On a residential block of East Third Street, there’s a small yellow guitar that marks the entrance to Cobra Guitars. This inconspicuous dwelling serves as the workshop of Caveman guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti and the band’s unofficial clubhouse. Down the cement stairs and through the unmarked door, visitors will first encounter Carbonetti’s handcrafted guitars hung carefully on the wall, tangles of wires, amps, stacks of vinyl, a vintage-styled couch and a laptop set up in the corner a working musician’s paradise. In the back, there’s an assortment of guitar parts strewn about that will be used to build a dream instrument. Whether it’s Carbonetti, keyboardist Sam Hopkins and guitar technician Mas Hino working on guitars or a rotating cast of peers dropping in to hang out or jam, the basement space in the East Village is always humming with activity. – Read the rest of Nancy Chow’s feature on Caveman here. – Caveman will play The Deli’s CMJ show at Pianos on Thursday 10.20.

The Hollows are a 5-piece band from Brooklyn who specialize in the multi-part harmony, instrument-swapping, kitchen sink approach to roots rock – they sometime call it "rootsabilly". Formed in 2009, the group has developed a solid local following, mostly because of their energetic live shows, which despite lacking a drummer keep the audience’s toes tapping nonstop. The band recently released their debut album "Belong to the Land" and will participate to this year’s CMJ Music Marathon with a show at Hiro Ballroom on Saturday October 22. – Read Ben Krieger Q&A with the band here.

The movement commonly known as "Trip Hop" produced some of the best records of the 90s, but it never managed to produce new artists whose output kept up with the outstanding quality of those early records. Fronted by soulful singer Jolanda Porter, NYC band Wishes and Thieves create music which follows on the steps of the genre’s fathers and mothers, with a slightly more alt-pop approach, and have been compared to the likes of Portishead and Sneaker Pimps for their edgy, electronic female vocal-driven sound. The band released their debut EP, "Lighthouse" this summer and will be releasing their second EP this fall. You can see them live at Rockwood Music Hall on 09.30.

Party punk rockers Japanther will hit the stage at The Bowery Electric on Monday September 26th. The group has made a name for themselves by being truly incredible performance artists. They’ve performed in bedrooms, on street corners, on moving trucks, and on top of bridges. They’ve played alongside synchronized swimmers and giant puppets. Most of all, they play an exciting brand of loud punk rock and love to blur the line between performer and audience. They’ll be supported by DJ Dirty Fingers. Visit The Bowery Electric‘s website for more details.

Here’s the new Felice Brothers video of "Fire at the Pageant" – which sounds like a bold attempt to mix tradition and experimentation (FYI: if you want to fast forward to the point where the music start, that would be around 1’30"). Fans shouldn’t miss the band’s show at Webster Hall on September 29.

Although a young band, We Run‘s first show at Glasslands in early September attracted enough attention to land them an official CMJ rethinkpopmusic.com showcase at Spike Hill on October 19th. Their sound, influenced by 1970’s punk (Buzzcocks), indie-dance rock (early Arctic Monkeys), and 1990’s grunge (Nirvana), is frantic and distorted in each one of its component – a far cry from the electro-pop sound that Brooklyn is currently known for. We Run has just released two tracks online, available for download at their website. They are about to enter the studio to record their debut EP.

Music site Buzzchips.com is presenting a night with emerging NYC bands at The Living Room on Saturday September 24. Apparently the organizers found out about some of these bands using our awesome (and WAAAY under-appreciated) regional web charts – that’s actually what they are there for, connecting musicians with other musicians, fans, and show organizers. Anyway, besides Aeroplane Pageant, the bill features artists we never blogged about, including folksters Swear and Shake (in the picture), led by Kari Spieler’s gorgeously full voice. On the bill also gritty lo-fi indie pop outfit Little Racer and 80s pop resurrectors Fishdoctor. More info here.

This weekend the Gowanus Ballroom (55 9th Street, Brooklyn) will celebrate its closing party with two nights of art, live music, and pyrotechnics. "Paint Works" – the name of the party’s series – is going out with a big-ass bang to celebrate an an extraordinary group of artists, led by the notorious Seanna Sharpe (the Williamsburg Bridge aerialist), fire acts, and a selection of rootsy bands including Jason Trachtenburg’s – of Trachtenburg Family Slideshow fame – The Pendulum Swings.

Brooklyn songwriter Abby Payne released her new music video for the song "The Prophet" (from her 2010 "Sasquatch" EP) last Friday. The video is a collaboration between Payne, Elizabeth Leitzell (director of photography and camera 1), and Iconartistry (animation). It is inspired by the B movie brilliance of Ed Wood as well as Edie Sedgwick and the days of Andy Warhol’s Factory. The video premiere was held at Brooklyn Fireproof on September 9 with performances by Abby Payne and her band, performance art by Glitter Kitty Productions, and a photograph exhibit by Elizabeth Leitzell. – (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.

Pet Bottle Ningen’s new album is as defiant as a tricycle whizzing down Mount Everest.  Exactly what a hardcore vegan, hot-shit jazz drummer, and Japanese child prodigy should sound like:  intense, marginalized, replete with comedic moments of the socially dubious kind, a damn entertaining road trip.  
Pet Bottle Ningen is Dave Scanlon (guitar), Dave Miller (drums), Nonoko Yoshida (sax).  They are Tzadik artists.  There are no if, ands, or buts about this labeling.  The Downtown Scene clings to the album’s approach like ectoplasm.  However this shout-out is a healthy one, and a  proper use for the group’s cybernetic lung capacity and creative mania.  
Immense ground is covered beyond this homage.  Unique musical gestures splatter the listener, the gestures are daring, demanding, inconsolable. The album rallies a level of precociousness usually only perceivable in performance art and nihilism.  All the blasphemous and shocking qualities one attributes to a totally hysterical performance are encompassed by the musical composition itself.  Quite a task, more challenging than translating Chinese poetry into English for a team of Russian gymnasts.
What I appreciate most about this album is a uniform emphasis on the Power of Chatter.  This is as much a staple of seriously driven contemporary art as it is the music of insects.  There is no pity.  There is, with virtuosic accuracy, an impressive attempt to cover up – in dense swarms, with fractured itinerary – every song The Cranberries ever wrote.- Valerie Kuehne

The Seattle four-piece The Hoot Hoots have a host of shows coming up, and their flashy, out of control pop sensibilities will be on display around the Northwest in the coming weeks.  Their sonic melange is intricate and dense, and their influences are particularly well used in their songs.  The upbeat, overwhelming orchestral compositions of Neutral Milk Hotel are a definite reference point, but what they take from The Unicorns I find even more noteworthy.  What The Unicorns did so well that The Hoot Hoots have paid attention to is related to song structure.  The Unicorns hardly, if ever, repeat lyrics; their choruses are never standard fare.  And when considering this from a songwriting perspective, the transitions and overall flow of a song is directly influenced by the very inclination to infuse this variety.  What I’m also impressed with is their ability to boisterously belt lyrics about outer space and somehow seem tender at times as well- even in the same song.  They’re a strange amalgam of influences, that bunch, and really, they are an incredible live band. 

    •    Sep 21    John’s Alley 
    Moscow, ID

    •    Sep 23
    Hogan’s Pub 
   Clarkston, WA

    •    Sep 24
    Raw Space
      Ellensburg, WA

    •    Oct 06
     High Dive
         Seattle, WA

    •    Nov 05
    Benbow Room
 Seattle, WA

    •    Dec 17
    Benbow Room
 Seattle, WA