Folk singer, Deli favorite and all ‘round decent gal Julie Peel has been spreading her sound around Europe as of late, but will be returning to the US for a clutch of shows this month and next, three of which take place in New York. For the uninitiated, Peel pens charming folk-pop songs, driven by thick strums on her acoustic guitar, cheerful arrangements and a voice that is sultry and soulful. Don Miss the 11.15 show at Union Hall in Park Slope. – Dean Van Nguyen

Hailing from Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Impossible Hair have been quietly constructing pop songs, conspicuously jumping up and down on stages, and convincing rooms of people that it’s OK to move at rock’n’roll show.

As is to be expected from a horse racing record, their latest release, Toast a Dozen (on the outside), is a high-energy, fast-paced affair with fifteen songs flying by in just over thirty minutes. Song titles like “High Official,” “The Girl & the Echo” and “White Knuckle Flyer” would seem as at home on a Preakness Stakes exacta as they do on the back of this record.

“The band’s sound hearkens back to those indie rock glory days of the ‘90s, but with more precision than disheveledness; think hi-fi Guided By Voices production…” – Washington Post

Hooray for Earth crafts a sonic galaxy of varied synthpop tunes with a rock ‘n’ roll flair on its latest EP Momo. The six celestial songs on the EP demonstrate that the band has come light-years from its Boston origins. On Momo, the band reduced the weighty, noisy drone that was pervasive on its self-titled album and Cellphone EP to welcome a lighter, mellower fare that elevates listeners to a higher plane. The euphoric “Surround By Your Friends” sets the tone of the EP with its expansive, sprightly synths and transcendent vocals that greets listeners with open arms. Although the EP is more pop-oriented than its predecessors, on “Comfortable, Comparable,” the band doesn’t pass up on the opportunity to shred and the quick turn in style works in its favor. The quartet really excels in assembling builds to fantastic, epic releases that feels like you’re racing through space, and at the end of the song, you’ve finally arrived at your destination: Earth. – Don’t miss the band at one of their residency shows at Pianos on November 10, 17 and 24. – Nancy Chow

Independent minds and hearts,

Today we are launching The Deli Washington / Baltimore!

Another awesome US scene has its own Deli – hurrah! Please let your musical friends based in that area know about it!

The Deli’s Staff
www.thedelimagazine.com

After entering the studio in October 2009 to begin work on their third full-length album, Brooklyn’s Robbers on High Street are finally getting ready to release "Hey There Golden Hair." While the veterans of the band, Morgan King (bass, vocals), Steven Mercado (guitar, vocals) and frontman Ben Trokan still remain, they have been playing as a five-piece for the last three years with drummer Mikey Post and keyboardist David Sherman. Produced by Trokan with engineer Matt Shane (Flight of the Conchords, Rosanne Cash), this was the current line-up’s first foray into a proper recording session, drawing little help from the outside save that of a horn section borrowed from the Daptone House of Soul. You can catch Robbers on High Street playing their newest songs at The Rock Shop on Nov. 13 and at Bowery Electric on Nov. 23.

On the eve of Saturday 11.06 some seriously ground (and ass) shaking low frequencies are scheduled to affect the area around 289 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg when a bunch of electro-dance bands including French Horn Rebellion, Tigersapien and Phonetag will take the stage at Glasslands. We covered FHR in more than one occasion, so we’ll spend a few words for Tigersapien (pictured), a NYC-Philly based quartet that offers some pretty dark electro-dance, that – simplifying – could be described as a "Daft Punked" version of Prodigy.Wear thick socks if you are planning on attending! Advance tickets here.

"Heart In Your Heartbreak" is the first preview from the new album, "Heart In Your Heartbreak", due for release in March 2011, check it out!

CMJ can be overwhelming, even from just looking at the schedule. Not to mention how disappointed we get when we realize we physically cannot make it to all the shows we want to. This year, The Morning After Pills blog took a bit of an alternative route and sought out unofficial showcases during the week. Isn’t it fun discovering great bands that don’t even make it on CMJ’s radar? How underground of us. From the unofficial bands we saw, we picked three winners, who all happened to play on the same night.

First is Automelodi, Wierd Records’ French-Canadian coldwave band. Led by front man Xavier Paradis, the band is one of our favorite current synth bands and amazing to see live. Check out their beautiful self-titled LP and you will hear hints of New Romanticism.

Dream Affair is another great band of a similar caliber. Listening to singer Hayden Payne’s voice, it’s hard to miss the similarities to post-punk’s early favorites like Joy Division. Look out for their 7" to be released late winter/early spring on Five Three Dial Tone Records.

Lastly, we had the pleasure of seeing YOU., a three-piece who plays electronic dance-invoking goodness in an other-worldly fashion. Find their music on Blind Prophet Records – it’s unlike anything you’ve heard before. – Kristen Yoonsoo Kim

Nyle made headlines a couple years back when Kanye put his “Let the beat build” video up on his blog. Since then, the kid has been everywhere from the Brooklyn Hip Hop Fest to MTV. His crowd is mostly 20-somethings thanks to his gratuitous nods to NYU (his alma mater), but his talent and energy are undeniable. Old school flavors and an amazing live band quickly morph his shows into sweaty dance pits. Nyle says: “I’m handling rappers like a lifestyles factory. Used to be Screech now I’m feeling like Zachary Banks like Carlton and Ashley’s. Nah, actually I’m Jazzy banging Hillary or Shaggy shagging Daphne. I’m the underdog that finally gets the girl: Cory from boy meets world, or Doug doing Patti. I’m nasty; 5 percenters call me blasphemy. I cause more catastrophe than a natural disaster scene.” – BrokeMC

Avant-and-or-compositional-rock band Kayo Dot is about to embark upon a Northeast U.S. and Canada tour in support of their new EP, "Stained Glass", which is a long, floating, vibraphone-centric distortion cloud representing a Luciferian musical journey across the colorful windows of a cathedral. They are also celebrating the vinyl release of their last album, "Coyote". You’ll be able to see them in NYC at Littlefield on 11.14.

This band was referred to me by a… I guess we can say "colleague" during CMJ week (I have a big list here of referred local artists, hopefully I’ll be able to cover them all one at a time). Computer Magic is the synth-pop brainchild of a young lady called Danz, who is accompanied live by two dudes on guitar and bass and, of course, a drum machine. This one-woman-band’s tunes, blessed by interesting dark melodies, are at once atmospheric and playful, and sound a little like an early 80s version of Air. Our favorite song – "Get a Job" – sounds like an electronic, sans-Robert Smith version of The Cure from the "Killing an Arab" period with droney, filtered female vocals. Equally satisfying, "Victory Gin" offers a full on 80s style synth arrangement that threw us back to the good old days when Simple Minds was an awesome emerging electro-rock band (if you feel nostalgic I recommend listening to "Life in a Day").

Here’s the video from punksters The So So Glos‘ single entitled "Fred Astaire". See the band live on 11.13 at Death by Audio.