Radical Dads was founded in 2008 along the banks of the (famously polluted) Gowanus Canal. Lindsay Baker sings and plays the guitar. Robbie Guertin (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) sings and plays the drums. Chris Diken plays the guitar and does not sing. The band released its self-titled EP in May 2009 and the Recklessness 7-inch in December 2010. Their first full-length album, "Mega Rama", was released today by Uninhabitable Mansions, an art collective and record label based in Brooklyn, NY. Radical Dads’ interests include disaster, piracy, land use, feedback, distortion, and feedback-laced distortion, and probably even doing silly things – which is the main theme in their latest video below. – Read Mike Levine’s interview with the band here.

At 23 years old, Michigan born Alex Winston has already been featured in a Hyundai commercial, toured the world and released a couple of critically acclaimed recordings (she’s currently on an extended European tour). With this year’s beat-driven EP "Sister Wife" (which was Deli CD of the Month in February), Winston is exploring very different territory from her past two releases. With New York producers The Knocks taking the helm this time around, coupling their beat-making genius with Winston’s operatic soprano, Alex sounds like we might see her tour with Janelle Monae in a couple years. Whereas, just last year on her Basement Covers album we got a Jon Brion-inspired EP filled with her imaginative takes on classics from The Rolling Stones’ "Play with Fire" to Mumford & Sons’ "Cave." She’s come a long way in a short time, and it’ll be fun to keep an ear to this artist and see what happens next. – Read Mike Levine’s interview with Alex here.

Remember the Vuvuzelas? Their constant trumpety drone made them (in)famous in South Africa during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Well, it looks like since then somebody has been working in the dark to clear their name… Saturday night at 285 Kent, BKLYN from 8pm till PARTY is the "Viva La Vuvuzela!" Music Fest, bringing out "an explosion of eclectic sounds from Brooklyn to Bangalore." The lineup features a spread of Afro-influenced music, including Nomsa Mazwai (winner of South African Music Awards), international world music collective Osekre & the Lucky Bastards (picture above), and Shinobi Ninja (video below), whose power-reggae will surely make you bang your head in a metal-inspired rasta sort of way. The event is nine acts long, fully charged, and gives attendees first pick at a few free downloads. See you at VIVA! – Caitlin Clive

Coming in at number 26 on the Deli’s Best New Emerging Artists of 2010 poll (the full results can be seen here) Ridgewood, New Jersey based Big Troubles is comprised of Alex Craig and Ian Drennan, friends from high school, and Luka Usmiani and Samuel Franklin. Craig went to college in New York (where he met Franklin, the two had a class together), Drennan in Boston, and the two decided to record last summer after losing touch for a while. Talking about the interest focused on music from their county (Bergen County), Drennan says, “[Big Troubles] sort of tries to counter that by maybe not playing into what’s understood to be the ‘New Jersey sound." Despite this counter, Craig says that living in New York was a “soul-crushing, horrible experience” and that he would much rather live in Ridgewood. Big Troubles’ music is filled with references to 80’s synth pop and 90’s shoegaze, and Craig admits that it was almost a bonding experience, the two of them getting into the same music together. Their debut, Worry (full listening is enabled here), has vaguely hazy production skills but still manages to blow listeners away with their catchy tunes.
The band will be releasing of a new album in late August and is just announced a tour in support of Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Check out the tune from the upcoming album entitled "Misery" – some kind of shoegazer-pop song with Smashing Pumpkins and The Jesus and Mary Chain influences.

Mp3: Big Troubles – Misery

Mahogany is one of the most interesting "shoegazy" NYC bands (although they are partly based in Philly as well), blending the genre’s typical droney and reverbery atmospheres with gentle electronic elements and loungy pop vocals reminiscent of Stereolab. From what we heard, the band went through a rough period involving line up changes but also new material, which will be showcased live tonight during the show at The Studio at Webster Hall in Manhattan

Rewards (brainchild of multi instrumentalists Aaron Pfenning, Co-Founder of Chairlift) has announced the release of his forthcoming single, "Equal Dreams", featuring Solange Knowles and Blood Orange, aka Lightspeed Champion. Quite interestingly we were just saying the other day how Blood Orange "sounds like an alt-soul version of Chairlift playing late Roxy Music songs". Set for a July 25th release on DFA Records the single will be available in 12" vinyl and digitally. Less opaque and murky than its predecessors, "Equal Dreams" starts with upbeat percussion, great big handclaps and a creeping bassline that sounds anything but melancholic. Rewards will be playing live at Cameo on August 18 with Suckers.

Milagres (ex The Secret Life of Sofia) writes catchy, melodic songs garnished with airy synths that are elevated by Kyle Wilson’s mesmeric falsetto. The slow builds drum up a voracious anticipation that is graciously rewarded by satisfying releases that warrant repeat listens. The band – signed to Kill Rock Stars Records, will be releasing their second album Glowing Mouth on September 13. Milagres have just announced a fall tour with Peter Wolf Crier. The band (voted #20 best emerging NYC artist in our latest Year End Poll) has released a free track from the upcoming album, which you can stream below.

Brooklyn-based Cinema,Cinema, an amalgamation of Ev Gold (vocals/guitar) and Paul Claro (drums), explodes into aggressive, grungy garage punk on their grumbling and demonic EP, “Shoot the Freak.” Frantic screamer, “Lady Abortion” surges with distortion and high speed drums. The EP continues the medical motif with “Pleased to Meet You, Anesthesia,” which features parallel melodies in vocals and instrumentation, losing control in sirens of guitar feedback. Banging drums and guitar riffs set Day-Leash” off in a progressive rock frenzy, eventually returning to the opening measures which fade into silence to close “Shoot the Freak.” Cinema Cinema’s music sounds explosive on record also because of the sound engineering help of Don Zientara, producer of crucial punk/hardcore records by Minor Threat, Fugazi, Bad Brains, and Bikini Kill, to name just a few. The band will be playing a series of dates in the NYC area, the first one at The Charleston (174 Bedford, Williamsburg) on July 15. – Meijin Bruttomesso

I’ve always found ambient music a little too uneventful – it’s a cool concept and everything but dude… it’s a little like when you meet a cute but very shy guy/girl who doesn’t say a word to save his/her own life, you know? "Talk to me, dammit!!!"
Brooklyn band Future Shuttle (a band we discovered by browsing through our own live listings on the right) play ambient-ish music that’s eventful enough to keep us interested – and that’s when we find out that the line between ineptly shy and rather charming is very fine indeed. Fronted by ethereal singer Jessa Farkas, this band’s sound is mostly based on droney, gently effected, intertwining electronic pads and sparse reverbered vocals – which add interest to the tunes conveying also a strong mystic element. There are also guitars, percussions and a flute in the mix, all working behind the scenes, in "atmospheric" and mysterious ways. Future Shuttle is playing at Silent Barn on July 6 and at Glasslands on July 9.

Brooklyn psych-rockers White Hills have a brand new album out and they want you to hear it. Titled "H-p1," the collection of 9 songs rails against our increasing dependence on corporate consumerism. "The Condition of Nothing" combines driving, psyched-out guitars and motor driven percussion with vocals that speak to nihilistic delusion, while guitars sounding more like metal hammering against industrial factory walls are the dominant element on the track "Movement." "A Need To Know" builds up gradually from hushed overtones, and the title track closes the album with an ambitious 17 minutes opus that delivers heavy jams for the disenfranchised. Though one wouldn’t be off base to think of very early Stooges (1969 era) or even Spaceman 3, White Hills share a similarly twisted compositional vibe with San Francisco psych rockers Wooden Shjips. The band will be performing live for their CD release show at Union Pool in Brooklyn on July 14 Oneida side project Man Forever and Weird Owl. – Dave Cromwell

Completely unrelated to legendary British prog-rock pioneer Robert Wyatt, Wyatt is a Brooklyn based quintet (via Colorado, New Mexico, and Michigan) that plays what we call "rootsy pop" – with an added indie twist in the production department. Led by Maddy Wyatt’s gentle presence and vocals, the band’s reinterpretation of folky atmospheres is entertaining and stimulating at once, thanks to a musical approach that successfully avoids tired formulas. Wyatt is celebrating their Brooklyn CD release with a show at Union Hall in Park Slope on July 7.

Gowanus’ own Lightouts delivers their music quick, jolting and right down the middle. With enthusiastic yelps delivered over power-pop chords, this trio sways the listeners over with fast power pop combining Husker Du’s steady distorted guitar/fast drums assaults with a more passionate rock delivery. – Simon Heggie