Many of the tracks on ‘Secondhand Rapture,’ the debut album by MS MR, have already trickled out in a series of hotly-anticipated singles, music videos and on the overplayed trailer for season 3 of HBO’s Games of Thrones (that song is titled “Bones”). So getting twelve big ones in long-player format feels almost like a greatest hits package. The album’s opener, “Hurricane,” is still MS MR’s strongest number. Its forceful soul vocal laments the moment when dreamers have to become, um, well, working stiffs and go make a real living – hopefully not too soon! “Dark Doo Wop” (Chet Faker remix streaming below) is one of Secondhand’s best surprises. A finger-poppin’ ballad here dares to reinvent the girl-group genre by using a dramatic bolero beat to build up the apocalyptically romantic chorus: “This world is gonna burn.” By the time of the album’s closer, “This Isn’t Control,” an illusionless gloom hangs over the entire affair with all the heaviness of deeply-felt experience. No over-singing or long-winded vocal runs here. Just evenhanded soul vocals that also manage to sound inspired. See the band live in NYC at Governors Ball on June 8. – Brian Chidester

“Hello Virginia” is the new video by NYC goth revivalist, I, Synthesist (nee Chris Ianuzzi). The video features weather-worn pedestrians suffering through this year’s oppressive winter, a middle-aged male wearing some kind of steampunk eyeglass contraption and a young blonde punk girl who climbs stairwells looking generally forlorn. There’s also a little girl that appears about 3/4th of the way in, a point at which I truthfully gave up on narrative altogether. Luckily, the actual music from the video was more interesting. A menacing darkwave beat convulses underneath a buzzsaw of synth loops in typical goth fashion. When its gravely-voiced singer croaks out his dramatic exordium to the elusive Virginia, things feel icy and chilly, not unlike the weather. Dark, moreover… like the world. Beware the non-conformist. – Brian Chidester

Mp3 – I, Synthesist : "Hello, Virginia"

Since we are in an "apocalyptic mood" – see previous post about KNTRLR – we might as well highlight this new Brooklyn band called Columboid, which just debuted the bizarrely unsettling video below – vocals start at minute 3, and the simple fact that we stuck around until then implies we dug what we heard: i.e. a lot of dissonance, a lot of tension, and a lot of hopelessness –  think of an electric, well orchestrated sonic version of Edvard Much’s "The Scream."

The band has sophomore album ‘Monster Vision’ (their second after their 2010 debut) scheduled for release on June 18th. See them at St. Vitus in Greenpoint on June 19th.

Brooklyn’s electro-rock duo KNTRLR – who placed 86th in our latest Best of NYC Poll for emerging NYC artists – was just added to the lineup of our B.E.A.F. Fest‘s electronic night on July 7 at Spike Hill. The band’s latest single "Stabs" – from their upcoming full length, streaming below – features a sound that blends the industrial noises of Nine Inch Nails with slowly unraveling melodies sounding as if pronounced by a prophet of some sort. Which makes this song the perfect soundtrack for your commute back from Manhattan on the hottest day of the year – as long as you can deal with the thought of impending apocalypse and slow death by global warming.

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

A band that left the majors to do things their own way back in 2011, Sins of the Loose Buttons has a huge amount of material collected over the past couple years. And all of it is about to come out on their debut EP ‘Am Arcade.’ The sometimes hard rock, sometimes funk-driven alt rock quartet will be releasing their debut on June 2nd, and planning on celebrating the release with a trip to the Northside Festival on June 16th and headlining Brooklyn Bowl on July 16th. Check them out and watch their new video for ‘I Love Lucy’ here. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

For reasons beyond our comprehension, the dudes here at The Deli seem to have a weakness for videos with gorgeous ladies bathing au naturel – we are talking about any videos, not just music videos by the way. You can imagine their excitement when they saw the first 30 seconds of this new, beautifully shot MUSIC video by Brooklyn electronic artists Mary Alouette, which features footage of the young lady while having a dream-filled dip in the tub. What makes the whole thing even more exciting though is that the music is actually good! The track is a trip hoppy number, landing somewhere between Tricky’s intense musical marijuana whiffs and some kind of new-age-that-doesn’t-suck placidity. A song about a good, but also weird, trip in the tub, nothing sounds better than that right now… (isn’t that how all David Lynch movies should be watched?)

Brooklyn’s The Kickdrums are one of those acts who can play it all — indie, rap, soul, synthpop — and make it sound tight. The title of their new EP, Inspiration for Conversation, might as well be the mantra for hipsterism too, as the accumulation of good taste is pointless if not shared. The EP’s opener, “Hum,” starts out mixing drunken dub beats to a glistening ‘60s sci-fi melody, which, really, would be enough right there. But Andrew Fitts’ pub-soaked vocals (which kick in about a minute later) take things in a decidedly Britpop direction, promising that all that good taste won’t go totally pastiche. “Machines” continues the Euro-psych vibe by matching a basic hip-hop breakbeat to soaring wordless vocals that, while feeling like a million songs you know rolled into one, sound like nothing else. – Brian Chidester

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

Do you think it’s possible to be too well-traveled? Try telling that to Baby Alpaca, a band that sounds like they’ve traveled to the Caribbean and borrowed some tropicalia, then shot over to medieval Europe to borrow an autoharp, and finally ventured to cyberspace for electronic gear… and none of these instruments are used in a way I’ve quite heard before. Latest single ‘Wild Child’ (streaming below) is a crooner reminiscent of Roxy Music from their romantic 80s peak, and presents a traveler’s vision of freedom, complete with Chris Kittrell’s mellifluous tenor, and backed by a road trip all their own. Things get even slower and sparser in the other preview single "Sea of Dreams," which has a beautiful video you can see here.

The band will be traveling back to Brooklyn just in time to announce a new record ‘Baby Alpaca EP’ and play June 27th at the Wooly and the day after at Mercury with Firehorse. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

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

For the cover of Phaseone’s new album If I Tell U, a glass cube structure hangs over a hazy, blank space, perfectly embodying both the concision and ambient space at this music’s core. “Bianca,” the album’s first single (streaming), is a trippy chillwave number built around a minimalist melody so liquid that it reduces the lustiness of soul music to just a few key-strokes. The rest of the album is just as tight, and by that I mean, precise, like Don Draper (minus the serial virility). Yet behind this shiny wall of neatly arranged synth-scapes lies the suggestion of a crack forming in society’s wall. (You don’t need no education.) – Brian Chidester

We added this song to our curated playlist of Emerging Electronic NYC artists.

No Good News have nothing but good news lately, with probably one of their biggest shows yet to take place on June 11th at The Emporium in Patchogue, LI with ska-punk notables Less Than Jake, Hostage Calm, Pentimento and Last Great Hero. Formed in 2011, this rapidly rising band emerged from the LI Scene and has a knack for Pop-Punk that we think is pretty cool. Chris Regan’s powerful vocals and the band’s industrious power chords give the same feel as if a tanker of amplified kerosene were to smash into a wildfire of pop-punk causing an explosion of energy like no other, in a good way. Their most recent album, ‘In Constant Comparison,’ was dropped on 3/2 and can be streamed for free or purchased for $5 on bandcamp – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

Starlight Girls recently debuted on Stereogum this video for their new Xiu Xiu produced single ‘7×3’ (streaming below) which showcases a slightly noisier approach to their retro-pop. We are looking forward to a new release from this talented female fronted band that already delighted us with some fun, 60s infused pop gems. Mark your calendars for July 02, when they’ll play Glasslands with Zula, Tony Castles, and Ursula Starship. 

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

"If The Police grew up on Fugazi and sang more about the financial crisis." This is how Brooklyn-based Appomattox describes their post-punk brand, which has stormed the NYC scene with one of the best live shows in town. The band’s unique take on the enormously influential punk rock genre is invigorating, and that’s just scratching the surface. The band is set to release their new EP ‘3Against2’  later this summer and will be playing Big Snow Buffalo Lodge on June 1st with Grass Is Green, Ovlov, and Miniboone. Check out the single ‘Radiator’ – from the upcoming EP – streaming below. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

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