Started by Todd Goldstein a few years ago as a folky solo act after the disbanding of his previous project The Harlem Shakes, ARMS has slowly morphed into a new animal: now a quartet, the band offers elegant, supple pop that feeds itself with a variety of influences and musical ingredients. The first single "fleeced" (streaming here) reveals this transformation: tense electric guitar riffs blend with angular drums and an electronic bass line, while lead vocals and lavish harmonies sing a slippery melody drenched in reverb. This lush psych-prog approach to folk-pop should satisfy those waiting for new Grizzly Bear and Rufus Wainwright releases. Don’t miss the band’s CD release party at Glasslands on November 11.

Brooklyn folky quartet A Locomotive will be releasing their debut CD at Mercury Lounge on November 22nd, and even though their spanking new Facebook account only has 12 "likes", this doesn’t mean they just formed. Recording this album took them 3 years, but from what we are hearing it was worth the effort. The embedded song "Traveling", an intimate and sparse alt-folk ballad that lazily builds in intensity, is contributing to cure our CMJtis (stress induced disease suffered by music industry people after attending the CMJ Music Marathon – similar to SXSW-itis), and other mellow folk-pop gem found on their myspace profile confirm consistent songwriting output and a noteworthy talent for harmonized backing vocals.

NYC based "Hip Hopper" Mag was one of the artists to win a Sesac’s search for the best emerging local artists. As a result he played Webster Hall in the Marlin Room as part of the CMJ Music Marathon together with the other winners, including Little Devil, Headless Horsemen, and Tayisha Busay.

Something in the Water is a micro-documentary focused on the Seattle music scene and its continual abundance of innovative and talented artists.  Directed by Ward Serrill, the short served as an accompaniment to Pearl Jam Twenty, the Cameron Crowe directed documentary, which aired on PBS last Friday.  While mainly focused on the indie pop side of the Seattle scene, the doc touched on some of the biggest acts in the city, including clips of Pickwick, Shabazz Palaces, The Head and the Heart, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Total Experience Gospel Choir.  Also featured are KEXP DJs John Richards, Kevin Cole, and Cherly Waters, as well as Megan Jasper and Jonathan Poneman of Sub Pop Records.  Watch the 13 minute video below via KCTS.  

Watch Something in the Water on PBS. See more from KCTS 9 Documentaries.

A refreshing change of pace from some of CMJ’s more brawny, electro collectives, Mitten’s more elegant style has been compared to Au Revoir Simone and The Postal Service, who the band themselves cite as a major influence. Their arrangements are neat and chic, with programmed beats, pretty melodies, sweet vocals, twisted guitar licks and various other toys and treats rounding out their sound. Singer Maia Macdonald and producer Joanna Katcher formed under the Mitten moniker in 2009, beginning a process of songwriting via email that led to their debut EP "See You Bye" earlier this year. With all six tracks on that release so fully realized, it’s hard to believe Mitten are a band still very much making their way in the indie world. But chatting to both members, it’s clear they can’t hide their wide-eyed excitement about their fledgling career. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s interview with the band here.

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a band that can fill you with energetic, upbeat music that you can’t help but move to, and that’s exactly what Ursa Minor provides. Fronted by power vocalist Michelle Casillas and rounded out with a rock star band consisting of Tony Scherr, Rob Jost and Robert DiPietro, the music of Ursa Minor is full of catchy riffs, bold pop rock vocals, and good-fashioned attitude to fill your inner rock n’roll spirit. Their most recent album, “Showface” hit the market running, feeding their fans with new music that was a long-awaited follow up to their 2003 debut. With a healthy mix of sultry, sharp melodies and consistently strong rhythms, Ursa Minor is quickly climbing the ranks as a mainstay band in the indie pop rock scene. – Read Christina Morelli’s Q&A with the band here.

I like dancing. I play and promote a wildly disputed genre of music wherein dancing’s the elephant in the room unless somebody snaps and starts writhing on the floor next to the stage with their shirt pulled over their head, obscuring their glasses. In the experimental stratosphere there are freaks, nerds, theatre expats, guitar teachers aplenty, with Europeans formally delegating from the top of the pile like meringue on pie…but there is no dancing. Unless the dancers are part of the performance and also double as throat singers.
Cracked Vessel makes people dance. I’ve seen it at least thrice. They urge the geeks into jumping and make even the most overdressed oyster-sipping upper-crust civilian wish they had a hula hoop.
Ben Syversen (trumpet, tunes), Xander Naylor (guitar), Jeremy Gustin (drums). Somewhere in the range of fractured balkan hardcore miasmatic sublime dissonant jazz like if Godspeed You Black Emperor played itself out on double speed over three sets of speakers simultaneously, just out of synch enough to make the white noise in your head spill out your eyes and nose and into your seltzer/beer (which you must set down because it is time to dance at this gallery space, 9 out of 10 high school geometry teachers agree). – Valerie Kuehne

After releasing their debut album last year and generating some buzz in the blogs, NYC based, ambient/folk/rock band Howth begun playing live with a full lineup earlier this year, and performed at 2 CMJ shows last week. The band also just released a digital EP which can be found on their bandcamp profile. See them live at Cameo on November 1st. – (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.

The B-side track "Mother" is out from Broken Water’s first 7" Whet.  It’s a stony, shoegaze gem.  The heavy sliding guitar style of My Bloody Valentine (the quintessential genre name drop) is very prevalent in the song, with melty vocals that seem to dissolve into the misty reverberating atmosphere.  I don’t think this band has released anything I’m not excited about.  Listen to it below, and get excited about it!  

Formed by skilled musicians who met each other while playing in various NYC bands (in particular some relevant names from the the NYC Anti-Folk scene like Adam Green and The Moldy Peaches), Spacecamp plays well produced pop-rock which we find reminiscent of XTC and The Police. The indie pop quartet just ended a Sunday residency at Pianos.