We haven’t been able to get Elohim’s anthemic single "Bridge and the Wall" out of our heads, and neither will you. Synthesizing trillwave and electropop styles from her summer split release "She Talks Too Much"/"Xanax", this deceptive indie banger nurses your aches of liberosis with the warmth of early Passion Pit. Elohim’s sounds have tapped into the restless ears of the Internet, and the night wanderers of Los Angeles with her recent Monday night sets for The Big Pink‘s Echo residency (which slayed our hearts, tyvm). Her identity is still a mystery to us, but that’s not a concern as revealed in a recent interview with The 405.

"I am a musician first and foremost. I have been playing and making music my entire life. It is important for me, as a female, to show that. All sides of me. Well, except my face."

Elohim’s next split release "Bridge and the Wall"/"Pigments" is due out next month, January 8th, via Bay/LA tastemaker B3SCI‘s record label. – Ryan Mo

After months juggling studio time, rehearsals, and shows across California, Los Angeles darkwave trio Ghost Noise will release the follow-up to their 2013 debut This is the Next Part of Your Dream.

Our Heaven of Darkness, the full-length recorded through 2014 and produced in part with Jessica Nicole Collins (BERU)and Jöseph Solomön Calleirö, comes out this week on December 5th.

The Deli reached out to Ghost Noise about what fans new and old can expect from Our Heaven of Darkness. "We’re exploring a lot of darker tones on this album," says Gawby Moon. 

John Connolly adds, "It’s an album born out of a lot of hurt. These are the most deeply personal songs we’ve ever written."

Ghost Noise and BoredToDeath are hosting a record release show at Non Plus Ultra with Intimatchine and BERU. The evening will be complete with visual projections by Wes Johansen, vinyl grooves from KXLU’s Mukta Mohan, and delectables by Joshua Ploeg. You can also catch an early show this Thursday at The Smell with Band Aparte and Parallax Scroll. Listen to the lachesist "Farther and Fainter", the second single from Our Heaven of Darkness, below. – Ryan Mo

Indie rock lovers with (democratic) socialist tendencies might want to visit The Living Room on Saturday December 5th, to witness a Bernie Sanders fundraiser featuring an interesting bill of local electric acts sharing psychedelic and noise rock tendencies. Headlining the show will be recently regrouped noise-gazers Weed Hounds (pictured – and yes, "noisegazer" is accepted as a genre by Last.fm). Their single "Heather W" from last year’s self titled album, has the perfect balance of fuzz, dissonance, reverb and melody, and deserves a spot in our playlist featuring the best psych/shoegazer songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

One of the openers will be self defined "sad-core" collective World of Darkness, a brand new NYC band that released an interesting debut two song EP this past April.  Single "Back in My College Bed" (streaming below) refreshes our memories about the good days when slacker rock turned more mature, melodic, and lyrical. Their second single Your Roots is a blue, electric ballad that supports the "sad-core" claim. These two bands will be joined on stage also by dream poppers Gingerlys and noise purveyors Warcries (featuring members of Advaeta).

Looking for the next big thing in funk? Look no further than Sojourne, a progressive soul four-piece belting out the finest sounds you heard from Baltimore. The lead vocalist, Trina Coleman, has pipes on par with Sara Bareilles and they have a wide spread of jams, from cheery upbeat melodies to slow cocktail lounge serenades. These Seeds is their debut LP and it’s a work of art. Though the band is entering a self-declared hibernation for the winter, you can catch them playing for Artworks on Maryland Public Television, 12/17, at 8:30pm. -Jonathan Goodwin

Bushwick born, Staten Island raised Michael Alan Alien grew up throwing art parties in the 90s. Before Wu-Tang was the empire it is now, they were just a bunch of friendly faces in a cloud of smoke on his guest list. ODB’s passing weighed heavily on the world’s Hip Hop community, and Michael Alan Alien is one of the many still holding the torch and spreading the light of one of Rap’s most brazen innovators. Considering ODB “the Van Gogh of Hip Hop,” Michael texted Miss Jones and linked with ODB’s brother Ramsey Jones and created a live tribute at Printed Matter which culminated in a 27 track limited edition tribute album featuring Mike’s mom and dad, The Residents, O.D.B., Treasure Hunt, Bonglestar, Tommy Ramone, Vasdeferens, and others. It’s a tripped out, punk rap, noise exploration of the undersung genius of the Big Baby Jesus. Each CD is hand made by Michael Alan Alien and is a piece of collectible art itself. Get your hands on one here. – BrokeMc

Rock and pop music are fun, but nothing can fire up a party as much as Rock’n’Roll, so if you are back from a quiet Thanksgiving holiday and feel like partying on a Monday night, you may want to head to the Cake Shop, where rockabillers Shiro & The Raw Dogs will be brginging the sound off the rebellious late ’50s. Active since 2013, the group has two singles under their belt. This year’s "My Baby’s Bad" is propelled by frantic, borderline tribal percussions and an incendiary combination of electric guitars and vocals.

Get hyped, San Fernando Valley. Your city rocks. Your people rock. And to show you just how much, the lovely birds at Wake Up, San Fernando Valley collective are throwing a fest that’ll put you on the map, more so than HAIM or System of a Down did.

WSFV -IV- (wait, the fourth?) celebrates homegrown talents from the deep San Fernando Valley at the longstanding White Oak. Over a dozen local bands are billed for your 818 pleasures, including Fever The Ghost, R!OT, and The Unending Thread. Art vendors, food trucks and more, ya heard?

It goes down on a spoopy December 13th. Expect this to be a packed show; wear your Sunday suits, or whatever. – Ryan Mo

Last week, Boston quartet Courage Cloak released "Danse Macabre" (streaming below), the blistering third song off its forthcoming seven-track album. Starting with plaintive drums that quickly give way to guttural vocals and chugging basslines, the metal-girded cut emits a surprising sweetness despite its sonic and thematic heaviness. The fittingly-titled song does, in fact, mine such grave ideas as ultimate doom but, perhaps unlike straight metal tracks, lets in at least a little hope for redemption. Courage Cloak plays at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston, MA on 12.9. – Zach Weg 

With the exception of TV on the Radio and a few other artists, soul musicians have taken longer than the indie ones to update their genre’s sound to the new creative possibilities opened by the bedroom studio technology. This is probably due to the fact that soul artists are for the most part extraneous to the DIY ethos that’s been feeding indie rock since the punk revolution. This year, NYC duo Lewis Del Mar has been making up some time in this regard, releasing three noteworthy, self-produced singles that soon found their way on the top of music aggregators, gathering hundreds of thousand of plays in less than 6 months. Blending soulful vocals with imaginative, dark arrangements, the band flirts with indie and industrial, forging a sound that’s at once imaginative and accessible, and featuring a mid tempo inclination that allows space for both vocals and creative programming to coexist. Their latest single "Waves" (we blogged about it here) was released a month ago and it’s already their most popular to date. Check out their first single "Loud(y)" and don’t miss their show headlining Rough Trade on December 2nd – a gig they earned by selling Mercury Lounge during their debut show in September.

On the weekend of November 22nd, Cameo Gallery, one of the last beloved venues still kicking in Williamsburg post its DIY heyday, gave us a last hurrah. Since 2009 the multi-floored venue and bar has been host to numerous favorite dance parties, indie rock and electronic bands, DJs, make outs, comedy shows — they even fit a few modest demon dimensions in those restrooms. Its stages were notable in the beginning narratives of bands such as Neon Indian, Beach Fossils, Sharon Van Etten, and The War On Drugs. This writer was glad to catch the penultimate show last Friday with a lineup including many local talents: Monograms, Little Racer and SoftSpot opening for Eternal Summers, and a later set by The Juan MacLean. The experience was as dancy, sweaty, and boozy as one could expect. All the acts made for a fantastic show, but in my personal account, Brooklyn’s quartet SoftSpot stole the night.

It wasn’t merely about enjoying the sound, or even getting fixed on lyrics as fabrics fix on burs—It is an intimate thing to watch a woman cast spells, and lead singer Sarah Kinlaw does this in front of everyone gathered. This is most stirring to witness in person, as the power might start in her voice but is controlled as if attached to strings on her expressive hands. SoftSpot is a synthesis of eerie dream-rock with modern dance, and just played one of the most refreshing live sets I’ve seen in a while. A performer caught in a spell of that sort encourages those in the audience itself to follow and ease their steps as into a body of water. Those who desire to, become places for lightening to travel.

At the end of the night, the bright, multicolored display dangling on the ceiling over all of us suddenly seemed in its small way iconic, like the clouds attached to every memory of Glasslands. We wish you adieu Cameo, thanks for all the good times! – Leora Mandel

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

You can check out the new Rev Gusto lineup at Revolution Records next First Friday—they’ll be playing therewith Black Stacey and Coyote. Show starts at 7 pm. Facebook event page. Or if you’re in Warrensburg on Saturday, they’ll be at The Bay.  

If you are fascinated with the idea of parallel worlds, you should immerse yourself in the music of Brooklyn’s (via Colombia) duo Salt Cathedral (the band will perform live at Rough Trade on December 19th). Their gently impressionistic arrangements and celestial atmospheres, combined with Juliana Ronderos’ angelic voice and melodies, might transport you to the closest thing to the seventh heaven you’ve ever experienced – or at least a dancey version of it. We asked Juliana a few questions about the band’s creative process, check out the link below.

Delicious Audio: Salt Cathedral and the Creative Process