"Bums and Beggars" is the lead single from Baltimore duo Lovers and Reflections’ new album Swords (out March 5th), and hints at a slightly different but comfortable angle on old new-romanticism. These days, prog-pop vocals have followed the shoe-gaze/dream-pop sounds in a direction away from crisp synth tones and rhythmic beats. The joining of the once close but since separated styles is a 21 st century high- school romance flick in the making.

The shoe-gazing wallflower protagonist walks through the halls listening to the Cocteau Twins’ "Lorelei", and Roxy Music’s "More Than This." She sings Kate Bush’s "Babushka" to herself and thinks Strawberry Switchbalde’s cover of "Jolene" is the best one. Her crush always wears headphones (and shades), thinks dubstep was tired before Skrillex (resulting in chiding from his peers), and wonders boisterously and obnoxiously why the other kids in school can’t admire the perfect majesty of Prince, Madonna and Depeche Mode, although he’s willing to concede that Robyn is hot as the sun. During one encounter in the lunch line, they almost bond over Limahl’s theme for The Neverending Story, but she’s too shy (shy, hush hush, eye to eye). Finally, at senior prom, they dance and kiss, their lovers’ embrace reflected in "Bums and Beggars." No, I’m not crying. You’ll like it too. –Natan Press

Northern VA’s heavy indie rockers Maybe Aviator released their much anticipated debut EP I Used To Like Summer last month (Jan ’13) that pleasantly warms up our ears with a blend of Brand New & Death Cab influences.

Destined for residency on Warped Tour in the not-so distant future, these four dudes supply post punk infused rhythms, punchy lyrics ("You call out in defense that your friends are fucking dead"), hints of pop inlaid with slight syncopation, and overall a tight mix of somber and upbeat tones. 

With March 1 slated as the release date for their album Tree Houses, Baltimore’s experimental pop Mothersday have unveiled some pretty striking compositions on their soundcloud that are an absolute must listen for fans of impecable lush and drone. Give "Champion" a listen below and simmer in humming bass. Then go check them out live at the Sidebar in Baltimore on 3/12/13. –Dawn

It’s a quadruple showcase of locals this Saturday at the 9:30 Club, with NoVa’s pop rockers Crash Boom Bang headlining and unveiling their new music video for the track "Save Me." Also joining them are DC electro hip-hop act ELIM, the unique soul infused dance project from DC’s Adam E., and DC’s Best of 2012 Emerging Artists submission winner Dance For the Dying.

And 9:30 Club wants to make sure you are there to dance your ass off to some killer local music. All you have to do is email us by 12 noon on Friday 2/8 and let us know what your favorite song is from any of the artists hitting that stage. Please include your first and last name for guest list requirements. The winner will be emailed back to confirm. Don’t wanna risk missing out? There’s still time to buy tickets before they sell out here! (photo by Jessica Edwards.)

We’ve teamed up with 930 Club again for another awesome giveaway.  Baltimore rock & soulers All Mighty Senators are opening up for the established N’Orleans group Cowboy Mouth this Saturday 1/26 at said venue. AMS has"toured the United States and Canada extensively. AMS released their first recordings under Baltimore indie Merkin Records before releasing four albums under their own Dog Eat Dog Records to both critical and popular acclaim."

There’s still time to grab tickets here before it sells out. And meanwhile, we’ve got one set of passes to give out courtesy of 930!  All you have to do is email us by 3 PM on 1/24 and let us know what your favorite Cowboy Mouth or All Mighty Senators song is. Please include your first and last name for guest list requirements. The winner will be emailed back.

(by Natan Press) Jan. 12, Pleasure Curses played their first gig at the Velvet Lounge to a packed room. The crowd head-bobbed, foot-tapped and drunken-jiggled through the entire set by the electro-punk duo of Jahn Teetsov and Evan Grice. Pleasure Curses is an example of the serendipitous circumstances that surround so many successful acts.

The Virginia natives first met in music camp as children, and reconnected after Jahn returned from college in Manchester, England (Evan is still attending JMU), absorbing the Madchester sound while playing in local bands. The young Pleasure Curses do the older Brits justice, mimicking the Northern sounds of the decade before they were born with the control and precision of true admirers. Harnessing the powers of a Korg, a Kaoss padd and the Abelton music sequencer, Pleasure Curses self-recorded their first EP Stripes.

For the show, Evan deftly handled the devices while playing his bass. Jahn’s voice channels Bernard Sumner, though at this point he’s a bit uncomfortable playing guitar while singing in a live setting. Despite this confession, Jahn’s an able frontman, speaking comfortably to the crowd, and singing as if well practiced. One assumes it won’t take long for him to add the guitar to his performance. Pleasure Curses is also looking for a drummer, though they’re legitimately worried that a third member could disturb their already effective chemistry. If the crowd at their first show is any judge, they don’t need to change a thing, and if they do want to increase their stage presence, they’ll have no difficulty finding willing participants.

 DC Deli is happy to be collabing with the 9:30 Club again in making sure you get to see some of DC’s best locals on one of the coolest stages in the city. And as you know, Thievery Corporation is a always a hot ticket, with mulitple nights selling out on a regular basis whenever their tours bring them back through home.

If you haven’t already gotten your tickets here to the electronic madness, now’s your chance to score a spot on the list for the Friday 1/18 show! All you have to do is email us and tell us what your favorite Thievery Corporation song is and why by 3 PM on 1/17. Please include your first and last name for guest list requirements. The winner will be emailed back.

(by Natan Press) Baltimore’s Andy Bopp is one of the city’s true treasures; a pop-song magician on par with Matthew Sweet and Jon Brion, the artistic progeny of Alex Chilton and Paul Westerburg , a high priest of Ray Davies and Paul McCartney. He’s perhaps best known as the one man band Myracle Brah, a project that has so far generated 7 exquisite albums between 1998 and 2007.

Andy’s first band, the energetic Love Nut, caught the ear of Interscope records and released Bastards of Melody, which, along with the likes of Sloan and Fountains of Wayne, made post-punk power pop the next big thing (or so we hoped). The majors thought otherwise, no doubt, and Love Nut’s second album, Baltimucho! was almost lost in some basement in Santa Monica until it was finally released by the much smaller Big Deal Records in 1999.

More recently, in 2011, Andy and his new-yet-now-also-defunct band Alto Verde released Paper Clips, or what Weezer would sound like if Rivers Cuomo was obsessed with Alex Chilton instead of Brian Wilson. It’s a shame Alto Verde will not be releasing any new songs in the near future. The same can be said for Myracle Brah. What are Andy Bopp’s fans supposed to do? We got in touch with Andy to find out, click here for more on that…

Timmy Sells His Soul is a Rockville MD based experimental pop solo act brought to you by Daniel Euphrant. In his latest installment of genre combining, he unleashes a double set of 9 track EPs that "mirror" each other with Name and Form (White) and Name and Form (Black). As stated on his FB page, this sound is "so far underground, it’s Satanically Hip." It’s definitely one of the most original sounds to come out of DC.

"Everybody’s On Fire" on (White) goes super combo with glitch, voice modification, deep bass and horn sampling. It’s like Jay Mascis under the Knife influence with bits of Broken Spindles blended in. This leads into the next track "Superposition" tinged with gypsy plucking and a brisk electro build up to a booming foot stomper end. My fav track follows these two gems "Motel" a romantic electro peice with a nod to 8-bit and lushy layers. And those are just the first 3 tracks for (White), so let’s check out (Black)…

Obviously (?) the tracks get darker on this one. With doses of industrial dropped in throughout (especially in "Vicious",) highly technical beats, and creepy droney tones I can’t get enough of. Like in "The Spirit is Weak" where lyrics say "the more I stay awake, I keep turning inside out." With 3 prior releases to these, we can def. expect even more from him in 2013. –Dawn

DC alt. rockers Thaylobleu have a deep seeded history in the DC music scene with vocals/guitarist frontman Terence Nicholson perfomring in prior hip hop and reggae acts decades past. And recently, his latest conglomerate comprised of Jay Nichols (drums,) Ezra Greer (bass,) DP (guitar,) Bill Vaughn (bass,) and Ayce International (tables,) skyrockected our poll to be claimed Band of the Month. We got a hold of Terence to find out more about them, and here he fills us in on performing at Ras Hall, 18 years of gigging, and the power of the color Phthalocyanine Blue. Now onto the interview…

The results are in from the Open Submissions stage for our DC/Baltimore Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. All of the submissions were ranked by Deli Editors from other scenes and the list of acts that have advanced to our Readers’/Fans’ Poll phase are below. We will also be releasing the list of nominees chosen by our local "scene expert" jurors very soon.

Thanks to all the amazing bands and artists who submitted this year. It was an overwhelming response, which just goes to show how awesome our DC/Baltimore scene remains to be.

Total Submissions from the DC Area: 44

Qualified to the final phase of the Best of DC/Baltimore Poll (having scored above 7):

1. Dance for the Dying 8.5 (out of 10)

2. Masked Superstar 8.33

3. M.H. & His Orchestra  7.66

4. Brooks Long  7.66

5. The WeatherVanes 7.33 

6. Ghost Hotel 7.16

7. Alex Vans 7.16

8. Pleasure Curses 7.16

9. The Young Rapids 7.00

10. Mission South 7.00

11. Sun Club 7.00

Honorable Mentions:

Jurors: Chrissy Prisco (Deli New England), Brianne Turner (Deli Nasville), Paolo De Gregorio (Deli NYC).