With her soft, elegant soprano that draws in listeners with its delicate strength, Shenandoah Ableman (their debut EP was a Deli Record of the Month last year) has the rare quality to sound so familiar, but so unlike anything else. Fronting the pop quintet Shenandoah and The Night, Ableman’s voice itself is the poetry. With moody, whimsical music to accompany her, it’s almost hard to believe the band’s forthcoming release “So High, So Low” (out on May 08 on Family Records) is from this decade and not pieces from past years compiled onto old, newly discovered vinyl records. The band will be performing around New York throughout Spring, including a free show at Barbes in Brooklyn on April 26. – Devon Antonetti

Brooklyn’s Ex Cops (#90 in The Deli’s best emerging NYC bands of 2011 Poll), will be releasing their debut single "You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb" on 04.21 under Other Music’s label. The duo plays music that some have thought to categorize as devotional tropical goth. That three word description might be unique enough, however a thorough listen to their material reveals a more complex sound. Older songs like “Broken Chinese Chairz” point towards the minimalistic new wave stylings of the early 80’s new wave: carefully layered chunky guitar chords, brass and flutey synths all support the female vocalist’s sweet single note melody lines. The mysteriously titled “S&HSXX” clacks with a percussive force reminiscent of Brian Eno ’s “In Dark Trees”. The tracks from the upcoming single (streaming below) also differ greatly from one another, but definitely showcase a more mature and uniform sound. "You Are a Lion, I Am a Lamb" revisits the dreamy, uptempo melodies of the bands from the  Madchester era and dips them in a mid-fi sonic context, while the second track "The Millionaire" (in the video) is an arresting dream pop gem which halves the bpm and doubles up in reverb. – Dave Cromwell

Pieces from various places and parts of Aly Spaltro’s world exude throughout the colorful lyrics and retro tunes that make up her moniker, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (who placed at # 61 in our Best NYC emerging Artists of 2011 Poll. A southwest-meets-northeast history and a current Brooklyn base gives way to the whimsical language, imagery and tone of much of Spaltro’s music. She has engagedaudiences with her original approach to songwriting and sound, as well as offered an artistic outlet for fans to share their creativity through their visual artwork, a unique concept found in the indie music world. This artist/fan connection is evident in any Lady Lamb performance, as she thrives off of the energy and feedback she feels in performing for her loyal and loving fans. – Read Christina Morelli’s interview with Aly Spaltro here.

In an era when zealous music blogs compete to be the first to unearth potential new stars, the spotlight often seems to fall on young musicians who’ve done little more than strum a few simple guitar chords in their bedroom and upload the recordings to Bandcamp or Soundcloud. Take Brooklyn band Friends. Having not yet put out a release longer than a single, the five-piece has still garnered much positive attention from seemingly every online music resource, as well as mainstream press exposure from The New York Times and The Guardian among others. The group was even named one of NME’s Top 50 Artists of 2011, was nominated for BBC’s “Sound of 2012” poll, and placed 4th on The Deli’s Best NYC emerging Artists of 2011 Poll. Having captured the imagination of critics and fans despite a limited output, Friends have actually moved beyond the whispers of being an Internet buzz band to one riding a huge wave of excitement and positivity. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s full feature on the band here.

Post punk rockers The Yellow Dogs will be releasing the EP "Upper Class Complexity" on May 8th. Although punk is quite commonplace in Brooklyn, the band’s home since 2010, it’s quite the opposite in Iran where the trio hails from. After The Yellow Dogs appeared in a 2009 documentary about Tehran’s underground music scene, they faced potential arrest. But that may have been good for their music career: Koory, Looloosh, and Obaash have recently been granted asylum status – so hopefully they are in the States to stay. Vocals are injected with vintage attitude — slightly warbling drawn out notes pack individual retro-punk punches. Fierce keys add a dancey touch at times, and yowling guitar keeps the edges sharp. – Corinne Bagish – photo: Danny Krug

A noteworthy 2 stages bill of great emerging NYC bands tonight (04.19) at Public Assembly, for Tiny Victories‘ CD release party. Highly recommended, here’s the lineup:

8 — New Moods
8:30 — The Forms
9 — Evi Antonio
10 — North Highlands
10:30 — Slam Donahue
11 — Tiny Victories
11:30 — Dinowalrus
12 — NewVillager

And here’s some new material by Tiny Victories:

Feisty and fun, New Jersey-based alt rockers The Static Jacks have an exciting Spring coming up as they embark on tour with The Wombats. Beginning next Monday, April 23, the two bands begin at the nation’s capitol and head West. In conjunction with their tour, NYC’s The Static Jacks have made their new single, “Young Guns” (streaming below) available as a sample of their forthcoming EP, “Spray Tan.” Channeling their recognizable New Wave-Indie rock energy, the track gives listeners a taste of anticipated new material. Be sure to check out their tour schedule to catch them with The Wombats this April/May. – Meijin Bruttomesso

Atmospheric, electronic shoegazy NYC duo The Hundred In The Hands has announced the upcoming release of the “Keep It Low” single from their upcoming album, "RED NIGHT," uner Warp records’ wing. Fans can download the track here for free in exchange for your email address.

Born from the ashes of historic NYC band Pela, earthy alt rock group We Are Augustines got a big boost in notoriety in 2011, when iTunes named their record "Rewind" as the year’s "Best Alternative Album". The band just premiered this video of the song "Suarez," streaming below.

May is the month of The Deli’s NYC B.E.A.F. – our Best of Emerging Artist Fest! (Check out lat year’s poter here).

As usual, we have scheduled several genre related stages in a few different Williamsburg venues (full schedule and art coming soon) and we are glad to inform you that the Rootsy Stage show will be at Spike Hill on Thursday 05.24, and will be headlined by Tall Tall Trees (pictured), and feature other awesome NYC rootsy bands that made our Best of NYC Emerging Artists Year End Poll in January: Food Will Win the War, Big Wilson River, The Bottom Dollars, Reverend John Delore, Fredericks Brown, and The Due Diligence.

We’ll also take this opportunity to show you this remarkable DIY video Tall Tall Trees premiered a few weeks ago, filmed entirely in the bands’ Bed-Stuy home base and consisting in one long shot conceived and choreographed by the band. The band’s entire latest album "Moment" can be streamed here.