Integrity Reeves brings an invigorating new voice to both the local and national jazz scene. Her EP Stairway To The Stars is described as "modern vintage," inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, Feist, and The Bird and the Bee, and presents interpretations from classic Joao Gilberto bossa nova to The Cardigan’s "Lovefool." Indeed, Integriti’s light, bright, twee voice is reminiscent of contemporary indie-pop vocal tones, but she sings in a fiercely classical style. The combination is both technically impressive and stylistically refreshing, and is sure to appeal to both fans of classic jazz and neophytes eager to hear what a fresh young voice can do. Delightful through and through.    
You can grab a copy of her EP on itunes, and catch her live at the Kennedy Center’s Millenium Stage on April 7th as part of the Center’s tribute to Billie Holiday in honor of her centennial. –Natan Press

 Avers has released a new video via Nylon for "Evil," off their debut album Empty Light. It’s a sinsiter track, full of hooks, with distorted vocals hovering above pounding drums, a driving bass, and screaming guitars. Like all of Empty Light, it’s all analog and masterfully produced. The video is a crazy Carnivalesque basement party, drowned in drugs, and not everyone is having the best of times.

Avers is back on tour this month, heading down through the southeast before taking a right towards SXSW. You can catch them tonight in DC at Black Cat Backstage with Nashville’s ELEL to wiish them luck. –Natan Press    

The fantabulous Sleepwalkers are playing Jammin’ Java on on March 1st! YES! They’re opening up for Ithaca’s Jimkata, so it’s gonna be a huge trippy party, which is a great scene in which to enjoy Sleepwalkers’ dirty pop/psych-rock amazingness.

For those of us living close to DC, we’ve had to enjoy Sleepwalkers’ rise through the Richmond scene from afar, listening to their brilliant album, Greenwood Shade, or watching videos of their live shows. Now they’re here! And Jammin’ Java will be just the first stop on a two month tour that will take them througout the Midwest and South. Exciting times! Don’t miss the beggining of a great career, at Jammin’ Java, March 1st, doors at 8:30, $10.

It’s hard to pick which song I want to stream here. There’s at least 5 singles on the album, and they’re all different. I’m gonna pick the second track, "Breaking My Heart," cause I’m feelin’ it right now. Sounds a lot like Moby Grape’s "Going Nowhere" mixed with some psychedelic power-pop like the Lemon Pipers. Or something. Seriously, listen to the whole thing.  –Natan Press

The Walking Sticks give us what we want (I had to), premiering a new video for "You Got What You Wanted" on DCist today. Made on an iphone, it features what looks to be a single shot walk through a snow-covered wood with the snow falling. The creative minds of The Walking Sticks have managed to turn the otherwise dreary and upsetting weather into something beautiful and mystical. Thank you.

The song itself is pretty sexy. Like Portishead sexy, where the sex is kind of angry/frustrated/despairing sex (because, in this case, it seems, the sex is too addictive to escape). The music does not share the sexy gloom of a "Wandering Star" however. A beautiful organ leads the pretty sounds that fall about it like soft white snowflakes. The track, like the video, is filled with brightness, and Chelsea Lee’s crystal voice. "Can’t stop loving the high" indeed. –Natan Press

Huzzah! The North Country have released a video for "The Cross We Bear," a single off their upcoming album There Is Nothing To Fear. The video shows the day in the life of a wooden artist’s mannequin-cum-Everyman who’s got just the dreariest life. I don’t want top ruin the ending for you, but he gets out of his rut with the help of a skateboarding apatosaurus and some acid. Also serendipitous love.

The North Country is hittin’ the road this April, with dates through the mid-atantic and South (and a couple stops in Texas), spreading the glory of the DC DIT scene far and wide. You should really go see them. –Natan Press 

You know when you’re at a house-show in DC, for a "DIT" festival, and you run into that special someone? That someone who plays some sort of custom-looking 6-string with flatwounds as a bass (when he’s not on the pedal steel) in a band with a killer cellist? It’s one of those "at first sight" things you hear about from the motion pictures. 

Ahren Buchheister isn’t the only member of Pompeii Graffiti, Pony Bones (the band I saw at The Paperhaus on that glorious day), or Black Rhinoceros, but he’s the common factor that binds this Annapolis supergroup, like (dare I say it?) heartstrings, together in this lovely video. Ahren himself is on lead vox and guitar. Fret not, Ahren, I dig you "not only for your music skills."

But they are, like, a huge deal. Happy Valentine’s Deli readers! –Natan Press

Footwerk is the DC Area Deli’s Reader’s Poll winner for 2014. A 6-piece pop outfit, combining all the parties into one big all night rager, Footwerk can’t help but be hugely popular and on the cusp of breaking across the nation. They just released a new video for single "Eyes Low" through Vevo, and their debut album Casual Encounters is set for a Spring 2015 release. Check out their new video, and get to know the diverse group with a little Q+A. Click here for the interview, watch the new video below, and check out Footwerk’s upcoming dates (including their record release show, Thursday, 4/23 at U St Music Hall). –Natan Press

ROM has released a new video for "Micro," a track off their crooning, sizzling post-punk beauty soda christ. "Micro" is a fuzz-fueled simmer reminicent of The Jesus and Mary Chain with a little romantic twee a la The Pastels. The video shows the band in B+W trying to look serious in a picturesque graveyard, but they’re such happy handsome fellows that they can’t help but smile, and decide instead to go bowling, and play with puppies, before ending their day at the local pub, sharing drinks with other great local musicians, including members of Black Checker and BRNDA. I <3 DC. 

You can catch ROM tomorrow night at Comet Ping Pong, where they will be part of the lineup for the Get Lucid! show to raise funds for Say No To Food Waste. Bleached Bones and Galvanize fill the bill at Comet Ping Pong, tomorrow, Friday, January 30th, at 10pm. $12. All Ages. –Natan Press 

 Blankus Larry is garage rock done right. Recorded to tape, dirty and noisy, squeezing out the screech and holler of electric guitars. Blankus Larry released the album Hell Or High Larry in early 2013, a unblemished tour through classic analog psychedelic sounds and garage attitude, mixing indie-rock reminiscent of Frank Black with a cathartic punk-rock squall. Since then their only release (to my knowledge) was last year’s lone track, the psychobilly "Dead For Christmas." It looks now like they’re preparing a new wave of songs with this double-A Single "No Time No Money/Girl You Make Me Wanna" dropping in the past week.  

Not only does the single continue to demonstrate Blankus Larry’s command of the genre and the studio, it suggests the band is becoming even more adventurous, infusing old forms with new energy. "No Time No Money" is a gnarly beach jam, with a killer surf-rock guitar solo. You can wiggle and dance to it, or break things. "Girl You Make Me Wanna" is like a Sonics track done by Nirvana. It is a full on sonic assault and emotional release. I’m drooling thinking of seeing these guys play at The Pinch next Friday, February 6th with Ezra Mae & The Gypsy Moon and Calavera Skull (both previous DC Area Deli Artists of the month). –Natan Press 

If you’re looking for a little fiddle, banjo, and soul on Valentine’s weekend, Folk-pop septet Haint Blue is coming to the Velvet Lounge in Washington, D.C. on February 13th. This band’s sound is alive, with bluegrass fiddle and banjo, powerful harmonies, and melancholy lyrics. One lyric in “Company of Ghosts” (the title track to their newest album) is, “Promise myself I’d retire much older, but I still abide,” hauntingly beautiful due to the sparse instrumentation and seamless harmonies that go along with the words. Though the album is only seven tracks, it feels cohesive and complete, due to the range of emotion and sound of the songs. “Father Abraham” is an upbeat, foot-tapping song with spiritual lyrics, while “Wherever You Go” is a cynical, slower, and darker song with lyrics that are not afraid to surprise the listener. This band promises energy, passion, and musical finesse.

The show on the 13th is a must-see, with Big Hoax and Dear Creek joining them at The Lounge. If you have to miss it, though, Company of Ghosts is on sale on iTunes and Bandcamp. They are also playing closer to their Baltimore home the next night at Cafe Nola in Frederick, MD on February 14th. –Nancy Macmillan

 Richmond is exploding with news of The Trillions impending launch of their new album Superposition. Tracks have been popping up all week on various websites and blogs from Richmond to DC. The Trillions released their debut in 2011 to tons of acclaim and the certainty of critics and fans alike that this would be the next big thing from Richmond. The Trillions could be said to have laid the bedrock for the tons of Richmond garage/psyche/guitar-pop bands that continue to emerge and provides such incredible depth to the scene. Indeed, in the years between releases, members of The Trillions have been directly contributing to other fantastic bands. Not to be outdone by other bands (or even themselves in other bands), The Trillions are finally releasing this new album.

In case you had any doubts, it’s fantastic. Balls-to-the-wall fuzz and psychadelia with intricate guitar-work and a relentless energy combining into blissful power-pop.  Check out the track "1984" below, and click on the links to other local blogs and ‘zines above. To hear the entire album as soon as you can, head out to Strange Matter, in Richmond, on January 31st for the record release show.  The Trillions will be joined by new-wavey psych-rockers White Laces and mathy indie-rockers Manatree. All for only $5! –Natan Press