Here in NYC most peeps covering the "scene" (us included) love to get into these weird sounding and obscure bands, as if sounding different was the only important thing for a new musical project. Well, it’s not. There’s something extremely satisfying and even refreshing in discovering a new act that plays rather traditional songs and does it exceptionally well – Ursa Minor is such act. Sounding like a marriage between Tom Petty, early Tori Amos and The Pretenders, Ursa Minor’s songs are instant pop-rock gratification with an americana twist. Michelle Casillas’ stunning, present vocals complete the picture drawing beautiful melodies and confidently playing different "roles" in different tracks. Even though the cover of Ursa Minor’s upcoming record "Showface" depicts Michelle in front of the Empire State Building, this is a record we’ll enjoy best during our next car trips getting us outta here… Check out Ursa Minor live at The Living Room on April 14, or at their CD release party at Joe’s Pub on May 24.

We keep highlighting each one of the NYC artists that made our Best of NYC Emerging Artists 2010 list.

Taurus, hailing from several musical US cities, now resides in Brooklyn where they live and breathe music together. On their EP, “Cannon Falls Forever,” unexpected twists on swelling modulations keep the ear guessing on “Born a Lion,” hypnotic guitar strums and smooth vocals come together on the peaceful “Love Would Bury You,” and, a gentle introduction on “Carolina” transforms into a swirl of reverb and distortion. Taurus plays The Deli’s “B.E.A.F. (Best Emerging Artists Fest) 2010” fest on May 27 at Spike Hill. More details about the fest will be announced soon. – Meijin Bruttomesso

 

As you may know we mostly focus on emerging NYC bands here at The Deli but… as every single music blog in the world is talking about these two releases, it’s our duty to let you know about it – although you already know about it so it’s kind of pointless. But here you go! You can stream TVOTR’s full album (which is also a film) here, and Vivian Girls’ new release here.

In Miwa Gemini‘s music we hear elements as disparate as the stylized, intense atmospheres of The Doors, Chris Garneau’s playful, whispered pop experiments, and late Tom Waits’ decadent sonic carnival. The female element of Miwa’s delicate, magical soprano defies all comparisons, contributing to a sound that’s quite unique in today’s overcrowded music scene. The NYC based artists will be releasing her third full length album, "Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose", on May 31, and tour the East coast in June.

Miwa Gemini – Goodnight Trail

Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2007, Boston’s The Grownup Noise have evolved into a rousing power-folk outfit who’ve shared stages with everyone from comedian Patton Owalt to fellow avant-baroque musicians like Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer and acclaimed Canadian barnstormers Rock Plaza Central. Fast forward several years and various enriching personal pursuits, and the band is finally gearing up for its playful follow up "This Time with Feeling", set for release in early May. To celebrate the release of their new record, the band will be performing a series of shows in New England and NY – the next one will be at The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA, on April 16. For other dates see here.

Hands down, Brian Hurd (aka Daddy Long Legs) is the best blues harmonica player this writer has ever seen or heard. His playing is so pummeling and soulful it just saws you in half. In this first of a multi-part video series, Brian discusses his history, and plays a stripped-down rail-riding Guthrie-esque set at Guvnor’s Vintage Thrift store in Park Slope. The series’ 2nd episode will be filmed on Thursday 04.14 at Bowery Electric, where he’ll surround himself with a full band that sounds as if it stumbled out of CBGB’s in its heyday. Most importantly, the band will allow Brian to ditch the guitar, two-hand that harp, and rip the roof clean off. Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery at 2nd St. Thursday 4/ 14 @ 9pm. – See the video and interview with Brian Hurd here.

Sonny Smith began singing while a patient at Warm Springs Foundation Hospital in Texas, to amuse the other patients. Quasi-mystical with a tendency to write about new-agey subjects such as hypnotherapy, extrasensory perception, fortune tellers, palm readers and channelers Smith has been given his own genre by the press as ‘pop supernaturalism’ – we would add "quirky" and "folky" to that description. He was released from Warm Springs in the care of his brother and wife, Ryan Browne and Tahlia Harbour who soon became his backing band. Later, at the Canyon Manor Rehabilitation Center north of San Francisco, he met Kelley Stoltz who became the Sunsets’ permanent drummer. On and off the four of them lived out of a Browne’s Toyota van for the next three years, playing with a revolving cast of musicians. They embarked on a triple album in late 2009 but a hurricane hit the coastal studio they were recording in and most of the tapes were destroyed as well as their equipment. What’s left is the record they just released: "Hit After Hit". See Sonny and the Sunsets live at The New Parish in Oakland on April 21.

Headless Horseman – winners of our Artist of the Month poll in October 2010 – are definitely one of the most interesting emerging avant-indie bands in Brooklyn. After being named a "Stereogum Band To Watch", holding down a residency at Pianos, and playing a dozen shows last month at SXSW, the band is getting ready for an exciting spring, with a 7" release together with Das Racist and a live appearence at The Deli’s NYC B.E.A.F. (Best of Emerging Artist Fest – last year’s poster can be found here) on May 28 at Brooklyn Bowl with Delicate Steve. The fest will involve more than 50 artists, for the most part ones that were included in our latest Best of NYC Emerging Artists Poll here. The Fest’s full lineup will be announced in early May.

We stumbled upon this video by Turner Cody, a prolific Brooklyn based songwriter who has been performing and recording for over ten years. His first commercial release was on Rough Trade’s 2002 "Anti-folk Vol.1" CD alongside Adam Green, Kimya Dawson, Jeffrey Lewis and others from NYC’s legendary Sidewalk Café scene. Since then Cody released 3 albums and toured Europe and the UK many times, opening for Herman Dune and Adam Green but also headlining as a solo act and with his backing band. He has appeared on some of New York’s finest stages with the Citizen’s Band.

Zula is a state of musical mind expanding pop. This Brooklyn quartet was born when cousins Henry and Nate Terepka joined forces with Mike Lawless and Zach Nicita to create a fresh Indie music style. Tuesday, April 5th marked the premiere of their debut EP "Crescent Intake Session" – stream it here. The EP romps through a velvet, synth, pop-jam band journey into the ether. The first track "Grind" breaks you into the head trip with typical Indie beats, then surprisingly takes a turn into a new soundscape. By the time you get into "Grind is a shuttle" there are elements of a Radiohead exploration occurring. Zula is going beyond your typical Indie synth band and tripping into the nether regions of amazing tunes not of this world. They play May 7 at Spike Hill. – Michele McMannon

Kordan‘s shoegaze-electro sound with synths and bleak soundscapes, first received attention and acclaim from Cut Copy, who chose them to open for tours across North America in 2008. Since then, they’ve played with The Drums and dream pop aces The Mary Onettes, gaining a steady following. Their debut album "The Longing" foretells a broken love story in the hazy metropolis of Tokyo, circa 2036. The story is told over post-punk rhythms that evoke haunting imagery and macabre overtones a la The Cure and Bauhaus, as well as waves of guitar distortion and pulsating beats to reflect energy and light in the style of My Bloody Valentine. We heard rumors that the band is temporarily on a hiatus, although band leader Arthur Eisele is still very active in the NYC scene as a DJ and remixer – RCRD LBL premiered his remix of Sacramento based Sister Crayon‘s "I’m Still the Same Person" on April 4. The band shared the 96th place in The Deli’s Best of NYC Emerging Artists Poll 2010 with Taurus and Forgetters.