THE DELI

Former Deli Album Of the Month WRITER return with their follow up full length album “Principle Web.” Out on Small Plates Records, the ten track long player can be acquired in either digital or the once again popular vinyl format. Current single “Neighborly” presents a hypnotic drum beat straight outta Creedence Clearwater Revivals 1968 hit “Suzie Q,” as buzzy, distorted guitar and bass hover on a singular note before moving into a three chord progression. Chanted vocals come delivered with a mantra-like “I love – all of you.” A full minute in and the vocal cadence quickens, delivering simple observations like “there’s a shortage of clean laundry, and a mound of plastic bags” with the following verse declaring “there’s a party” as well as “a new tree that was planted.” In place of where one might traditionally expect a guitar solo is a falsetto vocal melody, moving it all closer to David Lynch film soundtrack weirdness. Harder power rock guitar chords lead the charge towards an ending that conjures the sound of a car wreck explosion. The accompanying video directed by Brooklyn-based visual artist Paul Remund portrays moving images in stark black and white, distorted by a form of digital cubism. – Dave Cromwell

The Deli came up with the word "Avant-Indie" about a decade ago, and it’s proud of the fact that it stuck (at least to a certain degree!). The term was coined mostly because we didn’t feel comfortable using the loaded word ‘experimental’ for edgy indie bands. Also, since at the time NYC was experiencing an explosion of music that was truly pushing the envelope, we felt the need to create a word that could define that movement, which ended up giving us artists as relevant as Animal Collective, St. Vincent and Dirty Projectors, as separate from ‘regular indie rock.’ Rather heavy on the ear, those years were naturally followed by a period during which simpler musical revivals dominated our scene: the roots invasion of the early ’10s, the never obsolete garage rock NYC flavor, the ’80s synth-pop revival, the 90’s rock renaissance…). But ‘avant’ inclinations are ingrained in the Big Apple’s scene, and we are wondering if times are mature to give a renewed attention to acts that try their hardest to avoid the revival label. Brooklyn’s Twig Twig squarely belong to this category. Their debut EP ‘normal feelings,’ released this past March, doesn’t sound very… ‘normal,’ but still manages to be touching and sincere, and that’s a rare form of beauty. Employing a restrained sonic palette made of granular synth sounds, aloof vocals, and simple electronic drum sounds and patterns, the band excercises their ‘avant’ tendencies within a song format that employs melodies ranging from the poppy (like in remarkable ambient ballad ‘Fade Away,’ streaming) to the out there (as in single ‘Talk Go‘). Don’t miss their live show at Alphaville tonight (04.12) with other local forward looking bands Fieldings and Railings.

We have often pointed out how ladies (at least in NYC) appear to be slowly but surely taking over the electronic music scene – in particular its poppier current. A good example of this will be on display this coming Wednesday (04.13), when Mothica, Ela Minus, and Brooklyn born Lily McQueen (pictured) will be sharing the stage of Lower East Side’s Pianos. Of the three ladies on this bill, we’ll focus our attention on the one we’ve never covered before, Lily McQueen, whose debut, self titled and co-produced EP came out in mid 2015. In it, we hear musical and lyrical references to that particular kind of melodic electronic music of the ’80s that made its way into many popular teenage blockbusters of the time, but also some world music influences, as evident in our favorite single ‘You Are Not Read for My Love’ – streaming below.