here - The Deli

the deli

everything about the nyc music scene

FREE in NYC Issue #24 Volume #2 FALL 2010

$2 in the USA www.thedelimagazine.com

Electric Tickle Machine THE RASSLE Shark? BUKE AND GASS

ANNI ROSSI Living Days AM to AM WAKEY! WAKEY!

Miniboone Lights Resolve LA STRADA Tayisha Busay

Appomattox A Million Years Waking Lights MAMA BEAR

Mike Del Rio FAN-TAN Adult Themes Thinning The Herd

CMJ 2010 issue

(See pages 27-28 for Deli CMJ show schedule)

keepaway

Live @ Brooklyn Bowl on 10/20/10

w/ Bear Hands, Oberhofer & Brahms

Feature

How To “DO IT”

A We Are Scientists Guide to Rock Stardom

+ Reviews of Guitar Pedals, Mics & Audio Plug-Ins

brahms

the deli


issue #24 volume #2 fall 2010

p.29

keepaway

p.17

How to ”DO IT”

A Guide To Rock Stardom

Note from the Editor

Dear CMJ Music Marathoners and not,

This issue gives you the opportunity to explore the

burgeoning NYC scene, with almost 100 (awesome)

emerging local bands covered, 50+ of which we booked

for our CMJ parties, 30+ which are advertised here...

You should know by now that listening repeatedly to the

records of the artists whose shows you are planning on

attending greatly enhances your live experience—remembering

the songs makes it way more enjoyable, of course.

Follow these instructions, and we can guarantee you a

fulfilling Marathon:

1. reSeArCH the bands you like in this issue

2. LISTen rePeATeDLY to their tunes online

3. GeT TO THe SHOW AS eArLY AS POSSIBLe

(yes, I remind you that even if you have a badge you are

not guaranteed access if the show is sold out).

4. BUY YOUrSeLF A DrInK AnD rOCK OUT LIKe

THere’S nO TOMOrrOW!

Paolo De Gregorio

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Paolo De Gregorio

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: ed Gross

ART DIRECTOR: Kaz Yabe (www.kazyabe.com)

COVER PHOTO: Kate edwards (www.kateedwardsphoto.com)

SENIOR DESIGNER: Ursula Viglietta (www.ursulaviglietta.com)

CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER: Kelly McDonough

SENIOR EDITORS: nancy Chow, Bill Dvorak

STAFF WRITERS: Bill Dvorak, nancy Chow, David Schneider,

Kenneth Partridge, Lauren Piper, Toney Palumbo, Dean Van nguyen,

Mike SOS, Meijin Bruttomesso, Dave Cromwell, Quang D. Tran

IN-HOUSE CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Charles Davis, Chloe Schildhause,

Liz Schroeter, Paul Dunn, Simon Heggie, Christina Morelli,

Dale W. eisinger, Courtney Boyd Myers, Michelle Geslani,

Daniel Schneider, brokeMC, Gina Alioto, Jenny Luczak,

Whitney Phaneuf, Vann Alexandra, Jen Chang, noah Forrest

THE KITCHEN: Paolo De Gregorio, Mike Bauer, Michael Vecchio,

Daniel Tirer, Ben Wigler, Arthur Fleischmann, Shane O’Connor,

Tim Boyce, Matt rocker

OFFICE MANAGER: Jaron Feldman

PUBLISHERS: The Deli Magazine LLC / Mother West, nYC

other NYC artists to check out (p36)

Fresh out of a residency at Union

Pool and a gig as support band for

Yeasayer, Steve Marion, aka Delicate

Steve, plays strange and wonderful

instrumental music. His first full length

album “Wondervisions,” released after

a 10 year career of recording, producing

and playing with other bands,

features sonic delights only a “wise” musician/producer could

conjure up. The album filters influences as disparate as Stevie

Wonder and Ponytails. A perfect blend of varied textural elements

including a wide palette of guitar tones and parts, percussions

ranging from traditional to electronic, samples and

synth arrangements contribute to build tracks that evolve and

build up from gentle intros to animated endings. Don’t miss

Steve’s CMJ show at Santos on October 23rd. Myspace.

com/delicatesteve (Dave Cromwell + Paolo De Gregorio)

On The

Web

interviews with nyc bands

www.thedelimagazine.com

the depreciation guild

What started out as a bedroom

recording project for Depreciation

Guild frontman Kurt Feldman a mere

four years or so ago, has evolved into

something quite extraordinary. Two full

albums later, his band has now toured

the United States and Europe multiple

times. They have also brought their

show to Japanese audiences, inspiring

a video for their song “My Chariot” from

their latest album “Spirit Youth.” Along

the way the band has evolved from one

man to the current four piece lineup.

Their debut album “In Her Gentle Jaws”

was an initial internet download sensation

in 2008 and 2009, creating an

excited response among bloggers and

music lovers far and wide. Having subsequently been remixed and remastered, the

tracks can now be heard with an even richer and fuller clarity. This year brought the

much anticipated follow-up, a meticulously crafted album titled “Spirit Youth.”

Read Dave Cromwell’s article on The Depreciation Guild at:

www.thedelimagazine.com/artists/depreciationguild

B

wakey! wakey!

Wakey! Wakey! sounds like

an indie-pop musical. Front

man, Mike Grubbs has been

rocking out on the piano

since choir practice as a little

kid. He fosters his roots in

classical music, but also has

a strong affinity for the indie

sound. His first full length

album, “Everything I Wish

I’d Said The Last Time I Saw

You” is dynamic and theatrical.

The piano and strings

driven title track begs for

Broadway choreography, while tunes like “The Oh Song” sounds like MGMT.

Grubbs has been a regular face in New York for years; performing at Bar4 and

Rockwood. Ever since his songs were featured on the show “One Tree Hill” the

outside world has been getting a taste of Wakey Wakey! Grubbs just spend

two weeks touring solo all over the southern states and only has a short stint

back in the city before heading west again, this time with his full band.

Read Jenny Luczak’s article on Wakey Wakey! at:

www.thedelimagazine.com/artists/wakeywakey

CMJ

Advice On

How to Be

Selected

eing selected to play one of the major music

industry festivals in the US (like CMJ or

SXSW) is a challenging task for any band.

Since 2005 The Deli has become more and more

involved in booking shows for the CMJ Music

Marathon, and at this point in time we can say we

more or less understand how the selection process

works—if you weren’t selected this year, here’s some

advice for you for next year’s Marathon. It’s never

too early to start working on this!

Read Paolo De Gregorio’s CMJ advice at:

www.deliciouls-audio.com.

The Deli Magazine is a trademark of The Deli Magazine, LLC, Brooklyn & Mother West, NYC. All contents ©2010 The Deli Magazine. All rights reserved.

the deli_6 fall 2010

Thursday Oct 21

@ The Living Roo m

THE NEXT LEVEL OF DIY

NYC bands with home made instruments

Buke and Gass

www.myspace.com/bukeandgass

Octant

www.myspace.com/octantmusic

The independent music scene of the early 21st millennium will

be remembered for its DIY modus operandi. The percentage

of artists who release home recorded albums has been

growing exponentially in the last decade, and some of these

records did and do actually sell. Right now, the DIY revolution

seems like a one way ticket, but there are some artists in NYC who

are already a few steps ahead in terms of “doing it themselves.”

Buke and Gass – 7:45pm

By Paolo De Gregorio

One of our “early finds” that we are most proud

of (the band was featured on the cover of The

Deli in the summer of 2009), Buke and Gass

signed to Brassland Records in 2010, toured

North America and Europe respectively with

Efterklang and The National (who also run that

label), and released the debut album “Riposte”,

finally earning a well deserved “buzz band” status

WITHOUT the help of Pitchfork, which at the time

of writing still hasnít spent a single word about

this mind blowing project. But besides being

one of the most original and edgy sounding indie

bands around, the duo has the rather unique

characteristic of building all the instruments they

play. Guitarist/multiinstrumentalist Aron Sanchez

is the brain behind the bandís DIY instruments:

the Gass, a modded acoustic guitar with two

bass strings, 4 guitar strings, amplified through 4

pick-ups routed through different custom pedals

he also built; and Buke, a bass version of the

Ukulele he built for band mate Arone Dyer to help

her overcome wrist pain her regular ukulele was

causing. These two instruments create a wild

wall of sound thatís punctuated by a modified

kickdrum and foot-triggered percussions. Aroneís

vocals add the final (and most important) touchñthe

girl can deliver serious and varied vocal

goods: catchy melodies, incredible range and

power when necessary. If you are planning on going

to only one show during CMJ, this is the one.

Read an interview with Aron Sanchez about the

Buke and Gass instruments on

www.delicious-audio.com.

Octant – 7:00pm By Benjamin Wigler

Songwriter, singer and inventor-genius Matthew

Steinke used to stand behind giant towering

drum robots, obscured like the “man behind the

curtain” by the machinery of his own creation.

Under the name Octant, Steinke built a solid

body of work, releasing accessible but experimental

LPs. The records span a long career,

incorporating human beings and robotic inventions

alike, but these days Steinke is focusing

on his work as a poet and songwriter. The huge

Octant drums, with show-stopping robotbodies

built into road cases so large they can

only fit in a van, have been benched. Octantís

maestro now plays guitar and sings through a

harmonica mic, crafting tender, cerebral music,

aided by tiny, idiosyncratic robot companions

who truly feel more like supportive band mates

than automated devices. I had the opportunity

to ask Steinke a few questions after his July 7th

performance at The Tank NYC, an amazing art

space in midtown Manhattan. We talked about

gear, poetry, inspiration, on-stage dynamics and

the quest to build ever more “humanly” robots.

Read the interview on

www.delicious-audio.com.


Tuesday Oct 19

@ The Delancey - Ground FL

SLOW CORE + FOLK POP STAGE

The Debutante Hour

www.myspace.com/debutantehour

Mama Bear

www.myspace.com/ohmamabear

Waking Lights

www.myspace.com/wakinglights

The Debutante Hour – 12:00am

By Jenny Luczak + Paolo De Gregorio

These three gals sounds like Bjork and Ella

Fitzgerald’s singing harmonies together backed

by Tom Wait’s band at a 1910 variety show, performing

everything from singing public service

announcements to theatrical reinterpretations of

Sumerian mythology. Their bouncing, old-timey

tracks use a heavy helping of sarcasm, and

alternate accordion, cello, piano and baritone

ukulele. On their MySpace page they say they

performed half naked at the Living Theatre at

Joe’s Pub, so we are hoping that - to attract

industry and fans - they will be wearing as little

as possible also at our Deli CMJ show

Pearl and The Beard – 11:15pm

By Courtney Myers

This charming trio (featured in The Deli’s Best of

NYC 2009 Year End Poll) plays folk pop enriched

with spotless male-female 3 part harmonies and

cello parts. Now when we say “spotless” we

mean that these gals+guy can really sing and

perfectly harmonize with each other, which is like

a rare blessing - because that’s how angels sing,

right? Also, they have an innately warm, friendly

attitude and a quirky sense of humor that triggers

instant smiles, but are still capable of creating

music drenched with emotional depth.

www.myspace.com/pearlandthebeard

Mama Bear – 10:30pm


Mama Bear is the perfect band to boost your appreciation

for sunny days. The band’s upbeat, folky

tunes are catchy as hell, without lacking in intensity

or intimacy, which makes them sound like a more

fun and lighthearted version of 10,000 Maniacs.

The simplicity and pop effectiveness of this band’s

songs, the beauty of the melodies and Vivi’s outstanding

voice and delivery might have the power

to put an end to your SAD syndrome - for good.

Waking Lights – 9:45pm


Waking Lights’ orchestral psych folk sure doesn’t

lack in originality, character and good songs… and

variety! These guys have the rare gift of sounding

rootsy and innovative at once. We really dig the

song “Only the Sex”, with its exotic sounding

strings, Doorsy organ parts and rousing chorus.

In their other tracks you’ll find aggressive bluesy

numbers and folky ballads with “telephoned”

vocals floating on a controlled carpet of - alternatively

- acoustic guitars, keyboards, feedback and

strings. Check them out, highly recommended!

nathan Halpern – 9:00pm


Dealing in folk songs centered around the dark

side of love, Nathan Halpern’s raspy tenor represents

the perfect transition from the dark and

slow psych atmospheres of Baby Alpaca and

Center Divider to the more upbeat folky pop of

this night’s later acts. The man isn’t afraid to go

“all in” when revealing the most intimate truths of

love – the ones that are so drenched in passion

and regret that most of us prefer to bury them.

www.myspace.com/nathanhalpern

Center Divider – 8:15 pm


Sparse to the point of flirting with silence, or

plodding on top of groove-less drums, all Center

Divider’s songs have a very distinct signature

in their pace. When in this sonic scenario the

band introduces simple string or brass drones,

or slow plucked parts, magic happens – see the

song “Madam S”. The lead singer’s dark vocals,

reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and Morphine,

are full of confidence and drowned in feelings

(that perfectly suit the music) like acceptance

and moderate hope.

www.myspace.com/centerdivider

Baby Alpaca – 7:30pm

By Dave Cromwell

With deep and reverbed vocals and an overall

lazy, relaxed and hazy approach, Baby Alpaca

flirts with the 1950s - but by way of David Lynch’s

filter. It is post-punk, psychedelic and folk, but

there’s a crooner feel to it as well - like a male

Nicole Atkins who’s chosen to sit on the sidelines

and watch the world drift by. The instrumentation,

mostly consisting of tambourine, single drum

thump, mysterious organ lines and a zither-like

device, adds up to something quite unique.

www.myspace.com/babyalpacashow

Telenovelas – 6:45pm

By Simon Heggie

Telenovelas can co-exist contently in two situations:

either holding hands while strolling down

the beach and reliving memories of Brian Wilson

melodies, or holding tightly to their fuzz pedals

while dancing a little too close to the eye of a hurricane.

Either way a strong obsession with Santo

and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” hasn’t stopped them

from stepping out from the usual pack of Brooklyn

bands and offered NY a new take on Surfadelia.

www.myspace.com/telenovelasnyc


Tuesday Oct 19

@ The Delancey - Downstairs

INDIE POP + PSYCH STAGE

Deluka

www.myspace.com/deluka

Living Days

www.myspace.com/livingdays

Mike Del Rio

www.myspace.com/mikedelrio

Deluka – 12:30am

By Meijin Bruttomesso

Deluka deliver delectable dance tracks suitable

for clubs across all ponds. Ellie Innocenti’s brooding

but lush vocal quality blends perfectly with

accompanying bass drones, electronic effects,

new wave nuances, and occasional techno

trends. Their repertoire jumps into high-gear with

“OMFG,” guitar-riff driven “Snapshot,” and invigorating

“Nevada.” The melodious “Come Back to

Me,” single, “Cascade,” and tender “Name On My

Lips” surge forward into the irresistibly danceable

“Mean Streak,” the record highlight that is worthy

of innumerous spins. Deluka maintain a balance

between a rock grittiness and dance party energy,

a sound that satisfies New York cravings.

Living Days – 10:15pm


Lead female singer Stephonik Youth’s intriguing

low register darkens the mood of this band’s

swirling electronic indie pop, that can’t help but

bring to our mind the glorious 80s Bostonian

band The Cars. Effervescent keyboard lines

merge with dance-rock rhythms, fashioning

music suitable for underground club dynamics.

Descending guitar arpeggios kick start bubblegum,

electro-pop “Go Oblivion,” but a haunting

quality is maintained with heavy echoing distortion.

The quick pace escalates further to frenetic

on “Let’s Kiss!” which bounces across atmospheric

leads. Bittersweet melodies, ethereal

harmonies, and towering layers of synthesizers

on “Bury the World” contrast with the brooding

and sultry pulsations of “Little White Lie” that

undulate beneath vocals which decrescendo

into whispering loops and a few closing clicks.

The Yes Way – 9:30pm


Taking a path less-common than most indie pop

bands, Brooklynites The Yes Way offer us a pleasant-but-eerie

melodic rock with punk attitude,

where peppy-pop melodies are hybridized with

indie elements. Distortion ebbs and flows (sans

shoegazing) and sauntering beats, playful guitar

strums and uplifting vocal harmonies abound .

Although active around town and in recording

studios, the multi-instrumental pack has yet to

say, “yes,” to an official release date of any type of

album – expect it to be ready in early 2011.

www.myspace.com/theyesway

Mike Del rio – 8:45pm

By Whitney Phaneuf

New York City native son Mike Del Rio deserves

fame and fortune. Let’s stop rewarding talentless

reality TV parasites with recording contracts

and pop star treatment. In addition to being

absolutely dreamy (note: mass appeal, good

looks), Del Rio sings, writes his own songs and

plays no less than “guitar, bass, drums, beats,

arrangements, brass, synth, mellotrons, bells

and whistles, etc.” “The New Year,” a single

available for free download, could be the next

tween pop anthem. We need pop anthems now

more than ever from a young man that loves

art, Downtown Brooklyn, and milkshakes.

Zambri – 8:00pm By Paolo De Gregorio

Exuberant dual sisterhood Zambri is constantly

refining its sound – their initial Madonna and

Zappa influenced electronic mad-pop has recently

matured into something more structured

and organic, dressed in an incredibly varied

palette of sounds reminiscent at times of Peter

Gabriel’s sophisticated atmospheres and a less

shoegazy version of School of Seven Bells.

Their Italian roots add to the charm of course!

www.myspace.com/zambri

Milagres – 7:15pm

By PJD

Fans and Deli readers alike will know Milagres

by their former name, Secret Life of Sofia,

who took home the bronze in the Deli Magazine’s

Reader Poll Best of 2008. More recently,

their “Empty Sleeve” album earned them a

top-ten ranking in the Best EPs of 2009 list on

Pop Tarts Suck Toasted. Milagres say they’re

happier now with the name change, presumably

because it is representative of a deeper and

more meaningful transformation for the band.

Expect beautifully ghost-like vocal melodies

backed by dreamy and swelling instrumentation.

www.myspace.com/milargresmusic

Swingset Committee

6:30pm By Paolo De Gregorio

These guys blend buzzing synth rock with

dance elements and… is that Doo-Wop style

harmonies? Wait, there’s some techno style

“thump-z thump-z” in there too! Vocoders?

Droney indie guitar parts? Swingset Committee

are like a synthetic zoo of musical styles.

www.myspace.com/swingsetcommittee

Blackbird Blackbird (SF)– 11:45pm

www.myspace.com/byeblackbird

The rassle – 11:00pm (See page 34)

www.myspace.com/therassle



Wednesday Oct 20

@ Arlene's Grocery

ALT BLUES + ALT ROCK STAGE

Lights Resolve

www.myspace.com/ lightsresolve

AM to AM

www.myspace.com/amtoam

Lights resolve – 5:30pm


New York born and bred, Lights Resolve,

comprised of Matt Reich (vocals/guitar), Luke

Daniels, (bass/vocals), and Neal Saini (drums),

set the bar high for power trios. Not the typical

rock troupe, Lights Resolve cater to hard rockers,

pop fanatics, and everyone in between,

with catching songs defined by nonconforming

vocal melodies, distinctive guitar modulations

that intertwine with ornate bass riffs, and complex,

hard-hitting rhythmic styles. Early 2011

will mark the release of Lights Resolve’s first

full-length record, Feel You’re Different.

AM to AM – 4:50pm


Side projects and super-groups are on the rise,

and AM to AM is one of the new and noteworthy.

Fashioned and fronted by Jon Schmidt

and Will Tendy of New York’s Morningwood,

AM to AM is perfectly power-poppy just like

their previous project. However, this quintet

augments their sound with electronic elements,

a grungy edge, and a concoction of danceable

rhythms. Drawing elements from across

genres, AM to AM will find followers in every

corner of the modern music world.

Blackbells – 4:10pm


A consummate blend of rock ‘n roll and

psychedelia with a touch of new wave and

soul, Brooklyn-based Blackbells adopt the

best of both classic and indie sounds to create

a refreshing style of rock. Their self-titled,

self-released EP features four tracks of great

craftsmanship and quality. Ringing remnants

of the British-invasion and rock standards fuse

with infectious choruses, polished vocals, driving

backbeats, and bluesy tinges. Consistently

producing new material, Blackbells offer a new

twist on their set for each performance, and

their upcoming releases and shows are sure to

keep the good thing they have going, going.

Black Taxi – 3:30pm


Kind of dirty, a little poppy, and VERY

danceable, these Brooklynites fashion some

of the most undeniably contagious music

around. Each member brings to the table

a style all his own, lending to Black Taxi’s

widespread appeal and simultaneously

distinct qualities, evident on their 2009

release, Things of That Nature. With finesse,

Black Taxi compose songs of unmatched

addictiveness.

www.myspace.com/blacktaximusic

Decibel – 2:10pm


Although only a duo, Josh Weinstein and Woody

Moseley produce the resonance of a five-piece.

Weinstein’s standout vocals and darkly melodic

acoustic guitar channel the soulful and gritty

sides of blues and grunge, while Moseley’s

elaborate and shifting rhythms keep listeners on

their toes and sustain decibel.’s transfixing unpredictability.

decibel.’s delivery of raw emotion

through an authentic but atypical style will surely

place them among the noteworthy.

www.myspace.com/decibelofficial

The Courtesy Tier – 1:30pm

The Brooklyn-based duo consisting of Omer on

guitar and vocals, and Layton on drums and vocals,

channels the raw, magnetic vibe of Jimmy

Hendrix capped off with bluesy confidence and

an electric energy that feels contagious at first

listen. Uncontrived lyrics blend with catchy

rhythms, giving listeners just enough rock to

stimulate the body and words that will speak to

an assortment of ages and tastes.

www.myspace.com/thecourtesytier

Frontier Brothers (Austin) 2:50pm

www.myspace.com/thefrontierbrothers

Blackbells

www.myspace.com/blackbells


Thursday Oct 21 @ The Living Roo m

FOLKY STAGE

Anni Rossi

www.myspace.com/annirossi

Daniel Wayne

www.myspace.com/danielwaynesongs

Kendra Morris

www.myspace.com/ckendrago

La Strada – 11:30pm

By Quang D. Tran

La Strada weave gloriously worldly indie folk/

pop, incorporating cello, violin, drums, guitar,

bass, accordion and guitar as well as vocals

from all the members--creating an impressive

sight to see and hear. It’s a big sound

that can also lay meditatively in the still of a

cool country evening. However, there’s also

a good chance you’ll feel like you are drunk

and partying down to a band of gypsies.

Tracks like “Mean That Much” can’t help but

induce spontaneous sing-alongs and feel

good grins all around. Take this opportunity

to catch these talented musicians perform

live because that chance may pass you by

soon enough!

www.myspace.com/lastradanyc

Anni rossi– 10:00pm

By Quang D. Tran

Anni Rossi has been around music most of

her life (she started violin training at the tender

age of three.) She transforms simple, stripped

down arrangements into captivating indie pop

perfection with charming quirkiness reminiscent

of our rock n’ roll crush, indie ‘it girl’ and Rossi’s

labelmate, Annie Clark (St. Vincent). It’s hard

not to be reminded of Ms. Clark, though Rossi

is less experimental rock and more seductively

fun, minimalistic dance music. You know, songs

like “Candyland” are a little too adorable, and

you never imagined yourself gettin’ down to an

Aaliyah cover (“Are You That Somebody?”). But

it’s OK. She’ll just be our guilty pleasure until the

rest of the world catches up and starts spinning

her infectious little ditties. With thought provoking

lyrics and elegant, daredevil vocals that float

on clouds of shifting melodies, it’s easy to see

why she is part of the impressive 4AD family.

Daniel Wayne – 9:15pm

By Quang D. Tran

Is Daniel Wayne the dark, sensitive illegitimate

grandson of John Wayne? Not likely,

but there is definitely some cowboy in this

fireside crooner and midwestern transplant.

Tracks like “The Princess & The Gun” prove

that this modern day cowboy roaming the

Big Apple streets has plenty of tales to share

over whiskey and cigarettes. Wayne also has

that stoner garage rocker in him, evident in

“Protest Song.” Though it is Wayne’s name

in the forefront, his songwriting process is a

collaborative effort with his partners in crime,

producer Oliver Labohn and drummer Brent

“Killer B” Follis. Armed with an acoustic

guitar, earnest vocals and a tight outfit of

talented players, Daniel Wayne leads his

gang each night on sonic adventures down

the dusty road of American music history

with a proud vagabond swagger of freedom.

Kendra Morris – 8:30pm

By Quang D. Tran

Kendra Morris doesn’t sound like she’s had

much luck with guys. But don’t pity the

petite doe-eyed songstress, because these

troubled matters of the heart have only

provided fuel for her musical passion. It also

doesn’t hurt that she has some serious pipes

that help carry on the music and life lessons

provided by her parents. With an education

firmly grounded in her dad’s love for Tower of

Power and War and her mom’s deep connection

with R&B, she’s doing her family proud.

Strand of Oaks (Philly)

12:15am

www.myspace.com/strandofoaks

McAlister Drive (Boston)

10:45pm

www.myspace.com/mcalisterdrive

Buke and Gass – 7:45pm

www.myspace.com/bukeandgass (See page 7)

Octant – 7:00pm

www.myspace.com/octant (See page 7)


HEAR. MY MUSIC.

HEAR. MY LIFE.

HEAR. I AM.

THE SOUND OF SENNHEISER. MAKE IT YOUR OWN.

Sennheiser delivers the ultimate audio experience for people who crave

true-to-life sound. Choose from premium headphones for casual listening,

recording and even gaming. And it doesn’t stop there: Sennheiser is also

the microphone brand of choice for many high-profile recording artists

and live sound engineers. A leader in audio technology for over 65 years,

Sennheiser understands the desires and demands of audio professionals

and enthusiasts.

Win an exclusive music experience with Sennheiser! Learn how at:

www.HearIam.com

www.facebook.com/SennheiserHear Iam

10.23 /SATURDAY

@ SPIKE HILL

5:15pm / A MILLION YEARS

Formed in early 2007 by Keith Madden A Million

Years released their debut full-length album,

“Mischief Maker,” in August 2010. Filled with

guitar and percussion-heavy indie rock ditties,

the boys’ loud rock combines classic indie and

punk spirit with a healthy dose of electronica.

Madden’s vocals add a moody melancholy to

the otherwise catchy choruses. Keep tabs of the

guys on tour with their new mobile app [http://

tinyurl.com/2ajvmes] and get laid while listening

to “Poster Girl,” per the band’s recommendation.

Myspace.com/amillionyearsmusic (WP)

4:30pm / THE PRESS

The Press’s music is like a car chase. When their

songs explode into a rush of driving bass and

violent guitar crunch, you become the unwitting

passenger in a vehicle that’s going to blow

through police barricades and jump flatbed trucks

in an attempt to flee pursuit. Oh, and your driver

is completely inebriated. Or at least that’s how the

vocals on their recordings; raw, impassioned, and

irrational. In short, the band packs some intense

punk-inflected indie rock (with a pop element) that

throws listeners over the edge of convention and

into a whirlwind of chaotic instrumental interplay.

Myspace.com/thepress (Bill Dvorak)

3:45pm / APPOMATTOX

It’s always refreshing when a band comes

around that actually wants to rock. You wouldn’t

think this would be such a rare occurrence, but

somewhere along the recent way, rocking out

became passe and synths became key. F-that

and thank goodness for Brooklyn’s Appomattox.

These three dudes are a straight up guitar band

that rips through peppy power-chord songs with

an underlining current of nicely-tempered spazz.

Sometimes the band’s slightly-distorted choruses

with the proper amount of feedback make me

want to raise my fist in the air just like I used to

do back in the ‘90s. Myspace.com/appomattoxrules

(OhMyRockness.com)

3:00pm / FAN TAN

Fan-Tan’s big and sprawling melodies are hitting

us kind of right. Listening to this, we really wish

we were in a massive rainstorm and there was

a camera shooting down on us from a crane,

because then we could outstretch our hands

and lift them high to heavens while shouting a

roar that’s equal parts joy and pain. That’s what

Fan-Tan makes us want to do. This Brooklyn (by

way of Chapel Hill) band must have grand ambitions

with verses as “shimmering” and choruses

as “rousing” and bridges as “beautiful” as these

(quotes courtesy of Zagat -- not really). It’s all so

emotional. As for other band comparisons, we

don’t know; Arcade Fire? Cloud Cult? Myspace.

com/fantanmusic (OhMyRockness.com)

2:15pm / I’M TURNING INTO

The three dudes in I’m Turning Into have a really

rocking song called “Nonlocal” which reminds

me of those good indie rock songs of old --- the

bands I liked when I first started getting into indie

rock back in, like, 1994. If I had to characterize

I’m Turning Into, I just might say they are “rousing.”

But maybe after many more listens I’ll feel

like changing that characterization to “raucous.”

They definitely seem to have a crazy edge to their

garage-y, punk-y and rock-y music. Some of their

songs are really out there and go into extreme jam

mode, but that’s ok. I’ve always been a sucker for

well placed guitar squeals and yelping harmonies

and fanatical musical beat downs and break

downs anyway. Myspace.com/imturninginto

(OhMyRockness.com)

1:30pm / DIEHARD

With a knack for making nostalgia-tinged,poppedout

indie rock that’s alternately loud and/or

mellow(ish) in all the right places, this band will

get your head bopping and your toes tapping.

Ezra Selove and Liz Schroeter offer a complementary

pair of male/female vocals that call to mind

the Pixies or Yo La Tengo. The straight-ahead,

tight playing of the rhythm section offers the perfect

rhythmic counterpoint to their oft-distorted,

yet still somehow pleasantly shiny, guitar sounds.

Myspace.com/diehardnyc (J. McVay)


12:45pm / TELETEXTILE

Teletextile writes beautiful, dreamy chamber pop

with wonderful theatrics but none of the hokey

melodrama. Singer Pamela Martinez’s voice and

her harp are the strong thread that holds this

band’s multi-textured songs together. Their delicate

tunes made of simple percussive sounds,

piano lines and strings, are as moving as their

more powerful ballads, that often build to aching

climaxes. Myspace.com/teletextile

(Liz Schroeter)

12:00pm / DEAD LEAF ECHO

It is an exciting time for Dead Leaf Echo: the

trio was asked to open for the much ballyhooed

reunited Chapterhouse at their Bell House show in

early October - it was an epic night of shoegazing

and dream-popping. All of this ties in perfectly

with the October 12 release of their latest recording

“Truth.” This 7 song follow up to their debut

“Pale Fire” boast the mixing talents of noted

studio guru John Fryer. Myspace.com/deadleafecho

(Dave Cromwell)

1:15am / TAYISHA BUSAY

Kegs, kones, kicks; rainbows, ringtones, rimjobs;

hotdogs, hamburgers, hoagies; dance, dance,

dance! Tayisha Busay’s EP “Shock-Woo!” serves

up super-sized helpings of clubby beats and

sing-along absurdity designed to get the party

started. The trashy trio is a connoisseur of excess:

70s, 80s, 90s, whatever. They’ve raided everyone’s

‘What-Was-IThinking?!’ photo album and

assembled the fashion faux pas into an album full

of disco progressions, pulsating synth, old skool

rhymes, and glitter galore. Standout single “WTF

You Doin In My Mouth?” walks the razor’s edge

between smutty innuendo and a G-rated reflection

on fast food. Brooklyn, always in danger of taking

its indie too seriously, should welcome this assshakin’

antidote to pretension. Myspace.com/

tayishabusay (Mike Gutierrez – qromag.com)

12:30am / ARPLINE

Arpline is a rather epic sounding new Brooklyn

indie band with an interesting electronic sound

that seems to be based mostly on a wild use of

synchronized arpeggiators - hence the name, we

guess. Early traces of MGMT, mixed with German

post punk influences create a feeling of club

basement badass mixed with synthesizers and

dance jam goodies. ArpLine’s set to release their

debut full-length “Travel Book” in early 2011. For

a taste, listen to the upcoming record’s first single,

“Fold Up Like a Piece of Paper.” Myspace.

com/arpline (Vann Alexandra)

11:45pm / BRONZE

Though they have only been performing for a few

months, Bronze has already played a slew of high

profile dates opening for Free Energy, Snowden,

Film School, and We Were Promised Jetpacks –

probably also because 2 of its founding members

were previously of NYC based, and French Kiss

records alum, Detachment Kit. Compared to the

now defunct act, Bronze have a less guitar centric,

more produced sound, in some sort of crunchy

dance-pop sort of way (think something between

MGMT and Social Broken Scene), and an equally

fun live show, with the added textural element

brought by Jess Birch’s frantic percussion.

Myspace.com/bronzemusic

(Dave Cromwell + Paolo De Gregorio)

11:00pm / CHAPPO

Chappo is a NYC rock band with a new EP that

meshes all sorts of influences, from the playful approach

to music reminiscent of Beck and Flaming

Lips to the spacey atmospheres of Air, to occasional

funk rock rhythms, hip hop references and noisy

distorted guitars. Their music is fearless, innovative

and downright fun, infusing classic indie pop with

complete chaos, achieving their goal of making the

Chappo experience one meant to be out of this

world. Check them out live for some good time.

Myspace.com/chappomusicnyc

( Paolo De Gregorio + CM)

10:15pm / MINIBOONE

The most exciting music isn’t always the most

frenetic, and MiniBoone is a case in point: they

manage to overwhelm the senses without taking

up every last inch of the musical soundscape–

there’s space to breathe, to ponder the music

as it’s happening. It’s a carefully (and perfectly)

constructed balance that most bands struggle to

find and never quite achieve. These guys excel at

packaging remarkable musical complexities into

feverishly catchy pop songs. Seeing them live is

like freebasing cocaine while doing windsprints on

a rollercoaster. Myspace.com/minibooneband

(Ben Heller - ampeatermusic.com)

8:45pm / ADULT THEMES

The best noise rock works exactly like pop music,

but achieves that genre’s “liberating” effect through

the interaction of dissonant elements, rather than

melodic ones. Adult Themes is one of the few

bands that’s developing that idea and making it

their own. This band’s deranged melodies and

dissonant instrumental deviations somehow make

perfect musical sense. Their controlled cacophony

raises musical tension exactly to the point of alarm

rather than ear piercing, unbearable madness. The

songs in their debut 7” - Young Bodies and Four

Fires - are perfect examples of this – check them

out if Sonic Youth left a mark on you.”

Myspace.com/adultthemesband

(Paolo De Gregorio)

AFTERNOON SHOW (FREE)

Psych Rock + Indie Stage

EVENING SHOW ($6)

Indie + Electro Stage

ALSO ON THIS BILL:

2:00 am / LE VICE

(San Fransisco)

9:30 pm / ELECTRIC TICKLE MACHINE

(see feature on page 30)

8:00 pm / BAD COP

(Nashville)

6:30 pm / UNIVOX

(Philly)

For last minute changes check

nyc.thedelimagazine.com

7:15pm / SHARK?

Although they punctuate their band’s name with

a question mark, Shark?, play the kind of fun,

irreverent and party-ready rock n’ roll that is best

paired with an exclamation point. Combining the

lo-fi recording aesthetic of many of their peers

with quirky pop melodies and the raw energy of

70’s punk and sloppy 90’s indie bands, these guys

offer a bit of something for everyone. P.S. The

L Mag is obsessed with them. Myspace.com/

sharkquestionmark (Bill Dvorak)


HOW TO “DO IT”

a We Are Scientists guide to

ROCK STARDOM

By Chris Cain (We Are Scientists)

Illustrations by Michelle Kondrich (www.michellekondrich.com)

As a founding member of We Are Scientists, I’m regularly asked, “How do you do

it?”, “What’s your secret?”, “Why is God’s love for you greater than his love for

me?”, and variations along these lines. No wonder. As I write this, I’m seated

in a spanking new Qantas A380 flying from Sydney to Los Angeles, having just

completed a successful run of shows in Australia. I have an aisle seat all to myself. In a few

minutes, I’ll be served a hot meal that will include a complimentary glass of wine or a cocktail,

should I be in the mood for it. Later, a snack. Such films as “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind,”

as well as contemporary favorites like “Sex & The City 2,” wait at the ready in the seat-back

entertainment unit literally inches from my face. As and when desired, I can visit an on-plane

restroom. All of this is happening in the middle of the sky, at around 500 miles per hour.

Air travel is just one of the many perks that come with my

job, so it’s no wonder everybody wants to trade places with

me. I’m not about to give this all up, though, and in any

case most of you don’t know the bass parts to all of our

songs. So I propose a middle ground: I’ll teach you everything

I know about being a successful music artist – this

will allow you to create your own band and take it straight

to the top. In exchange, you leave me the hell alone, except

to give me compliments or to offer me free things. But you

stop asking me to trade places with you – I don’t want

your job at Panda Express. I was drunk when I said that.

Forming The Band

The first step toward getting to fly on airplanes is to form

a band. Sounds more difficult than it is. It is a little known

and little understood fact that something like 90% of successful

rock bands form at a Guitar Center. Aerosmith, Led

Zeppelin, U2, Coldplay, and Lily Allen all got their start at

Guitar Center when a couple of outgoing musicians who

were testing this or that piece of gear fell into a serendipitous

jam. Indeed, if you hang out at Guitar Center in

any city on any given afternoon, you’ll hear half a dozen

bands form. You’ll be sitting on a marked-down $399

amp with built-in tuner and COSM effects, engulfed in the

not-unpleasant cacophony of two dozen assholes fucking

around on stringed instruments, when suddenly two, and

then three, and then four of those assholes begin roughly to

synchronize their playing in both rhythm and key. The other

musician-customers, hearing what you hear, begin to taper

their own meanderings, the better to witness the burgeoning

phenomenon – “the burgeoning,” I guess. And just like that,

with no forethought or advance notice, twenty lucky sons of

guns are listening to the first Seven Mary Three concert.

The lesson is this: if you’re a musician looking for a band,

budget some time each afternoon for Guitar Center.

Weeding Out Weeds

When you choose your band mates by going to Guitar Center

most afternoons and wanking on mandolin until somebody

starts wanking in time on djimbe and somebody else starts

wanking in key on pedal steel, you run a certain risk. This

approach, though responsible for bands ranging from The

Killers to The Miles Davis Quartet, has an “implosion” rate

of about 5%, which is just a clever bit of legalese meaning

that every hundred years or so, a band composed of dudes

who met at Guitar Center, jamming, will discover that one

among them is not quite right for the job and needs gently

to be kicked the fuck out of Smashmouth. This hellish

prospect became horrifically real for Guns N Roses, who, a

couple of years in, had to deal with the fact that drummer

Steven Adler was violently addicted to a cocktail of hard

drugs, and that his addiction was taking an awful toll on his


“Whether you’re a guitarist, bassist, drummer, or you play one

of the many less-crucial instruments, don’t be afraid to let your freak

flag flutter and flap during solos!”

musicianship, and that his addiction was to a slightly different

cocktail of hard drugs than the rest of Guns N Roses

were addicted to, and that this critical difference made it

impossible for the band to employ fewer than a dozen drug

dealers full-time, around the clock. The word came down

from management: Guns N Roses’ profile was taking on

a vile tarnish in the public eye – the band must limit the

number of full-time drug dealers on official payroll to eight.

At a moment like this, when the reputation and performance

of the band has been threatened, there is little choice: the

likeminded band members must crawl out from the opiate

swamp where they now dwell like hibernating alligators

and mutter or in some way signal that they’re fed up with

the offending member’s irresponsibility, wayward behavior,

and callous disregard for the organization’s wellbeing. The

lawyers take over from there, making sure that the cancerous

tumor is extirpated before further sullying occurs. This

last bit can become messy. A band like GNR has sufficient

financial clout to purchase a smooth exit: $2000 was wired

into Adler’s account. Later the same day he was kidnapped

by two ex-LAPD officers, then lobotomized by a bribed

prison doctor. Next he was set up with a job in the commissary

of an oil atoll 1,500 miles off the coast of Hawaii.

Adler has been selling Camels, Penthouse, and Reese’s

Peanut Butter Cups ever since. He has refused numerous

job applications from both Slash and Izzy Stradlin.


“The Rule of Two says that you never indulge in anything that’s more

than twice as big, beautiful, expensive, or elite as what you’d have been

able to get your hands on if you weren’t famous.”

Rehearsals

Rehearsals, though completely necessary to becoming a

potent live band, can be a major drag. They’re loud, the sound

is bad, and you have to hang out with the other people in your

band. And there are no groupies. And no mixed drinks.

Not a lot of advice I can give here. You have to rehearse if you’re

going to be as big as Grizzly Bear. Grizzly Bear rehearses five

days a week. Then again, they’re all in relationships, aren’t big

drinkers, and they all kinda like each other. #notarealband.

Drugs

Use everything you can get your hands on – drugs are the

wellspring of creativity, the necessary nutrients in any inventor’s

mental soil. Anyone who says otherwise is either a

religious prig or drowning in vanity, a vanity so lavish that he’s

unwilling to spend the pedestrian currency of physical health

against the possibility of contributing to a rich, millenniumspanning

tapestry of intellectual production that will be man’s

bequeathal to the cosmos aeons after his extinction. Even

now, my bloodstream is coursing in toxins. Two ibuprofen

taken earlier for back pain, half a glass of marginal red wine

served with dinner, plus an antihistamine I introduced into

my system half an hour ago to guard against ill effects from

the spores this airplane’s closed environment is doubtless

circulating through my lungs even now. The simple fact is that

without these creative lubricants, I’d still be caught in the eddy

of choosing a name for this essay (“How To Do It,” thanks).

Booking The First Live Shows

In the studio, time literally is money. What do I mean?

Just that for every hour or day that you spend in the

studio, your bill will increase – you’ll have to pay more

‘money’ at the end of the recording session.

So don’t jump the gun. Before the money clock starts ticking,

iron out all the kinks in your songs in front of a live studio

audience, ideally on Dave Letterman’s show, Jay Leno’s show,

or Conan Obrien’s show (1993-2009). If for whatever reason

you absolutely can’t get onto one of these shows to work on

your songs, Jimmy Fallon’s show is an acceptable substitute,

but avoid letting members of The Roots guest on your set.

The Roots, though a perfectly decent group of musicians,

probably won’t be hanging out at the studio where you end

up recording. Developing a dependency on The Roots early

on is fast becoming a classic beginner’s mistake; every day

new bands are finding themselves in the studio days after

doing Fallon, wondering who’s going to add miscellaneous

exotic percussion during the bridge, or who’s going to

reiterate the main vocal melody on a horn during the outro.

Recording

Once the arrangements are locked in and you’ve

weeded out any involvement by The Roots, it’s time

to lay down some tracks. Here are a couple of tips to

help you get the most out of your studio session:

• Keep your smartphone’s Voice Memo app running during

every take. The more expensive and complicated a studio set

up is, the more likely you are to have problems getting everything

to work right – but even if you’re recording on a 4-track

tape deck, you’re still almost guaranteed to lose at least

one take to technical malfunction during the course of your

session. Not if your iPhone is continuously recording! On my

band’s latest album, something like 20% of the guitar ended

up being taken from iPhone recordings after a hard drive

mishap during mixing left us with no alternatives. The reality

is that many people prefer the sound of the iPhone tracks,

with their marvelous compression! In fact, because several

of us were religious about keeping our iPhones recording

in the studio, we had several mic positions to choose from,

and were able to comp together an excellent stereo signal.


• Don’t be afraid to get freaky during solos. Whether you’re

a guitarist, bassist, drummer, or you play one of the many

less-crucial instruments, don’t be afraid to let your freak

flag flutter and flap during solos! Too many musicians

guide their solos down familiar terrain, as though this were

their chance to play a Clapton/Van Halen/Valensi solo a

little worse than the original. Get freaky! The solo is your

chance to freak yourself out, and if you let it pass you by,

not only will your reputation as a freak suffer, but so will the

track. Remember, when you listen to a song, what are you

looking for in a solo? If you’re like most people, you look

to the solo to completely freak you out – to change your

entire sense of what can and should be done with musical

instruments, and to accomplish that in a scary, scary way.

Mixing/Finalizing The Record

Mixing is a scam. It’s the ‘emperor’s clothes’ of music production.

We haven’t mixed a single one of our albums, and you’d never

know it. “This record sounds mixed,” idiots say when they hear

our latest. Oh really? And what exactly does “mixed” sound like?

The Band’s Look

You’ve got the band, the songs, the album – time to nail the

look. There are two basic directions you can take with this:

daring originality or tasteful adherence to the norms of your

scene. The latter is as easy as spending some time with The

Deli’s “Where To Shop” section. The former requires an additional

bit of creative energy, something above and beyond the

actual requirements of music. Think Kiss, Slipknot, Lady Gaga.

Here are a couple of rich veins that have yet to be mined:

• Everybody in the band dresses like Indiana Jones, incl. whips.

• The band dresses like a litter of puppies.

Managers

Managers are great – you’ll want to get as many as you can.

YOU CAN NOT HAVE TOO MANY MANAGERS. A manager

is somebody who goes out there and hustles, gets you deals,

endorsements, great gigs, etc. Better to have an army of such

people than just one or two. My band is currently represented

by 15 managers, none of whom know about each other. The

way we work this is, when one manager gets us a gig, for

example, we tell all of the other managers that the date of the

gig is a “personal day,” and that nothing can be booked then.

The manager who booked the gig gets 15%; nobody else gets

a dime. The worst thing that can ever come of this is that your

band gets conflicting offers from multiple managers. In this

case, simply accept the most lucrative offer and tell the lowerbidding

managers that they need to step up their game, and

that you’ll be taking a “personal day” on the day in question.



The Fans and The Groupies

When it comes to groupies, you can’t be too wary. Although

safe sex is cheaper and easier to achieve than ever before,

lust-clouded brains continue to make foolish decisions in

the heat of the moment, decisions that can sidetrack or even

derail a promising career. The fact is that, no matter what your

new friend tells you, any time you take off your clothes and

get into bed with a stranger and fail to use protection, you can

become pregnant. Are you a girl? I have even worse news for

you. Your chances of becoming pregnant during unprotected

sex are ten times higher than your male counterpart’s.

Here are a couple of myths about sex that personal experience

has shown to be very false indeed:

Myth: You can’t get pregnant after a big spaghetti dinner.

Fact: Although a big spaghetti dinner will probably leave all

parties too lethargic to become aroused, if you do actually

manage to complete the sex act, either or all three of you may

become pregnant.

Myth: If a man has two orgasms over a period of several hours,

the sperm from the second orgasm will hunt down and kill the

first batch of sperm.

Fact: Two orgasms do not “cancel each other out.” Although

the second mob of sperm will hunt down the first mob, and will

fight them to the death, the first orgasm will have contained so

many more sperm that, when the dust has settled, a sufficient

number will remain to complete the pregnancy rite.

Myth: You can’t get pregnant having sex with animals.

Fact: Yeah you can. Steven Tyler, one notorious example, is the

offspring of a man and a pig.

Don’t rely on rumor and old wives’ tales to keep you safe.

Take the time to educate yourself about the many scientific

precautions available thanks to modern medicine. Unless,

like Josh Homme, you want to create an unpaid gang of pick

pockets, car thieves, and pre-teen thugs who grudgingly do

your bidding.

Dealing With Success

If you follow the above advice, chances are good that you

and your band will enjoy success. If you’re at all cognizant

of celebrity culture, you know that success is often the very

thing that destroys careers. My advice for dealing with the

distractions and excesses of success can be boiled down to

a very simple rule, one which I follow almost religiously. It’s

called The Rule of Two. The Rule of Two says that you never

indulge in anything that’s more than twice as big, beautiful,

expensive, or elite as what you’d have been able to get your

hands on if you weren’t famous. You don’t buy a house that’s

more than twice as expensive as the one you used to live in.

You don’t do any more than twice as much cocaine in a sitting

as you might’ve in the old days. You don’t date women who

are more than twice as good-looking as your old girlfriend.

Follow The Rule of Two and you’ll be able to enjoy your

success, instead of letting it enjoy you. Whatever that means.

(I didn’t make up the phrase “letting success enjoy you.”)


specials the deli’s features

Brahms

CMJ 2010

LIVE AT

BROOKLYN

BOWL

10/20/10

www.brahmsband.com

What it is: Dark, delectable electropop

rIYL: New Order, Cut Copy, Depeche Mode

Brahms Away!

By Nancy Chow / Photo by Shawn Brackbill

Clad in black, the gentlemen of

Brahms become purveyors of

dark, delectable electropop that

get the hip masses moving. The band’s

silhouetted figures are dramatically lit

for live performances, which transform

stagnant venue spaces into pulsating

dance floors. On this particular

September evening, the three stylish

men are all coincidentally dressed in

black outside of their Greenpoint

practice space, but their shadowy

presence is not just for show.

“We want to wear black when we play, because starting off as a new

band is like a totally clean slate,” says lead vocalist/percussionist

Cale Parks. “There’s no tropical Hawaiian shirts. There’s no flannels

and beards. There’s none of that. There’s nothing for people to latch

onto. It’s like a blank canvas, or it’s intended to be at first.”

“It’s like an equal plane, and we each individually come out of that,”

adds bassist Eric Lodwick.

Parks, who also plays in the dreamy pop rock band Aloha, originally

enlisted Lodwick of Vulture Realty and guitarist Drew Robinson to

serve as his backing band for his solo CMJ shows last year. After a

few sessions of playing together, however, the dynamic had shifted

beyond a solo project and into a full-fledged, collaborative band.

“We all enjoyed the way we worked together, and the things we

were making together felt the most natural to play,” says Robinson.

“It felt the most natural to slap a new title on it, so we lifted one off

a dead man.”

As of now, the aforementioned deceased, Johannes Brahms, trumps

the band in a quick Google search, but the band has achieved a pretty

high ranking on the first results page. Their nod to the illustrious German

composer may imply that the band plays sweeping orchestral pieces

that occasionally induce waltzing. However, the dancing inspired by the

band is a far cry from anything you would find in a Bavarian court.


“There are things about Brahms’ compositions like really beautiful, extremely lush melodies

and romantic tones,” says Parks when asked if Brahms has any influence on the group’s

music. “He’s the foremost composer of romanticism. We have some admiration and things

that come through with that, but we’re not a tribute band or anything.”

A tribute band it is most definitely not, and even Brahms’ influences get a little murky. No

musical equation successfully summates the trio’s dark electropop, but some comparisons

that can be drawn are to the ever-inspiring New Order, Depeche Mode and Joy Division.

For more contemporary nods, the noise of local bands Cold Cave, Gordon Voidwell, Bear in

Heaven and Twin Shadow can be noted.

The band leverages Parks’ signature percussion expertise with the infectious multi-layered

beats forming the foundation of the songs that mirror the past yet have contemporary overtones.

There are hints of his solo material in Brahms, but the construction of the songs is

tighter and more upbeat: This is an entirely different band.

Pacing bass, strident guitar, entrancing vocal harmonies and escalating synths cement the

Brahms’ original sound, which has only been revealed in four recorded demos. But these

songs have already got people talking since the band’s inception in January. It didn’t hurt

that the trio’s first show was opening for Passion Pit at a sold-out Terminal 5 performance.

“We don’t play for 3,000 people every night,” says Robinson. “No matter who you’re playing

for or what the situation is, the most important thing is just generating something in that

moment. That’s something we strive to do.”

For live performances, the three members stand behind orange-tinted podiums with an

assortment of instruments at their disposal as all of them play multiple musical roles to

recreate their challenging dance grooves. The band doesn’t use backing tracks and manipulates

a drum machine live for their layered beats, says Parks.

“If you want to engage the audience, it’s important to have many ways that you’re sort of hitting

them – you know, appealing to multiple senses,” says Lodwick of their live show. “That’s

aesthetics – sound and all visual elements. It is definitely one element, but it’s not the element.

We want to provide many things for people to take hold of or be interested in.“

Since the band does not have a plethora of released material, new songs crop up on its set

lists and consequently on YouTube. These songs sound more hard-hitting and seductively

decadent, contributing more depth to the trio’s cavernous sound.

When asked what his favorite Brahms song is, Parks replies: “I think there’s a tendency with

anyone for anything creative to when you first are making something, I’m always like, ‘This is

amazing. This is so awesome. This is the best song. This is like, to quote Die Antwoord, “This is

like the coolest song I’ve ever heard.”’ I think [the songs] even out, but right now, I’m so excited

about so many new songs that we’ve been writing and recording, and each time we write one,

I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is it. This is a banger,’ or ‘Oh my god, this is an ‘80s ballad.’”

Over the summer, whilst their peers were vacationing and enjoying the sweltering heat, the

band kicked off with a tour supporting Passion Pit and Tokyo Police Club and then later hunkered

down in its practice space to work on an album demo. The details of when or how the

new material will be released are up in the air and the band is hesitant to reveal too many

details concerning the new songs.

“[The new material] sounds like a band that’s been together for more than one month, which

was what we were when we recorded those demos,” explains Parks. “Those were very

undeveloped as a band, so we’ll probably readdress some of those songs in newer versions.

There’s a lot more new material that sounds more realized.”

“We more just have the mindset of creating, and we maybe feel like we have some idea of

what we’re creating, but we’re really more in the process of just doing it,” says Robinson when

pressed for more concrete specifics. “We’re a bit too submerged to really tell you objectively.”

By the end of the interview, the sun has set and the darkness of the night eclipses the whole band.

Although they had spent the entire day in their practice space, they trudge back into the brightly lit

building to work on the new set of songs that they will release to a ready and willing audience.

Artist Equipment Check!!!

Line6 DL Delay Modeler

“We use a lot the Line 6 DL4 Delay

Modeler for our delay and echo needs.”



Illustration: I-Nu Yeh (www.inuyeh.com)


Sponsored by:


What it is: An electronic hodge-podge of styles

rIYL: Animal Collective, Dub, Neon Indian

CMJ 2010

LIVE AT

BROOKLYN

BOWL

10/20/10

Keepaway

www.myspace.com/keepaway

Keepaway Camp

Nostalgic and futuristic, childlike and

mature, analog and digital, West and

East Coast: The Brooklyn avant-pop

trio Keepaway straddles these divides and

more. Listening to the band’s debut EP,

“Baby Style,” it’s tough to tell what’s live,

what’s lifted, and what the hell is going on.

Keepaway was born out of two overlapping friendships, one forged

in Massachusetts in the ’90s, the other San Francisco a decade later.

Both involved guitarist Nick Nauman. In addition to Nauman’s guitar,

the band builds its songs with drums, triple-layer vocals, and two MPC

samplers, which it loads with snippets of obscure European records

from the ’60s and ’70s.

By Kenneth Partridge / Photo by Kate Edwards

“Baby Style,” is experimental enough to warrant Animal Collective comparisons

and yet instantly hummable and likable—especially on “I Think

About You All the Time,” where the musicians tone down their tribal

drumming and psych-dub skanking and approach something reminiscent

of early-‘90s pop. On “Yellow Wings,” when they sing of their desire to

“be two places at once,” Nauman and band mates Mike Burakoff and

Frank Lyon aren’t kidding. If anything, they’re selling themselves short.

“I don’t think we’re necessarily going for that mystery,” says Burakoff,

who’s responsible for most of Keepaway’s samples. “It’s cool when a

listener is intrigued by that, I guess, but really we’re trying to make it

blend as best as possible. We’re really conscious about how the sounds

of those acoustic and electronic instruments mix together.”

“We know what works and what doesn’t,” he adds. “I think maybe

down the road, when people are a little more well versed in this kind of

music, it’ll make sense a little more. But for the time being, I don’t think

we’re trying to pull any magic tricks. We’re just trying to blend together


the different styles of music-making we all possess.”

Burakoff developed his style alongside Nauman, a childhood friend from

Arlington, Massachusetts. Theirs has always been a creative relationship,

and before they started jamming, they would build Lego “death chambers,”

as Nauman remembers, and shoot their own TV shows. As teenagers, they

discovered crust punk and alternative rock, and pairing Nauman’s electric

guitar with Burakoff’s synths and electronic beats, they penned songs good

enough to win them first prize at their high school battle of the bands.

“It was kind of what we’re doing now, only what a 17-year-old would

make,” Nauman says.

After graduation, Burakoff went to Hampshire College, in Amherst, and

Nauman headed to Wesleyan University, the Connecticut school where

MGMT and Santigold got their starts. While there, Nauman met Lyon, an

aspiring multi-instrumentalist two years his senior. The two weren’t exactly

friends, but they remembered each other a couple of years later, when

Nauman’s Wesleyan band, Balloon, shared a bill with Snowblink, the group

Lyon had joined after graduating in 2005 and moving to San Francisco.

This time, they struck up a friendship, and one day, after he’d returned to

California, Lyon received a fateful call.

“The moment I thought things might work out with Nick was when he

called me when I was living in San Francisco,” Lyon says. “He still lived

on the East Coast, and he wanted to see if I liked it there. It was a very

sincere, straight-shooting move that showed a lot of heart and a lot of

gumption. I thought, ‘You know, I really missed out on this Nick dude.’”

Nauman wound up moving to San Francisco in November 2007, and he

and Lyon began writing songs. While Lyon had been doing the acoustic

singer-songwriter thing, he was also developing an interest Muslimgauze

and Broadcast—experimental electronic groups he’d learned about while

working at Aquarius Records.

“It’s the best record store in America, in my opinion, in terms of diversity,”

Lyon says. “The guys that run it have really voracious interest in different

sounds and things like that. I pretty much moved back to New York because

I thought it would be easier to be in a band that sounded like Broadcast.”

By the time Lyon relocated to Brooklyn, in August 2008, Nauman had

already been back a couple of months. The guitarist had reconnected

with Burakoff, who had also landed in New York City, and Lyon dug what

the duo was composing.

“It was a happy coincidence Mike and I had been collaborating with Nick

within four months of each other,” Lyon says.

of ‘08. Nick’s sign in the musical zodiac is unquestionably guitar, and

Mike is truly gifted with electronics. I’m a bit slipperier, or at least was

at the time, so I used that flexibility to give the band what I thought it

needed: more percussive crust, deeper harmonies, and maybe a little bit

more a of a dance sensibility on stage.”

The twin-sampler set-up left Nauman, the man responsible for bringing the

group together, with arguably Keepaway’s hardest job. As the lone conventional

musician, he’s had to figure out ways to complement the found

sounds chopped up and stitched together by his mad-scientist band mates.

“The guitar is such a powerful instrument in most contexts, and I think

one of the most serious dynamics of our band is trying to balance power

between the three of us, personality-wise and music-wise,” Nauman says.

On “Baby Style,” released in June on Lefse Records, Keepaway manages

a restrained eclecticism. The EP has emerged a bona fide blogger

fave, and even Pitchfork deemed “Yellow Wings” a 9. The band recently

recorded a song with Sunny Levine, the man behind records by everyone

from the Happy Mondays to Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, and it hopes to

work with the Los Angeles producer on its full-length debut.

“We certainly didn’t expect the EP, which was such a briefly executed

first go-round by a supremely young, probably unripe band, to go as far

as it has,” Nauman says. “So our more modest goals for the full length

are to make music that reflects our growth in band togetherness, and

our lofty ones are to slam the crap out of critical expectations and make

Lady Gaga seem like the stuff your grandma listens to when she makes

cottage cheese salads.”

Burakoff, the real tech-head in the bunch, expresses his aims in the language

of wave propagation.

“I think ‘Baby Style’ was getting everything out on the table and using

the puzzle pieces we already had from prior arrangements, and kind of

a cool interference pattern got formed by that,” he says. “But now we’re

realizing the areas where that interference pattern is more beautiful and

more succinct and stronger and exploring those, knowing how the music

sounds live, and how it sounds on vinyl, recorded.”

“We’re more willing to take a distinct emotional stab,” Burakoff adds. “I

think it’s less experimental at this point and more practiced.”


Contributing to the new songs meant playing drums and sampler, instruments

he’d dabbled in over the years.

“I had already done some drumming in several of my previous bands, but

it was always much more auxiliary than what I do with Keepaway,” Lyon

says. “In this case it was just sort of clear that it was the most central

strength I had to offer what Mike and Nick had developed in the summer

Akai APC40

“We use the Akai APC40 to trigger clips

out of Live these days. It lays out clips

visually on a grid so we can spend less

time looking at our laptop.”


Follow The Deli's Marathon Runners

Cover 50+ Emerging Artists!

Our writers Alex and Dale will blog about the most exciting

emerging artists playing the CMJ Marathon at: www.thedelimagazine.com

The Deli's

NYC INDIE

Charts

october

2010

Full charts at:

nyc.thedelimagazine.com

/top300

The Deli’s Web Charts are open to all

bands (not only Deli subscribers) and

allow you to quickly browse through

musical genres and local scenes and

get an idea of how popular each indie

artist is according to data gathered from

the web (not from our own site.) Emerging

Bands use them to find like minded

artists to network and play with; Bloggers,

A&Rs and Booking Agents to keep

updated with the scene. Your band can

join them here:

www.thedelimagazine.com/signup.

Indie Rock

1. The Walkmen

2. The National

3. Yeasayer

4. Matt and Kim

5. Sonic Youth

6. Dirty Projectors

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs

8. Blonde Redhead

9. Animal Collective

10. Grizzly Bear

11. Interpol

12. Marnie Stern

13. Twin Shadow

14. Les Savy Fav

15. Rasputina

16. A Place to Bury Strangers

17. Noveller

18. Fang Island

19. Delicate Steve

20. Highlife

Psych Rock

1. Prince Rama

2. School of Seven Bells

3. White Hills

4. Julian Lynch

5. Endless Boogie

6. The Pains of Being Pure...

7. Bear In Heaven

8. The Raveonettes

9. Panda Bear

10. Blank Dogs

11. TV on the Radio

12. Ducktails

13. Real Estate

14. The Rassle

15. The Antlers

16. Suckers

17. Frankie Rose and the Outs

18. White Magic

19. The Depreciation Guild

20. Big Troubles

Indie Pop

1. Broken Bells

2. MGMT

3. Vampire Weekend

4. Miniature Tigers

5. Dark Dark Dark

6. The Drums

7. Fun

8. As Tall As Lions

9. SUPERCUTE!

10. Ra Ra Riot

11. Rufus Wainwright

12. Sufjan Stevens

13. Status Green

14. Darwin Deez

15. Deluka

16. Ava Luna

17. Santigold

18. Beach Fossils

19. Chappo

20. Sherlocks Daughter

Roots/Alt Folk

1. Brendan James

2. CocoRosie

3. Regina Spektor

4. Sharon Jones and the

5. Cat Power

6. Forest Fire

7. Diane Birch

8. River City Extension

9. Punch Brothers

10. Nina Nastasia

11. Deer Tick

12. Bright Eyes

13. Antony and the Johnsons

14. Devendra Banhart

15. Daniel Merriweather

16. Trixie Whitley

17. Sharon Van Etten

18. Phosphorescent

19. The Spring Standards

20. Titus Andronicus

Alt Rock

1. The Energy

2. Chris Sotiri

3. Stereo Skyline

4. The Handful

5. Steel Train

6. The Gay Blades

7. Alberta Cross

8. Brand New

9. Jesse Malin

10. Lights Resolve

11. Washington Square Park

12. This Condition

13. Star Fucking Hipsters

14. Semi Precious Weapons

15. We Are Scientists

16. The Hold Steady

17. Earl Greyhound

18. Screaming Females

19. Bouncing Souls

20. The Handsome Devil

Electronic

1. The Hundred in the Hands

2. Moby

3. Holy Ghost!

4. Sleigh Bells

5. Teengirl Fantasy

6. Matthew Dear

7. Ratatat

8. LCD Soundsystem

9. A-Trak

10. French Horn Rebellion

11. Oneohtrix Point Never

12. El-P

13. !!!

14. Small Black

15. Arp

16. Blondes

17. Scissor Sisters

18. No Bra

19. Battles

20. Au Revoir Simone




What it is: Upbeat psych-pop with

memorable verses and choruses

rIYL: The Kinks, The Black Lips

CMJ 2010

LIVE AT

SPIKE HILL

10/23/10

Don’t Blow It Again

Electric Tickle Machine

www.electricticklemachine.com

By Jen Chang / Photo by Michael De Leon

Ok, let’s be serious. Electric Tickle Machine are Tom (vocals, guitar), Ryan (keyboards), Clark (percussion)

and a rotating drummer. They are my friends and I’ll concede that some objectivity is thrown out the window.

I will say though, for posterity’s sake, that I have lots of other friends in bands and most of them are

terrible. There’s something brazen and stubborn about ETM but miraculously it’s more refreshing than off-putting.

Over the course of the past two years, I have seen them play more than a dozen times everywhere from Santos

Party House to the Glasslands Gallery. I’ve seen them play on a boat and at absurd art parties with haut-burlesque

and clowns. They always have a lot of girls dancing in the front and Clark, the “hype-man,” usually breaks

his tambourine in a fit of dance rapture. Actually, they all look possessed when they play. This is a good thing.

I could toss around a phrase like real, New York

rock and roll to describe Electric Tickle Machine

but rock star is something they spell with sequins

on belts at the mall. It’s something that is too

often associated with a haircut, or a hand gesture,

and not an actual feeling. In spirit, ETM

perform with a combination of boyish sincerity

and adult abandon. Their psych-pop pomp is

definitely interesting to watch. They make lots of

people shake their bodies and generally, these

people seem to be actually enjoying themselves.

It’s weird. Tom Tickle sings and shouts with equal

fervor. While some of his sentiments and melodies

are sweet, there’s a fuck-all undercurrent of

desperation. Think Iggy Pop and Roky Erickson

with a little Roy Orbison thrown in for good measure.

Ryan Renn has a mighty synthesizer arsenal

at his command. He plays bass lines with his

right hand and noise and hooks with his left. His

sounds are like a combination of Silver Apples,

Fiery Furnaces and Wendy Carlos covering Bach.

There’s some wizard in him. Add Clark, a 6’5’’

roaming percussionist/hype man (occasionally in

6 inch platforms), some loud, slacker guitar and

chugging drums, and you find yourself in a neon

snow globe of “neo-cowboy surrender music.”

Electric Tickle Machine self-released their first

album, “Blew It Again,” in the U.S. in June of

this year and it was also released in Japan

via Vinyl Junkie. According to Tom Tickle,

“One label insinuated that they’d sign us if

we changed our name. We decided to go it

ourselves and it’s been trying at times, but on

the whole it’s felt good to stick to our guns

and keep control of the project.” The album

cover, conceived by Clark and Vice contributing

photographer Mike De Leon, features a young

woman with a crooked smile and an exposed

nipple. It’s sweet, soft-core Americana. “It’s not

like it’s a gigantic fake tit,” says Tom. Well said.

It is worth acknowledging the challenging nature

of the band’s name. Many people seem to hate

it and the band refuses to change it. They’ll

point you to their website where you can read

a long-winded explanation of what the name

actually means. It reads, in part, “You can’t

tickle yourself. It’s laughter born from torture. It

is the sound of forced glee with an undercurrent

of pain and vulnerability. We’re all tied to tickle

machines, and it’s high time we redefined our

relationship with the fingers.” They do concede

that the name defense has grown tiresome.

A recent tweet declared, “from now on, we’re

called Toothpaste and we tweet pictures of

over-sized kittens and talk about how much

we like smoking weed.” Minutes later: “My cat

looks so cute right now. How could I not give

him the other half of my burrito?”

Musically, “Blew It Again,” is a melodic romp

through American garage, psychedelia and

country. “Part of Me” is the poppiest song on

the record begins, “Part of me dies when you’re

not around, Part of me comes to life when you’re

not around,” and is crooned over the verses with

hand claps and group choruses of “Ba Da Das.”

Sounding like a modern Troggs, it’s a happy

song that is at the same time a little strange.

“Gimme Money” goes in the opposite direction

and has a sleazy strut. “Gimme Money, I see

something that I want! It’s My Gun!,” etc. The

synthesizer work on the album’s most ambitious

and lengthiest song, “Ask Me Anything,” reminds

me of Animal Collective until the song resolves

in slow organ and emotional rock and roll.

“Blew It Again” has ten tracks clock in at under

a half hour (perfect for the attention-challenged)

and sound best loud, and in headphones. There

are many production twists and turns that aren’t

immediately audible and provide pleasant surprises

with repeat listens. I recommend buying

it on vinyl, but if you’re a recession stricken, It’s

streaming on their website, or you can torrent it

(they say they don’t mind).

Whether you like it or not, chances are you’ll

remember their name. Are you curious?


roland SP-404 Sampler

“Beyond the obvious

instruments, clark

recently got a Roland

404 sampler that we’ve

loaded with synth noise

for extra texture in

some of our songs.”


specials

CMJ 2010

LIVE AT

THE

DELANCEY

10/19/10

What it is: Good old-fashioned rock and roll for the new millennium

rIYL: The Ramones, Arcade Fire, Jesus and Mary Chain

The Young And The rassless

I’ve known—and loved—the various members of

The Rassle for almost a decade now. I shared a

writing workshop with lead singer Blair Van Nort

and instantly recognized him as the most talented

author in the class. No wonder the lyrics for The

Rassle are both familiar and penetrating.

Guitarist Reed Van Nort came into my life shortly after, a young musical

prodigy who handed me a demo he had made in his apartment at the age

of 16. Drummer Erik Ratensperger and bassist Mark Solomich were guys I’d

seen around, touring with their old bands (The Virgins and The Takeover UK,

respectively). These four fun loving have only been touring for a few months,

but they’ve already gained a huge following in and around New York City.

Who would win in a fight between the Van nort brothers and the

Gallagher brothers? A dance off?

reed: Clearly the Gallagher brothers. Those guys are hooligans...Very

talented hooligans.

Blair: I plead “No contest,” sir.

If you could describe your band using only the title of a TV show,

what would it be?

reed: Boy Meets World.

erik: The A-Team.

Mark: On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.

Blair: The Young & the Restless.

Which was the song that, as you were creating it, made you feel like

you had found the right sound for The rassle?

reed: I’d definitely have to say “Wild Ones.” It was the first song we wrote

and recorded when we got together in our apartment. I don’t necessarily

think we knew who we were yet as a band or exactly what we wanted to

be. But, I certainly knew what sort of music I didn’t want to be making.

erik: I think rather than us finding “the right sound,” it was really about

learning our creative process as a new band. We’re not set on any particular

sound though—we just want to write good songs.

The Rassle

www.myspace.com/therassle

By Noah Forrest

Mark: I don’t think you ever find the right sound. It’s an endless quest.

You’ve already gained quite a following despite only playing shows

for a few months. To what do you attribute that early success?

Mark: Working hard, keeping our noses down, just trying to win games,

listening to coach, and getting through the season.

erik: Honestly, I just think it’s cool to see that people really seem to like

our songs. That’s all you can ask for really.

For each of you, what was the first album you remember buying/

listening to?

reed: The first album I really remember listening to is “Automatic for the

People” in the early ’90s. My mom was a huge R.E.M fan.

erik: Early Tom Petty records that my parents would spin at home. My

older sister also had a couple Iron Maiden LPs, though I dug Ed Repka’s

artwork more than the band’s music.

Mark: I’d like to say Nirvana or Fugazi but the cold hard truth is Phil

Collins No Jacket Required. “Sususido” is a helluva song.

Blair: I remember dancing around to “Born in the USA” as a young kid.

That’s probably my first music memory. Come to think of it we could definitely

take Liam & Noel in a dance off if we had to.

If you could sum up the band in one lyric from your own song, what

would it be?

Blair: Celebrate the days if it’s all you got.

reed: Full Speed Ahead.


Fulltone OCD

iPhone

“The only pedals I use are a Boss Digital

Delay and a Fulltone OCD overdrive and

of course a Boss Chromatic Tuner. Live,

Erik’s iphone is very useful: all of our

keyboard parts are coming from there

straight to DI.”


THREE DAY

THRESHOLD

Good Country Gone Bad.

www.threedaythreshold.com

new album out on i-tunes


the snacks other noteworthy NYC artists to check out

Brad Oberhofer’s self taught, lo-fi post-punk has

won his musical project, Oberhofer, quite a lot of praise

lately, and that praise is earned, as the music is a frantic,

energetic, and ultimately satisfying treat. Each song

is laced with manic drums, quirky melodies and sharp,

angular guitar riffs that give way to pensive moments

of xylophone, keys and samples. There’s sing-along

“oohs” and “whoa’s,” and choral hooks like that on

“Landline” that will forever be stuck in your head. Comparisons can certainly

be made to the likes of Wavves or Beach Fossils, but Oberhofer owes as

much to reverb-heavy punk- pop as it does to the carefully crafted indie-pop

of Spoon or MGMT. For a bedroom project (complete with a backing band in

the live setting), Oberhofer sounds surprisingly huge on record, with layers

of instrumentation and vocals that belie the solo status of this talented oneman

project. See them Live at The Deli’s Party on 10.20 at Brooklyn Bowl.

myspace.com/oberhofermusic (W.D.)

Darlings play a brand of mischievous lo-fi garage

pop that has the potential to fill you with a sense of

nostalgia for your wilder days (assuming your youth

has passed at this point), or, if you’re still young, that

remind you of recent parties you’ve attended and

done something spontaneous (or stupid) at. The band

meshes perfect melodies with scrappy, gritty instrumentation

and whimsical lyrics about amusing situations,

as in the infectious and literal “Eviction Party”. The band, however,

is more than just a playful good time. They are also incredibly tight, with a

knack for subtle and intricate guitar and rhythm parts, and they’re not afraid

to get a bit noisy if it feels right. Myspace.com/darlingsokay (Bill Dvorak)

Sometimes you stumble upon a song that literally

freezes time, stops your day - I guess that’s why they

say “arresting”. Lia Ices’ voice and songs commend

attention like only great singer songwriters do.

If her live show delivers what this video promises, the

lady is going to blow up within a year. (Lia Ices will

play live at The Knit in NYC with JJ - the show is sold

out). Myspace.com/liaices (Paolo De Gregorio)

The Tony Castles hooked up at Skidmore

College, before making the trek, like so many before

them, to Brooklyn, just some two years after they

graduated. It’s a familiar tale, but these guys aren’t

just another artsy student band. Sure, their music

has some world beat flavors that somewhat reflects

the direction indie pop has taken towards (read:

Vampire Weekend), but Tony Castles are anything

but familiar. Just check out their track ‘Pirates’ that’s been circulating the

web for some time now: a delicious, six minute spaced out jam. Apparently

it’s a demo, which suggests these guys could be scarily good, and

hugely successful. Myspace.com/thetonycastles (Dean Van Nguyen)

Twin Sister’s idyllic songs are the stuff that

dreams are made of. It’s really the pacifying effect

of the thick viscosity of Andrea Estella’s breathy

voice that hints of Chan Marshall’s smoky pipes

paired with the band’s hazy lo-fi warmth that get

listeners caught up in reveries. On Twin Sister’s

follow-up EP Color Your Life, the band expands its

sonic palette with a diverse array of haunting tracks.

From the disco-influenced “All Around and Away We Go” to the sleepy

romanticism of “Lady Daydream,” the band is able to manipulate different

structures and mark them with its signature sound. Regardless of their

genre leaps, listeners will never want to wake up from the aural dream

world they’ve created. Myspace.com/twinsisterband (Nancy Chow)

NYC electro-dance and pop duo The Hundreds

In The Hands, “came together” on the road,

“playing one another tracks in a van,” that ranged from

disco, to French house to post punk music gods like

NewOrder and The Cure. Call it Kerouacian inspiration

because upon returning home they wrote the upbeat,

guitar-screeching “Dressed in Dresden.” These two

just released their self-titled LP (on Warp Records) with

dance heavy tracks that offer energy and clap happy, basement-feel sounds.

Starting off with the slower-building “Young Aren’t Young,” and progressing

into the catchy “Pigeons,” it’s clear that THITH are doing that DIY thing and

doing it well. They are also good at making tracks that really make you just

want to dance. Myspace.com/thehundredinthehands (Vann Alexandra)

Class Actress’ debut EP “Journal of Ardency,”

which was released on Grizzly Bear Chris Taylor’s

Terrible Records, brilliantly honors ‘80s new wave

but looks forward with a discerning eye. Elizabeth

Harper, the heavenly voice behind Class Actress, Scott

Rosenthal and producer Mark Richardson extrapolate

the best elements from the past and carefully construct

modern electro-pop masterpieces. From the sexy,

slithering romp “Journal of Ardency” to the breezy, sweet serenade “Let Me

Take You Out,” the band flexes its wide range of abilities. The songs maintain

the perfect balance of alluring vibrancy and dark undertones, and this lethal

combination forces listeners to play the EP on repeat. The beats will infiltrate

listeners’ minds, Harpers’ voice will entrance them, and the sparkling synths

will stay in their hearts. Myspace.com/elizabethharper (Nancy Chow)


Loud Rock Corner

The flames of early post hardcore are burning

strong on Descender’s eponymous

six-track introduction to the world. Creating

music that is well versed in the tradition of NYC

underground heaviness, this unit does a solid

job in projecting a relentless sense of immediacy

with enough lung-ripping refrains that stick in

your head for days while implementing the kind

of Sick of it All-esque moments of infectious

melody that call for immediate pile-ons (“Crooked Teeth”). Fusing the

indomitable spirit of DIY hardcore with a jagged blend of modern hardcore

punk brutality and indie rock dexterity, Descender has developed a

specific strand of blunt heaviness that doles out qualities that you can still

feel fine about throwing elbows to with rounds of stellar musicianship that

transcend the throw back tag. www.descendernyc.com (Mike SOS)

Self-professed hard rock psyche metal troupe

Thinning The Herd are hands down one of

the most hard working and visible rock units working

the Big Apple scene, as it’s difficult to not see

their stickers plastered everywhere while romping

through the Lower East Side or not run into them

on any heavy music bill in the Gotham City clubs.

Luckily this NYC trio backs their massive guerilla

marketing campaign and ubiquitous presence up

with a musical output that warrants all the fuss as evident on their latest

endeavor, the massive eight-track OCEANS RISE. Honestly labeling their

music, this act lays down a thunderous backbeat that shares as much

with Blue Cheer as it does Soundgarden while a dastardly amalgamation

of doomy blues (“Plight”), fuzzed-out psychedelics (“Defiler”), grungy

post metal (“Wide Crossing”), and ‘70s arena rock (“My Wake”) pours from

the bass and guitar like a molten lava mix of Danzig, Melvins, and Kyuss.

Skillfully carving melodies from primal slabs of meat and potatoes rock

while showcasing a fierce fearlessness to jam out whenever they please,

TTH retains a sense of savagery without sacrificing catchiness, in turn

creating a smorgasbord of sound that any self-respecting fan of heavy

music won’t be able to deny. Myspace.com/castrosbeard (Mike SOS)

NYC Top 5 Indie Hip Hop Artists

By brokeMC

The New York City independent Hip Hop scene is a vibrant community

of talented, conscientious, positive artists. The styles range

from aggressive abstract art-rap to classic native tongue boom

bap. Think of the five artists listed below as a springboard; most

of them offer free albums and EP’s on their respective websites. Give

them each a listen and if you like what you hear, dig a little deeper.

Homeboy Sandman No one rhymes like this cat. His flow stretches

and bends ferociously around meticulously vetted beats from NYC’s most

promising new producers. Natural and carefree melodies erupt sporadically

and drag you deeper into the rhythms. His energy is palpable - check

out his album, “The Good Sun” out now. www.homeboysandman.com

YC The Cynic This guy is pretty new to the scene, but he’s gained

a lot of attention in a very short amount of time. I’m positive that by

next year at this time, he’ll be a household name. His flow, delivered

casually with a shrug and a smirk, will draw you in and hold you until

you see things his way. YC is one of those rare MCs who can boast

in his rhymes and you don’t mind. Myspace.com/ycthecynic

Metermaids These cats have established themselves as the

forerunners of the indie-rock remix mixtape race. Their website

is packed with free downloads of remixes of your favorite bands

from Animal Collective to Sufjan Stevens to Portugal, the Man.

Swell and Sentence bring lyrics to the table that rub the grit of NYC

streets into the heart of Rumi. www.metermaidsnyc.com

Deathrow Tull W.M.D. DuBois and Rude Humanist are the

two MCs who helm this raucous electro-funk outfit. Their combined

energy onstage is rumored to cause blackouts at unprepared venues.

These cats aren’t content with you just nodding your head along;

they want you dancing. It’s only later on that you realize that they may

have said something awesome as well. www.deathrowtull.com

Nyle And The Naysayers Nyle made headlines a couple years

back when Kanye put his “Let the Beat Build” video up on his blog.

Since then, the kid has been everywhere from the Brooklyn Hip Hop

Fest to MTV. His crowd is mostly 20-somethings thanks to his gratuitous

nods to NYU (his alma mater), but his talent and energy are undeniable.

Old school flavors and an amazing live band quickly morph his

shows into sweaty dance pits. www.nyleraps.com/wordpress



kitchen a local studio

Complete Music

Studios

Rehearsing in Brooklyn

Can Be Comfortable


Mike Marozas started a cartage

company soon after high school in

1985 and after 4 years spent building

connections, in 1989 opened the Complete

Music rehearsal studio/storage facility on 26th

St. in Chelsea, attractig clients that included

David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Keith Richards.

In 2000, with 7 years left on the Chelsea lease he started looking for a

building in Brooklyn, with plans to buy it: in 2001 he found what he was

looking for in Prosepct Heights (on St Marks Ave.), and waited for the

neighborhood to catch up. In April 2004 he decided to try 3 small rooms;

things worked out, also because many musicians and Chelsea clients had

already moved to Brooklyn. Currently Complete Music is one of the few

“upscale” but still affordable, by the hour rehearsal studio in Brooklyn.

The 24/7 warehouse-share type of studios are all a function of space and

the cost of space.

They can be very inexpensive when 3 bands are sharing a $1500, 400 sqft

studio. Then it’s all about whose drums, what time slots you get, how much

gear do you feel safe leaving there. At $500 a month you can get 20 hrs

of time in the least expensive room, change a rehearsal time if something

comes up. So which are you more comfortable with? Many bands will switch

to the hourly set up “when they can afford it,” or want to afford it. Also all of

these facilities are just renting space, they don’t own the buildings, leases are

finite. I have also noticed a few hourly spot open up around Brooklyn, they all

seem to be recording studios with extra space or under-utilized space.

Who are the most successful artists who used your facilities?

They include in no particular order: The National, John Legend, LCD

Sound System, Citizen Cope, St Vincent, The Hold Steady, They Might Be

Giants, Oh Land!, Holy Ghost, Sufjan Stevens, Maxwell, Chrome, Living

Colour, Antibalas, Estelle,Santigold, Care Bears on Fire.

24/7 rehearsal studios have become extremely popular in North

Brooklyn and Gowanus, while rent-by-the hour ones seem to be more

popular in Manhattan? What made you thinka bout opening your

studio in Prospect Heights?

Prospect Heights is all about location, it is very accessible, 2/3, Q/B, C &

G are all nearby. Park Slope, Ft. Greene are all adjacent neighborhoods.

Also it’s 15 minutes to drive to the Lower East Side and there is parking

available everywhere. There are no other large scale rehearsal facilities

like Complete Music outside of Manhattan and I was very lucky that many

Chelsea clients came out here with me.

What’s the advantage of renting by the hour vs. having a 24/7 walk in

situation?

Do you have plans to expand to other neighborhoods or services?

I don’t think so. First I think I have pushed out as far as one can go,

geographically. And second, I would never open a business without

owning the building, I could never buy this building today. Being a small

business owner you can’t make the numbers work anymore on this kind

of business in New York. It’s too bad, but I’ll be here as long as I have

good staff and musicians still live in New York.

www.completemusic.com


BRAND NEW RECORD!

QUILT

ON TOUR! - DATES AT:

VINYL FOR SALE AT:

backwordsmusic.net

backwords.bandcamp.com

“Joyous and playful... Sun, rain, snow– whatever the weather,

‘QUILT’ will strike in you the urge to go out and enjoy it.” -FensePost

*

*


kitchen recording equipment news

Shure SM7B: A Secret Dynamic Weapon

www.shure.com

By Michael Vecchio

noticed that SM7B’s are used as vocal mics in the “Live From Abbey Road”

series. Obviously, the SM7B is detailed and smooth enough to be used as a

top quality vocal mic. But what I find interesting about the SM7B is that it’s

a dynamic mic (as opposed to the other two main types of microphones—

condenser and ribbon), and dynamic mics are not the usual choice for

vocals. For the most part, engineers choose condensers on vocals to get

maximum clarity and accuracy. However, many engineers choose the SM7B

as a vocal mic over highly regarded condenser mics in their arsenal. The fact

that it can rival top condensers on vocals speaks volumes about its quality.

SM7B is also an excellent all-around mic because it is dynamic. Dynamic

mics are able to handle very high sound pressure levels, which is why

they are used as close mics on drums or on loud speaker cabinets. For

this reason, the SM7B is also a known choice for amps and drums,

especially for the all-important kick and snare.

Engineers and recording studios have certain favorite pieces of gear that are

referred to as “secret weapons.” What’s a “secret weapon,” you ask? It’s

an inexpensive, but super high-quality piece of gear that people generally

either don’t know about or disregard because of its low price tag. Without a

doubt the greatest of the recording industry’s secret weapons is the Shure

SM7B. It is a staple in the mic closet of every great studio in the world.

For starters, at Clinton Recording Studios we used our SM7B to record

vocals for Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and Dr. John, and I recently saw a video

of Scott Weiland using an SM7B to record vocals on “Big Bang Baby.” I also

Another feature of the SM7B is its superb off-axis rejection—in other

words, it has a very focused, directional pickup. This quality comes in

handy if you’re recording in a space without a lot of isolation (hence,

the use of SM7B’s for vocals in the “Live From Abbey Road” show), or if

you’re trying to close mic a single drum in a set.

The SM7B is an amazing all-around mic that offers all of the benefits of

a dynamic mic with all of the quality of a condenser. And its low price of

$349 puts it firmly in the “secret weapon” category. For more information

visit www.shure.com.

Delicious Audio’s

History and Construction

of The Drum Kit

By Michael Vecchio

The Deli’s Pro Audio satellite site Delicious Audio is presenting a video

series covering the history of the drum. Go to Delicious-Audio.com to

see the first of a three-part segment on vintage drums. The interview

was shot at Steve Maxwell Vintage and Custom Drum Shop on 48th

street in Manhattan with store manager and vintage drum expert Jess Birch. This

segment covers “History and Construction.” Keep an eye out for parts 2 and 3 in

following online posts, which will deal with “Heads and Tuning” and “Cymbals.”

Watch the video at

www.delicious-audio.com!

10 jay street, suite 405 brooklyn, ny 11201

w w w . J L M S O U N D . c o m

7 1 8 7 9 7 0 1 7 7

m a k i n g t h e w o r l d a b e t t e r s o u n d i n g p l a c e .



Fulltone

Full-Drive 2 MOSFeT

www.fulltone.com

Review by Howard Stock

at the heart of vintage overdrive pedals, and vintage generally equals

good for guitarists. They aren’t stuck with it, though: The Fulldrive 2

throws in a switch that toggles between MOSFET and standard modes.

The Full-Drive 2’s controls are relatively simple: volume, tone, overdrive

and boost knobs, plus two switches, CompCut/FM/Vintage and

afore-mentioned MOSFET/standard selector. Despite its placement, the

MOSFET/standard switch works whether the boost footswitch is engaged

or not. The standard mode is voiced very nicely, but the MOSFET mode

adds a little richness, a crackle around the edges, that guitarists going

easy on the gain may well prefer.

On the other side of the pedal, a three-way switch navigates between

CompCut, FM and Vintage. CompCut is effectively a clean boost; it

doesn’t add much grit but it punches a tube amp into overdrive. Just take

into account the boost in volume.

FM adds some dirt, but not too much. For players who look for an articulate

overdrive that spices things up without overpowering them, this is

probably the best mode. Vintage goes the whole hog, with plenty of mids

and a classic rock growl that cuts through the mix very nicely and should

satisfy old-school classic rock purists.

Fulltone’s Full-Drive 2 is a classic overdrive pedal reinvented 10 years

after the original was released, with technology from decades early.

The MOSFET, for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor, was

The boost switch is handy for solos, piling on the pounds to make those

lead lines really sing, and can really thicken up rhythm guitar lines if a song

calls for both articulation and a solid battleaxe thunk. The pedal would

sound awesome without it, but the boost function adds a layer of utility

that makes the Full-Drive a key piece of kit, worthy of its two-pedal footprint

on a pedal board. In a market over-saturated by boutique overdrive

pedals, the Fulldrive stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of ’em.


Check out the deli’s

audio equipment blog!

www.delicious-audio.com

At Mars Amplification

Filmosound Specialist

www.atmarsamps.com

At Mars is a boutique guitar amp maker out of Minnesota. Their flagship

product is the “Filmosound” amp. “Filmosound” was the branding on the

audio amplifiers from vintage Bell & Howell film projectors. At Mars takes

the chassis from these units and builds a point to point circuit from scratch.

Point to point means no circuit boards, which means a cleaner signal path.

The most common model of Filmosound is “The Specialist.” The amp is

loosely based on the circuit in the original Fender Deluxe Amps (the tweed

deluxe 5E3). It’s a 15 watt head, with one volume and one tone knob.

That’s one major difference from the original tweeds, which had a normal

and a bright channel. I usually translated those two channels as single coil

(normal) and humbucker (bright).

I got my hands on one during a trip to Minneapolis for a gig. I got to play

the amp on stage, and then brought it home to New York to test in the

studio. You’ve heard people say “this amp packs a lot of punch into a

small package” a million times. But seriously, I put this little guy on top

of a Marshall 4x12 cabinet, and played in a 500 person venue (without

adding anything to the monitors). It rocked! Then, I brought it home on the

plane, and was able to carry it! It fit in the overhead bin more comfortably

than anyone else’s baggage!!

I played a nice custom shop Strat for the live show, and I’ve never heard

single coils sound so good. The signature “bite” was there, but with a meaty,

low-mid punch rarely heard from a stock Fender. The amp displays an

amazing sensitivity to picking and strumming dynamics, typical of “Class A”

type amps. The volume increases quickly from 0 to 3 on the dial, and from

there you are gradually adding more gain (overdrive) than volume. When you

hit 8 to 10, something really cool happens. The volume actually decreases

a bit, as you get this highly compressed, spongy, saturated distortion. Think

Neil Young “Hey Hey, My My” or countless other Crazy Horse recordings.

If you’re looking for a loud, clean tone on stage you might want to stick

with your Fender Twin. But the beauty of this small amp is the way you’re

able to get to the “sweet spot” of tube distortion at a reasonable volume.

Compare this to a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie where you’re hard pressed

to get the master volume past 1.5 in most situations: you’re not “pushing”

the amp hard enough to put any strain on the power tubes and hear the

amplifier’s optimal operating range.



Arturia

Jupiter-8V Soft Synth

www.arturia.com

Review by Michael Vecchio

sounds to chirpy arpeggiated sounds a la “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Can

you tell I worship that album? So great, let’s go buy one! Woops… an

original vintage Jupiter 8 goes for about $7,000.

Fortunately Arturia has created a soft synth version for us called the

Jupiter-8V that has fully won people over. In fact, it’s so amazing that Mr.

Jupiter 8 himself, Howard Jones, has given it his endorsement. It sports

all of the same modules as the original (LFO, two VCO’s, filters and envelopes,

of course the famous arpeggiator, etc.), plus the folks at Arturia

have added some new things—various LFO types, a step sequencer, a

suite of built-in effects and more.

I downloaded the demo and I had a blast flipping through the presets and

making my own sounds. That’s a great headspace to be in when you’re

making music. After all, the most important thing about a piece of gear is

whether it inspires you to create.

So what’s the downside? Well, my experience using analog synths versus

virtual synths is that the virtual instruments generally lack a certain “grit.” I

don’t know how else to say it other than that the real thing creates subtle

anomalies that are pleasing, whereas the virtual examples seem just a

tad cleaner. But you might consider that a good thing, depending on your

point of view. Let’s weigh all of the factors and name the winner:

There are many iconic synths from the ’80s whose sounds were the hallmark

of the era. But of the many great synths of that decade, probably the

most iconic was the Jupiter 8 by Roland. It was the primary synth used

throughout Duran Duran’s “Rio” album, and Howard Jones practically

made his career playing a Jupiter 8.

The Jupiter 8 was very flexible and you could sculpt an incredible range of

usable sounds with it—anything from drum sounds to organ or choir-type

Price: Arturia Jupiter-8V

Convenience (physical storage space and setting recallability):

Arturia Jupiter-8V

Features beyond the original design: Arturia Jupiter-8V

Subtle je ne sais quoi that will mostly get lost in your mix anyway:

Roland Jupiter 8

For me, having an actual vintage Jupiter 8 is cost prohibitive, but if it

weren’t the advantages over Arturia’s Jupter-8V are slim-to-none. This

software really is something that you have to check out. Visit www.arturia.

com and demo the Jupiter-8V for yourself.



This equipment review section is brought to you by:

Line 6 M9 Stompbox Modeler

www.line6.com

FEATURES

USABILITY

Review by Scott Kahn

SOUND

PRICE

Line 6’s line of stompbox

modeling pedals are

extremely popular with

guitarists for good reason:

they are built ruggedly

and sound great.

The M9 is a clever and

compact multi-effect

pedal that continues that

tradition, providing direct

access to numerous Line

6 effects, each instantly

accessible from the

multi-button footswitch.

The M9 delivers simple

access to many popular

effects while adding

numerous features not

available in the standalone

pedals. It can provide single pedal-like simplicity, or it can function

like a multi-effects processor with instant recall of scenes containing

effects from up to three virtual pedals.

Barely less capable than the larger and more costly M13, the M9 is a

great choice for players who want to add a variety of high-quality effects

to their existing pedalboard, or who just need a couple of standard

effects from a single device in order to preserve a very simple rig setup.

The assortment from all of the popular Line 6 pedals includes Distortion,

Delay, Modulation, Filter, and Reverb. The M9 has also Tap Tempo, which

adjusts all time-based effects in use, an onboard tuner, Stereo I/O and

Midi I/O. This pedal shines in particular in the effect department: fantastic

analog delay with modulation inherited from the DL4 (with a bigger

display!), great sounding analog choruses, fantastic Tremolos—the Opto

Tremolo in particular. Also, if you’re searching for an intelligent pitch shifter,

you’ll be very impressed by the quality of this effect in the M9. It’s good

enough to be the only reason you purchase this pedal, but we’re sure

you’ll end up using many other sounds once you put the M9 in your rig.

Phil Jones Briefcase Bass Amp

www.philjonespuresound.com

FEATURES

USABILITY

SOUND

PRICE

there is a headphone jack for private practice.

Review by Joseph Dubbiosi

If you dream about a compact bass

amp but still want something with proclass

sound and features, this is one

amp you need to check out: the Phil

Jones Briefcase is a very compact, reasonably

lightweight (under 30 pounds)

bass amp that is perfect for practicing

at home or taking to a small nightclub

gig. This mighty little combo amp is

ideal for small venues such as coffee

houses or intimate jazz clubs, but has

features and options that could make

it fill a very big room or even tackle

outdoor gigs and sound fantastic.

The front panel has an Active/Passive

switch for use with any bass guitar.

There is a five-band graphic equalizer.

There is also a very effective compressor

with a variable sweep control knob

to dial-in just the right amount. Finally,

The rear panel has some additional features that are almost never found on

a practice amp. The first is a speaker output (4-16 ohms) that allows the user

to use the amp with other (larger) speakers, which is great considering that

most mid size venue have a bass cabinet in their back line. Lastly, there are

Pre-amp out and Balanced line out connections for direct sends to a house

PA or to drive an external power amp.

We played a variety of basses through the Briefcase—they all sounded beautiful

but we were especially impressed with the tone from our upright and acoustic

basses but the tone was always clear and even across all four (and five) strings.

The EQ gave us the ability to dial in the exact tone we wanted with each bass

used, and was very musical in character, and we were very impressed with the

overall sound reproduction that two five-inch speakers delivered.

It was hard for us to imagine that such a physically small combo unit could

make such a big sound with great tone.

FXpansion DCAM: Synth Squad

www.fxpansion.com

Review by Tony Grund

FEATURES

USABILITY

SOUND

PRICE

DCAM is a package of four devices. Three synths: Strobe, Cypher, and Amber, and

a rack-type environment called Fusor that lets you stack 3 of the synths together

and incorporate effects, an arpeggiator, and sequenced modulation.

Amber is a (kind-of) emulation of the old string machines of the 1970s, but it also

includes a formant filter, and three distinct chorus types—way more than just a

classic string machine. Definitely the most forward-thinking of the

bunch, Cypher is a three-oscillator synth that merges classic subtractive

synthesis and FM synthesis, and includes a great overdrive section

that really lets you drive the sound hard. Strobe is a mono-synth on

the surface, and its only oscillator is set up so that you can get chord

tones out of it with the Detune function. Fusor is the effect plug in.

These usually offer some kind of unique twist on each type.

What we found when we dove into these synths were three excellentsounding

analog modeling synths that inspire creativity with their look, feel,

and sound. Easy to edit and fun to program, DCAM really packs a big wallop

of a sound that is inspired by analog monsters from the days of old but also

incorporate digital techniques such as FM synthesis and advanced effects.

Some of the high points for us were the versatility, the modulation parameters,

and the fact that you can use each synth as an effects unit all by itself.

The beauty, warmth and fun of analogue with Cypher’s FM synthesis

gets pulled into the fray, a welcome addition to say the least.

If you are looking for strong analog-modeling synths, we highly

recommend the DCAM suite. Each synth has a firm grasp on today’s

technology, and the combination of old and new means you will never

have stale analog sounds in your productions again.


Read more equipment reviews at www.musicplayers.com/reviews

G Z A • U N K L E • B L A C K S H E E P • J O H N V A N D E R S L I C E

C U T E I S W H A T W E A I M F O R • E L I " P A P E R B O Y " R E E D

FRANKIE AND THE HEARTSTRINGS • ADAM HAWORTH STEPHENS

C U L T S • O B E R H O F E R • B A T H S • B L O O D R E D S H O E S

EXTRA LENS • THE BOGMEN • FRANCIS AND THE LIGHTS

SCREAMING FEMALES • FRANZ NICOLAY • WILD NOTHING

the deli's Pedal Board

T-rex

room-Mate

Tube reverb

• Built-in 300-volt power

supply powers a tube that

adds voluminous, earthy

warmth reverb and

spacious true stereo.

• Four selectable signature

sounds: Spring, Room,

Hall and Chorus/Hall

(the latter works best with

acoustic guitar).

• Features mix and decay

knob that works also a

hi cut filter.

electro-Harmonix

Freeze

Sound retainer

• Delivers infinite sustain of any

note or chord at the press of a

momentary footswitch. Release

the footswitch and again you are

sample-ready.

• 3 selectable decay rates,

including a latch mode, guarantee

liquid smooth tonal transitions.

• Hooking it to your other pedals

opens up sonic collage possibilities.

• Handles input gains from

pedal boards.

Death By Audio

robot

• Low fidelity 8 bit pitch

transposer with absolutely

no feelings what-so-ever.

• Arpeggiator mode with

speed control!

• Control knob on the side

changes the pitch of the

effect to NORMAL, OCTAVE

DOWN, and OCTAVE UP

modes.

Heavy electronics

Grind Fuzz

• Fuzz/overdrive hybrid that

maintains note definition of

chords and arpeggios.

• Excellent impedance response

with Wahs.

•

“Swell” function adds high-end

gain and harmonics.

• Side-adjust voltage pot can be

adjusted to drop voltage.

the deli's Plug-in inserts

if you are interested in reviewing pedals

and plug-ins for The Deli and

Delicious Audio, please contact

delicious.editor@thedelimagazine.com.

Overloud SpringAge

• Based on a mix of convolution and algorithmic technology.

• Three spring models: 1. AQTX ideal for guitar and vocal tracks, 2. S201 keyboards,

synth or lead instrument., 3. ANGEL for drums or mastering.

• Drive control lets you push into saturation the tube stage which drives the spring.

• Boingy knob controls the spring response to transients.

UAD-2 eP-34 Tape echo

• Recreates the warm tape delay effects of

vintage Echoplex EP-3 and EP-4 units.

• Faithful to the original, also delivers

chaotic Echoplex sound, “warts and all.”

• Unique movable record head design

creates warm, rich sound.

• Runs exclusively with Universal Audio’s

UAD-2 DSP Accelerator Cards.


2C Audio Aether

• Claims to rival the best hardware

reverb units available.

• 2x & 4x Oversampling, Double

Precision 64bit DSP.

• Lush sounding, each reverb aspect

can be modified.

• Two simple modulation controls add

random LFO modulations in the Late

Reflections section.

Audiodamage Axon

• FM plug-in instrument that triggers 7

percussion-tuned FM voices.

• Easily creates original rhythms and

textural patterns.

• Features on-board effects and mixing,

and full MIDI I/O capabilities (in the VST

version only).

• Gets away from grid pattern generation

and to allows creation of longer, less

repetitive rhythm patterns.

gran street

R E C O R D I N G

A musician-owned and operated

recording studio in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

—

Neve, API, Calrec, AKG,

Neumann, RCA, and many vintage

instruments and amps

718.360.9355 | grandstreetrecording.com


kitchen best selling gear

CONDENSER MICS

MXL 4000 -$199

AUDIO-TECHNICA AT2020 -$150

SHURE SM7B -$399

MXL R144 RIBBON -$150

NEWMANN TLM 102 -$800

AKG PERCEPTION 420 -$350

INSTRUMENT PLUG INS

TOONTRACK DFH EZ DRUMMER -$179

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE -$559

STEVEN SLATE DRUMS EX -$199

SPECTRASONICS OMNISPHERE -$499

WAVEMACHINE LABS DRUMAGOG -$269

FXPANSION D-CAM SYNTH SQUAD -$350

PITCH SHIFTING PEDALS

ELECTRO HARMONIX POG -FROM $280

MORPHEUS DROPTUNE -$260

DIGITECH WHAMMY -$250

BOSS OC-3 -$184

MXR M-103 BLUE BOX -$126

PIGTRONIX MOTHERSHIP -$650

PORTABLE

SYNTH KEYS

KORG MICROKORG -$500

ROLAND GAIA SH-01 -$800

ALESIS MICRON -$399

MOOG LITTLE PHATTY -$1,395

DAVE SMITH INSTRUMENTS MOPHO -$879

ROLAND LUCINA AX-09 -$599

POWERED

STUDIO MONITORS

M-AUDIO STUDIOPHILE -$199

KRK ROKIT POWERED -$199

YAMAHA HS80M -$399

MACKIE MR5 -$150

JBL LSR 4328P -1,850

ADAM AUDIO A5 -$769

LOOPER PEDALS

BOSS RC-2 & RC200XL -FROM $300

DIGITECH JAMMAN -FROM $300

ELECTRO-HARMONIX 2880 -$150

AKAI E2 HEADRUSH -$200

ANALOGUEHAVEN

MIKE’S SALTY ROMANCE EXPLOSION -$150

PLUSH VERBRATOR -$350

DAWS

AVID PRO TOOLS -FROM $299

SONAR CAKEWALK -FROM $250

PROPELLERHEAD RECORD+REASON -$450

ABLETON LIVE -FROM $99

APPLE LOGIC STUDIO -FROM $199

STEINBERG CUBASE -$150

PORTABLE

AUDIO INTERFACE

DIGIDESIGN MBOX2 MINI -$349

M-AUDIO FAST TRACK MKII -$139

LINE6 POD STUDIO UX2 -$280

APOGEE DUET -$495

CAKEWALK UA-25EX -$299

PRESONUS FIRESTUDIO MOBILE -$350

SINGLE/DUAL MIC PREAMPS

ART PRO -$250

GOLDEN AGE PRE-73 -$350

FOCUSRITE ISA ONE -$600

M-AUDIO DMP3 -$199

UNIVERSAL AUDIO 6176 -$2,500

MANLEY VOXBOX -$3,600

Check out the deli’s

audio equipment blog!

EFFECT PLUG INS

LINE6 POD FARM -$140

ANTARES AUTO TUNE -$499

BBE SONIC SWEET SUITE -$145

WAVES PLATINUM BUNDLE -$2,500

IK MULTIMEDIA AMPLITUBE -$350

MCDSP RETRO PACK -$495

*Prices may vary

www.delicious-audio.com


INDIE

BANDS &

SONGWRITERS

WHAT’S THE POINT

OF MUSIC CHARTS

IF THEY AREN’T

RIGHT???

the deli


SIGN UP FOR FREE @

www.thedelimagazine.com/signup

Many websites for musicians feature music charts that are limited to their subscribers. What’s the point of that?

The Deli charts include ALL the big names of your scene, and they are organized in detailed regions and

genres, including Alt Rock, Indie, Country, Electronica, Songwriters, Indie Pop, Post Punk,

Alt Folk and many more, to allow you to find the right niche for your music.

here - The Deli

Do you know the secret to free website traffic?

Delete template?

Save as template?