In Toot Sweet’s new video for “Stations,” a multi-faceted romantic conflict between land and sea, past and present, away and home, takes place in accordion funk outfit. The track is a slow moving, dramatic opus of stop-and-go. Double bass backing and oozing accordion chords bolster frontlady Mary Spencer Knapp’s vocals as they build up and burst and build up again throughout. The video, directed by Knapp and Rod Morata, opens with Knapp awakening in her bed to find ghostly pirate figures, whom she follows out the door on a seafaring voyage, which dances between the past and present, the living and the dead. As she steps through her sliding glass door to the outside, the color video transforms into an old-timey, granular black and white vaudevillian film visual, and we’re taken on a trip through time. Choral backings come in and out before a clean guitar replaces every other instrument beneath Knapp’s singing, creating a tremendous hollowness in the background, and highlighting her vocal power. Dramatic swells as grandiose as the ocean itself occur in the chorus, as Knapp hopelessly, heartily laments, “Do you know the way home from here? It’s getting dark and I’m afraid of fear.” A girl, an accordion, the ocean, and the past are intertwined to make a powerful visual accompaniment to a uniquely theatrical track. You can see Toot Sweet live at The Bowery Electric on August 21. – JP Basileo

Zambri and Hooray for Earth are (or maybe were?) two of the most underrated electronic bands to come out of Brooklyn in the late aughts/early ’10s. They shared an adventurous, borderline experimental approach to pop, the former leaning towards complex song structures and abstract melodies and sounds, the latter more focused on creating edgy and organic sounding arrangements for their melodic tracks, filled with industrial and psychedelic influences. Two of the leading musicians behind these two projects, Jessica Zambri and singer and multi-instrumentalist Noel Heroux, are now collaborating on a new band called Solvey. Judging from single ‘Redlight’ (video streaming) the duo’s musical direction sounds slightly less electronic and more dreamy, although the other single/video ‘The Weight‘ contraddicts these impressions right away, doubling down on experimentation and noise. We are looking forward to see what other surprises the upcoming full length will reserve, it’s scheduled for a fall release. Solvey is unveiling a new video tonight (08.13) at the Wythe Hotel.

Brooklyn Americana trio Tanbark today premieres the deceptively merry song “Jenny” (streaming below) off their forthcoming album, ‘Write Soon.’ A near mythic story of small-town desperation, the freewheeling, guitar-winded track lucidly updates the tragic legend of Guinevere and Lancelot. As frontwoman Chloe Nelson revealed via e-mail, “I was reading T.H. White’s version of the two, not particularly romantic or handsome, but rather ugly and painful. Country music is all about heartbreak, so it seems a propos to tell of a classically doomed love." In the vein of Terrence Malick’s classic film Badlands or the deeply poignant songs off Bruce Springsteen’s masterful ‘Nebraska’ LP, Tanbark’s “Jenny” is sad but oh-so-alive. Tanbark will have an album release show for ‘Write Soon’ on Thursday 8.20 at Greenpoint’s Manhattan Inn. Full details for the event can be found at its Facebook page.– Zach Weg

Blending such disparate genres as R&B, folk, and blues into a darkly beautiful meditation on life’s inherent dramas, ‘Didn’t You, My Dear?’ by Brooklyn-via-Helsinki singer/songwriter Janita is perhaps the most ideal kind of album: striking in both musicianship and emotion. Radiohead’s seminal ‘OK Computer’ seems to have influenced the anxious yet ultimately serene aura of these songs—particularly the guitar-guided search for peace, “Easing into Sanity” (streaming below)—but Janita’s deft ability to put ferocity atop warmth is what is remarkable. “I used to do tricks,/I used to run after sticks,/I used to play ball with all you pricks,” she brusquely sings over waltzing guitars and drums on “Who’s Gonna Tell the Wolf She’s Not a Dog,” anger giving way to calm. – Zach Weg

Mtume Gant, a.k.a. Core Rhythm has been a juggernaut in the NYC Hip Hop scene for a decade.  His soundscapes always had a certain cinematic quality so his venture into film directing is no surprise.  His award-winning short SPIT is taking the film festival circuit by storm with showings at seven festivals and counting.  Don’t miss your chance to see it tonight in Queens at the Chain NYC Film Festival in Long Island City at 8;30pm. Tickets are available for purchase, trailer here. – Broke MC

It seems inevitable that Queens will soon replace Brooklyn as the musicians’ favoriote NYC borough – Frog is the second band we are covering from Astoria this week, sign of times to come! This year the duo came out of nowhere with their debut LP ‘Kind of Blah.’ a collection of electric and eclectic songs sharing a slacker rock attitude. Their music features a variety of influences ranging from the sparse and dreamy atmospheres of slow core (‘All Dogs go to Heaven‘) to the more uptempo experiments of post punk (check out ‘Fucking’ – streaming below, reminiscent of early XTC – or ‘King Kong‘ that’s half punk madness, half folk sanity). Ballads like ‘Everything‘ and ‘Knocking on the Door‘ more clearly unveil the duo’s Americana tendencies, while other uptempo episodes like ‘Photograph‘ are a direct reference to the mother of all slacking bands, Pavement, probably the most influential band in Brooklyn right now. Frog’s eclectic take on the genre is refreshing, and is taking them places: they’ll be playing some dates in the UK in January. You can beat the Britons by seeing them live at Palisades tonight (08.11).

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

Back in June, New York-born singer/songwriter Rachel Brown released her latest EP, ‘The Band.’ As indicated in the crisply-shot, infectiously joyful music video for the song “You Got Me” (below), the release blasts sunny, horn-backed moments that are refreshingly happy. But there is also the Harvard University graduate’s cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” which powerfully illuminates the desperate solitude of that party song. Subtly brilliant work. Rachel Brown plays at Joe’s Pub tonight (8.11). – Zach Weg

Yesterday (Sunday August 9th) Selfie.com‘s large Tribeca headquarters hosted a Deli sponsored Sofarsounds.com show. Once again, it was a night of great music enjoyed by an extremely attentive audience.

Talented songwriter Tica Douglas was first on stage, for a solo acoustic set. Her latest release ‘Joey‘ received a flattering review on Pitchfork this past February, and for a good reason: the young songwriter has crafted a very personal style, and her live delivery of the songs from the album was touching and well performed. Check out the tune that closed yesterday’s show below.

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Tica was followed by three acoustic guitar strumming dudes from Astoria (in the picture), who represent 50% of the band Side Sattle (we blogged about them in January). The trio picked up the tempo with four catchy folk-pop tunes that stood out for flawless three way vocal harmonies – these guys don’t miss a note! The full band can sound completely different from what we heard yesterday, which was more on the lines of their single "When it’s All Done" (streaming below). We like both versions. You can see them live at Pianos on August 28. 

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NYC (via Seattle) dual sisterhood Chaos Chaos closed the show with something radically different: no signs of acoustic instruments in their set up, just keyboards and a drum machine – played by hand! Now, let’s get this straight: playing a drum machine with your fingers is not exactly the simplest thing in the world (we tried), and doing so while singing and shaking an shaker egg reveals superior, almost circus worthy motor skills. Chloe Saavedra pulled that off with flair, while singing back up vocals to her sister Asy, who also showcased a noteworthy instrumental ability at the keyboards. The duo offers electric piano driven songs that are at once catchy and quirky, and feature unexpected breakdowns and a airy openings. They played four new songs, check out their 2014 EP ‘Committed to the Crime’ here, and/or see them live at Baby’s All Right on 08.31.

Last year we featured heavily trippy psych rockers Sunflower Bean on the (uber-psychedelic) cover of The Deli NYC’s Fall/CMJ 2014 issue – always one of the most read issues of the year – so we are pumped to hear that they will be embarking on a 23 date North American tour with DIIV this fall. The band recently released single ‘I Hear Voices’ through Fat Possum Records, and just unveiled this mind bending video for it. The NYC date is on November 8 at Webster Hall, be there!

With a tender yet firm voice and assured guitar work, Brooklyn-via-Knoxville singer/songwriter Millie Mason makes loneliness beautiful on her latest EP ‘Here On Up.’ “That could’ve been nice,/You can see me twice,/Now I’m not around,” the young musician sings on opener “In Town,” her invisibility hitting the listener with quiet power. As heard on other songs such as “Not Lonely” (video streaming below), Mason subtly portrays the intense pain of solitude, of not just being alone but feeling so, and does it both truthfully and compassionately. Listen to “Not Lonely,” and watch its icily warm music video (Filmed during the New York 2015 blizzard) below.– Zach Weg

The combined forces of Brooklyn and Long Island deliver impressive results with the Gingerlys‘ debut 7" EP “Jumprope,” out on Shelflife records just about one year ago. The title track (streaming) establishes essential band parameters featuring pitch-bended vintage keyboard hooks and dreamy female vocals. Softer story telling verses give way to an angular, syncopated chorus, whose urgency bring to mind fellow Brooklyn dreampoppers Field Mouse. “Summer Cramps” comes quicker via bass and clean guitar at a Cure/”Inbetween Days” pace, before polyphonic synths establish the dominant hook. “Better Hearts” surges forward with similarly sweet vocals and an optimistic feeling that slots closer to The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. The lyrical content suggests all may not be entirely well, as they’ve “seen better hearts,” and “you don’t know me.” Closing track “Set You Off” evokes early era (pre Loveless) My Bloody Valentine with tandem male/female vocals and a light, airy vibe. Acoustic guitar driven, keyboards provide traditional pad backing, with electric guitar establishing the melodic hook. Gingerlys play tomorrow (Saturday August 8) at Palisades in Brooklyn on a stacked bill that also features Pill, Honduras and BAMBARA. – Dave Cromwell

The Brooklyn and Philly based, ten-piece chamber pop folk collective Cuddle Magic released their latest album "Info Nympho" way back in 2011. The record doesn’t feel that old though, and as a matter of fact we like it so much we are getting impatient for a new release. The band’s clever lyrics are beautifully phrased on top of dreamy orchestral pop arrangements, with tasteful male/female harmonies floating in the background. The result is music that is as comforting as it is moving, on both an emotional and physical level. In one of our favorite tracks, "Expectations," they swoon: “My expectations f**k me over/ and then my inclination is to do it again” Go check out Cuddle Magic at Baby’s All Right on Monday August 31st, they will be playing alongside Chaos Chaos and Margaret Glaspy. Check out their single release from 2014 :An Extra Life," streaming below. – Lauren Schechter