Former Deli Artist of the Month, Danni Rosner, has been keeping busy! After recently playing a show at the Urban Outfitters headquarters in Philadelphia she’s now heading on the road for a mini-tour of shows at Free People department stores. The dates are:

2/20 – FREE PEOPLE – 2-3PM
2925 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405

2/20 – UNIVERSAL BAR – 8PM
4093 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood CA 91602

2/26 – FREE PEOPLE – 2-3PM
99 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012

3/19 – FREE PEOPLE – 2-3PM
524 Lamar Blvd
Austin, TX 78703

I recently talked about the future of collaboration between independent artists and the fashion industry in my interview with U.S. Royalty. Could this be a whole new path to musical recognition in the wake of the crumbling 20th century music industry? You should leave your thoughts in the comments. Don’t be shy!

If you can’t catch Danni at one of the Free People shows, you should still keep an eye out for the upcoming release of a video for her song, "On My Way." The teaser is below.

–Jarrett

Singer-songwriter, Alex Vans, has released a new EP titled Old Souls and Other Cellar Songs that has been filling my stereo (alongside his self-titled EP, released in April of last year) this week with his ragged voice and blues guitar. He’s also been cool enough to offer the new EP for free for a limited time if you sign up for his mailing list. 

The thing that will surprise you about these EP’s is not Alex’s emotional voice or his masterful guitar playing, it’s just how versatile his songwriting is. The tracks span effortlessly between bright pop songs, wrenching and raunchy blues anthems (with harmonicas blaring) and delicately lamenting ballads. The common thread amongst these songs is a bare, exposed arrangement of chords and words that lets your ears know that what they’re hearing is utterly honest.

You can wash away your Valentine’s Day hangovers with Alex Vans next week at Iota on February 15th. He’ll be opening for Star FK Radium along with a handful of other like-minded artists. (8:30, $10 Cover.) -Jarrett

Photo Credit: Bruce Willen

Baltimore rockers Double Dagger and their stripped-down and modernized garage punk are making an overdue appearance at Black Cat on February 24th. ($8.00 Backstage, Doors open at 8:30) They’ll be sharing the stage with Imperial China and Tiny Bombs. You can expect a show that’s loud, intense, fun and that doesn’t always take itself too seriously. It’ll be a great time. Now, if only I could convince them to start scheduling shows when I’m not out of town…

-Jarrett

Blacksburg Virginia’s indie-pop genius Wild Nothing, the dream-rock creation of Jack Tatum, continues the lineage of ambient rock nugget’s tinged with 80’s emotional pop in his follow up EP Golden Haze from late 2010, after a successful debut, Gemini, floated into the ears of shoegaze lovers world-wide last spring.

"Golden Haze" kicks off the album as if it were just continuing where Gemini left off. Bright peaks of keys are layered over delicate loops of Cure-like guitar melodies while Tatum croons "Wild heart, surrender to me. What does it take to be like you?" Good god, if only John Cusack could’ve blasted this from his boombox outside the window….

"Your Rabbit Feet" channels Slowdive and dare I say early Sonic Youth in probably the poppiest depressing gem of a tune I’ve heard in years. Tatum chants, "What do you want to know? I’ll tell you anything," as guitars rise and feedback is a blurry weep of noise in the distant background echoing into keys that bring the unique pop sensibility back in a completely brilliant way.

Every track on this stellar EP melts into each other creating a soundtrack of hit after hit. Not just one or a few tracks stand-out; they all do.

Check out the fan made video for "Asleep" off the Golden Haze EP below. Wild Nothing will be performing live at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Feb. 12. –Dawn

DC’s own “rock-art with a singer-songwriter’s soul” 5-some, Left On Vermont, have released their debut EP Left On Vermont , and to celebrate, they’re bringing the party to the Rock & Roll Hotel this Friday 2/4. Right now, you can pick the EP up for free here. District Noise’s recent review says “Guitarist Eugene Lee’s boyish voice is reminiscent of folksinger Nicholas Altobelli; and the band’s violinist, Erin Weston, delivers baroque, haunting vocals that make Left On Vermont stand out from the crowd.” Also on the bill: DC’s indie-powerpop The Public Good, and Virginian alt-rock The Crash Takeoff. Doors @ 8:30 $10.

I keep hearing The Caribbean’s music described as "Avant-garde" or maybe "Avant-Pop." Certainly, the title seems to fit the music on a lot of levels. There are raspy vocals recounting narratives that don’t quite go anywhere in that very postmodern kind of way, there are uncommon chord changes that can remind you of late 20th century orchestral music, there are drones and echoes and backwards guitars played and recorded on a mixture of modern and vintage equipment. But, to my ears, something about that "Avant-garde" label just doesn’t seem to quite fit. 

The term usually carries an implied context that what you are about to hear was written only for the enjoyment of other musicians, or at least for a well-trained ear. When I first heard The Caribbean’s music, that was not my impression at all. Instead, I found it relaxing and casually familiar in a way that makes me want to make a mix tape for a mid-summer evening on the beach. 

Certainly, if you take the time to really listen to their music, you will find layers and layers of complexity –  musically, lyrically and emotionally. But, The Caribbean has managed to produce music that both the thinking man’s musician and the casual music lover can appreciate together.

The band’s fifth album, Discontinued Perfume, is scheduled to be released by Hometapes on February 22. They’ve released their first single from the album, "Mr. Let’s Find Out," as a free download. The song was inspired by Leonard Bernstein. Or rather, by a New Yorker article on Leonard Berstein. Or rather, by the way that article made The Caribbean feel when they reflected on it. I know, I know. We’re slipping back into Avant-garde territory. But, don’t fret about it. Just relax, listen and pretend that winter is already over.

P.S. If the single teaser track isn’t enough for you, The Caribbean has also released a free-to-download 12 song, 8 year retrospective here. 

–Jarrett

The Caribbean – Mr. Let’s Find Out

It was a tight race for our first Emerging Artists Poll this year, coming down to a tie for 3rd. Here’s a little more about the radical bands chosen by our jury and the fans.

1.DELETED SCENES

Voted to the absolute top of the chart is DC’s pop post-rock band Deleted Scenes, who’ve been playing gigs up and down the east coast year round in support of their 2009 debut LP Birdseed Shirt. As seen in the fan-made video above for "Fake IDs" off the debut, Deleted Scenes create intricate compositions that build up to raucous levels of emotional awesomeness, and then a couple tracks later, as heard in "Got God", they show their southern bar-friendly ‘Americana’ side with a touch of piano, slide guitar, and hand claps. The release has gotten major good words from the press, and one of our fav lines comes from the DCist: "Birdseed Shirt is a fantastic debut and it reinforces what we’ve been saying all along. It’s shocking that this band isn’t huge." Deleted Scenes will be playing live at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Feb 12.

2.THE TENNIS SYSTEM

DC’s shoegaze noise lords the Tennis System nearly dominated the chart, and with a wide spectrum of releases and shows coming up, 2011 will again be another good year for them. They’ve got a new single about to come out called “Hey, We Tried”; a show at the Black Cat on 1/27 (worth the trip through the snowy mess, for sure!); they’ve been invited to play at the 2011 Canadian Music Festival, and are finishing up their next release Teenagers, due out soon! Check out a past review of one of their gigs here.

3.KING GIANT (tied)

Representing NoVa on the list of winners is Arlington based southern/stoner metal band King Giant, who’ve recently self-released their first LP Southern Darkness. Check out the video above for “13 to 1” a track off that album and soak up dark and heavy hooks that made Heavy Planet say, “if Johnny Cash rose from the grave and started a metal band, this is what it might sound like… this is music meant to exorcize demons.” King Giant will be playing live at the State Theatre on 1/29.

3. DEEP RIVER (tied)

Tied for the same spot as KG, is pop folk act Deep River, based out of Northern Virginia, who’ve recently released their debut album Ten Mornings. And actually, they’ve described their sound as “Front Porch Pop” and Deli writer Jarrett had some more to say about them here. If you happen to be in the Leesburg area this weekend, check them out as they have a gig at the Exeter House on 1/29.

A-yo readers!

Finally you can all vote for your favorite emerging DC/Baltimore artist of 2010 from the list on the right!

I know, it’s a long list, but that’s what our jury of scene makers (see list below) passed us – there was hardly any consensus amongst them, they almost all voted for different artists, and that’s why the list is so long.

The band/artist from this list that wins on the poll’s composite chart (i.e. jurors + Deli writers + fans’ votes) will receive a plethora of prizes provided by the sponsors of The Deli. Right now all the artists in the list have accumulated some points from the votes cast by jurors and writers, now it’s the fans and readers’ turn!

JURORS:
Here’s the list of jurors in random order: Andrew Bucket (Velvet Lounge), Denman Anderson (AllOurNoise.com), Neal Becton (Som Records), David Hintz (DC Rock Live), Cale Jr. (BrightestYoungThings.com), Mark Mangold (Rams Head Live), Adam Savage (Sonar), Kelly Green (Asylum), Will McCrory (Recher Theatre), Steven Lambert (Rock & Roll Hotel), Jimmy Rhodes (Red Palace), Lisa White (9:30 Club), Matty (Sidebar), Chris Buresh (DCHeavyMetal.com), Reese Higgins (WMUC), Daniel Brindley (Jammin’ Java), Dawn Reed (The Deli).

After two years of traveling and playing shows, U.S. Royalty is finally ready to release their debut full-length album, Mirrors.  I recently got a chance to sit down with lead singer John Thornley to talk about the record, his family, fashion and the ways we all connect with the music in our lives.

Read the full interview here.

Mirrors is scheduled to be released on January 25th.  You can catch the band at Rock and Roll Hotel this Saturday, January 22.  Doors open at 8:30.

–Jarrett

You’ve heard him singing "All I Want is You" in the opening credits of the hit film JUNO… but Washington, DC based songwriter Barry Louis Polisar has actually been singing for children and families for 35 years, releasing his first record, I Eat Kids and Other Songs for Rebellious Children, in 1975. Now, some of those rebellious children he used to entertain have banded together and released a 2-CD, 60-song, tribute album of his songs called We’re Not Kidding! A Tribute to Barry Louis Polisar.

 "It’s great fun for me to hear my songs re-created this way," Polisar said. "Having my song in ‘Juno’ was great–but this is even better." The project is the brain child of Aaron Cohen, lead singer of the LA punk band The Radioactive Chicken Heads. Aaron had Barry’s albums as a child and claims him as his biggest influence.

The 2-CD set is now available from iTunes, Amazon and CDbaby. Hear free samples on Barry’s web site: http://www.barrylou.com/tributeAlbum.html   

Baltimore’s trio Thank You are releasing their 3rd album, Golden Worry, with Chicago-based label Thrill Jockey on January 25th. The album was recorded by engineer Chris Coady, who’s known for his work with Beach House and Gang Gang Dance. Check out this stellar track "1-2-3 Bad" and pre-order Golden Worry here. Thank you – 1-2-3 Bad by The Drift Record Shop

DC’s True Womanhood have released the first song in their series REEL TOO REAL. Here’s what Thomas had to say about it. "The song is called MINAJAH and it was inspired by the recent creation of the Moombahton dance craze, right here in DC.  We didn’t use Ableton like everyone else because we are idiots and we thought we could make electronic music using live instruments patched through effects pedals.  Also, Stevie Wonder shook our hands the day we bought the synth that this song was played on and told us it was a good choice.  His magic apparently rubbed off.   (We are not kidding.  This is a true story.  His hands smell like sandalwood.)"

REEL TOO REAL by truewomanhood