Tonight Thursday May 17, Delicate Steve and People Get Ready will be taking the stage at Mercury Lounge. Big things have been in the works for headliner Delicate Steve (aka Steve Marion), who’s been covered repeatedly in our blog and magazine, and played our B.E.A.F. 2011 — he’ll drop new album "Positive Force" on July 10th. In support of this new effort, the multi-instrumentalist will be touring the US (plus one stop at UK End of the Road Festival) through August. Included are dates alongside Yeasayer and tUnE-yArDs, plus a 4-day installation across New York.

People Get Ready, a sort of combo dance group and indie act, is a bit of an all-star cast with a fantastic live show and it’s bound to explode soon. Frontman Steve Reker toured as a dancer/guitarist with David Byrne and drummer Luke Fasano is formerly of Yeasayer. Tons of hook and layered melodies mark this indie act, that will be releasing debut later this year, so be on the look out. – Corinne Bagish

Evi Antonio claims he’s having a tough time finding a good woman… but I’m not buying it. His music is so carefree and fun, I can’t imagine he’s having this much trouble attracting the right girl. In his latest EP ‘China, Man,’ Antonio whines and wails his way through two bouncy escapades all about the dangers of finding yourself with either no woman, or worse… the wrong woman.

But if any of this makes you think Evi’s a downer, don’t be alarmed. He is truly a master at the absurd, and builds his songs in a playground too full of pranks and tricks to ever allow any underlying issues of unrequited love to get him down. ‘Blank’ for instance, punctuates Evi’s helium-filled lungs with toy piano lines and rollicking drums, while ‘blank’ situates his sound within an amusement park filled with plenty of blank and blank. See the man live at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge on June 8 or at Glasslands on June 18. – Mike Levine

You do not want to be on the bad side of Christine Hoberg. Her romantic reflections often turn to rage and revenge, and her lyrics rarely miss their mark. While ‘J’Aime’ off its eponymous record brings out an honest yearning to find love, Hoberg more often than not revels in love’s less saintly modes, like the wrenching ‘White Ass’ and ‘Nutcase.’

For her latest record, Hoberg challenges herself not in changing what worked so well over the past couple years, but in finding a space where her feelings can elevate amidst layers of haunting echoes that shimmer from her piano stretches and knife-cutting vocal delivery. ‘Moonlight Never Shined So Bright’ is both haunting and cutting at once, revealing depths to Hoberg that challenge any simple explanation for her wicked streak. Christine’s can be a voice full of pain, but this weight gains a breathtaking outlet when expressed through the elevated tension of her music.- Mike Levine

This record was submitted digitally to The Deli here.