If, when faced with the prospect of listening to world music, you can’t help but going "meh" (it’s a shared prejudice!) you owe it to yourself to check out Brooklyn’s Sandcatchers, both live (they are currently holding a Monday residency at Berlin) and on record. In sophomore LP "What We Found Along the Way" this quartet manage to effortlessly assemble tracks that blend middle eastern influences with Americana, post rock and noise rock as well. Based on an impossible time signature (what’s that, a 9/4 tempo?), streamiing single Flees Fast Singing is groovy, tense and unpredictable. A lot of their repertoire is softer, like opening track Sky Stirs (which betrays folky pasts) or favorite Drop Stars Like Memories, but the band seems to catch fire whenever the BPM revs up, like in Washed and Wild, where a twangy distorted lap steel and an oud compete for attention on top of a breakneck fast paced rhythm section. The group is composed of veteran musicians, and you can hear it in the top notch execution, which – as so rarely happens – is matched by a sound that is as original as it’s entertaining. Don’t miss the next performance at Berlin on Monday 12.11. – PDG

Our friends at OhMyRockness introduced us to the lovely music of New Jersey’s Fire is Motion, the brainchild of Adrian Amedor – we’ll let them do the intros:

"I have not researched this (because I’m a music blobber) but Fire is Motion has to be named after that Cap’n Jazz song that goes like this.

Fire is motion! Work is repetition! This is my document. We are all, all we’ve done. We are all, all we’ve done. We are all, all defenses. Fire is motion is motion growth?

God, I love that song.

Anyway, Fire is Motion doesn’t sound like Cap’n Jazz at all (except for a few nice math rock noodles here and there). Sorry for the red herring there. My bad. My blob.

So what does this New Jersey band (the work of one man, Adrian Amador, and his pals) sound like then?

That’s a great question! Blast this lovely EP below and find out!

Please note: there will be glockenspiels / horns / harmonies / builds / plenty of pretty parts"

Hiccup is a three-piece bubble grunge outfit that – if they weren’t based in space-deprived NYC – would surely sleep in blanket forts in a garage (and eat ice cream for breakfast). Their music would fit perfectly on a mix tape with Charlie Bliss and early Best Coast, and takes us back to that blissful window of our lives when eighth grade summer break was about to end and we procrastinated mowing the lawn by roller blading down that hill one more time. Guitarist Alex Knudson’s Morrissey-esque vocals trade off and harmonize with bassist Hallie Bulleit’s soprano, producing a pleasantly complementary vocal palette. Single "Dad Jokes" (video streaming below) reveals a band that knows how to write songs that go beyond your typical pop-punk power chord fueled tunes, which is a treat for the musically discerning ear. Catch them live at Baby’s Allright on Dec. 28th. – Meghan Rose

Tmboy (ex Tomboy) is the electronic duo of Sarah Aument and Will Shore and their music should tickle the curiosity of fans of Sylvan Esso. While Sarah paints rolling hills of stars with her keyboard stacks, Will mans the beat machine while also filling out the sound on a real vibraphone. Soulful and genuine, Sarah’s vocals are reminiscent of an intriguing blend of Chvrches and Bjork, with lyrics way above the average for what sounds like moody party music. 

Their next show is a late night party at Mercury Lounge, starting at midnight on Friday, January 12th. Also performing: Novelty Daughter, Akki, No Intimate, R.E.L. Check out tense and edgy single "Roll Out" from their 2014 debut LP "Tomboy." –  Meghan Rose

Brooklyn rapper Josh the Word pushes forward through the seasons with sharp lyrical delivery and smooth soul vocals.  His new album “Psyched Out” is emblematic of that New York sound that has been made popular with everyone from J57 to Junk Science.  It’s boom bap with equal parts earnest candor and quirky imagery.  In another beautiful narrative video, Josh takes us to the fringe of both civilization and civility.  Hip Hop has always had a combative method of escapism. Dig out your ski-mask and prepare to dig a little deeper.  – BrokeMC

Brooklyn-based rockers Stone Giant make you question what decade you’re in. With their late ’60s/early ’70s swagger, hippie hair, and Sebastian Fernandez’s crunch-tastic vocals, you’d think Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden finally had a baby. They enjoy a healthy following in South America, having toured extensively in Brazil and Argentina, but they remain underappreciated in the New York scene. If you attend one of their live shows, you’ll feel their infectious energy and probably also see a few die-hard fans rolling in the mud Woodstock-style. Or maybe that will be just an hallucination caused by the non exactly legal substances floating in the air… The group will be performing at the upcoming Communion residency at Rockwood Music Hall – old style rockers shouldn’t miss it! – Meghan Rose

Maybe the NYC indie scene has really entered a "post-white" phase, finally! When we started this blog back in 2004, indie rock, soul and hip hop really felt like separate scenes. The few notable exceptions, like TV on the Radio, paved the way to a rediscovery of soul music that reached maturity in the following decade, and that doesn’t seem to slow down. Hi-Lo Jack, a collaboration between Dolapo Akinkugbe (of DAP The Contract), Clyde Lawrence (of soul-pop band Lawrence), and Cody Fitzgerald (of indie-rock band Stolen Jars, who graced our the cover of our last ever CMJ issue in 2015) is the latest NYC based project mixing the warmth of soul with the edge common to indie music. Check out single "So It Goes," streaming here.

It’s rare to stumble upon artists that blend tradition and experimentation, music’s past and future, as seamlessly as New Jersey’s avant-soul one man band Ehiorobo. Oringally from Nigeria, the guy writes and produces in his bedroom remarkably unpredictable r’n’b tunes that manage to also sound sincere and compelling. Alectronica, hip hop and jazz equally contribute to this sonic brew that never ceases to entertain. Don’t miss Ehiorobo live at Baby’s All Right on November 25, within the first appointment with the Escape the Routine parties, a Deli sponsored event! Tickets are here.

Cold wave and dream pop are rather antithetical genres, but Brooklyn band Scam Avenue manages to merge them in their new Sailor EP. The images of a feeling-less future conjured by their glacial, mostly electronic arrangements is given hope by singer Devery Doleman’s airy vocals and sensual melodies. The intersection between the brainy and the sensuous is also the focus of their new video for single "Fault Lines," shot on a low budget using an iPhone 7 with the help of Tyler Hubby (who directed the documentary "Completely in the Present" about NYC avant multi-media artist Tony Conrad ).

Concerts in old churches can be hit or miss. Many a punk band has left such sacred chambers flummoxed at the muddy cacophony summoned by their set. It’s the harmonic resonance of the lofted ceilings and stone arches that once warmed the vocal stylings of Gregorian monks. This Saturday in Greenpoint you can witness for yourself what happens when the somber folk rock of Food Will Win The War and the twang-grass folk of The Bones of J.R. Jones swell sound into those stony heavens. Concetta Abbate of Park Quartet will warm up the room. It will be an intimate night of amazing sounding music in an amazing sounding venue. Get your tickets here.

Browsing through Michael Coleman/Michael Rocketship‘s rich discography is a little like getting to know a musical Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde. Under his real name, Coleman releases refined and clean sounding contemporary jazz records where he plays piano and synths. But when he uses the moniker Michael Rocketship, he unleashes his darker and quirkier side through an imaginative bedroom pop that incorporates math, psych and lo-fi elements. With three EPs released in the last year alone, Rocketship seems to be the dominant ID taking over Michael’s musical presonality. You’ll have a chance to get to know this side of him in person at Alphaville on 11.18. Check out single ‘Down the Stairs,’ streaming below.

Since its appearance in the late ’60s, psychedelic music has been inspiring hordes of musicians, and has probably been the main reason driving the guitar pedal frenzy of the last decade, since guitarists devoted to the genre seem to need an ever increasing number of stompboxes. The current indie music scene offers thousands of artists that reference psychedelia, from subtly to wholeheartedly. One of the bands that most vigorously (and unapologetically) embraces the genre in its authentic acception is Los Angeles’ Triptides. With their vintage sounding songs that could have been written in the ’60s, their recent release "Afterglow" manages to reference in one record anybody from early Pink Floyd to Jefferson Airplane, the Doors and even The Beatles and The Byrds during their most psych years. Of course, this kind of revival comes with a LOT of stompboxes – the band’s guitarists Glenn and Josh were kind enough to walk us through them with our friends at Delicious Audio – check out the feature here!