With an "anything goes" aesthetic reminiscent of Jeff Rosenstock’s DIY ska/punk collective Bomb the Music Industry! (but ten times noisier/weirder), Bronx’s No One and the Somebodies is an ambitious excercize in blending instrumental experimentation, punky vocals, and fun. Mathy tendencies, blended with or juxtaposed to uncoordinated melodies and slacking moments, come together to somehow build a sound that kinda makes sense, in particular for those music fans that are still in search of unusual music that defies categorizations. Not new to the scene, One and the Somebodies released their debut album in 2004, and their latest (a split album with Palberta) in the summer of 2015. You can see them live at Sunnyvale on March 1st.

Cornel West Theory’s “MR COLVIN (sir)” starts out with an attention grabbingly raw, expletive heavy introduction, segueing into a truly funky beat, just begging to have rhymes dropped over it. To this end, the group does not disappoint, delivering some hard and fast poetry over the beautiful instrumental track. In short, the first two minutes of the track are a slam dunk, truly cutting edge material; a great intro, an irresistibly funky beat, and smooth, hard flow.

Check out “Mr Colvin (sir)” by Cornel West Theory, from their album The T.A.B.L.E. TOO.

-Written by Michael Dranove

Our Best of NYC poll for Folk and Americana artist ended yesterday and the winners are in! 

READERS’ POLL WINNERS: THE NATIONAL RESERVE

Emerging New York City folksters, The National Reserve, who won the "popular vote," are mixing things up in the NYC scene by delivering a dose of much needed southern twang. Merging blues, rock, folk and country, their 2015 EP, "Easy Does It," is a solid slice of Americana, enriched by powerful and expressive vocals. Lead singer and guitarist, Sean Walsh, has this sort of storyteller voice that will rope you in and make you believe you are at a Honky Tonk in Nashville. Judging from their impressive 2016 live record, this is the kind of band you need to see on a stage, and you’ll have the opportunity to do just that on February 16 at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. (Lea Phillips)

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Folk/Americana songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

— 

OVERALL POLL CATEGORY WINNER (READERS + JURORS): MARGARET GLASPY

As you SHOULD know by now, there is also a winner of the composite chart for each category tackled in our polls. The composite chart also takes into account the votes of the local jurors (mostly bloggers and local venue bookers) who picked all the nominees in our list.

Sumptuous songwriter Margaret Glaspy is the winner of this category’s overall poll – we covered her already many times, and her album ‘Emotions and Math‘ made it in our "Best NYC Records of 2016 List" in our latest print issue.

—

We also need to mention Bailen, who was our Artist of the Month not long ago and placed second in the overall chart, with a high score both from the jury and the readers – well done guys!

— 

Here’s the list of all the finalists in the Folk/Americana category.

	Bailen		27%	113 votes
	Bellows		0%	3 votes
	Big Thief		2%	9 votes
	Cassandra Jenkins		0%	2 votes
	Don Dilego & the Touristas		0%	0 votes
	The End of America		0%	0 votes
	Howth		23%	97 votes
	Julia Haltigan		0%	2 votes
	Julian Lage		0%	2 votes
	Margaret Glaspy		3%	13 votes
	The National Reserve		35%	146 votes
	Swoon Lake		6%	25 votes
	Vagabon		0%	1 vote
	White Lighters		0%	3 votes

With the Woman’s March taking over just a few weeks ago, girl power is at its very high  – in NYC in particular – and a much needed force nowadays – anywhere in the world. Brooklyn trio Answering Machine expresses that power musically through bubbly yet kick ass punk pop that incorporates every type of emotion into one song (whether cheerful, woeful, or frantic). Check out their debut EP here and see them live at Sunnyvale on February 15th. – Jocelyn Huggler

Ladies and Gents,

We continue our Best of Austin Poll for Emerging Artists with the "Indie Rock/Pop" category, you can see (and vote for) any of the 13 finalist here.

Lots of great talent, check them all out!

The Folks at The Deli

After making a name for themselves with their 2015 debut LP “Heck No, Nancy”, DC two-piece The Obsessives are back with a music video for the song “Surfer Rosa” from their forthcoming self-titled second album.

True to the emo spirit, “Surfer Rosa” focuses on the cathartic expression of disappointments and shortcomings, opening up with the line, “Baby I can’t remember, the last time I pleased you”. But don’t get the wrong impression; far from being focused on doom and gloom, The Obsessives tackle their subject matter playfully.

Here’s “Surfer Rosa” from The Obsessives’ upcoming self-titled album.

-Written by Michael Dranove

Synth pop duo Mmeadows was born from two ribs of avant-folk collective Cuddle Magic (a band we praised several times in this blog). The project at this point in time has only released one original track, digitally, but its quality is noteworthy. ‘Reflector,’ streaming below, introduces us to Kristin Slipp’s crisp soprano, whose jazzy pop melodies draw unexpected lines through Cole Kamen-Green’s electronic production. The sound is organic and polished, but features a dark component that adds an intriguing touch of mystery to this song. The duo also released a cover of Sade’s memorable single ‘No Ordinary Love‘ available for streaming.

Deli Readers,

Every year, in the early months, The Deli polls several local "scenemakers" to ask their opinion about the best emerging Chicago based artists that got them excited in the previous year. We therefore list these artists on our local homepage, in a Readers’ Poll whose results contribute in deciding The Deli Chicago’s Artist of the Year.

In an effort to give you more time to check out all the nominated bands, this year we have decided to stretch the readers’ polls a little, and, instead of posting a huge list of artists all at once, we will activate one genre-related poll every five days or so.

We begin today with bands in the Revival Rock/Pop category! You can find the poll on the top right of our homepage and you can cast your vote here.

We see our yearly polls as a fun way to engage our readers and the artists involved, and we hope they will get both to discover new local bands deserving of attention.

The Folks at The Deli

P.S. To group all artists in these categories we had to "stretch" things a little for a few ones that didn’t precisely fit any of the wide musical umbrellas most other bands belonged to – we hope we can be forgiven for that.

Looking for a last-minute Valentine’s Day date idea? Here you go: Queens-based indie pop duo Imaginary Tricks plays Pianos in the Lower East Side on February 14th. Take a friend (or someone more than a friend) to hear catchy tunes from the group, who’ve opened for Dr. Dog and Jimmy Eat World, among others.

The band — led by Mike Visser — has quite a bit coming up in the weeks following their Pianos show. They head to SXSW in Austin, where they’ll play at Maggie Mae’s on March 16th. Then they’ll release a new record, "Skommel," on March 24th. You can stream a track from the record, titled "Bird", below. – Will Sisskind

Deli Readers,

Every year, in the early months, The Deli polls several local "scenemakers" to ask their opinion about the best emerging SF Bay Area based artists that got them excited in the previous year. We therefore list these artists on our local homepage, in a Readers’ Poll whose results contribute in deciding The Deli SF Bay Area’s Artist of the Year.

In an effort to give you more time to check out all the nominated bands, this year we have decided to stretch the readers’ polls a little, and, instead of posting a huge list of artists all at once, we will activate one genre-related poll every five days or so.

We begin today with bands in the Revival Rock/Pop category! You can find the poll on the top right of our homepage and you can cast your vote here.

We see our yearly polls as a fun way to engage our readers and the artists involved, and we hope they will get both to discover new local bands deserving of attention.

The Folks at The Deli

P.S. To group all artists in these categories we had to "stretch" things a little for a few ones that didn’t precisely fit any of the wide musical umbrellas most other bands belonged to – we hope we can be forgiven for that.

Describing themselves as “fiddle-infused pop/rock”, Richmond, VA band Griff’s Room Band has a tight and well thought out sound.  The songs are constructed with some care; with a solid rhythm section, good singing, and nice solos from the fiddle and guitar.  This is a band that sounds like it would be fun to see live.

Here’s Griff’s Room Band with the song “Tie Me Down”.

-Michael Dranove

We were glad to see Tom Petty’s name mentioned in the profile notes of NYC artist DL is OK, because we were going to mention it in this blurb, and sometimes artists don’t like their influences to be revealed (in particular when we get them wrong…) But, hey, there are a gazillion bands out there channeling The Ramones and Pavement, and some of them are nonetheless great and very original, just to say that influences means nothing. Point is, it’s actually very easy to be original and devastatingly boring, while writing a truly good song is a heck of a lot harder, even if you wear your influences on your sleeve. As far as Tom Petty is concerned, the man is incredibly underrated among emerging indie bands, so much so that hardly anybody seems interested in referencing his music. Truth is, he wrote some of the most timeless pop songs in the history of mainstream rock, without every sounding cheesy, forced or contrived. As far as we are concerned, we need more songwriters able to blend americana, pop and rock in earnest and memorable musical nuggets the way he could. DL is OK’s debut EP "Into the Flood" is a promising step in that direction – check out the titletrack below. The band just landed a residency at Pianos during the month of February, starting on the 7th.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Roots/Americana songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!