Emil and Friends, Emil Hewitt’s musical lovechild, is an eccentric blend of “danceable wierdpop.” His songs range from demure and shimmery guitar clad tunes, to upbeat pop anthems that feel peachy and squeaky clean. Emil has been making music since he was a child, starting out making attic pop in solitude. As of late he has emerged to much critical acclaim with the release of his EP, “Downed Economy” and LP, “Lo and Behold”. He has been featured on Rollingstone.com and is gaining a large following for his remixing and DJ work whilst gigging throughout NYC. – Read Ed Guardaro’s Q&A with Emil here.

As you may have heard, NYC DIY promoter Jonathan Toubin had a crazy accident in Portland a couple of weeks ago. He is now stable, but needs a lot of hospital care and various surgeries. The local community of friends and musicians he booked are organizing several benefit shows to help him out financially. Tonight’s show at Glasslands is a particularly interesting show, involving awesome NYC mainstays psych rock Hopewell (pictured, who graced the Deli’s cover of The Deli Mag’s second issue back in 2005), crazy punk-folkers Wild Yaks, and promising up and comers The Can’t Tells (recent Deli Artist of the Month), This Frontier Needs Heroes and Broke and Rollin’. Apparently there will be two ladies giving professional haircuts for $30 (which is a deal for North Brooklyn) and that money will also be sent to Jonathan Toubin and his family.

What’s going on today people? Almost every song we play sounds like… Christmas. It’s happening also  with this very very pretty track by Plates of Cake, a Brooklyn based quartet playing an interesting melange of alt folk and lo-fi: that calming melody, those beautiful female harmonies… Is that Santa singing? The track, entitled "As if the choice were mine," is the opener of their debut 7 inch, which also features "Transit," a song starting with some kind of "celtic/spaghetti western" verse followed by a chorus of pure pop crooning. Only a NYC based band could have given birth to such tune. See Plates of Cake Live at Cakeshop on 01.19 or at Pianos on 02.03.

On Friday 12/30, Drive-By Truckers will be on there 2nd night of a 3 night residency at the 9:30 Club. And on this night they will be joined by the ever-rising Baltimore based americana-rockers J Roddy Walston and The Business! And the 9:30 Club wants to make sure that happens, so we’ve got a couple passes to give away! Just email us here by 5 PM on Thursday 12/29 and let us know your fav song by J Roddy Walston and the Business. (Please include your first and last name.) The winner will be chosen at random and emailed back.

Tickets are going fast (one night sold out already at time of publishing,) but you can still get them here. For now, check out their video for "Used to Did" from their album Hail Mega Boys, below.

The Ludlow Thieves is a rather new and rather impressive NYC based folk rock trio whose songs, ranging from the uplifting and energetic to the intimate and pensive, work very well as a soundtrack to our impending winter holidays. These guys have already gotten some impressive song placement on a couple of TV shows, and will be releasing their debut record at Mercury Lounge on January 6. Check out a preview of it here.

There’s an interesting all-NYC-based-bands rock show this Thursday 12/22 at Pianos featuring Deli NYC favorites Ambassadors and Clouder, Brooklyn’s Desert Sharks, and singer/songwriter Eli Orling from Brooklyn based Car on the Moon.  

Ambassadors is a band with serious potential. They craft short catchy yet rockin’ tracks with strong melodies and hooks. Made up of brothers Casey and Sam Harris, their childhood friend Noah Feldshuh and drummer Adam Levin, the band has been making headlines since their conception in 2008, playing exciting R&B-infused indie rock shows around the city. Their most recent release is the “Unconsolable” single and their full length is due out early next year.

Brooklyn’s Clouder has been sweeping the scene with their psychedelic influenced indie rock music. The five piece was recently nominated for the NYC Deli band of the month and with the lead of singer Eric Gilstrap, have been building their fan base, wowing audiences and press outlets like CMJ and Hype Machine . They have just finished recording a full length album. 

Desert Sharks (in the picture) is a 4 piece all girl rock band that forges instantly hummable songs drenched in surf rock and punk influences. Their latest release is a 4 song EP available for download on their bandcamp.

Brooklyn’s Eli Orling is the lead singer of multi-instrumental indie folk quartet Car on the Moon. He releases solo music that is both intimate and honest, touching upon issues of love, loss and everyday relationships with a bluesy rock’n’roll tinge.

Streaming below is the song ‘The Pines’ from Aaron Thompson‘s latest release, "Vessel EP". More raw and ambitious than his eponymous debut album, "Vessel EP" was recorded in five days this past summer at the Empress of Sound Studio in Washington, DC (where he was based). Thompson has recently moved to Brooklyn and will be performing in at Pianos on February 10, 2012. – (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.

Remember when Tyson had that rant where he talked about how great he was and how he wanted to eat your babies? Ever wanted to hear that sample sliced up and laced into a slammin beat? Well look no further, your prayers have been answered on the track “Supreme” by Keon Supreme. Despite his questionable taste in cover art, Be Still’s selection of tasteful modern beats are slathered with a natural buttery flow reminiscent of K-OS. There are a couple gems on this album; “(R)Evolution” is a Kanye-worthy beat, and Keon’s delivery is confident and optimistic. It’s hard to spout inspiration raps without being preachy and overly didactic, but he does it well. Though relatively new to the scene, Keon has been busy churning out material and honing his skills. As long as he maintains his current trajectory, he’ll find his audiences increasingly reluctant to “Be Still.” – brokeMC

The boys of psych-pop duo USF have reason to celebrate this season, with two releases in the running for KEXP’s year-end best-of poll, a new collaboration receiving critical praise, and several recent performances under their belts. Nearly a year after its release in January, their Jamaica Plain EP, rife with danceable beats, humming synths and swooping string loops, drew crowds to The Comet and The Neptune over the past month. A newly released track that saw USF team up with former Deli Band of the Month, Witch Gardens, has also been attracting attention. “I’m Not Dead, I’m Having Fun” combines USF’s typically out-there synth-play with Witch Gardens’ singsong vocals for a spacey tune defiant of mortality. USF will cap an eventful year on Dec. 29 with their first ever show at Neumo’s, along with Glitterbang, Vox Mod and DJ Self-Actualized.

Doors: 8 p.m.

Tickets: $7

-Kate Shepherd

Two Lights, upon first glance, is just another trio of (rather) cute boys who play music that makes many girls swoon. However, if you give them a second glance – and a listen – you’ll realize that the catchy pop songs crafted by these NYU students have the magical power to obliterate wintery thoughts – something a helluva lot of people desperately need in December. The band started in Maine with two brothers, Abner and Harper Willis and their childhood friend Ryan Gross, as the three musicians played songs about high school, love and growing older. The band then ended up at NYU and released their first single “Summer” in September 2011. Since then, they have added a drummer, Benny Brown, as well as garnered praise for their tracks on Consequence of Sound, Verbicide Magazine and CMJ.
Their bittersweet, sugary indie pop songs tie the future of careers and relationships with the past of high school and teen angst. Their debut EP will be released in early 2012 followed by a series of U.S. tour dates. – Amanda Dissinger