleidoscope. His minimalist compositions simply with an acoustic guitar and vocals are impressive as he effortlessly pulls you into a floating, dream-like state with his cinematic tunes making it easy to swoon and sway with your initial listen. Do yourself a favor and come check him out this evening. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 Front St., 9pm, $5, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Bay Area/LA rapper Young L lives up to his name: his raps are young, stupid, wild and reckless, but also a lot of fun.
After producing Berkeley, California rappers The Pack’s hit "Vans," Young L started releasing his own mixtapes, leading up to his latest Praktika. Using video game beats and silly, catchy rhymes, Praktika establishes Young L as a rapper to watch in the West Coast hip hop scene. Download here.
Below is a backstage performance from fledgling acoustic trio Market East at their record release show on January 27, 2012 at Kung Fu Necktie. The band treats us to a “casually inspiring” rendition of the song “Elena” off their debut self-titled EP. Special thanks to BITBY for sharing.
Brooklyn continues to be the most receptive area for what is surely now a full blown emerging spaced out, jam heavy psych rock movement. No better venue represents this than Death By Audio, where Ancient Sky had their record release party on Friday January 27th. Celebrating the release of their latest collection of songs, the band played through nearly all of "T.R.I.P.S." in front of an enthusiastic audience that filled the room. Far from simple feedback and drone practitioners, this band constructs mostly tight, well-defined songs that also focus on meaningful lyrics and interesting melodies. Dynamics play a crucial role as power and dramatic emphasis is favored over simple noise making. Within that framework, however, come delightful sonic forays of a definite jam-worthy caliber – song lengths mostly within the three to six minute range attest to that. With titles like "Towards the Light," "All Colors at Once," "Ray Bradbury," "Time is an Ocean," and "The Wind" one can quickly grasp the message being presented – and that is one of discovery and the possibilities that exist all around us. For their grande finale of the night the band pulled out all the stops with a nearly ten minute tour-de-force of textured, fx-laden guitar washes, mystical vocalizing, bass and drum propulsion and deliciously winding twin guitar soloing. It all added up to a heady mixture that kept the audience captured from first note till finish. Also performing on this night was Deli favorite EXITMUSIC, who create a solemn dreamlike atmosphere, powered by Aleksa Palladino’s captivating voice (and looks). Both bands have significant upcoming tour schedules, and have just released or will be releasing important records. – Dave Cromwell
Brooklyn-based artist Sophia Knapp will release her upcoming album, "Into the Waves," on February 28th on Drag City. After singing and playing guitar in NYC psych rock all girl band Cliffie Swan (ex LIGHTS), this will be Knapp’s debut solo album. Co-produced and co-arranged by esteemed piano and film composer Eric Gorman and Jay Israelson, the album will feature musical contributions by Bob Brockman (TLC, Mary J. Blige, Cee-Lo) on bass guitar, Robert “Chicken” Burke (The Duke and The King) on drums and vocals by Bill Callahan. Knapp has 2 upcoming shows in NYC, the first will be at Union Pool in Brooklyn on February 23rd and the second will be her record release show (free to the public) at Sway – with complimentary drinks from 8-10 PM on February 29th. – Chelsea Eriksen
