Chosen for the "Top Six" in Billboard Magazine’s Indie World Series and opening a show for rock legend Ben Folds in the same year, Chris Merrit is a stand-out performer, having played hundreds of shows across the U.S. and Japan. His music blends the sounds of piano-driven rock, pop, rhythm and blues with personal stories of love-at-first-sight, his best friend’s sister, and being homesick to physics, corrupt governments and Miss Pacman. With plenty of wit and humor that’s distinctively his own, Merritt’s "voice and delivery draw you in to find out what happens next." – The Washington Post. Catch him tickling the ivories at The Sullivan Hall on 04.15 and at The Bitter End on Thursday, June 3rd at 9pm, with NYC piano pop songstress Shannon Corey. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Emerging NYC based electro rock trio Brahms just announced at Pianos for 3 weeks in may and June with an exciting line up including – among others – Bell, Gordon Voidwell, Das Racist and Class Actress.

Gathered around a table at Macri Park, the five amiable members of North Highlands reflect on their whirlwind experience since the band’s inception in May. At their three-month mark, they had written and recorded a six-song EP that they have likened to a Chili’s sample starter platter for its eclectic nature. By October, they booked an unofficial CMJ show that drew a mesmerized crowd, who raved about it seconds later, thanks to the Internet. In December, they played an uncomfortably packed show at the Cake Shop and acquired a van to gear up for a future tour. – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here.

Dustin Payseur’s cloudy voice over his soft surfer rock guitar is classic. Classic in the sense that it transcends any sort of trendy indie music movement that at this point has become tired and formulaic. Beach Fossils is a refreshing revisit to the lo-fi quality music of 60s rock. The record could easily be a found treasure from your father’s old stored away box of vinyls. The so cal vibe mixes well with Dustin’s distorted vocals and makes for sincere, oft sad songs that remain lively with a pinch of pop. – Read Chloe Schildhause’s interview with the band here. Beach Fossils will headline the Deli’s Best of NYC Fest show at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday May 13.

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list here (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).

Since in 2010 the 80s are officially the new 70s, in the upcoming years we can expect a lot of artists influenced by the sound of the most controversial of decades. Light Asylum present themselves as the answer to the re-emergence of "New Romantics" – who were rather reserved, black wearing types who danced to electro-goth tunes served by the likes of early Ultravox, Depeche Mode and – dare we say – Nick Kershaw. The band’s sonic signature is so strongly grounded in the sound of the 80s that the word "revival" might seems appropriate here, although the Williamsburg duo’s eerie vocals steer away from the more commercial and familiar stereotypes of the genre, referring instead to its darker and deeply troubled fathers like Diamanda Galas, Dead Can Dance and Bauhaus. Don’t miss their intense live performances.

So this review was supposed to be published on a sunny spring day, but it’s really gray out there. That might be a good thing nevertheless, because Mama Bear‘s "How We Go" is probably going to make some of you think of happy sunny days spent outdoors. Yeah, I know: it seems like every April all music reviewers MUST find their own album or song that perfectly incarnates the most enjoyable of seasons. Well we’ll embrace this habit fearlessly, and go ahead and say that Mama Bear is the perfect band to boost your appreciation of Spring 2010 – and that they stole our hearts. The band’s upbeat, folky tunes are catchy as hell, without lacking in intensity or intimacy, which makes them sound like a more fun and lighthearted version of 10,000 Maniacs. The simplicity and pop effectiveness of this band’s songs, the beauty of the melodies and Vivi’s outstanding voice and delivery might have the power to put an end to your SAD syndrome – for good. Don’t miss their record release party at The Studio at Webster on 04.14, AND… DOWNLOAD THE EP FOR FREE HERE NOW!

We were big fans of the Nanuchka’s theatrical pop – but then they split up. The band’s Israeli lead singer and multi instrumentalist Yula Beeri is now going the solo way with an album that (apparently) was not only recorded but also written in just 24 hours – now that’s what we call being extremely productive! On her side ex Blue Man Isaac Gardner and a bunch of talented musicians that call themselves "the Extended Family". Yula’s histrionic qualities are once again confirmed in the breathtaking – almost ska – single Back Off America. The release party of the CD (entitled "Dark Side of The Bee") promises to be entertaining – don’t miss it: April 23 at Santos Party House.

Steel Train is a cool NJ based avant-pop band that has been around for awhile but for some reason hasn’t been detected by our music radars until now. We like their openly pop songwriting contaminated by schizophrenic arrangements – which skillfully and playfully quote and juxtapose all sorts of musical references. In "Turnpike Ghost" for example, the preview track from their 5th release out in June, the band’s post/punk approach (reminiscent of some sort of Animal Collective/Clash hybrid) meets David Bowie’s attitude and dramatic delivery, and Queen’s wacky epic changes and guitar solos. The band will release a 7" limited edition vinyl of this song with a b-side cover of BULLETPROOF (by La Roux) for this year’s installment of Record Store Day (April 17th.) Currently on tour, Steel Train will be back live in NJ on April 30 for the Hoodwink Festival.

Freelance Whales don’t need any more introductions – here’s their first video of the song "Generator 2nd Floor". The band will release their debut CD on April 13 and play a sold out Bowery show that same night.

We’ve been following Mike Grubb’s Wakey!Wakey! project develop over the years through the various phases (from his solo beginnings to the current full band orchestration) and we are happy to see the man is finally reaping the benefits of all his hard work. Wakey!Wakey! play a mixture of orchestral pop and alt rock that speaks to the heart. Driven by the piano, the band’s songs develop in many different directions, sometimes flirting with the emotional intensity a’ la Coldplay, other times building up a more playful, bouncy approach reminiscent of early Elton John or pre–Broadway Billy Joel. You can catch the band "e-live" (attention, we will copyright this term!) on Facebook every Monday at 8pm until May 17, and "real-live" at the Bowery on May 20th.

We receive and gladly publish a message from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, presenting the new single "Say No to Love", which will be released digitally in early June:

"Just a quick update form the land of Pains to let you know what we’ve been up to. 2009 was so amazing, and 2010 is shaping up to be even better. We had so much fun touring Japan, Australia and New Zealand in February and in June we’ll be touring the US to support our new single coming out on Slumberland Records, "Say No to Love." Joining us will be two of our favorite new bands, Surfer Blood and Hooray for Earth. After that, it’s back home to New York to start making our next record!
In many ways, "Say No to Love" is pretty Pains-by-numbers. It’s got 3 chords, a fuzz pedal and lots of feelings. But instead of recording in the basement like we did for our album and both EPs, we recorded in an actual studio (Stratosphere Sound in New York). We tried hard to make it sound, as Peggy would say, "life affirming" and we’re pretty excited about how it turned out. We hope you are too. Oh, and before I forget– sea foam green vinyl!!! Thanks!!! – Kip, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Here at The Deli we have organized our very first Metal show – it was right about time after 5 years of live indieness and folkyness. We have a lineup of exciting (and of course loud local artists), including, SOS, the band of the man that writes pretty much all our metal reviews (Mike SOS).
Check out the line-up and come over next week to the Studio at Webster Hall to blast your ear drums with us – yay!

07.45 SOS
08.30 Ruby Bullet
09.15 Thinning The Herd
10.00 Descender
11.00 Wizardry