It’s a mystery to us how true rockers Earl Greyhound haven’t been playing arenas after releasing the soul ripping single ‘SOS’ back in 2007. Sometimes things take longer than expected, but the trio is back with a new album, a new single and a 2 month tour with OK Go that is surely bound to raise their profile.

The "No Wave" movement was a seminal, mostly NYC based avant garde musical phenomenon from the late 70’s and early 80’s devoted to sonic nihilism, i.e. lack of structure, lack of melodies, and interest for noise, atonal textures and repetitive rhythms. From this point of view, it can be seen as an important link in NYC’s traditional interest for noise applied to, following Lou Reed’s experience with the Velvet Underground and Metal Machine Music and preceding Sonic Youth’s noise rock saga. The No Wave movement was rather short lived and had its peak with the release of a Brian Eno curated "No New York" compilation album in 1978. Many of the current avant-garde NYC heroes began their career in one of those no wave bands, including John Zorn, Arto Lindsay, and Bill Laswell amongst others. Brainchild of New York drummer/producer Anton Fier (in the picture), The Golden Palominos are one of the original No Wave bands. After more than two decades they are reuniting to perform live at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City on Friday May 7th. The show will feature the “Syd Straw era” Palominos, which spanned the years 1985-1987, during which time the band recorded the albums Visions of Excess and Blast of Silence. The lineup includes some other NYC stalwarts like Jim Campilongo and Tony Maimone. Don’t miss this show!

Surprise Me Mr. Davis is a is an electric-folk band consisting of virginia based folksinger Nathan Moore, the members of NYC/Providence/Montreal avant-rock band The Slip and pianist Marco Benevento. They formed in 2003 in Boston while Moore was visiting The Slip at their apartment and the blizzard of 2003 hit. They were snowed in at the Barr brothers Mission Hill home for five days with a brand new stereo microphone and computer. This storm was the catalyst for a home recording session that cemented the collaboration. Since then, the four musicians have been keeping up with the tradition of meeting before blizzards, hurricanes or other natural disasters that force them in the company of each other and their instruments, as confirmed by the fact that some news channels are reporting that the Icelandic vulcanic ash cloud will hit Brooklyn exactly during the band’s performance at Union Pool on 04.16.

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).

Close your eyes, find a soft piece of grass, be still for a moment, and let the Acrylics EP “All The Fire” saturate your ears and your mind. In doing this, you’ll truly be able to appreciate the distant vocals, innovative rock, and smooth transitions between melodies all captured in each individual track. The best part of this album is that no song plays the same way from start to finish. The Acrylics have done a fantastic job of throwing in musical subtleties to keep your attention, particularly in “Avenue I,” where the shifts from acoustic guitar to transient pop flow perfectly. You will love this album for the visual effects of its lyrical metaphors and it’s beautiful harmonies within the uniquely talented quintet. -CM

Released April 8, "New is Beautiful" is the new album by NYC’s Automatic Children. The band is gearing up for a series of shows in NYC through May. The first of the bunch will be at Parkside Lounge on April 16, followed by a live performance at Best Buy on May 14, and the official record release show at the Studio@ Webster Hall on May 21 (8pm). The band will then make a few trips out of town to promote the record and their current radio campaign. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

There probably isn’t a better moniker than Keepaway for this Brooklyn band on the rise – their music bounces with a childish delight, addicting in the way of their namesake game, somehow both sadistic and good-natured. The three-piece uses samples, synth, guitar, driving percussion, and howling harmony to create their tunes. There’s plenty of blog buzz for their track "Yellow Wings," a simultaneously dark and infectious rocker garnering a 9/10 by perennial tastemaker Pitchfork. But besides this, they’ve gotten minimal press; comparisons to Animal Collective and Isaac Brock abound in blogs, but the truth is they stand on their own. They’re about to release an EP called Baby Style on Lefse Records, paired with a show celebrating the record at Mercury Lounge May 18th. But sooner than that, they are playing to a sold-out audience at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Whitest Boy Alive on April 21. I saw the band at Zebulon recently and their live show throttles the viewer in the amount of fun these guys have. To put it simply, they’re about to be huge. – Dale W. Eisinger

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list here (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).

This keyboard happy quartet, does feature the occasional vocal, but what they really excel at is pumping out the keyboard jams a la french disco outfit Monocle. In November 2009 they got together to play their 1st ever show at Ash’s Place in November of last year. Turns out Ash was a nice guy who treated them well so Jacques Detergent decided to stick around and play some more shows for brooklyn crowds. They’ve graced the stage at Death by Audio and have also filled the basement room of Secret Project Robot with their elegant bouncy pop. In the meantime they’ve been hanging out at the MET checking out the Egyptian art and warming up at their dreidel spinning hands at Chanukah parties throughout the recent holidays. As they keep practicing for their next gig in 2010, they ‘ll be eating potato chips while watching My Beautiful Laundrette.

Chosen for the "Top Six" in Billboard Magazine’s Indie World Series and opening a show for rock legend Ben Folds in the same year, Chris Merrit is a stand-out performer, having played hundreds of shows across the U.S. and Japan. His music blends the sounds of piano-driven rock, pop, rhythm and blues with personal stories of love-at-first-sight, his best friend’s sister, and being homesick to physics, corrupt governments and Miss Pacman. With plenty of wit and humor that’s distinctively his own, Merritt’s "voice and delivery draw you in to find out what happens next." – The Washington Post. Catch him tickling the ivories at The Sullivan Hall on 04.15 and at The Bitter End on Thursday, June 3rd at 9pm, with NYC piano pop songstress Shannon Corey. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Emerging NYC based electro rock trio Brahms just announced at Pianos for 3 weeks in may and June with an exciting line up including – among others – Bell, Gordon Voidwell, Das Racist and Class Actress.

Gathered around a table at Macri Park, the five amiable members of North Highlands reflect on their whirlwind experience since the band’s inception in May. At their three-month mark, they had written and recorded a six-song EP that they have likened to a Chili’s sample starter platter for its eclectic nature. By October, they booked an unofficial CMJ show that drew a mesmerized crowd, who raved about it seconds later, thanks to the Internet. In December, they played an uncomfortably packed show at the Cake Shop and acquired a van to gear up for a future tour. – Read Nancy Chow’s interview with the band here.

Dustin Payseur’s cloudy voice over his soft surfer rock guitar is classic. Classic in the sense that it transcends any sort of trendy indie music movement that at this point has become tired and formulaic. Beach Fossils is a refreshing revisit to the lo-fi quality music of 60s rock. The record could easily be a found treasure from your father’s old stored away box of vinyls. The so cal vibe mixes well with Dustin’s distorted vocals and makes for sincere, oft sad songs that remain lively with a pinch of pop. – Read Chloe Schildhause’s interview with the band here. Beach Fossils will headline the Deli’s Best of NYC Fest show at Brooklyn Bowl on Thursday May 13.

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list here (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).

Since in 2010 the 80s are officially the new 70s, in the upcoming years we can expect a lot of artists influenced by the sound of the most controversial of decades. Light Asylum present themselves as the answer to the re-emergence of "New Romantics" – who were rather reserved, black wearing types who danced to electro-goth tunes served by the likes of early Ultravox, Depeche Mode and – dare we say – Nick Kershaw. The band’s sonic signature is so strongly grounded in the sound of the 80s that the word "revival" might seems appropriate here, although the Williamsburg duo’s eerie vocals steer away from the more commercial and familiar stereotypes of the genre, referring instead to its darker and deeply troubled fathers like Diamanda Galas, Dead Can Dance and Bauhaus. Don’t miss their intense live performances.