Originally from Hawaii, The Fourth Wall is a Portland based indie quartet with a sound swimming in post rock and psychedelic influences. Their melancholic melodies and soaring songs are a little reminiscent of a less orchestral version of late Mercury Rev. The band recently announced they will release their new LP, ‘Lovely Violence,’ on July 31st via Bug Hunt Records. You can catch them live at Mississippi Studios on August 2nd.

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

Hailing from Chicago and calling NYC home, Lexi Scherr has recently released two new singles that showcase her edgy musical talent – we are streaming them both here. The first one, ‘Ready Aim Fire,’ is an upbeat pop song that takes us back to the days when Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush were having an affair (which was apparently both musical and sexual). Cheesy fake horns screaming "80’s electro-pop!!!" introduce a retro electro-rock arrangement that propells this very well produced track chock full of hooks and well orchestrated harmonies. Second single ‘All Take’ – which we are premiering below – is a more aggressive, clangy blues-rock tune that flirts with Eastern influences while bordering on the industrial. This makes it in part reminiscent of what Suzanne Vega tried in ‘99.9°,’ only more bluesy and more in your face. The Deli welcomes any attempt to innovate traditional genres, and this is one that deserves attention. You can see Lexi live at Piano’s upstairs stage on August 5th.

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

Brooklyn collective Bodies Be Rivers may only have one song ready for streaming, but it sure represents them well. "Without You" – the single whose video we are premiering here, from their upcoming debut EP – is an intense ballad that highlights vocalist/keyboardist Lauren Smith’s graceful soprano, and her bandmates dreamy tendencies, where a textural and haunting verse builds towards the uplifting opening of the chorus. For a band that’s beyond ‘new’ – they pretty much just opened their Facebook page and it doesn’t look like they performed live yet – this is certainly a very promising start. The band will release their debut EP at Rockwood Music Hall on August 4th.

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

We blogged about Queens/Brooklyn’s psychedelic pop band Steady Sun (and saw them live) back in May. The group just unveiled this video for their single ‘Irises,’ which is a beautiful visual play on their dreamy melodies and flowery arrangements. The band has a busy local live schedule in the upcoming weeks, with four shows in four different NYC venues, including Palisades on July 26th and Baby’s All Right on August 1st.

Joel, aka MaG, serves up a fresh slice of humble pie with “Songs for Charles” which he describes as an “open letter to his pops.”  The introspective and plangent vibe prevalent throughout the album conjures the anxiety associated with confronting the expectations of one’s parents.  His flow, somehow simultaneously effortless and thoughtful, leans into his dusty beats as if to procure some lost volume, as if the answer is in there.  He sounds like Kanye mixed with Mos, or maybe Kanye back when he used to rap with Mos.  Or maybe he’s just his own wizard practicing hip hop with respect for it like the alchemy it is.  As he vamps on the jazzy “Better late than never,” “I would rather die than let go of one of my dreams.”  It’s precision wordplay; Charles would be proud.

Once a month The Deli sponsors Hypnocraft‘s lovely shows at the Greenpoint restaurant/piano bar Manhattan Inn – the series goes under the name "At the Inn." This upcoming Monday July 13th, some artists very dear to The Deli will be performing within a night that’s a tribute to John Lennon & Harry Nilsson. Not many of you will be aware that super talented Nicole Atkins (pictured) was on the cover of the third issue of The Deli a few years a go (more than a few actually…). We are also huge fans of Sam Cohen and TEEN, bands we covered abundantly, while Jared Samuel’s newer act Invisible Familiars recently got a full feature on our NYC print issue. All these artists, among others, will be performing in the Inn’s intimate setting, and – should your company be not incredibly entartainig – the room will be well lit enough to allow you to read the latest issues of The Deli in between sets! See ya there! More info here.

You shouldn’t let go of an ideal band mate: Katy Gunn and Anna Lidell found each other, and not even an ocean in between is slowing down their collaboration, that goes under the name of Teenage Love: the Brooklyn/Copenhagen based duo’s beautifully textural ‘Gold’ EP is out today (July 7th), and, besides bright musical talent, it showcases a playful approach to gear and musical technology, which is surely also crucial in keeping this long distance relationship alive. We asked Katy and Anna a few questions about their gear and creative process in this interview (link below). Check out the EP’s title track streaming below.

Delicious Audio Interview: Teenage Love’s Gear and Creative Process

If you’ve still got some beach vibes left over after July 4th, but you don’t feel like hoofing it to Coney Island, then Larry & the Babes’ new EP ‘The Dolphin Tapes’ will take you there (streaming below, opening track ‘Perfect Person’). It’s the perfect blend of dreamy doo-wop and old-school surf music, with a sound that’s both bubblegum pop and garage rock. Larry and the Babes is a throwback to the California surfing days you were definitely born too late for, but comes on a… cassette tape, a format you were also born too late for, but that, against all ods, was reintroduced by broke Brooklyn bands in the new millennium. The Brooklyn-bred band is headlining at Palisades this Tuesday, July 7th, and it’s their leading man Larry’s birthday, so it’s sure to be an extra special show. – Sam O’Hara

MCBC has come a long way since his days with the live funk band b.Funk. Six years and as many mixtapes into the game, he’s proven himself an intrepid bombast in the independent scene with a talent to match his will. With a rap style akin to a young Jay-Z with a more creative perspective and a budding beat fetish, he crafts songs that bump and energize. It’s like the first line from his R.A.R.E. Mixtape, “It’s mister ‘All About My Highs,’ stay away from lowlifes… little do they know we about to go around the globe twice.” Keep an ear out for where he lands.

We have no idea how this new video by NYC alt rockers Highly Suspect was shot, but it sure is breathtaking. In 2014 this single, entitled "Lydia," provided the trio with a lot of attention from blogs, Deli included, since they made our latest list of Best Emerging NYC Artists. The band’s debut album, "Mister Asylum," is set to drop July 17, and although strangely enough there’s no mention of a US tour to support the release, the band already has shows booked for a 2016 UK tour (talk about planning things in advance!).

Having just released their EP ‘Break Me Free,’ Connecticut/New York soul octet Mad Satta today premieres through our blog the music video for the work’s second single, “Simpler Times.” Elegantly infusing present struggle into a reflection on past joy, this horn-blared song is almost intensely candid. However, behind these crisp visuals, which intercut scenes of frontwoman Joanna Teters quietly singing and her band jovially playing, the track becomes a melancholic yet ultimately triumphant piece of musical meditation. Watch the music video for “Simpler Times” below, and head over to here to find out more about Mad Satta’s summer tour. The band will be opening for SF’s R’&B songwriter Goapele at the Bowery Ballroom on July 10th. – Zach Weg

This year’s 4Knots Music Festival will take place on Saturday, July 11th in its new location at Pier 84 in Hudson River Park.  This move away from lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport reflects the new partnership with Friends of Hudson River Park, also allows a later finishing time (10pm) than the previous four editions. For the first time the Festival will be a ticketed show, with tickets starting at $25 and proceeds benefiting the Park.

Opening the day are two local acts that make it worth to show up early.  Brooklyn punk rockers Surfbort (a band we blogged about earlier this year) kick off the event with their female fronted lyrical nihilism and Ramones inspired roughness.  Song titles like “Trippin’ Over Babies” (streaming) “Perversion” and “Junk Estate” keep faith to the band’s mission statement to “laugh in the face of the end of the world,” while “getting emotional about the slushie streets.”

More controlled local dream pop veterans Heaven are also scheduled to play early in the day.  It will be interesting to see how core members Matt Sumrow (guitar, vocals, songwriting) and respected drumming powerhouse Mikey Jones have evolved their sound.  Album tracks "Mountains Move" come off moody, dark and dreamy (all rolled into one) as Matt’s outstanding guitar work alternates between clean-note arpeggios and wah-wah effected choruses. While other tracks like "Once The Heartache," "Falling Apple" and "Centuries" added majestic keyboard pads to clearly defined chord progressions and atmospheric dream-gaze vocals.  “Telepathic Love” accentuates Matt’s soft yet sandpapery vocals, weaving imagery about having seen “the ugly and the beautiful,” and simply trying to “figure it all out.” As always the drumming of Mikey Jones gives the band a tightness often lacking in this genre and a forceful edge in the live environment.

The big name headliners this year include Super Furry Animals, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Twin Peaks and Mikal Cronin.  Also scheduled to appear are Screaming Females, Happyness (Meatbodies and Heaters. – Dave Cromwell