"Its tough to be impartial when it comes to your friends art, so I’m not gonna even attempt to do that (and just ramble). I’ve known the gruesome two-some of Brendan and Peter for a few dog years or so, and I’ve seen the band consistently develop throughout this friendship puberty we’ve got goin’ on (whats with all this hair?). I’m two tracks in so far and I can say that THIS is their most impressive recording to date, and I wanna kiss them on their mouths. They managed to harness the uninhibited temper tantrum that we’ve come to expect of their live show on to tape. There’s the fuzzy guitar acrobatics cast alongside more focused, metal-meets-SST style drumming, both climaxing in unison, exploding angst-ridden love on all our faces. Well done dudes." -Russell Hymowitz – The Highway Gimps – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).
Congratulations to Junkyard Girls, Dark Circles, and Resident Scout – the three artists who were selected from Sonicbids for our Band of the Year Poll. Junkyard Girls (top picture) could be described as a darker, more ambient blend of Antony and the Johnsons; Dark Circles is a folk duo that could be compared to an equally as relaxing Jimmy Buffet, while Resident Scout (bottom picture) has more of an indie vibe, 90’s alternative thing going on with some ska thrown in to make things more interesting….like Foo Fighters meets Cold War Kids. It was a tough choice, but all three of these bands stood out to us with their originality. They will be moving on to the next stage, as well as the ten bands who were selected in the Open Submissions category last week. Keep checking back for developments with our Best of Nashville Emerging Artists Poll! – Erin Manning
We started publishing the results of the open submissions for our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll. As we received about 500 submissions we decided to organize the rating process by genre. As things are getting a little scattered around the site we though it might be useful to gather all the links to the various result blurbs in one place on top of our NYC site – here we go:
Portland OR Indie Pop quartet Derby will be releasing their new record, "Madeline", in mid-February. It will be a digital release (available everywhere music is sold digitally!), along with a limited edition 7” vinyl record featuring two of the songs, "Don’t Believe In You" and "One’s A Lonely One". Derby is feeling invigorated and you can surely tell in these new recordings. The band approached "Madeline" with an increased degree of spontaneity and impulse. This “act first, think about it later” attitude gave them a new-found freedom in recording music, resulting in a fresh, new sound for the band. Derby’s new material departs from the well-orchestrated pop of their sophomore release Posters Fade — which created buzz on college radio and gained visibility with placements in Coca-Cola commercials, MTV’s The Hills and a variety of film and commercial exposure. – Veronica Medici
Sorry we were late with the Indie Rock results from the Open Submissions to our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll – our server went down yesterday afternoon leaving us half the way through the job.
Ah, indie, indie, isn’t that a word we all love? We were happy to see Bear Hands (who graced the cover of our summer issue) submit to our poll (this should be an example to all bands of how there should be no end in your career to seeking promotion and opportunities for exposure). And well, the guys swept this category, followed (not too closely in terms of ratings) by two very promising emerging rockers: Devin Therriault ( who plays at The Mercury Lounge on 10.13) and Steve Shiffman & The Land of No. In the top picture, Bear Hands hold the beautiful Deli Trophy during the imaginary celebration for their win.
Categories: INDIE ROCK, POST PUNK
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Austin, Washington DC and Philadelphia Editors
Dede’s breakout song, “My Secret Sweet” induces nostalgia for childhood Saturday- afternoon-play-time with the neighbors – and brings to mind one of our favorite British band of the aughts, Broadcast. Maybe it’s the “chopsticks” piano chords on repeat, or the chimes cuing the her suggestion, “let’s play pretend.” Or is it the hand clapping, or her sweet, almost adolescent voice? It could be the fact that her appearance draws comparisons to Allison Wonderland, or her name sounds like a child’s first word. Either way, the youthful overtones of her music don’t imply juvenile musical skill. Our strong desire to reminisce upon hearing her songs is a result of expert composition and intuition as to what sounds people are uncontrollably drawn to. – Katie Bennett
Waking Lights’ music immediately jumps out at you: it’s catchy, stomping, energetic and head bobbing inducing. Their songs contain both rock and folk elements, sometimes alternating between the two while still retaining their unforgettable feel. Waking Lights is based in New Jersey and playing New York venues frequently. Their music stays in your head long after their songs have ended, so be sure to check them out at Bruars Falls on January 8! – Leah Tribbett
Shake the Baron reels you in from the start, the music danceable without losing the alternative rock sound and the lyrics (sample: “I’m not much good at changing/I’m afraid of the cold rush time against my feet” from “Rest of Reaction”) just as impressive. Their self-titled debut displays the band’s talent for layering harmonies and creating an unmistakably good vibe throughout. Though the band only formed three years ago – 2007, while all four members attended college in Connecticut – their debut has the polished, established feel of a sophomore or junior album. Shake the Baron’s sound is particularly catchy, and sure to spark many toes tapping and heads bobbing across the city. They play live at Spike Hill tonight (January 7)! – Leah Tribbett
High-energy,vocals, aggressive guitar, imposing drumbeats, and a bass-line so thick you could walk across it, MiniBoone know how to start a party. Essentially kids sporting facial hair and square-rimmed glasses, the members of MiniBoonehaven’t forgotten the day when Weezer used to produce power-pop anthems and Blink 182 would jump around on stage and yell throughout their entire set. And neither have their fans: the band’s scored a line-up of gigs along the east coast an beyond, as a result of acclaim for their debut EP, “Big Changes” (Drug Front Records). See them live at Brooklyn Bowl on january 18. – Katie Bennett
In selecting the nominees for our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll from the Songwriter category we decided to be a little more generous, because many of the jurors from venues playing acoustic music we contacted (like Rockwood and Pete’s Candy Store) didn’t cast a vote for some reason. The ladies kinda trashed the gentlemen in this category (our jurors – for the record – were a boy and a girl). Thumbs up to Amber Rubarth (middle picture) and Bird Call (top picture), who tied on top of the chart, and blonde duo Lucius, who came close third. They all had an average rating above 8.
Category: Singer Songwriters
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Chicago and New England Editors
1. Amber Rubarth – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
1. Bird Call – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
3. Lucius – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
We have a strong suspicion that Reverb Nation is "stealing" our musical genres – after incorporating the Deli-invented "Mellow Core", we noticed they are now also using our "Avant-Indie" category. It’s all good, as long as we get the credit in the "History of Indie Music Journalism" books to come!
But anyway, with the word "Avant-Indie" we refer to artists like Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear that push the indie "envelop" without venturing in 100% experimental territory (because here the word "experimental" next to "music" makes us think about Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, John Zorn etc. etc. – not indie artists). Electro rockers Arpline conquered the first position here by some distance, and will therefore join the other nominated artists for the final phase of our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll.
Categories: Avant Indie + Electro Rock
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Chicago and SF Editors
The "race" for the Alt Folk section of our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll was extremely close and this makes us suffer – the 7 bands in the top 3 positions (5 of them tied on 3rd) all averaged ratings equal to or above 8 out of 10. Due to limited spots we can only take the top two bands to the next phase of the poll: Pearl and the Beard (top picture) and their heartfelt and perfectly harmonized folk, and HUFF THIS! and their sparse and atmospheric songs.
Categories: ALT FOLK
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Chicago and Philadelphia Editors
Results for the Indie Pop open submissions to our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll are in! Curiously enough, the two top artists represent two opposite extremes of our pop scene: The Loom (top picture) won this category with their percussive, abrasive and home crafted orchestral pop, closely followed by Danish import Oh Land and her sophisticated and richly textured pop. Check out the other bands in the top 10, there are some real gems in there, sorry we won’t be able to take them further in our Best New Music of NYC Poll.
Categories: Indie Pop, Orchestral Pop, Mellow Core
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli LA, Nashville and Philadelphia Editors
1. The Loom – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
2. Oh Land – NOMINATED FOR THE NEXT PHASE
The Chance gained the most votes for the DC/Baltimore based artists that submitted to be considered for our Best of DC/Baltimore Poll 2010. They will therefore access the next stage of our poll.
The current alternative rock duo the Chance have been making regular treks up to NYC recording a new EP due to be released in the very near future. This will be the followup to their previous release Dimensions that received awesome critic praise; “…this is an incredibly full and almost epic sound with a lot of ambience and intricate composition.” Matt Stabley, NBC4. “…an expansive sound that melds vocals that are both brooding and forceful…” Crispin Knott, Roll Magazine.“The four tracks on “Dimensions” are sonically challenging and equally fulfilling.” Robert Fulton, OnTap Magazine.
This category gathers pretty much all the NYC Year End Poll submissions we received outside the rock and and folk realms. Disco duo French Horn Rebellion earned the top spot (and nomination for the next round) with their groovy and somewhat cheeky reinterpretation of the dancefloor sound of the 80s. Kudos to Infernal Devices and Gangstagrass who were strong runner ups.
Categories: HIP HOP, DANCE, REGGAE, WORLD, OTHER
Region: NYC + NJ + Long Island
Jurors: Deli Chicago and Philadelphia Editors
