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

Talent is talent, but when presented in a sloppy shape, it becomes contagiously charming, and an adorable band name can only boost that perception. This is the lesson we have learned today via Brooklyn’s quintet Flower Girl, who play some kind of lo-fi twangy pop and have been around for longer than we expected (their debut album was out in 2013). Their latest, sophomore LP, entitled Okie Dokie Howdy Doody came out in the summer of 2015 and it’s a very solid, uber-amiable work, full of delicate melodies and qurky moments, that re-elaborates the disorderly genius of Syd Barret and the (early) Beta Band, marrying it with the not-so-traditional approach to… traditional American music of Neil Young and late Camper Van Beethoven. Based on an odd time signature, opening single "Scary Drive" (streaming) is a scruffy, limpy alt-country number a la’ Beck that will make you crack a smile – which is always priceless. Following track "A Platypus" starts as a plodding blues but gradually accelerates in ways only The Feelies could conceive, slowly morphing into a delirious slacker rock tune. Third song Eat Worms flirts again with blues but develops in a gentle, idyllic melody reminiscent of the Flaming Lips at their most tear-inducing – although the lyrics "come to terms/eat that worm that’s feeding you" might conflict with a weeping mood. The remarkable variety of the twelve tracks, with textural ballads like "Romantic Mood" juxtaposed to punkish numbers like "Stop Starin’," doesn’t mine the band’s identity, rooted in an "anything goes" attitude that’s refreshingly unpretentious. 

Flower girl will be performing live at Palisades on December 2nd and at Alphaville on December 11th.

We’ve been following Eddie Front‘s Ivana Carrescia (ex Ivana XL) for a considerable amount of time (check out a 2009 interview over here). She spends her time writing beautiful but mostly sad songs, and has developed a unique style that blends the melancholic crooning of the pre-rock’n’roll ’50s with ambient music and dream folk. Hopefully her upcoming album "Marina" – her debut full length – will put this talented singer songwriter in front of a bigger audience, although in this country – sadly – not many people can appreciate music that it’s not upbeat. That’s when Europe comes handy. Check out preview single "Goldie" below, and if you are in the mood for a quiet night, don’t miss her show at Palisades on November 25.

We had the chance to talk about Gabi Jimeno a bunch of time already, since she’s the drummer of dream pop Brooklyn band Balancer – a very impressive drummer for that matter. We never covered her solo project Ela Minus though, which also deserves attention. Recently nominated one of the "Queens of the South-American Indie" by this webiste, Ela Minus offers minimalistic synthpop, at times resembling a less dramatic version of Bjork, at others filtering through an electro filter Gabi’s homeland musical influences , like in the first single "Jamaica" (from of her upcoming "First Words" EP) based on what sounds like a Bossanova drum pattern, enriched by a delicate melody and harmonies that are at once pretty and edgy. The Deli NYC is premiering here the second single from that EP, entitled "Kiddo," a sparser, more experimental track, in which Gabi’s soprano reaches sky high altitudes with a melody as vague as it is haunting. Look out for the third single to be released in the next few weeks.

The soaring rock songs of Boston trio blindspot are serious yet warm. Enlivened by frontwoman Alexa Economou’s Nicks-like voice, such drum-pounced tracks as "I Won’t Let Your Heart Break" (streaming below) and "Lay Me Down" uplift even as they stir, seeking happiness while still considering such hardships as disappointment and heartbreak. Pleasantly, though, the 2012-formed group portrays the inherent messiness of life with elegance, moving the listener while expressing what he/she sometimes struggles to. Blindspot plays at Great Scott in Allston, MA on 12.20. – Zach Weg