The impending drop of Golden Daze is nigh — one month away, to be exact — as Ben Schwab and Jacob Loeb release another of their dreamy psych colorations: the second track to their self-titled debut, "Low". With its springy, slack-luster lyrics and overwashed, sand-blasted paisley, the song hovers somewhere between the birds and the pavement. Or, as the duo describes, "[like] our version of ‘I Believe I Can Fly’."
Listen to "Low" by Golden Daze and pre-order their debut album, out February 19th via Autumn Tone with a release show at Non Plus Ultra on February 27th. – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Kai Hugo
This year’s Best of NYC Open Submissions for the Psych Rock/Dream Pop category were so good that 20 out of 21 bands got ranked with 6 or more (out of 10) and 12 received marks above 7! So, it is with a broken heart that we announce the three winners – we wish we could select more! You can see the other NYC Open Submission results here.
CATEGORY: PSYCH ROCK/DREAM POP
Total submissions: 21
Jurors: Juan Rodriguez (The Deli LA) Ryan Mo (The Deli LA) PDG (The Deli NYC)
Here at The Deli NYC we’ve been fans of Brooklyn uber mellow dream pop duo Belle Mare for quite some time – they were our record of the month back in March 2013. It feels good to see that our non NYC Deli colleagues, whose opinion was central to this poll’s results, agree with us. But after all, who can resist the charm of a song like "Dark of My Evening" (streaming), and Amelia Bushell’s casual vocals, suddenly erupting in the most celestial of melodies? Evidently, The Deli’s staff can’t.
NYC is fertile ground for dream pop with surf influences, and Brooklyn based duo Surf Rock Is Dead, hailing from Chicago and Melbourne, has been making the most of it in 2015. The four tracks in their debut EP "SRiD" helped them build a loyal fan base, also gathering uniform interest on the internet, with Soundcloud listeners obsessing about single "Never Be The Same" and Spotify ones preferring "Late Risers" (streaming). The band has two upcoming shows scheduled in NYC: at Aviv on 01.22 and Pianos on 02.09.
Well, it really looks like Dream Pop had the best of Psych Rock this year… although Twiga, out of the three band we are highlighting here, nicely marries these two closely related genres in ways that don’t feel incestuous at all! Opening single and latest EP title-track "Kites" (streaming below) features luscious guitars reminiscent of Real Estate, but the droney vocals take us for a trip back to the days of Paysley Underground bands like Rain Parade, or British neo-psychedelic acts like Doves.
Hey we didn’t know the House of Yes was back! The DIY venue/performance space will host an explosive bill with some strictly speaking rock’n’roll bands tomorrow night (Wednesday January 20th) at their new location by the Jefferson Street’s L train stop. Check out the bands on the bill below, including Deli Record of the Month The Othermen and The Nuclears (pictured), featuring at the drums our own mag’s distribution coordinator Kevin Blatchford! On the bill also The Bothers and Art Gray Noizz Quintet.
We don’t really want to start a discussion about politics here, but it’s impossible to deny that one candidate is winning hands down the support of the NYC emerging band vote… Six local acts will perform at Cake Shop on Saturday January 23rd in support of Bernie Sanders, and, since we’ve never covered some of them, we’ll take the opportunity to do so, check them out below! In the picture, Shark?
Like a black hole, digital punk Garrett Yim distorts the boundaries of pop and noise; their binary opposition has always been a subject of interest to the California native. Raised in Anaheim Hills, Yim fashioned harsh sounds under the moniker Yuko Imada, taken previously by a late-’80s Japanese serial killer. Following Yuko Imada’s cacophonic denouement Roppongi Nightlife, Yim reappeared in 2014 as Meishi Smile, and has pervaded the digital space with a musical aesthetic that mixes shibuya-kei and shoegaze.
While Meishi Smile’s album debut LUST flickered pink noise with overcast picopop, 2015’s fall follow-up …Belong erodes saccharine gestures with a downpour of static. Ten provocative songs explore youth, death, dysphoria, and identity through the eyes and ears of a digital native.
Catch Meishi Smile supporting the Western tail of Chrome Sparks tour this week, and listen to "Belong". You can still win tickets to the sold-out Echo show; follow @MeishiSmile on Twitter for more details. – Ryan Mo, photo credit: Anthony Thompson
Well, in case anybody doubted it, the Brooklyn DIY movement is alive an well, and the news of the reopening of Market Hotel hopefully will allow it to flourish for many more years. The Bushwick venue that became somewhat legendary in the late aughts under Todd P‘s curatorial activity (and which we partly captured in this 2008 Deli NYC cover of Crystal Stilts playing a show there), will reopen its doors on January 22 with a two day party. The second night, on January 22nd, will host a bill featuring three of the most authentically DIY bands currently based in Brooklyn: Guerrilla Toss, PC Worship, and Pill. Enjoy their noise below, and congrats to Todd P who persevered to make this dream of his a reality – we interviewed him about this (and other things) back in 2014.
Conveying a gritty minimalism, Boston-based emcee Jay Minor‘s downtempo tracks compel with their refusal to be merry. While the gospel-swirled "Liquid.Screens" from last year seemingly portrays a lovesick soul’s search for solace in television, the jazzy "The Peter Piper Theory" (streaming below) from New Year’s Eve harshly yet vitally depicts post-violence duress. Perhaps taking cues from Earl Sweatshirt’s great sophomore album ‘I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside,’ these tracks aren’t light but definitely intriguing. Jay Minor plays at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island tomorrow (1/19). – Zach Weg
It’s a new year and a new installment of Daybreaker DC! Filling up the basement of Penn Social on an incredibly chilly morning, the morning-loving crowd of dancers were treated to sublime mixes provided by Rex Riot and Basscamp and excellent MC-ing by Haile Supreme. Fueled by snack bars and coffee, the DC-based DJs provided the perfect atmosphere for a Wednesday morning party. Rex Riot’s beats were sick, using energetic switches and great vocal tracks. Basscamp put together some inspired remixes of diverse origins, from Christina Perri to Major Lazer. My personal favorite was mix of Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole, which featured good use of repetition and distorted Matt Bellamy’s voice to be even more angelic. Another awesome party, all thanks to Daybreaker. -Jonathan Goodwin
Narragansett Beer is celebrating their 125th year of existence and Ghost Of Paul Revere of Maine is helping them celebrate this achievement with their tight harmonies and stripped down Americana. They’re carrying on the folk rock torch by just doing it very well and without being too stereotypical (cue their cover of “Baba O’Riley”). Shows of theirs draw fans from all corners of New England. This free celebration all goes down at Lansdowne Pub in Boston on Monday 1/25 along with The Mallett Brothers Band. – Tracy Troisi
It’s time to tackle the ROOTS category of our open submissions for the 2015 edition of our Best of NYC Poll for emerging artists – you can see the results we published so far here.
ROOTS
Total submissions in this category: 13
Jurors: Cervante Pope (The Deli Portland), Juan Rodriguez (The Deli LA), Zach Weg (The Deli NYC).
Artists qualified to the next stage (i.e. the Readers’ Poll, starting around 01.20):
When Brooklyn-via-Helsinki singer/songwriter Janita shared her album ‘Didn’t You, My Dear?’ back in July, she not only gave precious voice to such seemingly universal hardships as melancholy and frustration but practically whispered to the listener: "Hey, these things happen. I’m right there with you." As heard on the soul-lined "Easing into Sanity" (streaming below), the smooth-voiced singer did in fact seem to come from a pressingly personal place yet. Like every great vocal poet, spoke for everyone striving to emerge from a fog.
Having just played the venerable Downtown New York venue Le Poisson Rouge, Brooklyn quartet Howth are deservedly gaining wider recognition as the lighthearted yet affecting quartet that they are. A drum-tumbled track like “April I Will” (streaming below), for example, off their latest “Trashy Milky Nothing Town” album conveys an impossibly pure sweetness that can only come from a passionate band such as this. Howth plays Shea Stadium on 2/1.
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3. Tangina Stone– 7 (out of 10) While the term “singer/songwriter” may connote the heartbreak and longing of such masters as Sufjan Stevens, Brooklyn-via-Ohio’s Tangina Stone refreshingly radiates a kind of experienced joy in her soul-lined songs. Her November-released track “Suntan” (music video playing below), for example, details young love not just with optimism but with the deep soulfulness of someone who has experienced its wondrous impact. Tangina Stone plays at Pianos on 2/17.
