San Francisco

Year End Best of San Francisco Readers’ Poll – Final Top 10!

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1
  Orchestra Of Antlers
2
  Grand Lake
3
  Le Vice
4
  A B & the Sea
5
  Leopold and his Fiction
6
  Baby Dino
7
  Michael Zapruder
8
  The Downer Party
9
  Honeycomb
10
  TV Mike & the Scarecrowes
This is our final Top 10 for the Year End Best of San Francisco readers Poll – full breakdown of the votes here.

On Thursday we’ll publish the results of the Best of San Francisco 2009 Poll, which is calculated through a rather complicated system involving a jury of scene makers, The Deli’s writers, our readers, the bands’ fans, and also through an initial open contest – rules can be found here. – Stay tuned!

The Deli’s Staff
 
New England

Year End Best of New England Readers’ Poll – Final Top 10!

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1
  McAlister Drive
2
  M Bernier & the Uprising
3
  28 Degrees Taurus
4
  The Organ Beats
5
  The Day’s Weight
6
  Dave Alpert
7
  Myra Flynn
8
  Jesse Dee
9
  The Points North
10
  Township
This is our final Year End Best of New England Fans Poll’s Top 10 – full breakdown of the votes here.

On Wednesday we’ll publish the results of the Best of New England 2009 Poll, which is calculated through a rather complicated system involving a jury of scene makers, The Deli’s writers, our readers, the bands’ fans, and also through an initial open contest – rules can be found here. – Stay tuned!

The Deli’s Staff
 
San Francisco

Best Albums of 2009 from the SF Bay Area

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1. WHY? – Eskimo Snow
Its hard to believe these songs were written at the same time as Alopecia way back in 2007. A perfect mix between weird, poppy, and intelligent that is incredibly fun and satisfying.

2. Man/Miracle – The Shape of Things
A band with some of the most original mixes of influences, think Talking Heads doing sometimes darker indie dance songs, Man/Miracle is one of my favorite bands in Oakland. Every song on The Shape of Things becomes your favorite as you listen to it. A late release in November of 100 copies has already rumored to be sold out, but it will be re-released by Third Culture Records in February of 2010 making it a safe prediction that The Shape of Things will make it on this same list next year too.

3. Girls – Album
It seems that there are a number of people who are “over” this record or sick of hearing about it on Pitchfork and other prominent music blogs but, to be frank, those people are idiots. Excessive publicity aside, Girls made a really amazing record. Interesting song writing and Christopher Owens’ voice made most of the songs on Album impossible to not enjoy. Was there a better opening song on a local record this year than “Lust For Life” or a better almost seven minute slow tempo pop song than “Hellhole Ratrace”? No, there wasn’t.

4. Grand Lake – Nevermint
Grand Lake’s debut with their original 4 person line up blew me away when it was released in March. Short minimal pop songs became controlled explosions for all 7 tracks of Nevermint. The songwriting of Caleb Nichols is complemented perfectly by the wild guitar abstractions of Jameson Swanagon. Grand Lake may have moved on from these type of songs, but none the less Nevermint is one of the better listens from the East Bay scene this year.

5.Tall Grass – Nothing, Nothing Tra La La
Tall Grass made my favorite CD-R of 2009. The songwriting of Andrew Macey is both emotional and hilarious allowing it to touch the listener in a special and unique way. Like their performances, Tall Grass is best enjoyed in an intimate setting where you can feel as close to the acoustic guitar, fiddle, harmonies, and subtle percussion as possible.

-Glenn Jackson

L.A.

Coachella speculation frenzy ends; include appearances by Deli LA favs

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We never wanted to partake in the Coachella line-up guessing game because, well, we might as well be writing fan fiction, so we patiently waited for this glorious graphic to surface this morning. Unless you’ve been living under a proverbial digital rock, here it is. Congrats to Deli LA favorites Mayer Hawthorne and Local Natives for scoring a spot on one of the most diverse bills the festival has seen in recent memory. We’ll be bringing you a complete round-up of LA artists slated for Indio in days to come, just in case the itch for a local preview hits you.

Nashville

Year End Best of Nashville Readers’ Poll – Final Top 10!

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1
 The Protomen
2
 PUJOL
3
 Bad Cop
4
 Milktooth
5
 Diarrhea Planet
6
 Vermicious K’nids
7
 Square People
8
 Heartbeater
9
 Marj
10
 Look What I Did
This is the final Deli’s Year End Best of Nashville Fans Poll’s Top 10 – full breakdown of the votes here.

On Wednesday we’ll publish the results of the Best of Nashville 2009 Poll, which is calculated through a rather complicated system involving a jury of scene makers, The Deli’s writers, our readers, the bands’ fans, and also through an initial open contest – rules can be found here. – Stay tuned!

The Deli’s Staff
Austin

Year End Best of Austin Readers’ Poll – Final Top 10

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1
  Stereo is a Lie
2
  International Waters
3
  The Sour Notes
4
  Drew Smith
5
  Missions
6
 Whitman
7
  Harlem
 
  Survive
9
  Brazos
10
  The Calm Blue Sea
Deli Readers have spoken – final results are in for our 2009 Readers’ Poll, with STEREO IS A LIE narrowly edging International Waters for the top spot. Bronze goes to The Sour Notes.

The champs play Beauty Bar this Friday (along with Buttercup, Ideal Soul Mart and Bear Bones). International Waters recently returned from the Cavern in Dallas and are slated for the Mohawk this Feb. 11th, and the Sour Notes, who just dropped their fourth album It’s Not Gonna Be Pretty on New Years Day, will also play the Mohawk on Jan. 28th. Get out and see how they earned the top spots. 

The Deli Staff

 
NYC

NYC artists on the rise: Sad Red’s CD release party on 01.22 at Union Hall

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They might be called Sad Red but they definitely have a thing for blue – and math. This Brooklyn based quintet plays some kind of "avant-math-emo" rock, whose blue, melancholic atmoshperes match the dominant color of their debut album’s cover. The drums, guitars and keyboards rhythmic interplay recalls at times King Krimsons’ madly intricate interwoven patterns, while the overall atmosphere of their sound is alternatively not too distant from Radiohead’s moody exhistentialism and Soundgarden’s indie blues (there’s that color again). Other more relaxed tunes showcase an impeccable gusto for consuming songs that build in intensity and are not afraid to indulge in controlled guitar solos – like peeps used to do in the good old days, remember? Sad Red will celebrate the release of their CD "elder" with a show at Union Hall on 01.22, definitely worth checking out.

Chicago

Songs For Haiti

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Chicago’s Andrew Bird and Umphrey’s McGee are among the 200 plus artists who have donated MP3s (many unreleased) to this new charitable music site established by Paste Magazine. 100% of money contributed through “Songs for Haiti” will be spread among three charities active in Haiti: Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund. If you have already donated you can tell “Songs For Haiti” where you donated and still gain access to site. Although we are a music site, this is not as much about the music that you will gain access to, but the act of giving in this time of need.

Chicago

CD Review: Bullets In Madison

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It’s too easy to compare Bullets In Madison to bands like Coldplay and Radiohead. Besides when you listen closely you will find that the band is not as pretentious as Coldplay and hungrier than Radiohead. On their latest album, We Became Your Family When You Died, the band does an exceptional job of creating and sustaining a complex and heavily textured atmosphere. The album opener, “Impossible Grave” is the perfect example of their craftsmanship, a mixer of aggressive drummer, angelic violins, rhythmic guitar, and floating vocals.

This album is remarkably well put together for a self-released project, and it shows how dedicated the band is to their sound. All too often young bands are still searching for their sound and try to do too much, but Bullets In Madison have perfected the orchestral atmospherics like no other. My favorite track on the album has to be “Riots”, it encompasses all the many elements that really make this album one of the first standout albums of the year. You can download the album for free at Bullets In Madison’s website. 

Philadelphia

Year End Best of Philly Fans’ Poll Results Are In!

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1
 Levee Drivers
2
  Woe
3
  The Extraordinaires
4
  Conversation w/ Enemies
5
  Dangerous Ponies
6
  Kevin James Devine
7
  Swift Technique
8
  Grandchildren
9
  Prowler
10
  Orbit to Leslie

Congrats to Levee Drivers – Winners of The Deli’s Best of Philly Fans’ Poll! The results of our Composite Chart [the one including the votes from the jury and the writers which will elect our best emerging artist(s) of 2009] will be announced on Wednesday, as we need a little time to organize it and add up the votes (yeah, we suck at math). 

Congrats also to Woe and The Extraordinaires – who placed 2nd and 3rd in the Fans’ Poll. 

The Deli Staff
 
Austin

Balmorhea Release Party 2/19

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At the time that we crowned Constellations as our current album of the month we had no news of a release party – but news has now arrived: Balmorhea will celebrate their upcoming release at the Central Presbyterian Church downtown on February 19th, doors at 8 pm. Singer-songwriter Damien Jurado – who happens to be a favorite with the Deli editor – will be there to open. 

Portland

Year End Best of Portland Readers’ Poll – Final Top 10!

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1
  Bodhi
2
  Housefire
3
  Starry Saints
4
  C. Margolin & the Dregs
5
  Soft Tags
6
  Kelli Schaefer
7
  Mimicking Birds
8
  Dropa
9
  Y La Bamba
10
  Very International Love
The Deli Portland would like to thank all of the readers who went hog wild in the Readers Poll voting of your favorite emerging Portland artist for 2009. We had over 800 votes in just a little under two weeks, and after a neck-and-neck sprint on the final lap, garage-rock debutantes Bodhi emerged the victors! Congratulations to Bodhi (also a former Deli Portland band of the month in September 2009), and a special shout-out to ALL of the bands, fans, and readers who helped us with the voting!!!!


Stay tuned this Wednesday when we unveil our Deli Portland Best Emerging Artist of 2009 composite chart, which will name the overall Best Emerging Artist of 2009. This chart combines the Readers Poll voting points, as well as points bestowed Portland bands by way of our Open Poll, as well as our Jury Votes from the end of 2009.

As always, make The Deli Portland your daily potion for local show previews, live reviews, album reviews, and whatever other gossip enters our surly, brow-beaten craniums.

– The Deli Portland Staff