Close your eyes and you might drift away in the cloudy soundscape of “Boomcan,” a song lifted from Pours' self-titled debut LP. On the track, the Vermont duo crafts its own sound by combining chillwave synths, live drums and synth hooks that wouldn’t be out of place in Kid Cudi’s best work. The song was released to Bandcamp on June 25 alongside the similarly trippy, unpredictable “Carry the Oar.” The band is currently crossing the country on tour, but stay tuned to its Facebook page to find out when you can see them next. – Jake Reed (@jakejreed)

Needless to say, life in Vermont flows at a different pace than in NYC. That's why all New Yorkers interested in hanging on to their mental sanity should spend a few weeks a year in Vermont. But if, like us, you can afford no vacation, music from that land can offer some form of relief. Burlington's Alpenglow play beautiful, acoustic pastoral folk that's so detached from the metropolitan lifestyle it almost sounds unreal - and so looks the video for single 'Brothers in Crime' (streaming). Against any logical reasoning, they recently relocated to Brooklyn, and announced the release of the 'Chapel' EP. Even just the titles of their songs ('Catskills,' 'Solitude,' 'Fields,' 'Old Country') sound exactly like what your average stressed out New Yorker needs. I guess we'll see in the next few months how this city affects the musical output of a band accustomed to a completely different lifestyle! Give yourself a break and see them at Baby's All Right on 07.13 with likeminded Brookynite Lapland.

On a Friday night of December 2004, at Manhattan venue Sin-e' in Attorney Street, an emerging NYC band with a home recorded debut album played The Deli's launch party. It was a packed crowd and everyone was holding the first issue of The Deli, whose cover these upstarts were gracing. That band was Grizzly Bear. It remains one of the most exciting nights of my life, the night I understood that this magazine had a shot at being here to stay.

Now, this ten-year anniversary issue hopes to be a(nother) celebration of this great scene, in a less cluttered, more narratorial and visually appealing form thanks to art critic Brian Chidester's work as a guest editor. This issue also comes with my deep hope for NYC to keep churning out exceptional music of all kinds for the foreseeable future.

FIND THE PAPER ISSUE OF THE DELI IN MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN, READ IT IN PDF HERE, OR BUY IT HERE FOR JUST $5.

Paolo De Gregorio,
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

The cover of the 1st Issue of The Deli (December 2004)

Burlington’s The Vacant Lots recently unveiled “Mad Mary Jones,” the crunchy psych rock delight that previews their upcoming full-length debut Departure, due for release on July 1. The song kicks off with a persistent bass line before gritty guitars and sunny synths enter the mix, culminating with the song’s titular hook that falls somewhere between spoken and sung. Listen to the song below or check out its trippy video at The 405. – Jake Reed, @jakejreed