Dueling left and right stereo channel guitar bursts introduce RANN’s live-in-studio video recording of “Falling,” the latest single off their debut album “Yellogun.” The polyrhythmic structure is soon filled out with precisely placed synth, sharp drums and driving bass figures that allow for dramatic spaces between those notes.  “How does it feel?” introduces the essential vocal hook, with the songs title embedded in the answer line “right before you start falling.”  When the arena sized chorus ultimately emerges, a catchy rising melody hook punctuates each passage through.  The overall feel is reminiscent of ELO’s psych-pop Beatles influenced hits. Directed, edited, and shot by Ryan Ela of Midnight Treehouse Productions, the video makes use of high quality black and white imagery in showcasing the bands impressive live performance.  The band is about to embark on a winter-through-spring tour including featured performances at SXSW, then on to LA and culminating with an end of tour concert at Le Poisson Rouge on April 10th. The band recently won  the Indie Pop section of our Best of NYC Readers’/Fans’ Poll for Emerging Artists. – Dave Cromwell

Deli Readers,

Our Best of Chicago Poll for Emerging 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. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

The Post-Punk trio of Chris Sutter (vocals/guitar), Joe Gac (bass), and Ryan Wizniak (drums) known as Meat Wave formed in 2011. In September of 2015 they released their third album, first on Hollywood’s SideOneDummy Records, Delusion Moon. The band spent most of 2015 touring the UK and North America fine tuning a sound that is both chaotic and pleasingly melodic.

The spirit of this Cumbia Jam band is undeniable, and Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta has a unique sound that our readers and voters both agreed on. 2015 saw the release of their thrilling debut album, Dos Santos.

Campdogzz is the duo of Jess Price (vocals/guitar) and Mike Russell (of Wedding Dress, Suns) (multi-instrumentalist) creating gritty blues-infused rock. The will be expanding the band and touring in 2016. 

Check out our poll’s top 15 below, and don’t forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT ROCK – ELECTRO-HIP HOP – INDIE POP – NOISE ROCK/AVANT – PSYCH ROCK/POP – PUNK/GARAGE/METAL – ROOTS MUSIC

[JASON, PLEASE UPDATE THE HEADPHONE LINKS IN THIS CHART!] BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING Chicago ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS – TOP 15 ******

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Meat Wave 6.5   0.017 6.517 2 Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta   3 2 5 3 Campdogzz 3   0.072 3.072 4 Soddy Daisy 3   0.065 3.065 5 Luggage 3   0.012 3.012   Al Scorch 3   0.012 3.012 7 Bleach Party 3   0.009 3.009 8 Circuit Des Yeux 3   0.008 3.008 9 Disappears 3   0.005 3.005 10 Whitney 3   0.004 3.004 11 Archie Powell & the Exprts 3   0.002 3.002 12 Saba 3   0.002 3.002 13 The Congregation 3   0.001 3.001 14 Jude Shuma 2   0.5 2.5   Burnside & Hooker   1 1.5 2.5 Legend: J = Jurors, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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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 15+ Chicago scene expert (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 for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek 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 Chicago produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Michael Gebel (Empty Bottle), Lisa White (Freelance Music Writer), Eric Muhlberger (Sofar Sounds Chicago), Bill Valenta (Theft Liable To Prosecute), Jim Kopeny (Chicagoist), Brendan Losch (Count Me Out), Jason Behrends (The Deli Chicago), Eric Schelkopf (The Total Scene), Adam (Saki Record store), Elle Quintana (Reggie’s Rock Club), Coleman Brice (Cole’s Chicago), Matt Baron (Coach House Sounds), Bill Valenta (TLTP.com)

Hope you’ll find some awesome new artists you weren’t aware of!

The Deli’s Staff

An artist moving comfortably from glitchy folk, to orchestral arrangements, to spacey rock freak-outs, Ben Talmi stretches his canvas wide, reaching some far-out places with his music along the way. Thankfully, he also has a gift for making these sonic journeys sound incredibly catchy. New track ‘Pure’, from latest release ‘My Art of Almost,’ continues this path towards pop music transcendence, with a song that’s as much fun and colorfully rendered as the eye-popping video accompanying it. Check out the video for new single ‘Pure’ below. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

It’s time to focus our attention on the bands that did well in our recent Best of NYC 2015 Readers/Fans Poll for Emerging Artists (we wish there was a shorter way to say that… what about BoNYCRFPfEA 2015?). Let’s start with the Sould category, since it features that poll’s overall winner and third place artists. 

With her powerful voice and a solid production team behind her, Pam Steebler qualified to our Best of NYC poll through the Open Submissions. Her "Give In" EP, paired with a full band churning out confident, top notch live performances, are a great asset for a young artist whose soul-rock has the potential to appeal to almost every music lover out there. Check out her single "Me and You" below, and see her at Webster Hall’s Studio on March 1st.

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With a slightly poppier approach to soul music, Lawrence boasts classic songwriting forged by sibling duo Clyde and Gracie Lawrence. Gifted with both superior piano skills and incredibly powerful vocals, Clyde leads the band with the confidence of a veteran. The band just wrapped up a east coast tour and will celebrate the end of it with a show at Webster Hall’s Marlin Room tonight (02.18)

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Merging electro, hip hop and soul, Tangina Stone offers a less classic interpretation of soul music Her 2015 EP ‘The Fall‘ surprises with a sound that develops in various directions, highlighting the singer’s range and its production team’s ability to work with dirrent genres and sounds.

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The other three artists in this category are Cory Henry, Connell Cruise and Justin Baron.

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!

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING PHILLY ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS ******

ARTIST J OS W R TOT   1 Alex G 11.5   2 0.03 13.53 2 Kissisippi 10.5   3 0.009 13.509 3 Queen of Jeans 9.5     0.006 9.506 4 The Spirit of the Beehive 2   6 0.01 8.01 5 Palmas 6.5   1 0.004 7.504   Lithuania 5.5   2 0.004 7.504 7 Thin Lips 6.5   1 0.003 7.503 8 YJY   3 2 1.5 6.5 9 Girlpool 5.5     0.006 5.506 10 The Writhing Squares 5.5     0.005 5.505 11 The City & I 2   3 0.012 5.012 12  Suburban Living 2   3 0.001 5.001 13 Howlish 3     2 5   Hurrican Hoss 3   1 1 5 15  Abi Reimold 4.5     0.021 4.521 16 Shannen Moser 4.5     0.017 4.517 17 Air is Human 4.5     0.005 4.505 18 Tunji Ige 4.5     0.002 4.502 19  Blood Sound 3   1 0.005 4.005 20 Hello Shark 3   1 0.004 4.004 21 Cheerleader 3   1 0.003 4.003 22 Petal 3   1 0 4 23 The Up Up Ups! 3     0.017 3.017 24 Palm 3     0.012 3.012 25 Nik Greeley 3     0.011 3.011 26 Friendship 3     0.006 3.006 27 Shelf Life 3     0.005 3.005   Year Of Glad 2   1 0.005 3.005 29 Ecstatic Vision 2   1 0.004 3.004 30 The Stammer   2 1 0.002 3.002 31 The Bul Bey 3     0.001 3.001 32 Silverton 2     0.5 2.5   I Think Like Midnight 2     0.5 2.5   Man About A Horse 2     0.5 2.5 35 VoirVoir   1 1 0.015 2.015 36 Weekender 2     0.003 2.003 37 Aunt Dracula 2     0.002 2.002   God Root 2     0.002 2.002 39 Joie Kathos 2     0.001 2.001 40 GrandeMarshall 1   1 0 2 41 Museyroom   1.5   0.001 1.501 42 Josh Miller 1     0.029 1.029 43 Motherwhore 1     0.021 1.021 44 Scantron 1     0.016 1.016 45 Dogs on Acid 1     0.01 1.01 46 R.R. Perkins 1     0.009 1.009 47 Mercury Girls 1     0.007 1.007 48 Madalean Gauze 1   NYC Ohene Cornelius releases ‘Flight Risk’ LP at Secret Loft on 02.27 Posted on: February 17, 2016 Actor, artist, and musician Ohene Cornelius brandishes his wings in the face of an subjugating establishment. With releases spanning back to 2011, he’s come a long way as an artist. His new album reads like Kanye West mixed with a little Saul Williams. It’s a party album with political leanings, kind of like having a bunch of dancers dressed like black panthers backing him during a super bowl halftime show. He is sensational in his imagery to the point of parody, but it’s a conscious juxtaposition; the fool who whispers in the ear of the king, the bravado of mainstream hip hop exploited as a vessel for something more invective. In his own words, "We call it #FlightRisk cuz this sh*t might take off." Join him and his BKWildlife brethren on 2/27 for the release party at Secret Loft BK. – BrokeMC NYC Public Memory spreads its dark wave to Alphaville (03.12) and SXSW Posted on: February 17, 2016 Our readers may be aware by now that we don’t shy away from seriously dark music, which is in the DNA of anybody who loves the underground rock of the 80’s. Public Memory is the new project of Rober Toher from ERAAS, who released three singles between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, all sharing a desolate electronic soundscape and Toher’s alienated, filtered melodies. Latest single Zig Zag (streaming), sounds a little like Clinic in a David Lynch movie: more nightmarish, and more distant. After playing Alphaville on March 12, Public Memory will head to SXSW to play a show at Barracuda on 03.15. NYC Wand gets two album in Best of Psych 2015 critics’ list Posted on: February 17, 2016 In 2015, Los Angeles’ Wand have been a force to be reckon with, releasing two LPs in quick succession that sound like a (modernized) museum of psychedelia, and alternatively tackle the genre’s many faces: from garage-psych (Self Hypnosis) to drone rock (The Unexplored Map), from Early Pink Floyd (Reaper Invert) to… later Pink Floyd (Melted Rope). A true encyclopedia of psych! The trio managed to land both records in this critic’s score list of the best 10 psychedelic albums of 2015, preceding acts like Ty Segall and King Gizzard – now, that’s something to tell your grandchildren about! NYC Young Runner plays Black Bear Bar on Friday 02.19 Posted on: February 17, 2016 Young Runner is indeed a young band, but they certainly don’t play like one. The rock quartet been exploring their brand of “garage punk” all over Brooklyn and NYC for the past two years, getting ready for the release of their debut EP, which will be out in the near future. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen them live, their track, “Wet Cement” (from their 2015 selft titled debut EP) is a healthy introduction to the band, incorporating well structured changes filled with attitudinal riffs to support singer Robert Fleming’s harshly muffed vocals. The sound is very 90’s, mixing alternative grunge tones with garage and punk, which is certainly a description in line with plenty of current trends, but where these guys stand out is their level of intensity speed, and precision. You can check Young Runner out at Black Bear Bar on Friday, 2/19, and C’mon Everybody on 3.20, as part of MELTFEST. – JP Basileo We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best punk/garage/90’s rock songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out! NYC Pastel Ghost leaves SF for Brooklyn, plays SXSW Posted on: February 16, 2016 Brainchild of programmer Vivian Moon, who recently relocated from the SF Bay Area to Brooklyn, Pastel Ghost remind us how psychedelia slowly emerged as an important influence in the electronic sound of the ’80s, opening the door to the lush dream pop of Cocteau Twins and to My Bloody Valentine’s shoegazer sound. The band’s electro cover of MBV’s ‘When You Sleep‘ sounds like a declaration of intents: shoegazer music where synths trump guitars. Debut LP ‘Abyss,’ released in early 2015, accomplishes this objective with flair, keeping things interesting with catchy melodies buried in reverb, and showcasing a production that – within a uniform sound – expertly manages sonic variations. If you are heading to SXSW in March, you’ll get a chance to see Pastel Ghost there. We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best electronic songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out! NYC Robert Leslie Brings his Folk-Pop to Pete’s Candy Store on 02.18 Posted on: February 16, 2016 Like the Sirens’ temptation of Odysseus, Brooklyn-via-London folk-pop artist Robert Leslie’s new single, “Say it Enough,” successfully courts us into his misery. From the very first organ notes, to the soothing roll of the bass line, the bright and welcoming melodies catch your attention drawing the listener into what is soon discovered to be an undeniably lonesome desolation. Leslie’s voice almost cracks in heartbreak as he sees an old love leaving for destinations unknown, and from which he knows there will be no return. The notion of love slipping through fingertips echoes not only in the pitch of his voice, or the effected tonality of the guitar, but also (and especially) in lyrics like, “or are you only ever dreaming of some other kinda scene, where you’ll always be a stranger and the people talk in code, and no one has to miss you when you go.” The track fades off in dwindling incredulousness and we’re left, like Leslie, unsure of where to go from here. Leslie plays Pete’s Candy Store on February 18th. – JP Basileo NYC Big Bliss brings the suspenceful sound of post punk to Cake Shop on 03.25 Posted on: February 16, 2016 Big Bliss, who recently won the Indie/Post Punk category of our Best of NYC 2015 readers’ poll, is a very new project formed in 2015 by brothers Cory (drums, Party of Helicopters) and Tim Race (guitar, Russenorsk/Narrow & the Brights), after recruiting local songwriter and bass player Wallace May (Young Tides). The trio is working on a full length album to be released later in 2016, and – while doing so – have been putting out tracks that are bound to inspire fans of Interpol, early The Natiopnal and all the music lovers who seek the dark and tense atmospheres inspired to British post-punk bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and Wire. After unveiling two debut songs in September 2015 featuring a confident, suspenceful sound modeled around Wallace’s deadpan vocal delivery (which is one of the most important traits of post-punk music),  Big Bliss put out their strongest single to date this past January, entitled "Constants" (streaming below). You can see them live at Cake Shop on March 25, and new Bushwick bar Gold Sounds on March 18.