On February 26, Brooklyn’s pop masters Ski Lodge will release their six track "New Life" EP digitally and as a limited edition tape. The band unveiled two preview singles, "Crush Your Heart" and "Heaven is Now" (both streaming below), featuring heavy references to the new wave sound of the ’80s – we hear in particular moments bringing to mind The Cure and The Smiths. This new, darker sound, was a result of songwriter Andrew Marr radically changing his compositional and arranging process: “Recording in my home studio – explains Marr – using synths, drum machines and samples for the first time, I was opened up a world that helped me develop new and darker sonic textures.” 

Last week we started publishing the results of the Best of NYC Year End Poll’s Open Submissions (find them here), and it’s finally time to go indie poppy!

Total submissions in this category: 16

Jurors: Michelle Bacon (The Deli KC),  Cervante Pope (The Deli Portland), PDG (The Deli NYC).

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting around 01.20):

1. The City and Horses – 7.33 (out of 10)

Active since the late aughts, The City and Horses is a collective of musicians guided by singer songwriter Marc Cantone and his elegant melodic talent. The variety of instruments featured in their recordings (from flute to strings and horns) will make most people scream "Orchestral Pop!" – and to some extent they would be right! Thing is, the band’s arrangements are so tastefully composed that, while listening to their music, you’d be hard pressed to think about an orchestra. You can see the band live at Grand Victory on January 22.

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2. Silverteeth – 7.16

Led by NYC scene veteran Bill Bartholomew (guitar and vocals) and Brazilian bass player Gabriela Rassi, Silverteeth is an excercise in stripping pop of anything superfluous to let the melody and the songwriting shine. Operating in a strictly DIY fashion, this is one of the few bands able to land gigs both at Bowery Presents’ venues (they’ll play Mercury on February 9th) and at Brooklyn DIY spaces like Palisades. We should hear some new material from them soon, since they were recently invited to record a few tracks at Converse’s Rubber Track.

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3. RANN – 7.00

With their refineded sound, stylish melodies and smooth vocals, RANN could be presented as the Prefab Sprout of Brooklyn. Their brand new debut album "Yellowgun" looks back at the so called sophisti-pop of the ’80s, while adding to that sound an all NYC edge. The group doesn’t shy away from occasional, more aggressive and tense moments (like in ‘Magic Number‘). They’ll be playing at Bushwick’s Black Bear on February 20th.

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3. Julian Fulton – 7.00

Imaginative and whimsical, New Jersey’s Julian Fulton plays a brand of DIY pop that flirts with the classics of psychedelia, while bringing his own voice, stories and production to the picture. A picture that’s as multifaceted as it’s enjoyable, like his latest track "Another Tattoo," a complex collage of sounds and melodies in part reminiscent of the production style of the early Beck records, which, remarkably, was written and recorded at home in 24 hours.  Julian Fulton will perform at the Asbury Underground Music & Arts Crawl on January 16.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS (artist with a rating above 6):

Dot and Logic, Kirsten Izer, Sam Kogon, flocke, Late Cambrian, Lunifred Benjamin, Modern Diet.

Stay tuned for more results!

The Deli Folks

Punk rock isn’t the first genre that comes to mind when you think of deeper lyrical content. That particular sound is usually about reaction and feel, most often rage or at the very least, discontent. A quick perusal of Brooklyn based Sketchy’s song titles, however show clever minds at work. Opening track “The Thinkiest Guy In Thinktown,” off of their debut full length album “I Wanted This To Go Different,” hits like prime era Replacements only with growly melodic vocals. Classic dual guitars pair Johnny Ramone hyper-speed strummed chords and hook-heavy single note riffs. “Whiskey Nostalgia” (streaming) thunders along like a college frat theme song where all the pledges have been given amped up electric guitars, after listening to hours of The Clash. “I Wrote A Suicide Note” is a quick minute and a half burst, sharing kinship with LA punk pioneers Social Distortion’s seminal debut album “Mommy’s Little Monster.” The cleverly titled “Someone Else’s Hook” succinctly references rock music’s overall recycled nature, wrapping it in a sound style reminiscent of early Weezer. For som fun and loud times, see Sketchy at The Grand Victory in Brooklyn on January 30. – Dave Cromwell

According to his biography, Andrew Keoghan’s second album "Every Orchid Offering" – due for release later in the year – is the "product of two years of writing and recording between Auckland (New Zealand) and New York, where Keoghan relocated in 2013." Since the write up makes it sound as if he was going back and forth on a monthly basis or so, we couldn’t resist the temptation to check out the average cost of a JFK-Auckland flight – ouch! It’s a 26+ hour trip (or 2+ days if you want to save $6-700 bucks), and if you ever dared to go through that torture, Andrew’s music would definitely be a soothingly helpful soundtrack for it: his songs unravel calmly, alsmost sleepingly, with the various instruments patiently building a sparse sonic web, complemented by melodies that push the boundaries of gentleness. The new record is presented as "a series of vignettes and short stories, some autobiographical, others imagined, but always very personal." You can stream his well received debut here. Check the first single "Stuck in Melodies" from the new album below. Andrew Keoghan will be performing at Rough Trade tonight (01.14) with instrumental NYC composer Frank LoCrasto.

argonaut&wasp, a smooth soul-dance duo we covered first about a month ago, just released a new single entitled "The Sneeze" – you can stream it below. The track is the first one of a series of new singles to be released from now until the summer, when it will finally be possible to hear the band’s music in its more appropriate environment: the beach. You may argue that the title of this single is actually rather wintery… well, not necessarily; it could refer to that peculiar and bizarre sneeze doctors refer to as "photic sneeze reflex" – also referred to as "sun sneezing," a condition that – according to Wikipedia – "affects 18-35% of the population (including yours truly), but whose exact mechanism of action is not well understood."

It’s time to tackle the ALT ROCK category of our open submissions for the 2015 edition of our Best of NYC Poll for emerging artists – you can see the results we published so far here.

ALT ROCK/POWER POP 

Total submissions in this category: 21

Jurors: Jason Behrends (The Deli Chicago), Jordannah Elizabeth (The Deli SF) PDG (The Deli NYC).

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting around 01.20):

1. The Chordaes – 7.66 (out of 10)

A just over one year old group of "Manhattan-born friends" (take that, Brooklyn hipster-immigrants, these guys are real New York, New Yorkers!), The Chordaes’ music features elegant melodies, measured arrangements and a rather mellow approach, and may be best described as Alt Pop than Alt Rock – although the latter is the category they submitted for. But this doesn’t really change the fact that this is a group of young and talented musicians with noteworthy songwriting chops, and a vocalist that can touch hearts in ways reminiscent of unforgotten NYC hero Jeff Buckley. Check out their single "Touch The Ground" and see them live at Rockwood Music Hall on January 30th.

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2. PSYCHOBABY – 7.5

The brainchild of fiery Brooklyn based singer songwriter Juliet Garrett and guitarist Godfrey Furchtgott, Psychobaby only released one song out at this (very early) stage of its career, but a song that – paired with an imaginative and well shot low budget video – bodes very well for the band’s future. Sonic references to the riot grrl sound of the ’90s are tempered by the lack of slacking: the band’s sound is focused, Garret can sing, and the songwriting seems more inspired by artists from previous decades, like, for example, The Pretenders or even Exene Cervenka’s X. Having attitude, character and a good song+video combo is a great start for an emerging band; Psychobaby’s next challenges are prolificity, consistency of songwriting and a building killer live show. You can see the band live at Bowery Electric on February 13th.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS (rating above 7):

Mustardmind, Justin Baron, Warn The Duke, Sketchy, Bloody Your Hands.

More open submission results coming soon!

The Deli’s Folks

In celebration of her new album "Cocksure," out October 30 on Don Giovanni Records, in the spring Laura Stevenson will kick off a national tour featuring a show at the Mercury Lounge on April 2nd. Recorded mostly live, the LP represents a change for the Long Island born, Brooklyn based songwriter, resulting in her most raw and spontaneous material to date. Check out the recent video for single "Torch Song," below.

2001, the new project by Benjamin Lazar Davis and Joan Wasser (of Joan as a Policewoman), just released this video for single "Overloaded" starring comedian Fred Armisen. The video follows Armisen’s exploits as he seeks to break the monotony of waiting for his car fixed in Joan and Benjamin’s auto garage.

If danceable but clever electronica is your kind of thing, on the night of January 30th you should go to Palisades. The night will see four Brooklyn electronic producers perform on stage, with an added visual component courtesy of Frottage Industry. The most buzzworthy names on the bill are UMFANG (pictured) and Negative Gemini. The former is the project of Bronx born producer Emma Olson, whose output ranges from underground techno to less beat-driven, experimental tracks like the latest single "Pills" (streaming). Olson also founded Discwoman, an organization focused on promoting female-identified talent in electronic music.

Negative Gemini, the brainchild of Lindsey French, is also a one woman project – we covered her in this blog this past October. Lindsey’s debut EP "Real Virtual Unison" unveils more structured and song oriented material, featuring dream pop and droney new wave elements. Check out her recent single "You Never Knew," streaming below.

On the bill also Physical Therapy and Doss.

The churning out of local artists qualifying for our Best of NYC  Emerging Artist 2015 Poll continues with the ELECTRONIC category. In case you missed the previous announcements, we’ve already published results for Indie, Hip Hop + Other, and Rootsy Pop/Songwriters. This is a rather exciting category, considering the exponential growth of the electronic NYC scene in recent years.

Total submissions in this category: 18

Jurors: Jonathan Goodwill (The Deli DC), Quang Tran (The Deli Philly), PDG (The Deli NYC).

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting around 01.25):

1. CAFUNÉ – (7.66 out of 10)

Sedona Schat and Noah Yoo’s music exists in a perpetual spring (as in the season), so 2015, with its mild summer and incredibly warm winter, might have as well been their year. Sedona’s breezy melodies are complemented by Noah’s peppy, dancy electronic arrangements. Their single "Warm Body" found lots of love on the internet, and so did their 2015 debut EP "Originals." 

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2. BORN CAGES (7.6)

With their anthemic songs and polished but edgy production, NYC’s Born Cages make music that belongs in arenas – in particular their first single "Rolling Down the Hill." Their stand out track "I Just Want the Truth, Baby" (streaming) blends electronic quirkyness with sophisticated crooning a la’ Bryan Ferry, showcasing a versitile and talented band with more than one trick up its sleeve. The trio had an exciting 2015, culminated in a fall US tour supporting The Lighthouse and the Whaler and Family Force 5.

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3. Teenage Love (7.5)

Bicontinental duo Katy Gunn (Brooklyn) and Anna Lidell (Copenhagen) charmed us right away with their band Teenage Love’s debut EP "Gold." Their tracks balance elegant, jazz informed melodies with an unconventional approach partly reminiscent of some of the most approachable material by NYC electronic experimenteur Laurie Anderson. Hopefully in 2016,  to cultivate this promising project, the two ladies will find themselves on the same side of the ocean more often than not.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS – (Score above 7):

St. Lenox, Nola Wren, Loving You, NEW MYTHS, Syvia, Secret Weapons.

See you soon with another category!

The Deli Folks

2015 has been good to Brooklyn LVL UP (pictured), the umpteenth band to prove that – nothingstanding what your teacher and parents said – you can be somewhat successful by either slacking or playing rock’n’roll music – they actually do both at once! The quartet is still riding on the heels of their "Three Songs" 7", which is available now via Run For Cover/Double Double Whammy, and have announced a February tour that includes dates with two other Brooklyn bands we dig: Florist and Stove. They’ll be all playing Shea Stadium on 02.25. What a wonderful opportunity to stream a song per band! It looks like Florist is actually about to release a new album – preview single below.

Founded in El Paso, TX, around 2008, and featuring a revolving cast of musicians collaborating with singer songwriter Greg Gonzalez, Cigarettes After Sex released debut EP "I" back in 2012. The record took the notion of "mellow pop" to extremes of slowness, melancholy and sparseness unheard since the days when Cowboy Junkies were hot (that was 1988). After building cult status notwithstanding being largely unnoticed by the "mainstream indie blogs," in 2015, Greg made the move to Brooklyn, with plans to release the band’s debut album "Affection," scheduled for 2016. Two preview singles from the LP were released in the last few months; we are streaming below the first one, which also functions as title-track. The second one, "Keep On Loving You," can be heard here. If oyu are in the mood for been lulled to sleep in a music venue (maybe between the arm of your loved one!) you shouldn’t miss Cigarettes After Sex’s upcoming live show at Baby’s All Right on January 31st. – Photo courtesy of the Sophie’s Floorboard blog

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!