Brooklyn band Heliotropes unleashed a rather heavy debut EP entitled "III". The all-female trio plays a surprisingly bizarre blend of violin-laced psych-rock and dark, goth ditties — finding themselves conjuring up comparisons to Black Sabbath and Spiritualized. Though slightly at odds with their beached-out Brooklyn counterparts, the band plays frequently around their mother borough and Manhattan. Heliotropes plays 8/13 at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn with Poison Arrows (ex-Don Caballero), Heavy Hands, and Telenovelas. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers).

The creation of noise pop duo Sleigh Bells resulted from an unlikely pairing of Derek Miller, a former guitarist for post-hardcore band Poison the Well, and Alexis Krauss, a member of the now-defunct teen pop group RubyBlue. Miller writes songs that radiate such a colossal impact that they make the speakers sound like they will melt at any moment. Audiophiles be damned: The duo purposefully creates a blown-out sound by disregarding levels and pushing them way over into the red.
Their demos boast a range of intense club ragers to melodic, buttery tunes. Often compared to Crystal Castles for their visceral energy and strong female vocals, Sleigh Bells’ music is more beat conscious and incorporates the creative use of guitar as a driving, almost obsessive force.
Their clipped, infectious songs and high energy performances elevated them to one of last year’s CMJ Music Marathon favorites. Not only they impressed the music media, but they also caught the ear of their sound sister, M.I.A. In early February Sleigh Bells helped produce M.I.A’s forthcoming album. M.I.A. returned the favor by helping co-release their debut album “Treats” through her NEET imprint with Mom + Pop Records. Of course this help make Sleigh Bells one of the most successful NYC bands of 2010.

The video by David E Beats was directed by Kristopher Rey-Talley, Drew Angle; and shot by Sam Wootton. It’s a fast fun and entertaining throwback to blaxploitation films starring actor Alex Goode and actresses Rebecca Hoetzel and Constance Victory. Everything was shot with crash zooms and flat lighting to emulate the 70’s low budget style and it was put through a thorough and intense color correct to degrade the HD quality to look like bad 1970’s film stock.  – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Even just signing to Warp Records (the mostly electronic label that hosts among others Grizzly Bear) brings its share of buzz – something that The Hundreds in the Hands have been enjoying for a few months. The Brooklyn band is set to release their debut CD on September 21 and will definitely be one of the hot emerging NYC acts at the upcoming CMJ Marathon. Check out the video of the single "Pigeons".

If cymbals do indeed diet on guitars, it’s not without a struggle from the latter if this Staten Island foursome is anything to go on. The guitars here aren’t just passive omnivores, simply serving as prey for the carnivorous drumbeat. Instead, every element sounds like it’s elbowing the others out of the way to take center stage. On Cymbals Eat Guitars‘ debut album "Why There Are Mountains" they manipulate their guitars to full effect. They act as melody carriers, provide emotional haze and even rip the occasion Prince-esque wiggle. In fact, from the crashing cymbals of ‘And The Hazy Sea’, a six minute “quiet-loud-quiet-loud” epic thrown into reverse to the feedback drenched haze and jaunty brit-pop melody of ‘Indiana’, Why There Are Mountains was one of the most confident guitar albums in recent memory, and one fully deserving of the good vibrations generated by the hype machine in first quarter of 2009. The band is currently touring Europe – their next NYC show (at Irving Plaza) is scheduled for mid October. – Dean Van Nguyen

Announced on Battles’ MySpace profile today:

"Battles and Tyondai would like to let their fans know they have chosen to follow their own musical paths. Due to Battles’ ambitions of finishing their second studio album followed by commitments to a full touring schedule in 2011, and Tyondai’s own commitments as a solo artist and his desire not to tour, both Battles and Tyondai have decided to move on without each other. It is a sad but amicable split.
Battles wishes Tyondai all the best"

In their debut EP, “Who’s Better Than You?” The Yes Way infuse their sound with versatility and mood. By incorporating different sonic elements – guitar riffs blended with smooth harmonies, heavy instrumentation carried by emotional vocals – this band has an admirable track list to offer. Songs like “When It Breaks” work for their inherent catchiness, with light, poppy drums, while in “Mets,” fuzzy guitars and a heavier rock sound are integrated in occasional bursts, taking us back the good old days of the loud-quiet-loud thing. The track that stands out for its uniqueness, is the Radiohead circa OK Computer/In Rainbows, “Where Was I,” which well represents that versatility this band is going for. Check them out on 08.07 at The Mercury Lounge. – Alex Daly

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel, DJs, and our writers and readers).

The band that graced the cover of our Deli Summer 2009 issue won’t please those who love sparse music that conveys delicate emotions, nor the traditional alt rockers and their epic needs. Buke and Gass is a band that lives in a parallel musical world, where originality – for once – is not a wasted word. The duo truly brings the DIY concept to the next level: they build their own instruments (pedal and amps included) and master them to perfection, creating a huge wall of wonderful distorted sound that can’t be compared to any band we are aware of. Arone Dyer’s vocals are amongst the most powerful and versatile in the NYC scene, ranging from PJ Harvey-ish full aggression to the Bjorky "I’m a little helpless girl" kinda thing (by the way, yes, she is also cute). The songs are complex but not inaccessible, filled with memorable melodies and intricate rhythms that still have the power to get your lazy NYC legs to jump. 
Buke and Gass recently signed to Brasslands, they will surely be one of the NYC bands to whatch this fall (debut full length out in September..

Brooklyn beauties, Semi Precious Weapons, are no strangers to The Deli, snagging “CD of the Month” in 2006, “Artist of the Month” in 2007, the cover in 2008, and reviews in between.  However, in the last two years, the quartet has blossomed beyond most rock bands’ wildest dreams. Supporting Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour, releasing both an EP and “You Love You” within six months of each other, and rising to iconic rock ‘n roll status worldwide, SPW have become the 21st century “fab four.”  In NYC for just a week for two gigs with Gaga, an exclusive after-party performance at Hudson Hotel catering to fans who were left in the sold-out shows’ dust, and as well as a short set and signing at Union Square’s Best Buy, SPW demonstrate genuine appreciation for their supporters. Consistently gracious, Justin Tranter (vocals), Cole Whittle (bass/vocals), Dan Crean (drums), and Stevy Pyne (guitar/vocals) spent some of their very precious time on the road to catch up with The Deli. – Read Meijin interview with the Justin Tranter from SPW here.

"I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow of Your Heart" is the fourth single from APTBS‘s "Exploding Head" CD. Directed by Sian Alice Group’s Ben Crook (Spiritualized, Fratellis, Black Lips) the video was shot during the band’s London show on May 25th, 2010 and marks the first official appearance of NEW bass player Dion. Don’t miss their "home" party at Death By Audio on August 19.

The instrumental music played by Steve Marion, aka Delicate Steve, is strange and wonderful. His first full length album “Wondervisions” – released after a 10 year career of recording, producing and playing with other bands – features sonic delights only a "wise" musician/producer could conjure up. On the song “Butterfly”, a rapid beatbox percussion sets the table for his dobro-like slide guitar styling, which are then filled out with emotive chord progressions. Gentle interludes on traditional sounding guitars (reminiscent of, say, Jimmy Page’s quieter moments) bridge it all to a joyous conclusion full of synthetic strings and percussions. “Attitude/Gratitude” blends flowing arpeggio keyboard lines with additional rich acoustic guitar. “The Ballad of Speck and Pebble” incorporates a funky horse-hop-like bass guitar and shaker percussion to bright guitar phrasing. Open guitar chords are strummed with synth pads extending each note, creating warm emotional textures. It’s clearly well crafted studio work, yet the primary guitar playing (especially the single note licks and riffing on top) sound loose and jammy. The perfect blend. Delicate Steve will be playing a September residency at Union Pool – do not miss. – Dave Cromwell