As you all should be aware by now, The Deli’s mission is to give local artists free exposure and opportunities. Recently Stratosphere Sound, the Chelsea based recording studio owned by Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha and Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, gave The Deli readers the opportunity to win a FULL DAY of free studio time (there will be more, so stay tuned!). Grammy winning producer Geoff Sanoff (the studio’s chief engineer who worked with Secret Machines, Nada Surf, and Obits among others) volunteered to engineer/produce these sessions for free – adding value to a package now worth around $2k. We can now announce that the winners of this second studio time giveaway (chosen directly by the Stratosphere Sound’s staff) are indie rockers Steel Phantoms – congrats! Stratosphere Sound has a 30% discount on their studio rates for all those who will mention The Deli until the end of September.

Fans of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits’ may want to check out Peg Simone, a New York based singer songwriter who colors her (and at times somebody else’s) stories with searing slide guitar and her smokey, sultry voice. Peg will be celebrating the CD release of her most recent album, Secrets From The Storm (Radium/Table of the Elements). Collaborator Holly Anderson will open reading some of her prose poems that inspired Peg’s darkest songs. Alt. guitar stalwart Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine, Lemonheads) will then play a meticulously rendered set of his songs, followed by Peg who’ll play all the songs from Secrets and then be joined by downtown legendary drummer Jonathan Kane (Swans) to perform the album’s epic opener "1927/Levee.”

Hooray for Earth truly has a lot to cheer about. Not only is the band debuting its EP at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on Tuesday 06.01, but it is also opening – that same night – for Brit indie rock group and labelmates, The Futureheads (both are signed to Dovecote Records). To top it all off, Hooray for Earth will be touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Surfer Blood well into June. Hooray for Earth, that calls both Boston and NYC home, will debut the EP, "Momo," that showcases their synth-heavy, chilled-but-somewhat-experimental pop, that brings to mind a slightly less quirky version of unforgettable Beta Band.

Gogol Bordello (currently #3 in our Popularity charts – orange list on the left) are the living proof that, to get big in NYC, it’s not necessary to wear skinny jeans. These guys, that look and sound like a bunch of gypsies, have slowly worked their way to become one of the most popular NYC acts. The band cooks up an exotic and flashy melting pot of genres rooted in rock, gypsy, punk, and cabaret, intensifying the international essence of NY. The group’s fifth release, “Trans-Continental Hustle,” is hyper, innovative, and busy, and the band shows no restraint as their outrageously colorful personality is thrown at listeners. Exceptional tracks include vivacious “Pala Tute,” frenetic “Mi Companjera,” tempestuous “Rebellious Love,” and tender “Sun Is On My Side,” which combine flamenco guitar, playful fiddling, and riotous rhythms to create a universally uplifting, spirited, and danceable sound. Vocalist Eugene Hütz brings an unusual style that borders on yodeling and snarling, contributing the most distinct traits to Gogol Bordello’s cross-pollination of musical genres. The band will be playing with Primus at the Williamsburg Waterfront on July 30. –Meijin Bruttomesso 

Brooklyn duo The Hundred in the Hands have premiered a video for new track ‘Tom Tom’ (directed by Ben Crook) today at the Fader, as well as giving away the track “Ghosts” (the first song the duo ever wrote together as The Hundred in the Hands) at their website. Both tracks are taken from their EP This Desert, released last week. The band follow the EP with a slew of worldwide tour dates and festival slots, kick-starting things with a US tour in June supporting Golden Filter before moving through Europe and the UK towards the release of their debut album in the Autumn.

Indie heartthrob lovers were swooning Tuesday night at The Depreciation Guild‘s release party for their new album "Spirit Youth" which came out on May 18th on Brooklyn Label Kanine Records. The crowd was full of post-pubescent hipsters rocking out to the sounds of The Depreciation’s new record which was played in it’s entirety that night. The band debuted a new 4th member on bass/keys who managed to squeeze in some modest stage presence looming over their 8-bit Nintendo’s flashing power LED on and off throughout the night. The Famicon bleeped emo electronics throughout their set blending with the soft guitar sounds. As their onstage excitement escalated on to the night’s end, the crowd responded eagerly with bouncing heads bobs and wailing fist pumps to round out a night of innocent fun for the Brooklyn youth scene. – Simon Heggie

New York’s Penguin Prison is far from waddling and awkward. In fact, Chris Glover (vocals, instruments, production), who operates under the alias "Penguin Prison," has developed a smooth, gliding, and sleek sound with the company of notable electronic/pop artists, including members of Holy Ghost and Longpigs. Together they fashion electro-pop dance tracks that would suit club scenes from the underground to the chic, by melding synthesizer loops, computerized blips and bleeps, and disco levity. The bubblegum EP title track, "The Worse It Gets," dreamy techno-beats and falsetto-vocals of "Something I’m Not," and singles, a playful and sing-song-y "Animal Animal," and an infectiously bouncy "A Funny Thing", demonstrate Penguin Prison’s natural instincts for effervescent, danceable compositions. As a re-mixer for other artists’ tunes, such as Marina and the Diamonds’ "I Am Not a Robot" and Goldfrapp’s "Rocket," Penguin Prison adds an airy groove to select tracks and transforms them to complement a party atmosphere. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso’s interview with Chris Glover here.

Jacques Detergent is the band that wrote the soundtrack to the imaginary lo-fi, indie version of the James Bond film series – unless you think the "Pink Panther" series filled that gap. The Brooklyn based quartet, who played at Cameo during The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest, has a knack for suspenseful quirky instrumental tunes. Read Simon Heggie’s interview with the band here.

Here’s Bear Hands‘ video of the song "What a Drag" – we likey! The band will play Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 29.

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel and DJs).

A Rose Parade fosters a Lynchian world with its cinematic, dream-like music sequences. With her soulful and sultry vocals, Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum and !!! fame fronts a collective of musicians including Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio that produces detailed flourishes that meld into a surreal, genre-bending universe. In this constellation of colliding musical archetypes, dark, experimental pop tunes successfully co-exist with country-tinged, rolling folk songs. Although A Rose Parade only formed during the latter part of last year, the band has earned opening slots for the likes of Kaki King and tUnE-yArDs. -Nancy Chow

This is a brand new video by Nada Surf. The band release an album of covers a few weeks ago, this song entitled "electrocution" by Bill Fox, who was the lead singer and guitarist of the late 80s three-piece Cleveland, Ohio, garage pop band The Mice.

We have a real weakness for Kaiser Cartel, a band that is truly able to warm our hearts with their gentle and intimate folk pop, and which will celebrate the release their new album "Secret Transit" at Joe’s Pub on June 8. BUT… they did something that cannot not be mentioned! Here it come Kaiser Cartel people – you asked for it!!!

I often wonder if the format of a band name can really have any influence on its popularity of or any other related factor (the usual answer I give myself to this question is: "uhm…no.") Bands contact me all the time because they want their names to be printed in all caps or all lower case, or a weird combination of the two (like "sTickLiPs"). My first reaction is "DUUUUUDE…" followed immediately by: "…ok, I will fix it because I care!"
This kind of stuff happens so often that I got used to it… but then a band takes the whole thing to the next level: I remember distinctly being contacted by the Kaiser Cartel guys last year while we were promoting their appearence at the Best of NYC Fest 2009 – they asked me to fix the spelling of their band name by removing the space between their two last names: "it’s KaiserCartel, not Kaiser Cartel". Sure, counterintuitive – but ok, there you go: fixed. Then one year later (today) I get an email from a PR person promoting Kaiser Cartel’s (WITH THE BLOODY SPACE!) new album. I ask for "space confirmation", and I get it – WHA??? No dudes, you can’t do this to me.
Now, to ensure that this will never happen again with any other band, I officially ask KC to answer these questions in our comment section below:
1. Why did you initially decide to go without a space?
2. Why did you subsequently decide to get rid of the lack of space? (uh, yeah, that’s what happened, right?).
3. What was your fans’ reaction to this change?
The world needs to know. – PDG