New York City’s ASTR is a two-person operation: Zoe Anna on vocals and Adam Pallin handling production. After meeting in a Manhattan yoga studio, they started writing music together. Soon enough, with a shared love of deep house, ’90s hip-hop, film noir and R&B, ASTR was born. Their new single "Bleeding Love" (streaming), delivers one of their most radio friendly tunes, without entirely giving up their atmospheric tendencies. ASTR will release the "Homecoming" EP later this year, and will be hitting the road in November as tour support for Ryn Weaver and Holychild.
Hemmingbirds “Mess of Things”
Hemmingbirds have released a timely and somewhat Halloween-themed video for their new single "Mess of Things". The single is now available on itunes, and will be a part of the band’s new EP, Half A Second, which is due out in January.
Jenny Gillespie
Jenny Gillespie and her label Narooma Records released the details of her new album, Cure For Dreaming, this week. The album will be released on January 29th and was recorded in LA. The album’s first single is called "No Stone".
Daytrotter Session – Restorations
Daytrotter recently posted their session with Philly indie rockers Restorations. The recorded in-studio performance consisted of songs mostly from their latest release LP3 ("All My Home," "Misprint," and "Separate Songs") and "The Plan" from LP2. You can take a listen to a couple of the tracks from the session for free, and the whole performance is available for streaming and download with membership HERE.
Allday spits his Aussie rap gold at U Street Music Hall, 11/4
He’s brash and crass, laying down wisely juvenile verses in his oddly delightful Australian dialect. Rapper Allday is touring the US to support Startup Cult, his album released last year. He uses his music to share his uniquely down-under energy and inspired lyrics about life and relationships, and he’s coming to U Street Music Hall next week on 11/4. Sharing the stage that night with Mod Sun, New Beat Fund, and Benny Freestyles, you won’t want to miss Allday for his sincerity and pleasing voice. Doors at 6:30, $15. -Jonathan Goodwin
A Halloween Party Benefit for the Upcoming Documentary “The Resurrection of Uncle Eddie” at Underground Arts Oct. 29
You can start your Halloween celebration early tonight at Underground Arts with a benefit hosted by Woodshop Films. The rad production collective will be accepting donations and raising backing for their upcoming documentary The Resurrection of Uncle Eddie. Providing the soundtrack for the event will be primal heavy-psych outfit Ecstatic Vision, metal-tinged rockers JJL, the psychedelic blues/soul of St. James & The Apostles, and medieval psych rockers Meddlesome Meddlesome Meddlesome Bells. Though we feel like the majority of attendees might be clad in denim, certainly no one will mind if you get your freak on this evening. And there will be prizes for best costumes! Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., 7pm, $15, 21+ – Alexis V.
A Deli NYC Premiere: EMEFE unveils new single “Confess” + opens for Antibalas on 11.04 at BK Bowl
In a musical landscape that doesn’t have funds to invest in artist development, and in a city that’s becoming incrisingly unaffordable for struggling musicians like New York, the artistic growth of EMEFE is nothing short of a small miracle. The collective started in 2010 as a horn driven, instrumental project with heavy afrobeat, funk and jazz influences (if you like the sound of that, check out 2012’s LP "Good Future"), and slowly evolved into a more experimental, and somewhat darker sounding hybrid, featuring occasional vocals and synths, as you can hear on their sophomore, self titled album, released earlier in 2015. The record showcases a band more aligned with that tradition of edgy NYC music we like to celebrate in this blog, borrowing from the experience of another local band famous for incorporating world music influences: The Talking Heads. Brand new single "Confess" (premiered below), with its pop structure, memorable melody, and clear emphasys on synths and other electronic effects, represents further evidence of the band’s new direction. A direction that elegantly and compellingly marries the body-moving power of afrobeat and funk with the propensity, typical of the best NYC artists, for cerebral experimentation within the pop and rock realms.
EMEFE will be opening for legendary NYC Afrobeat masters Antibalas on November 4th at Brooklyn Bowl – a show that should not be missed. – Photo by Austin Hein
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!
Video Premiere: Engine Summer
We are proud to premiere the new video from Engine Summer for their track, "Hazed". The video was directed by the talented Ryan Ohm and the song is taken from their forthcoming EP, Buzz Drained.
New Beach Slang LP Available for Streaming
Beach Slang released the first in their series of mixtapes, entitled Here, I Made This For You, last week, and tomorrow, their full-length label debut, The Things We Do to Find People Like Us, comes out via Polyvinyl Records. You can stream the LP below in its entirety, courtesy of NPR’s First Listen. Beach Slang is currently on tour in support of their forthcoming release, and will be back in Philly on Saturday, December 19 at the First Unitarian Church. (Photo by Ryan Muir)
William Alexander charms with his homebrew psychedelia
William Alexander offers just the right amount of strange on his latest single "Strangest Things", a breezy, psychedelic track about falling madly in love that settles into a firm groove with its funky, swaggering backbeat. The Long Beach singer/songwriter will relese his debut full length, entitled Strangest Things, on November 6th via Yellow K Records.
Stream: Travelers, “My Fault”
Like an abandoned shack by the seaside, Travelers’ new song "My Fault" contains a multitude of ghosts. Not the threatening kind, but the ones that wisp by on a breeze, leaving you to wonder if you had actually felt anything in the first place. Something seems just out of reach, as harmonies fade over and around the core melody, on which the vocalist croons, "I thought I felt you breathe, but I lost it."
The band consists of members Bret Leinen, Aidin Sadeghi, Eric Cannata and Francois Comtois, with Cannata and Comtois also involved in the popular indie rock band Young The Giant, and Leinen and Sadeghi coming from former OC folk outfit Strange Birds. Saying Travelers sounds like a mix of these two bands would not be inaccurate, but we’ll let them define their sound for themselves – they purportedly have an entire album under their belt, with more songs to be released in the coming weeks. – Brittany Scheffler
Jazzercising to Gateway Drugs: “Anu” music video released
Los Angeles’ narcotic siblings Gateway Drugs threw out a music video for their 2015 long-play Magick Spells opener "Anu", the garage-surf invigorator for your calisthenics and jazzercise regimens. Free yourself from the couch-lock and work up a sweat to this VHS magic. – Ryan Mo