From the electric guitar hook to the soft, confident, sultry vocals, it is clear that Brooklyn’s Wilder Maker has mastered the art of caressing the ear in "New Streets." I am not hesitant to call this one of my favorite new songs- the affectionate, breathy saxophone and the breakout drums exude freshness, turning this song into a real jam. Gabriel Birnbaum has mastered the art of the chill-yet-groovy indie anthem and Katie Von Schleicher’s vocals exert peak girl-power and a refined boldness. "New Streets" is on repeat on my playlist, and it should be on yours, too. Catch the band live at Rough Trade on May 6th. – Geena Kloeppel

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Rootsy songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

The Hum is a critically acclaimed, month-long weekly residency featuring first-time collaborative live performances from a curated line-up of NYC-based female musicians. Since the inaugural edition in April 2015, over 150 artists have participated in the series, representing a diverse array of female musicians of all ages and levels of notoriety, as well as a variety of musical genres and instruments. Presented, produced, and curated by Rachael Pazdan (Music Director at Le Poisson Rouge and LPR Presents), this small scale series has become a fixture in New York’s music community, and The Deli has been a proud sponsor of it since its inception.

In its 5th installment, The Hum will take place Mondays in May (sans Memorial Day) at Good Room [98 Meserole Ave] and on Thursday, May 25 at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets are now on sale, exclusively at LPR.com and at the Le Poisson Rouge box office. 

The Hum will feature over 60 female artists this May, including members of Speedy Ortiz, Cibo Matto, Au Revoir Simone, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Beverly, Sad13, Escort, and more, paired with artists including Angel Deradoorian, The Blow, Eartheater, Caroline Rose, and many others. Here’s the full schedule.

Check out below a compilation featuring a selection of the many NYC based artists involved in this event.

Color Tongue is a spacey, indie-psych rock band hailing from Brooklyn. Their latest release, Sprouts, is 8 tracks of inventive, sometimes atmospheric tracks, that while feeling expansive, ground itself with both its fun and infectious qualities. With such a myriad of different sounds coming from their latest record, we were curious to hear the band talk a little about their creative process, and of course, their gear, check out this interview on Delicious Audio. Don’t miss them live at The Knit on May 4th!

Also! Here’s a list of the band’s favorite emerging NYC bands!!! 

Have you ever wondered what the genre "alt-cherub" sounds like? Listen to Thelma to find out – these keywords are listed as the genre on her Facebook page. It’s a pretty accurate description; her sound is sparse, though at times breaking into affected drum arrangements; falsetto gliding overlapping in canons and synths building drama make sure you never feel quite at ease in Thelma’s world. The song "Peach" highlights that conundrum and puts inner turmoil into sound form, while debut album opener"If You Let It" (streaming) methodically builds itself in ways that are at once operatic and experimental. Check out Thelma live at Alphaville in Brooklyn on April 29th. – Geena Kloppel

We feel like recommending this bill of NYC based artists playing Union Pool pm May 02. Wilsen is a band led by amazing songwriter Tamsin Wilson, they were featured on the cover of our magazine a few years ago. Alpenglow, hailing from New England but now full Brooklynites, play similarly ghostly folk rock, and they do it well. Hite, on the other hand, is a new face in the local scene, and a compelling one: the solo act’s debut LP "Light of a Strange Day" is one of the most interesting releases we’ve heard this year, a sparse record filled with inspiring sonic ideas, edgy soul songwriting and a voice that’s impressively controlled and expressive. Do not miss!

NYC-based folk rockers Evening Darling are bringing something a little different to the city: a country vein. You can hear it in their tasteful harmonies on "Live Where You Lay," reminiscent of Lady Antebellum, and the straightforward boom-chuck country/americana drum sound. There is a darkness to the slicing guitar solos and groovy keys, however, dare to make it more of a rock tune. The band has just released their self-titled debut album and will be playing The Mercury Lounge on May 18th in support of LA indie poppers Valley Queen. – Geena Kloeppel

This debut solo entry by percussionist Sam Sowyrda (also of Brooklyn psychedelic-pop sextet Cloud Becomes Your Hand) is the sound of a well-oiled machine running full efficiency just moments before it breaks down. Its two instrumental tracks—each clocking in over twenty-minutes—recall the trance-inducing Terry Riley of In C and the eremitic Brian Eno of Ambient 1-4. Of his two cuts, the title-track is the more diverse, featuring a spate of maddening, industrial-sounding tones, which transform midway through into wistfulness and end in hints of melodicism. "Occidental Error," instead, remains the more eerie: its layered patterns of minimal vibraphones pushing the limits of the instrument as a lead voice. In all, there is much anguish to behold here; yet there’s also refuge from it, as Sowydra’s primary inclination seems to be both esoteric and ambiguous. Experience his music-of-the-head in a live setting at Trans Pecos, May 13th, where the LP officially launches. Kindred spirits the Hallowed Bells (Philadelphia) and Ashcab Orchestra (Brooklyn) fill out the show. – Brian Chidester

Brooklyn’s Savants is the living proof that it is possible to play a slacking variety of rock’n’roll without sounding like Pavement or Dinosaur Jr. – hurrah! We are particularly fond of the quartet’s recent single ‘Sneak E. Gardner’ (streaming below), part of a split 7" with Californian label mates Tomorrow Tulips. The track’s minimalist approach and rustic production conjure up an atmonsphere that’s at once intense and playful, but always extremely musical. Savant will be celebrating the release of a new 7" tomorrow (April 26th) at Cape House, with other deserving locals Sam Kogon and Toyzanne, and Philadelphia’s Needle  Points. 

Brooklyn’s own The Boobies are a garage pop four-piece with some instant-earworm songwriting chops, but don’t let that fool you—the group isn’t afraid to get dirty and bare their fangs when they mean it. With the recent release of their single, “Children of the Dark Art” (streaming below)  the band agreed to give our sister blog Delicious Audio a peek at what goes into their songwriting process, and what gear they’re currently using to achieve their distinctive sound – check out the feature here, and don’t miss the band live when they play Mercury on May 19th. – Olivia Sisinni

Brooklyn folk/punk troubadour Radiator King (Adam Silvestri) has a lot to tell us about being on the road. "You meet people, you have these connections with strangers you’d never cross paths with if you weren’t playing a show… when you’re traveling, you can’t help but notice how vast this country is." And his music certainly portrays the grit of touring and the diversity of his experiences: it’s rough around the edges. Radiator King has taken different elements of America’s homegrown genres, namely rock and Americana, to shape that beaten-up, worn-yet-lively sound. Catch him live at the Bowery Electric in New York on April 29th. – Geena Kloeppel

If you ever played in a band, you must be familiar with the "two weeks rule" requested by live venues (often extended to a month), and consisting in asking artists to abstain from playing any other shows within 14 days of the one already booked. Well, that’s obviously something that doesn’t concern NYC’s electronic project Ageless, since it’s scheduled to perform live at both Rough Trade and The Knit within eight days (04.28 and 05.06, respectively). Considering those rooms aren’t exactly small, this fact, alone, earns the one man band a "NYC Buzz Alert." The brainchild of NY native Wes Paioff, Ageless concocts danceable electronic music reminiscent of the UK’s big beat of the ’90s (think Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim) but dressed with hip hop, soul and a million other influences (including, in new album ‘Perfect World,’ afrobeat and ragamuffin). No wonder he states in his bio: "At some point I started producing music exactly as it’s always sounded in my head. Not bound to any specific Genre, but influenced by many genres." If we were you, we’d check out one of those two dates.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best electronic songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

Brooklyn duo Cat Tatt just released their debut album, Litter, an austere, wall-shaking indie-rock record with a sensitive core. Mem Pahl’s guitar work is varied throughout, with jangly math-rock influenced outros contrasting the fuzzy doom riffs you find in tracks like “In/Different” (streaming below). The song explores the hypocritical and binary way we often treat love and pain. Sarcastically, Mem snarls “Not that kinda pain, or the other kind of pain, but another kind of pain.” Replace “pain” with “love” and you have the tune’s climax. Simple wordplay, but it evokes something at once personal and universal.

Cat Tatt will be playing April 22nd at a “Mini-fest” benefit for Earthday in Bushwick. Proceeds are going to environmental groups Sierra Club and Uprose. – Martin D. Ritchie