Deli Lovers,

Our infamous Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists has been – as usual – a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results! In case you are not aware, the winner of this poll end up on the cover of our Spring Issue of The Deli! Last year it was Porches. The year before Big Ups.

And the winner is…

1. ACID DAD
Our jury of NYC scenesters converged towards this quartet of young Brooklyn residents devoted to a modern, "shoegazi-er" reinterpretation of the psychedelic garage rock sound of the ’80s – a rather obscure wave that had NYC as its epicenter thanks to legendary – and still very much active – bands like The Fleshtones and The Fuzztones. Through songwriting that tames the outdated bluesy overtones typical of those pioneers in favor of poppier melodies, these guys may have found the recipe to bring psych-garage out of the underground. Check out their latest single "Fool’s Gold," from their upcoming EP, scheduled for a late February release. Oh and yes: you’ll see these guys on the cover of the Spring Issue of The Deli NYC!

2. DONNA MISSAL
The jurors who voted for New Jersey’s soul rocker Donna Missal swear she’s gonna be a star. Now, that’s rare, because anybody employed full time in the record industry is perfectly aware of how slim those chances are. But listening to this young lady’s two debut singles – both released at the end of 2015 and immediately gone viral – it’s very hard to disagree with them: great songs, incredible energy, powerful, pitch perfect vocals, production that’s dark and edgy without being too weird for the mainstream; and – what’s crucial these days – stage presence and actual vocal prowess.We are sold!

3. HONDURAS
Channeling similar influences as this poll’s winners, but in more sober, post punk-influenced ways, the guys in Honduras have the NYC running in their blood (and sound). 2015 marked the release of their very well received debut LP "Rituals," and because of it, although they haven’t gotten to tour in their moniker-lending country just yet (which would certainly be a sign of world wide fame!), they landed a series of high profile gigs and got a ton of press out of it, with this very blog being second to none in that department. They are set to tour with Deli darlings Sunflower Beans in the spring. Don’t miss the two of them at Bowery Ballroom on February 25th. Here’s a new single from their upcoming EP, entitled "Hollywood" and recently premiered by none other legendary British publication NME.

Check out our poll’s top thirty below, and don’t forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT FOLK – ALT ROCK – ALT SOUL – DREAM POP – ELECTRONIC – HIP HOP/OTHER – INDIE POP – INDIE/POST PUNK – PSYCH/SHOEGAZE – SLACKER ROCK – REVIVAL POP/ROCK – SOUL

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING NYC ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS – TOP THIRTY ******

ARTIST J OS W R TOT   1 Acid Dad 8.5   1 0.012 9.512 2 Donna Missal 6.5   1 0.002 7.502 3 Honduras 5.5   1 0.022 6.522 4 Lewis Del Mar 6.5     0.003 6.503 5 The Mystery Lights 4.5   1 0.121 5.621 6 Born Cages 3 2   0.009 5.009 7 Buscabulla 3   2 0.002 5.002 8 Pam Steebler   2.5   2.019 4.519 9 Sunflower Bean 4.5     0.006 4.506 10 Lawrence 3.5     0.77 4.27 11 Pavo Pavo 3   1 0.01 4.01 12 The New Tarot   3 1 0 4 13 Dayan   2.5 1 0.229 3.729 14 Alexia Bontempo 3     0.563 3.563 15 Howard 3.5     0.004 3.504 16 RANN   1.5   1.985 3.485 17 Kevin Garrett 3     0.243 3.243 18 Girls on Grass 2   1 0.179 3.179 19 Janelle Kroll 3     0.153 3.153 20 PMS and The Moodswings 3     0.128 3.128 21 Strange Names 2   1 0.124 3.124 22 CAFUNÉ   3   0.077 3.077 23 Mobile Steam Unit 3     0.048 3.048 24 Amy Leon 3     0.038 3.038 25 surf rock is dead   2 1 0.035 3.035 26 Pink Mexico 3     0.024 3.024 27 EVVY 3     0.014 3.014 28 Yours Are the Only Ears 3     0.011 3.011 29 LVL Up 3     0.01 3.01 30 Belle Mare   3   0.004 3.004 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 20+ NYC scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open to the genres we cover, from Indie Rock to Roots Music, from electronic to Hip Hop (no jazz, no seriously experimental music).

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music NYC produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Alex Rossiter (The Studio, Webster Hall) Andy Bodor (Cake Shop), Ariel Bitran (Palisades), Billy Jones (Baby’s All Right), Christine Cook (Sofar Sound NYC), Claire and Patrick McNamara (OhMyRockness.com), Diane (Bowery Ballroom), George Flanagan (Rough Trade NYC), Greg (The Delancey), Kelly Bruce (doNYC/RedBull) Lucas Sacks (Brooklyn Bowl), Matt Currie (Rockwood Music Hall), Max Brennan (The Flat), Nora Dabdoub (Shea Stadium), Rachael Pazdan (The Hum), Rami Haykal (Popgun Presents), Richard Sloven (The Knitting Factory), Sam Cox (BMI), Steven King (The Rock Shop), Steven Matrick (Pianos), Tim Maginnis (Ascap), Todd Abramson (independent promoter), Tyler Bates (Communiom Music).

Hope you’ll find some awesome new artists you weren’t aware of!

The Deli’s Staff

Based in Baltimore, Steadfast is the next face to find in the hip hop scene. She’s building a sound grounded in alternative and DIY, making the beat and writing the thoughtful and catchy lyrics for the new track all on her own. She released her debut single a few days ago, so be sure to give it a listen. Her musical flow is smooth and fast, backed by a tight beat, and the lyrical content is sharply tongue-in-cheek. Keep an eye on this songstress as she’s displaying great potential and will surely lay down more sick tracks in the days ahead. -Jonathan Goodwin

The uber-vague word "dreamscape" makes suddenly perfect sense when applied to Field Trip‘s repertoire, where songs are marked by seriously sleepy vocals yawning beautiful melodies, while psychedelic inflections and waves of reverb tidal over the listener. It’s no accident that they recorded a cover of The Smith’s ‘Asleep.’ The psych pop bedroom project, founded by Noah Champ Davies when he moved from LA to NYC in 2014, takes cues from dreampop, new wave and 90’s synthpop, merging them to create songs that ooze nostalgia and longing. At the top of the project’s sophomore EP ‘Deep Blue‘ is “Never (b)” (streaming), a song that sounds precisely like the sonic equivalent of watching an old, homemade Super 8 film that’s flickered and tinted with light leaks, and that slowly comes apart towards the end, as the tail catches fire and all the images melt away – the holes of flashing color gaping on the screen. Field Trip will be playing Shea Stadium alongside Iris Lune and Gods tonight (02.11). – Adriana S Ballester

This artist submitted music for coverage here.

NYC based Colombians Salt Cathedral have been treating us to some really good synthpop with soul tinges in the last few years, and the magic isn’t over yet. Check out their new, uber-mellow single ‘No Ordinary Man,’ released less than 24 hours ago, and don’t miss their live show at Baby’s All Right on March 5th.

—Michelle Bacon 

Shoare will be touring in support of the album starting tonight in Columbia at Café Berlin. Facebook event page. You can also check out his website for other upcoming dates at matshoare.com.   

If music be the food of love, then consider The Golden Tongues polyamorous. That’s the name of a new project by Chris Garcia, one half of Whittier’s electronic post-rock duo Let’s Drive to Alaska. 

In the first track to Golden Tongues’ upcoming b/w, "Always On My Mind," Garcia sings in heart-on-sleeve cadence with an airy inflection that calms interjections of cardamom synths and guitar jangle. It’s a measured effort, not to mention a solo effort since last year. And while the result might not capture the naiveté of Wild Nothing or Real Estate, it does rekindle the fluttery feeling of a new crush. As with his debut EP "Extractions," Garcia is still finding his love, but takes greater pleasure exploring musical flings than brooding in alexithymic solitude.

Hang out tonight at Lot 1 Café as The Golden Tongues play a Counter Culture-curated show with Ablebody and Foliage — it’s free and starts at 8 pm. – Ryan Mo

Born in the forests of Vermont as an intimate, mellow folk project, Alpenglow slowly morphed into a psychedelic entity that feeds itself with roots (music) and converts them into spacey songs full of synths and effects. The release of their beautiful 2014 EP Chapel openied up opportunities to tour with Lucius, Timber Timbre, and their spiritual guru, Jim James of My Morning Jacket. They are now announcing their full debut album, "Callisto," scheduled for a February 26 release, by unveiling single "Following The Scene." The band will play a bunch of East Coast dates supporting the album, before coming back to Brooklyn for a show at the new Williamsburg non profit venue National Showdust, on April 1st.

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

There is an earnestness in the power pop tracks of Boston-based piano man Dan Masterson that is deeply refreshing. As the flowing title track from his 2015-released third EP ‘Atlas’ shows, the smooth-voiced singer isn’t afraid to convey feelings of loss and restlessness in his music yet seems keen on championing a spirit of perseverance. The Billy Joel of such iconic tracks as "Piano Man" appears to be an influence on Masterson yet, as the alternative rock-tinged "Nobody I Know (Slow Down)" (streaming below) from the album shows, he impressively adds some edge to his celestial songs. Dan Masterson plays at Middle East in Cambridge, MA on Friday (2/12). – Zach Weg 

While New York City stands as punk rock’s birthplace, neighboring New Jersey has certainly contributed to that genre’s gritty sound. The Garden State may be known for established acts like Springsteen and Bon Jovi, but power-punkers Lost In Society find muse in early era punk and 90’s grunge. New single “I Want To Know” successfully touches those two bases in a concise two plus minutes. While the intro’s mid-tempo drum rolls and emphatic guitar chords suggest a classic power trio, subsequent tempo shift to a much quicker pace establishes meaner intentions. Verses come fast and hard and tell the story of working class people barely getting by “check by check” and “sinking down to a hopeless debt.” With the chorus initially (and conveniently) namechecking the song title, the next lines echo the best of Nirvana in cadence tandem with lyrics “when you take what you get and you don’t look back, do you feel no regret, do you really keep check?” Their full length record ‘Modern Illusions’ (produced by Pete Steinkopf, guitarist of The Bouncing Souls) is set for release on February 26th. Live shows will happen at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, NY on February 25th and Convention Hall in their hometown (Asbury Park, NJ) on February 26th. – Dave Cromwell

Dear Deli Readers,

Our Best of DC Area Poll for Emerging Artists has been – as usual – a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

Coming in first for 2015 is DC’s premier velvet pop trio The Walking Sticks. Comprised of outstanding vocalist Chelsea Lee and brothers Spencer and Max Ernst, this group possesses a standout electronic base layered with funk and the stadium-quality voice of a siren. They have a show tomorrow night, 2/10, with Wylder and Tigers Are Bad For Horses at the W Hotel.

Barely a year out from releasing their first LP, Richmond psych rockers California Death landed at number two. Mellow and dreamy, this quintet makes a splash with their beachy, lo-fi shoegaze music in the Old Dominion. Nostalgic and feel-good, these guys have a show at Gallery 5, 2/28.

Number three on the list, Manzara lays out their heavy, atmospheric post rock to great aplomb, also hailing from Richmond. This spacy and mystifying threepiece doesn’t have much music on the books, but keep an eye on them as they build their following. Their next gig is at the Hardywood Brewing Company, 2/20.

Check out our poll’s top ten below, and don’t forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

Alt Rock – Hardcore/Metal – Hip Hop/World – Electronic – Indie Pop – Indie Rock – Post Punk – Roots Music

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR  EMERGING NDC Area ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS – TOP TEN ******

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 The Walking Sticks 4.5 3 0.004 7.504 2 California Death 5.5   0.064 5.564 3 Manzara 4.5   0.002 4.502 4 Dr Robinson’s Fiasco 3   0.124 3.124 5 Goldrush 3   0.088 3.088 6 The Milestones 3   0.04 3.04 7 Spirit Plots 3   0.019 3.019 8 Beauty Pill 3   0.004 3.004 9 Stronger Sex 3   0.003 3.003   The NRIS 3   0.003 3.003 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ DC Area scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtleties related to how this poll works, you can read the rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music DC Area produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Josh Sisk (photographer), Craig Boarman (Ottobar), Brandon Wetherbee (Brightest Young Things), Alley Gibson (photographer), Lynda Lu (DC Rocks), Mike Rutz (WRIR), Katie Bowles (DC Music Download), Andrew Cothern (RVA Paylist), Chris (DC Heavy Metal), Jennifer Vinson (DC Setlist), Nestor (Velvet Lounge), Mark (Strange Matter), David Hintz (DC Rock Live), Kevin Hill (Chunky Glasses), Chris Naoum (Listen Local First), Jonathan Goodwin (The Deli Magazine). Many other jurors were asked to send us their preferences but elected not to do so.

Hope you’ll find some awesome new artists you weren’t aware of!

The Deli’s Staff

Deli Readers,

Our Best of Portland Poll for Emerging Artists has been – as usual – a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

All of us at the Deli would like to congratulate Cat Hoch for becoming The Deli Portland’s Best Emerging Artist of 2015! It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, though, as Cat’s indelible musical footprint even landed her the opening spot for Ride’s performance in Portland last year. She’s talented, as is her supporting band, and she’ll without a doubt keep dishing out incredible, dreamy psychedelia for the enjoyment of the masses.

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The Domestics – after winning this same poll last year, when their full length debut album hadn’t been released yet – ring in our #2 slot, with their fun and loveable rock-pop. They’ve got a mass appeal and an easy to enjoy sound, so much so that it landed them on last year’s PDX Pop Now! festial compilation album, along with our top spotter Cat Hoch (and a performance at the fest along with our 3rd place winner). 

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Round out our top 3 is DIY/post punk trio Golden Hour, comprised of wonderfully endearing ladies who produce songs that are just as captivating. Almost out of nowhere, Golden Hour sprung up on the scene, dominating every show they’ve played so far with a charming humbleness. The Don’t Be Cute LP came out in February of last year and we’re hoping to get another release from these lovelies soon.

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Check out our poll’s top 15 below, and don’t forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT-ROCK/METAL | ELECTRONIC | INDIE-POP | INDIE-ROCK | PSYCH | PUNK/GARAGE | ROOTS

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Cat Hoch 6.5   0.036 6.536 2 The Domestics 6.5   0.005 6.505 3 Golden Hour 6.5   0.004 6.504 4 Fur Coats 5.5   0.016 5.516 5 Chanti Darling 5.5   0.014 5.514 6 Moon by You 4.5   0.064 4.564 7 Blowout 4.5   0.015 4.515  8  Coco Columbia 3   1 4 9 Dirty Revival 3   0.125 3.125 10 Rod 3   0.055 3.055 11 Leo Islo 3   0.054 3.054 12 Muscle and Marrow 3   0.02 3.02 13 Sioux Falls 3   0.018 3.018 14 Boone Howard 3   0.015 3.015 15 Ah God 3   0.015 3.015 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Portland scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music Portland produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Aaron Sharpsteen (SSG Music), Ana Ammann (Publisher for Oregon Music News), Annie Ostrowski (Riot Act Media), Chad Davis (music video director), Duffy Rongiiland (Gnar Tapes), Heather Hanson (Portland Radio Project), Hunter Skowron (Dazzleship Records), Jeni Wren Stottrup (Portland Mercury), Linneas Boland-Godbey (Vortex Mag), Mac Pogue (Impose Magazine), Meagan Ruyle (PDX Pop Now!), Noelle Magia (CD Baby), Rob Cullivan (Portland Tribune), Todd Walberg (show photographer), Tony Prato (Bunk Bar), Travis Leipzig (Noise & Color), Yousef Hatlani (Faces on the Radio).

Hope you’ll find some awesome new artists you weren’t aware of!

The Deli’s Staff