NYC

Caveman wins The Deli’s Best of NYC Poll 2011 for Emerging Artists

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Deli Readers,

After a month and a half long painstaking process, we finally have the overall results of The Deli’s Best of NYC 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists.

Congrats to Caveman – who won the poll after being featured on the cover of the NYC Summer 2011 issue of The Deli. This fantastic band received a record number of votes from our jury of NYC scene makers (see list here), which sealed the deal since the early stages of the poll.

—

Lucius

Congrats also to Lucius, who will be featured on the cover of our Spring 2011 issue, since we never give the most coveted glossy page of The Deli to the same band more than once. Lucius – a female fronted alt-roots band we highlighted and booked several times in 2011 – earned the cover by winning the Readers’ and Fans’ Poll. But make no mistake: they fully deserve this prize, just go see them live tonight (01.25) at The Mercury lounge and you will understand why.
—

Widowspeak

Well done to dream-pop masters Widowspeak for their third place, sanctioned by lots of love from our jury and writers. Their stunning debut album on Captured Tracks Records was The Deli’s Record of the Month in August 2011.

 
Artist
J
OS
W

F
TOTAL
 
1
Caveman
13
2
 
0.023
15.023
2
 Lucius
4
 
2
3
9
icon
3
 Widowspeak
6
 
2
0.012
8.012
icon
4
 Friends
7
 
 
0.015
7.015
icon
5
 Monogold
4
1
1
0.128
6.128
icon
6
 Ski Lodge
6
 
 
0.003
6.003
icon
7
 Big Wilson River
3
2
 
0.234
5.234
icon
8
 Ava Luna
3
 
2
0.014
5.014
icon
9
 The Denzels
5
 
 
0.009
5.009
icon
10
 Apollo Run
3
 
1
0.203
4.203
icon
11
 Kung Fu Crimewave
3
 
1
0.101
4.101
icon
12
 Tall Tall Trees
3
1
 
0.077
4.077
icon
13
 Ambassadors
3
 
1
0.033
4.033
icon
14
 Fort Lean
4
 
 
0.013
4.013
icon
15
 Arms
3
 
1
0.007
4.007
icon
 
 Grassfight
1
3
 
0.007
4.007
icon
17
 Body Language
4
 
 
0.005
4.005
icon
18
 Stephie Coplan & the…
 
1.5
 
2.5
4
icon
19
 Starlight Girls
 
1.5
2
0.007
3.507
icon
20
 Hurrah! A Bolt of Light!
 
2
1
0.239
3.239
icon
21
 Black Taxi
 
2
1
0.052
3.052
icon
22
 A$AP Rocky
3
 
 
0.041
3.041
icon
23
 The Can’t Tells
3
 
 
0.017
3.017
icon
 
 Yellow Ostrich
2
 
1
0.017
3.017
icon
25
 Spirit Family Reunion
3
 
 
0.011
3.011
icon
26
 The Men
3
 
 
0.009
3.009
icon
27
 Diane Cluck
2
 
1
0.008
3.008
icon
 
 Zambri
3
 
 
0.008
3.008
icon
29
 Devin
3
 
 
0.007
3.007
icon
30
 North Highlands
2
 
1
0.006
3.006
icon
 
 Skaters
3
 
 
0.006
3.006
icon
32
 Hidden Fees
3
 
 
0.003
3.003
icon
 
 Illuminator
3
 
 
0.003
3.003
icon
34
 Brothers
1
 
 
2
3
icon
35
 The Bottom Dollars
 
1.5
1
0.113
2.613
icon
36
 Field Mouse
 
1.5
1
0.027
2.527
icon
37
 MiniBoone
 
1.5
1
0.008
2.508
  
38
 Futurist
 
1
 
1.5
2.5
icon
39
 Merrily & the Poison Orchard
 
1.25
 
1
2.25
icon
40
 Exemption
 
2
 
0.213
2.213
icon
41
 Mal Blum
 
1
1
0.196
2.196
icon
42
 Deathrow Tull
 
1
1
0.17
2.17
NYC

Sandy Dickerson Experiments on Fifth Ukelele-Centric Solo Album

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At once progressive and rustic, Sandy Dickerson’s solo forays with the ukulele are far from what you would expect from such an apparently simple instrument. From the opening chords on his fifth solo recording, Songs from the Cold Coast, Dickerson shows that the perceived limitations of the instrument won’t prevent him from creating complexly layered folk tunes. He explores its possibilities, making each of its four strings work. Dickerson may be known around town as the bassist for a handful of other bands – the Panda Conspiracy, Big High, Missing Players and the Subdwellers – but with another album, High Seas, on the way in March, this project is hardly sitting on the backburner. Accompanied by drummer and percussionist Steven Barci, and Chris Poage on flute, accordion and clarinet, his commitment to his solo work shows in the thoughtful composition and varied products on each of his albums. Songs from the Cold Coast balances understated, unconventional sounds with accessible language, and its songs run the gamut from upbeat to somber. Sparse melodies on tracks like “This Room” provide a backdrop to Dickerson’s whispery vocals and quietly disconcerting lyrics, while the four-string twang on the comparatively lively “3 or 4” underscores the song’s – and the album’s – alternately assertive and confessional tone.

– Kate Shepherd

NYC

Interview with The Will To Survive: DC Deli’s Band of the Month (January)

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VA’s indie rockers The Will To Survive not only were nominated for best emerging band of the year, earlier this month they were voted by you as our Band of the Month. And with the rad EP The Chattering Teeth Demos, upcoming tours, and an ever growing fanbase, its not a shocker. So we wanted to know more about TWTS, and got a hold of Adam Blackburn (Guitar/ Vocals,) Jared Tampa (Guitar,) Ben Stivers (Bass,) Nic Carchietta (Drums,) and Austin Claywell (Guitar). Here they tell us about basement shows, delay pedals, and their plethora of recordings coming out this year. Now onto the interview…

Check out their awesome track "Drab as a Fool" below, and catch them live next in Richmond VA at the Canal Club on Feb. 8th! –Dawn

NYC

Best of Austin 2011 for Emerging Bands Submission Results: Gashcat, The White White Lights, The St. James Society + More

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Awestiners,

Our Deli jurors just finished rating all the bands that submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of Austin Poll for Emerging Artists – and here are the results for you to check out! The artists in this list will qualify for the next phase of the poll, starting early next week, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

1.GASHCAT

Gashcat‘s music is a stunning carnival of sounds and influences, ranging from folk-rock to what we like to call avant-indie. Their tunes reveal a rare songwriting talent, paired with imagination in the arrangement department, where horns, synths and strings alternatively accompany the omnipresent power-rock instruments. Fun and musical craft amalgamated in one convincing package.

—

2. THE WHITE WHITE LIGHTS

In the convoluted but somewhat predictable mind of an indie music lover, white light naturally recalls white heat, so we were expecting a very, very, very hot sound from a band called The White White Lights. Well that’s exactly what we found. These guys play some of the most energetic, creative and tense post-punk we stumbled upon in recent times, and their front lady has a voice to die for. Check out this track if you don’t believe us.

—

3a. THE SAINT JAMES SOCIETY

The Saint James Society is not for the faint of heart. Brooding, tense and dark, these guys’ songs draw inspiration from semi-goth bands from the new wave of the early 80s (early Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division) and develop them in an entirely new sonic direction, which flirts at once with stoner rock and apocaliptyc drone-rock.

—

3b. WHALERS

We always like it when rootsy music sounds like new again. Whalers achieve this effect in the song "Cheat on Each Other" by introducuing some kind of early Beatles vintage-pop element in this otherwise tratidionally constructed tune, delivered with convincingly raspy vocals. But Whalers are not just that: their latest EP "Paddle Easy" showcases a band able to convey a wide range of emotions and styles.

—

These runners up will also qualify for the next phase of the poll:

4a. EMPIRE MACHINES

—

4b. QUIET COMPANY

—

4c. TIGER WAVES

—

7. BLACK BOOKS

—

8. AUTO BODY

The Deli’s Staff

NYC

Weekly Features: Hunters play Terminal 5 on 02/11

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The raw, punk authenticity of Brooklyn noise-rockers Hunters is something many aim for, but few pull off quite as memorably. The band’s sound is unrefined and visceral. You can almost hear the grit and dirt on their instruments as they bash out their grungy, feedback-drenched riffs and almightily-whacked drum loops, while the desperate yelps of lead vocalists Derek Watson and Isabel Almeida add extra frenetic energy. According to the band, the makeshift way each track was constructed was a beautiful accident, more a product of circumstance than design. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s interview with the band here.

NYC

Weekly Feature: Alec Gross

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Like a lot of folk singer-songwriters, Alec Gross paints a specific time and place for the experiences that his character (Ron Avery) makes his way through. Most of these aren’t happy times, and this comes through loud and clear on songs like the haunting ‘Burning Grounds,’ inspired by Alec’s trip to the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem and a poem he saw there by Anatoly Kuznetsov.
Most tracks are quiet and moody impressions of an imagined idyllic existence, from the Irish ballad ‘Be Not Jealous of the Sea,’ to the tormented ‘Looking Glass Lies.’ It isn’t until barnburner ‘Strip the Lanterns’ that we hear Gross really cut loose, but it’s well worth the wait through the record’s more even-tempered and traditional sections. – Read Mike Levine interview with Alec Gross here.

NYC

b.FUNK opens for Phife Dawg at B.B.Kings on Feb 23rd.

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To be or not to b.FUNK? It’s a silly question, really. Tis more noble to spit fly rhymes about outrageous fortune than to effuse a sea of wackness, and by opposing the forces of weak lyricism and poor stage presence, to rise – to sleep no more. b.FUNK is a charismatic MC with a natural talent for engaging lyricism and enthralling energy. Even Shakespeare is rumored to have kept him on regular rotation in his ipod. He’ll be opening for the Legendary Phife Dawg at B.B.Kings on Feb 23rd. Bring your lute. – BrokeMC

NYC

Punk blast from the NYC past: Unsane are back with new record “Wreck” + tour with The Melvins

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Unsane‘s press kit offered a quote from an unlikely source: The New York Times. The Grey Lady described the band’s sound as representative of the East Village, which may be accurate if you’re talking late 80’s New York. Unfortunately since then the East Village has lost most if not all its musical reputation to the LES and Williamsburg, hosting now just a couple of venues and a shrinking community of musicians. The fact that the band chose to record their latest album, "Wreck," out in March 20th, in Brooklyn, speaks volumes even louder than Unsane’s aggressive vocals. Unsane have mastered their own brand of noise rock, powered by unstoppable bass and smashing percussion, meshed with grinding guitarwork and the raw vocals mentioned earlier. Unsane will be touring with punk rockers The Melvins, and land in New York on April 29 to play a show at Webster Hall. -allison levin

NYC

Dinosaur Feathers announce new album, stream preview of “Untrue”

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Dinosaur Feathers‘ 2009 debut album "Fantasy Memorial" became a little cult classic in the NYC scene – the band made our Best of NYC that year. Their next venture into the world or release, "Whistle Tips," won’t be out for their patient fans’ enjoyment until April 10th, but you can get a sneak peak of the track “Untrue,” streaming below. The four Brooklyn musicians created a fun, upbeat, slightly crooked danceable tune, with guitars true to their tropical roots, and light and enjoyable vocals. Fans can look forward to the group tour, whic will start at the very end of February through April 14th, when they’ll come back home to play at Grasslands in Brooklyn. – Holly Moran

NYC

From the Deli’s Open Blog: Tiny Pupils

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Tiny Pupils is an indie rock/pop musical project formed around songs written and produced by Kevin Gallagher, with the support of close friends. Self described as a project "typified by verses, choruses, introspective lyrics, infectious melodies, trite rhymes, and DIY/home production", Tiny Pupils’ primary influences include groups like Pavement, Yo La Tengo, or Bright Eyes. The project is now based in Amherst, Massachusetts, formerly Boston. A professionally produced music video for ‘Charm Song’ will be released in 2012 and a third album is currently in the works. – Post your own blurbs on the Deli New England’s Open Blog here.

NYC

Socratic releases third album and new video

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NJ’s indie pop-rock group Socratic just released their 3rd full-length record titled "Socratic (The Album)." The release was produced by drummer Thomas Stratton at Soundwaves Studios in Union, NJ. The record has received praise from fans new and old as well as publications like Absolutepunk.net and The Interlude. This is the follow up to the Mark Hoppus produced "Spread The Rumors" LP. The band has also released a brand new video directed by Seiichi Daimo of Music1nfocus Productions of their first single "Curtain Call", streaming here. The new record can be purchased at "pay what you wish" rate here. – (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.


 

NYC

From the NYC Open Blog: The Ugly Club travels to SXSW

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New Jersey melllow-indie-pop group The Ugly Club has recently announced they will be doing a tour down to SXSW this March. The band has confirmed a show at The National Underground in Nashville, TN on March 10th and Super Happy Fun Land in Houston, TX on March 13th, with more dates and SXSW plans TBA. The band has also released 2 live, in-studio music videos of new songs off their upcoming album (here’s one). The performances were shot live at Soundwaves Studios in Union, NJ with videographer Seiichi Daimo of Music1nfocus Productions. The audio is cut from one live take. A bonus video and other releases can be found on the band’s youtube channel. – (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.