In anticipation of the forthcoming EP We Scatter Light, Brooklyn-grown Soft Black, announce the release of a music video for the track ‘Lions’, shot during CMJ 2010 for the Green Screening Project. The song was featured on the band’s 2009 debut album "The Earth is Black". See them live at Brooklyn Bowl with Shilpa Ray on 01.21.

Exaggerating news has always helped selling newspapers – as testified by the immortal editor in chief of NYC’s own Daily Bugle. Monday Night Japanther‘s show at the Lincoln Center was described by some as ending in a "riot", with quotes from attendees saying that they feared for their lives, but things don’t look exactly that way from this footage of the performance’s last few minutes before the interruptions. Let’s just say that the kids went a bit too crazy…

Members in the rotating lineup of The Davenports have rightfully played alongside such icons as They Might Be Giants, Fountains of Wayne, and Rhett Miller. Considering their peers, it’s no surprise the band’s claimed a steady fan-base. While their sound is based in power pop roots, lead singer Scott Class sounding like a mix between Ben Folds and Ok Go’s Damian Kulash, the band refuses to conform to expected composition, offering alternatively Beach Boys-y vocal arrangements, horn and accordion orchestrations in the styling of Beirut, and occasional overly saturated guitar stabs in an overall very well crafted and clean indie pop production. The band will play a release party for their latest album on January 19th at NYC’s Living Room. – Katie Bennett

In a whirlwind year, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, along with peers The Raveonettes and Deerhunter, have catapulted the genre of modern noise-pop into one of the most popular sectors of “indie-pop”. The band is gearing up for a European tour, and has been working on their sophomore album, with help from the best in noise pop’s past- specifically, producer Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain). And they’ve announced a spring tour to showcase their recent work- catchy power-pop songs strewn with crystallized synth and dipped in heavy guitar feedback. Openers will be NYC electro pop prodige Twin Shadow. – Katie Bennett

Deli readers, indie bands and artists,

This year, our local Year End Emerging Artists 2010 Polls are proving to be more challenging than ever, with 10 US scenes involved and 1,500+ submissions between our own system and the Sonic Bids applications. We spent a significant portion of the recent Holidays listening to your music (thanks for that by the way!), and we haven’t even had the chance to check out the bands selected by our jury of local promoters, bloggers and scene makers yet…

ANYWAYYYY… we have the results of the Open Submissions at hand and we are slowly going to publish them in the next few days. Sonic Bids selections coming soon. Whether you were selected or not, always remember that in 1961 The Beatles were rejected by Decca with the following gems: "guitar groups are on the way out" and "The Beatles have no future in show business." Just a friendly reminder that there is no final authority on music, despite what pitchfork.com would have you believe.

Year End Poll Next Phase: The Fans’ Poll
The next phase of the Poll – a vote open to the fans – is likely to start towards the end of this week and the end of the next. We’ll spread the cities out a little bit to minimize contemporary traffic spikes that repeatedly brought our site down last year. So stay tuned. We should have the final results for our two separate final charts (fans poll and composite chart including the jurors’ vote) by the end of January.

Also, of course all this is possible also because of our sponsors – many of them are providing free studio time and prizes for the winners. Here they are God Bless ’em!

LIST OF PRO AUDIO PRIZES FOR POLL WINNERS HERE!

The Deli’s Staff

Williamsburg’s Low Water don’t rely on gimmicks or the glitzy indie-pop or psych-surf formulas frequented by their neighboring bands. Instead, they craft authentic rock ‘n roll with catchy and comforting pop sensibility. Singer John Leitra’s voice cracks and rasps equal part Jeff Tweedy and Paul Westerberg (both of whom the band name as influences), adding dynamic to deceptively simple, guitar-driven melodies. Their music is perfect for mixed company- the young rebel and aged hippie alike can appreciate the tracks, and the group have been featured on a variety of entertainment sources, including NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” as well as television networks PBS and HGTV. This Saturday at Spike Hill, they’ll be playing a release party for their fourth album, “A Taste You Know and Enjoy.” – Katie Bennett

Established New York City songwriter Jennifer O’Connor is starting a new monthly concept at The Rock Shop in Gowanus involving many NYC artists: a songwriting show series. The second Tuesday of each month for 2011, she and three other songwriters (changing with each month; the first two shows have Chris Brokaw, Amy Bezunartea and Tim Foljahn from Two Dollar Guitar and then the following month Charles Bissell from Wrens, Kendall Meade and Richard Baluyut from Versus) will talk about the songwriting process, collaborating, and possibly playing a cover or two. This series, termed the Tower of Song, promises to be an interesting and ever-changing, as Jennifer is welcoming fans’ suggestions as to songs to play, ideas to discuss and songwriters to invite. The first night of Tower of Song beings at 7:30 on Tuesday, January 11 and tickets are $10. – Leah Tribbet

Last night kicked off the first ever Rock and Roll circus at Lincoln Center, in a staggering amalgamation of sonic exploration, creative energy and… chaos. Many New Yorkers (at first glance mostly Brooklynites and "Downtowners" filtered their way through the stuffy uptown building accessing the Big Apple Circus tent to see some cool NYC indie bands. Electric Tickle Machine kicked off the show to cheering hipsters, as off beat circus dancers jived around the ring, followed by The So So Glos who rocked as they always do with their aggressive indie punk. But it was Japanther who "succeeded" in bringing the real Brooklyn DIY spirit (consisting in creating situations that piss off security and police) to this event. Their show was interrupted after 3 songs because about 100 fans rushed the stage and started crowd surfing and jumping on each other. Bigger Circus show tonight (but not free) with LA’s Ariel Pink and Saint Motel. – Christine Castanon

Woods, hailing from Brooklyn and Ducktails (pictured), from New Jersey, are setting out on a shared East coast tour. Woods will be stripping down their set and playing mostly acoustic versions of their older songs, as well as songs from their upcoming album, due out later this year. Ducktails are along for part of the ride, joining Woods in five shows (from Burlington on February 2nd to Baltimore on February 8th), before playing solo on three dates (Brooklyn on the 8th and 18th of January and Philadelphia on the 15th). Ducktails will be joined for one show (the Brooklyn January 18th date) by Chicago-based Smith Westerns. And, beginning on March 14, Woods embarks on a European tour, hitting cities such as London, Paris, Berlin and Helsinki (March 16th, 18th, 21st and 27th, respectively). Their European tour ends with the End of the Road Festival in North Dorset in the UK. Be sure to bookmark these tour dates, for this is a tour you definitely do not want to miss! – Leah Tribbett

Rubblebucket formed in Burlington, VT. between saxophonist/vocalist Kalmia Traver and trumpet player Alex Toth. We covered them already in our New England site but part of the band has now relocated to NYC so here they are in our NYC homepage… Their recently released "Triangular Daisies" EP is a new direction for the band. The album is psychedelic indie-pop, with a wider appeal. A track off the album “Came Out of a Lady” was made into a music video, and proves great works can be achieved when a bunch of art majors get down to business. The new EP was recorded at DFA studios, but the sound is refreshing and not your typical bass-heavy “neon party yeah!” flavor. After a two-night stint in San Francisco, the band toured Maine to Florida. Rubblebucket recently played La Poisson Rouge with The Rebirth Brass Band, the show brought out a secret “horn attack,” of a 10 piece horn section.

So it’s a pattern that’s been seen innumerable times throughout history- a woman and her guitar. But Rachel Zamstein’s pop-rock gems are not to be overlooked, a fact proved by her recent bookings along the east coast and as far away as Stockholm. Her debut album, “Bouquet” features her melodies backed by a full band in true rock ‘n roll fashion, with jazz infusion in her soulful vocals, a demonstration of her influence from her grandfather, a professional jazz musician. See Rachel at Rockwood Music Hall on January 10. – KB

I’m spending this Holiday season listening to the 350+ local artists who submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of NYC poll. I won’t have any power in the final selection of the nominees (I delegated it to the out of town Deli editors to avoid conflicts, as I know many of the bands in the list), but I thought I’d give some exposure to some of the artists I wasn’t aware of that I found interesting. Here we go!

Happy 2010! – Paolo De Gregorio

In the age when the hipster reigns, storming the streets in search of all things “vintage,” it is truly earth-shattering to come across anything new. Which is why Gangstagrass is such a shock to the system. Self-proclaimed “lightning on the strings, thunder on the mic,” T.O.N.E.Z. isn’t a gangsta who loves his herb, but one who spits rhymes about diamonds, the hood, and shorties in the club, while classic bluegrass fiddle and banjo carry the “beat.” What’s more surprising than a sound influenced equally by Tupac and Allison Krauss is the fact that it is aurally pleasurable. After their single “Long Hard Times to Come” was chosen as the theme songs for FX’s acclaimed TV show “Justified,” the group was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. – Katherine Bennett