San Francisco

Michael Zapruder wins Best Folk/Singer Songwriter Album award

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Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope, the 2009 release from Michael Zapruder was recently awarded the Best Folk/Singer Songwriter album of 2009 by The Independent Music Awards.  Now in its 9th year, the Independent Music Awards has been recognizing self-released and independent music from around the globe. This is the 3rd full length album from Micheal since he earned notoriety in 1999 by releasing a new track every week throughout the year – the collection has been archived on The 52 Songs Project website. Fans can still vote for their favorite nominated ‘People’s Voice’ Independent Music Awards artists here.

NYC

Titus Andronicus sophomore album out in March – release party on 02.06

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Punk folksters from NJ Titus Andronicus‘ 2nd album, entitled "The Monitor", will be released on Beggars’ XL Recordings on March 9. The album is going to bear a Civil War theme and features guest players from members of The Hold Steady, Wye Oak, Vivian Girls and Ponytail. Mark your calendar for their CD release party at The Bowery Ballroom on March 6, which promises to be explosive – in a Civil War kinda way!

San Francisco

Dive bars and documentaries

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Monday, February 8th at 8pm, Amoeba Music presents 2 music documentaries at a tucked away little venue on 37th and MLK in Oakland – Eli’s Mile High Club. This hidden staple in the Bay Area became semi-famous in the 70’s for being one of the few venues on the West Coast to exclusively feature local and national blues artists. The club struggled financially over the years, exchanged hands a few times and was resurrected in 2008. Today the bar has a divey feel, serves food until midnight and when the myriad of rock, punk, metal and experimental acts play a set, they’re standing on the same small Oakland stage that has been graced by James Brown, Etta James and Jimmy McCracklin.

Monday night features documentaries on the All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival and "My Fleeting House," a look at the music of Tim Buckley. The films are free and if you purchase a $5 food ticket you get food [duh] and a $5 Amoeba coupon.

Chicago

Quieting Syrup on Daytrotter

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Lead by the sullen Stephen Howard, Quieting Syrup brought the brand of mope rock to the recording studio of Daytrotter recently and the four song set was released on Saturday. The bands latest album, Songs About A Sick Boy, was released latest year by Lovitt Records. The band played three tracks from the album including my favorite “Password to a Fort Full of Pills”, and an unreleased track called “Mary, My Wife”.

NYC

NYC CD of the Month: Inlets – Inter Arbiter

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Sebastian Krueger’s Inlets will please the hoards of music fans who have grown to love the floral and somewhat progressive folk championed by Grizzly Bear and Beach House. Less grandiose than the first and sunnier than the latter, Inlets’ songs are instantly gratifying and more soothing. Their tamed vocals resonate in a very intimate way, like it often happens with one man/woman band projects, and the melodies are not as convoluted as you may expect. Krueger finds trendy help in the backing vocals department, where Dirty Projectors’ Angel Deradoorian leads a team of beautiful voiced ladies whose subtle vocal counterpoint contributes in the texture and melodic departments. Acoustic guitars, clarinets, pianos, strings, percussion, the unmissable ukulele but also synths and other keyboard sounds contribute to the band’s tastefully layered orchestrations. The album Inter Arbiter is due out in April – we predict that this record will be one of the soundtracks of hipster love this summer. – PDG

Chicago

I Fight Dragons Sign with Atlantic Records

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A Deli favorite and winner of our 2009 emerging artist poll, I Fight Dragons made a major announcement last week. The band finally put the rumors to rest and announced that they have joined the Photo Finish / Atlantic Records roster. They also announced that they will be touring this Spring with fellow Atlantic Records bands 3OH!3 (Photo Finish), Cobra Starship (Fueled by Ramen), and Travis McCoy (of Gym Class Heroes, on Fueled by Ramen). It is a huge step forward for these NES rockers!

Chicago

Moment Sound Vol 1

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There is a new label in town and its diverse sound is rooted heavily in the cities tradition of house music. The multi-faceted label overseen by three musicians from Chicago – Joshua Kleckner, Garo Tokat and Slava Balasanov. Each of these music are true electronic craftsmen who revel in the exploration of sound. They each have the remarkable ability to deconstruct the traditional structure of a song and rebuild it from the ground up. This March the first label’s first compilation, The Moment Sound Vol. 1 will be released on vinyl. The can be previewed (and preordered) here, and is clearly an album fit for both the club and the home. It is comprised of original material by its founders Garo, Lokua and Slava, and clear indication that house music is alive and well in Chicago.

Philadelphia

The Deli’s Lunchtime Escape Returns to The Bellevue!

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More snow!?! Isn’t this how the Ice Age got started? Well, hopefully it won’t be snowing Friday, February 26th when The Deli’s Lunchtime Escape returns to The Bellevue. If you made it to our debut showcase last month, thank you for being part of such a very attentive and accepting audience. We had a blast and so did all the artists! We are happy that the classy folks at The Bellevue haven’t thrown us out yet so we are excited to announce another Lunchtime Escape with upcoming performances this month by August Lutz (from Levee Drivers), Death Panel (a.k.a. Sir Charles Latham) and Lion Versus (a.k.a. Hilary White). Yeah – we know. This is a pretty sweet lineup!
 
Levee Drivers’ frontman August Lutz will be making a rare solo acoustic performance before he joins his bandmates later that evening to rock out Johnny Brenda’s. They were this year’s winners of The Deli’s Fans’ Poll and a Top Performer in the Overall Poll. If you’ve never heard of them, then thanks for checking out our website for the first time (j/k). We are also very thrilled to welcome southern transplants and first-time Deli showcase performers Death Panel and Lion Versus! Death Panel’s witty, quirky lyrics are sure to bring a grin to your face even though one rarely comes to his, and Lion Versus’ sultry Georgia peach vocals and dark poetic verses become more captivating with every listen. Come on. You know that you don’t want to miss this show so mark it on your calendar or whatever device you use to remind yourself these days. (BTW: Speedos are welcomed, especially if they are neon green.) – The Deli Staff 
Philadelphia

The Deli’s Death Comes Close to Philly Ticket Giveaway Contest!

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Damn that was a lot of snow! We know that you’ve probably been getting a little cabin fever. Well, we have something for you to look forward to from our friends at Matador Records. We’d like to send you and someone that you can have a shit load of fun with to what will probably be Cold Cave’s last appearance in the area for a while on Saturday, February 20 at Haverford College. They’ll be heading out on national/international tours that will keep them busy at least until the summer, which includes European gigs opening for The Editors as well as a stint in The Far East before coming back to Europe again. So if you’d like to win a pair of tickets to see Cold Cave before they get too huge, send us an email at thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com to enter our Death Comes Close to Philly TICKET GIVEAWAY CONTEST! We’ll also giveaway a vinyl copy of their 12” single Death Comes Close to the runner-up. You can check out dates for Cold Cave’s current U.S. tour below. – The Deli Staff

U.S. TOUR DATES:
2/4 — Mercury Lounge — New York, NY
2/5 — Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar — Charlottesville, VA
2/6 — Pilot LIght — Knoxville, TN
2/7 — Local 506 — Chapel Hill, NC
2/9 — Blackbooth — Orlando, FL
2/10 — Crowbar — Tampa, FL
2/11 — 529 — Atlanta, GA
2/12 — Calendonia Lounge — Athens, GA
2/13 — Studio B — Greensboro, NC
2/16 — Wasted Space — Las Vegas, NV
2/18 — Echoplex — Los Angeles, CA
2/20 — Haverford College — Haverford, PA
2/21 — Mohawk Place — Buffalo, NY
2/22 — Garfield Artworks — Pittsburgh, PA
2/23 — Grog Shop — Cleveland, OH
2/24 — Crofoot Ballroom — Pontiac, MI
2/25 — Empty Bottle — Chicago, IL
2/26 — Project Lodge — Madison, WI
2/27 — Canopy Club/Club Void — Urbana, IL
2/28 — Al’s Bar — Lexington, KY

Portland

Band of the Month Nominee Spotlight: Wampire

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It took me a long time to warm up to indie music. I am traditionally more of a metal/psychobilly/rock chick than a grandpa’s sweater-wearing/obsessed-with-skinny-boys-in-flannels/indie chick. I like it rough and hard (that’s what she said), and indie music seems to have this reputation among my crowd of being, well, music for pussies.

So what made me come around? Two words: Vampire Weekend. I reviewed Vampire Weekend’s debut for the Eugene Weekly a couple years ago, way before they were signed to a record label, and not only was I into their geek-chic look, but I really dug the great twist they put on the traditional indie sound. That’s what makes a good band regardless of the genre, their ability to experiment and take a risk with their music.

Take the local band Wampire; they have taken the indie look and sound, thrown in some crazy Afro and Doo-wop beats, and then blended them all together to make one hell of a Wampire cocktail. I don’t really dig a guy that wears a kitten on his sweater and size 25 jeans, but I am down for some catchy beats and a great cover of Kraftwerk’s “Das Modell.”

Wampire is three guys that make sweet sweaty love to their music. These are the type of guys that turn any situation into a jam session and turn any utensil into an instrument. It is obvious that they make the kind of music that they and their friends would want to hear, not what they think is going to be “popular.”

I thank these guys for contributing to my growing belief that indie music isn’t just for whiny ass pussies.

– Deanna Uutela