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It was just a matter of time before one of these indie-electro bands out of Brooklyn tackled old school Italo-Disco. What never ceases to amaze, however, is the way these throwaway ‘80s genres, with their mildly sexy undertones, get recycled into explicitly tripped-out underground anthems in the hands of bands like Loveskills. Their latest single, “Cover Me,” manages to be both melodically loose and dreamy, whilst highly danceable and tighter than a gnat’s ass, production-wise. All of which makes for an exhilarating track invisible to its source material. Never mind its epicurean video, which feels almost like Daft Punk decided to take off their helmets and start hanging around at beer gardens and local house parties. Viva! – Brian Chidester

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Making Movies has figured out how to create a musical formula to success, combining popular musical genres and constructing a sultry but rhythmic and cohesive catalog. With a focused musical direction and a distinct flair about them, the band’s style marries Afro-Cuban and other Latin-influenced music to indie rock. Making Movies has made itself known around the country with an energetic, engaging live show that’s captured the attention of multi-genre listeners. The four-piece has opened for artists such as Delta Spirit, Fun, Neon Indian, and Los Lobos. Its latest LP, A La Deriva, was recorded by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos fame. (The Record Machine)

(Photo by Lippe)

There has been a wellspring—some might say an oversaturation—of male/female duos popping up around the US in the past few years. They come in a variety of genres, but often the end result is the same: the music lacks a full quality, or one of the performers is exceedingly more talented than the other, causing the music to fall flat after a few songs. Fortunately, the charismatic duo Schwervon! avoids the pitfalls that many others make. Matt Roth and Nan Turner established themselves in the NYC scene, playing with groups like The Vaselines and Belle and Sebastian, and touring around the US and Europe. The two moved to Kansas City last spring, and have been embraced by the local music community, especially with their release of their latest LP Courage (see our review here) in September. Schwervon!’s knack for hook-laden ‘90s pop melodies with a lo-fi garage punk/indie rock edge, combined with a natural chemistry and an appropriate tinge of sweetness, has quickly made them a fan favorite. (Olive Juice Music)

(Photos by Todd Zimmer)

Schwervon!’s next performance will be at recordBar on Wednesday, February 20 with Cher UK and a special guest. Facebook event here. Schwervon! was also one of over 40 KC artists selected to play the 2013 MidCoast Takeover showcase at SXSW from March 13-16 at Shangri-La in Austin, Texas.

Schwervon! is:

Matt Roth – vocals, guitar

Nan Turner – vocals, drums

With instruments such as banjos, mandolins, and twangy acoustic guitars it’s surprising that Adios Ghost isn’t more of a new grass band. Instead this Brooklyn quartet goes the rout of experimental indie folk, including varied percussion, hollow harmonies, and echo-like vocals. Some tracks start with a mellow, classic sound before breaking down on a unique beat like "October Snow" or an electric frenzy like "Fernseher." This music is the rebellious teenager of Bluegrass and Folk, throwing away old traditions and embracing the Brooklyn indie scene. Their latest self-titled EP is available here. – Lucy Sherman

Deli Readers,

We are proud to announce that The Deli’s Best Emerging Kansas City Artist of 2012 is Radkey! The three-piece punk wonder brothers have swept the competition, with a landslide of votes from our local music jurors.  Taking second place is the sultry, syncopated group Making Movies, followed closely by recent NYC-to-KC garage pop duo Schwervon!.

Take a look at our chart of 48 Kansas City area bands below. The highest value of votes came from our jurors, who included individuals involved in local music. This includes promoters, venue owners, press, record storeowners, and other music experts. The remainder of votes was compiled by The Deli KC contributors, readers, and open submissions voted on by national Deli editors. Congrats to everyone who made the list!

	ARTIST	J	W	R	OS	TOT
1	Radkey	36	3	0.028	1	40.028
2	Making Movies	10		0.052	1	11.052
3	Schwervon!	7	3	0.029	1	11.029
4	Antennas Up	8	2	0.007		10.007
5	Dream Wolf	6	1	0.119	1	8.119
6	The Quivers	2	3	0.057	1	6.057
7	Molly Picture Club	5		0.046	1	6.046
8	Shy Boys	6		0.004		6.004
9	Dollar Fox	2	1	2	1	6
10	She’s A Keeper	4	1	0.12		5.12
11	The Conquerors	4		0.041		4.041
12	The Empty Spaces	2	1	0.011	1	4.011
13	Expo 70	4		0.005		4.005
14	Gentleman Savage	1		1.5	1.5	4
15	Cadillac Flambe	3		0.5		3.5
16	Clairaudients	3		0.141		3.141
17	Attic Wolves	2		0.086	1	3.086
18	Conflicts	3		0.076		3.076
19	Not A Planet	3		0.055		3.055
20	The Sibyl	3		0.046		3.046
21	Man Bear			0.015	3	3.015
22	The Bad Ideas	3		0.008		3.008
	The Caves	3		0.008		3.008
24	Akkilles	3		0.005		3.005
25	Beautiful Bodies	3		0.001		3.001
26	We Are Voices			1	2	3
27	Bears and Company	1	1	0.5		2.5
	Me Like Bees	2		0.16		2.16
29	In Back of a Black Car	2		0.058		2.058
30	NYC Artists on Trial: Maps for Travelers Posted on: January 30, 2013  (Photo by Todd Zimmer)   For the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring artists playing the MidCoast Takeover fundraiser shows, sponsored by Midwest Music Foundation.   Maps for Travelers is a collective of four veteran Kansas City musicians who have toured around the country with a heavy indie rock sound. The band has shared the stage with national acts like Fucked Up, The Jealous Sound, Just Like Vinyl, and others. We find out a little about the band’s upcoming debut LP and its influences.   The Deli: Down and dirty: 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it? Maps for Travelers: Four guys paying homage to the most crushing alternative post-rock bands of the ‘90s while putting our own story and sonic point of view on it, with trumpet somehow in there too.   The Deli: Let’s talk about your much anticipated upcoming LP Broken Antlers. What can we expect?   Maps: This record has collectively been one of the most stressful records of all of our musical careers. We have fought for every note, every idea, every beat, and every lyric to be a true picture of who we are and what’s to come. From dynamic chaos to chilling, vibed-out soundscapes, we feel like we are covering it all. Most people that have listened to it say that we have cut out all the fat and focused all the sounds into a powerful work of music. We hope many will agree. This record is made to see live; we put all of these songs through the ringer of playing live and really tuned into being honest with ourselves about how the energy of every moment felt to all of us on stage as we are performing. Every song except for an interlude and an outro have undergone that intense scrutiny and, at the end of the day, we just love it and are excited to share it with everyone we can.   The Deli: What other plans and goals do you guys have this year?   Maps: Release this record, tour in support of this record, do some splits with some of our favorite artists. Make a video or two for a couple of these songs. And tour more and start to look at making another record in 2014.   The Deli: What does supporting local music mean to you? Maps: Supporting local music to us means that we go to other bands’ shows even when we aren’t playing. Getting interested in what others are doing and encouraging the community of musicians to strive for their best. Being in a band can feel very competitive at points and we are trying to do the opposite of that; music is subjective. Everyone has a place and we are looking for people that feel the same way we do and are willing to take it to the highest level and create an even more engaged local music scene. That’s our take on it. We want to encourage people in general to support more, and by working together with other local musicians, we can create our own awesome community to launch out from here and come home to.   The Deli: Who are your favorite local musicians right now? Maps: Right now we are really loving Cowboy Indian Bear, Clairaudients, Bears and Company, The Casket Lottery, Jorge Arana Trio, Radkey, The Dead Girls, Sundiver, The Slowdown, In The Grove, Wise Guy, Regret, The Informer, The Architects, The Calamity Cubes, honestly we could go on for a minute! So many bands just playing so well right now! We are super pumped on being from KC.   The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now? Maps: Title Fight, Caspian, Junius, La Dispute, Native, Local Natives, Now Now, Russian Circles, O Brother, The Life and Times.   The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on? Maps: Quicksand, Hum, Failure, Thursday, Nine Inch Nails.   The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?   Maps: The stage, granted we can look like our awesome selves for the rest of our lives! Performing is where it’s at for us, the interaction and the rush you get from playing and really just bouncing all that energy around. There is no substitute for that anywhere!   The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why? Maps: This is nearly impossible to cover the pillars for us, so many and for so many different reasons. We will just pick the closest to our generation that really have pushed on us to strive for nothing less than everything we have.   Jeff Rickley (Thursday): He started a movement that changed our whole decade of music for us.   Walter Schreifels (Quicksand): We wouldn’t be doing what we are doing without him laying the foundation for our style of music.   Allen Epley (Shiner, The Life and Times): Just an amazing songwriter and someone from here that has shown the way for a lot of us Kansas City musicians.   Darryl Palumbo (Glassjaw): Just collectively, Maps For Travelers has come together so much over his band’s music and the way he put it all out there and commanded such an incredible band. We constantly are referencing Glassjaw tracks when writing music together. The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found? Maps: http://www.facebook.com/MapsforTravelers http://www.reverbnation.com/mapsfortravelers The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for the Deli audience? Maps: Tell someone you love them today, hug a friend, and dont be scared to get in the pit and always help the fallen get up.   Maps for Travelers is: Zach Brotherton – vocals, guitar RL Brooks – vocals, guitar, trumpet Kevin Medina – bass Derek White – drums   You can see Maps for Travelers this Saturday, February 2, where they will be playing the second MidCoast Takeover fundraiser at Riot Room. The group will be playing at 11:15, along with Various Blonde, Drop A Grand, and Six Percent. Tickets available here.   –Michelle Bacon   Share this story on Facebook    Send Newsletters to your fans from ReverbNation.com NYC NYC Duo Gracie and Rachel Posted on: January 30, 2013 No one ever taught Gracie and Rachel how to hide their feelings away, and we’re the beneficiaries of that innocence. Soaring tracks like ‘(un)comfortable’ and ‘faster’ will challenge the heights you’ve come to expect from an otherwise soft-spoken piano/singing duo, and ease you into the apparent comfort the duo has in expressing vulnerabilities. The girls may suffer through life’s travais, but these gorgeous textures transcend any question of calling them victims. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets) NYC Behind the Scenes with The Latenight Callers Posted on: January 30, 2013 For the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring artists playing the MidCoast Takeover fundraiser shows, sponsored by Midwest Music Foundation.   It’s 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning, which for this reviewer typically equates to a dog on each side and blanket after blanket piled upon my bed. Instead, I’m braving the brisk winter air of Midtown to talk with a band whose name is acutely contradictory to my being awake.   If you don’t know them, you have to wonder what The Latenight Callers are really like, especially during the early morning hours (relatively speaking). You also might be wondering what the band’s new recording sounds like. To provide a quick perspective: the four members (Ms. Ellen [O’Hayer] was unavailable for comment that day) were awake and pleasant, and the upcoming LP leaves nothing to be desired for this skyrocketing Kansas City group.   I met with Ms. Julie, Mr. Mac, Mr. Nemeth, and Mr. Combs at Weights and Measures Soundlab, where they’ve been tracking with veteran engineer (and musician) Duane Trower (currently of Olivetti Letter; formerly of Season To Risk, Doris Henson, Overstep).     “The character of Duane’s gear helps us portray the character of the band, in the essence that everything is out of another time,” said baritone guitarist Krysztof Nemeth. Trower boasts an array of obscure, vintage gear, as well as equipment he’s built himself, which the band believes help keep its sound as unique as possible.   Unlike the band’s previous two EP recordings (The Latenight Callers and Easy Virtues). the full-length will be mixed by Trower (who mastered Easy Virtues) instead of recorded by Nemeth. Keyboardist/electronic sound guru Nick Combs mentioned that Trower seemed to be the perfect fit for the band’s upcoming album. “We needed someone that wouldn’t make us sound precious. With Duane’s own experience as a musician, we knew he’d give us the heftier sound we’ve been looking for.” Recording in a studio has given the band the freedom to explore its music, most of which will be new and some of which will be re-recorded from the first EP.     The new full-length, still untitled, seems to be more of a collaborative effort than previous recordings, with tracks built by each individual member to serve each song. The Callers’ first EP was written, produced, and performed by Nemeth and frontwoman Julie Berndsen, before the other three members were added to the mix. After 3 years, the band has gained a collective maturity and a strong foothold in the local scene, and the new tracks show that each member knows what element to bring to write a song that is uniquely The Latenight Callers.   Berndsen noted, “Everyone has the goal of creating a cohesive song, but we had to really think about… does each piece complement the particular song?” Berndsen and O’Hayer recorded their vocals in a session after each instrument had been laid down, which, according to the group, enhanced the emotive aspects of each track.     “With recording, we have to step back from our individual roles and look at it from a distance to gain perspective of what our audience will recognize and respond viscerally to,” said Nemeth. Combs added, “Instead of just one person’s vision, it’s all five of us. We’re listening to the arrangements and orchestration instead of just thinking about ‘my part.’”   With plans to release this album in the spring and big shows in the works, 2013 promises to be another tremendous year for The Latenight Callers. Stay tuned.             Editor’s note: Bassist Gavin Mac was available for comment, but settled upon curling up in the studio’s comfortable leather couch and settled in for a long winter’s nap. Left-handed bass players are prone to hibernation at this and all other times of year.   The Latenight Callers will be performing some of the songs from its upcoming album this Friday, February 1, at Czar Bar, for the second MidCoast Takeover fundraiser show. The Callers will headline the show, playing at 12:00 a.m. after Jorge Arana Trio, Eyelit, and Tiny Horse. Tickets are available here. The band will also be performing at the MidCoast Takeover show at SXSW on Saturday, March 16 at Shangri-La in Austin, Texas.   Photos by Randy Pace. Please do not use without permission.   –Michelle Bacon   Share this story on Facebook    Promote your mixtape at ReverbNation.com   NYC Iameve wins The Deli Readers’ Best of 2012 Poll for Emerging Artists Posted on: January 29, 2013 LA Readers, The Deli Los Angeles’s Best of 2012 Readers and Fans’ Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees. Congrats to electro pop queen Iameve (pictured) for being The Deli Readers’ Best Los Angeles Artist of 2012! Kudos also to psych blues trio The Vim Dicta and electronica wizards Zaptra, who placed second and third.  Here’s this poll’s top 10 chart, full results can be found here.   ARTIST VOTES   1 Iameve 975 2 The Vim Dicta 614 3 Zaptra 279 4 Thrown Into Exile 269 5 Kan Wakan 250 6 Meg Myers 215 7 Nightmare Air 176 8 So Many Wizards 120 9 Zak Waters 80 10 HOTT MT 67 Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers’ votes, and will crown The Deli’s Best Emerging Los Angeles Artist of 2012. The Deli’s Staff NYC Photos from MidCoast Takeover Fundraiser #1 at recordBar, 1.26.13 Posted on: January 29, 2013 (Photo by Terra Peal)   The first MidCoast Takeover fundraiser show was a huge success, thanks to all of the great bands (She’s A Keeper, Drew Black and Dirty Electric, Molly Picture Club, and Antennas Up) that performed, as well as Midwest Music Foundation, recordBar, and all of our sponsors!   Here’s a list of the MidCoast Takeover sponsors: INK Boulevard Brewing Company Middle of the Map Festival Alice 102.1 FM Kanrocksas Music Festival The Buzz 96.5 FM Scarlett Amps C&C Custom Drums Town Center Plaza CM2 Audio XO Blackwater TV Party Mike Nickells Studio Taj Mattingly Topspin Media Gusto Kansas City Local Artists Radio Saunders Street Records City Rent A Truck Money Wolf Music The Deli Magazine KKFI   She’s A Keeper   Photos by Todd Zimmer   Drew Black and Dirty Electric Photos by Todd Zimmer     Molly Picture Club Photos by Terra Peal           Antennas Up  Photos by Terra Peal         Also, here’s a video recap of the fundraiser from Nate Heavilin from Attic Wolves:      And thanks to everyone who came to support the first fundraiser show! We hope you’ll join us for the next ones: Friday, February 1 at Czar; Saturday, February 2 at The Riot Room; Saturday, February 16 at The Brick; and Friday, March 8 at Uptown Arts Bar. MMF will be selling raffle tickets at each of the fundraiser shows for two pairs of VIP Kanrocksas tickets, which include a tour with the Kanrocksas founder!   –Michelle Bacon   Share this story on Facebook