Boston/Portland (ME)/Brooklyn based quintet Joy Kills Sorrow is that go to band every blogger speaks highly of, but they have yet to make the kind of splash they deserve. That may change with the pending release of new EP ‘Wide Awake,’ to be followed by a lengthy coast to coast tour. The five piece bluegrass/folk group has always found ways to extend themselves. Be it virtuoso string playing, huge lead vocals (Emma Beaton) or their penchant for re-configuring their classical backgrounds to carve out new worlds for pop jams (check out their fantastic cover of ‘Such Great Heights,’ streaming below), the band always comes across sounding new while staying firmly rooted in a classic American roots tradition. They’re setting off across the country this summer, but be sure to catch them live when they come around later this year.

Last week we fired off an email blast to all the NYC bands in our email database in search for a man/woman with a van who could help us distribute the Spring 2013 issue of The Deli. After a careful analysis of each band’s music and van, we decided to go for Brooklyn lo-fi poppers Yankee Bang Bang and their  2006 Dodge Grand Caravan! Not too old + perfect size to fit 8k copies of The Deli + chilled dudes (we imagine).

The band will be releasing a new EP on June 12 with a show at Grand Vicotry. In the meantime, enjoy this track from an older rlease.

The next step in hot rod hard rock is here. Dirty Fences have combined the joys of smoke-filled biker bars into songs that last at most 2 and a half minutes. New EP ‘Too Kind to Kross’ is two jams designed especially for speed and abandon. This is the kind of sunset strip metal that celebrates the roots of hardcore, and the future of good old fashioned, dirty ass hard rock is here. Grab the new record here, and if you missed your show at Irvin Plaza last Saturday (opening for Turbonegro), check them out when they head back to NY for shows later this year. The band will play three gigs in the West coast in late May/early June. – Mike Levine (@Goldnugets)

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

Keeping secret identities, rising R&B electropop artists ASTR are testing the waters with slick, slightly sinister club bangers. The “NYC Duo” mixes processed vocals, 808s and heavy bass drops, producing dance tracks that sound like they came from a seasoned hit factory. Dark undertones ground their handful of high-gloss tracks, but they never dive into the creep-pop or drug-stupor of influences like Purity Ring and The Weeknd. The pair’s latest single is a radio-friendly earworm called “Operate.” The twitchy, washed-out companion video borrows from NIN’s, “Closer,” with blood, guts and silent film footage spliced between shots of the glam, unknown singer, whose “Operate, Oh-oh” has a tinge of Caribbean accent. The sleuth behind the buttons remains a mystery. – Bianca Seidman

Mree‘s delicate voice and intimate songs have a resonating power that caught the attention of none other than mister Bon Iver. The "king of mellowness" recently shared Mree’s music with his fans, creating quite a bit of buzz around this young artist. Quite impressively, this talented nineteen year old songstress and full-time NYU music student not only records and produces her own music, but also films and edits her videos (see them here). She plans to release her sophomore album, "Winterwell," on August 6. The album’s first single, “Into the Well” (streaming below) features a long ethereal intro reminiscent of Enya’s seas of sound, and then develops into a mid tempo electro-pop lullaby. It works. Once a cover-artist, recreating versions of tracks from Bon Iver and The Middle East, Mree seems to have found her own sound along the way. – Kristyn Potter

Mree won The Deli’s Artist of the Month Poll in May and will be performing at The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest for Emerging NYC Artists on Thursday June 6 at 9pm at Spike Hill in Williamsburg. We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Mellow songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

It’s always refreshing to hear some clean, well-written Indie that isn’t pretentious and is catchy enough to keep you coming back for more. BK’s contemporary Indie surf-Rock quartet known as Coastgaard gives you just that. Their summer music sound arrived just in time and compares with Smith Westerns in a lot of ways. They seem to be a mix of their biggest influences, the Beach Boys and Neutral Milk Hotel. Coastgaard is set to play Pianos on 5.23 with Ski Lodge, LazyEyes and PacificUV – sweet lineup! Check them out via bandcamp below, video here. – Michael Haskoor (@Tweetskoor)

In the basement of the lit lounge last Thursday, a Brooklyn duo with a Spanish name played samples and sounds from around the world. Leaning over a card table with a platter of synths and samplers, electronica wizardry was showcased.
Trabajo’s brand of ethnic EDM is like Massive Attack meets bhangra, with the edgy end of Aphex Twin. A constantly shifting, but never chaotic mix of ethnic instruments, wood flutes, crackling vinyl, cats (!) and more, cover hard beats and spaced-out synths.

Though Trabajo’s recorded material has squealing noise and other dissonance, the short live set was smooth enough for a lounge. TJ Richards and Yuchen Lin had an unspoken synergy, swapping button pushing and adjusting foot pedals by hand. The tamer sound fit well for a small venue, inviting casual bar-goers to follow the sitars down the stairs. Trabajo ended the set on a dime when one of Lin’s pedals didn’t cooperate, hopefully it will be fixed by their next gig at The Knitting Factory on May 26. – Bianca Seidman

A shift has taken place. Balance granted once again to the world. Emotionally thought-out sleaze has reared its head on the Kansas prairie. Pale Hearts are alive.

 

The Ned Ludd Band is The Deli KC’s May artist of the month! The band has gained momentum since its inception, releasing its first album Spacebar back in late 2012 (check out our review). We talked with Ned Ludd himself (Aaron Fuhr) to find out more about the band and what else they have coming up.

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A man known for making the old sound new again, Sam Amidon has made a career of taking folk’s vernacular and re-making it to suit his needs. While some artists draw a line between roots and pop, Amidon takes all of it under his banjo’s wing, and communicates a shared heritage common to all these voices. Now he’s been signed to Nonesuch, and his new material showcases classic folk (‘As I Roved Out’), contemporary pop (Mariah Carey’s ‘Shake it Off’) and even a cover of a hymn his parents recorded on harps in 1977, ‘Weeping Mary.’ Always surprising, check out his moving cover of Tim McGraw’s ‘My Old Friend’ below, and the new video for ‘As I Roved Out here.’ – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

What’s worse than finding yourself lying awake late at night, requiring nourishment, but stuck with the realization that nothing all that edible is open at 3 in the morning? A Great Big Pile of Leaves can relate. When lead singer/guitarist Peter Weiland found himself in this predicament, his mind went about creating the Dismemberment Plan-sounding ode to this dilemma for the band’s new track ‘Snack Attack.’ Frustrations be damned if this isn’t one of the group’s most satisfyingly catchy beach-pop songs yet. Weiland puts it best: "The song is like a trip to the boardwalk and a ride down the tallest, twisty-est waterslide on the hottest day." Just remember to take care of your munchies after going down that waterslide.

The band will release You’re Always On My Mind on July 2nd (Topshelf Records). Join them for their record release at Webster Hall’s studio on July 13th, and check out ‘Snack Attack’ below. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

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

 

Every person that picks up a guitar for the first time does it with at least some amount of notion that it will make them a rock star. After all, any musician who tells you that they never wanted to be Brian May circa 1976 is a goddamn liar. But there comes a time in almost every musician’s life where he or she realizes that dream is just not in the cards. Not for lack of trying or talent, but sometimes that lightning just doesn’t strike. So, what to do? Some go hang up the amplifiers, squirt out four kids, and buy a split level and a Kia. Some go the dreaded, dreaded, dreaded, dreaded cover band route. But the lucky ones are able to realize that there’s so much more to the making and celebration of original music than being uber popular for it. The Electric Lungs are in this wonderful place. They play THEIR music, THEIR expression, stripped of any notion of what it’s “supposed” to sound like. With Simplified and Civilized, they play the role of trendsetters, not trend followers.