With tunes boasting his angelic voice and uplifting, breezy atmospheres, in just about a year Brooklyn synth-soul-pop one man band AYER has been able to release an impressive string of singles and remixes that obviously resonated with the Soundcloud and Hypem communities (several got hundreds of thousands of plays, this one almost one million). To celebrate his free June Pianos residency, AYER just released this new, vaguely U2-esque single entitled ‘Castaway.’ The residency will begin tomorrow (June 2nd), and will be followed by three more dates on the 9th, 16th and 23rd of the month.

We hardly ever blog about a band that has no streaming music, but brand new, female fronted, NYC punks Johnny Ain’t Bad (previously known as "The Johnny’s NYC) in less than one year of existence have been able to land shows at venues like Irving Plaza, Rough Trade and Baby’s All Right, so we suspect they must be worth checking out. Here’s a short, lo-fi video of one of ther shows… intriguing indeed! The band will be celebrating the release of their debut EP "Psycho Girl" tomorrow (06.02) at Baby’s All Right. Hopefully, after the show some recorded music will be leaking through…

On past releases such as her piano-girded, subtly piercing 2012 song “Midnight Whistle” and the hushed, guitar-based ‘Sleep Will Set Me Free‘ EP that followed later that year, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Dublin singer/songwriter Sorcha Richardson quietly fought through her struggles. “There’s a runaway/Poison train/Tearing through my/Sinking veins/But this midnight whistle/Won’t remain,” she sang on “Midnight Whistle,” and one was both crushed and comforted. The early-twenties musician rises to near celebration on latest track “Petrol Station,” (streaming below), a murky yet ultimately sunny electronica piece. “You’re coming over to my house,” Richardson gently repeats to her hesitant addressee, perhaps finding her own peace in the process. Sorcha Richardson performs at Pete’s Candy Store on 6/11 as part of the Northside Festival, and plays Rockwood Music Hall on 6/19. – Zach Weg

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

A little over two years after releasing their debut LP ‘Good Evening,’ Brooklyn/Queens quintet Steady Sun return with single “Lover Knows” (streaming below), a waltzing, guitar-twined psych-rock track with sweet hints of dream pop. Lead singer Dylan Nowik gently eases you over sleepy guitar lines, which then turn wonderfully alive and almost chaotic, making for a pleasantly chimerical song that is at once unpredictable and cohesive. The band’s sophomore album, ‘Flora,’ will drop this summer. In the meantime, catch them live at Mercury Lounge tomorrow (5/30). – Zach Weg

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

Kids these days might not be as nihilist and wild as they were in the late 70s, but this isn’t preventing the NYC punk scene from being alive and well. Brainchild of the former vocalist/guitarist of The Measure Lauren Denitzio (aka Lauren Measure), Brooklyn quartet Worriers have been around since the early ’10s and emerged last year with their debut album on Don Giovanni Records. Their sound offers a sped up version of a brand of melodic punk reminiscent of pioneers of the genre such as Dinosaur Jr and Husker Du – a band with whom they occasionally share a political approach to songwriting. Worriers just announced their new LP ‘Imaginary Life’, scheduled for an August 7 release, and unveiled single ‘They / Them / Theirs’ (streaming), which questions notions of the gender binary and the frustrations that come with it. The band is starting today an extensive US tour.

The brainchild of Tamara Jafar and Joe Durniak, Cultfever is a catchy NYC electro-rock duo we’ve been following for some time. They have just released this new single entitled "Youth," and took the opportunity to announce their participation in the Northside Fest with a show at Union Pool on June 11.

Boston and its surroundings keep supplying NYC with richly arranged and very competently produced records. Brooklyn based – via Beantown – Craig Martinson plays music that’s obviously influenced by The Beatles’ psychedelic years, although he’s not afraid to occasionally venture off that path with more noisy and experimental tracks like this cover of Beck’s Devil’s Haircut. We are premiering here third single ‘Burning Monk’ from sophomore EP ‘ M​y Love is True.’ The song kicks off with a "Let it Be" style piano line, and suddenly breaks into a fully orchestrated chorus, exploding with melancholy, while the lyrics stress the very words giving the EP its title. The other tracks available from streaming confirm Martinson’s noteworthy songwriting, filled with strong melodies and imaginative production.

A little over a year after releasing his album Road-Dog’s Teeth, New Orleans and Brooklyn based bluesman Johnny Azari returns with the double LP ‘God Damn Blues (The Newest Testament).’ As heard on the slide guitar-based, dusty single “God Damn Blues” (video streaming below), the Shiraz-born singer/multi-instrumentalist impressively conveys real-life hurt through his devilishly charming voice, effectively creating a portrait of a luckless man just trying to survive. It’s a seemingly classic blues story that Azari tells with obvious charisma and artful songwriting. – Zach Weg

One may say that producers are like the chefs of the creative process (the studio being their kitchen), so it’s hard to conceive how a band like NYC’s WIN WIN – comprised of three electronic producers – can actually function without major and recurrent conflicts of ego. The secret is probably – as with most successful musical project involving more than one person – in the trust and bond built during a collaboration that’s now more than a decade long. WIN WIN’s music is as edgy as you would expect, which gives us the opportunity for a very interesting Q&A about gear and the creative process – you can read it in our sister blog about gear and recording Delicious Audio – link below. Check out the band’s latest single ‘Air" streaming below.

WIN WIN TALK ABOUT GEAR AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

With their new single "Calm Punk" (streaming), from upcoming sophomore LP, Brooklyn’s Dead Stars convincingly rides the nu-grunge wave that’s been sweeping Brooklyn in the past two years. Against what’s considered as "booking common sense," the band is going to push the new release through a series of local shows very close to each other (five in ten days!?!). But hey, rock’n’roll hates common sense, so we invite you to support the guys, who have a great live show and shared last year’s 4Knots stage with Dinosaur Jr., Mac DeMarco and Speedy Ortiz among others. Find your most convenient date here.

Scam Avenue is a very new synth pop trio out of Brooklyn. They just released their debut single/video entitled "Mercury" (streaming) and announced their debut EP, to be released on June 23rd. From the single, the band’s approach to the genre seems rather minimalistic, but not immune from the occasional tension building through noisier sections. However, Devery Doleman and Tara Chacón’s clean melodies always return things to a chilled and controlled sonic place. Kudos to band member Lawrence Kim for directing this stylish video. The band will be playing a free show at Passenger Bar on June 3rd, while the release party is scheduled for 06.20 at Cameo Gallery.

Mercury from Scam Avenue on Vimeo.

By implicitly stating not only that originality trumps instrumental technique, but also that it’s more easily achievable by non formally trained musicians, the Post Punk bands of the late 70’s re-affirmed the concept of creative DIY in rock music – a trend the Velvet Underground had anticipated about a decade earlier. It’s only natural then that many bands in today’s DIY scene look back at that wave of groundbreaking music for inspiration. Brooklyn’s Pill, who’ve recently received praise from Pitchfork and made The L Mag’s list of the 8 NYC bands you need to hear, fully recreate the edgier and darker atmospheres of that music, always caught between repetitive droney elements and out of the box madness. In this circumstance, the saxophone functions as a wild sonic card, while Veronica Torres’ vocals reject any pop inclination with atonal rants in part reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Check out below single "Misty Eyed Porn Reader" from their self titled debut EP, and see them live at Cameo on June 14 with Deli favorites Future Punx. – Image courtresy of The L Mag

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