Longtime KC mainstay free-form show Signal To Noise, hosted by Barry Lee, will present a special show in honor of Lou Whitney, who passed away Tuesday after battling cancer. The radio show will include in-studio guests Kristie Stremel, Tony Ladesich, Fred Wickham, and Joey Skidmore. Lou’s longtime friend and guitarist D. Clinton Thompson will also join in via telephone from Springfield, Missouri. Tune in this Sunday, October 12, at 8:00 p.m. to hear the music of the Morells, The Original Symptoms, The Skeletons, and songs recorded by the guests with Lou producing. And great Lou stories as well. Facebook event page.

Caitlin Canty‘s wispy folk tunes bring personal stories of gritty, working class Vermont to the urban snarl of her adopted homeland in Brooklyn. Upcoming record "Reckless Skyline" pulls together this landscape in what may be her finest effort yet. Produced by singer/songwriter Jeffrey Foucault, "Skyline" showcases Canty’s inexhaustible energy and infectious optimism. Sneak peaks of tracks like "Get Up" and "Enough About Hard Times" show the artist still with plenty of gas left in her tank, which is just what she’ll need to burn her on a lengthy, Kickstarter-funded tour across America. She’ll be back home in New York at Rockwood Music Hall next month too. See her live at The Deli’s CMJ Roots Stage at Rockwood on 10.22 – Mike Levine

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

Early in 2014 NYC’s downtempo electro-pop-soul act MOTHXR (previously known as ‘MOTHER,’ an ungoogleable moniker destined to be challenged in court) came out of nowhere and dropped a doozy for their first single, entitled ‘Easy.’ It’s a fog-fueled, intricately percussive, and harmonically-spiraling package of goodness. Industrial at times, beachy at others, it sports Gossip Girl’s star Penn Badgley behind the mic for extra glamour. The release was followed by two more singles reiterating the group’s dark, borderline gothic electro-soul style, dominated by Badgley charismatic and soulful tenor, and well supported by a lineup of solid musicians also active in Lolawolf, Reputante and No.

MOTHXR will be performing at The Deli’s Electronic CMJ Stage at Pianos on 10.24 with Sunflower Bean, Baby Alpaca and Bo Ningen among others.

LINKS:
Read Brescia Mascheretti’s interview with MOTHXR.
Listen to The Deli’s playlist of Best Electronic songs by emerging NYC artists – including music by MOTHXR.

 DC’s Paperhaus are ramping up for their first full length release early next year. Shortly after returning from a tour of the east coast, they dropped their first single, "Cairo," and have just released it’s companion video. Directed by Nigel Lyons (who’s been doing some amazing work for the best bands in the local scene), the video channels booth the energy and excitement of Paperhaus’ live show, and the vivid colors and vibrant tones of the band’s recordings. These masters of DC’s current DIY scene are set to dominate the national stage. Catch them locally while you still can at The Black Cat on October 13th, and DC9 on October 23rd. –Natan Press

 DC’s hottest band Wanted Man have released a video for their garage-rock blitz "Slow and Steady." Ahahaha! It’s funny ’cause the title is misleading. I know you have less than two minutes to check out the video below, recorded at DC’s house of houses The Paperhaus. When does this album drop? I need it. –Natan Press

The Funk Ark are releasing their new album, Man Is A Monster, on October 14th via Ropeadope Records. Recorded at Richmond’s Montrose Recording (an amazing space that has quickly become a premier studio in the DMV, recording many previous DC Deli Artists of the Month including Avers, and People’s Blues of Richmond), the album is like going on a Caribbean cruise through space on acid with an afrobeat orchestra following you around deck while you sail past galaxies and supernovas. The songs are all instrumental jams, but the changes are so tight and inventive that the energy never ever wanes (not for one second), and each track is over much too quickly (which is the opposite reaction I usually have to this sort of thing). Six action packed minutes on the mothership feel like three. It’s a trip. Don’t miss Funk Ark‘s amazing live show, supported by the equally incredible Black Masala, this Friday, October 10th at Black Cat. Check out the title track below. –Natan Press   

Brooklyn psych-metal band Tidal Arms isn’t just another Sonic Youth devotee creating their idea of what metal sounds like. It is For-Us-By-Us metal. On their self-titled second album, the band supply pile-driving riffs that are mathy enough for engineer Alan Douches’s (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge) mastering, and stoned enough to make you stop wondering about a Kyuss reunion. Dip in to "Gooski’s Ladder" or "Molasses" (streaming), and hold on to your senses. – Ben Apatoff

Hailing from Tampa, FL, Dru Cutler is an eclectic songwriter that now calls Brooklyn home. His debut single "you and me and the system" (video here) is an extremely well produced, atmospheric mid tempo, featuring an unusual melody that resolves in a hummed, evocative chorus. Side B "train" is a bluesier number that confirm Dru’s preference for slower tempos and intimate atmospheres. The more recent single "Familiar" almost veers towards the Pink Floyd ascetic pop of the "Whish You Were Here" years, although the lyrics are kept down to earth – actually focused on day to day life and love in NYC. Dru Cutler will be performing at Radio Bushwick tomorrow 10.10

 

Singer-songwriter Nick Hakim‘s sophomore EP "Where Will We Go Pt.2" (released on his own label Earseed Records) is a carefully crafted nod to the soul kings – Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix and Al Green. The 23-year-old says he formed his sound while studying at Berklee College of Music. "Lift Me Up" is a perfect example, with a melodic core expressed by Hakim’s hauntingly beautiful vocals, sparse keys and honest lyrics.

LINKS: Read Brescia Mascheretti’s interview with Nick Hakim.

Even when out of fashion, Rock’n’Roll played the good old way has never stopped being fun, and way too many critics announced its death for purposes that seem more self-promotional than analytical. They were mistaking change for death – a common misjudgment old, tired people tend to do. Yes, Rock’n’Roll keeps changing, like anything else in life, and change is death and rebirth at once. Brooklyn’s Sun Ladders – formed in 2012 by Rob Hampton (ex bassist in Band of Horses) – is pretty explicit about wanting to "resurrect" the genre. The title-track of their debut EP – aptly named "Rock’n’Roll is Dead" – is a relentless blues-rock assault augmented by Hampton’s accusatory, tense vocals ("I’ve read in the paper, it’s on the billboards it’s what the man on the TV says. We don’t need no guitars or no bass drums we can bury them in the ground"), that resolves in a quieter bridge invoking a rebirth ritual ("We’ll ask the spirits to raise you back from the grave. Build you an altar and put you back in your rightful place"). More than a ritual, to get its health back Rock’n’Roll simply needs more songs like this one. See Sun Ladders live at Pianos on Saturday October 11 during the CBGB’s Music Fest.

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