In the past year, Brooklyn’s Acid Dad have been churning out a series of singles between the garagey and the trippy, but new track "Grim" (streaming below) is by far the most droney of their repertoire – acid is evidently opening up new soundscapes for this dad! Fans of the UK sound of the ’90s may hear occasional references to both The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. The boys have three CMJ dates scheduled, which makes them a rather hot item for next week’s Music Marathon (super hot emerging bands can play as often as 6-7 times in those five days). The first show will be at the Good Room (ex Europa in Greenpoint) on October 13.

How does one blend upbeat pop arrangements with incredibly sad sounding vocals? Harvey Eyeballs, a band of Brooklyn weirdos surrounding the title frontman, addresses the question in their new release "Whole ‘Nuther Record" (premiering below). If taken at face value, with their cool saxophone fills and backing vocal pleasantries, the songs swerve and bop in ways reminiscent of 60’s and 70’s feel-good vibes. But because of Harvey’s lyrical dejection and tonal peculiarities, as in opener “I Wanna Love You” and “Gindrunk,” the band’s sound becomes something new entirely. It’s a little like an Elvis Costello on acid, conflicted over leaving the altered state for a less cool reality. Even on slowed-down tracks, like “The Garvin Song,” and heavy-hitting closer “Streetbone,” a pained uncertainty can be detected in Harvey’s voice, creating a wholly new weight to the sound. While playful bells, wild saxophones, or a fun, almost waltzy rhythm section dance along melodically, the entire mood is warped by Eyeballs’ tormented soul searching. The band celebrates the release of Whole Nuther Record 10/8 at The Living Room, and you can expect a certain degree of madness. –JP Basileo

Culture Collide Festival, the brainchild of Alan Miller (co-founder of FILTER Magazine), returns for its sixth year of international music discovery. The festival partners with record labels like 100% Silk, Stones Throw, Sargent House, IHeartComix, and more to introduce over 40 fresh faces and nationally renowned acts to connoisseurs of the West Coast, spanning three days in several venues dotted across Echo Park: TAIX, The Champagne Room, The Echo/Echoplex, Echo Park’s United Methodist Church, and Lot 1 Café.

Bands travel from their homes in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Korea, France, Ecuador, Peru, and more to perform in the musical melting pot of Los Angeles. This year, Culture Collide has also teamed up with the Modern Sky record label to feature a special Chinese Indie Night at the Regent Theatre (10/9) with acoustic folk performer Song Dongye (宋冬野), synthpunk New Pants, and Miserable Faith (痛苦的信仰乐队). Purchase tickets or learn more about the bands here.

Not quite sure about going to Culture Collide? Here are six good reasons to make your mind up:

 

 

Nick Diamonds: The Canadian musician has fronted dozesn of bands including the notable Islands, collab’d with notables like Alpha Pup’s Daddy Kev and Honus Honus (Man Man), even helping to pioneer a genre of music called Doom-wop. Now situated in Los Angeles, Nicholas Thornton reveals the great follow-up to his 2011 debut: the bedroom bummer, electro-noir full-length City Of Quartz. 

Cruising back from his recent tour through SF and Santa Cruz, Nick Diamonds will perform at the Echoplex on 10/9. Check out the single to City Of Quartz, "The Sting", below.

 

 

The Album Leaf: The solo project of Tristeza’s original member James LaValle is among the most respected in post-rock circles, invigorated with glitch and ambient spirits that diverged from his guitar-centric peers. Since the release of A Chorus of Storytellers in 2010, LaValle has spent the last two years working on a new album, and he’s bound to play some unreleased tracks at Culture Collide.

The Album Leaf plays at The Church on Friday 10/9. Heads up: a video for his newest single "New Soul" drops the same day. Listen to his last single featuring folk solo artist Peter Broderick, titled "Never Held a Baby".

 

 

The Grounders: Toronto’s psych-y krautrockers celebrate the release of their self-titled debut LP, a sonic poptart with lo-fi noise crust enveloping a gooey synth filling. Following their 2013 EP "Wreck of a Smile", bandmates Andrew Davis, Daniel Busheikin, Mike Searle, and Evan Lewis got together to explore Zombies and David Bowie with a self-help guide by David Lynch and Meditation for Dummies. The result: a blissful and cogent series of recordings laid out in Davis’ Toronto bedroom and a studio-converted garage stacked with vintage equipment. 

Listen to the single "Bloor Street And Pressure" and watch them twice at Culture Collide: 10/8 at Lot 1 Café and 10/9 at TAIX.

 

  

The Vim Dicta: Channeling glorious garage-y psychgroove from the LA basin, The Vim Dicta’s Cori Elliot, Matt Tunney, and Chris Infusino were regarded by The Deli’s staff as one of the Best New LA Bands in 2012 with their live-recorded debut EP "Lucky Strike". The 2013 follow-up "Von Tango", a five-song collection of guitar scuzz, jazz growl, and noir grit, furthered the notion that Los Angeles hadn’t seen the last of devilishly soulful music — rock certainly is not dead, at least not for The Vim Dicta. With a new album in the works, the trio are currently performing a free spread-out residency at Harvard & Stone (next show on 10/21). 

The Vim Dicta plays Saturday 10/10 at TAIX. Listen to "Stallion" off the "Von Tango" EP below.

 

 

The Mynabirds: A previous Deli feature, The Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn fronts a blend a garage rock, pop, R&B, and soul that has turned the heads of every tastemaker across the coasts. We waxed poetic about her summer release Lovers Know, which was featured on NPR and reviewed positively by Drowned in Sound and The Line of Best Fit — need we say more?

The Mynabirds wrap up their US tour for Lovers Know at The Echo on 10/9, and if you haven’t seen them perform yet, you can thank us later.

 

 

WYM: The solo project of modular synth artist Jun Hyung Byun, alias bjorn (뵤른) and one half of Seoul Disco’s electronic duo MDS, makes his LA debut at Culture Collide. WYM’s aesthetic is derived from careful manipulation of ’80s patches to create prismatic soundscapes that combine dreampop, chillwave, ambient, electronica, and synthpop like his peers YUKARI, Clazziquai, and House Rulez. This isn’t the K-pop that’s been taking over the states by storm; it’s a taste of Korea’s electronic underground that your ears have been deprived of for years. Better late than never.

He plays two shows at Culture Collide: one on Thursday 10/8 as part of SeoulSonic’s showcase, and another on Saturday 10/10 at Lot 1 Café. Listen to the title track off his debut album After Moon. – Ryan Mo

Keenan O’Meara seems to hold music and life in the same palm, letting the two not just mirror each other but almost embrace in a partly painful, partly pleasant hug. A few times during a conversation on a recent morning at a Chelsea coffee shop, the Maryland-born individual spoke about his art by mentioning his general experience, reflecting outward his inner feelings. And that is just what he does with his September-released ‘Awful Creature’ EP; through searing, guitar-embered songs of troubled youths, anguished parents, and the flames that hurt but ultimately warm them, the Brooklyn-based musician looks inside and emerges with an intimately fiery work of art, a hearth from the cold. Taking time out of his tour with London musician Lianne La Havas, O’Meara talked about his background, his music, his creative process, and more.  – Read Zach Weg’s full interview with Keenan O’Meara.

You may remember John Robinson aka Lil Sci from the groundbreaking 90s Hip Hop duo Scienz of Life. International Summers is his collaboration with U.K. producer Lewis Parker who garnered acclaim from his work with fellow British phenom Jehst as well as American marvel Ghostface Killah. The solid boom bap and casual flows conjured by these exemplary MC/Producers make for a perfect summer album. Despite the change of seasons it will definitely warm up your playlist. – BrokeMc

The CMJ Music Marathon is just a week away (bloody hell, not sure we trained hard enough for it this year…), and The Deli as always will focus its attention away from the bands everybody wants to see, to highlight instead those that too many will miss: the so called "emerging artists." NYC Wild Pink definitely belongs to the category, having released their debut, five track EP ‘Good Life‘ this past June – although they were obviously on Pianos radar earlier than that. It’s an electric record that (unexpectedly enough) does NOT quote Pavement nor Dinosaur Jr nor the grunge invasion of the ’90s – the trio deserves one thumb up just for that. We hear a little bit of early Modest Mouse and Guided by Voices’ earnest attitude here and there, but it’s an overall interesting release, full of raw intensity and not afraid to slow down the tempo, like in tracks "Good Life" and River "Run RX." But since upbeat stuff is what most people want, we’ll stream opening single "Is This Hotel Haunted?". Wild Pink will be performing at Lit Lounge (which apparently isn’t closing anymore) on October 14th.

Musicans have always strived to capture the primacy of human experience — some using tried and true approaches while others play with the strange and eccentric. But for the chamber group Inner Ecstasy, communicating felt truths often involves balancing the classical with the experimental, harnessing the provocative spirits of music’s golden age and its avant-garde. Isaac Takeuchi, Vicki Scotto, and brothers Steve and Gabriel Armenta pull from influences spanning centuries apart — from Johann Sebastian Bach and Philip Glass to The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth — wielding the harmonious and the dissonant to chronicle the voyage of raw emotion.

After a first show at the inaugural LAB•FEST in 2013, Inner Ecstasy signed to DIY label Noise Met Sound, where they released their first EP and went on to play with acts like Liphemra and Bür Gür. The group has been strong advocates of the DIY music/arts community, supporting venues like the LA Fort and LAST Projects in the past years.

Inner Ecstasy plays an all-ages show tomorrow at the Ave. 50 Studio in Highland Park with Sean Pineda, Voice on Tape, Austin’s dream pop noir duo Technicolor Hearts, and Los Angeles post-rock Young Lovers. Listen to the haunting "Ascension" below and come to the show tomorrow; doors open at 6 PM. – Ryan Mo

The beginning of October is sign for shorter days, chillier nights, and pumpkin spiced everythings, but down here it’s still hot as hell. And tonight it’s only gonna get hotter, louder, and chiller: turn up and get sweaty in the walls of vintage equipment store and supporting venue Timewarp Records as two recent Deli features, Hillary Chillton and Crescendo, welcome San Francisco’s summer-eyed Hot Flash Heat Wave. The Bay Area baes wrap up their West Coast tour this weekend, celebrating the release of the sunbathing Neapolitan LP with two back-to-back shows in Santa Monica and Fullerton (@ The Continental Room with BURGER RECORDS’ well-done lineup).

The event moved venues from The Heart of Art Gallery, after an incident of vandalism in late August prompted the space to shut down. SFV’s trillest emo-soul trio The Unending Thread unfortunately had to pull out as well — big ups to their guitarist/vocalist Cesar Alas, who co-organized the event! Listen to "Malibu" straight off HFHW’s Neapolitan below. Doors open 8:30 PM, $8 admission to help the music fam. – Ryan Mo

We are fans of Gabrielle Smith’s Eskimeaux, a band that plays what we would call "very reletable" indie pop with folky tinges. After all, what’s more "reletable" than the cozy feeling of wearing socks and sandals with a simple summer dress, while rocking out on stage? They just released this fun video for their latest single "Broken Neck," which was picked up by NPR! The band is also playing at Baby’s Allright, tonight (10.02).

Although most indie rock fans think to Pavement’s Steven Malkmus as the father of lo-fi rock and the slacker attitude applied to the genre, British mad genius – and Pink Floyd founder – Syd Barret anticipated this trend in his three, beautiful, post-Pink Folyd/pre-madness solo records from the early ’70s. Matthew Van Asselt’s band Real Life Buildings sounds to us like he’s heavily inspired by Barret’s casual singing, lazy melodies (as in "Black Kettle") and preference for an overall aesthetic that predilects semi-unfinished sounding recordings (check out opener "In The Sky Today"). The band’s sound is also filtered through the lens of the 90’s US college rock, with distorted power chords often taking over the reigns. Check out our favorite song "It Snowed," which also features a rare banjo in the chorus. You can see Real Life Buildings live at Baby’s All Right tonight (10.02)

Santa Ana DIY venue Top Acid is hosting the OC Femme Fest this Saturday to show support for the local community with a multicultural, multiethnic celebration — October 3rd also happens to be the birthday of Swiss-born German feminist writer Verena Stefan, but that’s probably coincidental.

Listen to the gothpunk flavors of SLO’s Loko Ono, Deadpanzies‘ dissonant splash of no wave, the satanic revivalist pop of Bellhaunts, and the bedroom folk of Bathroom Friends. An art gallery featuring local creatives Ratsy, Olyvia Ashley, Pam Serrano, Clit Or Crush, and Beverly Salas will also be up for viewing.

The vintage store/DIY space only recently changed its name in 2014, and has been grounded with local shows, with interviews, fashion lookbooks, and other great stuff by tastemaker Joellen Love and owner Christopher Gonzalez.

Show some love for Top Acid and check out Femme Fest on Saturday — it’s all-ages and free! – Ryan Mo

Ben Scott and Hazel Rigby’s band, called Outside World, plays a pleasently surprising amalgam of dream pop, math rock, and world music. Single ‘I Know You’ (streaming) starts with an intro that defies a tempo signature – stuff a la Radiohed, but not pompous at all – and then settles on a weirdly synchopated, vaguely funky rhyhm, switching cleverly between sections featuring different variations of triplet-based rhythms. For reasons beyond our comprehension, both this single and the other one available online (‘Wasting Time,’ a simpler pop song sung by Ben) trigger Calypso references, probably because of Scott’s synchopated guitar lines, which often feature a chimey tone vaguely reminiscent of a steel pan. Both songs are included in the band’s upcoming, self-titled album, which will be released through a live show at Cake Shop on October 08. We are intrigued!

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