Here at The Deli we call "Alt Folk" all those bands who reference traditional American music but graft some less traditional elements onto it. These are the results of the top bands from this genre who submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists.

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR ALT FOLK:
Jurors: Kate Shepherd (Deli Seattle), Annamarya Scaccia (Deli Philly), Erin D’Souza (Deli NYC)

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1. BIG WILSON RIVER

Big Wilson River plays my favorite kind of trashiness: Here you’ll find songs written about badass literary figures the way other bands discuss a wild night out. In ‘Hemingway Had a Cat’ for instance, you get your hard truths served up right alongside beer anthem-ready singalongs. Singers Darrin Bradbury and April Acerno sing in the kind of flannel only Jersey musicians can wear right, with big brawling songs like ‘Noah Goldstein,’ together with downhome front porch sentiment like ‘Twenty Little Soldiers.’ You won’t have to get dressed up to appreciate this band, but you will have to get down.

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2. FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR

If you’re looking for a pithy descriptor to file Food Will Win the War under, you’re bound to be disappointed. Singer/songwriter Rob Ward and company have been routinely re-inventing themselves from their dreams of extra-marital astronaut affairs to their latest full-length, "A False Sense of Warmth." This abstract folk ensemble constantly challenges expectations by inserting dreamy lyrics through Ward’s steady baritone and allowing his raucous band to burn the barn down in intensive sets of acoustic string shredding.

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3a. THE DUE DILIGENCE

Like any self-respecting Brooklynite, there’s nothing I’d like to see more than The Band make a return and show all these alt-folk cats how its done. Fortunately, now I can finally put that sentiment to rest. The Due Diligence picks up right where Robbie Robertson left off, carving a unique line extending from roots rock preservation to loud and brawling bar jams. Lead singer Sir Isaac Diligence sports a nautical disposition with one of the best beards I’ve seen yet in an otherwise crowded city of beards. Plenty of bands can jam, but few have this much to say while doing it.

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3b: FIREHORSE

An active performer in Citizens Band and Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout, Leah Siegel has written a number of albums under her own name before she founded Firehorse. In this new project’s debut album "And So They Ran Faster…" she boasts a range of roles in diverse compositions that explore pop, rock, jazz, funk and soul with electronic flourishes. The genre-leaping tracks showcase Siegel’s versatile, intense vocals that lead her band into challenging sonic landscapes.

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3c: FUTURIST

Futurist have some very big ideas. As much a multimedia project as 5-piece experimental folk outfit led by singer Curtis Peel. This group doesn’t just write songs, as much as they construct whole movements like a folk-rock symphony. Listen to just a couple measures into "Slackjaw Pilgrims" or "Wingspan" and you’ll find yourself getting pulled into their unique way of hearing the world. Like their name implies, there’s nothing old about this group. Good thing foot-stomping dance grooves never go out of style.

– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
These artists had outstanding ratings from our jurors (almost 8 out of 10!) but won’t qualify to the next round of our year end poll.

6a. GANGSTAGRASS
Folk music, meet hip-hop. Hip-hop, meet folk. Country singer Rench has been singing his mind for years now over some solid downhome beats, but with his band Gangstagrass, he’s something else entirely. He’s teamed up with rapper T.O.N.E.Z. to come up with a unique blend of these styles you probably haven’t heard before. This is a group that doesn’t bother with distinctions between hip-hop and folk styles, these come together with the same attitude both Hank Williams and Chuck D have in common: A hard-hitting beat placed under an outlaw sentiment.

 

6b. THE MAJORLEANS
This is what it would sound like if Lou Reed or Bob dylan played summer jams. Telling downtown stories of lost romance and strange motivations in songs like Damager and The Main Vine, singer Michael Daves takes rootsy tradition and gives it a distinctly New York feel, placing our town’s music in the middle of the heartland.

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– HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The competition in this category was really, really tight. 20 artists received an average rating of 7 of more points out of 10, here are the 4 one that with 7.5: Ben Lear, Lucius, Shenandoah & the Night, We Are The Woods.

Metal might not be the music genre that made NYC famous, but it’s a growing scene, mostly fueled by artists based in Long Island and New Jersey, areas covered by our blog. We only had 6 submissions in this category, but all very good.

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR METAL
Jurors: Mike SOS (Deli NYC), Erin D’Souza (Deli NYC)

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1a: EXEMPTION

Jam packing its copmposition with an encyclopedic knowledge of a multitude of rock genres, Long Island based Exemption allows its prog rock sensibilities to overshadow their stoner metal tendencies and modern metal panache, while tumultuous percussive rumbles and layers of delectable guitars illuminate their variety-addled path to musical enlightenment.

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2a: THINNING THE HERD

Self-professed hard rock psyche metal troupe Thinning the Herd lays down a thunderous backbeat that shares as much with Blue Cheer as it does with Soundgarden, while offering a dastardly amalgamation of doomy blues, fuzzed-out psychedelics, grungy post metal , and ‘70s arena rock.

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2b: FALL OF THE ALBATROSS

Schizophrenic Queens quintet Fall of the Albatross serve up a soulful smorgasbord of eclectic heaviness, fusing mind-blowing funk, smooth jazz, headstrong progressive rock and blistering technical metal into a surprisingly tidy package. – Mike SOS

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

PUi, Wolfhaven, Terra Stigma.

Psych Rock and derivatives genres like Shoegazer and Dreampop are a very interesting musical niches with lots of loyal fans – many of which reside in NYC. Here are these genres results related to the submissions we received for our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists.

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR PSYCH ROCK/ SHOEGAZER/ DREAM-POP:
Jurors: Chrissy Prisco (Deli New England), Dawn Reed (Deli DC Area), QD Tran (Deli Philly)

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1. Grassfight (also overall submissions winners with 9.33 out of 10)

 

Bleak like Ian Curtis (but with a much higher range), danceable like, well… Joy Division (but twice as zonked out), Grassfight expands on the freaky shoegazer vibe in a way Interpol never got around to. Wtih a name based on a tragic battle during the Texas Revolution, their new EP Icon is bound to be confrontational. But don’t let that scare you, singer Nathan Forster and band make the kind of lush, devastating music too catchy to keep you down.

2a. Field Mouse

There’s something to be said about a band that could only come from a certain kind of collaboration. Field Mouse is a labor of love from singer/songwriters Rachel Browne and Andrew Futral. The duo take turns between rootsy sentiment and driving electronics ala Jesus and Mary Chain. Mouse’s warm sentiment hits home in sweetly affecting songs like ‘You Guys are Gonna Wake Up My Mom’ and their fantastic cover of Deerhoof’s ‘Helicopter.’

2b. Spanish Prisoners
Cinematic and mysterious, Spanish Prisoners blends bubbly psych pop with dark telltale vocals and daydream guitar and keyboard textures. The band’s album Gold Fools was recently declared "Best Free Album of the Year" by gimmetinnitus.com

4a. Himalaya
Here’s a band you should add to your ipod for any trip you’re planning on taking, outdoors or indoors. They’re the perfect soundtrack, as this group’s not in much of a rush to go anywhere. The songs of Himalaya can take a fair amount of time to gather steam. But once they do, anthemic choral singing usually supplements layers of washy guitar in an almost religious exultation. Tracks like Don’t Stop and Hospital will land you at a church somewhere deep in outer space, and their live show will leave you equally blissed out.

4b. Dead Leaf Echo
With swirling guitars, beatbox percussion, and ultra-wet vocals, Dead Leaf Echo sound like the long-awaited return of shoegaze. As much an art project as band, singer-guitarist LG, bassist Mike DiLalla, and keyboardist-vocalist Liza B make films as often as they release records. No wonder tracks like Woolgathering and Trial hit you as a medium tempo, wide-screen production experience.

– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
These artists had outstanding ratings from our jurors (almost 8 out of 10!) but won’t qualify to the next round of our year end poll.

6. Fan-Tan
Meeting up at Chapel Hill a couple years ago, Fan-Tan have already been playing together for a few years now, and their live shows have earned the band a solid rep. Singer Ryan Lee Dunlap can sound pained like Spencer Krug, but he pours his heart out over an energetic mix of buzzing synthesizers and driving percussion from Kuki and Sandee Kooks’ rhythm section. Now the band is set to release their debut full-length early this year, and if 2010’s EP The Age of Discovery is any indication, it promises to be full of the kind of pain and propulsion you rarely hear come together this energetically.

7. Yellowbirds
A Deli CD of the month in 2011, Yellowbirds blends psych-pop songs with country accents, creating entrancing songs which conjure up the warmest musical tones that recall the freewheeling spirit of the ‘60s. The complexities and layers of the songs make for an enjoyable, challenging listen, but the tracks are incredibly accessible pop songs. Butting guitars and bristling autoharp may create some stridency, but is always counterbalanced with calming acoustic guitar strums and Cohen’s Roy Orbison-esque vocals.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors (over 7.5): Backlights, Behavior and Prospector.

Results are in for the HIP HOP/WORLD/OTHER Category peoples! And yes, we are talking about the submissions results related to our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists (we wish there was a shorter way to call it…)

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR HIP HOP/WORLD/OTHER
Jurors: Jason Behrends (Deli Chicago), QD Tran (Deli Philly), Mike Levine (Deli NYC)

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1a. The Sway Machinery

The Sway Machinery have built an unlikely combination of Jewish Cantorial music with afrobeat grooves, and the result expresses a hidden energy common to both. Klezmer and Malian tribal music aren’t usually said in the same sentence, but this band made it their mission when recording with the legendary Timbuku songstress, Khaira Arby. This is a group that honors different traditions while bringing them together into something new.

1b. Xenia Rubinos

Offering an amalgamation of exotic sounding vocals and imaginative sonic ingredients, Xenia Rubinos could be described as the Animal Collective of Bossanova. Her tunes almost magically blend the warmth of South American music and the intellectual edge of the NYC avant-indie scene. Xenia’s debut album will be released on January 16.

3. Deathrow Tull

One half party time hip-hop, one half back-to-church soul, Deathrow Tull brings different worlds together to play in the same room. Broke MC and Dyalekt’s back-and-forth psychedelia is perfectly balanced by Ihsan Muhammed’s elastic vocal range, taking the seven-piece’s funk up to new heights with every hook.

– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
These artists had outstanding ratings from our jurors (they all shared a final score between 7.330 and 7.66 out of 10) but won’t qualify to the next round of our year end poll.

4a. Argotec
Anyone complaining about El-P not releasing records fast enough needs to check out Argotec and quit whining. Here’s a post-apocalyptic rap duo that makes it their mission to cram as much information down your skull as the sonic spectrum will allow. Complete with glitchy laptops and punishing beats, Alex Argot and Rich Courage take technology, politics and culture and mainline it direct to your system. Dark and uncompromising, their debut LP Wherewithal showcases what’s great about NY’s hip-hop underground.

4b. Gabriel Stark
Gabriel Stark is the emcee next door. He doesn’t deck out in jewelry, he hustles his music old-school by adding his everyday lyrics to artists ranging from the Supremes to Taylor Swift. Stark’s released an enormous amount of material over the past couple years, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Every bit as much a producer as rapper, Stark’s ambition and humour comes through in everything he touches.

6a. LiKWUiD + Gummy Bears & Champagne
Like it or not, Likwuid has written the Camel toe anthem of our generation. Nothing’s off limits for this Harlem-based femcee. From singing anthem ‘Go L’ in dollar vans, to challenging gender roles in Lyrically Andrageneous, her new record Gummy Bears & Champagne is not for the casual listener, but it won’t take you long to fall in love with her either.

6b. Max Burgundy
Emcee/producer Max Burgundy finds a place for all his emotions in his beats. A romantic at heart, the ups and downs of love are catalogued over immensely varied beats. His latest EP #Waiting marries bells and bird calls together in Hey Love!, and flanged out guitar loops to bumping glitch grooves in Max Don’t. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Burgundy builds a wide world of sound to house his enormous emotional range.

6c. Blue Belt
After listening through to wack wednesdays, (a group of b-sides the band released every Wednesday over the past year) it’s easy to think I know Brooklyn quartet Blue Belt pretty well. Dismissing with most hip-hop convention, the group discusses everything from Brian Eno to vocoded gchat conversations in their verses, while turning loops from Asian instruments like the koto and shamisen into a backdrop as smooth as anything Tribe Called Quest has produced. A welcome surprise of showmanship and detailed composition, listening to Blue Belt is an immersive experience. Come prepared to forget what you thought you could do with a sample.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors: Try This at Home and MaG.

More results from our NYC Best of 2011 for emerging artists poll, people! It’s time for the Singer Songwriter category…

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR SINGER SONGWRITER
Jurors: Mike Harper (Deli Portland), Juan Rodriguez (Deli LA), QD Tran (Deli Philly

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the final phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1a. Robin Bacior

Robin Bacior‘s intimate, honest lyrics and complex, ever evolving orchestral arrangements, show us a musician who is well beyond her twenty four years. Her comforting folk music is perfect for the winter season: a time of nostalgia and self-awareness yet utmost beauty.

1b. Bird Call

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Bird Call is that breath of fresh air the morning after your crazy night out. Equal parts regret and resolve, singer Chiara Angelicola lays it all out plainly with her mellifluous voice and softly pedaled piano. In tracks like ‘Waltz in the Snow’ and her revealing cover of Beck’s ‘Lost Cause,’ Angelicola’s torch song beauty reminds us of why the caged bird sings.

3. Mal Blum

Mal is that hyper-kinetic, fun-loving girl who everyone wants to be friends with. Full of humour and sweetness in songs like "Baltimore, San Cristobal," and her heartfelt contribution to the "It Gets Better" campaign, she is here to brighten your day and make you appreciate the little things a little bit more. As much as she loves her ukulele, you’ll love Mal too.

– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
These artists had good ratings from our jurors but won’t qualify to the next round of our year end poll.

4. Spottiswoode & His Enemies
Maybe you haven’t heard yet, but Spottiswoode & His Enemies have been quietly channeling New York’s late night spirit for well over a decade now. The band knows how to tell a story, because they’ve probably lived it before you had your first drink. With a voice carving a space between Warren Zevon and Ian dury, singer/songwriter Young Spott’s work takes you on a journey to a place inhabitated by hedonism and romance, but few regrets.

5a. Sydney Wayser
Expect big things from Sydney in 2012. At our Deli CMJ show in October we heard a few songs from her upcoming album – out in a few weeks – and were very impressed with them, without mentioning her beautiful voice, confident stage presence and… adorable red cheeks! This is a very talented young singer songwriter who is just about to reach her creative peak, keep an ear on her!

5b. Pat Hull
Soft and confessional, Pat Hull has something few singer/songwriters bother with these days: unfiltered vulnerability. Like Elliott Smith or Jeff Buckley, he somehow sounds his most explosive when at his most intimate. This is a rare gift, and considering how young this folk singer is, will only take him far.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors and deserve to be mentioned: Emily Greene, Argyle Johansen, Itamar Ziegler, Mike Higbee
 

It’s time to unveil the results of the very popular INDIE POP/LO-FI category, relative to the submissions we received for our Best of NYC 2011 Year End Poll.

NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR INDIE POP
Jurors: Mike Harper (Deli Portland), Kate Shepherd (Deli Seattle), QD Tran (Deli Philly)

– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
The artists in this list qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1. Caveman

We weren’t expecting NYC psych-pop masters Caveman – who graced our NYC mag’s cover in last summer’s issue – to submit for our year end poll, considering how much buzz they managed to drum up since their debut record was released. But that’s what down to earth musicians who self-release and self-produce their music do – they look for opportunities for exposure knowing that every little bit adds up. It’s obviously working for them, also because they are undeniably one of the best NYC emerging bands of 2011, whatever this poll’s results will end up being. By the way, what’s wrong with Pitchfork.com? It doesn’t look like they reviewed their album yet!!! – Read The Deli’s cover feature on Caveman here.

2. Starlight Girls

Spooky, sexy, at times psychedelic, Starlight Girls imposes a carefully constructed facade built from French cabaret, soulful ’60s nuggets and downtempo sultriness. Their songs are are invitingly simple, but hold you fast until you’re caught up in the depth of their sinister and artful dance party. Vocalists Christina B and Karys may have adopted their name from the band featured on ’80s cartoon Jem, but their sound is built from another place entirely.

3a. Chappo

Do you believe in doppelgangers? Alex Chappo does. In his zonked out debut Plastique Universe, Chappo and band embody sci-fi bandits that screw with their doppelgangers and rock out the way Wayne Coyne fights aliens. Don’t even try to stop them. These guys are on a mission to make sure you visit their dimension, and eat their hard rocking acid while you’re out there.

3b. The Bandana Splits

This infectious girl group reminds us of the sweet simplicity that can come from three great voices. We could just as easily see Lauren Balthrop, Annie Nero and Dawn Landes doo-wop’ing a Phil Spector Ronettes session as ending the second episode of this season’s Bored to Death (best one of the year). Either way, The Bandana Spilt‘s brand of catchy pop is far too much fun to ignore.

3c. Indyns

 

Indyns makes dance music for people who like spending time alone in the bedroom. Moody and atmospheric, singer/songwriter Adam Jones and band produce a dream state formed from the simplest of elements: synth, beats and reverb-drenched guitars. Somehow these elements come together to produce catchy fog machine dance anthems perfect for your next pillow party.

– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
These artists had good ratings from our jurors but won’t qualify to the next round of our year end poll.

6. These Animals
For anyone wondering where all the guitar groups have gone, look no further than These Animals. Four guys who met at art school and came together to bounce and groove their way around some of the catchiest power pop since The Dismemberment Plan, These Animals have catchy hooks as locked down as their dense harmonies and flashy basslines.

7. Schocholautte
Schocholautte borrows Violent Femmes’ upbeat enthusiasm, Guided By Voices’ casual melodies and Dinosaur Junior’s explosive guitar parts to concoct one of the most fun NYC records of the year so far.

8a. dDiILliIAaNn
dDiILliIAaNn scares me a little… but that’s a good thing. Sounding like Beck got a little rowdy with Ariel Pink, this maniac brings the party to the freaks. Too crazy to turn your back on, but too catchy to forget, dDiILliIAaNn might be one of the more interesting of Brooklyn’s recent psych-pop party acts.

8b. The Tablets
Who knew toy drums could sound this sexy? Liz Godoy’s deadpan dreaminess brings the love out of otherwise tin can percussion in songs like Sugar Coated and Armistice, all with the help of her power-stomping nine piece band. Godoy has fronted more than a couple great bands in her time, but The Tablets brings out her inner dancer more than anything I’ve heard yet.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors and deserve to be mentioned: Overlord, Baby Teardrop, The Smoking Jackets