We thought you may want to listen to the music of the "Women Machine" gracing the cover of our Winter 2014 issue of The Deli… here they are, in alphabetical order:

DJ Empress, top right:

Kiah Victoria, third from the left:

Elizabeth Valleau of WOLVVES, bottom left:

Young Ejecta, second from the left:

Also, check out this cool video with some background about cover shot concept.

The Skins are a Brooklyn based heavy rock and soul outfit consisting of three siblings and two best friends.  Lead vocalist Bayli, bassist Kaya and drummer Reef Mckeithan are joined by two nimble-fingered guitarists, Daisy Spencer and Russell Chell.  They play a thunderously rhythmic rock emphasizing powerful riffs underneath dynamic, clearly defined vocals.  Having already self-released an EP that has garnered them both critical acclaim and positive street buzz from savvy music listeners, the band is hard at work on a full-length album.  Since their initial inception in 2012, the band has toured extensively, impressing audiences at Afro Punk, SWXW and CMJ festivals. 

Read Dave Cromwell’s interview with The Skins.

We stumbled upon this list of "10 NYC artists you should already be listening to" by the Sun Times, and we eagerly checked our coverage records to see our "hit and miss ratio" – a not so grown up version of comparing and trading football stickers, if you wish. Well, 90% ain’t that bad, right? The only artist from the list that wasn’t yet covered in this very blog is Queens based, roots music veteran Feral Foster,  who’s actually been making music for almost ten years. His self titled album, released earlier in 2014, is a collection of passionate vintage blues, straight up folk tunes and crooning ballads that showcase his expressive tenor and a noteworthy versatiliy within the Americana related genres.

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

Earlier in the spring, Brooklyn’s Toy Cities released their debut album "Via Death," a surprisingly consistent collection of songs that channels an elegantly hazy, 80s influenced dream pop, in part reminiscent of NYC cult band Violens. Single "Pretend" (streaming) effortlessly marries synth and guitar pop elements with an evocative melody that would make Prefab Sprout proud. Nostalgic sounding without being slow (for some reason the two things often go together) the record features a series of tracks worth checking out, like opener "Setting Son," single "Gallons," and "Nostalgia Kills." You can catch Toy Cities live at The Shop tonight.

This band submitted their music for coverage here.

Crooners work well during the holiday season, and Chris Kittrell’s Baby Alpaca have recently established themselves as the chief NYC indie pop crooners, with tracks as sensual and conducive to sex as the ones Roxy Music penned for classic album "Avalon" back in the ’80s. The band, who packed the house at our recent CMJ show at Pianos, has just released a new single called "Roller Coaster," streaming below. 

Chiptune – i.e. music generated using hacked, primitive musical circuits of old videogames – has been gaining momentum in NYC since the mid aughts, when US pioneers Anamanaguchi hit the scene with their Nintendo-enriched indie rock. That band – whose sound has now developed in purely electronic directions – has evidently inspired a bunch of talented newcomers, and Brooklyn based programmer Maxo is one of the most prominent and productive of them. The man is obviously a volcano of creativity: he has two bandcamp profiles, one for his Super Nintendo based creations, featuring dozens of digital releases since 2011, and another one for everything else, including Video Game Music, EDM and Fusion; on his Soundcloud profile, on the other hand, you’ll find extra material including remixes and colaborations. All in all, the word "Fusion" best describes Maxo’s output, since a lot of his repertoire is heavily influenced by jazz, blended with videogame music and other more traditional electronic genres. There’s no lack of opportunities to see Maxo live before Christmas: he will be opening for Anamanaguchi on December 12 at Baby’s All Right, then play pretty much every week in different Brooklyn venues until the end of the year – details can be found here.

Lifeguard Nights have been around for quite some time, and while this doesn’t automatically give a band credibility, they’ve certainly proven themselves as mainstays in the local scene with over 18 full-length releases under their belts. Vincent Brue, the group’s founder and lead singer, sports a strong tenor with just the right amount of grunginess, and seems to pick the musicians who back him for their ability to integrate that quality with musical edge and power. The band released two album in 2014 that couldn’t sound more different. While we’re hearing more folk influences coming out of their May release “Bruetown,” October’s record "Beastmaster" – an album long in the making – is a fast and furious excursion into the world of (punchy) art rock with prog tendencies. You can catch them live at Mercury Lounge on December 18, and read Jillian P. Dooley’s interview with Vin Brue of Lifeguard Nights.

We’ll admit that we’ve haven’t always been fully convinced by Happy Lives‘ approach to bedroom pop unconventionality, but with latest single ‘Marry Me" (streaming), the Brooklyn duo delivers a remarkable track in which a wide array of genres, ranging from "caucasian rap" a la Beck to lounge pop to psych rock, get blended to perfection. The song is rigorously self produced, hitting the ideal balance between grittiness and clarity – should we call that not-so-lo-fi? – and the lyrics are as provocative as expected. The last verse/chorus reiteration – though – is what makes this tune shine: a delirious psychedelic explosion that raises the tension and the edginess to levels reminiscent of one of our favorite NYC bands of all times: Soul Coughing. Don’t miss Happy Lives live at Baby’s All Right on 12.14.

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

The name of NYC trio The Next Great American Novelist remind us about the fact that here at The Deli we wouldn’t care too much about an emerging singer songwriter blessed by stellar poetry if the music accompanying those lyrics was barely generic or uninspired. And that’s precisely why we find this band’s output rather intriguing: songwriter Sean Cahill knows the in and outs of how to keep a song interesting, with a sound that – obviously reminiscent of the complex melodic openness of Elliott Smith – makes the most of dynamic shifts, tension build ups, clever chord changes, tuneful harmonies and catchy melodies to create memorable songs with quality lyrics – like the noteworthy streaming single "Clover Color Blooms." Add to that a flawless production – thanks in part to the connections of band member Anthony Spinnato, drummer and manager of The Cutting Room Studio in Manhattan – and you get a potential next great American rootsy pop band.
Check out the full album "I’ll See You In The Art You Love" here, and don’t miss The Next Great American Novelist live at Rockwood on December 23 – it’s a free show.

This band submitted their music for coverage here.
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

We’ve always said in this blog that Brooklyn goth-pop trio The Living Days had a lot of potential (we even booked them for our very first SXSW show a few years ago!), so we are more than happy to report that Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio shares our thoughts in this regard. His label Federal Prism just released the band’s latest single "I’m Fine," an elegant electro-pop song filtered through Stephonik Youth sophisticated and somewhat tortured delivery. Check out the video below, and see the band live at the Mercury Lounge tomorrow 12.10 with Bowmont and Youthquake.

Born in July 2014 (at least, that’s when their Facebook profile was created – do bands really exist before then?) EZTV is a new born Brooklyn based trio that channels so called "chill wave" vibes through very well crafted pop songs like "Hard to Believe" (streaming below). Check out also the more uptempo track Trampoline here. EZTV will be playing Baby’s All Right on December 13. 

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

Anomaly Conglomerate MC Mike Larry Draw wins the award for most West-Coast sounding rapper from the Bronx. His eloquent flows course with knowledge, smirking at the game they confound. His “Polymath” aesthetic, mantra, credo, or whatever it is, is an evolving identity which defines itself through the music, video, and visual work of this prolific artist. Truly an anomaly, Mike Larry is the only MC in the game who consistently dodges the spotlight in favor of shooting and directing his own music videos. His signature stunt of casting women to play as him, rapping his verses while he works the camera, never tires. – BrokeMC