As creation stories go, Jared Samuel – chief songsmith of NYC band Invisible Familiars – has one, just like the rest of us. It begins in suburban New York State, and crystallizes in Brooklyn, where he doubles these days as both session-man and bandleader.  He’s played and toured with acts like Superhuman Happiness, Cibo Matto, and, more recently, Sean Lennon’s GOASTT. The band’s debut album, "Disturbing Wildlife" soars gracefully through the pop and psychedelic strata, where rich harmonies and an array of exotic instrumentation never overwhelm Samuel’s lyrical expressionism. Don’t miss their CD release party at Baby’s All Right on January 30 – there’s a rumor that his friend Sean Lennon will make an appearence.

Read Emilio Herce’s interview with Invisible Familiars.

Thanks to all the artists who submitted their music to be considered for The Deli’s Best of Los Angeles Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. We had a record number of submissions from Los Angeles this year – 72! – thanks so much for the overwhelming response!

After tallying our editors’ ratings for the Open Submissions stage, it’s time to release the results. Please note that to avoid conflicts no local editor was allowed to vote for bands in his/her own scene.

Total submissions from Los Angeles: 72

Jurors: Travis Leipzig (The Deli Portland), Roxy Morrison (The Deli Toronto), Paolo De Gregorio (The Deli NYC).

Acts advancing to our Readers/Fans Poll:

1. Kiev (8 out of 10)

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2. Sex Helicopter (7.83)

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3. Valley Queen (7.5)

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4. Hearty Har (7.33)

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5. Afternoons (7.16)

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5. Dalton (7.16)

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5. Fellow Bohemian (7.16)

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5. Hi Ho Silver Oh (7.16)

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5. Dark Furs (7.16)

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Honorable Mentions (scores above 6.83)

Twin Oaks, Vokab Kompany, Meg Olsen, Brooklyn Pets, Lady Low, Wages.

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WHAT’S NEXT: These results end the first phase of the poll. We have already unveiled full list of nominees that also includes the artists nominated by our local jurors (see left column here). It’s now time for our readers to influence this Year End Poll for Emerging Los Angeles Artists with their vote – look out for th readers’ poll on the right column of this same page!

The Deli Los Angeles

Deli Readers,

The Deli New England’s Best of 2014 Readers and Fans’ Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees.

Here is the top ten, and streaming track of the top three bands – which we congratulate!

1. Grundlefunk

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2. Suitcase Junket

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3. Mixx Geo

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Here’s this poll’s top 10 chart, full results can be found here.

BEST OF NEW ENGLAND 2014 – READERS’ POLL RESULTS   Artists Votes   1 Grundlefunk 366 2 Suitcase Junket 261 3 Miss Geo 231 4 Smooth Antics 193 5 Derive 96 6 Pat and the Hats 91 7 Clara Berry 85 8 And the Kids 65 9 BLKBX 61 10 Jet Black Sunrise 53

Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include details about the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers’ votes, and will crown The Deli’s Best EmergingNew England Artist of 2014.

The Deli’s Staff

It’s "indie" time, folks! Here’s the list of artists who qualified to the last phase of our Best of NYC Year End Poll for Emerging Artists through the Open Submissions in the Indie Rock category – congrats to all fo them!

Total submissions in this category: 23

Jurors: Natan Leipzig (The Deli Portland), Maylis Personnaz (Deli Writer), Paolo De Gregorio (The Deli NYC).

Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting later this week):

1. Mainland (7.66 out of 10)

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2. Dead Stars (7.33)

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3. Exocomet (7.16)

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3. DREAMERS (7.16)

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Honorable Mentions (score above 7):

Riverwild, CUTTERS, Controller, The Planes, Doubting Thomas Cruise Control, Animal Years, Walking Shapes.

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More results coming soon, we are getting there!

The Deli’s Staff

We’ve been fans of Jane Herships’ Spider for quite some time, although after four years of silence we thought the project had come to an end. We were therefore pleasently surprised to see that Spider is performing at Pianos on January 28. And we were even more surprised by the sound of the new single, that abandons the clean instrumentations of her early records for a more edgy and noisy sound bordering on industrial music, without losing the project’s signature intimacy. A male figure appears on the single’s bandcamp cover – which seems to imply a collaboration with a programmer. Jane informed us that the single is part of a new project called Teachers or Police, and that an EP is about to be released.

We are not sure how old the guys in Brooklyn’s roots quintet Wilder Maker are, but they seem to write and perform with maturity beyond their years. The mellow alt folk you’ll find in their latest EP "Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire, Vol I" is beautifully textured and radiating some kind of wisdom, conveyed by the alternating male and female vocals, which are full of tamed melancholy and emotion. Check out single Zion below and see them at Baby’s All Right on January 31.

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

Deli Readers,

The Deli Toronto's Best of 2014 Readers and Fans' Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees. 

We happily announce our top three local emerging artists Sun K, Laura Cole and The Pick Brothers Band! Whoo-Hoo!! This was an incredible experience! We thank you for all your Deli support!

1. Sun K (pictured)

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2. Laura Cole

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3. The Pick Brothers Band 

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Here's this poll's top 10 chart, full results can be found here. 

BEST OF TORONTO 2014 - READERS' POLL RESULTS   Artists Votes   1  Sun K 470 2  Laura Cole  393 3  The Pick Brothers Band   344 4  South of Bloor   188 5  Mumbai Standstill  135 6  Brother of North  126 7  The Tiger Box   72 8  Harlan Pepper  71 9  Streetlight Social  65 10  Ferraro  52

Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include details about the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers' votes, and will crown The Deli's Best Emerging Toronto Artist of 2014.

The Deli's Staff