When you stumble upon a band name like Antarctigo Vespucci, you immediately gather you are dealing with qurky minds with silly inclinations. The Brooklyn band that goes under that moniker, however, is not as quirky as we expected. After releasing two EPs in 2014, they put out a full length in May entitled "Leavin’ La Vida Loca," recorded with a $300 budget (it sounds pretty good, hurrah for DIY!). It features a variety of charming songs ranging for power pop number a la Weezer like streaming track "Impossible to Place" to thoughtful sparse folky ballads like opener 2 Days and Losing my Mind, which also features drum machine and synth sounds. You’ll be able to catch them at Shea Stadium on 12.14.

Just yesterday, Somerville, Massachussetts alt-folk act Minor Moon released its rather sublime debut full-length, ‘A Whisper, A Shout.’ As heard on the guitar-curled second track "Futon" and in the plaintive drum clasps of later song "Wild" (streaming below), this album revels in an affecting combination of masterfully refined instrumentation and bold emotional depth. Project mastermind, Sam Cantor, does, in fact, bare his feelings on the latter song, expressing inner struggles as he searches for a potentially transcendant peace. Minor Moon will have an album release show on Saturday (12/12) at Out of the Blue Too Art Gallery in Cambridge, Massachussetts. – Zach Weg

Back in September, Boston-based singer/songwriter George Woods released ‘Bedroom Demos,’ an offering of two ruggedly pretty songs. Both blues-oriented folk tracks, the guitar-twined "Please Please" and "Devil’s Got a Face" (streaming below) show the deep-voiced Woods candidly yet sweetly pining for romance, readily admitting his faults while devoting himself to another. Recalling a bit more of a downhome Jack White, Woods bravely shows vulnerability on these tracks, soulfully singing out pain. Reportedly at work on his sophomore studio effort (after 2012’s ‘Heartbeat), George Woods plays at The Red Door in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Monday (12/14). – Zach Weg

Born in NYC to a Colombian father and a French mother, Gabriel Garzón-Montano spent his early years mastering all sorts of instruments, from the violin to guitar and drums, before turning to the piano and bass guitar to better complete his compositions. His music surely reflects both his roots and vast musical skills. Gabriel’s debut EP "Alma Del Huila," released in 2013, is a gem of minimalistic, superchilled alt soul, check out single "Keep on Running," which gathered more than a million plays on Spotify.

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

In anticipation of the release of her new video, soulstress Adesuwa dropped the single “Wild Light” on OkayPlayer yesterday. Adesuwa, formerly of Denitia and Sene, refines and smoothes out her solo sound with lush harmonics and velvet cream vocals. Co-produced by Brad Williams, the sound is bigger, fuller, and more immersive than her previous work. “Adesuwa,” a Nigerian name which means “Surrounded by Prosperity,” may prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Help her celebrate the video release at Exile @ Berlin, 25 Ave A at 7:30 on Friday December 18th. – BrokeMc photo by E. Springer

The red-eye psychedelia of Alexander Brettin called for a club meeting at The Satellite, and we answered along with half of Silverlake. Mad Alchemy‘s Lance Gordon propped up analog visuals with some old-school projectors, leaving an astringent smell in the air to mingle with hops and weed. Blobs of liquid color painted the artist Ted Feighan (Monster Rally) as he turned the audience on to exotica sweets over a bed of hip hop beats. Frankie & The Witch Fingers kicked it into high gear with the fast-burning petal power of their acid rock, followed swiftly by the thick groove and bright jangle of Oxnard’s surfpoppers Sea Lions. Brettin’s Mild High Club took the stage last, and of course they slayed the stage with their slack-jawed psych jams. But it was only half an hour long, and we wanted more. 

With shouts for an encore, Mild High Club threw out one last song that left The Satellite faded beyond recognition, and satisfied for the night. More pictures of the show on our Instagram @TheDeliLA.  – Ryan Mo, photos: Michelle McCausland

If you’ve never been on tour, the new video from Brooklyn quintet, The Jaguar Club, might offer some insight into the vibrant, audacious, and, at times, exhausting intricacies of time spent on the road with your best friends, playing music every night. The visuals for their song, "The Last of the Night," a new single following last year’s debut album CLOSE, were shot, and, consequentially directed by the band, on tour in July and August of this year, including England, a few festivals, and full slew of US dates in support of Idlewild. Shots alternate in schizophrenic juggling fashion between hotel rooms and lobbies, parking lots, gorgeous city shots, bridges and roads, and breathtaking beachscapes, with tons of footage of the band in their various car rentals thrown in between. Aside from appearing like an absolute blast, the video depicts five friends who know each other better than most, travel together, spend countless hours together, and still manage to play energetically the music that they love, every night, thus speaking volumes for the binding power of life on tour, both for camaraderie, and musicianship.

The track itself is a lush ballad of catchy hooks and driving, shakeable rhythms, with enough synth fills and vocal reverb to instill that inspirational mysticism mirrored in the Kerouac romance of the road. Included in the visuals are plenty of shots of hometown favorite spot, The Knitting Factory, where The Jaguar Club will be headlining a pretty stacked bill on December 15th. Playing alongside them will be Dead Leaf Echo, Dinowalrus, and Decorum. It should be a fine time! -JP Basileo

Back in March, Lowell, Massachussetts trio Spooky Future released ‘Chrese,’ a palpably intriguing collection of jazz-rock songs. Calmer than its title may imply, the first track "Finally, You’ve Lost Your Mind" (streaming below) is a smooth blend of drum clasps and guitar curls that is pleasantly reminiscent of The Bad Plus and BADBADNOTGOOD. The second-to-last song, "The National Fun Deficit," similarly, plays along to a graceful pace, its thick bass lines effectively showing the elegant power of instrumental music. Spooky Future plays at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA on 12/15.- Zach Weg

A few months ago, Providence-based act Sensitive Hearts released some pleasantly sensual demos. While the song "Who Is He" is an electronica-oriented piece of skipping beats and percussive pings, the punk-inflected track "I’ll Hold Your Hand" (streaming below) shows the genteel-voiced artist in an antsier manner, his vocals practically punching their way towards love. Damon Albarn’s melancholic solo debut ‘Everyday Robots’ may be an influence on these songs but, as its name shows, Sensitive Hearts has an deep emotional artfulness that makes it fresh. Sensitive Hearts plays AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island on Saturday (12/12). – Zach Weg 

If you wonder why so much electronic music is invading the web-waves, the answer is bifold: portability, and user friendliness (as in: you don’t really need to learn to play an instrument to make electronic music). These two features certainly helped NYC based electronic songriter Amanda Steckler (of Blonde Maze) write songs while traveling back and forth between NYC and London. Tos songs were christallized in four track debut EP "Oceans," which is a sonic diary of the contrasting feelings and thoughts of an transatlantic traveler – always an ocean away from someone or something dear to them, asleep while the loved ones are awake and vice-versa, as single "Awake / Asleep" (streaming) points out. Blonde Maze will perform at Pianos on New Year’s Eve (which is always a lot of fun, with Great Caesar and Controller.

We were pretty impressed with Brooklyn power pop band Downies’ first single "Widow" back in May, but then silence fell – we even tried to book them for our CMJ show but no reply was had (by the way, here’s an almost absolute truth for you: distorted guitar based bands tend to be horrible at replying to emails, while acoustic musicians tend to be great at it – go figure!). But let’s not digress. Downies is now dead, because it has tramsitioned into something else identical to itself in everything but its name, which is now "Cende." They are about to release a debut, self titled EP scheduled for January 2016, but available for full streaming on their bandcamp page. "Is it good?" – you ask. "It’s good" we answer. It’s fast, distorted grunge-pop, featuring melodies that anybody will have a hard time purging from their system. Five good songs out of five, with the fourth one being not poppy at all, but very Pixies-ish in an extreme and concentrated way. For the record, you’ll never get a complaint from us with the word "Pixies" in it; even "they sound too much like The Pixies" should always be interpreted as a huge compliment, as long as it’s referred to the band’s early years. Listen again to "Widow," and enjoy the speedy catchiness of second track "End," streaming below.

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The Good Hearts will be making their debut live performance this Sunday, December 13, at recordBar. Show starts at 8 pm. Facebook event page. You can also catch them at Coda for MudStomp Records’ Saturday Afternoon Stomp on December 19 at 3 pm. Facebook event page.