In the Nineties, one of the things I could have sworn on was that there would have never been an 80s dance revival – how naive of me. I was a rocker into The Pixies and Nine Inch Nails of course, and lack of distorted guitars in music bothered me as much as sugary falsetto melodies sung by guys. In the meantime, while I was at home alone recording distorted guitars on my 4 tracks, the majority of the human beings out there was actually partying to the sound of… the dance hits of the 70s and 80s! Yes, the perception of a lone rocker can be extremely flawed, and dance music from that period in reality has always been extremely popluar. But French Horn Rebellion somehow managed to bring that sound to the indie hipster crowd, through their ironic attitude matched by a really authentic vibe and really good songs. If you around for CMJ, mark October 23 at Santos Party House.

Tuesday, September 14 was a guitar-centric evening at New York’s Terminal 5. For one, Slash was headlining the sold out show, and yes, some Guns’n’Roses tracks were performed! Hand selected openers and emerging act, TAB the Band, held their own against the blessed-by-fame dude, as they filled the 3,000-person capacity venue with raucous rock tracks, biting guitar riffs, and an air of humor. TAB jumped into high gear with “The House of El Ron” and barely took breaks as they pressed on with songs from their January release, “Zoo Noises:” “Bought and Sold,” “Run Away,” “She Said No (I Love You),” and “Lookin’ Pretty, Pretty,” which was featured on HBO’s “Entourage.” “Sticky Wickets “Little Water,” and “Heavy Idea,” the “oldies,” drew in the crowd, amping them up for the two-plus hour Slash extravaganza. www.TABtheBand.com – Meijin Bruttomesso

The Art of Shooting’s music presents the question: The lady or the tiger? The quartet’s melodramatic indie rock swings through a pendulum of extreme moods. Kelly Irene Corson’s voice can be deceptively sweet in one instance and then become rough in the next with the rest of the band following suit. This is most evident in “The Birdcage,” which volleys through this juxtaposition with ease. The band evokes comparisons to Rainer Maria and Bettie Serveert for their strong female frontwomen that can play both the lady and the tiger cards without batting a lash. It will be interesting to see this eminently electric band play an intimate (acoustic?) set at Rockwood Music Hall on 10.07. You can also catch them at CMJ on 10.19 at The Alphabet Lounge. – Nancy Chow

Family Records’ Pearl and the Beard are back with a new EP. This charming trio (featured in The Deli’s Best of NYC 2009 year End Poll) plays folk pop enriched by spotless male-female 3 part harmonies and cello parts. Now when we say "spotless" we mean that these guys can really sing and perfectly harmonize with each other, which is like a rare blessing – yeah because that’s how angels sing, right? You can witness this in this live video they recorded to promote the CD. You can also stream their album here. Don’t miss the CD release party at The Living Room on 09.24!

Interesting and unconventional bill Saturday night at Googie’s Lounge (above The Living Room). Performing will be multi-instrumentalist, Phil “Philthy” Lassiter (pictured), whose blend of soul, R&B, funk, and everything else has earned him the description “the lovechild of Andre 3000 and Aretha Franklin, with James Brown laying down the blessing.” Lassiter has been primarily recognized as one of the premier horn section arrangers in the music business — (he even scooped up 3 Grammy Awards from his work with a number of different multi-platinum artists like Timbaland, Regina Belle, and Kirk Franklin) — and it wasn’t until recently that Lassiter moved to New York from Nashville, TN and began playing his solo material, so his performance is highly anticipated. The sounds of Dominic Sinesio are equally as varied, drawing from classic 70’s rock, jazz, and soul, a la Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder, to overtones of 80’s-era Sting. Opening for the two New York-based artists will be talented Nashville singer/songwriter (and Deli Nashville Editor) Erin Manning, with her rather unique vaudeville-meets-rock style.

Hey we’ve got a really edgy band from NJ here called Brick+Mortar – in this song they sound a little bit like one of the crazier tunes of (super-awesome, now defunct) Soul Coughing, with more urgent vocals. The rest of their repertoire is slightly more "straight" synth based kinda lyrical post punk with an unpredictable twist.If you live nearby, you can check them out at the Starland Ballroom in Sayre

Featuring members of Cordero, Sparklehorse and Pere Ubu, And The Wiremen‘s take on sleepy, warm, indie rock with jazz inflections manages to mesh 1920s Berlin, the East Village of 1960, Southern blues, Latin Carnival rhythms and the eclectic vibe of modern day Brooklyn, making for some fresh, interesting music for audiophiles with grown-up taste. Front man Lynn Wright’s vocals are as across the board as his influences, sometimes invoking the likes of Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and post-Zeppelin Robert Plant. ATW’s signature track, "Sleep," with its bittersweet romantic nature and melancholy horns, conjures up images of rain-drenched, black-and-white breakup scenes, perfect for those who love some "hurts-so-good" musical heartache. The band will play a show at Zebulon on 09.22 with Kris Gruen.

Electronic/Rock band Shy Child are releasing their fourth full length CD, "Liquid Love," today in the U.S. It’s been three years since the last release, during which Shy Child temporarily moved to the UK playing festivals and clubs in Europe, and performing also in various South American countries. Recently on an East coast tour with Canadian electronic outfit Dragonette, the band is now back in NYC to celebrate the release of "Liquid Love" at Pianos on 9.29 with Gigantic Music labelmates (also NYC based), Your Youth, who just dropped an EP.i Abigail Devora

This must have been around for some time, but I just found out about it… Besides the hilariousness of this song/video by Brooklyn’s Fall on Your Sound (ex members of The Rinse), this reminds me a lot of Orb’s unforgettable "Little Funny Clouds" – with the difference that the sampling here also includes the video, for an added kick.

Michaela Anne grew up as a modern day gypsy – traveling the American terrain as well as abroad. Now planted firmly in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn she has found a city and band to realize her music, resembling the diversity of her upbringing as a traveling child of the military. Based strongly in Americana tradition, Michaela’s music evokes the ever-changing landscape of American life blending country, blues and folk with heartfelt, honest lyrics and a powerful vocal delivery. Her debut album "To Know Where" is due out in early 2011. "Taken Away" features guitar and vocals from one of New York’s leading Bluegrass musician Michael Daves. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

We just got this message directly by Yeah Yeah Yeahs through Todd P’s mailing list:

"Spank You Very Much 10 YYYears Anniversary Show Happy Birthday YYYS!

This week marks 10 years since YYYs played our first small club show in the big city! Our birthday wish is to play a show as small or smaller than back in the day and get NOSTALGIC with our friends Todd P and Secret Project Mighty Robot September 22. So dust off your Machine EPs or maybe give Yeah New York! a whirl because we’re digging up some oldies but goodies, heavy on the early catalogue. It’s back to basics, just the three of us and a couple hundred of you. Accommodations will be tight so we’d like to apologize in advance to those who want to be there but don’t get in, we thank you for humoring us with this selfish wish to make it so puny!
Talk Normal will be popping off the festivities and Barry London will spin us through the breaks. Looking forward to bashing up this birthdayyy with you!!

Luv,

YYYs"

ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE 2NITE 9/21 6PM-8PM -ONLY- @ SECRET PROJECT ROBOT (River St & Metropolitan Ave entrance) $20 advance, no tickets @ the door – 2 ticket limit – must present ID to purchase.

Sleigh Bells and their saturated Techno-Rock literally took the NYC scene by storm towards the end of 2009, and since then have been enjoying what seems to be an ever growing hype, also because of the interest of like-minded UK artist M.I.A., who signed them to her label. The duo has finally released their first official video – a very lo budget thing for the single "Infinity Guitars". I believe it was shot in the rather squalid industrial area of Red Hook between Ikea and Fairway – feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. Funny because if you turn the corner there you are presented with some of the my favorite buildings in NYC (the big warehouses by the sea). I guess they were going for "ugly industrial surroundings" here. The band is about to embark on a US tour with NYC electro stalwarts LCD Soundsystem and will entirely skip the CMJ Marathon this year.