We really can’t believe that it’s December already! It’s kind of freakin’ us out. But we can’t help but feel a little warm and fuzzy inside when we think about all the great new music that we’ve seen. We’d like to thank the bands who have participated in the crazy mixed-up lineups that we’ve put together for our showcases this year! Much love to Reading Rainbow, Grandchildren, Levee Drivers, Attia Taylor, Hair Rocket, Chang Chang, Univox, The Homophones, TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb, The Extraordinaires, An American Chinese and Power Animal. (Please let us know if we missed anybody. Our memory isn’t what it used to be.) Also special thanks for all those who let us share in the celebration of their releases. It was certainly an honor, and we look forward to more releases to come.
Well, we are into the home stretch of 2010, and we have our two last shows that we will be presenting this year. We’ve mentioned our new Pipeline Series, and we wanted to share more with you about it. We love putting on showcases! (Though we do admit that there are moments where we are like: “What did we get ourselves into?”) We have always believed that The Deli is a great resource for music fans and bands to find each other. The Pipeline Series is a way for us to introduce our favorite artists from other Deli cities to Philly as well as exporting our local talent to welcoming showcases in other cities. We also hope a bit of musical kinship will build among our participants. We have a fine lineup to kick things off. The Notekillers unknowingly changed the course of music history when they made a last ditch effort for anyone to hear their 1980 7” The Zipper and dropped free copies off at NYC’s legendary 99 Records where it ended up in the hands of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and his No Wave crew, which Moore admitted to having an influence on their sound in an interview with Mojo Magazine. After a kind of rock ‘n’ roll fairytale, Moore went on to release critically acclaimed Notekillers 1977 – 1981 on his label Ecstatic Peace. But the Notekillers have also returned with an album full of new material called We’re Here to Help, and it still has that nasty experimental rock sound ready to influence a whole new generation. We are – shall we say – ecstatic to be able to bring them to Kung Fu Necktie on Thursday, December 16 for The Deli’s Pipeline Series. Along for the wild ride will KEXP faves, NYC’s Electric Tickle Machine. Their name may sound “cute”, but we think “cute” will be the last adjective that comes to your mind when you hear their psychedelic indie rock anthems tear up the stage. Hometown grungey, dream-pop outfit Creepoid will be getting the festivities started. We had a chance to hear some of the new material from their upcoming album Horse Heaven this Friday at Making Time. The new tunes still contain that dichotomy of hazy tranquil stillness coupled with spontaneous explosions that you’d expect from former hardcore kids. Thus, causing us to gravitate towards their Creepoid sound and catapulting them up our must-see band list this past year. Check out all these acts, and hear why we want to share them with you at the debut of The Deli Magazine’s Pipeline Series. But we also have a show to get you warmed-up with the lovely folks at Punk Rock Payroll this Saturday, December 11 at The Blockley featuring the madcap psych-rock of The Armchairs, fuzzed out folk-hop/indie rock of Illinois, the experiment that is Da Comrade!, and loveably sweet Arrah & the Ferns. We hope that you can join us for our last showcases of the year. Thanks to all! Cheers! – The Deli Staff