Deli Readers,
Our Best of 2015 Poll for Emerging Philly Artists has been – as usual – a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music, but we have finally arrived at our desired destination. We can now announce the final results!
And the winner is…
1. Alex G
Alex Giannascoli gives hope to nice, normal, loner dudes everywhere who waste inordinate amounts of time recording solo jams in their bedroom. He unassumingly seeped into the Philly music community’s subconscious with a slew of honest, lo-fi recordings. After winning The Deli Philly’s Readers’/Fans’ 2013 Poll for Best Emerging Artists, Alex G eventually went on to sign to Domino Recording Co., and released Beach Music, which was also our November 2015 Record of the Month. So this victory might not be such a surprise to some of our Deli faithfuls.
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2. Kississippi
We discovered Kississippi after being intrigued by Shari Heck’s cover of "Dogmas," which appeared on the original track list of Cyberbully Mom Club‘s Amy Locust Whatever. We were instantly smittened by Zoë Reynolds’s endearingly candid lyrics and wispy lilt, highlighted by the stripped-down, acoustic version found on I Can Feel You in My Hair Still. On the group’s label debut We Have No Future, We’re All Doomed (Soft Speak Records), the band hooked up with Modern Baseball‘s Jake Ewald, who produced the album. 2015 is definitely only the begining for Kississippi.
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3. Queen of Jeans
The ladies of Queen of Jeans challenged you to "get off your ass" and make them dance with their debut single, but we think that it might’ve been pulling a little reverse psychology. Featuring former members of The Interest Group and Work Drugs, the group enchants like sirens on its self-titled debut EP, which can found via Third Uncle Records and the UK’s Super Fan 99. Queen of Jeans are certainly already drawing crowds.
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Honorable Mention: The Spirit of the Beehive
The Spirit of the Beehive definitely won the nod from our Deli writers for their work in 2015. With a new full-length album coming out later this year via Jade Tree, it’ll be interesting to see if they’ll win over the rest of our panel of jurors next year.
Take a gander at the rest of our Best Emerging Philly Artists list below, and we hope that you find some rad new artists that you weren’t aware of!
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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: First, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then, we polled a list of 20+ Philly music enthusiasts (our jury), and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then, we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open to the genres that we cover, from indie rock to roots music, from electronic to hip hop (no jazz, no seriously experimental music).
If you are a geek who is interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules HERE (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music Philly produced in 2015, this list is what you are looking for. Enjoy!
Many Thanks to Our Jurors:
Dan Bisogno (Choice Tasters Selectors), Jeff Blinder (Goldilocks Gallery), Gabrielle Bonghi (Philly.com), Kate Bracaglia (Freelance Writer), Eric Bresler (PhilaMOCA), Jessica Craft (Rock to the Future), Shana Hartzel (Swell Tone, Y-Not Radio), Kevin Horn (Underground Arts), Ellei Johndro (Shadowscene), Kevin Kennedy (The Swollen Fox), Colin Kerrigan (Out Of Town Films), David Kiss (Kung Fu Necktie), Josh T. Landow (Y-NOT Radio), Carolyn Lederach (Sofar Philadelphia), Jesse Lundy (Point Entertainment), Gordon Mays (MilkBoy Philly), Jeff Meyers (Boot & Saddle), George Miller (Jump Philly), Stephanie Seiple (Tri State Indie), Jon Solomon (WPRB), Q.D. Tran (The Deli Magazine), John Vettese (The Key, WXPN), Allie Volpe (Freelance Writer), Nikki Volpicelli (Urban Outfitter), Chris Ward (Johnny Brenda’s), Bruce Warren (WXPN, The Key)
Much love,
The Deli’s Staff