Frankly, it was hard not to fall for the bar-fly folk-punk frenzies of Wild Yaks‘ last full-length ’10 Ships (Don’t Die Yet)’; all were far too generous & genuine to be overlooked. Yet for any left on the fence after the first effort, the Brooklyn four-piece is back hitting harder, with a new album, the first single off which they debuted yesterday via Brooklyn Vegan. Title track ‘A Million Years‘ (follow the link), coming at you invasively passionate, pushes hazardous harmonies overflowing with soul through crunching waves of dissonances and ever-changing rhythms, channeling the spirit of their debut in thrice as impactive an output that offers a most inviting glimpse into upcoming album ‘Million Years’ (to be released November 20th via Ernest Jennings Rec. Company). Booked for a couple of CMJ shows next week, the band will be setting off on a series of dates with O’Death and The World Inferno Friendship Society right after the album release, starting on November 23rd in Amityville. – Tracy Mamoun 

People who hold firm that the late 80s/early 90s is the golden era of hip hop, Progressive Era is still providing that timeless style. Tune in for lo-fi beats, gunshot samples, and lyrics covering the range from Public Enemy’s revolutionary raps to Nas’ smooth staccato pontifications. Where many new-schoolers lean on post-rap production trickery, Progressive Era struts over their stripped down beats showcasing strong writing and masterful delivery. They make the type of tracks that’ll have people running up to your car asking who you’re listening to. -=bMC

What started out as an acoustic bedroom project in NYC soon morphed into a full-on group and solidified its presence with feel-good elements of rock and pop. Founders Kevin Olken (lead vocalist/guitarist) and Ariel Loh (producer/synth) draw their musical influences from Radiohead, The Walkmen, Andrew Bird and more. Stone Cold Fox‘s exceptional musicianship grew from a place of deep-seeded knowledge, rooted in the members’ early experimentation with a variety of genres. The group’s debut EP, The Young, is a thematic declaration of nostalgia that reflects on tales of loneliness and of leaving home too soon, an all-too-familiar chapter in life that’s perfectly captured with its emotionally-charged lyrics. Don’t miss Stone Cold Fox’s dreamy, folk-inspired tunes at Union Pool on Friday October 12, where they will be debuting two new songs! The boys will join Shake The Baron and These Animals for a night of good times and great music. (As posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building

New York City’s Savoir Adore has a new album out, the duo’s third, whose overt theme of eros transmits simply enough. Yet first impressions can be deceiving, as we’ll soon learn. Titled Our Nature, the album’s noisy indie-electro sound feels a cleaner, more fully-realized version of the drowsy bedroom synthpop that has dominated Brooklyn dance music for the past five years. Our Nature’s lead single, “Dreamers,” works something like a dialogue between two star-crossed lovers in a romantic dreamscape, the duo singing to eachother as one might expect Orpheus to Eurydice, Abelard to Heloise or, ahem, Sonny to Cher.Yet as The Deli found out in our interview with Savoir Adore, the duo are neither a real-life couple, nor are the lovers in the album’s larger narrative both fully human.The duo played tonight (10.9) at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory, for the release of their album ‘Our Nature’, which is available to pre-order on iTunes, and will officially come out on October 16th. Read Brian Chidester’s interview with Savoir Adore here. 

Brooklyn so-called ‘supergroup’ The Babies, having wandered the globe’s roads for a good couple of years, acquiring probably as much notoriety overseas as at home, are now getting closer to the release of their second LP, ‘Our House On The Hill’, announced for November 13th via Woodsist. Following the introduction started a couple of months ago with a first single ‘Moonlight Mile’, new track ‘Get Lost’ (streaming below) finds Kevin Morby taking the lead once again on a nonchalant dream-folk romance that brings us back to the slower tracks of their last full-length, with some ear-tickling guitars peeping through the fog as they did on Wild 2. Getting geared up to promote the album – first one with new bassist Brian Schleyer – The Babies have announced their upcoming tour dates, kicking off with the record release show at Knitting Factory on 11.13, and stretching right up until Christmas time when they finally head back to NYC after a last show in Philadelphia. – Tracy Mamoun

Port St. Willow, originating in Portland, OR, is the mesmerizing ambient project of songwriter Nick Principe. Evolving solo, Principe has to this date released an EP and a full-length album – both recorded and self-produced in the artist’s hometown – revealing an impressive ability to articulate therapeutic escapades around an expert use of silence. Most striking on the ‘Holiday’ album’s opening track ‘Two Five Five Two’, this aesthetic is developed throughout the record, punctuated in times by subtle dissonances, those more accentuated, or the horns and crystal-clear vocals emerging suddenly from the calm, soothing depths of hypnosis. Now based in Brooklyn, debuting a three-piece line-up this week, Port St Willow will be playing The Deli’s CMJ Mostly Psych show, alongside Foxygen, Snowmine, Young Magic and more, on Friday October 19th at Pianos.

If dance music’s your scene, there’s very little chance that you haven’t come across this yet. Mystery Skulls, based in Dallas, is the most recent project of Los Angeles songwriter Luis Dubuc, which he developed as a follow-up to his previous band The Secret Handshake. Releasing a first EP (titled.. EP, to which you can treat yourself for anything above $1 on his bandcamp page!) last December, he put his new enterprise on the map with five bust-a-move electro-pop cocktails sporting pounding beats and super-groovy synthesiser melodies, taking you flying back to the world of sensual 80s pop standards, with just a little more ‘oomph’ – that is, a touch more bass to get things kicking. Don’t miss Mystery Skulls playing with Portland’s Starfucker at Santa Monica’s Central SAPC on Saturday, October 13th.

Brooklyn’s Fletcher C. Johnson is technically one man and a band all at the same time;  Fletcher C. Johnson is both the name of a trio and the lead singer of said trio. In their/his newest music video for “Messin’ Up My Mind,” cardboard aliens plus ticked off beehived back up singers make for a hilariously DIY experience. This mega catchy retro-tinged rock single was originally released in April as the A-side of the band’s 7".  If you aren’t listening for the infectious tunes, be sure to watch for the healthy dose of absurd, pizza-throwing humor — not surprising at all from a band that describes their sound as, "A guy making trumpet noises with his mouth.” – Corinne Bagish 

Last week, Brooklyn-based trio Apollo Run welcomed their new album, “Here Be Dragons, Vol. III”, a full-length follow up to their two EP’s, “Here Be Dragons Vol. I” and “Vol. II.” Accompanying this release was a new video for track, “The Inevitable Small Rebellions” which not only fans but CMJ were very excited to share. The festival’s website premiered the video to introduce the record and to highlight Apollo Run as an official CMJ artist. Featuring the band on cardboard instruments and children in animal-themed face paint, the song sets the stage for a theatrical video based loosely on George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” The album’s opening track also represents Apollo Run’s affinity for creating layered compositions rather than one-dimensional songs, and “HBD, Vol.III” is no exception. The band is gearing up for a fall tour and will be playing Union Hall on October 10 and CMJ on October 17 at Bowery Electric. – Meijin Bruttomesso

(Design and illustration by Ryan Comiskey)

With a generous helping of diverse musical ranges and genres, Midwest Music Foundation‘s Midwestern Audio Vol. 1 is undoubtedly The Deli KC’s October CD of the month. Including 41 tracks from some of Kansas City’s most talented musical acts, there’s something for any musical fan.

The double CD compilation was assembled by Brenton Cook. It ebbs and flows between catchy pop beats and psychedelic freeform sounds, and then between metal and gentle folk tunes. The album bursts out of the gate with "Coming On" from Antennas Up. The band’s smile-inducing, warm harmonies gear the listener up for what’s to follow. Everyday/Everynight transitions in smoothly with "Body Electric," a more ambient, darker sound, but containing the same exuberance as the lead-off track. By track three, the listener is sucked in. Though "Fanclub" is tinged with a dark mood, it’s an intensely danceable song that gives us a sampling of the characteristic style of Molly Picture Club.

And this is how smoothly the compilation rolls through. Each song flows into the other, even if it transitions from a straight hip-hop jam like Reach‘s "Move" to Be/Non‘s beatastic mindfuck "Yoko’s Alright." One of the most brilliant parts of this compilation is the gems that can be found throughout. Some of Kansas City’s most well-known bands like The Hearts of Darkness and The Latenight Callers are featured alongside newer acts like Schwervon!, relatively unknown bands like Eyelit, and established local legends like Howard Iceberg. Each track stands on its own feet but collectively breathes the spirit of Kansas City music today.

Les Izmore‘s rhythmic flow in "Debt on Me" delivers just as strongly as Marco Pascolini’s squealing guitar in "Sparkin Your Mama Sweet 2," and also in "King of the Soapbox Derby." The album comes to a twisting downturn in Cowboy Indian Bear‘s "The Hunter and the Hunted," and briefly exhales at "Six Foot Dreams." And that’s just disc one.

If unprepared, "Diablo Diablo" will blow the listener away with John Bersuch’s tribal drum beats. The second disc gives no warning that it will relentlessly but pleasantly bash you with infectious pop hits from The ACB’s and The Empty Spaces into fiercer, bolder rock from The Beautiful Bodies, finally toppling you over with Terra Peal‘s brazen, unbridled screams in "Blue Light." Then another short breath into Lauren Krum and Jimmy Fitzner’s serene country vocal melodies, and the album takes a rootsier direction, which builds up to crotch-kicking screams from The Atlantic and double-bass tremors from Hammerlord. Yet again, it manages to cool itself off into an assuaging denouement.

First, it winds its way back into a hypnotizing tone from Expo ’70 and Umberto and levels off with entrancing but accessible offerings from Akkilles and Katlyn Conroy’s project La Guerre. In the last moments of the compilation, we get a prolific, sincere delivery from Abigail Henderson. There seems to be no more fitting of a choice to end this album than with the intimate sounds of Tiny Horse in "Ride." The honesty of this final track makes it an astounding culmination of songs from a bill of fine acts. The emotions gleaned from Henderson’s words and Chris Meck’s complementary guitar melodies speak the strongest volumes of any track present. And with that heartstring-tugging grasp, it lets go.

–Michelle Bacon

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If you’ve been wondering what beat boxing soul machine Jamie Lidell has been up to, it turns out he’s been teaming up with psychedelic, acid rock revivalist Ludwig Persik. Ludwig’s self-titled debut EP trips through Iggy Pop and Lou Reed’s New York, filled with the secret, late-night adventures you’ve always imagined happening across the Bowery in the ’70s. And Ludwig should know, having grown up on the LES himself, this legacy permeates his slight frame. It’s spirit is channeled through all five of these tunes.

From the welcome open of the Beatlesque ‘Forward Motion,’ to the Bowie-indebted ‘On The Town,’ there’s a kind of staggering drunkenness to Ludwig’s adventures through his city. Like he’s already seen a lot of life, but can’t quit now and let sleep get in the way of more story-making.

He may be rambling along throughout these jams, but ‘Hallway Light’ is arguably the album’s most immediate destination. Looped in with a creepy, digitally distorted video, one wonders if Ludwig might be a half-cyborg invention beneath all the angst and alienation.

It’s a fascinating debut dealing with old styles, struggling to come to terms with new relationships, and trying to make sense of unfamiliar surroundings. The further along he goes, the more he leaves that past behind. As Ludwig explains in raucous album closer ‘Son,’ “I don’t want to come home… I’ll die if I have to.” See him when he plays Mercury Lounge Oct 9. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)