On Matt Cranstoun‘s The Last Drop of Color, you’ll learn a lot about trains. From describing the exits in New Jersey in ‘These Tires,’ to the righteous indignation of ‘Disgrace,’ there’s a lot of comings and goings throughout. But all of these trains find their way back up to Cranstoun’s adopted city of Brooklyn eventually. A homespun poet with a gift for the kind of Americana that Springsteen used to bring, Cranstoun is etching the gospel to New York’s buildings and leaving us with some endearing experiences as naked as his revealing shot on the album’s cover. This is an artist whose power comes from his range, showing on ‘Aint Dead Yet’ that he can handle funk and blues as well as he tears down the rafters in album opener ‘5th Street Lights.’ Get Matt’s latest at his bandcamp and you’ll find yourself traveling too. – Mike Levine

Having resided in New York City for the better part of ten years now, it was a triumphant homecoming for the sister duo known as The Pierces as they played two sold out shows at The Mercury Lounge last week. Allison and Catherine Pierce (and their band) presented a set that was weighted more heavily with songs from their most recent release, "You & I." Sprinkled amongst those, however, were a number of classic tracks from earlier albums as well. Opening Thursday’s show with Catherine’s "Love You More," they hit the ground running, delivering those trademark harmonies on the rising chorus. Working their way through an hour long set, other highlights included Catherine’s "Drag You Down," which weaves a lyrical tale of excessive weekends, poorly matched lovers and "just another role that you do." Allison introduced her heart tugging song about "dating another musician" stating that "we don’t really recommend that" which elicited audience chuckles – before launching into the stark, haunting, acoustic guitar driven "I Put Your Records On." Naturally the co-written single "Kissing You Goodbye" was very well received, as was their Pretty Little Liars TV show theme song "Secret." For the two song encore, the singers took the stage minus any instruments at all and delivered a perfect acapella version of Simon & Garfunkel’s "Cathy’s Song," which they stated they’ve been singing together since their early youth. They followed that will a full band version of the vampish, going-out-on-the-town but nothing satisfies showstopper "Boring." A fitting, if somewhat inaccurate closer, as these artists are anything but that. – Dave Cromwell

We are getting there folks! We just uploaded the full list of artists nominated for our Best of Chicago 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists. It’s on the right column on this same page and also HERE, where you can actually vote. Some bands in the list were selected through a submission process and some others were picked by our jury of local scene-makers, who could freely choose 3 bands each in order of preference. Points were already assigned to each band according to how well they did in the selection process. Now the readers’ and fans’ votes will also influence the final chart. Each vote will count!

The Deli’s Staff

We are getting there folks! We just uploaded the full list of artists nominated for our Best of New England 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists. It’s in the right column on this same page and also HERE, where you can actually vote. Some bands in the list were selected through a submission process and some others were picked by our jury of local scene-makers, who could freely choose 3 bands each in order of preference. Points were already assigned to each band according to how well they did in the selection process. Now the readers’ and fans’ votes will also influence the final chart. Each vote will count!

The Deli’s Staff

We are getting there folks! We just uploaded the full list of artists nominated for our Best of DC Area 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists. It’s in the right column on this same page and also on this beautiful page that sums up what happened in 2011 here at The Deli DC. Some bands in the list were selected through a submission process (see previous post about it) and some others were picked by our jury of local scene-makers (list below), who could freely choose 3 bands each in order of preference. Points were already assigned to each band according to how well they did in the selection process. Now the readers’ and fans’ votes will also influence the final chart. Each vote will count!

This year’s awesome jury consists of Crooked Beat’s Bill, Cale Jr., Catherine Lewis, David Hintz, Denman Anderson, He Wang, Jimmy Rhodes, Josh Sisk, Kelly Green, Mark Mangold, Megan Petty, Metal Chris, Nestor Diaz, Shauna Alexander, and Will McCrory.

The Deli’s Staff

Surf rock was about as mainstream as it got before the hippies had their day in the sun. It took The Beatles’ "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to finally push this genre out of the way for the next big thing, and overnight it went from the soundtrack of the hot rods, to discarded as last year’s rage. From then on, the establishment was pretty much done with Surf rock, making sure anyone with taste, culture and privilege had nothing to do with the beast. But this beach-obsessed brand of party music didn’t die with Beatlemania as the history books tell it. Instead it went another, more surprising route… underground. – Read Mike Levine’s feature about the Surf Rock influences on the NYC indie scene of the new millennium here. This article appeared in the Summer 2011 printed issue of The Deli.

We TUOTALLY missed Keepaway‘s release party for their new single "Black Fulte" at Glasslands on January 10 – probably because we were too busy churning numbers and band names related to our overwhelming Year End Poll… hopefully the Keepaway guys will forgive us, since The Deli has been very kind to them in the past (they were featured on the cover of The Deli in the fall of 2010). The trio has also released this "feel-good video of the year" for the song "Cake", which showcases the zanyness of the operation in its full glory.

Manitoba, a sort of punk rock “best of” super-group, is about to hit New York City. The band plays a set drawing from past projects to which the members have contributed, including legendary groups The Dictators, MC5, Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom, Manowar, The Ramones, Murphy’s Law, and many more. Manitoba will make their debut appearance at the Light of Day Foundation’s four-day festival hosted by Rich Russo of 105.5’s "Anything Anything" at Asbury Lanes on January 13th. The band’s official first NY show is at The Bowery Electric on January 26. Plan on leather, loud guitars, frantic drums, impassioned shouts, and sweat, and be sure to pick up tickets for Manitoba’s unveiling here. In the picture, ex-Dictators and Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom singer Richard Manitoba. – Meijin Bruttomesso

Avant-indie sextet Luminol experiment with contrasting sounds and scenes on their most recent release, Locked In The Woods, which first saw light back in August. Building off of 2009’s Organ Grinder EP, the band doesn’t shy away from the mysterious and the macabre on their latest offering. Unsettling wails, hisses and plucked strings set the tone on sophomore track “Right Hand Man”, and the fretwork of guitarists Andy Ayers and Chris Winter is as delicate and prickling as the chills it sends down your spine. The track is the stuff of Grimm’s darkest fairy tales, but is contrasted by the melodic violin, and Barbara Burgio’s plaintive vocals, on “Squeaking Soul”. The track is the lullaby leading up to the host of dreamlike, and sometimes haunting, tunes that follow – Luminol still definitely gravitate towards the creepy, with bass lines that border on menacing and lyrical delivery that recalls the films of Tim Burton. For listeners up for an evening of boundary-pushing, atmospheric compositions, the band will be playing material from Locked In The Woods at the Skylark Café and Club on Jan. 20. with the Little Black Bottles, and Seeing Blind.

– Kate Shepherd