I have one question about Alex Winston. Where does she hide the helium tank? Don’t get me wrong, Sister Wife (download link under the video) is a light and fun jaunt, with soaring melodies and satisfying hooks…but I’m serious about that helium thing. Winston’s soprano is so ethereal and high, that I feel like she’s sucking birthday balloons dry before recording each track. Kate Bush fans, rejoice! Title track "Sister Wife" catches you with the "ooooh," so hard you don’t even realize it’s about bigamy. And let me say, it’s one of the best songs about bigamy I’ve heard since…a while. Her debut EP is consistently filled with breathy girlpop dreamscapes that lets your mind wander, with enough of a backing beat to keep you from floating away – "Choice Notes" and "Fingers and Toes" especially. "Sweet James" is a stand-out, a sweet and pretty nostalgia-infused Motown crooner, conjuring visions of summer love and picnics in sunny parks. Put that one on your make-out playlist. And add "Sister Wife" too…y’know, if you’re into bigamy. – Allison Levin

DOWNLOAD: Alex Winston – Sister Wife (MP3)

Brooklyn-based band and Deli NYC favorite Very Fresh (featuring members and ex-members of Larkin Grimm, Quilty, Ava Luna, The Kitchen Cabinet, and Viva L’American Death Ray Music) will be playing their inaugural show as a full band at Bruar Falls (in Williamsburg, Brooklyn) on Wednesday, February 23rd at 8pm: 11:30 Life Size Maps 10:30 Very Fresh 9:30 Strawberry Hands 8:30 The Rex Complex $7, 21+ Very Fresh’s EP ‘Americana’ was The Deli NYC’s CD of the Month in July 2010! – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

New York catchy and upbeat popsters and recent Deli band of the month Murder Mystery will be playing this Friday night (February 11th for those not near a calendar) at Zebulon. According to the band, the show will be inspired by the great success of the Spiderman musical "Turn Off The Dark," and also include dramatic acrobatics, embarrassing technical problems, and most importantly fatal injuries – mixed with new music of course! That sounds like a winner to us. Friday night the band will be playing with Philadelphia band The Homophones and New York bands MiniBoone and Shiv Hurrah. – Leah Tribbett

Brooklyn experimental pop band Octant (whose only human band member we covered in the past and also interviewed about his crazy robotic band mates here) are playing two pre-release shows, one in Brooklyn and one in New Brunswick. The Brooklyn show is completely free and takes place on Saturday, February 19 at Pete’s Candy Store. Octant goes on at 10:00 sharp and will be joined by New Brunswick band Trintron. Available at the show will be limited edition CD versions of the record with hand-stamped covers, as well as free posters and free 1" buttons (there will also be 2.5" buttons for $2.00). The New Brunswick show will take place at CoLab Arts Space on Sunday, February 20. The doors are at 6:00, the show starts at 7:00 and Octant plays second. There will be complimentary wine and cheese while supplies last. Also playing are New Brunswick bands Trintron, Seahorse Valley and Fairychaser. The poster and 1" buttons will be free at CoLab Arts as well, but the CD versions of the record will be $5. You can listen and download a copy of the LP, or pre- order the vinyl, at Octant’s website or purchase it via iTunes. – Leah Tribbett

Deli Readers,

The Deli’s Year End Polls for Emerging artists are over (YAY!). You can find the list of winners and runners up organized by scene here.

The Deli Staff

Totally out-there dance machine Gang Gang Dance has an announcement to make. Their new album, Eye Contact is going to be out on May 10th by 4AD records. Can you wait that long? At this point, the Manhattan-based band does not have any US dates in their upcoming tour, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Of course, if you happen to find yourself in Europe in April or early May, you can take some "Crystals" and shake your little ass off. If not, you’ll just have to be patient, like the rest of us. – allison levin

Akron/Family’s new album "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT" was released today together with this video of the single "Silly Bears". Don’t miss the band’s show at The Knit on 02.17.

When will it be summer again??? The band Beach Fossils have to tease me with their promises of beachfront indulgence while my BedStuy backyard shows no signs of melting away its snow anytime soon. Weather aside, Beach Fossils is one more reason to think this trend of summer-drenched music is not fading away anytime soon. Their music communicates the wistful pleasures of hanging out, doing nothing and being happy with all your free time… it’s refreshing to hear a band candidly describe the creature comforts of middle-class Brooklyn hipsters. The songs never get weighty with false grandstanding, instead delivering a simple, digestable formula that could easily provide the soundtrack to your next getaway weekend. Now they have a new EP on its way courtesy of Captured Tracks, a label that has taken an active interest in curating some of Brooklyn’s finest Lo-Fi jangles. Singer/guitarist Dustin Payseur and bassist John Peña have composed 8 new tracks for What A Pleasure that includes a guest appearance from Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum on track Out in The Way. Look for it March 8. – Mike Levine

When the Austin post-rock outfit (now based out of NYC) …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead released their third album, Source Tags & Codes, in 2002, many heralded the band as the next big thing in indie (a Pitchfork 10.0!) and praised the album’s searing sonic riffage, infectious vocal melodies, and affinity for the occasional orchestral flourish. Since the release of Source Tags & Codes, however, the band has had its ups and downs–some lukewarm reviews for later releases, a split with major label Interscope after 2006’s So Divided, the departure of members–yet it has managed to soldier on and continue to produce consistently original music to a passionate fanbase.

Tonight the band will be celebrating the release of their seventh full-length album, Tao of the Dead (released through Superball Music and the band’s own imprint, Richter Scale), at Littlefield in Brooklyn. The show will also feature Brooklyn’s Takka Takka and art on display by band member Conrad Keely, who did the cover artwork for his band’s new record as well as an accompanying graphic novel. The new tracks were recorded in just ten days, and the album is split into two parts in different tunings; the first produced by Chris “Frenchie” Smith (who produced their debut) and the second by Chris Coady (who has worked with Beach House and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). In an interview with The Deli the band explained: “Our favorite records are ones that can be experienced as a great body of work, and not the disposable, artless idea of recording one or two singles while disregarding the rest of a record. Why not give people a reason to experience an album as a whole?” Tonight would be a good opportunity to catch Trail of Dead’s ferocious live energy in an intimate setting before they hit the road for bigger venues with Surfer Blood in April. In the meantime, you can check out Keely’s trippy, steam-punk influenced artwork at the band’s website –Bill Dvorak

The solo project of Californian Richie James Follin (from The Willowz), Guards is good for the following (and more): some slow dancing, jumping up and down and cleaning the house. There’s a gentlemanly quality to this music: the songs are gentle and inviting, charming and distinguished, yet still absolutely badass. Follin wrote these tracks in New York City. He had the help of friends Caroline Polachek from Chairlift (see embedded song), James Richardson of MGMT, Loren Shane Humphrey of Willowz and sister Madeline Follin of Cults appearing as guests on some of the songs. Guards opened for Beach Fossils and A Place To Bury Strangers at Glasslands on Saturday and will play London and France in mid February. Guards just released a debut 7" and 12". – Read Lauren Piper’s Q&A with RK Follin here.