Lurvely Deli Readers,

We are proud to introduce you to our Winter 2016 issue of The Deli NYC, featuring on the cover Brooklyn songwriter, producer and multimedia artist Brittany Campbell, portrayed by NYC comix artist Lale Westwind. Inside the issue – besides dozens of talented emerging NYC bands and artists – you’ll also find a feature about the undiscovered genius of Captain Baby and the ongoing saga of Manhattan DIY art space and venue ABC No Rio. 

READ IT ONLINE HERE! It will be out in print around January 15.

Far Rockaway, Queens resident Tall Juan wears his Ramones influences well on the most recent EP “Why Not.” Moving from his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina to NYC’s borough that gave birth to the original garage rockers shows an admirable level of devotion. Though Joey Ramone may be the obvious initial point of reference, there are elements of Richard Hell’s vocal inflections sprinkled throughout the tall young man’s songs. In keeping with that era’s proto-punk ethos, all songs are approximately a minute and a half in length: opening track “Why Not” may reflect Johnny’s quick chord change progressions, but are delivered instead on an acoustic guitar. “It’s True” (streaming) channels the buoyant rhythm of “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” with lyrical content closer to “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” Third track “I Don’t Know What To Do” clocks in at barely over a minutes and leans a bit closer to Hell’s legendary and overlooked Voidoids. Final track is a cover of the Dee Dee penned “Chinese Rock” that playfully interprets its lyrics. Tall Juan will be playing one more show in New York at Berlin on January 9th, before heading out on a European tour that will continue on through the month of February. by Dave Cromwell

Up until a few years ago, many NYC "indie" venues didn’t book hip hop acts – it still happens in many Manhattan ones. DIY Brooklyn has always being more open to the genre, so much so that this year Bushwick spot Aviv booked a bill of mostly local hip hop artists for their New Years Eve party (together with noisy avant-punk trio Show Me the Body, which isn’t completely foreign to the genre). Wiki (of Ratking) will headline the night with a solo set, which – knowing the character and his talent – is bound to be entertaining. He released his debut solo album "Lil Me" earlier in December. Opening NYC trio Jaguar Pyramids will complement and to some extent exacerbate his dark and tense sound with their nightmarish grooves – check out their 8 track debut album here. Brooklyn quintet Gloss Gang will also be of the party; their recent single "Money, Hoes and Fashion" (streaming) shares the other acts’ suspenseful, unconventional sonics and has become a small SoundCloud hit in just one month. Listening to these three tracks, there seems to be enough evidence to state that NYC hip hop is going through a creative renaissance. Maybe more local venues should open their doors to it.

The two song, uber lo-fi debut demo from Katie Capri’s brainchild, Fern Mayo, might have been a blip on the music radar of 2014 (even though the band made our Best of NYC list that year), leaving early lovers desperately in need of more. The October release of the (now) trio’s Happy Forever EP (streaming below), further honed a craft of raw emotionality and glum combined with surfy melodic grooves, while exploring sudden rhythmic changes and fuzzy chord rage. The addition of bassist Nicholas Cummins’ moody backing, and Charlie Bueno’s raw but eclectic drumming contribute to a sound that’s now more full and mature. The seven song EP (plenty of bang for your buck here) rips through the human psyche of want and loss, hammered home in Capri’s harrowing wails, “we’re all just trying to be happy here,” on the track, “Chomping at the Bit.” Their recordings place all focus on the feelings derived from instruments and voice, though one can only imagine the increased intensity of a live performance – and they’ve been doing a lot of that this year, as recently noted by OhMyRockness. You can see Fern Mayo at Silent Barn on January 14th. –JP Basileo

Being asked to play a cool New Year’s Eve party, and getting paid to do so, must be one of the best gigs any can land on December 31st… Being on stage, with everybody watching… everybody drinking…  In NYC, not many places are cooler than Brooklyn’s Rough Trade. The Williamsburg records store/venue will host a New Year’s Eve party headlined by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and featuring two promising local openers. Monograms (pictured) plays fast paced indie pop with psychedelic, new wave and garagey overtones. The trio debuted in 2014 with the dreamy "Fader" EP, which was almost entirely performed by singer/guitarist Ian Jacobs); the record offered a sound featuring smooth melodies within a semi-DIY production enamoured with dirt and distortion. This past December new single Downer (streaming) saw the light of day, with the announcement of an upcoming EP scheduled for early 2016.

Surf Rock is Dead – a dream-pop duo with a surf accent that was highlighted already twice here in 2015 – has been getting a lot of attention in blogs lately, finding their way to many year end playlists, and hearts of fans of other surf-dreaming bands like Real Estate and The Drums. Their 2015 EP "SRiD" is charmingly catchiy, appropriately drenched in reverb, and strictly mid-fi. Check out our favorite track Zan A, streaming below.

At the end of each year, our friends at OhMyRockness.com have the habit to make a list of NYC’s Hardest Working Bands – i.e. the ones that played the most shows, at least according to their database (they don’t list every single show played in NYC, it would be impossible since there are a lot of unofficial gigs and improvised venues). Even though obviously limited to indie and punky acts, this is definitely an interesting chart, because, in NYC, only artists who have the rare ability to consistently draw a decent crowd get booked more than a couple of times per quarter – and all of the bands in this list played an average of two to three shows per month! Topping the list is post-punk-with-sax quartet Pill, who played THIRTY NINE (!!!) shows in 2015 (with a stunning average of more than three show per month in NYC alone!). The band released their self titled debut EP on local label Dull Tools in March, and then single "Hot Glue" (streaming below) on Mexican Summer in August. They already have FOUR shows scheduled for January 2016… evidently, they are trying to best themselves!

P.S. Tall Juan and Acid Dad share the OMR’s list podium, full list with 21 names here – congrats to all!

Considering they had their first digital single out just about one year ago, NYC rockers Acid Dad built an impressive amount of buzz in 2015, through a powerful and fun live show, and a series of multifaceted releases ranging from the more garage oriented early single "Graveyard Kid" to the droney developments of latest single "Grim," which flirts with the dreamy and droney sound of the UK scene from the early ’90s. And then there’s this, which is always a good sign. The quartet doesn’t seem interested in letting your attention slip away in 2016: they recently announced the release of their debut EP with a show at Baby’s All Right on January 22, with Total Slacker and AMFMS. We have no idea if it will be just a collection of their previous singles or entirely new songs or a mix of the two. We suggest you find out in person! Check out single "The Digger," streaming here. – photo by Sonic Highlark

We wonder if Brooklyn based producer Obey City‘s stage name is intended as a way to describe the Big Apple – which wouldn’t be a very rock’n’roll view of our city, although probably a quite correct one: New Yorkers tend to comply (or – to put it more positively – are great team players!!!). Probably not, since his real name is Sam Obey, which is fitting indeed: you can’t be a producer without being a diplomatic person. He operates mostly in the electronic/experimental RnB realm and he’s keeping himself busy, churning out tracks and remixes on a weekly basis – one of the most popular was the song entitled Rewind he co-produced for emerging LA via DC soul diva Kelela. He also co-owns "record label/blog/party" Astro Nautico (it sounds like a great business model). Earlier in 2015 Obey City released a three track EP entitled "Merlot Sounds," featuring again a collaboration with Kelela in the synth-ballad "Airy" – streaming below. Check out also single Waterbed. He’ll be bringing the party at Palisades on New Year’s Eve, if soulful EDM is your kind of thing, you don’t want to miss it.

Don’t Believe in Ghosts is the solo project of Steven Nathan, the driving force behind NYC pop/rock band Man On Earth, now on a prolonged hiatus. The band’s debut EP "Change Your Mind" was recorded with the help of friend Rick Eddy on drums and a cameo by collaborator Matt Fink of Prince & the Revolution on keyboards, and will be followed by another EP a few months from now, entitled "Change Your Luck." The two EPs were (mostly) self recorded and self produced, and a lot of DIY went also in realizing the video we are premiering here for single "Nothing I Could Do Is Ever Good Enough For You," which narrates the frustration of a little robot in love with its human lady-master. Mixing synth pop and alt rock elements, the song deftly straddles the line between hope and resignation, themes that are obviously central in Natan’s new material, and that have the potential to resonate with all those who are working hard, day in, day out, chasing their lifetime dream. You can see Don’t Believe in Ghosts’s debut live show at Bowery Electric on January 13.

A gentle, dreamy uneasiness runs through the bedroom recordings of Long Beard’s late 2015 release “Sleepwalker.” The 13 track Team Love Records release is the culmination of singer-songwriter Leslie Bear’s introspective creativity. Combining backward-loop studio techniques with traditional folk compositions, the band achieves a subtle, needy urgency. The heart tugging ache of The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler can be found on lead track “Porch,” as chords and voice layer in a dissonant beauty. “Hates The Party” (streaming below) creates further reflective moments, while putting forward the statement that “there’s more than one reason, to hate the world spinning – everyone hates the party.” “Summer/Fall” shows the benefits of taking ideas into larger studios, making excellent use of backward looping as the instrumental base for Leslie’s temperate vocals. “Dream” impresses with counterpoint, out-of-sync percussive background click, cleverly approximating the chaotic sleeping mind. “Someplace” takes that even further with a three and a half minute soundscape containing the single lyric “always thinking of some place some time ago.” Long Beard plays live tomorrow (December 29th) at Baby’s All Right. – Dave Cromwell

One of the hardest thing to find in today’s record "industry" is artists who are able to keep improving. We’ve been following Ruth Mirsk’s Syvia since 2011, and their musical output has been showing constant progress. The band’s latest release is synth-pop/shoegazer track "Anxious Animal" (streaming), which is a taste of their upcoming EP scheduled for a February 2016 release. Echoes of the droney late ’80s/early ’90s reverberate through the layers of distorted guitars and synth pads, evocative of British acts ranging from the Psychedelic Furs to Echo and the Bunnymen. Ruth’s vocals are appropriately semi-lost in a fog of reverb, and accentuate the moodiness of a single that’s enjoyably pop notwithstanding its many noisy and tense elements. Which is sonething only good songwriting and production can pull off. Syvia will be performing at Pianos on January 16th.

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

If – like us – you like your pop a little dirty, a little retro, and maybe even enriched by noir or quirky elements, you should check out Brooklyn band Coastgaard, one of our Artists of the Month earlier in 2015. After their rather mellow, melancholic 2013 self-titled debut LP, the quartet in 2014 focused on picking up the tempo with singles ‘Rose‘ and ‘Black White Fuzz,’ their most popular single to date. Coastgaard is now announcing the February release of their sophomore album ‘Devil on the Balcony’ by unveiling single ‘A Well Adjusted Man,’ an elegant pop song that delivers their signature melancholic and cinematic vibes, but takes songwriting and production to new levels, flirting at once with Otis Redding’s timeless melodies and a darker post-punk aesthetic. This is a very promising single. You can see the band live at Pianos on January 28.

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