NYC songwriter Janelle Kroll is the living proof of how electronic music is bringing a new edge to soul pop, a genre that – until a few years ago – was trapped in the mainstream’s straitjacket. Take her single "Numb" (streaming below): at its heart, it’s a simple soul ballad, but the track’s production, flirting with the "weirdness" of industrial rock and trip hop, elevates it to something unique in its beautiful eeriness, expanding the song’s appeal. Janell had a satisfying 2015: she released a string of singles in 2015, the latest of which is "How Do You Know Me," performed at Lollapalooza, and landed a few high profile collaborations (with Hot Since 82 and Moon Boots among others). She’ll be performing at Rockwood Music Hall on February 2nd. – Photo by Nathan Podshadley

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

Brainchild of Brooklyn singer songwriter/producer Nandi Rose Plunkett, Half Waif incarnates the paradox – made possible by modern technology – of the solo orchestral project. In control of lyrics and vocals, Nandi also forges the band’s lush electronic arrangements, partly delegating the rhythm section to drummer Zack Levine and bassist Adan Carlo. Half Waif – who made our Best of NYC Poll for Emerging bands back in 2013 – just announced the release of their sophomore LP "Probable Depths" by unveiling single "Nest" (streaming). Before the release, scheduled for an April 2016 release, the trio will be performing at Shea Stadium on January 6 with Shana Falana, Fraternal Twin, and Ajnabi.

Speaking of New Jersey (see post below this one), Gates from New Brunswick play a genre that we would more easily associate with the Garden State, with its frequent emo references and "alt" sounding distorted guitars. But, by introducing textural post rock and ambient elements, the band forged a sound so intense and sophisticated that the resulting songs come across as sincere and heart-felt, which is what most emo fails to achieve. The quartet isn’t new to the scene, but last year’s release "Bloom and Breathe" (their third since 2011) has raised their profile quite a bit, opening the doors to a tour opening for The Dear Hunter. Check out their single "Not My Blood," streaming below.

From the twinkle of emo-tinged post-rock to the suffocating gravity of drone, OC’s trio The Human Machine wields an amorphous sound that is undeniable in its grandeur and technique. Displaced by geography — Jake Ingalls (bass) and Patrick Whitehill (guitar/vocals) lived in the Bay for a time, while Jonathan Modell (drums) stayed in the OC — the three built the "Contrashiva" EP on modulating textures, down-tempo rhythms and chordal intricacies — stuff that would make Don Caballero and American Football fans ecstatic. Following a split EP with Oakland’s Stars Are Projectors (now Valley Girls), THM released their 2014 self-titled debut album. Tonally rich and unapologetically honest, the seven-song album immersed listeners in jazz cadences and psychedelic atmospheres.

Their newest album Patterns is the second body of work (following January’s "Palimpest") that the trio have had the luxury of working on at length — "All material up to "Palimpest" was done under time limitations and living throughout different parts of California," says Modell. Shedding some shoegaze and post-rock influences in favor of improvisational and functionalist grooves, Patterns welds textures of Duster and Can with the thrum of Earth into titanic passages. "My inspiration behind Patterns was to make music that sounded desolate," says Whitehill. "Music that makes you anxious; music that makes you feel like you are moving slowly through a desert."

Modell adds, "THM’s progression as a band has been a very natural arc that shifted with our influences. I wouldn’t call Patterns a hard shifting point. It was the natural step for us after "Palimpest" — focusing less on the technicality and more on the textures and grooves that can be carried for extended lengths of time."

Tonight, The Human Machine celebrate their newest album Patterns with a release party at Beatnik Bandito with New Balance (of Canyons), Dead Recipe (Santa Cruz), Young Jesus, and Known Bird Sightings. – Ryan Mo

It sounds like New Jersey is going through a process of Brooklynization – at least as far as music is concerend. So many good indie bands coming out of it these days! After Stolen Jars, who landed on the cover of our most recent issue of The Deli, Forth Wanderers (incidentally also out of Montclaire) are now stealing our hearts with their intricately melancholic indie pop. The band has a trick up their sleeve in lead singer’s Ava Trilling’s adorably earnest delivery. Her touching lyrics, mostly revolving around the challenges of growing up, may bring you to tears; in streaming track "Selfish" (the opening track from their debut 2014 record "Tough Love") she sings:

"I wanna be known/as the girl who’s stone cold 
wears her heart on her sleeve/for everyone to need 
oh she’ll make you proud …" 

"…I get scared instead, when you say/you’ve been in my head", let that stay 
i wish i could hurry home/i better hurry home."

Forth Wanderers will play a home show at Montclaire’s Old Mogul Theatre on 01.03.

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

We already knew that Katy Gunn (an artist we covered with her duo Teenage Love) was a talented lady, but we weren’t aware of her links with performance art. As the in-house performance artist/composer at NOoSPHERE ARTS in New York City and a member of The Mothership art collective in Brooklyn, Katy performs regularly at exhibition openings, incorporating solo violin with voice, choreographed movement and audience interaction. She’s about to release a solo record entitled "Whispering Voices," set for January of 2016 in tandem with choreographed performance of her compositions alongside interdisciplinary artist and performer, Autumn Kioti. The record, tackling the inner struggle for identity and meaning, is entirely built around Katy’s voice and body, using samples and regular recordings.

Remember the good old days when some religious entities believed rock’n’roll was evil, and – trying to prove that – dissected songs and lyrics by artists as extreme as… QUEEN? That demonization had only the effect of inciting more and more radical forms of musical rebellion, in most cases in the shape of terrible metal acts with devilish looks and lyrics, that were soon exploited by record labels targeting alienated teens. Undeniably though, rock music has always been flirting with – if not evil – at least dark impulses, in the varying form of personal despair, violent desire for change, rebellion against society’s accepted structures and conventions, or even just sexual, intellectual and behavioral anti-conformism. Rock artists seems to cyclically rediscover these powerful thematic, always pairing it with an aggressive sound. Cold Sweats is a NYC based band that does that to perfection: with a singer that sounds as apocalyptic as Nick Cave in his early days with The Birthday Party, and a backing band able to pull off any kind of shock inducing sonic trick, these guys are pure, unadulterated, quality tension. Abuse of the cathartic power of their music, it may prove liberating.

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

Just a month ago, Boston “sad math” trio Du Vide released its ferociously minimal latest effort, ‘clutter.’ Comprised of such genre-melding tracks as the jazz-bedroom pop blend, “the hell it is” and the folk-inflected “a sharp inhale” (streaming below), the intriguingly murky piece shows Du Vide to be a group who, as Youth Lagoon did on his brilliant debut, ‘The Year of Hibernation,’ conveys inner ennui with compassionate force. Du Vide plays Middle East-Upstairs in Cambridge, Massachussetts on Tuesday, 12/22. – Zach Weg

To be clear, the Winter Solstice is happening on December 22. But that shouldn’t stop you from celebrating the darkest night of the year (in advance) with the Non Plus crowd this Sunday. The illustrious Deb DeMure, aka Drab Majesty, performs its last show with some novel Bay-area lovelies. Exray’s conjure their signature grainy sci-fi sounds, followed by the experimental pop project Naytronix (of tUnE-yArDs), whose live set is rumored to reimagine songs from his latest album Mister Divine. Creepers will end the night, drawing out some drug-addled psych visions. Guest DJs Kerry McCoy and George Lesage IV of Deafheaven facilitate our journey into the dusk. – Ryan Mo

This blog covered Brooklyn based songwriter JJ Byars‘ old band Hungry Hands back in 2012 and noticed that they seemed to be "going through a lot of changes" – as if that wasn’t the case for 95% of the bands out there… Well it looks like JJ’s band mate related turmoil led him towards a solo musical project, which produced a full album released in June of 2015, and entitled ‘Waterlogged.’ A lot of tracks in it are just vocals and acoustic guitar, although one of the tracks featuring drums is so good they make us think he should probably give the band idea another shot. ‘Migration’ (streaming below) is a song that can make your day, with its celestial melody that defies gravity and expectations. It’s also based on some kind of premonition, since it revolves around the lyrics "this year there’s no winter" – which is true, although the song was released last summer. This track, together with opener "Blue in the Face" showcases a songwriting development towards elegant pop melodies and arrangements reminiscent of a sparser version of Grizzly Bear, while most of the other songs on the record reveal more folky overtones. You can see JJ Byars live at Rough Trade on January 9th with The Can’t Tells and Bear Ceuse.

Although released back in 2010, Brooklyn trio Corporal’s self-titled album still intrigues with its smooth aggression. Fronted by the deeply talented actor Michael Shannon, Corporal gracefully melds the genres of rock, folk, and Americana on the 10-song effort, recalling other bands while still sounding fresh. From the propulsive, Heatmiser-like “Glory” (streaming) to the tumbling, Tom Waits-esque “Let Me Eat It,” Corporal is both proof of Shannon’s several talents and an elegantly compelling re-discovery. The band plays Baby’s All Right on Saturday (12/19). – Zach Weg

Yohuna is the ambient pop project of Johanne Swanson, a Brooklyn based native of Eau Claire, WI. The artist’s output is somewhat dispersed and reveals a very active collaborative spirit: a fair amount of tracks feature also other artists, like many of the ones found in the project’s Soundcloud profile, while others are split releases with up to four acts involved, like her 2013 "Clubhous Split," a digital record shared with other three dreamy and atmospheric female artists: Emily Reo, MoonLasso and Brown Bread. There seems to be only one "proper" release so far, and it’s 2011’s "Revery," an uber-mellow but still playful DIY work full of interesting textures, mostly forged by using reverbered vocals, distorted synths and effected drum machines. "Mateo" (streaming below) is probably the most satisfying track out of it. Yohuna will be performing at Baby’s All Right on 12.22. – Photo by M-P Photography