Don’t Believe in Ghosts is the solo project of Steven Nathan, the driving force behind NYC pop/rock band Man On Earth, now on a prolonged hiatus. The band’s debut EP "Change Your Mind" was recorded with the help of friend Rick Eddy on drums and a cameo by collaborator Matt Fink of Prince & the Revolution on keyboards, and will be followed by another EP a few months from now, entitled "Change Your Luck." The two EPs were (mostly) self recorded and self produced, and a lot of DIY went also in realizing the video we are premiering here for single "Nothing I Could Do Is Ever Good Enough For You," which narrates the frustration of a little robot in love with its human lady-master. Mixing synth pop and alt rock elements, the song deftly straddles the line between hope and resignation, themes that are obviously central in Natan’s new material, and that have the potential to resonate with all those who are working hard, day in, day out, chasing their lifetime dream. You can see Don’t Believe in Ghosts’s debut live show at Bowery Electric on January 13.

A gentle, dreamy uneasiness runs through the bedroom recordings of Long Beard’s late 2015 release “Sleepwalker.” The 13 track Team Love Records release is the culmination of singer-songwriter Leslie Bear’s introspective creativity. Combining backward-loop studio techniques with traditional folk compositions, the band achieves a subtle, needy urgency. The heart tugging ache of The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler can be found on lead track “Porch,” as chords and voice layer in a dissonant beauty. “Hates The Party” (streaming below) creates further reflective moments, while putting forward the statement that “there’s more than one reason, to hate the world spinning – everyone hates the party.” “Summer/Fall” shows the benefits of taking ideas into larger studios, making excellent use of backward looping as the instrumental base for Leslie’s temperate vocals. “Dream” impresses with counterpoint, out-of-sync percussive background click, cleverly approximating the chaotic sleeping mind. “Someplace” takes that even further with a three and a half minute soundscape containing the single lyric “always thinking of some place some time ago.” Long Beard plays live tomorrow (December 29th) at Baby’s All Right. – Dave Cromwell

It’s the day after Christmas, and Valley friends The Unending Thread are hitting us with another present — they’ve been collaborating with new Berkeley four-piece Forget It. on a split EP "TUT // FORGET IT", and today they dropped a new single! Forget It.’s "Not Everything Is About Me" follows last week’s release "Dearest Anna" with showers of twinkle and the screams of hoarse men, plus an introspective adage courtesy of Bojack Horseman. The Unending Thread’s "Dearest Anna", which premiered on MAT Magazine, marks the trio’s stylistic shift to territories redolent of dance-rock. Don’t fret though; them boy-girl vocals, double-tap riffs, and funk licks are still kicking.

"TUT // FORGET IT" comes out January 15th, 2016, with release shows happening in the Bay and LA. It’s a sick line-up on both fronts, but that goes without saying. – Ryan Mo

Jan. 10 — Octopus Literary Saloon (Oakland) with Just Friends, Sarchasm, The Unending Thread, Lawn Chairs

Feb. 4 — The Smell (Los Angeles) with The Unending Thread, Love Nothing, Ferbus, Josh Abrams, and Dustin and the Explosions

Saturday’s show will be your last chance to catch David Hasselhoff on Acid for quite awhile, so don’t miss it. The Riot Room show starts at 8:00 p.m. Facebook event page. 

Bookended by the guitar-strummed memory songs “Picking Up Speed” and “Cash” (about the titular musician and his brother) and including the drum-surged track “Not the Books to Read” (streaming below), ‘Deep Peace of the Singing Earth’ by Providence rock quartet The Attending is a piercingly moving album. As The Antlers did on ‘Hospice,’ The Attending bravely unburies pain on this March-released effort but also allows for a catharsis that perhaps only music can provide. The Attending plays at The Met in Providence on January 8th. – Zach Weg

This past October, Hartford improv jam rock quartet Mclovins released its breezily warm self-titled album. Purveying such guitar-zipped songs as “Talk About It” and “Regulars” (streaming below), the 2008-formed band pleasantly recalls such beloved jammers as Phish–lead singer Jake Huffman does even sound a bit like Phish’s Trey Anastasio–on this release while compelling the listener with its tales of young love and summery fun. McLovins plays Grizzly’s in Stratton, Vermont on January 9th. – Zach Weg

With Internet, game, and anime culture hitting critical mass in recent years, the time is nigh for chiptune revival. As one of the forerunners of bitpop experimentation, the bedroom project-turned digital sensation Slime Girls min-maxes sounds from Gameboy trackers with surf, ska, and punk-inspired music with the ingenuity of early-Crystal Castles, Anamanaguchi, The Depreciation Guild, and capsule.

Originally from San Jose, shoujo star Pedro Silva has built a cult-following through the years with his brand of Persocom pop, collaborating with cyber idols like Space Boyfriend, Punimelt, omocat and more. Following the chiptune cover of "Dating Start!" (from the critically acclaimed indie game Undertale), Slime Girls continues to break 8-bit walls the ataraxic "NO SUMMER NO CRY", transporting listeners through nostalgic rainbow roads, pixel beaches, and final boss stages. It’s only a taste of what’s to come in 2016 — quite frankly, the suspense is draining our HP.

Slime Girls performs at The Airliner on December 29th with knife city, Playing Tourist Forever, and Paladin Shield. – Ryan Mo

One of the hardest thing to find in today’s record "industry" is artists who are able to keep improving. We’ve been following Ruth Mirsk’s Syvia since 2011, and their musical output has been showing constant progress. The band’s latest release is synth-pop/shoegazer track "Anxious Animal" (streaming), which is a taste of their upcoming EP scheduled for a February 2016 release. Echoes of the droney late ’80s/early ’90s reverberate through the layers of distorted guitars and synth pads, evocative of British acts ranging from the Psychedelic Furs to Echo and the Bunnymen. Ruth’s vocals are appropriately semi-lost in a fog of reverb, and accentuate the moodiness of a single that’s enjoyably pop notwithstanding its many noisy and tense elements. Which is sonething only good songwriting and production can pull off. Syvia will be performing at Pianos on January 16th.

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

If – like us – you like your pop a little dirty, a little retro, and maybe even enriched by noir or quirky elements, you should check out Brooklyn band Coastgaard, one of our Artists of the Month earlier in 2015. After their rather mellow, melancholic 2013 self-titled debut LP, the quartet in 2014 focused on picking up the tempo with singles ‘Rose‘ and ‘Black White Fuzz,’ their most popular single to date. Coastgaard is now announcing the February release of their sophomore album ‘Devil on the Balcony’ by unveiling single ‘A Well Adjusted Man,’ an elegant pop song that delivers their signature melancholic and cinematic vibes, but takes songwriting and production to new levels, flirting at once with Otis Redding’s timeless melodies and a darker post-punk aesthetic. This is a very promising single. You can see the band live at Pianos on January 28.

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

Mikal Amin may have retired his previous moniker “Hired Gun,” but his revolutionary spirit remains aflame in his latest solo release #NICEGUYSFINISH. Mikal has been pummeling the NYC Hip Hop scene with his staccato bravado for years. This album is a look back on the battles this hip hop educator has waged both onstage and behind closed doors. Complemented by ZQ’a buttery production and embellished with standout collaborations with Breeze Evahflowin, Y?, Duv, and a reunion of his rap cabal Third Party, it’s a reflection on transformation and the inevitable changes which only fools struggle against. – BrokeMC

This past August, Connecticut fuzz-pop quartet Furnsss shared ‘New Moves,’ its bruised yet romantic latest effort. Comprised of such guitar-grained songs as "Jansport" and "Slow Dark Water" (streaming below), the brisk release radiates with longing for love and inner peace while admirably accepting current duress and frustration. Angst does seem to be a preoccupation of Furnsss (who previously released their full-length, ‘Silent Gold,’ last year) but, with their welcoming aura, a sense of ease prevails. While the band doesn’t currently have forthcoming shows listed, keep posted on their Facebook page. –  Zach Weg

Elk City was one of the (many) NYC bands that deserved more attention in the aughts, and also one of the (not so many) to be rewarded with a Deli NYC Record of the Month around 2007, when their album "New Believers" dropped. We are therefore thrilled to hear that two fourths of the original group, including backing vocalist Barbara Endes and guitarist Sean Eden, are back in action with a new group called Girls on Grass. They just released a self titled LP full of electric folk songs with a slight psychedelic accent, sounding as if 10,000 Maniacs were part of the late ’80s Paysley Underground movement. They’ll be performing next on Friday, Jan 8 at the Rent Party benefit in Maplewood, NJ. Check out album opener "Father Says Why," streaming below.