It was a tight race, but thanks to a major last minute push, the close of the polls on our most recent Artist of the Month contest saw beatmaker Artificial Earth Machine take home the victory comfortably. While all of our artists were worthy of the nod, it's a well-deserved win by AEM, who rode into first place in large part due to the damned good new album he's just released, called Biosphere Simulator.

As you might guess from the name of both artist and album, AEM's music has a strong current of scifi running through it, full of weird sounds that sound like they were recorded straight from alien sources. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if AEM claimed to be piping the inspiration for this starmusic straight from another corner of the universe through some sort of musical telepathic pipeline, taking in the weird signals and processing them through a beatmaker’s mind. That last part is what elevates this music to truly impressive heights of goodness; AEM corrals all of the weird, space chaos through an obviously keen head for song structure. The repetitiveness and rigidity of hip-hop and other beats provide the perfect counterbalance for all of the odd sounds from the outer reaches, and the result is instant grin-inducing. It’s the perfect music to put on while watching a space documentary or a film like “Aliens” or “Sunshine” on mute, and it’d be even better for soundtracking a stoned solo trip to the planetarium (an activity we highly recommend).

In addition to this solid, thoroughly enjoyable album of space songs, many of you who voted AEM into the winner’s spot made note of the musician’s live show as a major reason you gave him your vote, or as poster “aa” put it, “amazing live and is like a magical synth spa for your brain.” That show (you can watch a bit of it from a few years ago below) features AEM bathed in a sea of projected colorscapes, with just the man, his beatmachines and a mic producing these many-layered, highly thought-out tracks. That he does use a mic is one thing that separates AEM from much of the beat scene, especially here in Austin, where the tendency is mostly to use pre-recorded vocals by someone other than the artist in live shows, or to use none at all. AEM’s aesthetic is made even more unique by not shying away from injecting his own equally alien live vocals into his spacey beats, and it makes for quite an arresting live experience.

In all, Biosphere Simulator is a thoroughly excellent nearly mid-year album and one of the best so far in 2015 from the musicmakers of the city. You can listen to the whole thing here, and we’d like to beam out a heartfelt congrats to Artificial Earth Machine from our communications array at Space Station Deli. Stellar stuff, in every meaning of the word.

Electronic rhythm, electric guitars, eclectic groove. Altogether lightning and extremely striking. Doomsquad brings together digital ambience, with velvet-smooth melodies and a serious funk. Three siblings and a metric ton of musical talent. Their new EP ”Pageantry Suite” contains some tunes that are good for getting around, getting down, or just kicking back and learning all the layers and nuances that are hidden within. Two Way Mirror is reminiscent of the B52’s over a crispy-cool baseline and light drone-pop percussion. The half shout lead made vocals relay a sincere sense of urgency and frustration, and the new-wave vogue in the female leads serve as a perfect counterweight. Apocalypso recalls Talking Heads, with a wave of ambience sitting behind a perfectly subdued minimalist rhythm. The accenting, effect-laden guitar lines recall both disco and a relaxing island calypso, like a dream sequence during the rapture. Ice Storm opens with a sustaining organ and tribal-sounding drums, to the tempo of a slow trudge through a frozen tundra. The tension builds with each element added, bringing dissonance and space, drops it off at the midway point, and does it all over again in a completely different tone for an extended cataclysmic groove that seems to carry on forever, and you’ll enjoy every savoury bit. Though there is so much going on throughout the record, it never feels dense or forced, and every swell, chord and synth feels essential, organs keeping a body alive.-Cody Wright

The Bay Area based band, Survival Guide, whose music falls somewhere between indie rock and electronic music, touched with descriptive, storytelling lyrics and strong vocals is giving The Deli SF the lovely opportunity to stream their brand new debut album, Way To Go! Musician Emily Whitehurst, who has recently been featured in the Deli as a collaborator on the Bay Area singer/songwriter Travis Hayes' recent EP, is making strides of her own as vocalist and keyboardist of Survival Guide.

The album is brave and paints broad brush strokes of electronic, pulsing instrumental overtures and heavy beats. Way to Go goes on the fringe of alternative music to share a melting pot of disco, pop and indie rock genre influences. The music is exciting because the band clearly has no regard for what's happening on the radio or even in the local clubs.

You can celebrate the release of the Way To Go at Neck of the Woods:
5/22 - San Francisco, CA @ Neck of the Woods (Album Release Show)

"I am excited, relieved and proud to be releasing this full-length record. In a music world where there's so much emphasis on the individual song, I truly believe in the importance of a collection of music that's pieced together artfully to convey a journey of emotions. I've experienced nearly every emotion in the making of this record, and I hope it shows.” - Emily Whitehurst

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Walking in to Mississippi Studios last Sunday, it felt like the three band pairing of Cambrian Explosion, Jackson Boone and Wishyunu would be a strange one. Based on their recordings, it appeared that there was very little to tie all the music together aside from the fact that each band identified with psych music in some way. What seemed to be an evening of mismatched artists turned out to be an ideal sampler of all the variations that psych-rock can take. 

Cambrian Explosion played first, their set a dark dreamscape. Members of Cambrian Explosion appeared introspective on stage, incredibly invested in the music, which didn’t leave the audience with much to look at. However, the intricacy and unpredictability of the music gave the audience plenty to focus on: songs exploding surprisingly into sound, heavy distortion, and instruments blended so expertly it was difficult to decipher who was playing which part.  

Playing second was Jackson Boone whose take on psych is both dreamy and jazzy. Their set seemed like a fitting middle-ground between the dark vibes of Cambrian Explosion and the more pop-centric focus of Wishyunu. Jackson Boone’s specialty seems to be creating psych-pop lullabies that develop quietly into full psych-rock cacophony. “Open” was decidedly the most experimental song they played, straying away from the easy rhythms and soft melodies comprising most of their set. The crowd was receptive and seemed more willing to nod their heads along as the night progressed.

Wishyunu’s set started with some technical difficulty, probably in part because the duo is so busy on stage, with Bei Yan filling the role of guitarist, synth-player, and vocalist. As Yan sorted out her issues on stage, dropping in an out of sound, drummer Tony Bertaccini remained solid on the drums, helping the audience stay engaged as they waited. Wishyunu’s songs are progressive, layering beat on top of beat and then dreamily disintegrating melodies into new ones, catchy hooks giving way to unexpected drum fills. The energy of their set was frenetic, unlike Cambrian Explosion or Jackson Boone, their music made your blood move faster, catapulting you forward with them as they played.

Their new single “Photoplay” is a dark electro-pop song that seemed to show a new direction for the band, less ambient than their older songs and more driven. The other song off of their 7-inch, “Summer Suit” was ethereal and focused, especially compared to the older songs they played surrounding their new releases, again proving that Wishyunu has started refining their vision and sound. You can catch them next in Portland on June 21st at the Holocene. 

-Sarah Eaton

Photos by Lena Knofler

Horsehands’ latest creation, Pissing Rain, runs the sound spectrum from straight-up punk to electro-infused jams--and that’s just in the first two minutes of the EP. The vocals are reminiscent of some bizarre Bowie/Krill collaboration, which, after thinking about it for awhile, would be one hell of an idea. “Yon” was definitely my favorite of the songs--hard, fast guitarwork, complete with some pop-punk palm mutes and a bridge that seems to take off into the stratosphere before abruptly grabbing you by the collar and yanking you back into the mosh pit. I also appreciated the strategic placement of the synths/keys in songs like “Dinner Time!”--they provide well-timed accents, elevating the sound of the songs without overpowering the rest of the music.

If you’re itchin’ to get a physical copy of Pissing Rain, the band will be celebrating their tape release show on May 9th at Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA. For more info about the event, click here.

-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)