Today, Uncle Skeleton released "Sophisticuffs," the first single from his forthcoming double LP, All Too Human. Download for free below.

New video for JEFF the Brotherhood‘s "Bummer," off We Are The Champions. It’s directed by Lina Plioplyte, and The Deli likes it as much as we did the one for "Wastoid Girl." Cheers.

Ville Kiviniemi, aka The Mattoid, has learned that crude humor and Christian hazing are taboo in any language, but this Gothic world traveler from Finland has not let that stop him with his second release, Glory Holy EP, available online under Infinity Cat Recordings.
 

Hailing from the cold shores of Western Europe, with stints in Mexico, Thailand, India and Egypt, The Mattoid has brought the show back to Nashville after an eight month hiatus spent in his homeland of Finland. It was his first time back home in 20 years.

The Mattoid’s morose and atmospheric lyrics teeter on the edge of being humorous and amiss yet hold a strange elegance, focusing on the contradiction between the darkest and purest of human emotions. His songs represent the duality of pain and happiness, and how their paths most often coincide.

Glory Holy’s uplifting arrangements of synthetic drums and strung-out guitar chords illustrate Ville’s Dracula-like laments about the cold truths of white-collar society. You might even notice a resemblance to ’80s protogoth rock like The Cure and Joy Division.

Underneath the road vagabond, gypsy raconteur that is The Mattoid alias lies a character unlike anyone Nashville has ever known. Infinity Cat loves him, and so does the indie music scene of Nashville who both encourage his strangeness in all its forms, marking Ville as the unknown, but not forgotten original king of the city’s current garage rock/psych/indie scene. – David Wright

MT Swag, the diabolical alter ego of an East Nashville household, reverted toward the dark side of the dual personality vein last night, erupting with a night of manic swagger. The zenith, a set by local mobsters Mom and Dad, was the opportunity and right of gumption to set the house afire with a radicalism that set the impassioned crowd into frenzied motion. Before all was said and done, the band converted their raw impressionism of simplifying instrumentation and harmonies into an even subtler take on combining experimentation with a foundation of no-strings-attached rock ’n’ roll thrills.
 

Mom and Dad is a four piece hailing from the college town of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Claiming to make real instruments cool again, the band starves wonderment for the rawness of minimal fidelity. But I do have to wonder when “real instruments” were ever not cool. The image conjured when thinking of instruments has taken a viscous turn away from the mad hatter rawness of creating each song with a hit or strum and toward the choreographed electronics of artificial sounds which are cool and real, but a long way from the old ma-and-pa two-step of the spoon and jug bands. No one wants to jam their laptop into the side of a base drum at the end of a show. When someone does that, I will be a fan ’til the end.

Mom and Dad keeps the computer at home, exchanging digital devices for guitars, drums and amps, and never apologizing at the end of each gig if something gets broken. Mom and Dad seems to try and undercut their more rockist ambitions with dissonant textures and queasy atmospherics, or lace their prettiest ballads, like "TV Screen Fantasy Dream," with subversively ominous lyrics. Check out the guys and gals on February 9 at the 5 Spot in Nashville. – David Wright

Joska fans, Bon Iver fans: check out this brand-new cover of Bon Iver’s “Michicant” by Nashville singer/songwriter Joska.

Nashville’s David Mead is known for multiple musical projects, like Davey Ukulele and the Gag Time Gang and the beloved Elle Macho, as well as his own singer/songwriter stuff. His most recent solo effort, Dudes, was released last November and has already caught some positive feedback (including “The Smile of Rachael Ray” featured as NPR’s Song of the Day). And as the title hints, the record is built upon the male perspective. The Deli caught up with Mead a few days ago to talk about the making of Dudes and his other writing endeavors. Check him out performing “Dudes” live at Ivy League Studio and see him Friday, Jan 20 at The Basement with Natalie Prass and Harper Blynn. Read the interview here.

Just thought we’d share these videos of The Kingston Springs performing “Sa Bêtise” and an acoustic rendition of “Weight of This World,” considering The Deli loves those guys and they’re playing a sold-out show tonight at Mercy with The Features and Evan P. Donohue. Hope you got your tix beforehand…

Our Deli jurors finished rating the Nashville artists who submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of Nashville Poll for Emerging Artists. The artists listed below are qualified for the poll’s next phase and bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers will be announced soon.

To learn how the Year End Poll works, click here.

Heypenny has come out on top, and it’s little surprise considerng the year these indie party poppers have had. They released their debut full-length, A Jillion Kicks, in February, then finished out 2011 with a contrasting colelction of slow and pretty tunes on Tendre.

Mr. Miller by Heypenny Bad Cop‘s gritty garage also made the cut; they’ve weathered many a rotation of band members and still come out with relentless, scuzzy pop – most recently on the EP I Can’t Slow Down, released last November.

Bad Cop – Daylight by ROIR Rachel Pearl made it with nothing more than steely-yet-ultra-feminine vocals and tunes that match Lady Gaga and Florence + the Machine in flamboyancy, infectiousness and grandeur.

With a Wilco-esque combination of couldn’t-care-less easiness and folky bounce, Daniel Ellsworth and The Great Lakes can’t seem to write a song that isn’t catching, and it’s likely why they’ve made it into the music pile.

The Stephen Sebastian Band proved themselves with a country-tinged craft that seems to idolize Ryan Adams and the rootsy rock of Tom Petty.

And finally, there’s Umbrella Tree, a quirky, folky indie pop threesome with playful live performances and a sort of perfect dynamic. Stay tuned for your turn to vote!

We’re looking forward to spring. Justin Townes Earle’s new, self-described “artistic adventure” is called Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now, due out March 27. Download the title track for free here and peek into Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville, NC, where the record was recorded, below.

The Rutledge has the post-holiday cheer tonight in the form of three local groups in the Americana/folk vein. Singer/songwriter Taylor Brashears is headlining with her pretty pipes. Her backing band will support her and hold a slot of their own as old-country troubadours The High Riders. Also opening is gypsy folk band Honey Locust, whose live show is a spectacle of accordions, banjos and cellos, and definitely worth the trip out. Show is at 7:30 and will cost you five of your dollars.

’Tis the season of cutting Christmas records; fortunately, they make ‘em good in Nashville. Ten Out of Tenn’s Christmas album has long since been out, but The Deli wanted to bust it out again for the holidays. Download it for free via Noisetrade and tip nice.