If you’ve ever watched Gumby and wondered aloud why this show ever went off the air, you need to watch The Middle Eight‘s new video (streaming below).

Latest LP ‘Strange Loop’ brings the band’s penchant for classically arranged pop grooves to a new level of sophistication. In addition to some pretty insane kaleidoscopic artwork, new tracks ‘Love; Pass It On’ and ‘Everyone is an Addict’ portray the group in a deep-thinking, socially-conscious state of affairs. The band’s just released their video for ‘Latter Days,’ containing clay animals, monsters, and audio speakers that simultaneously destroy and rejuvenate, animated by director Matt Christensen (Bjork), you’ll want to play with clay all over again. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

“Lusty,” the first single by NYC’s Azar Swan (# 56 in our Best of 2012 Poll for Emerging NYC Artists, previously known as Religious to Damn), defies easy categorization. A toxic blend of jungle rhythm and technopunk aggression provide the sweltering backdrop for singer Zohra Atash’s ominous gothic vocal style. What makes “Lusty” (streaming below) so visceral, however, is the way its beastial lyrics burn with a kind of sexual frustration that feels both dangerous and pornographic. Beware Azar Swan, and look out for a new single coming soon on Pendu Sound . – Brian Chidester

The Aputumpu Festival is a musical showcase featuring more than two-dozen rising bands comprising a cross-section of the burgeoning Brooklyn music scene. Much like the Amputumpu fruit – sweet on the inside, but rough on the outside – these bands exhibit raw, noisy, in-your-face performances, in contrast with the deep and often heartfelt sentiments expressed in their music. The bands’ rough, DIY aesthetic will be displayed over the course of four days, spread across some of the best venues in Williamsburg and Manhattan. Full schedule here.

One of the most enjoyable folk pop duos NYC has to offer is back at it with a seven track EP called "The Escape," scheduled for release in mid April. Themes of freedom, childhood and travel are the lyrical core of the music of The Whispering Tree, serving as a starting point for the singer Eleanor Kleiner’s search of deeper philosophical meanings. With Eleanor’s composed, confidently blue vocals, and the tasteful input of multi-instrumentalist Elie Brangbour, preview single "No Love" is a moody folk rock tune about the feeling of being away from home – surely something most New Yorkers can relate to. Album Release party at Sidewalk Cafe on 04.19. – Tina Aita

This track was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging folky NYC artists here

Niall Connolly has been based in New York for six years (a small achievement in itself for any musician) and has single-handedly corralled some of Brooklyn’s finest songwriting talent into a noteworthy musical posse known as Big City Folk. From a man whose listening tastes vary from Pavement to Cohen to Ger Wolfe, Niall has never tried to emulate his heroes, preferring to carve his own identity and style. ‘Samurai’ – the single from his upcoming sixth album – continues in this rich vein of a songwriter totally comfortable in his own skin. See Niall live at his release show at Rockwood Music Hall on April 13. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building.

When you’re down in the dumps, nothing quite beats a good pop melody to lift the old spirit. (Well, okay, vodka too). But here, nascent alt-pop artist Radio Musik (a.k.a. Jordan Hall) delivers a new video so decadently over-the-top that it’s unclear whether he’s being genuine or tongue-in-cheek or a little of both. The song is a tight, sexy production that has the added flair of being smart to boot. Yet the lack of a truly memorable chorus seems to embody the way Hall thirsts in the video for a can of “Pop” soda that he never actually gets to drink. It’s good stuff that, with the right hook, could have been transcendent. – Brian Chidester

After years spent (like most bands out there) devoting too much time to finalize their songs, Brooklyn based electronic duo Sophie Weiner and Russ Marshalek (aka Silent Drape Runners) decided it was time to try to make the process less time consuming – adopting a system which could be described as the musical equivalent of "espresso" coffee: the duo gave itself a six hour limit to finish one track – and while at it also shoot a documentary about it and have a banh mi meal. Inspired by 80s TV documentary "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage," the resulting track "Starstuff" is a laid back, ambient influenced collage of vocal samples from the show, electronic sounds, and eastern-style chants (inspired by the banh mi, we guess). With this new formula we can now expect a gazillion songs from these guys in the next year. See them live at Cameo on March 28 within the Aputimpu Fest – a four day festival featuring Brooklyn bands only.

Brooklyn noise devotees Hunters have been pulling out the big guns as of late. The duo is slated to release a debut LP via Mom + Pop this summer and will be touring with Bleached and Jeff the Brotherhood in the meantime. Guitarist/vocalist Derek Watson and cotton candy pink-coiffed vocalist Izzy Almeida feed off each other, growing intensity with fierce, instinctive on-stage rapport. And they go all out – there’s uncensored drama in every wave of distortion and punchy yowl. This hasn’t gone unnoticed; these press sweethearts recently graced the cover of the Village Voice and have been featured in Spin and The New York Times. You could say The Deli was an early convert; we awarded Hunters’ debut EP (mixed by mixed by Yeah Yeah Yeah’s guitarist Nick Zinner) album of the month in February 2012. – Check out a live video of "Deadbeat" below, and read a Deli interview with the band from early 2012 here. – Corinne Bagish

Four-piece Brooklyn band Vinyette is set to play some shows around town as they gear up to release their debut album, "Every Little Mouse Run," on May 7th. The alt rock band has four upcoming shows in New York City, including two this weekend: March 29th at The Paper Box, and March 30th at SPiN Galactic. Devised so that each song contributes to the album collection as a series of vignettes in a story, the upcoming album features at once classic and atmospheric rock undertones and contemporary art references ranging from Dalí to Kubrick. Check out the video for single "Meatball Love Tone" here.

It’s sometimes quite comical how bands grossly miscategorize themselves when they subscribe to our charts or when they submit a record for review. The most common example is singer-songwriters who want to be perceived as "indie rock," even though they sound nothing like that… without mentioning all the artists who think that they are "experimental" or "avant-garde" – which is why we decided to remove those genres from the list in the first place. If on one hand it’s true that we can all be experimental in our little world ("I experimented with a new awesome chord I never tried before, it was an E major!"), on the other hand, it can’t be denied that the label requires some serious musical adventurousness. 

We found that adventurousness when we stumbled upon Placerville based band Pregnant‘s new single "Strangers" – streaming below – which sounds like a beautifully organized but still rather sparse form of musical… chaos. A snare drum, a blip, a few random cymbal sounds, and 3 recurring mellowtron notes keep an irregular, fluctuating tempo plodding along, while a captivating chanting melody and a subdued guitar bring the song together.

The musical pipe of once described hillbilly savant (and producer and visual artist) Daniel Trudeau, Pregnant will be releasing new album "Pottery Mill" on April 30. Check out also the video for Crush On here.

Aaron Lee Tasjan is a dangerous man. With his pulse equally on electric blues, folk and rock jams, he’s already been involved in some NYC bands The Deli celebrated not that long ago. As co-founder of Semi Precious Weapons and The Madison Square Gardeners, he’s been bringing his mission for rock n’ roll’s original soul to the masses for the greater part of a decade. Now he’s doing it solo. New record ‘The Thinking Man’s Filth’ keeps the blues humming in fave track ‘Junk Food & Drugs,’ a song extolling new corners turned in life, and how much fun bad habits can be. Check it out below and see him live when he plays Rockwood Music Hall, May 7th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

This song was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC Folk artists here.

The recent, collector/nostalgia driven phenomenon of the limited-edition-cassette revival is becoming more and more popular, and we wonder if anybody is really playing these quaint old relics when the music is available online, just one click away… the four dudes from Brooklyn’ power pop mainstays Shark? will be putting out such old fashioned release featuring their new single "California Grrls" from their forthcoming album, along with b-side "Roadrunner Roadrunner" (not included in the record). The single – a catchy noise pop song about those (nasty) girls Foxygen obviously chose over our awesome Brooklyn ladiez! – will be out April 2nd through Old Flame Records, while the band will be finalizing their upcoming album "Savior" expected to drop sometime in the summer. We are sure listening to the single through an old cassette player will somehow make your experience sublime, but if all you care about is the music, well, you can stream it right here under this blurb. For some (nostalgia and hiss free) live fun, you can catch the band at Death by Audio on May 16.

This song was added to our SoundCloud playlist of emerging NYC artists here.