NYC

NYC Indie Folk: Freak Owls

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Every once in awhile I come across an artist pulling from so many disparate corners of the map that the influences converge into something entirely new. For Freak Owls, there’s a deep commitment here to channel personal stories amidst a wide backdrop full of earthy textures. In the spirit of The Shins or Gnarls Barkley, singer-songwriter Josh Ricchio has found a home for his acoustic guitar to dance on top of deep grooves and patterned sequencers. For an artist with a lot on his mind, it’s the way he pulls his frustrated visions over a serviceable beat that won me over. Check out debut record ‘Taxidermy’ on his BandPage. –Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Philadelphia

Where Is My Mind?: Nightlands

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Nightlands’ Dave Hartley seems to be one seriously busy dude. He just released his new record Oak Island earlier this week via Secretly Canadian. And while for some artists accomplishing that feat may be just enough and sometimes too much to handle, you’ll also find him lending his musical talents to other rad projects and artists like recently backing the legendary founding member of The Velvet Underground, John Cale, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, touring with Sondre Lerche, recording with Sharon Van Etten, and (of course) traveling the world and being best known as the bassist for much-beloved rock outfit The War on Drugs just to name a few. Oh yeah – we don’t want to forget that the basketball fanatic also occasionally writes his own sports columns for Impose Magazine (“Death Dunk”) and WXPN’s The Key (“Top of the Key”), and for the past month, he’s been furiously championing a petition to get San Antonio Spurs three-point specialist Matt Bonner invited to NBA All-Star Weekend’s Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, which has garnered support from celebrities like Eva Longoria and Arcade Fire. (BTW: He is growing a protest beard for the cause as well – #LetBonnerShoot!) Hartley will be celebrating the release of Oak Island this Saturday at Kung Fu Necktie before heading out on tour in February opening for Efterklang. However, before all that goes down, we had a chance to pass a few questions his way, which you can check out HERE. 

Chicago

Ohvaur “You Chose To Bury Love”

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Ohvaur announced last week that their new album A Memories Chase on March 5th. This the band’s first full-length album and it is one of the more anticipated local albums on 2013.

Ohvaur is lead by Timothy Den, and on A Memories Chase draws inspiration from his life living a his creative dreams while living in the US illegally. Den is a storyteller with a fascinating story to tell, and in Ohvaur he has found a solid sound to encase it.

NYC

Artists on Trial: Antennas Up

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(Photo by Gene Smirnov)

 
For the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring artists playing the MidCoast Takeover fundraiser shows, sponsored by Midwest Music Foundation.
 
Antennas Up has found local and national success since its formation in 2008, touring with bands like Girl Talk, Flogging Molly, Company of Thieves, and others. The four-piece band has played official SXSW and CMJ showcases, and its music has been featured in ads and TV shows. In 2012, the energetic synth pop band released The Awkward Phase, which spent over 10 weeks on CMJ’s Top 200 list and was lauded by critics. We talk with lead vocalist and bassist Kyle Akers about what Antennas Up has going on right now.
 
The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?

Kyle Akers: An electro pop-rock band from Kansas City that fuses post-new wave guitar hooks with vocoder synths.
 
The Deli: Tell us about what Antennas Up has going on. What can we expect this year?
 
Akers: Right now we’re working on music videos, booking tours around the Midwest and up to New York, and always writing and recording. Keep your eyes on our Facebook and Twitter for announcements as they come.
 
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?

Akers: I’m a big fan of sharing other bands accomplishments, songs, videos and anything else cool that local bands are doing on the Internet. It feels great to help spread the local bands we love to our fans. Everyone in KC benefits when the listeners get more opportunities to find out about all the other great bands around here.
 
The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now?

Akers: Hidden Pictures and Not A Planet always hit me in the right place. I’m really anticipating the new Republic Tigers album too. It’s going to be a monster, I hear.
 
The Deli: Who are you most looking forward to seeing at the upcoming MidCoast Takeover fundraisers?
 
Akers: Honestly, I am just excited to see so many great lineups all focused around supporting a huge showcase of Kansas City and Midwest music. It’s a great way to show off what we can do here in KC at one of the biggest music festivals around.
 
The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?

Akers: I’ve hit a rash of female-vocal led bands that have been tugging on my ears recently, most noticeably this band called HAERTS. They’ve got a song called "Wings" that you have to go listen to right now.
 
The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?

Akers: Well, if we could totally throw out the idea of making a cohesive bill, right now it’d have to be Prince, Electric Light Orchestra…wait. I really think just playing the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for George Harrison performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" would do it for me.
 
The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?
 
Akers: On stage. Although the day-to-day necessities of life would probably be harder to come by on a stage than in a studio.
 
The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?

Akers: This question worries me, because it’s asking me to pick the four most important people in music history, and I think that’s an impossible task. I’ll just take the easy road and pick The Beatles. We all know that the project would only get about 1/5 of the way done and run out of funding anyway. It’d just be a mountain with four mop-top haircuts on it.

The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?

Twitter: @antennasup

The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?

Akers: You can spend all day long researching and learning HOW to do things, but that can only get you so far. Just go out and do things. I’ll quote Adventure Time: Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.
 
Antennas Up is:
Kyle Akers – lead vocals, bass
Jon Ulasien – guitar, keys, vocals
Bo McCall – guitar, vocals
The Ryantist – drums, vocals
 
You can see Akers and his crew this Saturday, January 26, where they will headline the first MidCoast Takeover fundraiser at recordBar. Antennas Up will play at 12:15, after a lineup starting with She’s A Keeper, Drew Black and Dirty Electric, and Molly Picture Club. The band was also one of over 40 KC artists selected to play the 2013 MidCoast Takeover showcase at SXSW from March 13-16 at Shangri-La in Austin, Texas.

–Michelle Bacon

 

Learn how to get your song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

Philadelphia

New Track: “Wave of Mutilation” (Pixies Cover) – FATE (Feat. Amanda Rose Taddeo)

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Though local electro-pop brother-sister duo She Came Crashing is now defunct, Raymond Nicholas Taddeo III (ex-mewithoutYou) continues to produce music under the moniker FATE. Well, Ray and lil sis Amanda Rose Taddeo recently teamed up once again for an alluring cover of the Pixies’ "Wave of Mutilation," which you can listen to below. (BTW: Amanda nailed her vocals for this recording in one take.)

Austin

Review – “iamanotheryou” by RitchUAL

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We mentioned the prolific RitchUAL (Ritchard Napierkowski) in an earlier post, and we’re happy to report the man has not lost his work ethic or his excellent compositional chops.  Find the proof in "iamanotheryou", the still-got-the-new-smell-on-it LP, released New Years Day of this year.

More complex, instrument-deep arrangements give this one an epic feel; with glitchy, dramatic, ambient numbers, followed up with danceable nu-groove trip hop or industrial-strength electro crunk.  Take a taste of the happily-trippy "Melatonin", the dramatic "Once I Thought I Knew The Truth", or the expertly-arranged "The Knock Down" if you want to just test drive.  

But we say just jump right in – Smart production with gleaming polish on another excellently-composed electronica release that, if it can be believed, is even better than the last time out.  Which is quite a feat.

–Scott Osborn

Philadelphia

Joe D’Amico Record Release Celebration at KFN Jan. 24

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From his time as a founding member of Brothers Past to his current station backing Mason Porter, Joe D’Amico is a local area musician who has worn many hats over the years. However, the West Chester artist has also had a successful solo project over the years. His 2011 full-length, Asleep In My Shoes, contained a nice blend of ambient tones and rustic folk singing. For his latest solo effort, A Short Time’s A Long Time, he has explored territories that were previously uncharted in his works by usingvibrant power pop, melodic yet aggressive rock harmonies, and expansive prog. D’Amico is celebrating the album’s release tonight at Kung Fu Necktie, and he’ll be joined by his longtime friend Reverend TJ McGlinchey and Ben Smith. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $10, 21+ (Photo by Lisa Schaffer) – Bill McThrill

Austin

Get Paid Forward

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Dunno if you knew, but multi-skilled songwriter/composer/producer Christopher Tyng was mentored by film composer Basil Poledouris back in the day.  Which means that he’s now wanting to pay it forward to someone like you.

Yep – It’s called the Grow Music Project and it’s got your name on it – They’re picking 5 applicants to "have their most promising song professionally produced, recorded, and mixed in Songwriter/Composer/Producer Christopher Tyng’s world-class Santa Barbara recording facility over 3 days of studio sessions with accommodations and meals provided." 

"In addition…Tyng will also lend his knowledge of music placement in TV and film to help the winners’ songs receive the highest amount of exposure possible." 

Sound interesting?  Then check it out here.

NYC

Ticket Giveaway: All Mighty Senators w/ Cowboy Mouth 1/26 @ 930 Club

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We’ve teamed up with 930 Club again for another awesome giveaway.  Baltimore rock & soulers All Mighty Senators are opening up for the established N’Orleans group Cowboy Mouth this Saturday 1/26 at said venue. AMS has"toured the United States and Canada extensively. AMS released their first recordings under Baltimore indie Merkin Records before releasing four albums under their own Dog Eat Dog Records to both critical and popular acclaim."

There’s still time to grab tickets here before it sells out. And meanwhile, we’ve got one set of passes to give out courtesy of 930!  All you have to do is email us by 3 PM on 1/24 and let us know what your favorite Cowboy Mouth or All Mighty Senators song is. Please include your first and last name for guest list requirements. The winner will be emailed back.

NYC

MidCoast Takeover: First Round of Bands Selected

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Here’s the first round of bands have been selected to play the 2013 MidCoast Takeover showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas. The fourth annual showcase will be held at Shangri-La on East 6th Street on March 13-16, and will feature these bands along with other groups from the Midwest and around the country. The bands will perform outside on the main stage, and a second stage has been added inside for acoustic acts. Those artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
 
This is a free, unofficial SXSW showcase. No wristbands or badges will be required. For those of you staying in Kansas City, the entire showcase will be available to stream live on the web. More details on that soon.
 
The Deli KC will be featuring interviews and reviews from some of the bands playing MidCoast fundraisers and the Austin showcase. Find out more about each band and listen to its music by clicking on the links below.
 
MidCoast Takeover is organized by Midwest Music Foundation.
 
Congratulations to all of these artists!
 

–Michelle Bacon