On March 4, Greenwich Village’s Players Theatre bustled with feathers and glitter for the “Masquerade Ball,” the first of CitizenMusic’s Theatre Shows. Verona, NJ’s Old Wives, a jazzy, soulful quintet, brought sway to the sold-out venue with swanky sass. Although seating was available, the audience was uncontainable, especially when The Shake appeared. Masked and made-up, the quartet blasted through an explosive set, accompanied by confetti cannons, noise-makers, and a slinky dancer, armed with flashlights for their final “Got No Soul.” Brooklyn’s Black Taxi energized the audience to a climax, as masqueraders formed a fire-hazard in the aisles, dancing to new tunes and released favorites. Despite some first-night sound jitters, the music set the bar high for the subsequent shows.

 “Prohibition Night” commenced copacetically with the bees’ knees, Black Taxi. The joint encouraged viewers to stay put, but rules at a rock show proved baloney as flappers and bootleggers moved stage front. Apollo Run, donning fedoras and suspenders, captivated with nuanced vocal range and powerful lead keyboard.  Finishing their set, the trio mingled and serenaded admirers from atop the arms of the theater seats. Milo and the Fuzz (in the picture), another band of three cool cats, played with mature confidence and put on the Ritz, wrapping with a swell performance.

The finale, “PoMo Night,” featured an anything-goes theme with outfits that would normally not leave the house. New Madrid cleverly fused Spanish and English lyrics, engaged the bizarrely dressed with adrenaline-infused rock, and flung souvenir spiders during “La Araña.” Toy Soldiers, out-of-towners from Philadelphia, brought a classic, rootsy vibe that left listeners swooning. Still standing, Black Taxi amped up the pace with perfected sound and were cheered on for multiple encores. As the imaginary curtain closed and reopened, the leading men from the entire production reunited for a celebratory bow before an exeunt omnes.  The Theatre Shows’ all-around success promises a repeat of the event and proves that New York is home to pre-eminent music. – Meijin Bruttomesso

Admittedly, The Deli hasn’t given much love to The Hundred in the Hands this far. But the Brooklyn based electro-rock duo was obviously on the radar of super awesome British label Warp, that recently signed them. Their debut single, entitled "Dressed in Dresden" will be released in early April – followed by an EP and later on by a full length album. Don’t miss their show at Santos Party House on April 6 with James Fucking Friedman, Max Pask, Jacques Renault and The Rapture (DJ set).

Charles Burst was probably the main force behind psych rock quartet The Occasion, with whom he sang and played the drums – the band was featured on the cover of our 5th print issue in 2006. His solo material – less dreamy and more folky – seems made to be performed at the most intimate and pretty of the small Williamsburg venues: Pete’s Candy’s Store. Free show there on March 8.

The Candles is Josh Lattanzi’s band. Josh has toured with Ben Kweller, Albert Hammond Jr, Tinted Windows, among others and is now stepping out on his own. His music combines elements of the 70s and 90s, creating a sound that will find fans amongst those who like Jackson Browne, Wilco and Lemonhead’s Evan Dando, for whom he will open on March 18 at The Ale House in Austin during SXSW.

We’ve always liked Chris Garneau‘s unique, quirky orchestral ballads. After releasing his sophomore album "El Radio" Chris released this beautiful video of the single "Fireflies" and recently announced a 5 dates residency at The Living Room (every Tuesday in March). The video was shot by a crew of only five people over the course of five days, who traveled hundreds of miles from Sequoia National Park, to Yosemite, to Death Valley and everywhere in between, filming it with limited resources, Shooting mostly guerrilla style. Garneau was outfitted with home-made rigging and equipment to create the specific look and feel of the "Fireflies" video… which is a play on the famous Nintendo game "Legend Of Zelda".

NYC’s hip hop party-crashing kings The Beatards are back with a brand new video! "Get Lite" is the B-side off their latest single "Don’t Step On My Sneakers" and gives a taste of what to expect on their upcoming self-released full length "Worldwide" which will be coming out later this spring. You can catch them live at the video release party Weds March 10th at Beauty Bar NYC (show at 11pm) or at SXSW (peep the myspace page for show details). – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Like their friends Matt and Kim, Ninjasonik have been building their fan base through incessant DIY action, mostly based on a super fun live show involving a highly danceable brand of electro-punk-hip-hop. The band is finally about to release their debut album in the spring, and everything seems to indicate that these Ninjas will soon be conquering lands and ears beyond the NYC limits. "Art School Girls" (this is the CD’s promising title) features guest appearances from Matt and Kim, Team Robespierre, and Vivian Girls. If this wasn’t enough to give credibility to the project, what about this? Their next NYC show is at The Museum of Natural History (with The Very Best) on March 13. Electro-punk-hip-hop at the Museum of Natural History??

Here’s the story of The Bundles‘  from their myspace page: "In February 2001 New York performer/comic book artist Jeffrey Lewis was living in Austin, Texas for a few months and then-Moldy Peach Kimya Dawson came to visit him. During that visitation week they made up five songs with Jeffrey on guitar and Kimya on keyboards. In 2002, when Kimya had launched her solo career and was touring Germany along with the Jeffrey Lewis Band, those same five songs expanded into full band songs with the addition of Jeffrey’s brother/bandmate Jack Lewis on bass and Anders Griffen (known for his work with jazz great Frank Lowe and Regina Spektor) on drums. One night while playing in a cold, clammy basement venue, all bundled up in sweaters, hats and scarves, the nascent band became known as The Bundles; Jack and Anders soon got in on the writing of some new songs too. Years passed, during which Jeffrey and Jack released five acclaimed records on Rough Trade, Anders drummed and toured with the likes of Dufus, John Ludington, and Diane Cluck, and Kimya stormed the world, touring constantly with 6 solo albums, and recently celebrating the Grammy-winning Juno movie soundtrack. Despite the heavy creative schedules of all involved, The Bundles continued to be resurrected in unlikely times and places wherever in the world the members happened to cross paths. Eventually in February 2009 the four congregated to make some full-band Bundles recordings at the Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia, Washington. With troubadour Karl Blau, originally only signed on as session engineer, they recorded some of the pre-existing songs, along with some new ones that all five starting writing together on the spot. On the last night of recording a couple dozen members of the Olympia Free Choir joined them in the studio as well. So on one hand, their debut album The Bundles [KLP214] took just a few days to write and record, on the other hand it took eight years! Will we hear from them again before 2018?"
Well, the record was released a few weeks ago!

NYC might be famous for bringing to the masses bands like Blondie and The Strokes, but it’s the experimental core of its scene that keeps it edgy and forward looking. Brooklyn based rather young veterans Growing (yeah because when one says "veterans" everybody tends to think about 50 years olds acting like teens…) are back with their 8th album of sonic experimentations, entitled "PUMPS!!" and out on Vice record in early April. The band’s music is mostly an instrumental carpet of layered sounds, a beatless drone that slowly evolves, hypnotically. The trio will play Coco 66 on april 6th, date that will kick start their US tour that will bring them from Vermont to Seattle, then down to Santa Cruz and back home through Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. A month and a half on the road!

Brooklyn artist Class Actress recently debuted the video for their song "Journal of Ardency" on Pitchfork TV. The title track off their recently-released debut EP, the video stars Elizabeth Harper herself and is directed by Patrick Cleandenim. Class Actress’ debut EP, bearing the same title as this song, has just been released on Terrible Records, owned by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor.

Molly Shea and Jason Krauber, the creative core of New York’s buzzworthy Acrylics, employ an expansive palette of sonic colors and textures not frequently associated with the noisemakers and trendsetters of Bushwick and Williamsburg. The band has been providing a contrast to lo-fi hipsteria by crafting a sound influenced more by radio-friendly 1970’s pop-rock and less by a desire to induce ear-bleeding in audience members. Their first release, a five-ditty EP entitled All of the Fire, was recorded in a church and produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, almost instantaneously earning them significant local street cred and building interest for a follow-up LP. – Read Toney Palumbo’s interview with the band here.

Motel Motel‘s raw, emotional brand of indie-infested country rock creates the insatiable need to wear a cowboy hat, drink coffee and strut down the New York streets with a slight attitude. The band’s tunes breath new life into the idea of Americana, yet smack of the angular garage rock of The Strokes as well as older folk acts such as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Dylan. The honesty that comes rising from the blazing guitar, keys and chameleon-esque vocals, fills the songs with a feeling of desire and camaraderie. There is a humbleness and openness that allows the listener to feel comfort in every song and, instead of a wailing wall of noise, the band comes out plodding sweetly and gives the listener the impression that there’s more where that came from. – Read Lauren Piper’s Q&A with the band here.