THE DELI

Sixties garage and seventies power-pop are ubiquitous these days, in particular in the NYC scene. Jersey City’s Low Doses (who made the list of our best emerging Revival Pop/Rock NYC Artists of 2015) play them straightforward, deviating little; they rely on catchy hooks, hand-claps, and lines like “If I could, you know I would stop thinking about you” to subvert the modern cynic and be idiosyncratic. It works. The band has two shows at the Monty Hall scheduled on July 16th. – Dave Cromwell

In the spring of 2015 we got really into Nigerian, NYC based electronic-soul chanteuse Oyinda‘s debut EP ‘Before the Fall‘ (single ‘What Still Remains" in particular). After a few months spent under the radar, Oyinda re-emerged in early 2016 with a string of shows and two new tracks that, again, marry her soulful vocals with moody, edgy electronic arrangements. Our favorite one is ‘Never Enough’ (streamiing below), a complex, dark and tense downtempo featuring antithetical elements like experimental programming and call and response vocals. More recent single ‘Flatline‘ – as suggested by the title – is a more linear R’n’B ballad. Both songs will be included in Oyinda’s upcoming EP ‘Restless Minds,’ out on June 10th.

It doesn’t seem too often that a band today tackles the dissolution not of a romance but of a friendship. That is just what Brooklyn self-described “folk music band meets ensemble” Goldfeather does, however, on “Spilled Milk” (streaming below), the bluegrass-girded lead single off its forthcoming debut LP ‘Patchwork Quilt.’ Starting with choral swells that perhaps lament the story of friends come and gone that follows, the poignant (even in its title) track is striking and laudable in its potentially underused subject matter: the aching absence of a one-time confidante. ‘Patchwork Quilt’ is scheduled for a September 2016 release, and Goldfeather is scheduled to play Park Slope’s Barbes on June 9th. – Zach Weg