Growing up in Trenton, New Jersey, Jim Smith spent his teens playing in hard rock and metal bands before gravitating towards more synthesized sounds, becoming a prolific electronic DJ, remixer and producer. Under the moniker TEEEL, Smith draws upon a lifetime of musical interests, meshing electropop, dreamwave and heavy metal into a distinctive style he’s explored over the course of two albums, Amulet and University Heights. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s interview with Jim Smith here, check out TEEEL’s latest mixes here.

The recent debut album release “Habit Shackles” by Brooklyn’s Desert Stars presents a fresh approach to the ever-expanding psych-rock genre. Years in the making, an unsettling emotional beauty runs throughout the twelve fully realized tracks. “One Good Ear” rides along shuffling snare drum propulsion paired with an undistorted guitar progression before exploding into full band mode. While the lead vocals remain clearly focused here, background voices approximate angels floating in from the heavens above. “Normal Man” quickly evolves from a treated piano undercurrent to ominous guitar textures and cascading vocal layers. In addition to the brand new material, previously released tracks “Boys I Like” and “Past in the Trash” (both having videos made for them) are also featured on the album. The former emphasizes spacious percussive movement under static piano chords, ambient guitar and cathedral voices. While the latter drives on bass guitar, buzzing synths, handclap percussion and dream-pop vocal textures. An unanticipated harmonica solo adds a western flair. You can catch them live on August 16 at The Cake Shop. – Dave Cromwell

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Psych songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

J. Allen’s album “Wonder City “ is collection of urban folk songs that will easily grab the ear of any New Yorker. By incorporating ambient field recordings of the big apple, the flavor of the city is quite literally stirred into “Wonder City.” Even his lyrics, slice of life and observational poetry, are imbued with NYC. At the same time, they remind us the similarities of life from city to city, describing simple every day objects like traffic lights and how they affect everyone’s day to day life. A master of succinct observations on city life, and a tender intimate vocalist, J. Allen is a true urban singer songwriter. – Paul Jordan Talbot