This year’s Civil Brother "Album" (that seems to be its title) at first feels mimetic, which is comforting, though there’s something bigger going on here. Opener “Hold On” (streaming) grabs musically from Ryan Adams and John Mayer, lyrically from Death Cab’s “Follow You Into the Dark.” The same blend pervades the entire LP, which works as a distillation of roots crossover from the last few decades. The band will be performing at The Deli’s official CMJ Roots Stage at Rockwood Music Hall on 10.14. – Brian Chidester

If you’re one of the few not plagued by thoughts of mortality and burdened by self-reflection, consider yourself lucky. If you’re a brooder, however, then Shift Age, by NYC dark electro-rock project The Great Void, might be the record for you. It bears all the outwards signs of happy pop music, though the longer you listen, the more surreal it gets. Especially vivid is “Medicine Ball,” whose plunky synths and new-wave vocals divert bleakly-rendered lines like, “I know we’d have fun/But you’re much too young.” By “Shift Age (Part 2),” it’s clear the gloss is just a cover for deconstructing nostalgia itself. “Out with the days of the old ways” sings leader Josh Ascalon before a barrage of high-pitched squeals surge towards an apocalyptic finale. Or maybe that’s just the hardware inside his keyboard threatening to fry out? – Brian Chidester

Yes, we are finding lots of local bands to write about in the list of official CMJ bands overe here – which is getting larger and larger by the hour. The second half of 2015 has been rather prolific for NYC jangly garage pop trio Big Quiet, who released in June their self-titled debut cassette, following it up in September with a 7" entitled "Maura & Dana" (streaming below). The album/tape takes us through a lo-fi journey of rediscovery of the guitar pop of the ’80s, quoting various influences ranging from early R.E.M. (Why Do We Bother?, Say Yes) to The LA’s (Ghost), with the spectrum or The (early) Bangles lingering behind Marisa Cerio’s melodies and harmonies. The 7", released under Unblinking Ear Records, is a more solid piece of jangly pop, with the title-track delivering their best and most open melody to date, and the early influences resulting less obvious.

Emerging from the guitar/drum nucleus of prior decade indie rock band Lotion and adding keyboards to their sound, New York City’s Baby Spiders release an inspired three song EP “Seven months out of the year.” Leadoff track “Knockout Gas” (streaming) pairs distorted low frequency synth lines with a distinct guitar melody over loose power-rock drumming. Vocals are delivered in a bluesy Ozzy Osbourne style, where the last word in a lyrical line trails off in echo. “Summer Triangle” lumbers forward at a slower, more deliberate pace. The defining hook comes via a heavy synth line over Leslie-speaker-amp driven Hammond organ pads, mirroring what prog-rock crossover band Deep Purple did so well. Final track “Hunter” continues the heavy English blues rock references, dipping into the canon first popularized by bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin. Verses are closer to narration than actually sung, with big riff breaks in between. An extended keyboard led coda fills out what is the EP’s longest track at over four and a half minutes. The band will be playing an official CMJ showcase at Pete’s Candy Store on October 15, hosted by Tinderbox Arts + The Catalyst Publicity Group + William & Park present – Dave Cromwell

Earlier this year, NYC electronic trio A Love Like Pi quite inexplicably went under our radar when they released the video for single ‘Jack and the Giant,’ which went on to gather more than 200k views on Youtube. They are now making public a new video for new single ‘Wide Awake’ (streaming) which confirms their talent for mellow and spacey electronic tracks that exude existential wisdom. Their upcoming album "III" (out on September 18) – in the words of lead singer Lief Liebmann – "follows the three stages of life: boy, man, and death, using short 3 minute snapshots," and the preview single is the first one of the "death" section (wondering why that section isn’t actually called "dying"… since death can’t really be a stage of life!). But we’ll leave these profound phylosphical arguments for another day. A Love Like Pi will be celebrating the release of "III" at the Cutting Room on September 18.

Ember Isles is a female folk trio—featuring also Tamsin Wilson of Wilsen, who graced the cover of The Deli in 2013—who, so far, have three singles online, each as sweet and yearning as the last. “Love Song (Love Me)” is the most optimistic—an ode to the cosmos whose known hardships are balanced by the promise of romance, expressed in positive lines like: “Oh I know I won’t be alone forever.” Check out their more popular single entitled John James, which carries Wilson’s signature songwriting style. The band will be performing at The Deli’s CMJ Rootsy Stage at Music Hall of Williamsburg on 10.14. (Brian Chidester)

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

In August we asked our readers in bands to submit through our system to be considered to play The Deli’s four official CMJ Music Marathon shows, promising at least three slots. From the nearly 800 submissions we ended up picking twice as many bands as promised, here they are:

The City and Horses – Dream Pop stage (The Living Room, Saturday 10.17)

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Journalism – DIY Stage (Muchmore’s, Thursday 10.15) 

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Zuli – Dream Pop stage (The Living Room, Saturday 10.17)

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Balancer – Dream Pop stage (The Living Room, Saturday 10.17)

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Pop & Obachan – Dream Pop stage (The Living Room, Saturday 10.17)

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Aimee DeBeer: Dream Pop stage (The Living Room, Saturday 10.17)

Brooklyn’s Best Behavior‘s 12 track debut album ‘Good Luck Bad Karma‘ is just 22 days old, but it promises to age well. We found this band in the CMJ Music Marathon 2015 list of official artists, and immediately surrendered to their succinct and rough melodic gems, reinterpreting within their garage rock vocabulary many styles, including the longing psych rock of Best Coast ("Buried on a Mountain") and Nirvana’s introverted, cathartic grunge (check out the chorus of opener "Star Signs," streaming). More lo-fi than any of the aforementioned bands, the band’s record strikes the right balance between grittiness and spaciousness – which results in character. You can see them live at Elvis Guesthouse on September 21.

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

We’ve been blogging about hard hitting garage blues rockers The Giraffes since the early Deli days, and it’s borderline unbelievable to hear they are back in action – they’ve always been a super respected act in the NYC scene. They’ll be releasing a new album under Silver Sleeve Records entitled "Usury," and will celebrate its release at The Wick on October 3rd.

“Is Happiness Just a Word” — an electro/hip-hop single by androgynous, Icelandic, Brooklyn based chanteuse Yes Alexander and emcee Vinny Paz — re-treads Dido/Eminem territory, minus the forced kinship. She sings full-bodied and optimistically; he wrestles fatalism in earnest lines like: “I don’t wanna be dead/Dead don’t work.” Elsewhere, Alexander leans heavily Bjork-like, especially on "Kyanite," her unreleased EP currently making the NYC club rounds. Check out single "Fooled" from last year’s release, and see her live at Pianos’ upstairs lounge on 09.17, within The Deli’s official CMJ electronic stage. – Brian Chidester

Fairytales For The Fatherless is a folk, Brooklyn-based, band that, despite their name, sounds like a harmonious family of bohemians; Led by Danny Musengo, whose voice is both pastoral and arresting, the six-member band utilizes each musician to create a momentous and deeply affecting sound. FFTF wrote their debut, self-titled EP as a whole with four movements and asks first-time listeners to listen to all four tracks, 16 minutes of music, from beginning to end. Over instrumentals of intricate guitar picking and violin melodies that flutter with a resounding sadness, FFTF lyrics tackle the hardships and quandaries of life. “Do you get nervous like I do?,” Musengo asks. It’s not difficult to relate. The band will perform at The Deli’s CMJ Roots Stage at Rockwood Music Hall on 10.14. – Isabel Rolston

Unapologetically rough around the edges, Feral Foster takes roots music back to its truest roots: a lone man with an acoustic guitar tenaciously informing us about his rough lifestyle. (Yes we wish we could say "man/woman" in that sentence, but when blues began, women were more inclined to be involved artistically in gospel choirs or vaudeville blues groups, rather than in the busking lifestyle of the early delta bluesmen. The man has just released this new vcideo for single "New World Blues."

Feral Foster – New World Blues from Horatio Baltz on Vimeo.