Last night’s birthday bash for Dirty Laundry TV’s Michael Grodner was pretty epic, confimed by The Deli’s guest photographer David Foley. Read his first-hand account of the performances at Harvard & Stone and find more pictures on @TheDeliLA!

"Deep Fields felt like an electronic river of synth leading to a waterfall of whammy bar. You could tell the band members were enjoying being on stage together, and this translated into an uplifting wall of sound.

Colleen Green was like strawberry bubblegum, but with a bite. She had a very laid-back yet punkish vibe.

The Abigails were like raw molasses: down home rockabillies singing about love and death. Their lead singer was super expressive and entertaining, and I can’t remember a song that didn’t have a guitar solo."

We got into the Bootleg Theater for Miya Folick‘s EP release party thinking it’d be a pretty intimate gig. Some people trailed in as the sound guy checked levels with his iPad, but it looked sparse. No one was staking claim to the tables in front of the bar stage.

Then, five minutes before the set, a flash mob fashionably swarmed out of the theater end. It was lit.

Shannon Lay of Feels started the night with songs from her solo debut Holy Heartache while Alaska Reid (Alyeska) traded banter and set fire with her newest single "Medicine River". Miya Folick’s performance, enhanced with the visuals of Vinyl Williams, drew a crowd so tight the photographers could barely move around. Lena Fayre‘s ethereal voice drew the night to a close with songs from her summer EP "Is There Only One?" Shoutout to Liv Marsico (Liphemra) for spinning in-between sets (we did cry), and we think we caught a glimpse of Jeremy Katz (Froth, HOTT MT)? That was tight.

Check our Instagram @TheDeliLA for more pictures from the show, and catch Miya again at The Satellite on December 17th for a benefit show with Mereki and Madi Diaz! – Ryan Mo, photo: Michelle McCausland

Birthmark, aka Brooklyn musician Nate Kinsella, will be celebrating the release of album "How You Look When You’re Falling Down" at Brooklyn’s Rough Trade on Sunday, December 13. The band’s special one-night-only lineup will feature a heck of a lot of high profile guests, including Matt Bauder (Arcade Fire, Iron and Wine), Chris Hainey (Maps & Atlases), Olivia De Prato & Victor Lowrie (Mivos Quartet), Justin Frye (PC Worship, Skeletons), Cory Bracken (Real Adult, Ashcan Orchestra, Iktus Percussion), Diego Clare, Peter Hess (World/Inferno Friendship Society, Asphalt Orchestra), Sam Kulik (Skeletons), and Jordan McLean (Antibalas, Iron and Wine). Wow, talk about name dropping! But besides that, the two preview singles from the album sound very intriguing indeed: Birthmark offers a compelling mash of electro, orchestral pop, afrobeat, and conceptual rock a la Brian Eno. We are enjoying streaming track "Find Yourself," but check out also "Suit of Armor" which lacks the awesome tenor sax section, but features interesting middle eastern strings and a tighter, tenser beat.

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

Lower East Side’s Mercury Lounge is an important venue for emerging NYC bands, because it represents a trampoline towards other more prestigious Bowery Presents live show "opportunities." Sell it out, and it may unlock Rough Trade’s stage a couple of months later (ask Lewis Del Mar about it, he ALSO sold out the W’burg venue this past Tuesday, by the way). On the flip side, if your band’s draw is poor or unsatisfying, you may have a hard time getting booked there again. So… those are the rules of the game, and four super talented emerging NYC artists will face those odds on December 10, in a 100% local bill, something of a rarity at Mercury. We covered in this blog several times alt folksters Big Thief, soulful songwriter Nick Hakim, and orchestral pop quintet Pavo Pavo. We never covered Sam Evian (pictured), the new solo project of Sam Owen of Celesital Shore, but that very band graced the cover of our mag a couple of issues ago. The material we have access to for his solo project (limited to the song "Cherry Tree," streaming below) explores a ballad sound that, flirting with pop, blues and psychedelia at once, is reminiscent of that intense masterpiece that is The Beatles’ "Abbey Road." Don’t miss this show, great opportunity to catch four great emerging locals in one night.

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

We’re caught in the sun-drenched tape echoes of Golden Daze‘s new single "Salt", where murmurs of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Beach Fossils, and Days-era Real Estate are hitting us in the feels. Like, so hard. Songwriting duo Ben Schwab and Jacob Loeb — who have opened for acts like Jacco Gardner, Mild High Club, and Honeyblood — reveal their love for ’60s guitar jangle and endless washes of drone in this dreampop banger. 

Feel their warmth live on December 9th at The Satellite, where they’ll play with Gothic Tropic and Waterstrider. Golden Daze’s self-titled debut LP is set for release February 19 via Autumn Tone Records. – Ryan Mo, Photo: Liza Mandelup

Invisible Familiars were already pretty quirky when we covered them in depth in our 41st issue of The Deli NYC, but – to our delight – the quirkiness seems to be getting even more pronounced, with the addition of a new video that defies the concept of grotesque. The group, that operates like a collective rotating around songwriter Jared Samuel, just released this video for single "Bestial Western," one of the edgiest tracks in their wildly overlooked avant-folk debut album "Disturbing Wildlife." Will Schalda’s video plays with the record’s title by protraying a series of bizarre images of animals. Invisible Familiar will be playing a December residency at the Ace Hotel, do not miss! Dates here.

Tim Fite is an artist attempting to surpass the lip service and own up to the responsibility we all have as functioning cogs in a malfunctioning system. Though some may decry another white artist with Hip Hop roots taking up the cause of an oppressed culture from which he benefits, I think the more astute citizen will appreciate all people, artists or not, doing whatever they can, with whatever tools they have at hand, to keep the conversation going. In the final track of the album, “White People,” with a timbre recalling Public Enemy and later Saul Williams, Fite demands, “If you’re not a racist, then why are you turning a blind eye to racism? If you’re not a bigot then how can you live with a system that’s bigoted?” A visual artist as well, in the video, Fite paints accompanying canvases for each track on the album. He wisely doesn’t seek to provide easy answers so much remind us of important questions. – BrokeMc

Freshly graduated NYC duo Sofi Tukker (comprised of singer guitarist Sophie Hawley-Weld and programmer Tucker Halpern) started making music in 2014 and went viral in early November 2015, after releasing their first single "Drinkee." Admittedly, the track is infectuous: a compelling techno number infused with South American percussions, and propelled by a (quite literally) mono-note vocal line sung in Poruguese and charged with a synchopation able to move mountains – as in ‘make them dance." Also, we can’t bloody stop listening to it nor prevent our bodies from moving! It will be interesting to see if the duo stands the double test of a 30+ minute live show, during which they’ll have to (hopefully!) reveal a bunch of other songs. That show is already scheduled: Baby’s All Right for January 14th. Mark your Calendars.

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

100 Onces are arguably the most hardcore duo of Southern California’s mathrock scene. In their five years of existence, guitarist Barrett Tuttobene and drummer Richard Ray have raised money to book six DIY tours, and played the ArcTanGent Festival twice with the likes of Deafheaven, The Fall of Troy, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. During their recent Fall Europe tour, 100 Onces played a show in Russia where a dead body had washed up nearby. The venue subsequently burned down — dudes got their gear out and no one got hurt.

Sadly, last month the two announced that they are officially finished with the project, and will play their final show for their 818 homies at Wake Up, SFV. December 13th is your last chance to get angular with these guys. Will they strip down and crowdsurf for old times’ sake? Find out next Sunday. – Ryan Mo

Although still a member of the band Ava Luna, Felicia Douglass has ventured on her own musical endeavor under the moniker Gemma. Collaborating with producer Erik Gundel, the duo combined their expertises in making their debut LP “As Ever.” The album, which was released this past October, fluxes between genres; Gundel provides an electronic base full of hip hop references, while Douglass’ vocal styling flows between funk, pop, soul, and spoken word. Yet, the album is cohesive, and above all, smooth, mostly because of Douglass’ silky, laid-back, and versatile vocals. Gemma is playing at Palisades on December 12th! – Isabel Rolston

Tmorrow (12.3) at DROM, drink up some holiday spirits to your favorite hooligan spitters. Featuring some of the best rappers in the New York City indieground, the 9th Annual Yule Prog is the Hip Hop event of the season. Uncommon Nasa, We Are Not for Them, We are the Karma Kids, Billy Woods, and Elucid (whose video for "Automatic Writing is streaming below) are just a smattering of the cerebral slaughterhouse that will smash the stage. Also performing is Mello Music Group’s Quelle Chris from Chicago. If you’re not too upset about the corrupt government or the tyranny of the 1%, you may ever dance a little bit. – BrokeMC

We’ve been toying around with the idea of a "NYC Trip Hop Revival" couple of times already in the last couple of months – in particular for this – but, before we do it again, it should be stressed that many of the trip hop bands of the ’90s sounded actually more like "trip soul with hip hop beats" than anything: for example, Portishead’s or even Morcheeba’s lead singers never even tried rapping. Brand new NYC quintet The Mighty Jones inserts itself in this innovative musical wave by marrying the edgy electronic arrangements of the former with the more melodic and soulful vocals of the latter. The group will be celebrating the release of their debut album "Gone Long" with a show at Union Pool this coming Saturday December 12.05. Check out single "Rumblepack," streaming below.