Mikal Amin may have retired his previous moniker “Hired Gun,” but his revolutionary spirit remains aflame in his latest solo release #NICEGUYSFINISH. Mikal has been pummeling the NYC Hip Hop scene with his staccato bravado for years. This album is a look back on the battles this hip hop educator has waged both onstage and behind closed doors. Complemented by ZQ’a buttery production and embellished with standout collaborations with Breeze Evahflowin, Y?, Duv, and a reunion of his rap cabal Third Party, it’s a reflection on transformation and the inevitable changes which only fools struggle against. – BrokeMC

Elk City was one of the (many) NYC bands that deserved more attention in the aughts, and also one of the (not so many) to be rewarded with a Deli NYC Record of the Month around 2007, when their album "New Believers" dropped. We are therefore thrilled to hear that two fourths of the original group, including backing vocalist Barbara Endes and guitarist Sean Eden, are back in action with a new group called Girls on Grass. They just released a self titled LP full of electric folk songs with a slight psychedelic accent, sounding as if 10,000 Maniacs were part of the late ’80s Paysley Underground movement. They’ll be performing next on Friday, Jan 8 at the Rent Party benefit in Maplewood, NJ. Check out album opener "Father Says Why," streaming below.

I’m not sure how we missed the fact that Long Island’s band The Lemon Twigs opened for Deli favorite Foxygen this past summer. The songwriting nucleus of the group is comprised of brothers Brian D’Addario and Michael D’Addario (we wonder if they are in any way related to the famous LI based manufacturer of guitar strings!). The two obviously share a passion for pop and psychedelic records of the ’60s, and have put together a group of like minded musicians to help them recreate those vintage sounds. This past summer they released a debut LP in cassette and streaming format, entitled "What We Know," that plays like a colorful rear mirror image of the dreamiest of musical decades. Their overall approach to the retro thing, although similar to Foxygen’s, is a lot softer and chilled, trading rock’n’roll’s tension and attitude with a more whimsical approach, reminiscent of the Beach Boys at their most psychedelic. The album, although rather DIY sounding, is amazingly consistent, featuring a noteworthy number of enjoyable tracks arranged in imaginative ways. We stream below "Soothe," which features one of their best melodies.

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

NYC songwriter Janelle Kroll is the living proof of how electronic music is bringing a new edge to soul pop, a genre that – until a few years ago – was trapped in the mainstream’s straitjacket. Take her single "Numb" (streaming below): at its heart, it’s a simple soul ballad, but the track’s production, flirting with the "weirdness" of industrial rock and trip hop, elevates it to something unique in its beautiful eeriness, expanding the song’s appeal. Janell had a satisfying 2015: she released a string of singles in 2015, the latest of which is "How Do You Know Me," performed at Lollapalooza, and landed a few high profile collaborations (with Hot Since 82 and Moon Boots among others). She’ll be performing at Rockwood Music Hall on February 2nd. – Photo by Nathan Podshadley

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

Brainchild of Brooklyn singer songwriter/producer Nandi Rose Plunkett, Half Waif incarnates the paradox – made possible by modern technology – of the solo orchestral project. In control of lyrics and vocals, Nandi also forges the band’s lush electronic arrangements, partly delegating the rhythm section to drummer Zack Levine and bassist Adan Carlo. Half Waif – who made our Best of NYC Poll for Emerging bands back in 2013 – just announced the release of their sophomore LP "Probable Depths" by unveiling single "Nest" (streaming). Before the release, scheduled for an April 2016 release, the trio will be performing at Shea Stadium on January 6 with Shana Falana, Fraternal Twin, and Ajnabi.

Speaking of New Jersey (see post below this one), Gates from New Brunswick play a genre that we would more easily associate with the Garden State, with its frequent emo references and "alt" sounding distorted guitars. But, by introducing textural post rock and ambient elements, the band forged a sound so intense and sophisticated that the resulting songs come across as sincere and heart-felt, which is what most emo fails to achieve. The quartet isn’t new to the scene, but last year’s release "Bloom and Breathe" (their third since 2011) has raised their profile quite a bit, opening the doors to a tour opening for The Dear Hunter. Check out their single "Not My Blood," streaming below.

It sounds like New Jersey is going through a process of Brooklynization – at least as far as music is concerend. So many good indie bands coming out of it these days! After Stolen Jars, who landed on the cover of our most recent issue of The Deli, Forth Wanderers (incidentally also out of Montclaire) are now stealing our hearts with their intricately melancholic indie pop. The band has a trick up their sleeve in lead singer’s Ava Trilling’s adorably earnest delivery. Her touching lyrics, mostly revolving around the challenges of growing up, may bring you to tears; in streaming track "Selfish" (the opening track from their debut 2014 record "Tough Love") she sings:

"I wanna be known/as the girl who’s stone cold 
wears her heart on her sleeve/for everyone to need 
oh she’ll make you proud …" 

"…I get scared instead, when you say/you’ve been in my head", let that stay 
i wish i could hurry home/i better hurry home."

Forth Wanderers will play a home show at Montclaire’s Old Mogul Theatre on 01.03.

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

We already knew that Katy Gunn (an artist we covered with her duo Teenage Love) was a talented lady, but we weren’t aware of her links with performance art. As the in-house performance artist/composer at NOoSPHERE ARTS in New York City and a member of The Mothership art collective in Brooklyn, Katy performs regularly at exhibition openings, incorporating solo violin with voice, choreographed movement and audience interaction. She’s about to release a solo record entitled "Whispering Voices," set for January of 2016 in tandem with choreographed performance of her compositions alongside interdisciplinary artist and performer, Autumn Kioti. The record, tackling the inner struggle for identity and meaning, is entirely built around Katy’s voice and body, using samples and regular recordings.

Remember the good old days when some religious entities believed rock’n’roll was evil, and – trying to prove that – dissected songs and lyrics by artists as extreme as… QUEEN? That demonization had only the effect of inciting more and more radical forms of musical rebellion, in most cases in the shape of terrible metal acts with devilish looks and lyrics, that were soon exploited by record labels targeting alienated teens. Undeniably though, rock music has always been flirting with – if not evil – at least dark impulses, in the varying form of personal despair, violent desire for change, rebellion against society’s accepted structures and conventions, or even just sexual, intellectual and behavioral anti-conformism. Rock artists seems to cyclically rediscover these powerful thematic, always pairing it with an aggressive sound. Cold Sweats is a NYC based band that does that to perfection: with a singer that sounds as apocalyptic as Nick Cave in his early days with The Birthday Party, and a backing band able to pull off any kind of shock inducing sonic trick, these guys are pure, unadulterated, quality tension. Abuse of the cathartic power of their music, it may prove liberating.

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

This blog covered Brooklyn based songwriter JJ Byars‘ old band Hungry Hands back in 2012 and noticed that they seemed to be "going through a lot of changes" – as if that wasn’t the case for 95% of the bands out there… Well it looks like JJ’s band mate related turmoil led him towards a solo musical project, which produced a full album released in June of 2015, and entitled ‘Waterlogged.’ A lot of tracks in it are just vocals and acoustic guitar, although one of the tracks featuring drums is so good they make us think he should probably give the band idea another shot. ‘Migration’ (streaming below) is a song that can make your day, with its celestial melody that defies gravity and expectations. It’s also based on some kind of premonition, since it revolves around the lyrics "this year there’s no winter" – which is true, although the song was released last summer. This track, together with opener "Blue in the Face" showcases a songwriting development towards elegant pop melodies and arrangements reminiscent of a sparser version of Grizzly Bear, while most of the other songs on the record reveal more folky overtones. You can see JJ Byars live at Rough Trade on January 9th with The Can’t Tells and Bear Ceuse.

Yohuna is the ambient pop project of Johanne Swanson, a Brooklyn based native of Eau Claire, WI. The artist’s output is somewhat dispersed and reveals a very active collaborative spirit: a fair amount of tracks feature also other artists, like many of the ones found in the project’s Soundcloud profile, while others are split releases with up to four acts involved, like her 2013 "Clubhous Split," a digital record shared with other three dreamy and atmospheric female artists: Emily Reo, MoonLasso and Brown Bread. There seems to be only one "proper" release so far, and it’s 2011’s "Revery," an uber-mellow but still playful DIY work full of interesting textures, mostly forged by using reverbered vocals, distorted synths and effected drum machines. "Mateo" (streaming below) is probably the most satisfying track out of it. Yohuna will be performing at Baby’s All Right on 12.22. – Photo by M-P Photography

Pairing a singer-songwriter loaded with creative ideas and a multi-instrumentalist recording/mixing engineer is a formula that more often than not produces winning results. This is precisely what you get with Brooklyn’s Citris and their recently released album “panic in hampton bays.” Lead singer Angelina Torreano impresses with an alluring blend of come-hither bravado and lyrical nihilism, while do-it-all musician Chris Krasnow contributes drums/bass/guitar/synths/horns/percussion and backing vocals along with recording, mixing and mastering the tracks. Album opener “On The Sidelines" channels Daydream Nation era Sonic Youth and the way Steve Shelley’s tighter, more controlled drumming locked in with the single-note guitar riffing of Thurston and Lee. The chorus vocals change all that with harmonizing far more evolved than anything SY ever put out, moving things closer to the ear pleasing fourths that Drew Citron and Frankie Rose did so well with Beverly. Universally relateable lyrics “maybe we’re just rejects, force fed concepts all the time” progress to a coping mechanism of how “maybe we can be friends, see through the same lens on the sidelines.” “Burn Into The Sun” has almost a jazzy feel to it, which fits nicely around the wordy, impassioned vocals and busy drumming. Clocking in at over five and a half minutes, “Little Scars” ambitiously combines 90’s grunge Courtney Love angst with bombastic choruses and even a prog-rock tandem guitar interlude. “Here I am with the poison. I’ve given up, I’m not disappointed. Not looking for love, just want to hang out with you.” There are times when that’s all you need. – By Dave Cromwell