We blogged about South American music infused EDM duo Sofi Tukker in early December, and things have been moving fast for them since them. Their single Drinkee (soon gone viral after appearing in an Apple Watch commercial) and a couple of live appearances in late 2015 were enough to open the door of a winter tour supporting The Knocks. The tour will begin on January 14th at Baby’s Allright – on the bill also Cardiknox. The band has just released new single "Matadora" (streaming below), announcing it will be featured in the upcoming debut EP, entitled "Soft Animals." 

Adesuwa, the brainchild of Denitia Odigie, is releasing the EP "Air, Light" on January 19. "Coach Class" is the fourth song to be released in anticipation of the forthcoming EP. If you’re unfamiliar with the sounds, Denitia is one half of NYC elctronic soul duo denitia + sene. The music of Adesuwa, while remaining true to the essence of Denitia, flows right out of our collective ’80s soul dreams. The project is co-produced by Denitia and guitarist/producer, Brad Williams. 

Our friends at OhMyRockness are organizing, together with and at Baby’s All Right, a solid afternoon of local bands on Saturday 01.09 (tomorrow). We blogged about most of them recently so we’ll let their music speak in this Minilogs compilation! In the picture, Dreamcrusher.

Here’s another round of bands that proceed to the next phase of our Best of NYC poll for emerging artists, from the normally crowded "Indie Rock" category (everybody wants to be "indie" these days, we had to re-categorize a couple of folk artists and blues rock bands before we got this this list)! This category was a heart breaker, LOTS of really talented artists that should have gone through, but we can’t possibly promote more than four of them – sorry!

Total submissions in this category: 19

Jurors: Jonathan Goodwin (The Deli DC), Ryan Mo (The Deli LA), PDG (The Deli NYC).

1. The New Tarot 8.16 – (out of 10)

We stumbled upon the Walker sister-driven group The New Tarot in the summer of 2014 and saw a lot of potential in it. One and a half years later, we are happy to report that at least part of that potential has been developed in the right direction in their 2015 "Stella" EP, and through a live show that’s growing in confidence – not to mention the awesomely spooky video for the title-track, streaming below. These ladies have the talent and enough time on their side to take things even further. Don’t miss their upcoming show at The Bowery Electric on February 13.

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2. Regret The Hour – 7.83

Currently gracing the top of this very blog as 50% of our Artist of the Month, like this very category’s winners, Regret the Hour are fueled by sibilinghood: brothers Nate McCarthy (lead vox/guitar) and Ben McCarthy (lead guitar) lead this group through their second EP "The Far and the Near," which confidently blends indie, alt and roots elements to deliver an intensely emotional and enjoyable record.

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2. The Heavy Howl – 7.83

Brand new NYC/Boston trio The Heavy Howl released their debut EP "New Mistake" in the summer of 2015 – great title by the way. It’s an interesting record that manages to be sober production-wise but also catchy in a very peculiar way. The power trio instrumentation is what you would expect from a grunge revival band, and even if the sound is partly reminiscent of the less polished records from that musical wave, The Howl’s songs and their interest for textural details are entirely their own. You can see them live at never-heard-before venue Idio Gallery on January 15.

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

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4. Battle Ave – 7.66

Split geographically between Woodstock and Brooklyn, Battle Ave is a band that also suffer from split personality disorder, as you can easily realize from the opening track of their sophomore 2015 LP "Year of Nod," whose eery video we premiered not long ago. here at The Deli, of course, we dig that, because most great rock’n’roll records aren’t normal, and most talented people desperately need a shrink.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS – (Score above 7):

Vaureen, Gillian, HUFF THIS!, The Stewart Dolly, Dear Comrade, The Deafening Colors, Teeth People, The Motor Tom

See you soon with another category!

The Deli Folks

Another band with big plans for 2016 is Brooklyn’s Spirit Animal, who recently shared with PureVolume a new track "Front Seat Feelin" from the band’s forthcoming ‘World War IV’ EP, scheduled for a February 19th release. We can’t embed that song here, but we do have access to the EP’s opening song "Regular World," streaming below, which manages to be anthemic, punch, and cheeky at once. The quartet will be celebrating the release of the EP with a show at Mercury Lounge on February 11.

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

As you may have noticed, we just started dealing with the 2015 Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists, so it’s kind of appropriate to dedicate a little blurb to the band that won last year’s edition: Porches. Aaron Maine’s collective of rotating musicians just came out with this new video for single "Be Apart." It’s been a year of change for Porches, a band that – up until early 2015 – featured a mostly guitar driven sound, whether acoustic or electric.  Their upcoming album "Pool" is set to change that in a way more synthy direction. The band also announced a spring tour with Alex G that will end with a show at Bowery Ballroom on April 15.

We continue churning out results for the Open Submissions to our Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists. Here are the ones who qualify to the next phase of the poll in the category "HIP HOP + OTHER."

Total submissions in this category: 11

Jurors: Cervante Pope (The Deli Portland), Ryan Mo (The Deli LA), Michelle Bacon (The Deli KC).

1. DAYAN – 7.33 (out of 10)

Dayan is Laura Dayan and Darko Saric.  Their indie-electronic Latin American folkloric funk is a swelling and pulsing exploration of the darkest corners of the dancefloor.  Laura’s voice beckons from an alternate universe with stories of magic and soul, while Darko maneuvers from House to Shoegaze.  The elements work together weaving a nostalgic longing for places unseen, rabbit holes, wishing wells, forgotten questions. – BrokeMc

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2. I.O.D. – 7.16

21 year old rapper I.O.D. a.k.a. Brownsvillian performed in front of thousands at the 2015 Brooklyn Music Festival, yet he has only six tracks on his Soundcloud.  This dearth obviously works in his favor.  From the raw candor of his “Grief Freestyle” to the spitfire Spanish and English “‘15 Originator (sida A),” I.O.D. demonstrates a fine balance between raw street spit and endearing quirkiness.  His style is still coalescing, but his skill is undeniable, and with Mtv and Hot97 vouching for him, his follow up to the critically lauded “11212” mixtape will only open him up to larger crowds and venues. – BrokeMc

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2. The Vagabondz – 7.16

The Vagabondz, a rap band and collective originating out of Beacon High School, don’t stray too far from Hip Hop’s roots.  Their debut album “Lessons” is an unpretentious, jazzy, trappy swarm of flows reminiscent of The Pharcyde and Project Blowed.  The production feels so authentically West Coast, it’s hard to believe The Bondz rep Manhattan, NYC.  Dropping references from Common to Black Sheep to Mark Morrison, their foundation is as solid as it gets.  Though they’ve matriculated to various colleges, The Vagabondz promise they’ll always find their way back home. – BrokeMc

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Honorable Mentions (score above 6): The Real Mike Wilson

Sophisticated Brooklyn pop band Starlight Girls is back with a new single – they released quite a few lately in preparation of their upcoming, self produced ‘Fantasm’ LP. Check out also ‘Hero,’ which is so delicious we decided to add it to our playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists! 

We are glad to see our CMJ 2014 babies Sunflower Bean take things to the next level in 2016: they just announced the February release of their debut album ‘Human Ceremony’ on Fat Possum, and a tour spanning two continents (Europe and the US) and two and a half month, also starting in February (the NYC stop is at Bowery Ballroom on 02.25). Check out their album’s preview single "Easier Said," which sees dreamyness and poppiness back into their often more muscolar psychedelic sound.

NYC duo paris_monster is certainly the most self-disciplined band with the name "monster" in it we’ve ever stumbled upon. Like a precise, complex and sophisticated mechanism, their music chugs away, seemingly imperturbable, through bars, verses and choruses, its obvious horse power (read: a monstrous instrumental technique) controlled by infallible superior forces: as we all know now, "with great power comes great responsibilities," and the duo never abuses of it – that’s what good musicianship is. New single "Had Damon Caught His Sloane," a song we are premiering here in preview of their Mercury Lounge show tomorrow (01.07), gives us the impression of a Ferrari running at 25 miles per hour – always a great look when you are not in a hurry stuck behind it. The track’s production, with its clean electronic and industrial references, brings to mind memories of Peter Gabriel (from the "SO" years) and the poppier early Nine Inch Nails records, artists and a genre that have been a little forgotten in the recent years’ obsession with sloppier genres like surf, slacker rock, dream pop and post punk. paris_monster brings those sonic references back to life with an updated sound, thoroughly enjoyable songs, and powerful live presence. 

Happy New Year, Deli-rious seekers of new, exciting, emerging music!

If you’ve been following us for a while, you should know that January is the month when our regional Year End Polls for Emerging Artists are in full bloom!

The first leg of our poll is called "Open Submissions," and, in it, we allow all local artists (in this case NYC ones, since you are reading the NYC blog) to submit their music for consideration. After a screening process involving three of our editors or writers, we pick a few per genre – here are the first results for the Songwriter/Rootsy Pop category!

Total submissions in this category: 18

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

1. Pam Steebler – 7.87

We are rarely entranced by bluesy pop/rock, maybe because – to be pulled off properly – the genre requires monstrous chutzpa, as in… "the balls of those who are really good at something." But we’ve got to concede to Pam Steebler that her "Give In" EP’s two opening songs are… "da bomb." "Mind Reader," in particular (streaming below), has the power and the beauty to light a flare of soulful passion even in the heart of the most unflappable of indie rockers.

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2. Laura & Greg – 7.5

Curiously enough, the second placed band in this chart couldn’t sound more different from the first – how are these two acts in the same category? The answer is in the word "pop" and "roots" – elements these artists shares, but with different approaches. Laura & Greg’s folk pop is gentle, intimate, sparse and DIY. Their peaceful harmonies and placid atmospheres refer back to the folk-pop explosion of the ’60s, revising and adapting it to our DIY days.

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2. Afternoon Men – 7.5

Afternoon Men’s song and video for single "Parking Lots and Basements" (streaming) has an edge that screams "Manhattan" – you know, that borough offering the "bourgeois" kind of fun. (Oh yeah, you can say that about Williamsburg too!). Whoever wrote that song, certainly knows how to navigate that scene, where sophistication and charm can go farther than good looks – at least with the smart ladies who can support a broke musician! This (besides their obvious talent) is why this band may have a future.

Honorable Mentions: Caitlin Mahoney, The Next Great American Novelist, The Bone Chimes, Ashni, Bill Bartholomew, Diana Zinni, Frank Bell.

Jurors: Michael Colavita (Deli Philly), Cody Wright (Deli Toronto), PDG (Deli NYC)

Stay tuned for more results, and then for the readers’ poll!

The sound of NYC’s outfit Wall (featuring members already active in like-minded local groups Finally Punk, Keepsies, and Fergus&Geronimo) recaptures the early days of post punk, the first rock’n’roll movement openly promoting DIY as a creative choice – and a superior one for that matter. Those were the years when The Velvet Underground’s droney, bony records with Reed’s maudit lyrics were rediscovered, and many young artists radicalized that sound by stripping it of any melodic aspirations. This is pretty much what Wall does in their self titled debut EP, with their semi-atonal defying vocals, bare bone instrumentation, and DIY sounding recordings. Of the three songs currently available, our favorite is "Milk" (streaming below), which reminds us of the best early Sonic Youth tracks, slowly building through a combination of Vanessa Gomez’s evocative tense vocals, the subtly evolving guitar chords and the varying speeds of the rhythm section. Check out also their most popular, more aggressively punk single "Fit the Part." The band will be celebrating the EP’s release at Union Pool on January 15, you can preorder it here.

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