Self-proclaimed electro-orchestral-psychedelic-gospel group Illuminator (Deli record of the month in July 2011) is one of the Brooklyn bands you want to keep an ear on in 2012. The group just released a single titled “Gulf Hymn” (streaming below) which will be officially released as a split 7” vinyl with another psych band, Conveyor, and they also announced a new full length, out later this year. The band’s music has about the same busy feel as their city of origin. The single’s piercing lyrics handle the sting of someone leaving, using dreamy electronic effects to enforce the emotion. Illuminator will be performing with Conveyor at Glasslands with Snowmine and Telextile this Thursday, January 5th at 8:45pm. This is a bill not to miss for all the nu-psychedelia lovers. – Christine Cauthen
DC Metal Band Gauchiste To Release Debut Album 1/17
Gauchiste, a metal trio composed of Tannon Penland (of Loincloth), Tomas Phillips and Craig Hilton, will be releasing their self-titled debut album on Little Black Cloud Records. The band, though based in black metal, describes the album and their music as more of a sonic exploration of the “otherness” or other types of music in the world. After meeting in North Carolina, the three members of Gauchiste created the band and made it into their “everyday routine” , adding composing and making the music into a crucial part of their lives.
Gauchiste will be released on January 17th digitally and with a limited edition physical run of 100 records and 100 CDs. Go to gauchiste.bandcamp.com for more info. -Amanda
Deli Best of NYC 2011 – Submission Results for ALT ROCK/REVIVAL ROCK: Black Taxi, Pass Kontrol, The Courtesy Tier
After the NYC Electronic and the Traditional Roots Music results published last week, we begin 2012 with the names of the bands that qualified to the next phase of our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists from the Alt Rock/Revival Rock category. What do we mean by "Alt Rock/Revival" you may wonder? We mean bands that play modern rock music with a strong, often bluesy, melodic element, or any other rock genre that faithfully recreates a sound from the past like Garage Rock or Glam Rock (hence "Revival").
NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR ALT ROCK/REVIVAL
Jurors: Juan Rodriguez (Deli LA), Chrissy Prisco (Deli Boston), 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.
Not new to our blog and year end polls, The Courtesy Tier before 2011 belonged to the ever expanding category of "prolific rock-blues duos that sound as loud as full bands". Then, in their 2011 EP "Holy Hot Fire" (which followed a full album released earlier in the year) they re-discovered acoustic guitars, suddenly sounding like… an actual duo! This exemplifies The Courtesy Tier’s songwriting and performing range.
– 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.a Ellis Ashbrook
The intertwining and harmonizing vocals of Natalie Lowe and guitarist John Barber create the foundation of Ellis Ashbrook’s atmospheric and encompassing sound. The Brooklyn quartet’s melodic vocals command the listener’s attention while the backing band offers a spectrum of sonic options embracing hard rock, rock-pop and in some cases even funk-metal a la Rage Against the Machine (sans-raping, though).
4.b The Nico Blues
These New Jersey based youngsters surely know how to bring on the rawk in their distortion powered pop gems, equally inspired by the belligerance of punk rock and by the layered distorted guitars and attention to the melody typical of the grunge period. Their songs expand the "loud-quite-loud" trick of the indie rock from the 90s in an interesting "noisy-melodic-noisy" direction.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors: The Shake, Shy Around Strangers, Black Suit Youth.
Gunstreet Glory, the Bad Things to Play Friday the 13th at The Comet
Gunstreet Glory will be performing at The Comet on January 13 with the Bad Things, Bat Country and Bakelite 78. It should be a great evening of boozy rock, tinged with accordions and clarinets. Gunstreet Glory, who released their first album in 2011, celebrate swaying drunken courage like Bukowski poems. They’re the perfect match for The Comet’s crowd, and pairing them with the Bad Things will make for night of music that exists outside of time (be on your guard for time travelers). The music is organic, and full of mad energy. Gunstreet Glory and the Bad Things could be described as steam punk bands, which is not to say that there will be Tesla coils and lots of unnecessary clockwork, as much as to say that there is a certain carnival vibe – a little bit of hobo, a dash of eastern Europe, a sprinkling of Jules Verne. It’s an aesthetic born of literature which, when translated to music, is as tactile as a waxed mustache. You could argue that it’s all a little bit contrived, but if you enjoy the conceit, then you’re in for a great time.
Doors: 8 p.m.
Tickets: $8
– Tom Mohrman
Jamestown Revival play Hotel Cafe every Wednesday in January
Formed in 2010 Jamestown Revival consists of Austin natives Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance. In under a year they have put out an EP, The Knives & Pipes, have been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine and have landed a residency at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles for the month of January. Their EP, containing 6 songs, was self-recorded by the duo in an LA apartment. Currently unsigned, the two-man band has a southern folksy sound mixed with blues influences and plenty of soul. After selling 1,000 copies of their EP’s on iTunes, touring the country 3 times and with many more show on the horizon, Jamestown Revival is definitely a band to follow in 2012. – Chelsea Eriksen
Weekly Feature: Spanish Prisoners’ album gets some year end love
Music blog gimmetinnitus.com had the rather brilliant idea of compiling a compilation of the best free albums of 2011 – and NYC tremolo-haze masters Spanish Prisoners topped it with their record "Gold Fools." This resonates with The Deli of course, because if the album is free, it means that the band is emerging, and we are all about emerging bands as you know. Dave Cromwell interviewed the band a few weeks before they played our Dream Pop Stage at CMJ 2011, you can read the full piece here. An older interview from 2009 can be found here.
Deli Best of NYC 2011 – Submissions Results for TRADITIONAL ROOTS MUSIC: The Third Wheel Band, The Reverend John Delore, The Bottom Dollars, Tall Tall Trees
After the Electronic category results published on Tuesday, we have for you the names of the artists that qualified to the next phase of our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists from what we call the Traditional Rootsy category. The other roots music categories – to be unveiled soon – are Alt Folk and Songwriters/Rootsy Pop.
P.S. If you are interested in understanding how our Year End Poll for Emerging Artists works, please go here.
NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS FOR TRADITIONAL ROOTSY
Jurors: Jason Behrends (Deli Chicago), Jessica Pace (Deli Nashville), Paolo De Gregorio (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. The top two are tied with a combined rating of 8 out of 10.
1a. The Reverend John Delore – read 2011 Deli interview HERE.
Not your typical country crooner, The Reverend John Delore plays Americana music full of character that avoids stock country tropes, 12 bar blues, or Nashville’s underestimation of its audience. Like all the best songwriters, his keen observational style and sense of place can turn every day life experience into something more subtle and, ultimately, satisfying. – Read a 2011 Deli interview with the Reverend HERE.
Like those serial heart-stealers out there, The Bottom Dollars may appear at first as charming gentlemen drenched in traditional values, but it doesn’t take too long to realize they are actually just a bunch of fun-loving, rocking sons of guns. As it happens, it will then be too late to withdraw your heart… check them out live at Spike Hill on 01.08.
3b. Tall Tall Trees
How much can the Americana genre be innovated without sounding like something else? Probably as much as Tall Tall Trees innovate it in their self titled debut album, which features an "outside the box" production, and tastefully blends bluegrass with varied influences ranging from pop, orchestral and even funk at times. This band has been slowly building a local following (which is a very good sign indeed) and it’s now playing regularly in NYC. You have 4 opportunities to see them in the next two months, the next one at union Hall on January 20.
3c. The Third Wheel Band
Serving their own brand of unadulterated roots music, The Third Wheel Band has the power to make your feet stomp even though they lack a drummer. A hefty dose of charm is brought to the table by vocalist and upright bassist Steph Allen, who sings the bluegrass with disarming spontaneity. Catch them at the Brick Cafe` in Queens on January 04.
– 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.
5. JP & The Gilberts
You know how pretty much any song is SO MUCH MORE FUN when you speed it up by, like, 50 bpm or so? That’s what JP & The Gilberts like to do to country music, with devastatingly entertaining results. Their faster songs, like the one streaming below, call for cowboy moshing – I’d love to see something like that actually – although they also offer plenty of more traditional slower numbers.
6a. Mercy Bell
Traditional American music can be communal old time party entertainment, or it can be a lonely and thoughtful kind of thing, like in Mercy Bell’s case. This lady moved to NYC bringing with her a duffle bag, an air mattress, and a guitar; and her warm and caring voice, which animates introspective, soulful songs about that ongoing absurd mystery we call life.
6b. Natureboy
Natureboy, the musical project of Sara Kermanshahi, injects its folk ballads with dreamy elements, creating songs that will haunt you down memory lane. Read a 2009 interview with the front lady Sara Kermanshahi here.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors (tied at 7.16 out of 10): Toby Goodshank, Piñataland and Little Anchor (who should have probably submitted as "Rootsy Pop" instead of "Americana").
Friends – one of NYC’s big things in 2012?
We blogged about Friends already at the end of last month here, but since the buzz for the band is mounting (they accumulated almost 5k Facebook friends in these few months of activity!) we were looking for an excuse to post this other video they released two months ago – the song is the band’s second single "Friend Crush", which is good but not as good as "I’m His Girl". Friends are currently in a London studio putting the finishing touches to their upcoming full length – we are very much looking forward to listening to it!
The Veda Rays release preview track from upcoming EP ““Die Fast”
After a 2011 that saw them on the rise in the NYC scene, The Veda Rays are getting ready to take things on the next level in 2012, when they will be releasing a new EP entitled "Die Fast" in the spring. As an early promotional move they are releasing a free song from that EP, entitled "Old Long Since Now", which was written at the end of the aughts and was always intended to be some kind of "New Years Eve song". The band definitely strikes the right balance of holiday cheerfulness and attitude here, creating a rock track that stimulates those kind of positive year end "life recaps" that can propel our existence towards a better future.
X-Ray Press to Hit the Road in January
Prog-rockers X-Ray Press are gearing up to hit the road for the first time in nearly a year, launching a west coast tour in Seattle on Jan. 25. This year saw the band release their first full-length album, UVB-76, back in January, as well as a split 7" featuring the talents of By Sunlight’s Mike Sparks and Panther Attack’s Kelly Mynes. Hailed by many critics as a math rock record for the ages, UVB-76 is at once challenging and accessible, aggressive and thought-provoking – in short, the kind of paradoxical album that can get an audience with decidedly disparate sensibilities to bob their heads in unison. This will be the band’s first time taking the tunes on the road, but with some good press on their side and an album that has been quietly making waves all year, the response is sure to be electric.
January 25 Chop Suey w/ By Sunlight and Panther Attack Seattle, WA
-Kate Shepherd
Deli Best of NYC 2011 – Submissions Results for ELECTRONIC: j.views, Tayisha Busay, WAZU
Hey holidaying people out there,
Our Deli jurors just finished rating all the Electronic artists that submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists – and here are the results for you to check out! The top 3 artists in this list will qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.
P.S. If you are interested in understanding how our Year End Poll for Emerging Artists works, please go here.
NYC YEAR END POLL 2011 OPEN SUBMISSIONS RESULTS – ELECTRONIC
Jurors: Jason Behrends (Deli Chicago), Dawn Reed (Deli DC), QD Tran (Deli Philly).
– QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S NEXT ROUND
1. j.viewz
NYC’s j.viewz mesmerized our jury with his mid to downtempo, soulful and absorbing electronic compositions. Compelling songwriting, refined production values and beautiful female voices work together in making this one of the best Electronic albums coming out of NYC in 2011. Apparently, the CD art isn’t that bad either – it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Package!!!
2. Tayisha Busay
Williamsburg hypsters’ favorite party band has proven, with their new album "Focus/Virus" that they are much much more than just some kind of weird and hilarious cabaret act. Songs like "Nothing’s Happening" and "Heartmeat/Lovemuscle" (streaming here) are pure electronic pop gems, from a record that’s as consistent as it’s varied.
3. WAZU
Recent transplants from LA, the duo in Wazu crafts an almost scary electro-rock with industrial tinges and a pop soul. Their guitar sound alone commands awe, while the overall apop-calyptic mood of their music brings to mind that masterpiece of the 80s that is The The’s "Infected".
– ALMOST QUALIFIED TO THE POLL’S THE NEXT ROUND
These artists had outstanding ratings from our jurors (they all shared a final score of 7.66 out of 10) but won’t qualify to the next round of our poll because… I guess because we need to put a limit to the total number of nominees. We really wish they were in the final list though because they are really good, so check them out!
4a. Masterface
Atmospheric and textured, Masterface is a patient bunch: the band likes to build their songs slowly, letting their angelic melodies intertwine and feed each other, supported by (and often buried under) layers of gentle electronic sounds. This is an interesting project that bridges genres as antithetical as pop and ambient.
4b. Treasure Teeth
A collaboration spanning from London to Miami to NYC, Treasure Teeth is probably one of the most emotionally intense quirky bands we have ever heard. The fact that the sensitive female lead vocals don’t sound at all disconnected from the constantly evolving, somewhat bizarre electronic arrangements represents some kind of production miracle.
4c. Ghastly City Sleep
Also textured and atmospheric, Ghastly City Sleep conveys to its music an almost religious intensity through sparse arrangements and spacious melodies often drenched in reverb, showcasing also a penchant for intricate rhythms borrowed from Africa.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
These artists also had really good ratings from our jurors (between 7 and 7.5 out of 10): Kodomo, Cultfever, Papertwin, Great Tiger)
Deli Regional Year End Polls Update: Open Submissions Results slowly released
Deli readers, indie bands and artists,
This year, our Year End 2011 Polls for emerging artists are proving to be more challenging than ever, with 11 US scenes involved and 1,500+ submissions between our own system and the Sonic Bids applications. We are spending a significant portion of the our Holidays listening to your music (thanks for that by the way!), and we haven’t even had the chance to check out the bands selected by our jury of local promoters, bloggers and scene makers yet…
ANYWAYYYY… the results of the Open Submissions are slowly coming toget and we are slowly going to publish them starting with NYC (check back!). Sonic Bids selections will be coming after that.
Whether you were selected or not, it’s always good to remember that in 1961 The Beatles were rejected by Decca with the following gems: "guitar groups are on the way out" and "The Beatles have no future in show business." Take that as a friendly reminder that there is no final authority on music, despite what pitchfork.com would have you believe.
Year End Poll Next Phase: The Fans’ Poll
The next phase of the Poll – a vote open to the fans – is likely to start in the first week of January and end at the end of that same month. We’ll spread the cities out a little bit to minimize contemporary traffic spikes that repeatedly brought our site down last year. So stay tuned. We should have the final results for our two separate final charts (fans poll and composite chart including the jurors’ vote) by the end of January.
Also, of course all this is possible also because of our sponsors – many of them are providing free studio time and prizes for the winners. Here they are – God Bless ’em!
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LIST OF PRIZES FOR POLL WINNERS COMING SOON!
The Deli’s Staff