Last night, I think I got about as close to Brooklyn’s early 00’s punk mess as anyone these days should come. Before everyone started talking about this borough ad infinitum, there was the great and all-powerful Japanther representing, and last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg they came out in force to celebrate ten years underground, along with buddies Shellshag and Heavy Cream.
Now a decade old, they’re reaching middle age time, where they’ve become something of a reluctant institution. The hipster symbol of last night’s party, complete with a decades’ worth of silly string, telephone microphones, and a weird but enthusiastic stagediving hypeman with wooden wings on stage to remind us of why mosh pits still work for shows like this. While some members of the crowd looked a bit more grizzled after 10 years of hipster flag waving, Ian Vanek and Matt Reilly themselves still looked fresh out of Pratt, and their hour-plus set of exhausting, high-energy wailing dared anyone to count how many years it’s been since they formed way back in 2001.
Japanther haven’t given us a new LP in too long, (though Tut, Tut Shake Ya Butt still works in its weird little way) but the pair still do that messy party thing better than any of their peers. Their noisy bass/drum/Casio SK-1 combo worked great in my faves ‘She’s the One’ and ‘Surfin Coffin’. Happy ten years Japanther!!! – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)

P.S. Japanther in 2005 declined to be featured on the cover of The Deli. Asked to explain why, they answered: "It’s not our kind of thing, you know? We are not that good looking either… You should put a good looking band on the cover, like our friends Matt & Kim"

MIRROR MIRROR, the New York based duo of twisted sound-smiths David Riley and Ryan Lucero, is about to release "Interiors", the ten-song follow up to their debut album, "The Society for the Advancement of Inflammatory Consciousness". These Brooklynites offer some sonically adventurous avant-psych-pop that blurs the lines between epic and grotesque, while referencing a myriad of genres and influences (mostly situated between the 70s and the 80s). Amongst these we detect Brian Eno’s cerebral pop tunes from the "Taking Tiger Mountain" era, Peter Gabriel’s audacious avant-pop of the "So" period, King Crimson’s and Pink Floyd’s trippy and insane early 70s prog- and psych-rock, and the occasional reference to disco music. The 10 tracks, glued together by prominent buzzy synth lines, atmospheric keyboard pads, and guitars and vocals drenched in various effects (but mostly reverb), are filtered through a psychedelic lens that distorts the material in a way similar to what a curved mirror does to an image – or David Lynch to a story. Recorded in two parts, Interiors features the production work of Chris Coady (Beach House, Gang Gang Dance, Zola Jesus), who helped realize an expansive sound from Mirror Mirror’s home-studio recordings. The other album half, aided by Joshua da Costa’s live drumming, was produced by Thomas Asenault and Zeljko McMullen. Check out the album video teaser here. MIRROR MIRROR will perform live at the Ramiken Crucible exhibit on June 24.

The Denzels is a Brooklyn based band I heard about a couple weeks back and I caught their show at Glasslands last night. The quartet plays New York style garage pop-rock with a bit of a west coast undertone. The 2 songs they have available on their bandcamp have been on repeat on my ipod since I downloaded them. "Slow Death" is full of chiming guitars, reverb, and catchy harmonies. Upbeat yet cynical, it encourages the youthful enjoyment of life – with a (not too) eerie reminder that we’re all gonna die in the end. Perfect for the walk to the Bushwick L stop, "Montrose Next Door" is a song about a failed attempt at love, with lyrics accompanying transitional guitar riffs and pulsating drums pounding on the heart. The new material I saw live was very promising, so keep your ears open because The Denzels might soon start to break hearts all over Brooklyn. Their next show is at K & M Bar in Williamsburg this Friday! – Jenna Putnam (ex Deli LA editor whom we welcome to NYC!)

One of the things we keep hearing these days is that with the death of the record industry as we knew it nobody is doing artist development anymore. Although this is generally true, there still are some organizations out there committed to developing musical artists in the early stages of their professional careers. Ars Nova is one of them, and it’s currently showcasing the all NYC based "products" of the last few months of hard work through their "54/10 Music Marathon" fest, happening entirely at the 54 10th ave venue in Manhattan.
Ars Nova – also active in the development of comedy and theater acts – seems to have a keener eye for singer songwriters and artists with a theatrical attitude. The fest started yesterday (Tuesday June 14) with bold old time folksters The Tillers, eclectic rootsy quartet Roosvelt Dim, and delicate singer songwriter Rags Parkland. Today, June 15, Toys and Tiny Instruments (pictured) will showcase their peculiarly festive rootsy pop that’s perfectly described by their name, sharing the stage with singer songwriters Nick Blaemire and The Eclectic. The day after singer "rockwriter" Rebecca Hart will be joined by hilariously witty and masterfully jazzy Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra and delicate pop combo Blue Bottle Collection.
On Friday June 16 it’s male singer songwriter night with Rueben Chess, Freddy Hall and  Julian Peterson.
The gran finale on Saturday features artists more adventurous in the sonics department, including Unicornicopia (which could be described like a mix of Laurie Anderson and Fiona Apple), Clydesdale Erotic (an exercise in "electronica with soul") and conceptual artist/musician Omar Zublair

Memory Tapes will be embarking on a North American tour this summer in support of new album, Player Piano, out July 5th on Carpark. The band for these dates will be expanded from the previous duo of Memory Tapes main man Dayve Hawk and drummer Matt Maraldo. The band also just released this video for "Yes I Know" (Directed by Eric Epstein) – the song will be included in the upcoming record. Recorded at Dayve Hawk’s home studio in rural New Jersey, the motif for "Player Piano" was that it would be "keyboard-based psychedelic girl group songs, a sort of Motown suicide note" – and so it seems to be, although at a tempo much slower than your average Motown record.

Common Prayer‘s Jason Sebastian Russo was on the cover of The Deli’s issue #2 (back in 2005) as the front man of Hopewell. This parallel project, which debuted in 2010 with the album "There Is a Mountain" offers a rootsier sound, filled with banjos, fiddles and mandolins, that hasn’t much in common with Hopewell’s psych rock.
Russo has been tucked away recording the next album with a gamut of worthy collaborators, and to whet our appetites for what’s to come, the band has decided to release a new single on the new O+ Festival compilation CD of 2010 Artists: a cover of “Love → A Building on Fire” by the Talking Heads.

Mp3 Download: Common Prayer –  “Love → A Building on Fire”

NYC indie poppers Takka Takka will play a rather prestigious show at American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan on Friday (early) evening. They will be performing during the celebration/reception/party for the film "MAKE" (‘an intimate journey into the lives of four American self-taught artists’). Then on Saturday, singer/guitarist Gabe Levine’s (pictured) other project Gabriel & The Hounds will perform at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg as part of the Northside Festival in an all star show including Twin Sister, ‘Allo Darling, and Ava Luna.

The Mast is the new project of NYC based vocalist and guitarist Haale (in the picture) and drummer Matt Kilmer, who toured for two years with Haale’s band. Under that moniker they released a debut CD in 2008 and played over 250 shows, including Bonnaroo, Preservation Hall, and the David Byrne-curated series at Carnegie Hall. In 2010 they returned to Brooklyn where they built a studio and recorded "Wild Poppies", which will be released on June 21. Their new sound, reminiscent of a punchier, more tribal version of The Cocteau Twins, builds on Haale’s ethereal and dreamy vocals/melodies, and Kilmer’s rather aggressive and eclectic percussive work, open to all flavors of drums.

I’m not sure who Tommy is, but he’s been having a rough time recently. He hasn’t been picking up the phone, he’s bleeding everywhere, and that bitch called Destiny has broken his heart. Poor guy. But then, with this amazing an anthem to tell his story, how bad can things possibly be?
Theatrical arena rock (think Meatloaf, Queen, Muse) has never been the easiest thing to pull off. You go too far into theater and things get ridiculous, too far rock and it isn’t fun anymore… with Not Blood Paint, they got all your bases covered. Their new single clocks in at over 6 minutes, but that’s nothing compared to how many times you’ll be listening. It goes from bluesy confessional, to Brian May guitar theatrics, to a singalong of brotherly concern and back again. Recorded at their McKibbin loft home studios, this is a band that lives, breathes and eats their music as much as their own madness. Listening through to Tommy is as close as I’ve come to witnessing this band’s insanity, next to seeing them live. So enjoy, but don’t get too comfortable… they have a debut LP coming out soon, you may want to be careful walking alone late at night in Bushwick. – Mike Levine
Not Blood, Paint will play The Deli’s Northside show at Spike Hill on Saturday June 18 with Country Mice, The Ambassadors and Raccoon Fighter – more info here.

A gray Monday morning isn’t really ideal for rock’n’roll or other abrasive sounds, so we find it appropriate to start the new week with something soothing and even slightly dreamy. NYC based singer songwriter Lou-is – real name Louis Schefano – has been hustling in the NYC scene for quite some time, and is about to release a new full length this fall. He just released this song "Laura" for free download, which makes us look forward to the rest of the material.