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 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).

Not all power trios are fast paced and noisy: many El Jezel‘s songs take their time to build, through atmospheric instrumental intros, sparse sonic brushes of effected guitars and whispered vocals. The result is some kind of Post Rock that’s ready to explode into memorable melodic and/or noisy, shoegazy openings . The project 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 be released in the next few months. – Gina Alioto

The problem in coming to grips with success often involves the backlash to critical reaction, and Keepaway – exploding onto the Brooklyn scene this year after a 9/10 review from recurrent tastemaker Pitchfork – are no strangers to listener skepticism. But with songs comprising a central guitar, a hard-synth edge, and whirligig percussion, something lies beneath the surface of Keepaway that sets them apart: maybe it’s the narrative quality to their songs, or the darker aspect of their tunes that only gets hinted at, or it could have to do with the sheer exuberance the three possess. Whatever it is, the attention is deserved. – Read Dale W. Eisinger’s interview with the band here.

A rag-tag witches brew of rowdy ramblers, five-time offenders, and filthy fiddlers, The Defibulators don’t shy from putting it all on the line. While greased-up pop sensations and corporate crooners spill out of Nashville by the dozens, this Brooklyn band mines the classics—Scruggs, Cash, Williams, Acuff and Wynette—and irresponsibly mixes them with jet fuel from the future. The resulting cocktail should be banned in fifty states because it’s high in proof that the thunderclap of rebellion and righteousness is alive and well. This isn’t weird science—this is true country music. And it goes by the name of The Defibulators. – Read Chris Nelson’s interview with the band here.

Jersey-based Like Trains & Taxis have just released their debut album “Tales From A Revolving Door” and are in the middle of a full US tour. Preferring to play unconventional venues like art galleries and living rooms, Like Trains & Taxis focuses on quality songwriting through a sound that here at the Deli we call Alt-Soul (see our NYC Alt Soul chart here – these guys will be in it soon). Lead singer Chris Harris guides the band with his sultry vocal and piano lines, through songs that evoke both the soul of Stevie Wonder and the offbeat nuanced approach of bands like Ben Folds Five.

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 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).

Savoir Adore ‘s 14-track LP, “Into The Wooded Forest” comes out of the gate strong, with a wide array of musical styles from exquisite harmonies set to a smooth march to electric percussion with a beat that instantly makes you want to move. The duo who comprise Savoir Faire, Deidre and Paul, have made an outstanding collaborative effort, weaving synthpop, indie rock, and organic lyrics that show they are not naïve to the music scene or the fans who follow them. Their songs are authentic in nature, humble in deliverance, and strong in performance, making their first full-length album a solid jumping off point for this imaginative, Brooklyn-based group.– CM

Electronic duo Javelin – already Deli CD of the month in May 2009 – are one of the most original things we stumbled upon recently. The band, signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop, will be celebrating the release of their debut CD on that label on April 22 with a party at Santos Party House. These guys are getting a lot of attention, do not miss.

Rachel Sage just released her 9th solo album – and from listening to the new songs our impression is that her music is getting better with every release. The new album bears an art-rock sound reminiscent of Kate Bush and Tori Amos, while lyrically the songs reflect Sage’s mature sense of perspective, earned after a decade on the road, living without a true ‘home’. This past year, she made a conscious decision to reestablish her roots, solidify her relationships, and bring balance to her untethered life. The result is ‘Delancey Street’.
Rachel will play several East Coast dates in the next few weeks, an return to NYC for a live appearance at Joe’s Pub on May 11.

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 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).

The trip-laden tactics and garishly galactic effects dispersed by Brooklyn’s very own psychedelic delight Naam require either a lot of patience or a handful of hallucinogens in order to fully absorb the fertile flow laid down on this group’s self-titled 10-track Tee Pee Records debut. Containing an abundance of blues-soaked swirls of mystical hard rock with its fair share of acid-induced reflective moments strewn in, Naam’s presentation is dipped in distortion and drenched in reverb, blending lengthy tribal doom movements with periods of sedated and meditative drone elements that encompass your entire headspace long after the final note is played. Secure with a sense of spirituality that propels Naam’s rocket ride towards the outer limits, this trio’s righteously sprawling musical projections showcase the lush qualities typical of praise songs from Eastern philosophies with a barrage of sinewy rock darting around the extreme spectrum without landing in one place for too long to create a head-spinning and soul-reaching array of transcendental goodness. – Mike SOS

This is a video intense Monday: Here’s Cruel Black Dove‘s debut one. The electro-goth band is currently playing a residency at Fontana, don’t miss their next show on 04.20 with The Danvilles (featuring members of The Bravery).

We are having trouble understanding the concept behind this video, but we like the song. LCD Soundsystem‘s new CD "This is Happening" will be released in the US on May 18th.

It’s a mystery to us how true rockers Earl Greyhound haven’t been playing arenas after releasing the soul ripping single ‘SOS’ back in 2007. Sometimes things take longer than expected, but the trio is back with a new album, a new single and a 2 month tour with OK Go that is surely bound to raise their profile.

The "No Wave" movement was a seminal, mostly NYC based avant garde musical phenomenon from the late 70’s and early 80’s devoted to sonic nihilism, i.e. lack of structure, lack of melodies, and interest for noise, atonal textures and repetitive rhythms. From this point of view, it can be seen as an important link in NYC’s traditional interest for noise applied to, following Lou Reed’s experience with the Velvet Underground and Metal Machine Music and preceding Sonic Youth’s noise rock saga. The No Wave movement was rather short lived and had its peak with the release of a Brian Eno curated "No New York" compilation album in 1978. Many of the current avant-garde NYC heroes began their career in one of those no wave bands, including John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, and Bill Laswell amongst others. Brainchild of New York drummer/producer Anton Fier (in the picture), The Golden Palominos are one of the original No Wave bands. After more than two decades they are reuniting to perform live at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on Friday May 7th. The show will feature the “Syd Straw era” Palominos, which spanned the years 1985-1987, during which time the band recorded the albums Visions of Excess and Blast of Silence. The lineup includes some other NYC stalwarts like Jim Campilongo and Tony Maimone. Don’t miss this show!