Psychic Twin (Erin Fein & now Sean Hutchinson) released a fantastic single this year called "Strangers" on Polyvinyl and then relocated to Brooklyn. The b-side to "Strangers" was the synth heavy "Dream State" and truly out shined the it’s A-side in my opinion.
Chicago
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Top 10 Tracks of 2013: #10
Into It. Over It. (aka Evan Weiss) released the album "Intersections" in September of 2013 via Triple Crown. "No Amount of Sound", along with "Spinning Thread", was truly a stand out track this year.
NYC
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The Deli KC’s Best of 2013
(Photo above of The Grisly Hand, by Todd Zimmer)
Some of us here at The Deli KC (and a few other local music experts) have compiled our best of 2013 local lists. Here are a few of our picks…
Michelle Bacon, The Deli KC editor-in-chief
Top 10 albums of 2013
Ha Ha Tonka – Lessons
The Grisly Hand – Country Singles
Tiny Horse – Darkly Sparkly
The Latenight Callers – Songs For Stolen Moments
Not A Planet – The Few, The Proud, The Strange
Clairaudients – I’m A Loudmouth, You’re A Puppet
The Silver Maggies – My Pale Horse
The Dead Girls – Fade In/Fade Out
Freight Train Rabbit Killer – Freight Train Rabbit Killer
Katy Guillen & the Girls – …And Then There Were Three
Zach Hodson, The Deli KC contributor
Top 13 of 2013
The Grisly Hand – Country Singles
The Electric Lungs – Simplified and Civilized
Tiny Horse – Darkly Sparkly
The ACBs – Little Leaves
Cherokee Rock Rifle – Ta-Li
The Dead Girls – Fade In/Fade Out
Not a Planet – The Few, The Proud, The Strange
Mime Game – Do Your Work
The Latenight Callers – Songs for Stolen Moments
The Jinxed – The Loon
Erik Voeks – Finulu
More Like Georgia – Move On
The Octopuss Men – Music to Make Her Change Her Mind
Honorable mentions
Bloodbirds– Psychic Surgery
Sundiver – The Pull
Crossed Wires – Crossed Wires
Barry Lee, The Deli KC contributor / Signal To Noise on KKFI 90.1 FM
2013 list of homegrown specialties
Tiny Horse – “Ride” from Darkly Sparkly
The Dead Girls – “Love You To" / Signal To Noise’s Tribute To The Beatles at Knuckleheads, June 1
Cowboy Indian Bear – “Let It Down” from Live Old, Die Young
The Dead Girls – “Love You To" / Signal To Noise’s Tribute To The Beatles at Knuckleheads, June 1
Cowboy Indian Bear – “Let It Down” from Live Old, Die Young
Ricky Dean Sinatra – “Werewolf” / Reunion show at Jazzhaus, July 20
Scott Hrabko – “Blue, Period” from Gone Places
Lonnie Fisher – “Ghosts Driving in My Van” from Ghosts and Dreams
Erik Voeks – “Hester A. Fish” from Finulu
The Quivers – “He Had It Coming” from Gots To Have It!
Betse Ellis – “Straight To Hell” / Wednesday MidDay Medley’s (KKFI) 500th show, November 20
Radkey – “Out Here in My Head” from Cat & Mouse
Danny R. Phillips, Deli KC contributor
Other best albums
David Hasselhoff on Acid – Eudaimonia
Pale Hearts – Hollowtown
Bloodbirds – Psychic Surgery
Missouri Homegrown – You Asked For It
Red Kate – When the Troubles Come
The Pedaljets – What’s in Between
Stiff Middle Fingers – At the Scene of the Crime
Dsoedean – Continue to Move
The Grisly Hand – Country Singles
Best shows
Bob Mould / The Pedaljets at The Bottleneck, August 16
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds at recordBar, October 7
Lawrence Field Day Fest at The Bottleneck, July 11-13
Bill Brownlee, The Plastic Sax / There Stands the Glass
Top 10 albums of 2013
The Grisly Hand – Country Singles
Tech N9ne – Something Else
Mark Lowrey – Tangos for 18th Street
The Architects – Border Wars: Episode I
Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle – The Freedom of Expression
Alaturka – Yalniz
Reggie B – DNA
Cowboy Indian Bear – Live Old, Die Young
Dutch Newman –Schorre’s Son
Akkilles – Something You’d Say
Tech N9ne – Something Else
Mark Lowrey – Tangos for 18th Street
The Architects – Border Wars: Episode I
Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle – The Freedom of Expression
Alaturka – Yalniz
Reggie B – DNA
Cowboy Indian Bear – Live Old, Die Young
Dutch Newman –Schorre’s Son
Akkilles – Something You’d Say
Steven Tulipana, co–owner of recordBar / miniBar
Favorite recordBar moments of 2013
Kishi Bashi / Plume Giant, February 17
Wovenhand, April 4 (Middle of the Map Fest)
Sonic Spectrum’s Tribute to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, May 26
Bob Log III, July 23
Richard Buckner, October 30
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Kid Congo, October 7
King Khan and the Shrines, October 20
Found A Job performs The Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, November 29
Thanks for all your support this year! We look forward to hearing more excellent music in 2014.
Also, don’t forget to visit www.voteformmf.com! We have tonight and tomorrow to vote for Midwest Music Foundation, so cast your vote now!
–The Deli KC staff
Nashville
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Jensen Sportag “Stealth of Days”
One of the most rewarding and often hardest things to do is take music solely for itself without attaching genres and judging it for a whole slew of trivial reasons. So before you count yourself out of this one, answer this: do you know any local easy-listening bands? Didn’t think so, and I didn’t either until I found out about the future of jazz.
Local act Jensen Sportag incorporates elements of smooth jazz, R&B, and easy listening into a dreamscape of futuristic fizzles and gallons of reverb. What ensues is a hallucinatory nod to the 80’s packaged in the comfort of soft-jazz and fluid beats. Their latest release, "Stealth of Days", is like a sensual elevator ride with Prince on painkillers. -Michael Perry
NYC
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A Lo-Fi DC area band to check out: Greenland
With its member spread between DC, VA and MD, Greenland is Pavement’s kid brother. It seems only right to call them a “kid brother,” anything else is too brash of a comparison. Even so, their nonsensical lyrics and mismatched rhythms may be similar enough for a “twins separated at birth” label – oh and Guided by Voices may be a distant relative as well. Around since 2007, they released their newest album in May of 2013, “Evil Spring" – check out their video for “Dirty Lovin”, and opener Sucko V below. Part literal lyric interpretation, part psych colored basement jam session, their music is surely going to entertein you. If you are looking for a real weird fix, check out their Tumblr profile. References to their music are dispersed between descriptions of a fictional road trip. It is jus as fantastic as a Tom Robbins’ novel. – Alex Noghaven
Portland
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Ages and Ages at Mississippi Studios 12.31
As their song "Souvenir" from their debut album Alright You Restless indicates "brace yourself for the hour". What better way to celebrate the ending of another year than with Agesandages? Led by Tim Perry (formerly of Pseudosix) and an array of strong voiced multi-instrumentalists with plenty of tambourine shakes, the group recently surprised their following with a cozy cover of "Christmastime Is Here" and has been working up their follow up sophomore album Divisionary.
The first track from the new album "Do The Right Thing" is in time for New Year’s resolutions. With a building concentration of piano, percussion, violin, and a choral brocade alongside Perry, the group sings a song of praise about helping oneself while letting go of expectations. Do the right thing, always. Live better. Pass it on.
Agesandages seeks to get the people involved; in dance, in song, and in celebration. Lift up your glass to Father Time and welcome the possibilities of 2014. All hosted by Mississippi Studios and 94.7 with Portland’s dreamy Wild Ones and Florida’s Surfer Blood. Rock it out, and ring it in. – Brandy Crowe
NYC
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Fresh buzz for Mutual Benefit
A set of highly orchestrated folk music, constructed from a private playground of strange and wonderful sounds, star-gazing wonder, and tear-jerking harmonies, Mutual Benefit‘s debut LP ‘Love’s Crushing Diamond’ has been deservedly getting a great deal of attention from tastemakers everywhere. Taken from tales of life lived on the road from singer/songwriter Jordan Lee, the record is the first album to be named Best New Music by Pitchfork based on a Bandcamp release alone. Now the record’s appearing on everyone’s top ten lists, and now I’m hastily re-doing my own list to make way for this ambitious record. Listen below to fave track ‘Advanced Falconry,’ and see Jordan Lee and his collective of musicians gathered from all the places where he lived (Ohio, Boston, Austin) when they return from tour to play at Mercury Lounge on Feb 7. Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!
Philadelphia
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The Deli Philly’s Choice/Cuts: “Mountains” – Bad Braids
As we inch closer to the end of 2013, we are happy to share our final episode of Choice/Cuts for the year with you featuring another lovely performance by Bad Braids, a.k.a. Megan Biscieglia, of a brand new/unreleased song, “Mountains,” which will appear on her upcoming album. We’d also like to thank all the artists who were nice enough to come record with us and of course, the HotBox Studios crew, especially Matt Smith and Ryan Farber, for being so passionate, talented and all-around good dudes. We look forward to more rad collaborations!
Philadelphia
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Choice/Cuts: “Mountains” – Bad Braids
As we inch closer to the end of 2013, we are happy to share our final episode of Choice/Cuts for the year with you featuring another lovely performance by Bad Braids, a.k.a. Megan Biscieglia, of a brand new/unreleased song, “Mountains,” which will appear on her upcoming album. We’d also like to thank all the artists who were nice enough to come record with us and of course, the HotBox Studios crew, especially Matt Smith and Ryan Farber, for being so passionate, talented and all-around good dudes. We look forward to more rad collaborations!
New England
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The Novel Ideas come to House of Blues on January 9
While its last record, "Home," was released in April of 2012, the Brighton-based Novel Ideas is preparing for what could be a big 2014. Recent photos posted to Facebook reveal that they’ve been recording a successor to “Home,” and they’ll follow two shows in Brooklyn at the top of the year with a set at the House of Blues’s Foundation Room on January 9 alongside the Long Lost and the Adventures Of. While it would be easy to write the Novel Ideas off as just another country band, they bring together twangy electric guitars, a beautiful backdrop of fingerpicked chords and singsong melodies by a trio of vocalists – with this band, there is something for every listener. – Jake Reed
NYC
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YC the Cynic plays Gramercy with Homeboy Sandman and Tone Tank on 01.18
Bills like this don’t come around too often. Curated by true hip hop heads, featuring some of the baddest talent pulsing through the veins of the underground, this event that could go down in history as the one you were lucky enough to be at – like when the Beasties toured with RUN-DMC or Wu-Tang with Rage Against the Machine. Homeboy Sandman, YC the Cynic (pictured), I Am Many, and Tone Tank round out the New York sets like a style sampler. Also featured is LA via Chicago’s Open Mike Eagle’s smoked-out psychedelia rap. Each performer is a genius in his own right; it would be stupid to miss this show. – BrokeMc
Philadelphia
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Kat Kat Phest Day 3 w/Alex G, Pill Friends & More at KFN Dec. 30
While some maybe resting up for their New Year’s Eve festivities tomorrow night or from last night’s victory celebration of the Eagles over the Cowboys to win the NFC East, Kat Kat Phest 2 parties on this evening at Kung Fu Necktie. Anchored by a new generation of lo-fi, home-recording acts rising up from the basements of Philly’s DIY scene, Alex G (a.k.a. Alex Giannascoli) and Pill Friends are proving that having an ear for melodies and off-kilter lyrics trumps the need for expensive equipment. They’ll be joined by like-minded musical brethren Elvis Depressedly (keeping my fingers crossed for a collaborative performance of “mickey yr a fuck up” with Pill Friends), Midwest emo/post-hardcore outfit Tiny Moving Parts, chiptune trio Crying, and more out-of-state imports. So what if it’s a Monday! Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 7pm, $8, All Ages – Alexis V.