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 and DJs).

A Rose Parade fosters a Lynchian world with its cinematic, dream-like music sequences. With her soulful and sultry vocals, Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum and !!! fame fronts a collective of musicians including Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio that produces detailed flourishes that meld into a surreal, genre-bending universe. In this constellation of colliding musical archetypes, dark, experimental pop tunes successfully co-exist with country-tinged, rolling folk songs. Although A Rose Parade only formed during the latter part of last year, the band has earned opening slots for the likes of Kaki King and tUnE-yArDs. -Nancy Chow

This is a brand new video by Nada Surf. The band release an album of covers a few weeks ago, this song entitled "electrocution" by Bill Fox, who was the lead singer and guitarist of the late 80s three-piece Cleveland, Ohio, garage pop band The Mice.

We have a real weakness for Kaiser Cartel, a band that is truly able to warm our hearts with their gentle and intimate folk pop, and which will celebrate the release their new album "Secret Transit" at Joe’s Pub on June 8. BUT… they did something that cannot not be mentioned! Here it come Kaiser Cartel people – you asked for it!!!

I often wonder if the format of a band name can really have any influence on its popularity of or any other related factor (the usual answer I give myself to this question is: "uhm…no.") Bands contact me all the time because they want their names to be printed in all caps or all lower case, or a weird combination of the two (like "sTickLiPs"). My first reaction is "DUUUUUDE…" followed immediately by: "…ok, I will fix it because I care!"
This kind of stuff happens so often that I got used to it… but then a band takes the whole thing to the next level: I remember distinctly being contacted by the Kaiser Cartel guys last year while we were promoting their appearence at the Best of NYC Fest 2009 – they asked me to fix the spelling of their band name by removing the space between their two last names: "it’s KaiserCartel, not Kaiser Cartel". Sure, counterintuitive – but ok, there you go: fixed. Then one year later (today) I get an email from a PR person promoting Kaiser Cartel’s (WITH THE BLOODY SPACE!) new album. I ask for "space confirmation", and I get it – WHA??? No dudes, you can’t do this to me.
Now, to ensure that this will never happen again with any other band, I officially ask KC to answer these questions in our comment section below:
1. Why did you initially decide to go without a space?
2. Why did you subsequently decide to get rid of the lack of space? (uh, yeah, that’s what happened, right?).
3. What was your fans’ reaction to this change?
The world needs to know. – PDG

Why the hell haven’t we heard more about Uninhabitable Mansions? This collective is doing what so many of us wish we could: jamming out with friends, pressing little, under-the-radar records, publishing books and doing all kinds of crafty-crafts. It’s one of those indeterminate-number-of-members bands, pumping out exuberant, eclectic rock – Earlier recordings of The Most Serene Republic might be the closest parable. The drums drive a lot of the tracks, with fluttering or towering guitars and a chorus of voices. There’s a ton of variety going on; maybe it’s the fact the band shares members with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Au Revoir Simone, Radical Dads, and Dirty on Purpose, to name a few. “We Already Know” is a total jam, with deft vocals and propulsive drums. They’re unsigned, but it doesn’t matter – they just put out a full length, “Nature is a Taker,” and you can buy it online right now, along with a bevy of the collective’s gear. – DWE

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 and DJs).

By “Oh! Centra,” the third track on its Luaka Bop debut, “No Mas,” Javelin has already covered bumping Tom Tom Club funk, Beach Boys-circa-’66 chamber-pop, and “Super Mario Brothers” blip-bloop-bleep. Much of the music sounds lifted from thrift-shop vinyl, but according to George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk, the wily Rhode Island cousins who formed the band in 2005, only some of it is. Often, if the duo’s press releases are to be believed, Langford and Van Buskirk play real, live instruments, using guitars, keyboards, horns, and whatever else they’ve got handy to recreate vintage source material. As slick and seamless as it is, “No Mas” is smudged with human fingerprints and free of the “aren’t I clever?” gimmickry that mars many a lesser glo-fi record. Langford and Van Buskirk plunder with love, whether cribbing glossy new-wave synths (“Moscow 1980”) or the burping baritone saxophones of Stax-aping Daptone soul (“Shadow Heart”). – Kenneth Partridge

Rewards is Chairlift‘s Aaron Pfenning’s new project, and it’s scheduled to play live at Cameo on May 28 with Picture Picture.

It’s remarkable how in the new millennium you can listen to new music that could have been written in any decade of the second half of the 20th century. The songs of hugely talented Dianne Birch take us back to the classic soul-pop of the 70s, flirting with the sound of Motown, the beautiful jazzy melody of Joni Mitchell and the playfulness of early Elton John. You may have recently seen Diane on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, or heard her new single “Valentino” (here’s the video) as a Song of the Day on NPR. Her voice is a treat – if true talent is what you’re after, don’t miss her show at Highline Ballroom on June 1st.

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 and DJs).

Each song on Locksley’s album, “Be In Love,” is as peppy as the next, blending the sweetness of doo-wop harmonies and love-infused themes, with the urgent speed and strumming guitar style of punk. Album highlights such as the jovial jukebox jam, “Love You Too,” swinging and dulcet “Darling It’s True,” jubilant and ringing “21st Century” and exultant single, “The Whip,” are bound to lift spirits, charm listeners with a variety of genre tastes, and keep fans bopping and bouncing at shows. – Meijin Bruttomesso

NYC based fans of shoegazer rock may want to check out Soren Well‘s CD release party at Mercury Lounge on May 27, also featuring The Morning After Girls – a band that moved here from Australia, leaving their mamas thousands of miles away to live their shoegazing dream in the Big Apple (we respect that!). Soren Well’s wall of guitar is almost revivalistic – it will throw you back to those glorious days when you lost your hearing dancing to MBV’s Loveless (or myabe that was your older sibiling?) The band’s new EP is entitled "Starry Eyes Gone Blank.
 

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 and DJs).

Consisting of former members of the Brooklyn group Flying, Glass Ghost released its debut album “Idol Omen” in October of 2009. Swishing, low bass beats contrast the high-pitched subtle vocals as songs go up and down from tribal and slightly dancey to slow and confessional. The deadpan vocals dance playfully with the melody of the keys and the beats jump in and out. Glass Ghosts watery demeanor, with hollow beats and swelling keys, displays a diverse range of influences expressed in a really unique way.

Drew & the Medicinal Pen sound like they belong on the soundtrack to a movie like “Juno.”  Drew’s sound is of the stripped-down-sing-a-long kind, witty and honest.  The recordings sound somewhat "casual", like it all took place in a musky, old basement, but it’s exactly this rawness that gives the songs both their charm and sincerity – reminiscent of Pinkerton-era Weezer.  The opening track from the “dream, dream, fail, repeat” album,  provides the first hint of an ongoing theme – catchy and charming melodies set beneath lyrics expressing real and often difficult emotions, unanswerable life questions, and a search for purpose…he accomplishes this expression not only through this juxtaposition of poppy-ness and depth, but also through surrealistic imagery.  The accompaniments are sparse and primitive – some whistling, clapping, and keyboard effects – but they are often the most infectious and driving forces of the songs.  It’s bare and it’s genuine — Drew & the Medicinal Pen accomplish more with those two adjectives than most others can with their popular opposites (e.g. over-production and bullshit, respectively). – PJD

With Soft Black‘s new ‘We Scatter Light’ EP, River City Extension‘s new ‘Unmistakable Man’ LP and deli band-of-the-month nod, Pepi Ginsberg‘s recent outing with Dr. Dog, and Werewolves not being dead yet, now is a good time to see all of them in one place while you still can. Turn off your TV and dig this incredible night of new music May 25th. At Death By Audio (49 S. 2nd St. btw Kent + Wythe)- (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).