Mass Gothic is the project of ex Hooray for Earth Noel Heroux, whose debut, self titled debut LP is scheduled for a February 2016 release under Sub Pop records. The album was written and recorded at Noel’s home over four months during the winter of 2014-2015, and features no collaborations with other musicians: "All I wanted to do was whatever I do when I’m alone and I’m unconcerned with what anyone else wants or expects." in early 2016 Mass Gothic will be touring the US (Brooklyn date at Palisades on February 27) and play SXSW to promote the record. You can listen to first single "Nice Night" below.

Brooklyn four piece American Darlings latest EP release is entitled “Rubber Tracks” like the Converse sponsored studio in East Williamsburg. Single “You And I” (streaming) comes off as an intentionally perky-pop track that points towards early Elvis Costello and perhaps even The Smithereens as songwriting inspiration. The inclusion of pitch bended guitars hooks between verses, however, suggests something else. Has yet another sub-genre been established – “happy-gaze?” Extended bars of sinewy single note guitar riffs take things into further pleasing directions. “Time For Two” continues this thematic direction, confirming the gaze scene’s increasingly de rigueur Sonic Youth/MBV guitar hybrid. Vocals are delivered blending softer REM-like vibrato on the verses against a big shouted Foo Fighters-style chorus. Third song “Kimchee Princess” is a live track from one of their shows, showing what the band can do outside the controlled studio environment. The band will play next at Pianos on December 9. – By Dave Cromwell

When the blues, the goth and the psych meet, the least you can expect is a nightmarish atmosphere. That’s exactly what you get with NYC’s IYEZ (pronounced "eyes"), a Brooklyn band we first highlighted earlier this year. The group has just released a new EP entitled "WOR$HIP," and preview single "Sister" (streaming) is a sonic assult carried out with a wall of distorted guitars, relentless druming, and a tense, psych/blues choral melody. The whole thing sounds as if the ghost of the proto-metal of the ’60s had been awaken and administered modern drugs he didn’t react too well to. You’ll have a chance to experience all this live at Union Pool on 12.16.

We are not sure how punk rock band Lame Drivers (currently based in Brooklyn) managed to avoid any Deli coverage prior to this very blurb, since they have been making music since 2005 (interesting way to phrase this sentence, as if it was their fault, not ours). They play what could be described as punk rock with classick rock influences, which pretty much puts their music in the same sonic territory as that immortal classic that is The Clash’s "London Calling" – if it wasn’t for some ’90s influences creeping up every now and again. Their output is remarkably consistent from the very first record, 2005’s The Captain Amazing EP, to the last one, released in October 2015 and entitled "Chosen Era" – by the way, happy tenth birthday Lame Dravers! Both records, and we assume also the six ones in between, are bound to find fans among the rock’n’roll seekers. Check out single "Throw it to the Moon" – probably the more "’90s" of their tracks.

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

Hailing from the land of Phish, Ben & Jerry, and Bernie Saunders (Burlington), and now based in (you guessed it) Brooklyn, self defined Dance-Rock duo argonaut&wasp has, in the past year, released a series of catchy singles that have been very well received by the community of internet pop seekers. The band infuses their EDM with elements of funk and soul, and a refreshing dose of unpredictability. They recently headlined the Knitting Factory on a Friday night, which must mean something. Latest single "Cigarettes & My Beautiful Wife" (streaming) might not be an ode to night club adventures (the main lyrics are "I went to bed last night with my beautiful wife…"), but that doesn’t mean it won’t make you (and your date) dance. Their most popular single is "Higher Ground" from debut EP "Future Protocol," out earlier this year.

We stumbled upon Brooklyn artist Aerial East through the listings of Hypnocraft’s upcoming event at the Manhattan Inn on 12.17 (a Joni Mitchell tribute night featuring NYC artists). We immediately enjoyed the project’s intimate songs, intense and sparse to the point of sounding ghostly. But were literally blown way by this video for single "FOG," where passion, madness, love, death and sex coexist in the most heart wrenching way. Check out also single "It Doesn’t Matter," from earlier this year. We also just found out that she recently shared the Mercury Lounge’s stage with Deli favorite, like-minded ghostly lady Okay Kaya.

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

Birthmark, aka Brooklyn musician Nate Kinsella, will be celebrating the release of album "How You Look When You’re Falling Down" at Brooklyn’s Rough Trade on Sunday, December 13. The band’s special one-night-only lineup will feature a heck of a lot of high profile guests, including Matt Bauder (Arcade Fire, Iron and Wine), Chris Hainey (Maps & Atlases), Olivia De Prato & Victor Lowrie (Mivos Quartet), Justin Frye (PC Worship, Skeletons), Cory Bracken (Real Adult, Ashcan Orchestra, Iktus Percussion), Diego Clare, Peter Hess (World/Inferno Friendship Society, Asphalt Orchestra), Sam Kulik (Skeletons), and Jordan McLean (Antibalas, Iron and Wine). Wow, talk about name dropping! But besides that, the two preview singles from the album sound very intriguing indeed: Birthmark offers a compelling mash of electro, orchestral pop, afrobeat, and conceptual rock a la Brian Eno. We are enjoying streaming track "Find Yourself," but check out also "Suit of Armor" which lacks the awesome tenor sax section, but features interesting middle eastern strings and a tighter, tenser beat.

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

Lower East Side’s Mercury Lounge is an important venue for emerging NYC bands, because it represents a trampoline towards other more prestigious Bowery Presents live show "opportunities." Sell it out, and it may unlock Rough Trade’s stage a couple of months later (ask Lewis Del Mar about it, he ALSO sold out the W’burg venue this past Tuesday, by the way). On the flip side, if your band’s draw is poor or unsatisfying, you may have a hard time getting booked there again. So… those are the rules of the game, and four super talented emerging NYC artists will face those odds on December 10, in a 100% local bill, something of a rarity at Mercury. We covered in this blog several times alt folksters Big Thief, soulful songwriter Nick Hakim, and orchestral pop quintet Pavo Pavo. We never covered Sam Evian (pictured), the new solo project of Sam Owen of Celesital Shore, but that very band graced the cover of our mag a couple of issues ago. The material we have access to for his solo project (limited to the song "Cherry Tree," streaming below) explores a ballad sound that, flirting with pop, blues and psychedelia at once, is reminiscent of that intense masterpiece that is The Beatles’ "Abbey Road." Don’t miss this show, great opportunity to catch four great emerging locals in one night.

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

Invisible Familiars were already pretty quirky when we covered them in depth in our 41st issue of The Deli NYC, but – to our delight – the quirkiness seems to be getting even more pronounced, with the addition of a new video that defies the concept of grotesque. The group, that operates like a collective rotating around songwriter Jared Samuel, just released this video for single "Bestial Western," one of the edgiest tracks in their wildly overlooked avant-folk debut album "Disturbing Wildlife." Will Schalda’s video plays with the record’s title by protraying a series of bizarre images of animals. Invisible Familiar will be playing a December residency at the Ace Hotel, do not miss! Dates here.

Tim Fite is an artist attempting to surpass the lip service and own up to the responsibility we all have as functioning cogs in a malfunctioning system. Though some may decry another white artist with Hip Hop roots taking up the cause of an oppressed culture from which he benefits, I think the more astute citizen will appreciate all people, artists or not, doing whatever they can, with whatever tools they have at hand, to keep the conversation going. In the final track of the album, “White People,” with a timbre recalling Public Enemy and later Saul Williams, Fite demands, “If you’re not a racist, then why are you turning a blind eye to racism? If you’re not a bigot then how can you live with a system that’s bigoted?” A visual artist as well, in the video, Fite paints accompanying canvases for each track on the album. He wisely doesn’t seek to provide easy answers so much remind us of important questions. – BrokeMc

Freshly graduated NYC duo Sofi Tukker (comprised of singer guitarist Sophie Hawley-Weld and programmer Tucker Halpern) started making music in 2014 and went viral in early November 2015, after releasing their first single "Drinkee." Admittedly, the track is infectuous: a compelling techno number infused with South American percussions, and propelled by a (quite literally) mono-note vocal line sung in Poruguese and charged with a synchopation able to move mountains – as in ‘make them dance." Also, we can’t bloody stop listening to it nor prevent our bodies from moving! It will be interesting to see if the duo stands the double test of a 30+ minute live show, during which they’ll have to (hopefully!) reveal a bunch of other songs. That show is already scheduled: Baby’s All Right for January 14th. Mark your Calendars.

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

Tmorrow (12.3) at DROM, drink up some holiday spirits to your favorite hooligan spitters. Featuring some of the best rappers in the New York City indieground, the 9th Annual Yule Prog is the Hip Hop event of the season. Uncommon Nasa, We Are Not for Them, We are the Karma Kids, Billy Woods, and Elucid (whose video for "Automatic Writing is streaming below) are just a smattering of the cerebral slaughterhouse that will smash the stage. Also performing is Mello Music Group’s Quelle Chris from Chicago. If you’re not too upset about the corrupt government or the tyranny of the 1%, you may ever dance a little bit. – BrokeMC