One of the first things you’ll notice about the Brooklyn-based band Pearl and the Beard comprised of Jeremy Styles, Emily Hope Price, and Jocelyn Mackenzie, is their innately warm, friendly attitudes and quirky sense of humor that instantly triggers a smile. Don’t be fooled by the simple, happy façade, however, this folk trio creates music drenched with emotional depth and exquisite harmonies. Fresh off of their first national tour and riding high on the success of a clever music video concept, the group is enjoying their time back in NYC promoting their first full-length album, “God Bless Your Weary Soul, Amanda Richardson.” Powerful, haunting melodies, coupled with sweet, soft guitar picking and rhythmic percussion has established “Pearl and the Beard” as one of the hottest acts to emerge from the Brooklyn indie scene, generating fans who love them the way they are, and the way they’ve always been. – Read Christina Morelli’s interview with the band here.

Warp Records just announced the release of Jamie Lidell‘s third full-length album "Compass" on May 18, 2010. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, New York and Canada, and features notable guests like Beck, Feist, Gonzales, Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and Pat Sansone of Wilco. Peeps who like party music with an eclectic element thrown in should check out this NYC based artist.

The Aviation Orange play alternative electro rock with a strong emotional element and a sound that ties them to the 90s. The band recently released their debut album, the most notable components of which include the noteworthy mixed vocal work of Hana Mogulescu and Michael Nesci and the strong basslines of Jon Levine. The band brings forth a danceable energy that should translate in a fun live performance – check them out at Santos Party House on March 8. Recommended Tracks: “Darling Johnny,” “Untitled,” “Seattle Slide”. – NP

Don’t miss the Deli’s 21st issue party tonight at The Studio at Webster!

Glass Ghost – the band gracing our latest issue’s cover – will be headlining the bill. The Brooklyn based duo’s sparse, trippy, enigmatic and subduedly subversive sound conquered the Deli NYC editorial staff’s ears.

A slew of 5 other emerging local bands are opening, including NYC/Monteral’s Flotilla and other orchestral-ish acts like The Loom and Miracles of Modern Science. Echostream and Naked Hearts will contribute with electronic fluorishes and indie rockness respectively.

Here’s the schedule:

Doors at 7.20 – $10, 19+
7.30 The Loom
8.15 Echostream
9.00 Miracles of Modern Science
9.45 Naked Hearts
10.30 Flotilla
11.15 Glass Ghost

Webster Hall is at 125 E 11th Street in Mahnattan

P.S. Apologies for the quick flier… we are still recovering from the insane amount of work related to our Year End Polls!

Justin Remer and his Elastic Nono Band could be considered a little bit like the NYC Antifolk scene’s own Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention – for the unstoppable productivity, for the cluttered arrangements, for flirting with absurdity and ridiculousness, for an uncontrollable urge to mix up the genres, even for the preference for what we will call graphics with some sort of "expressionist" vibe to them. Of course you’ll find a lot more folk, country, rockabilly and silly jokes (and no jamming at all) in the Nono Band’s latest double CD entitled "Fustercluck" – an effort that succeeds once again in being funnier than Bright Eyes (this has been the band’s mission since 2004). The punk element that theoretically should belong to any antifolk artist (but which doesn’t in a majority of cases) is replaced in the Elastic Nono Band’s music by a "Weenesque" repulsion for the idea of seriously conveying feelings through music – now that’s definitely something that goes against folk music’s clichés. Mr. Renerwill play The Anti Folk festival at The Side Walk Café (the East Village AntiFolk hub that for some reason rejects our magazines 9 times out of ten – no, we’re not bitter…) on 02.17.

Michael Leviton – who managed to play with the sexiest (now defunct) NYC band of the mid 2000 (La Laque) and tour with the least sexy NYC duo of all times (They Might Be Giants – which we dig by the way) – is back with what he calls "a single for singles" to help "emotionally prepare you for Valentine’s Day". The song is aptly titled "You’re Somebody Even If Nobody Loves You". The man sure has sense of humor, as also testified by the name of his new band: The New Jerk Times. Don’t miss their upcoming shows at Zebulon on 02.16 (258 Wythe at N. 3rd in Williamsburg) and Sway on 02.17 ((305 Spring at Greenwich).

Ethereal duo Elika must have kept pretty busy in the recording and CD manufacturing departments lately. The band announced at once the release of their hand made "There Was No Summer" EP (available through Chat Blanc Records,) and the completion of the upcoming full length album, scheduled to see the light later this year. The EP (in the picture), limited to 111 copies, handsewn on dark gray cardboard, could become a collector’s item. The actual CD is NOT handsewn nor made of cardboard – more info about it here.

Bear Hands (currently #39 in our NYC Indie Popularity Charts here) have been on The Deli’s radar for quite a while (they were our CD of the month some time in 2008) and it’s good to see them do well. The band, who recently signed to Cantora Records (who launched MGMT), has just announced the release of the new "What a Drag" EP and a US tour starting with a performance at The Studio on 02.16. The band’s sound has evolved in new exciting direction recently, we recommend you check out their songs here.

The love-inducing quintet Xylos has been bringing up-lifting dreamy soft tunes to the world since the release of their debut EP, Bedrooms in 2008. Their songs are a heavenly chorus of female and male vocals that will take you back to those Sunday afternoons at church harmony – ah! Don’t you ever miss those days when you could sing unselfconsciously during mass? As their name suggests there is plenty of xylophone-like percussive sounds here, plus gentle electric guitars and a laid back rhythm section. The band showcases a noteworthy musical maturity, channeling at times tropical influences (In The Bedroom), and experimenting at others with more daring ideas/song structures (Mission). The female lead singer’s vocals have the power to trigger instant attention and warmth. Their debut LP (produced by Britt Myers – the man behind bands like Chairlift and Yeasayer) will be out later this year, but in the meantime you shouldn’t miss their live show at The Studio at Webster Hall, Friday the 19th. – Chloe Schildhause

Brooklyn devastatingly noisy SUSU have a new record and this is what they say about it (from our Open Blog): "R and R and R is the culmination of a year of writing and reaction. Our process was simple and 100% collaborative – mostly forget everything you did the day before, but keep the things that stick. Once we had the bases for songs we fine tuned or de-tuned the mixtures to produce what you will hear. We feel our approach was very visceral but respectful of a traditonal "song". We are very excited with the results and hope you will be too. You may hear echoes of what we have done on our previous release, but for us it feels entirely more cohesive and powerful, as it was done in one big chunk. It is also very true to our live performance. It was recorded and mixed in 7 consecutive days at Machines with Magnets (Battles, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Elvis Perkins in Dearland etc.) in Pawtucket, RI by Keith Souza and Seth Manchester. The guys there (and Lauren!) were amazing to work with, not to mention they let us sleep on the floor. Visit our website to purchase (iTunes, eMusic, Lala, Amazon etc.) Much love. – SUSU" – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). – Don’t miss their show at Glasslands on 02.12.

The Death Set was originally formed in 2005 in Sydney, Australia by Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco, but soon relocated in Brooklyn, Baltimore and Philadelphia – where the band found more of an audience for its style of spastic, cross genre, punk rock. Don’t miss their show at Lit on 02.19 with Fresh Kills, Spiderfang and… the band with one of the most ridiculous names in the world: Hulk Smash.

In a world where most ideas have been stolen, borrowed or re-fabricated in one form or another, I have grown to appreciate the Brooklyn-based band Sisters. The two piece—neither of which are girls—consists of Aaron Pfannebecker, who sings and plays guitar, and drummer/keyboardist Matt Conboy. Instead of merely copying things from prior generations, Sisters embrace a wide variety of musical installations while exploring new avenues for creating and distorting sound. While Sisters understand the structural greatness and pop aesthetic of Nirvana, the bursting unpredictability of Wire and the hollowed-out frequencies of a My Bloody Valentine record, they haven’t let that stop them from pushing boundaries on the musical daisy-chain. Dubbed one of the Death By Audio “house bands”, Sisters’ music embraces a collage of noise and garage rock with distorted, reverberated guitars and heavily amplified drums. Aaron switches back and forth between high pitched screeches and boyish screams with the uncertainty of Steven Malkamus as Matt jumps off the drums to orchestrate a childlike melody on the keys and making things danceable. Though there are only two members in this band, their live sound packs a major punch and can be a bit overwhelming. Some of you may wanna bring the plugs! Sisters have just wrapped up recording their first full length record, which is scheduled for release in the spring. The duo played some super awesome gigs at CMJ and I was lucky to seize a moment of singer Aaron Phannebecker’s time… Read Lindsey Lawless interview with the band here.