NYC bands and artists,

Make Music New York  is a unique festival of free concerts in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City, all on Monday, June 21st, the first day of summer. MMNY takes place simultaneously with similar festivities in more than 327 cities around the world — a global celebration of music making.

Spike Hill – the bar / music venue in the middle of Williamsburg’s busy Bedford Ave – will have an outdoor concert starting at 2pm and is looking for NYC bands to headline the festival from 8pm till close. Other bands will also play inside Spike Hill, with the venue’s doors open to the street to pipe live music straight to the street crowds.

If you are interested in submitting your band for this event please sign up here. – artists will be selected by the Spike Hill promoters, not by Deli staff.

P.S. As this is a free event, there isn’t a budget for performing bands, but a tip jar will be passed around the crowd after each performance to gather some money for the artists performing.

The Deli’s Staff
www.thedelimagazine.com

When you think of the city of Singapore you’re not likely to conjure up thoughts of early 90’s shoegaze/stoner/noise/dream-pop. Yet that is in fact where the band Stellarium hails from. Their debut album combines shoegaze textures (and attitude) with shredding, bombastic, noise assault guitars. Opening track "Any Day Is Fine," immediately hit our eardrums with a barrage of guitars that shriek, wail and churn with controlled chaos. Multiple layers swirl and feedback, melding together in a beautiful synchronicity of hazy sonics. "Chocolate & Strawberry" is a driving piece that redefines the "fuzz bass" sound. A Place To Bury Strangers’ Jono Mofo would be proud. “Harbinger” sets a deep reverb echo to its cautionary tale about war. Exploding into a gorgeous wash of sound, straddling the lines between heaven and hell. “Fader” employs a rising sonic effect giving the sensation of your head “lifting off.” Stellarium show musical sophistication with their tempo changes within songs. The over 8 minute “final” track on the album – “Dead Nebula culminates in a shredding dual guitar attack. For the final 4 minutes it’s nothing but this – what’s not to love? – Dave Cromwell

El Jezel sparked when George and Dan randomly met at house parties in Massachusetts years back and discovered that they actually only lived a town away from each other. Both eventually linked up with Jessica about ten years ago, which led to playing open mic sessions in downtown Manhattan and ultimately the three formed a band. Recently performing along the East Coast, El Jezel brews bigger plans for its new EP due to release this Spring and desires more extensive tours, although they always value the importance of intimate settings for live shows. – Read Gina Alioto interview with the band here.

Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears are frightening only in their unmatched energy and dynamics, both live and on record. The quintet’s recently debuted “Mad Valentines EP” showcases mastermind songwriting by Bryan Scary (Lead vocals, Keyboard) and his shredding tears, Mike Acreman (Vocals, Keyboard), David Ostrem (Vocals, Bass), Graham Norwood (Vocals, Guitar), and Paul Amorese (Drums). In six outstanding tracks, these Brooklynites pack in operatic vocals and dramatic delivery, and mix theatrical enthusiasm with glam and power-pop, creating a whimsical sound that is elaborate, entertaining, and borderline frantic. After fully sampling what the “Mad Valentines EP” accomplishes, it is hard to imagine the songs’ complexity recreated on stage, but Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears erase any doubt and even outperform expectations. Choice tracks, “Andromeda’s Eyes,” “(It’s a) Gambler’s Wind,” and “Bye Bye Babylon” take listeners on a ride through “Scaryville” and showcase BSST’s top-notch compositions. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso’s interview with Bryan here.

Now in its fourth year, New York City Popfest has highlighted numerous indie-pop bands from around the world and more importantly local. Since its inception it’s produced bands such as The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and The Drums who have now gone to international stardom. This year, the fest will highlight long time veterans and fresh new acts, including Deli’s recent CD of the month The Secret History. The 4 day fest will start on Thursday May 20 with a show at Cake Shop involving two NYC acts that deserve attention, catchy The World Atlas (in the picture), that could be appropriately called NYC’s own Belle and Sebastian, and Dream Diary, operating on similar acoustic and dreamy musical coordinates.

This is one of those bands that make boys and girls fall in love (with each other and with their music, of course). The Naked Hearts are a not-entirely-bass-less rock duo (live, the bass exists as if by magic even if nobody is playing it, as we have personally witnessed!) which offer some extremely well crafted, melancholic, guitar indie-pop.
Amy Cooper (guitar and vocals) and Noah Wheeler (drums and vocals) are obvious musical soul mates – their voices perfectly complement each other, their songwriting is well integrated, and their performances are flawlessly tight. The simplicity of their guitar pop formula and the clean rock production may be reminiscent of The Strokes, but the main ingredients of their music (songwriting and overall mood in particular) make this debut a completely different beast.
"Mass Hysteria" exists in a musical limbo floating between Belly’s hyper-melancholic psych pop ("Way I See You", "Dark Shade"), the more straightforward and up-beat guitar pop of Juliana Hatfield and PJ Harvey circa 1992 ("Boyfriend"), and the obvious Nirvana influences ("Call Me", "Mass Hysteria").
Of course, The Naked Hearts don’t have the angst that characterized all grunge bands – but it’s their generation that seems to lack that trait. Almost surprisingly, instead, the band uses that genre’s musical signature and fills it with some sort of innocence that instills a refreshing quality. Maybe this is the way the unavoidable, almost due by now grunge revival will sneak back to our ears? The record has at least two singles with noteworthy potential: "Like I Do" and "Mass Hysteria" – true pop gems that build up and open up with harmonized choruses exactly the way we like it – this is stuff that could also work on the dance floor. Is there anything better than dancing intensely to an emotional rocking song, after all?
Don’t miss their free live show at 3rd ward on May 22.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. When he heard Homeboy Sandman’s album he realized he’d had it too easy. About three years ago, Homeboy Sand stormed the NYC underground scene attending pretty much every open mic in the city—sometimes two or three a night. His hypnotic, tongue-twisting rhymes and unorthodox beat selection earned him an immediate distinction among his peers. With his third release “The Good Sun” (HighWaterMusic), Homeboy Sand shines with a warm, earnest delivery that reflects his ferocious drive and contemplative nature. His energy pulses through the tracks as he stretches and bends his words around every snap and pop. It’s the type of album that you listen to and wish he was there listening with you so you could high-five him after each track. He’ll be celebrating the release on June 1st at SOBs. Be prepared to spend most of the night frantically hopping around with your hands in the air. – BrokeMC

Eytan and the Embassy play that kind of pop music that throws you back to the 50s – something Elvis Costello was very good at, although these guys’ opreation is more literal, almost revivalist. It’s music that wears its light and fun emotions on its sleeve. Their CD release party at Mercury Lounge on 05.29 should be fun.

Hurricane Bells is a new indie rock project from Longwave’s Steve Schiltz. Vagrant Records released their debut album Tonight Is The Ghost digitally towards the end of 2009. Since then the band has gained momentum. The show at Mercury Lounge on May 22nd will be the last one of their East West Coast, that kept them busy for the last two weeks – recommended show.

Chris Cubeta and co. left this message in our Open Blog: "Back at our favorite room in NYC for a 4 week residency. We have wonderful guests playing before and after us each week and… every week there will be 50 limited edition copies of a new recording. We are starting work on our new record this Summer and in anticipation of that we will be giving away some new songs, some old songs and maybe a cover or two. I have also been told that a certain G Daniel Lanzetta III might show up on video… " The two dates left are on May 19 and 25. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). 

Hey, have you met The Depreciation Guild? You may already be acquainted with vocalist/guitarist Kurt Feldman and guitarist Christoph Hochheim’s other band, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. A lot has happened since The Depreciation Guild released its debut album, “In Her Gentle Jaws” in the fall of 2007. Initially available as a free download, “In Her Gentle Jaws” was picked up by Kanine Records, who signed the band and released the remastered album on CD and vinyl last year. The band added a live drummer, Anton Hochheim, and has trekked across the country and beyond with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Cymbals Eat Guitars, School of Seven Bells and most recently, Norwegian noise rockers Serena-Maneesh.
The Depreciation Guild returns strong with a mature, pensive sophomore album, “Spirit Youth.” While the Famicom is more apparent in “In Her Gentle Jaws,” the more subtle use of the gaming system’s oscillating beeps shifts the band closer to dream pop than to 8-bit music. Recorded during the summer of last year, “Spirit Youth” yields a slicker coat of production helmed by Telefon Tel Aviv’s Joshua Eustis. The richer album is a seamless collection of melodious tunes adorned with lush, amorous guitars and striking drums. The lovelorn lyrics, sonic evocation of dream pop bands of yesteryear and sounds of the Nintendo that have long been muffled and neglected in closets leave listeners with a sense of longing for the days of our youth. Celebrate the release of “Spirit Youth,” which drops on May 18, at the band’s record release show with Wild Nothing and Braids at the Knitting Factory on May 25. P.S. This is the video of the song "Nautilus", from their debut CD, songs from upcoming album can be streamed here. – Nancy Chow

In the summer we all need a record to chillax to, don’t we? The music of Miniature Tiger, who will be releasing their sophomore album "Fortress" in late July, seems to have all the right requirements to be the soundtrack of our battery recharging moments. The band has a song produced by Neon Indian currently streaming on Stereogum – but we recommend you also check out their older material on their myspace page, there are some beautiful pop gems in these guys’ repertoire.