Quirky and folky, "mid-fi" Brooklynites Phil and the Osophers will release a 7" single of two new song "Figures Of Speech" and "Ink On The Page" on May 21 by Brooklyn label Factual Fabrications. These two songs will be released later this year on a double album which the band is currently recording. These two songs will be accompanied by a double video to be released in mid-May. The songs find the band exploring a darker set of musical and lyrical timbres – their lyrics deal with themes from kidnapping to extortion. See them live at Bruar Falls on April 21.

Almost all the members of Pablo Picasso (who placed 95th in our Best of NYC Emerging Artists poll 2010) have their own visual art portfolio website. Why this came as a surprise to me, since they are named after a famous cubist painter, is perhaps more puzzling than one of Picasso’s works, but it says what needs to be said. Artists in a band – it’s almost its own genre. Musically, Pablo Picasso offers a relaxed if slightly morose atmosphere with smooth backing vocals contrasting heavily with the lead singer’s gritty, heartbroken howls, often reminiscent of post-Swordfishtrombone’s Tom Waits. – allison levin

Saturday, April 16th (Record Store Day) NJ based Bern & The Brights will celebrate the release of their "Starchild" 7-Inch in Hoboken in the afternoon aat the Tunes record store and later at 8.30PM at Maxwell’s. “Starchild” and “Lost in the Sea”, included in this release, according to the band "go together like peas and carrots, both sonically and thematically."  […] "The expansive musical expression of these two songs is our offering of a hopefulness, an airiness of soul, a spark of inspiration, and a reminder that the answer is in the sunset. Keep riding toward it with your stereo blasting, and in that bliss is everything—the sour, the sweet, the poetry, and the party. We are a group of individuals who process life through music and have a relentless, stubborn, and compulsive need to create and share our music with as many people as we can. […] Our aim, with every musical noise that we conjure, is to make hearts burst, faces melt, mouths kiss, and bodies move. In short, we are here to bring you an emotional conglomerate including our love, and to win your heart forevermore.And our fans have ours." – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here – The NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building).

NYC’s Gang Gang Dance have been around for 10 years now, and to their credit they have always followed a very personal artistic path outside commercial compromises. The band’s sound is decidedly electronic, corageously audacious, and heavily influenced by oriental music, mostly because of lead singer Lizzi Bougatsos’ particular inclination for Arabic sounding melodies. The band is about to release their 5th studio album entitled "Eye Contact", their 1st one on legendary label 4AD, which released many fantastic records by similarly esoteric bands like Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. The CD’s release party will be at The Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 4th. Watch the video for ‘Eye Contact’ track "Mindkilla" here.

Louisiana-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Zachary Cale is gearing up for the late May release of his third record, "Noise of Welcome", on Brooklyn-based All Hands Electric. The new album is the follow up to Cale’s 2008 "Walking Papers". To celebrate the vinyl release of the new record, Zach will be performing with his full band next Saturday, 4/23 at 11PM at Union Hall in Brooklyn before he embarks on a national tour in mid-May with D. Charles Speer & The Helix.

MP3: Zachary Cale – Hello Oblivion.

We really like these guys – by the way, if you are a MOG subscriber you should check out our playlist of awesome female NYC based artists here. Dark Dark Dark is about to embark on a tour that from now until July will take them from Omaha to Bremen (Germany). During the European dates they’ll be alternatively opening for The National, Black Heart Procession and Low. The band just released this stunning video shot in South Africa by Santiago Mostyn.

Husker Du was one of the most influential bands of the 80s, but it doesn’t happen very often to hear a rock band inspired by their sound these days. NJ based Stuyvesant re-elaborates the power trio sonics of the Saint Paul based band with a modern approach, it’s power pop as it should be, without whining melodies nor over-produced recordings. The band will be releasing their sophomore CD "Fret Sounds" in June 2011 on Dromedary Records.

Mp3: Stuyvesant – St. Cloud

Deli’s senior designer Ursula Viglietta deserves a medal for going days without sleep to curate ART + ARCHITECTURE 2011 at Gowanus Ballroom – the best event I have attended all year in Brooklyn. The event’s opening night was this past Friday and the turnout was amazing. Gowanus Ballroom is a 12,000-square-foot space beneath 50-foot cathedral ceilings with a 4,000-square-foot mezzanine overlooking the lower gallery. In 2010, Josh Young of Serett Metal retooled the space as a working space for artists.
This event had massive Burning Man worthy installations, and a complete lineup of bluegrass/old-time bands, the event combined the relevancy of an indie art with the honest fun of a bluegrass festival.

The installations included a tree house and a cozy area of wooden igloos put together with chicken wire. I caught a great old time jazz band called Apocolypse 5 and Dime (pictured) which played old jazzy tunes with the tuba bumping the bass line, the fiddler player is incredibly melodic, and the horn section truly sets the band apart. Other great NYC bands that played included Yula and the Extended Family and Morgan O’Kane (photo below).

The show will be up throughout this week, with a closing party on Saturday the 15th. Saturday’s lineup brings in music – amongst others – by Melody Allegra Berger, Union Street Preservation Society. More info about the show here. – Alex Borsody

Although No Surrender is billed as an alt-rap group, there isn’t much actual rapping done on their upcoming LP “Medicine Babies.” There’s a lot of crooning, and some emphatic chanting, and some good-natured wailing, but if you’re expecting typical 16s of staccato bravado, you best pick another battle. That being said, this album is still a triumph. Its primarily electro vibe is peppered with nuances of new-wave and shoegaze. Guest appearances by Costanza Francavilla and TVOTR’s Tunde Adebimpe function as critical reinforcements to this otherwise bumpalistic mission. Building on the critical success of their first release and a headlining spot at this year’s Sonar Festival in Spain, No Surrender is in a strategic position to win the war. “Medicine Babies” will be yours in June, 2011. – BrokeMC

So, it may not be goodbye forever, but this Friday, DC’s rock quartet [velvet] will take to the Black Cat mainstage for the last time as a whole, with drummer Udi Farber returning to his home country. Formed back in 1995, “the Simpsons of indie rock” Joe Brewer (vox, guitar), Joe Calvarese (guitar, vox), Andrew Walker (bass), and Udi have built a discography of 4 albums on the label Signal to Noise, achieved a following of loyal listeners, and critical appraise for their live performances up and down the east coast and all over the DMV. Check out a recent live video of [velvet] performing this past March.

And come early to check out the DC based rock/soul band The Honeyguns (their Black Cat debut), and the epic rock sounds of The Chance. Doors @9. $10

Awaken the Bloody Valentine in you! San Fran’s Young Prisms just released a new song+video combo that’s as shoegazer as it gets. The band is kicking off their US tours with The Fresh & Onlys and Crocodiles on April 13. The band is promoting their recent release "Friends For Now", out on NYC’s Kanine Records

Here is how The Death Set crew introduced us to their new video – as we don’t get the exact meaning of this blurb we decided to opt for a quick copy and paste operation. All we know is that both song and the video are a lot of fun:

"We wanted to throw a party on our roof so we invited our friends and a bunch of party ingredients. It all worked until we made too much ruckas and apparently knocked “art” off the wall of the douche bag downstairs. Now this guy’s “art” was his “Transformers the Movie” poster and of course threatened to sue and asked if I had “music video insurance”. And of course I have insurance right? Health insurance, dental insurance, music video insurance, insurance on deez nuts and but, all of the above pffff. Just like one of the causes of the economic crisis, hell I got insurance for my insurance… Anyways so we just took the party to our tiny ass apartment and had a time. Reminds me of that game we played as kids where you spin around till you blackout. So this song is the second single off our new LP “Michel Poiccard” on Ninja Tune “We Are Going Anywhere Man."

Currently touring Europe, The Death Set will be back in NY with a show at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, on April 29. The video was directed by Evan Wunsch.