We've tallied the results for the Open Submissions stage of our KC Area Year End Poll for Emerging Artists. All of the submissions were ranked by Deli Editors from other scenes, and the list of acts that have advanced to our Readers’/Fans’ Poll phase are below. We will also be releasing the list of nominees chosen by our local "scene expert" jurors very soon. 

Thanks to all of the talented artists who submitted their music to us. We hope to have a larger pool of entries next year!

Total submissions from the KC area scene: 32

Qualified to the final phase of the Best of Kansas City Poll:

1. Man Bear – 7.8 (out of 10)
2. We Are Voices – 7.5
3. Gentleman Savage – 7.5
4. Gemini Revolution – 7.3
5. The Elders – 7.3
6. Making Movies – 7.2
7. Attic Wolves – 7.2

Honorable Mentions: Hipshot Killer, The Empty Spaces, Dream Wolf, Radkey, Dollar Fox

Jurors: Dawn Reed (Deli Washington DC), Gracie Gutman (Deli SF), Paolo De Gregorio (Deli NYC).  

The Deli Staff

Share this story on Facebook 

(Photo of Everyday/Everynight)

More often than not, a bill of diverse acts just doesn’t work. When you're a show promoter, you typically don't set up a group of guylined cock rockers with a charming folk duo. 

--Michelle Bacon

Share this story on Facebook

Every time I try to review this album, I get distracted by something shiny. It’s like my mind goes on a little “this one time, at band camp …” journey to some weird place where I have fierce opinions on those that demand I wear shoes and the only important thing to me is contemplating if my head could fit inside the Styrofoam cup I’m drinking from. I’m pretty sure I’d make it, but my face contends otherwise. This argument goes on for at least twenty-five minutes before I remember I was intently listening to a new album. Fortunately for me, this is the perfect music for that sort of thing.

My new found ADHD aside, Gemini Revolution is an LP from Gemini Revolution, a psychedelic KC jazz rock outfit. I had originally heard the material in the form of two separate EPs, but it comes across as a much stronger effort in the full album form. Whereas in shorter doses it was difficult to determine which direction this group was going in, the album provides a perfect layout of its style. Oceans of swirling synthesizers crash amongst the sparse jazzy rhythm section. Along comes the occasional island of sandy white vocals, reverberating near and far in the high-sky sun, but soon once again you are left swimming in the moody psychedelic depths.

The songs seem very loose form at first listen, bordering absent-minded at times, often extending into seemingly bottomless jams, but start to exude consistent melody and intent as you go deeper down the rabbit hole. Whereas trends in pop music usually dictate a song lives or dies by its beat and vocals, Gemini Revolution seems to take pride in the fact it uses both of those things as just another tool in the box.

The opening track features the strongest sense of songwriting and vocal variety. The female background "ahs" provide a soothing and serene balance to the almost-too-harshly-reverbed main vocal. This song features the most accessible hook on the record and is passed effortlessly amongst the various instrumentation. The song trails out with a well orchestrated guitar/keyboard outro that leaves a pleasant pop taste in your mouth.

Another standout is "Through the Woods." The vocals are reverbed to the point I can’t really understand them (and even my most skilled “Gemini Revolution lyrics” Google searches don’t turn anything up), but this song exudes an aura of adventure and exploration. It really hits home during the sections in which the female vocal teases back and forth with a lush collaboration of keyboards. These sections are probably my favorite moments from the entire record. This would be a great song to zone out to while enjoying a nice leisurely Sunday afternoon space flight, just throw your hair back and enjoy the solar flares.

All in all, Gemini Revolution really hammer home who they are with this effort. There are no pop pretenses here, no playbooks or rules they choose to follow. It is pure music exploration into the cosmos. Solid and unconfined.

Gemini Revolution is (L to R above):
Dedric Moore
Mika Tayana
Delaney Moore

Gemini Revolution's new self-titled album was released by Upstairs Recordings (Canada) and is now available on iTunes. The band will be performing at POP Montreal on Thursday, September 20. If you want to see them a little closer to home, they'll be playing at 7:00 pm Sunday, September 23 for the release of the local compilation CD from Midwest Music Foundation. Double CDs are free at the door. 

--Zach Hodson

Share this story on Facebook

“Can you picture the armada of Hello Kitty spaceships?” -Gen. Marsupial Takahashi

Someday, Japan is going to send people to Mars. It’s true. I’m pretty sure Gemini Revolution will provide the soundtrack while the astronauts will kick it during their long journey through space.

The Other Side of Yesterday EP is hacky sack music for Asian hipsters. It reeks of patchouli and mirin equally. This is the weird Asian record the Doors would have made had they lasted long enough. It’s kinda jammy, pretty psychedelic, and superbly spacey.

Gemini Revolution takes the Taj-Mahal Travelers playbook, cut out the boring extreme avant-garde randomness, and pop it up a bit. The slow building, eventually lush arrangements feature a mostly free-form rhythm section that provides enough randomness to contrast the layered cheap keyboards. The reverb-maxed vocals come and go sparingly, adding a textural component to music that is clearly focused on the other instrumentation.

The stand out of this EP is the title track “Other Side of Yesterday."  Reminiscent of Modest Mouse, the song goes through many variations of stripping down and being built back up. It also utilizes the vocals the best of any song in this batch, with a pleasant back and forth during the choruses. Mix in the melodic bass work, the Kenny G-esque saxophone keyboard doodling, and the random percussion introduced throughout, and you’re left with a song that tows the ADHD line, yet ends up accessible and groovy overall.

Some might say this sound is dated, but Gemini Revolution has a very specific thing they are going for. It is refreshing to hear a group of musicians just doing their thing, regardless of what is dictated by the musical trends around them.

 -Zach Hodson

Editor's note: Gemini Revolution released the follow-up EP to Other Side of Yesterday on June 14, entitled Sizuka. We'll have a review of this album to you very soon!