Will Schaeffer seems to be a fount for the unexpected. Maintaining a barebones online presence, this artist from Baltimore has released an impressive new album called Hello, Its Will Schaeffer. Using conventional instruments, Schaeffer has created a work of unconventional sound, as the album is rooted a very DIY, lo-fi production scheme, but is gushing with quality musicality. His voice is raspy like the great blues men of the previous century and possesses a range similar to Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and The Arcs or Cage The Elephant’s Matt Shultz. Each song carries lyrical content that inspires reflective pondering and feature a strong percussive presence, replete with heavy drumbeats and crashing cymbals. The guitar work is also a treat as it eludes expectation and leads the listener on a merry hunt for rhyme and reason. Give this album a listen because it occupies its own space I’d like to call experimental folk.-Jonathan Goodwin

Adesuwa, the brainchild of Denitia Odigie, is releasing the EP "Air, Light" on January 19. "Coach Class" is the fourth song to be released in anticipation of the forthcoming EP. If you’re unfamiliar with the sounds, Denitia is one half of NYC elctronic soul duo denitia + sene. The music of Adesuwa, while remaining true to the essence of Denitia, flows right out of our collective ’80s soul dreams. The project is co-produced by Denitia and guitarist/producer, Brad Williams. 

Our friends at OhMyRockness are organizing, together with and at Baby’s All Right, a solid afternoon of local bands on Saturday 01.09 (tomorrow). We blogged about most of them recently so we’ll let their music speak in this Minilogs compilation! In the picture, Dreamcrusher.

Echo Park quartet Feels used to be six-piece Raw Geronimo, back when vocalist Laena Geronimo was mixing volatile amounts of jungle, punk, soul, goth, surf— whatever felt right. It was cool though; their cocktail of drone, discord, dirt and harmonized vocals had a strong DIY bite that wasted house parties, East LA venues, and even 2014’s Austin Psych Fest. Word caught on about Feels’ ferocious sets and everyone from Buzzbands to Lo-pie had to get a taste — at 2014’s Burger-a-Go-Go Fest, LA Times’ Contact Reporter Randall Roberts commented that the four-piece "pushed forth heavy, hard punk with more swagger than many of the acts on the main stage." 

Name change hasn’t stopped their momentum, and Feels still play songs from Raw Geronimo’s "Dream Fever" LP while sprinkling in new works, like "Bitched" from their live recording at Gaucho’s Electronics. Last year, the band launched an Indiegogo campaign to help fund album production and a trusty tour van, slayed at Burger’s SXSW Caravan, came back for seconds at 2015’s Burger-a-Go-Go Fest, and toured with Tomorrows Tulips and L.A. WITCH, playing almost 80 shows total — 23 of which were here in Los Angeles, according to Oh My Rockness! 

Feels performs their first show of the year at the Echoplex with WALTER, Adult Books, and GAL PALS. Get out of the rain and soak up the sound tomorrow night — watch for the release of their self-titled debut LP (produced by Ty Segall) on Castle Face Records. We’re calling it now: 2015 was the year of the meme, and 2016 will be the year of the Feels. – Ryan Mo

Here’s another round of bands that proceed to the next phase of our Best of NYC poll for emerging artists, from the normally crowded "Indie Rock" category (everybody wants to be "indie" these days, we had to re-categorize a couple of folk artists and blues rock bands before we got this this list)! This category was a heart breaker, LOTS of really talented artists that should have gone through, but we can’t possibly promote more than four of them – sorry!

Total submissions in this category: 19

Jurors: Jonathan Goodwin (The Deli DC), Ryan Mo (The Deli LA), PDG (The Deli NYC).

1. The New Tarot 8.16 – (out of 10)

We stumbled upon the Walker sister-driven group The New Tarot in the summer of 2014 and saw a lot of potential in it. One and a half years later, we are happy to report that at least part of that potential has been developed in the right direction in their 2015 "Stella" EP, and through a live show that’s growing in confidence – not to mention the awesomely spooky video for the title-track, streaming below. These ladies have the talent and enough time on their side to take things even further. Don’t miss their upcoming show at The Bowery Electric on February 13.

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2. Regret The Hour – 7.83

Currently gracing the top of this very blog as 50% of our Artist of the Month, like this very category’s winners, Regret the Hour are fueled by sibilinghood: brothers Nate McCarthy (lead vox/guitar) and Ben McCarthy (lead guitar) lead this group through their second EP "The Far and the Near," which confidently blends indie, alt and roots elements to deliver an intensely emotional and enjoyable record.

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2. The Heavy Howl – 7.83

Brand new NYC/Boston trio The Heavy Howl released their debut EP "New Mistake" in the summer of 2015 – great title by the way. It’s an interesting record that manages to be sober production-wise but also catchy in a very peculiar way. The power trio instrumentation is what you would expect from a grunge revival band, and even if the sound is partly reminiscent of the less polished records from that musical wave, The Howl’s songs and their interest for textural details are entirely their own. You can see them live at never-heard-before venue Idio Gallery on January 15.

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

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4. Battle Ave – 7.66

Split geographically between Woodstock and Brooklyn, Battle Ave is a band that also suffer from split personality disorder, as you can easily realize from the opening track of their sophomore 2015 LP "Year of Nod," whose eery video we premiered not long ago. here at The Deli, of course, we dig that, because most great rock’n’roll records aren’t normal, and most talented people desperately need a shrink.

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HONORABLE MENTIONS – (Score above 7):

Vaureen, Gillian, HUFF THIS!, The Stewart Dolly, Dear Comrade, The Deafening Colors, Teeth People, The Motor Tom

See you soon with another category!

The Deli Folks

Another band with big plans for 2016 is Brooklyn’s Spirit Animal, who recently shared with PureVolume a new track "Front Seat Feelin" from the band’s forthcoming ‘World War IV’ EP, scheduled for a February 19th release. We can’t embed that song here, but we do have access to the EP’s opening song "Regular World," streaming below, which manages to be anthemic, punch, and cheeky at once. The quartet will be celebrating the release of the EP with a show at Mercury Lounge on February 11.

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

As you may have noticed, we just started dealing with the 2015 Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists, so it’s kind of appropriate to dedicate a little blurb to the band that won last year’s edition: Porches. Aaron Maine’s collective of rotating musicians just came out with this new video for single "Be Apart." It’s been a year of change for Porches, a band that – up until early 2015 – featured a mostly guitar driven sound, whether acoustic or electric.  Their upcoming album "Pool" is set to change that in a way more synthy direction. The band also announced a spring tour with Alex G that will end with a show at Bowery Ballroom on April 15.

Last month, Boston duo LOVESWORDS shared its roughly pretty second release, ‘LOVESWORDS TWO.’ Featuring such punk-inflected blues songs as "Ode to the Strong" and "Tired Bull" (streaming below), the five-track effort pleasantly recalls such celebrated acts as The Black Keys and Sublime while humbly exhilerating with its passionate musicianship. The second half of the latter song, for example, has singer Kyle Henrickson calling out a lover’s "lies" as drummer Skye Mazuroski’s hard taps mount ferociously towards the roof. Henrickson and Mazuroski are reportedly childhood friends and, in these raw tracks, one hears the unadulterated joys of youth. LOVESWORDS plays at Middle East in Cambridge, MA on Wednesday, 1/13.-  Zach Weg

 

At one point Dre Babinski joked if The Satellite’s audience could tell all her songs were in 6/8. The singer-songwriter sat snugly in her throne, a pistachio wing-back that contrasted sharply with the fireburst guitar in her hands. Softened by the acoustic hum of Bedouine and slightly inebriated, fans and friends threw their reactions to the stage, but Dre was unaffected. Her cool composure and glaucous coordination spun webs from Steady Holiday‘s soon-to-be-released debut Getting There — it was hard to move while songs like "Your Version of Me" persisted, even for the photographers. And at each definitive end, the cheers and applause reinforced our belief that even the softest voice can speak volumes under the right light, even on a Tuesday night.

See Steady Holiday perform again at the end of this month for Bootleg Theater’s GIRLSCHOOL Fest and stay tuned for the slated release of Getting There. Check out pictures from the night on our Instagram @TheDeliLA. – Ryan Mo, photo by Michelle McCausland

It’s been a year since the release of their first full-length album, the eclectic Let it Beer, Richmond’s own Imaginary Sons put out a single to round out 2015. Taste The Waste is a departure from the previous releases, featuring light elements of thrash and garage rock instrumentality, but also having a feel of post with the somewhat ethereal vocals, which are somewhat reminiscent of Sigur Rós. Where Let It Beer was a delightful blend of heartland and psychedelic, this new single is a new step, keeping psych elements and incorporating some metal and garage flavoring. Through all of the high-speed guitar and drums, it’s exciting to see this band evolve so quickly. Catch their first show of the year at Strange Matter, 1/23, doors at 8.-Jonathan Goodwin

We continue churning out results for the Open Submissions to our Best of NYC Poll for Emerging Artists. Here are the ones who qualify to the next phase of the poll in the category "HIP HOP + OTHER."

Total submissions in this category: 11

Jurors: Cervante Pope (The Deli Portland), Ryan Mo (The Deli LA), Michelle Bacon (The Deli KC).

1. DAYAN – 7.33 (out of 10)

Dayan is Laura Dayan and Darko Saric.  Their indie-electronic Latin American folkloric funk is a swelling and pulsing exploration of the darkest corners of the dancefloor.  Laura’s voice beckons from an alternate universe with stories of magic and soul, while Darko maneuvers from House to Shoegaze.  The elements work together weaving a nostalgic longing for places unseen, rabbit holes, wishing wells, forgotten questions. – BrokeMc

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2. I.O.D. – 7.16

21 year old rapper I.O.D. a.k.a. Brownsvillian performed in front of thousands at the 2015 Brooklyn Music Festival, yet he has only six tracks on his Soundcloud.  This dearth obviously works in his favor.  From the raw candor of his “Grief Freestyle” to the spitfire Spanish and English “‘15 Originator (sida A),” I.O.D. demonstrates a fine balance between raw street spit and endearing quirkiness.  His style is still coalescing, but his skill is undeniable, and with Mtv and Hot97 vouching for him, his follow up to the critically lauded “11212” mixtape will only open him up to larger crowds and venues. – BrokeMc

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2. The Vagabondz – 7.16

The Vagabondz, a rap band and collective originating out of Beacon High School, don’t stray too far from Hip Hop’s roots.  Their debut album “Lessons” is an unpretentious, jazzy, trappy swarm of flows reminiscent of The Pharcyde and Project Blowed.  The production feels so authentically West Coast, it’s hard to believe The Bondz rep Manhattan, NYC.  Dropping references from Common to Black Sheep to Mark Morrison, their foundation is as solid as it gets.  Though they’ve matriculated to various colleges, The Vagabondz promise they’ll always find their way back home. – BrokeMc

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Honorable Mentions (score above 6): The Real Mike Wilson