Tezeo is a Brooklyn/DC based duo that plays a brand of electronic pop that flirts with a spiritual, almost new age element. We’d be tempted to define their music "dark" if it wasn’t actually so serene in its austere melodicism, and so simple. This is definitely a band to keep an ear on, check them out live at Glasslands tonight (03.13).

In a scene that seems to be getting progressively poppier and poppier, it’s kind of refreshing to stumble upon Freshkills, a group that exudes that dark and dangerous vibe we hear in many seminal rock records produced in NYC in the late 60s. The band just announced the release of a new album "Raise Up the Sheets", out on March 13, and unveiled this single entitled "The Bigger Man" (streaming below).

Annapolis based rock/soul band Sweet Leda soared to the top of our reader’s poll for Best Emerging Band of 2011. This support undoubtedly came after numerous releases (This is Bittersweet, Bittersweet Changes, Need the Music) and features in TV and films over the last 4.5 years of their culmination. We wanted to find out more about the band that has a growing MD fanbase, so we got a hold of Juls Cymek (vocals), Omar Eldieahy (guitar/vocals), Jaime Horrigan (bass/vocals), and Don Boyette (drums.) Here they talk about family roots, singing hot dog orders, and musical orgasms onstage. Now onto the interview…

Catch them live next at Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Saturday Feb. 18.

If Stephen Malkmus was reincarnated as a petite blonde woman from Connecticut, he’d be fronting the post-punk band EULA in the guise of Alyse Lamb, the vocalist for the now Brooklyn-based trio that also consists of bassist Jeff Maleri and drummer Nate Rose. They’ve released 6 videos in support of their 2011 LP "Maurice Narcisse," including a new documentary about the recent show they opened for post-punk icons Mission of Burma. The band recently opened for Mission of Burma at Music Hall of W’burg (see documentary here. You can see them live tonight (02.10) at the Bushwick Empire Prohibition Party @ NXT LVL (175 Stockholm St #102, BK)and on 02.24 at Shea Stadium w/ Indian Rebound, Lost Boy?, and Shark?. – Read Shanda Boyett’s interview with the band here.

On their upcoming 7” EP KILL KILL KILL, Vacant Fever offer up electro-psych tunes with as much thrust and raw energy as any dance floor- or house party-tested albums out there. Due for release on March 6, its throbbing bass and gritty, fuzz-heavy guitarplay offer the ideal backdrop for a symphony of breathy vocals and Bolan-esque sighs. Striking somewhere between Silversun Pickups and the Rapture’s dance punk, the duo of Daniel Michael Miller and Leon Spinx deal in simple but infectious melodies that sound at once firmly grounded in a postmodern reality, and like a transmission from another planet. Despite the buzzing modernity and detachment that some of the EP’s five tracks might suggest, their authors say “inside all of us, a fire still burns, and intimacy is incredibly alive” – reason enough to get to know Vacant Fever better.

– Kate Shepherd

Over the past couple years, Woodsman (recently relocated from Denver to Brooklyn) has been on a vision quest of sorts. Relentlessly touring and honing a sound born in basements and warehouses sprouting from amps and speakers like lichens on the forest floor. Grounded in experimentation and inspired by the films of Stan Brakhage, the band seeks to create visceral tunes born from their environment. The band’s two drummers are the focus of the sound, leaving room for the effected sounds conjured by the two guitar players. Constantly moving, shifting their collective consciousness toward something mutual. The band just announce the reissue of their 2 earlier EP in a single album entitled "Humdrum / Indoor Days EPs". Check them out live at The Mercury lounge on 02.17

Amid shaky reverberations, melancholy crooning and eerie whistles, Bill Campbell, or Thee Midnight Creep, delivers his signature gothically-inflected gospel on his latest release. I Lie Like a Dog at Your Feet is an album that can stand up to the works of the great shiver-inducing wordsmiths; Campbell’s brand of woozy folk is as macabre as any Edgar Allan Poe creation. Minimalist auto-harp accompaniment allows his stirring vocals, suggestive of a soul tormented, to take listeners hostage in a world of brocade, gnarled trees and perpetual dusk. The aptly named opener “Codeine” pairs heady instrumentation with woebegone lyrics that sound like they were uttered in a long empty hallway. The song, and the album, act as an auditory narcotic – hypnotic, calming and, ultimately, hard to let go. But don’t take our word for it – Thee Midnight Creep will be performing live on KEXP at 8 p.m. on February 18.

– Kate Shepherd

Deli Readers

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After a somewhat dramatic competition, atmospheric psych/post rockers Equals won our Best of Austin Readers’ and Fans’ Poll for Emerging Artists, congrats to them! Kudos also to electro-rock duo Auto Body, who placed 2nd, and alt-folk ensemble The Preservation, third in this list. Great bands and great variety!

Boy (the band) also deserves a mention here. They were leading the poll when they realized that a fan was helping them gather votes through illicit hacking. If everybody showed this kind of integrity the world would be a much better place – we want you guys in Congress! We decided to cut down their votes to 5% of the total, so that they would still appear in the top five, since it’s very likely that at least a portion of those votes was legitimate.

1. EQUALS

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2. AUTO BODY

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3. THE PRESERVATION

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Fans’ poll top twenty list below, final results of The Deli’s Best of Austin Poll for Emerging Artists (which also include jurors and writers votes) will be announced soon.

ARTIST VOTES   1 Equals 1489 2 Auto Body 630 3 The Preservation 144 4 Empire machines 102 5 Boy* 89 6 Whalers 51 7 GASHCAT 42 8 Shakey Graves 38 9 Holy Wave 35 10 Not In The Face 30 11 The Couch 24 12 Frank Smith 23   Elaine Greer 23 14 Tiger Waves 21 15 The Bright Light Social Hour 20 16 The White White Lights 19 17 The Saint James Society 16 18 Meggan Carney 14 19 Black Books 13 20 Gary Clark Jr. 12

The Deli’s Staff

The Clox formed in Brooklyn in 2007 after Kazakhstani professional soccer player Denis Orynbekov chose rock music over the round black and white ball, and moved to NYC. The Clox have shared the stage with The Toadies, Clinic, The Gift, Mumiy Trol, Drew Halcomb & The Neighbors, The Night Snipers, Lyapis Trubeckoy, etc. Their songs are now in rotation on both Pandora Radio as well as New York City’s 87.7 Indie Darkroom Radio, and their new album, “Civilian” was released a few days ago.  – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building and APS Mastering.