After a copious amount of listening to music, emails, data entry and simple math, we finally have the overall results of The Deli’s Best of Philly 2011 Poll for Emerging Artists.
Congrats to Creepoid for taking home the honors this year! After placing third last year in our poll on the strength of their impressive debut EP Yellow Life Giver and buzzworthy live performances, it might not have been hard to predict for some that the grunge-y psych folk four-piece would be found at the top of our list, especially after they kicked off 2011 with the much-loved full-length Horse Heaven, were handpicked by R5’s Sean Agnew to be recorded and filmed in their own episode of Weathervane Music & WXPN’s “Shaking Through,” and featured on NPR’s “World Café: Next” as well as numerous other memorable moments throughout the year. It is easy to understand how the band received a record amount of votes from our jury of Philly music lovers and scene makers to nail down the victory from the early stages of the poll. (Creepoid Photo by Michael James Murray)
Kudos, also go out to the prolific smooth-fi/sedative-wave outfit Work Drugs for snagging the runner-up spot in this year’s poll! The band has been captivating the interweb with their seductive sounds and dreamy videos right out of the gate, which has led to the duo of Benjamin Louisiana and Thomas Crystal needing to put a live band together after receiving an invitation to hit the road with Two Door Cinema Club in their infancy. Having only been around a little more than a year, you can expect to hear more from Work Drugs in 2012 as they continue their mission of “dancing, boating, yachting, sexting and living.” They’ll be doing weekend run next week opening for Umphrey’s McGee, which will be making a stop at the Electric Factory on Saturday, February 11.
And we can’t forget about the badass monster jams of noisy psychedelic garage rockers Purling Hiss, who placed third in this year’s competition. Mike Polizze, Kiel Everett and Mike Sneeringer continue to impress audiences the old fashion way - by bringing the heat every night. Their fearless, reckless abandon on stage is a good reason why the Hiss has been signed by such well-respected indie labels and booked to tour with many stellar acts. They are currently on the road right now with hometown faves Dr. Dog. (Purling Hiss Photo by Tim Bugbee).
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Please take a moment and check out the rest of our list below. We hope that you discover your next favorite artist.
BAND
J
W
F
OS
TOTAL
1
Creepoid
14
2
0.008
16.008
2
Work Drugs
6
1
0.004
2
9.004
3
Purling Hiss
5
2
0.01
7.01
4
Buried Beds
6
1
0.007
7.007
5
Slutever
4
3
0.005
7.005
6
The Extraordinaires
6
1
0.004
7.004
7
Psychic Teens
5
1
0.078
6.078
8
Lushlife
3
3
0.013
6.013
9
Break It Up
6
0.012
6.012
10
Leather
5
1
0.006
6.006
11
Lantern
5
1
0.002
6.002
12
Far-Out Fangtooth
3
2
0.025
5.025
13
Cheers Elephant
5
0.016
5.016
14
Toy Soldiers
5
0.005
5.005
15
Asaad
2
3
5
16
Sickoids
4
0.028
4.028
17
Nothing
4
0.021
4.021
18
Dangerous Ponies
2
2
0.011
4.011
19
Arc In Round
4
0.006
4.006
20
On the Water
2
2
0.004
4.004
21
The Homophones
2
2
0.001
4.001
22
Kalob Griffin Band
3
1
4
23
Pet Milk
3
1
0
4
24
True Gold
3
0.07
3.07
25
Vintage Kicks
0.046
3
3.046
26
The Bailey Hounds
3
0.045
3.045
27
Sunny Ali & The Kid
1
2
0.022
3.022
28
Nicos Gun
3
0.016
3.016
29
Arches
2
1
0.008
3.008
30
Te V Smith
3
0.008
3.008
31
Blood Feathers
3
0.006
3.006
32
Instamatic
3
0.004
3.004
33
Oh! Pears
3
0.004
3.004
34
The Kominas
3
0.003
3.003
35
Grandchildren
3
0.002
3.002
36
Great View of the Moon
2
1
3
37
The Thangs
3
0
3
38
Chipocrite
1.5
1
2.5
39
Steph Hayes & the Good Problem
2
0.055
2.055
40
Catnaps
2
0.012
2.012
41
Penrose
1
0.011
1
2.011
42
Norwegian Arms
2
0.01
2.01
43
The Sea Around Us
2
0.01
2.01
44
The Sniffles
1
1
0.008
2.008
45
Cough Cool
2
0.006
2.006
46
CSLSX
1
1
0.005
2.005
47
Drgn King
2
0.005
2.005
48
Hop Along
1
1
0.004
2.004
49
Brown Recluse
2
0.002
2.002
50
Royal Shoals
2
0.001
2.001
51
Hair Rocket
1
1
0
2
52
Delta Drift
0.013
1.5
1.513
53
Adobayondei
0.01
1.5
1.51
54
Ryat
0.009
1.5
1.509
55
Banned Books
1
0.5
1.5
56
Delewhale
0
1.5
1.5
.57
Tamarin
0.061
1.25
1.311
58.
Levee Drivers
0.073
1
1.073
59.
Shorty Boy-boy
0.063
1
1.063
60.
Nick Millevoi
1
0.047
1.047
61.
Psychedelphia
1
0.047
1.047
62.
Cannons
0.03
1
1.03
63.
Prowler
1
0.02
1.02
64.
Turning Violet Violet
1
0.011
1.011
65.
The Heat Run
0.008
1
1.008
66.
Ladies Auxiliary
0.004
1
1.004
67.
Inzinzac
1
0.003
1.003
68.
Restoration
0.003
1
1.003
69.
Carmen
1
0.002
1.002
70.
ECOMOG
0.001
1
1.001
71.
White Birds
1
0.001
1.001
72.
Plum Dragoness and The Elements
1
0
1
73.
Summer Fiction
1
0
1
Legend: J = Jury - OS = Open Submissions -
W = Deli Writers - F = Fans
Special thanks to this year’s Deli poll jurors (listed below), writers, readers, and all the artists and their fans who participated - YOU ROCK! We wouldn't have been able to do this without you.
List of Jurors: Grace Ambrose (No Wavelength), Kate Bracaglia (The A.V. Club, XPN2, Phrequency/Philly.com), Abigail Bruley (Freelance Music Writer), Kyle Costill (BITBY), Mikele Edwards (Silk City), Gavin Hecker (PhilaMOCA), Ellei Johndro (Shadowscene), Leah Kauffman (Phrequency/Philly.com), Kevin Kennedy (The Swollen Fox), Josh T. Landow (Y-Not Radio), Brian McTear (Weathervane Music), Jeff Meyers (Kung Fu Necktie), George Miller (JUMP Philly), Brandee Nichols (Philly Mostly Vegan), Chris Perella (The Blockley), Gina Rienzi (The Rotunda), Rachel Russell (Pilam), Mark Schoneveld (YVYNYL), Stephanie Seiple (Tri-State Indie), Elliott Sharp (Philadelphia Weekly, Prefix, Tiny Mix Tapes, Metro), Sara Sherr (Sugar Town, The Philadelphia Inquirer), Cliff Shumaker (Phonographic Arts Philadelphia), Jon Solomon (WPRB), Q.D. Tran (The Deli Magazine), John Vettese (XPN2, The Key, City Paper), Chris Ward (Johnny Brenda’s), Bruce Warren (XPN, Some Velvet Blog, The Key), Emma Zumberge (The World in a Paper Cup).
Lushlife, a.k.a. Raj Haldar, has been dropping mixtapes since 2005, when he released his debut entitled West Sounds, which was a mashup of The Beach Boy’s classic Pet Sounds and Kanye West’s College Dropout and Late Registration as well as his own verses. On his first label release Plateau Vision (Western Vinyl), Lush continues to develop his eclectic style, combining ‘60s psychedelic, experimental indie and golden era hip hop sounds to create the grandiose, maximalist soundscape beats that he rhymes over.
With his latest LP, Lush establishes himself as a unique artist who is able to take influences from various genres, sounds and eras of music to develop a completely original style that has one foot in classic hip hop and the other through the doorway of the future. This distinctive style is displayed immediately on the album’s opener “Magnolia.” The track combines a beautiful harp sample over a hard boom bap beat with lyrics that reference composer Burt Bacharach, the graffiti culture of Wild Style, Citizen Kane’s Xanadu and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” through his gritty Nas-esque vocal delivery. In “Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins,” which features Das Racists’ Heems, Haldar references his technique as “half-Delorean, half-rap historian.”
Plateau Vision boasts an impressive guest list of artists including Andrew Cedermark (Titus Andronicus), Styles P and Shad amongst others, but Lushlife always shines through as both an emcee and a producer. The first feature comes from Styles P (famous for his work with ‘90s hip hop crew LOX) on “Still Hear The Word Progress,” one of the LP’s standout tracks. Lushlife trades bars back and forth with the iconic emcee at a furious pace without losing a step over a dense synth and 8-bit beat. Towards the halfway point of the album, Lush shines brightly with fellow Philly emcee and former Atlanta native STS on “Glistening,” and he hands over the mic on “Gymnopedie 1.2” to critically acclaimed Canadian emcee Shad while crafting one of the most interesting beats on the Plateau Vision by sampling one of 20th century French composer/pianist Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedies,” which fades out under a clip from Busy Bee and Kool Moe Dee’s classic emcee battle, tying Haldar’s classical and jazz upbringing with his “fetish” for golden era hip hop culture.
Lushlife is definitely one of the most interesting artists in hip hop today. He continues to push the genre’s boundaries with his production while remaining true to its culture through his vocal delivery and preservation of its history throughout his lyrics. Plateau Vision is available for streaming HERE, and you can purchase the album via Western Vinyl. - Dan Brightcliffe
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