There is a lot of thought and emotion (and positivity) in the world of Little Strike, a.k.a. Tamar Dart. It was easy to see/feel that after our latest Featured Artist Poll Winner shared her strikingly honest answers to our “get to know ya” questions. Find out more about the up-and-coming electro-pop artist HERE, and catch Dart next in Philly on Friday, May 23 at The Fire.
Nashville
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Show Alert: Carl Anderson, Rocko Wheeler, Kyle Cox, and Molly Paren at The 5 Spot Tonight
In case our little blurb on Mr. Wheeler last week caught your ear, he’s bringing his brand of revival folk to The 5 Spot tonight with a cast of friends and talented musicians. Joining the lineup are Kyle Cox, Molly Parden and Carl Anderson. We’re especially excited to catch Wheeler’s pal and future tourmate (tonight kicks of the two’s "Southern Run" tour) Kyle Cox. This show also doubles as Cox’s vinyl release show for his album "The Plan, the Mess." The Orlando, FL native is capable of offering up cheeky songwriting with some good time rock and roll, like the first track off his record, "I Ain’t Been Lonely, Until I Met You." Rounding out tonight are local artists Molly Parden and Carl Anderson, making this show a steal at a $10 cover. Things kick off at 8pm, so don’t miss this double header of a release show! -Terra James-Jura
NYC
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Strange Names celebrate the release of ‘Use Your Time Wisely’ at Baby’s All Right on May 21
In early April we issued a NYC buzz alert for Brooklyn soul pop trio Strange Names, and in just over a month the buzz has become something more than that: after unveiling four singles from the upcoming album ‘Use Your Time Wisely’ (to be released on Frenchkiss Records), the boys last week played a sold out show at Irving Plaza supporting Azelia Bank (and then two more in Chicago and Boston). All this is building the ideal conditions for the album release party, which will be celebrated with a show at Baby’s All Right on May 21. Check out single "I Can’t Control Myself," streaming below.
Philadelphia
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New Honey Radar EP Available for Streaming & Purchase
Here is a new EP from the lo-fi garage-pop/rock project of Jason Henn, a.k.a. Honey Radar. The Rabbit’s Voice was co-released by Indianapolis’s Third Uncle Records and NYC’s What’s Your Rupture? (Third Rupture Records). Unfortunately, the 7" vinyl is already sold out, but you can still stream, purchase and download it below. Special thanks to Styrofoam Drone for the heads up.
Philadelphia
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Free Download: “Babes” – Needle Points
We’ve been seriously soaking in the summertime vibes lately, and the good times for us always come with a soundtrack. Needle Points capture it perfectly with their latest single "Babes," as we sit back with a haze of the sticky icky in our eyes and a cold frosty beverage in hand. Come join the fun tomorrow night when they take the stage with Brooklyn’s Spires at Ortlieb’s!
Toronto
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Michael Rault @ Silver Dollar
Shake, Rattle and Roll with Michael Rault. He is a talented, multi-instrumentalist that gives his listeners an era-blending modern take on familiar sounds from the 50’s , 60’s and 70’s. A recent Toronto transplant from his native Edmonton, Michael Rault puts his creative perspective into perspective with his latest album release “Living Daylight”. There is nothing fuzzy about his sound, he commits to claim it! A pioneer of dynamic rock n’ roll, transforming rhythms and beats with an undeniable brilliant pop vocal and heart piercing guitar riffs, every track is is a hit! So put your dancin’ shoes on, “Living Daylight” has us moving from top to bottom. The opening track ‘All Alone (On My Own)’ is captivating, shaking you up with tambourines, clapping hands and familiar charming vocal harmonies. ‘Real Love (Yeah)’ coats you with heavy guitars that peak and valley to talkative keys that beat to the oohs of “real love”. ‘Too All My Friends’ takes it down a notch with vocals that sway to romantic keys and easy-acid guitars. Michael Rault is currently on tour, see him Saturday May 23 @ the Silver Dollar before he jumps the border showcasing his sounds in the USA.
NYC
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May 2015’s Artist of the Month: No Cave
Congrats to No Cave, The Deli KC’s May Artist of the Month! Having been a band for slightly over a year, No Cave has already made strides acrossLawrence with its groove-based psychedelic jazz rock sound. Just last month, the band beat out seven other semi-finalists in KJHK’s Farmer’s Ball competition. We talk with frontman and guitarist Ross Williams a bit more about the project.
The Deli: Down and dirty: one sentence to describe your music.
Williams: Dark Bandicoot Jazz.
The Deli: Give me some background on No Cave. How did the band come to be?
Williams: No Cave started a little over a year ago at this house James (Thomblinson) and I used to live at about 15 minutes west of Lawrence. We had about 80 acres of land, a 5-bedroom house, and a converted wood shop we used as a rehearsal/recording space and as a DIY venue. James and I had been having weird krautrock jams regularly for about 6 months before I asked Nick (Frederickson) to come over and jam. We knew immediately we were a band. I recorded our first jam! It didn’t just feel good, it sounded good too. Just recently we have added a member (Joel Stratton) to play bass with us, while James is going to move to synth.
The Deli: What have been your biggest accomplishments as a band?
Williams: We won this battle of the bands sponsored by KU a few weeks ago called Farmer’s Ball. That was big for us because it exposed us to the students of KU and the crowd of people who won’t come out for a show that starts at 11 pm. We also won a big cash prize, which is great for us. And you know, we won this reader’s poll! We found about this right after we won Farmer’s Ball, so I would say we got some momentum in the month of April from multiple sources.
The Deli: What inspires your music and songwriting?
Williams: We do a lot of writing together, so the camaraderie of hanging out with your best friends trying to have fun but think critically together and create something greater than the sum of its parts. There is so much instability in the world,; ust having friends that are on the same wavelength as you can make a huge difference in how you perceive your place in it all.
The Deli: You recently released your first EP, Eyes Brighter Then the Sun, in early 2015. What can we expect?
Williams: It’s 4 songs and about 20 minutes. We recorded it live as a band, and I mixed it and added some overdubs afterwards. I’m extremely proud of the fact that we did it all ourselves and made a recording that is of respectable quality. Stylistically, it’s rock and roll with the aforementioned kraut thrown in for seasoning.
The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you?
Williams: Well, we are a local band, so it means supporting our friends and people who we like. But on a more philosophical note it means helping to grow something that is a product of its immediate environment. You’re empowering your community to be the best it can be, which benefits everyone. When you see someone you know doing something you like, you want to do it too! The more people pay attention and the more people do to support local culture the better it gets, and there’s a threshold where once a community gets enough continuous support it becomes a hotbed for talent. All it takes is the community getting together and actually interacting and helping each other for the sake of excellence.
The Deli: Who are your favorite local and non-local musicians right now?
Williams: Psychic Heat, Paper Buffalo, Major Games, The Conquerors, The Philistines (SLAYED at MidCoast Takeover), Expo ’70, D’Angelo, Flying Lotus, Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
The Deli: What goals does No Cave have for 2015, and beyond?
Williams: KANSAS CITY. That’s where we want to play. Hit us up! We will play our asses off, show up on time, and promote. Let’s book a big show with lots of people and make sure everyone leaves having had an awesome night! I think we’d like to press at least a 7” as well. We’ve got a band fund, we’ll see when we do that.
The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience?
Williams: It’s best if the high note is a leading tone, creating tension until the resolving chord is played in a lower octave.
No Cave is:
Ross Williams – vox, guitar
James Thomblison – synth, vox
Nick Frederickson – drums
Joel Stratton – bass
No Cave’s next show will be at The Bottleneck next Friday, May 22, with Major Games and Paper Buffalo. Be sure to check them out. Facebook event page.
–Michelle Bacon
Michelle Bacon is editor of The Deli KC and plays in bands.
Nashville
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Liza Anne, “Ocean”
Liza Anne’s newest single "Ocean" opens with the ambient buzz of some train system, lending a sense of the impersonal to an otherwise deeply personal track. The song covers the songwriter’s reaction to a sudden change in a relationship, and the common sounds of transit provide a backdrop for the resulting anxiety and turmoil that can wrack one’s brain with brutal perisistence. This track dropped ahead of the May 19th release of Liza Anne’s second full-length album, TWO. Produced by Zachary Dyke of COIN, TWO is a follow-up to her debut album The Colder Months, released when the Georgia-born singer was barely nineteen. TWO has Liza Anne experimenting more with instrumentation (listen for the slowly rising swell of strings in "Ocean") as well as introducing more pop into her sound (single "Take it Back" is a prime example.) While it is a few more days until the album officially drops, you can check out this freshly posted Daytrotter session with our folkstress HERE. -Terra James-Jura
NYC
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Acid in the garage: The Mystery Lights play Baby’s All Right on 05.26
Sometimes the most basic things are also the most rewarding: The Mystery Lights‘ songs may sound like every rocker’s first attempt at songwriting (and recording): 3 chords, lots o’ screams and waaay too much treble… but the energy and the freshness of their music is an antidote to the sometimes convoluted Brooklyn musical output. The NYC garage rock quartet will bring their acid sounds and wild antics to Baby’s All Right on May 26.
San Francisco
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Song Premiere: Megan Slankard – What It’s Worth
The San Francisco based alternative folk rock artist, Megan Slankard is gearing up to release a new album entitled Running on Machinery, due out on May 19th. We’re very excited to be able to premiere the title track from the record!
Running on Machinery is a power-packed folk track that tucks away its folk sensibilities deep beneath an outgoing, heavy alternative pop rock compositional style. If you listen closely enough, you can hear that the song still encompasses an acoustic guitar rhythm deep within it. Slankard’s voice is strong and confident and we really enjoy that she took a chance with this track to do something that is not traditional. It doesn’t matter what genre she decides to put herself under, Megan Slankard exhibits that she understands great music production that puts out a really strong final recording.
A lot of independent artists like to make awesome bedroom recordings, but that style isn’t for everyone. Slankard put out a high quality studio recording that was produced by Alex Wong. However a Bay Area artist chooses to express themselves, we’re all for it.
Chicago
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Matty Rico
Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based Matty Rico will be releasing his next mixtape, Higher Hopes, this summer. This week he premiered a new single from the mixtape, "The Fall" featuring Doe Paoro. Rico also released a very cool video for his single "Cheap Champagne" back in February.
NYC
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Flordingblast and the glasses trilemma
Flordingblast is the solo project of NYC’s Alex Goldberg, who is also drummer in Throw Vision & Double King. He recently released some rather experimental electronic material. We were intrigued by this video for glitchy and abstract track "RESULT," where the musician is put in front of a choice of glasses, which represent (and offer) different perceptions of the world. Quite unsurprisingly, he ends up picking the square ones – a Williamsburg hipster classic! But do not fear, triangular frames will be hot one day!