Remember when Tyson had that rant where he talked about how great he was and how he wanted to eat your babies? Ever wanted to hear that sample sliced up and laced into a slammin beat? Well look no further, your prayers have been answered on the track “Supreme” by Keon Supreme. Despite his questionable taste in cover art, Be Still’s selection of tasteful modern beats are slathered with a natural buttery flow reminiscent of K-OS. There are a couple gems on this album; “(R)Evolution” is a Kanye-worthy beat, and Keon’s delivery is confident and optimistic. It’s hard to spout inspiration raps without being preachy and overly didactic, but he does it well. Though relatively new to the scene, Keon has been busy churning out material and honing his skills. As long as he maintains his current trajectory, he’ll find his audiences increasingly reluctant to “Be Still.” – brokeMC

The boys of psych-pop duo USF have reason to celebrate this season, with two releases in the running for KEXP’s year-end best-of poll, a new collaboration receiving critical praise, and several recent performances under their belts. Nearly a year after its release in January, their Jamaica Plain EP, rife with danceable beats, humming synths and swooping string loops, drew crowds to The Comet and The Neptune over the past month. A newly released track that saw USF team up with former Deli Band of the Month, Witch Gardens, has also been attracting attention. “I’m Not Dead, I’m Having Fun” combines USF’s typically out-there synth-play with Witch Gardens’ singsong vocals for a spacey tune defiant of mortality. USF will cap an eventful year on Dec. 29 with their first ever show at Neumo’s, along with Glitterbang, Vox Mod and DJ Self-Actualized.

Doors: 8 p.m.

Tickets: $7

-Kate Shepherd

Two Lights, upon first glance, is just another trio of (rather) cute boys who play music that makes many girls swoon. However, if you give them a second glance – and a listen – you’ll realize that the catchy pop songs crafted by these NYU students have the magical power to obliterate wintery thoughts – something a helluva lot of people desperately need in December. The band started in Maine with two brothers, Abner and Harper Willis and their childhood friend Ryan Gross, as the three musicians played songs about high school, love and growing older. The band then ended up at NYU and released their first single “Summer” in September 2011. Since then, they have added a drummer, Benny Brown, as well as garnered praise for their tracks on Consequence of Sound, Verbicide Magazine and CMJ.
Their bittersweet, sugary indie pop songs tie the future of careers and relationships with the past of high school and teen angst. Their debut EP will be released in early 2012 followed by a series of U.S. tour dates. – Amanda Dissinger

When Brooklyn based artist Doe Paoro will play Pianos on January 3rd there will be demons in the room. The artist describes the kind of music she plays as “ghost soul”, i.e. “a sound that echoes the resurrection of a choir of ghosts who haven’t completely detached from the human experience”. We’ll add that those ghosts have a beautiful and soulful voice. Doe Paoro – fronted by Sonia Kreitzer, who used to sing in the Brooklyn collective Sonia’s Party – will play tracks from her first album, "Slow to Love," which will be released in early 2012. Her music has garnered comparisons to artists like Lykke Li and James Blake and also features classical influences the singer was exposed to through her classical training. In the meantime, enjoy her first single "Can’t Leave you", streaming here, or this cover of Future Islands’ “Little Dreamers”. – Amanda Dissinger

Deli Band of the Month Ivan and Alyosha will be using their folk pop catalogue to do more than entertain tonight, as they play an opening slot for the Mountain Goats at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. The bands are both showcasing their tunes in a fundraising benefit for the Invisible Children movement, which aims to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war, and to help restore peace in central Africa. The band released a cover of Jackson Browne’s "Rebel Jesus" in the lead-up to the event. Ivan and Alyosha toured extensively this year, traveling throughout Canada and the U.S. before making plans to record a full-length follow-up to this year’s Fathers Be Kind. With an acoustic demo of their new song, "Be Your Man", getting play online, the buzz around this Seattle duo should ensure they draw a crowd tonight – for a good cause.

-Kate Shepherd

The Stepkids capture all the glitter and gold of classic seventies funk, R&B and soul music with such expertise that their recently released self-titled debut album could pass for a rediscovered lost recording from that era. With their own personalities stamped all over their work, the band channels the spirit of Earth Wind & Fire, Sly Stone, Todd Rundgren and dozens of others. The Connecticut and NYC-based three piece will play The Knitting Factory in Williamsburg on December 14 and then embark on an Australian tour. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s feature on the band here.

Outspoken and outstanding, the ensemble of NYC based musicians known as Outernational reaches out to reggae, ska, punk, dub, polka, mariachi, hip-hop, and world music, to implement their “radical vision for the future of a world without borders,” a stance that has continued to blossom since their first EP, “Eyes on Fire” and only becomes stronger as the band’s grabbing music and message recruit fans and followers. After playing on of The Deli’s CMJ show in October, the band – which will release atheir debut full length in early 2012 – will again entartain their NYC fans with a show at Bowery Electric on December 26. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso Q&A with the band here.

It’s always rewarding when we see results coming out of something we initiated, isn’t it? NYC rockers The Majorleans won our Artist of the Month Poll a few months ago, and with it they won some free studio time at Grand Street Recording, which they used to record this new single called "Hard Enough" (streaming below). Well done band and studio people! Go check out these guys at The Mercury Lounge on December 20.

What’s about NYC that attracts dark and droney indie bands? Is it its cold and dark winter? Or maybe (more likely) Lou Reed and Sonic Youth’s legacy? Royal Baths, after signing with Brooklyn based label Kanine, took a leap from one side of the country (San Fran) to the other, and The Deli is happy to welcome them to the Big Apple. Paying homage to various psych-rock and new wave icons like Syd Barret, Joy Division, Spacemen 3 and at time even Jefferson Airplane, their music – notwithstanding an underpinning melodic element – ranges from the seriously depressed to the invasively distorted, overall always keeping in line with tasteful lo-fi aesthetics.

MP3: Royal Baths – "Darling Divine"