Since DC’s the Vita Ruins recent departure from the stage (aw!!), mulit-instrumetalist Tim Kratzer has moved on to a new solo project called Honest Haloway. With this project, Kratzer can focus on sharing his art as soon as he finishes, rather than waiting to record, master, etc etc etc entire albums. With a foot in the world of music since age 11, he can pretty much do it all, and this debut video for "What I Leave Behind" off the upcoming EP The Towns makes us want to see and hear what awesomeness he’ll come up with next. (Shot and directed by Tim Kratzer and Sara Nabizadeh.) –Dawn

This year’s edition of Decibel Festival hits Seattle bars and live music establishments from September 28 until October 2.  The electronic music celebration is in its eighth year, and the recently announced lineup does not disappoint.  Big name acts are playing, such as Amon Tobin, Ladytron, Moby, and buzz-drenched mystery UK producer Zomby, playing one of his first dates on American soil.  Local acts include Truckasaurus, Beat Connection, Nordic Soul, Grym, and Jon McMillion, whose "Climbing Out" features below. Bring some earplugs!

The four-piece is fronted by lead singer, songwriter, former fashion designer and writer Daniel Blue along with collaborators Buddy Ross, Brantley Cady and Forrest Mauvais.  Glitch-folkers Motopony have been selected to have their song "King of Diamonds" featured as the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week. Starting today, "King of Diamonds" will be offered as a free download at Starbucks locations in the United States. On July 29, the group kicks off their big summer tour sharing dates with Those Darlins and Daniel Johnston. The guys will also be performing at Bumbershoot Festival (9/5) and DeLuna Festival (10/16).

Bird Call, the work of Brooklyn musician (but San Francisco native) Chiara Angelicola, landed number 75 on the Deli’s Best New Emerging Artists of 2010 poll (the full results can be seen here). She grew up listening to her mother play music, serenading people with a plastic microphone throughout her childhood. Before moving to New York in 2009, Angelicola rocked the Bay Area scene, winning honors and showcasing at the International Folk Alliance in Memphis, Tennessee. Bird Call’s new EP of cover songs, "Other Creatures", was released in the spring, marking the second time Angelicola has collaborated with Joel Hamilton, producer of music giants such as Elvis Costello and Tom Waits. Haunting and nostalgic, endearingly sincere and mindblowingly creative, her music ranges from a warbling pop sound to morose and elegant pieces. The Deli is premiering here Bird Call’s new video for "Waltz in the Snow", the song that won her the International Songwriters Competition award as judged by Tom Waits and Peter Gabriel among others. Bird Call will kick off her summer tour with Johanna & The Dusty Floor with a show at The Knit on August 2.

To celebrate the launch of the brand new Bleach Blonde Records, Richard San Luis and crew will be hosting a party on Saturday July 23rd at Bruar Falls in Brooklyn. Scheduled to appear will be Bleach Blonde recording artists Telenovelas, Blemishes and Youth Castles. Non-label mates Young Boys and Dream Diary will also be playing later in the evening, with DJ sets from members of Young Boys as well.

Blemishes debut single release "Keep It Quiet" does anything but that. Squalls of harsh feedback eventually give way to pitch-bended guitar chords and cathedral hall vocals. The percussion is forward forceful, allowing the bass to slither a groove while layers of guitars and vocals float you down alleyways of pleasurable dreams.

Youth Castles take the dream vibe in more romantic directions. There is a soft soulfulness to "Sight Seeing" which finds patterned percussion segments deeply embedded against the swirling, reverberated vibe. It’s lush and dramatic, and could be the soundtrack of your wonderful summer, if you would just let it.

Host band Telenovelas in the picture) have progressively evolved over the last year. Since the release of their 3 song EP a year ago, their steady gigging has seen them grow more confident and dynamic with each successive show. The band will soon release a brand new studio track – "Lost in the Sand" via a split 7” single with Australian solo artist Colours on the other side. Hop on over to Bleach Blonde and check out other up and coming artists and stay tuned for future BB releases/showcases. – Dave Cromwell

Deli cover band of our Summer 2010 issue, Bear Hands just debuted the music video for "High Society", which the band’s guitarist, Ted Feldman, had a "hand" in directing, together with Andrei Bowden-Schwartz. The video is like a moving mosaic – a myriad of tiny videos of the band playing form the bigger, moving picture. To realize this the band stood in front of the cameras performing "High Society" 78 times. The directors brought the overwhelming footage to New Orleans to be edited with the help of Bob Weisz, who directed Big Freedia’s video for "Y’all Get Back Now". This video comes on the heels of the vinyl release of Bear Hands’ debut album, "Burning Bush Supper Club". The Brooklyn four-piece started a new national tour yesterday in Washington, DC and will rock the stage of Webster Hall on October 30 with opening acts, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Royal Bangs. – Abigail P. Devora

Combining epic sound scores with equally epic visuals in their live sets, it’s no wonder DC’s Drop Electric topped the charts when it came to fan votes in our recent band of the month poll. In case you aren’t familiar with this troop, we’ve got the entire lineup together for a little Q&A, including Ramtin Arablouei (Drums), David Garber (Keys), Neel Singh (Guitar), Sho Fujiwara (Guitar), Kristina Reznikov (Guitar), and Patrick Ryan Morris (Visuals.) With an album under their belt, and a new EP this Fall, Drop Electric fills us in on a possible upcoming film project, growing up on Kris Kross cassettes, and the upsides of the DC music scene. Check out the interview here…

And get yourself acquainted with their sounds courtesy this free download of their album Finding Color In the Ashes! It’ll surely get you amped for their upcoming show at the Rock & Roll Hotel on August 5th with Constant Alarm and Oh So Peligroso. Want more? Check out their video for "Robot Funeral" that just debuted last week. Holler! (Photo by James Lawler Duggan)

Seattle legends Blue Scholars dropped by KEXP’s studios yesterday to record a few tracks from their new album Cinemetropolis.  The duo, consisting of George Quibuyen and Saba Mohajerjasbi, have been a keystone of the local hip hop scene for over a decade, combining proficient, fresh beats with a deft lyrical style that is socioeconomically/politically hyper-conscious, and always infectious.   

We introduced these new promising Brooklynites to our readers here back in May, they just premiered this video for "Wet Cement", fashioned after a scene from Francoise Truffaut’s 1960’s film, "Shoot The Piano Player". Pursesnatchers, which features members of Au Revoire Simone and Dirty on Purpose, will be celebrating the release of their debut CD "A Pattern Language" at Union Hall on July 22.

Borrowing in equal measure from the bubble gum ballads of the 60s and the decadent atmospheres through which – during that same decade – The Velvet Underground were implicitly fustigating that music and a few other things, The Echo-Friendly’s new single "Same Mistakes" is pretty much a contradiction in terms. The band’s sound, also because of the addition of a female voice, has obviously evolved tremendously since the debut EP "Still Not Sorry", released at the end of 2010, which was faithful to the dark ballad format, but carried much stronger rootsy influences. The single was released a few weeks ago on Cantora Records. The foursome is well into completing its first EP, expected to come out this fall.

Sam Mickens has, since his teen years, been a shadowy figure operating across the landscape of international pop music with an experimental edge, in groups The Dead Science (Constellation Recording artists), Xiu Xiu (which he’s recently rejoined and for whom he’s presently composing new material) and Degenerate Art Ensemble, and acting as a sideman/guest musician with artists ranging from Daniel Johnston to Carla Bozulich. Additionally, for the past few years he’s been extremely active composing music for large-scale modern dance works by a number of choreographers, as well as creating his own epic performance works, both as co-chair of the now-defunct Villainaires Academy and most recently under his own name. He presently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he leads his large ensemble Sam Mickens Ecstatic Showband & Revue. You can see him live at Silent Barn on July 30.