With their signature ghostly, melancholic melodies, Belle Mare have carved for themselves a rather unique niche in the NYC music scene. Their insanely eerie debut EP "The Boat of the Fragile Mind" was our NYC record of the month back in 2013. Since then, the band’s sound has dialed back the reverb knob and opened up to rhythms a little bit to more upbeat. Still, their music maintains that haunting quality that has the power to bring back to focus the good and bad emotional baggage that our daily, stressful routine conceals from our attention. New single "Dark of my Evening" is just about that: "You can make me feel. The worst that I feel. Or the happiest." This is music that enriches the lives of those who can appreciate it, because, sadly or luckily, it’s not always time to party.

What if humans were a little more "gregarious" (and a lot less less private) than they actually are, and did everything in groups of ten, organized by gender, race and bodily features? From sleeping to showering to… mating? One things is sure, they could NOT live in tight NYC. But the concept of collective individuality is rather intriguing, and it’s explored in Brooklyn synth pop quartet Total Makeover‘s new video for single "Self Destructive," with disappointing developments. A seemingly disciplined group of young white men, disgracefully falls apart soon after intersecting with a gang of attractive (and obviously interested) blonde ladies, and – of course! – it’s all the boys’ fault.
Among many other down sides, in that configuration it would get quite expensive to attend any kind of paid event – which brings us to the fact that Total Makeover is playing at St. Vitus bar on December 1st with Spector and Slothrust. Bring your better tenths.

Porches, the recording project of New York-based Aaron Maine featured on the coer of our Best of NYC issue 2015, announced today the release of new and fifth album, entitled "Pool," and set for release on February 5, 2016, via Domino. Written and recorded in his Manhattan apartment (ugh! no Brooklyn?), Pool confirms the distancing of the band from the guitar centric sound of the previous releases in favor of synthesizers, a trend initiated last year with the popular single "Forgive." Porches today shares a video for the current single "Hour", which was released digitally on October 8. Directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz (Blood Orange, Danny Brown, St. Vincent, Petite Noir), the video stars Maine and band mate Kline (Frankie Cosmos) as star-crossed lovers on a night excursion.  

If you frequent Washington Square Park in the bearable months, you’ve probably heard the duo Coyote & Crow. Self described “Old Time Rock & Soul,” the married couple livies in the city and busks every chance they get. They have a similar instrumentation to Brown Bird, but most similarities stop there. Their music is much more danceable, with simple back beats played by Thomas Kopie’s feet on suitcase and tambourine, and some more levity in the sound, counterbalanced by Kopie’s growly tenor, reminiscent of Tom Waits at his most cavernous. They’re playing a show tonight 11/19 at Halyards in Gowanus with The Northern Orchard (Brooklyn Via Central MA), Tuxis Giant (Boston), and David Moss (NYC). Check out the event here.

The message emerging musicians should get when hearing music from artists like Yonatan Gat – who is currently on an East Coast tour selling out small venues – is simple: it doesn’t really matter what kind of music you play: as long as it’s your own thing, and you are awfully good at it, and you keep at it, some people will respond to it. The NYC based musician hasn’t even chosen the most crowd pleasing of styles: a genre defying, mostly instrumental mixture of psychedelia, tribal rhythms and punk; but boy, the results are jaw dropping on record, and mind blowing live. By the way, is the band’s drummer human? Find that out yourself on November 24 at The Knitting Factory. 

With just one track under their belt (released about one month ago), NYC’s The Shacks still have a long way to go in the wonderfully complicated path towards "band stardom." However, that one track they have is charming the heck out of us. Entitled "Texas," the tune is a quirky, Stereolab-esque waltz, that thanks to Shannon Wise’s whispered, semi-unintelligible vocal melodies comes across as some kind of playful, musical courting ritual. Our ears sure fell for it. The duo also comprises a dude named Max Shrager, and you’ll be able to see it live at Baby’s All Right on November 30th.

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

Four piece grunge band from Toronto Dilly Dally is starting to make a serious buzz. Currently making their way all the way through the USA, they get a brief break back home before heading to Europe in the New Year. I’m diggin’ their latest single "Desire" (streaming) from their recently released album "Sore". This track just oozes 90’s rock n roll. Basically soft grunge with beautiful atmospheric "ooohs" that would almost make Kim Deal jealous . You can tell they’re still just dying to unleash some intense overdrive all over the place. The track "Purple Rage" is a good example of this, showing off a little more anger, although they never lose the tight rhythm and catchy melodies… by the way as I’m writing this I got completely off track while playing the video game on their website… but uhm, regaining some focus… Dilly Dally is doing some cool shit and you can see them live at the Horseshoe on November 27th. – Kris Giles

Margot is the moniker of several musical projects (that’s the risk you take when you pick an evocative, single word female name), including the solo project of a NYC based female artist whose full identity is not publicized. This particular Margot is a singer, composer and classically trained violinist who recently opened for Katy Perry for the Asia leg of her Prismatic World Tour, and who has written and recorded string arrangements for Beyonce and Lady Gaga among others. Notwithstanding these noteworthy collaborations, Margot’s solo career is still in a budding stage, although showing great promise. Her solo output leans towards mellow, orchestral/electronic ballads with soul influences and cinematic, noir atmospheres. No wonder each one of the two singles released so far is accompanied by well shot, sensual videos that mostly depict the artist herself in "seductive attire," in full femme fatale mode. After releasing her debut single "No One’s Gonna Miss You" just about one year ago, Margot last week hosted a a screening of the "Isn’t She Lovely" music video (streaming below), directed and filmed by Liza Voloshin. The single will be included in the artist’s full length album, scheduled for a 2016 release.

Those of you who crave anthemic choruses and radio friendly melodies might want to check out Brooklyn’s electro duo Secret Weapons. Their tunes, uber-catchy reinterpretations of the dancy synth pop of the ’80s, are spreading like wildfire across the internet, and as a result the group, after playing Bowery this past August, will check off its list another large NYC venue: the Gramercy Theater, where they’ll be performing tonight, November 18. This is definitely enough to trigger a Deli NYC "Buzz Alert – not bad at all for a band whose Facebook profile was created this past February! Their main single "Something New" develops a verse that sounds like a more soulful and electronic version of the the faux rock of Huey Lewis, into a huge hook of a chorus. And that, ladies and gentlement, is what most people want to hear. 

NYC indie pop quartet Public Access T.V. yesterday unveiled a new track/video combo entitled "In Love And Alone" – streamng below – which will be included in their debut full length, announced for some time in 2016. For those wondering what life in a NYC band is like, the video depicts a typical night in PATV’s world. Frontman John Eatherly says: "We filmed this video right after coming back from tour, and when you get home after being together for weeks you think ‘I need a break from these guys’… But we always end up just calling each other and hanging out within a couple of hours." That’s definitely a good sign! For the last year the band has been touring the US and UK extensively sharing stages with acts such as Weezer, Gang of Four, The Strokes, Wavves, Fidlar, Palma Violets, Twin Peaks, and performing at festivals throughout Europe.  

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a bird eating a plane and exploding rainbows! It’s Not Blood, Paint! The Brooklyn quartet, conjuring equal parts They Might Be Giants and TOOL, is nearing completion of their newest, most elaborate and bizarre album to date, "Believing is Believing."  To manifest this feat, they have initiated a kickstarter campaign rife with quirky desirables. They also have been churning out mind-bending videos to illustrate just how serious this new album will be. If seeing the videos doesn’t convince you, then you may have to settle for Believing is Believing. NBP plays Mercury Lounge Saturday, November 21. – BrokeMC

If – like us – you still can’t get over the loss of NYC’s one and only Lou, you might find some relief in the music of NYC’s Teeth People, and in particular in Colin Keane’s vocals. His casual tenor can be strikingly similar to Reed’s one, like in streaming song "French Entrance," which sounds pretty much like a (quite brilliant) tribute to the influential NYC songwriter. But the band is obviously much more than that: their peculiarly devious and quirky brand of classic rock draws a parallel with the creative revival of bands like Foxygen – which we dug to the point of putting them on the cover of our mag very early on. Teeth People has been on a roll in the past twelve month, releasing four EPs that illustrate the development towards a more mature sound. Debut "Teething‘ is a lo-fi three song sampler that showcases a band open to anything from indie rock to ska and even jazzy chord progressions. Sophomore EP "Rich Man" and third effort "Cavities" furtherly expand the band’s genre palette, with African rythms, funk and soul thrown in the mix. Latest release "Let’s Go" showcases an improved production and a more coesive and focused sound. It’s a fun listen, that – if translated well on stage – has great entertainment potential. You can find our if that’s the case when Teeth People play Webster Hall on December 3rd.