Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are proud to introduce you to our latest creature: The Deli Seattle! It was just about time!!!

The Deli’s Staff

Coming in at number 14 on the Best Emerging Artists of 2010 poll (the full results can be seen here), Ava Luna mixes the sounds of uplifting gospel music with electro-pop seamlessly, leaving you unable to help dancing along to songs like "Clips" (boasting lyrics like "I always knew you were a dangerous one, and you might just make me lose my cool"). Their Services EP is available for download for only $2 here, containing four songs ("Clips," "Cement Lunch," "Past the Barbary" and "Won’t You Be Mine"). L Magazine termed them "the most immediately engaging and smart music" currently coming from New York due to Ava Luna’s fresh and invigorating tunes, all of which possess and almost instantaneous magnetic appeal. The music of Ava Luna is toe-tapping at the very least, get-up-and-dance-immediately at its very best.

The Forms kicked off a west coast / deep south tour yesterday, and took the opportunity to launch their new video for "Fire to the Ground", the single off of their latest EP "Derealization" featuring guest vocals by The National’s Matt Beringer.

Cults are getting all sorts of buzz with this new video pretty much every major music blog is currently streaming. This pushed the band to the 2nd position in our Web Buzz Charts (left column in this page, full NYC charts here). The band is in 10th position in our popularity charts.

Chicago natives, Brooklyn-based, modestly named Pretty Good Dance Moves are more than pretty good music makers. Their self titled album, rather than recreating, reinterprets the electronic dance music of the 80s in a way that’s personal, quirky and compelling at once. Lead vocalist, Jimmy Giannopoulos and multi-instrumentalist, Aaron Allieta created a 6- track EP that fuses the fun of Disco with Javelin’s playfulness, sporadically venturing into loungy territories reminiscent of extinguished UK duo Lamb. Collaborations with Heather Christian on 600 Days and Angelina Lucero on Sample Your Body add variety to the band’s sound and leave us nostalgic for Of Montreal’s first albums. The band is playing free shows every Thursday of July at Pianos at 12 am – be there! – Madison Silver.

Rock’n’Roll basterds Raccoon Fighter blew us away at our recent Deli/Northside show at Spike Hill. These guys’ punchy tunes are delivered live with lethal precision and dangerous power. The band just release the 7" Butcherette (stream it here), including the single "Dear Big City" – check it out in the video below. But what you really want to see is Raccoon Fighter live with Locksley at Brooklyn Bowl on July 13 (tonight).

Grooms received The Deli’s indie rock stamp of approval ages ago, when they were still called "Muggabears". But what we are happy to report today is that this is a band that, throughout the years, has been able to grow musically like few others. Coming from a "Pavement influenced" background, Grooms have developed in a more personal direction through the years – the tracks on the album "Prom" (released today on Kanine )showcase a band that has found a very personal balance between sonic experimentation and songwriting values. The group possesses an edgy sound that combines raw, often dissonant guitar parts, driving drum lines, and melodic but tense vocals for a terrific set of songs. Make sure to check out this album, and don’t miss their show in… Union Square (!?) on July 21.

Take two brothers from the U.K. with some serious swagger and a multi-instrumentalist femme fatale from Los Angeles, and you already have an interesting recipe. Add soaring melodies, catchy lyrics, and explosive live performances, and you have a band with serious potential. That’s pretty much the case with Nightmare and The Cat. Besides, Sam and Django Stewart are the sons of Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and Bananarama’s Siobhan Fahey, so not only they have lived and breathed music since a very young age, but they also are pretty well connected in the business. They’ve recently wrapped up some talked about shows at SXSW, a residency at 3 Clubs, and a performance at Pamela Des Barres’ (author of “I‘m With The Band“) garden party in L.A. They’re in NYC at the moment, and I was lucky enough to hear about them just in time to catch their performance at Glasslands in Brooklyn.

From the moment Nightmare and The Cat hit the stage, saying “feel free to come closer”, the crowd was hanging on their every move. I immediately recognized the sex-charged dance moves of Django, and remembered the performances from his previous gigs with Django James and The Midnight Squires. But this was much different, more mature, more refined. Their music is a mixture of the upbeat sounds of Cold War Kids, the deep melodic vocals of Jeff Buckley, and the wailing guitars and attitude of The Pixies. After the encore(and we all know that an encore in Brooklyn is as hard to come by as the G train at night), kids were dancing onstage and it was one big party.

Nightmare and The Cat’s self-titled debut EP came out on July 12. Composed of 5 songs produced by Dan Burns (Surfer Blood, Andrew WK) and Glen Ballard (Alanis Morrisette, Dave Matthews Band), it’s the perfect mixture of youthful, danceable tracks, and spine-tingling harmonies that don’t miss a beat. There are 5 bonus live performance videos and some amazing album art from L.A.’s Gary Baseman as well, so pick it up! – Jenna Putnam

In support of a limited edition 7" recorded with the Kentucky rocker Mansions that is to be released on Tuesday, July 26th, Fences are gearing up to play a ten day tour.  The 7" was recorded in April at Avast Studios in Seattle, Washington.  The tour will kick off on July 22nd at the Capitol Hill Block Party.  The 7" will be for sale in select retail shops in Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Chicago, and Louisville, as well as being downloadable digitally through iTunes.  The Fences track on the split is called "Marketplace," and it’s a downbeat, self-deprecating, introspective slow-burner Fences have come to be known by and loved for.  

Fences and Mansions Tour:
Friday, July 22 – SEATTLE, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party Main Stage
Tuesday, July 26 – Split 7″ RELEASE DAY & In-store performance @ Sonic Boom Records in SEATTLE, WA
Friday, July 29 – TACOMA, WA @ Hell’s Kitchen
Saturday, July 30 – SPOKANE, WA @ A Club
Sunday, July 31 – MISSOULA, MT @ Top Hat
Tuesday, August 2 – SIOUX FALLS, SD @ Latitude 44
Wednesday, August 3 – FARGO, ND @ Aquarium
Thursday, August 4 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN @ 7th St Entry
Friday, August 5 – MADISON, WI @ High Noon
Saturday, August 6 – CHICAGO, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club (Official Lollapalooza After Party) w/Titus Andronicus
Sunday, August 7 – CHICAGO, IL @ Lollapalooza

On Thursday, July 14, Speaker Geeks presents the first of a new series of shows at the Studio at Webster Hall featuring the melodic surf-punk stylings of the ambiguously-punctuated Shark? the country-punk growl of the exclamatory Gunfight! (pictured while rocking out in the living room) and the blissed-out shoegazer pop of the un-punctuated Autodrone. Also on hand is DJ Steve Morehouse, who will spin between sets. The show begins at 6pm with an open bar ’til 7, so don’t be late!

I guess some musical genres are supposed to be enjoyed in the summer, and the ubiquitous "chill wave" is one of those…
After Woods released their sophomore album in June, it’s now Real Estate‘s turn to give us some new music: the NJ based band just announced that their new album, "Days" will be released in October. To get your chillaxation going they are streaming a track from the new album on their label’s website, here. Don’t miss their show at Celebrate Brooklyn in Prospect Park on July 23.