This month Barrio Manouche released their newest single, “El Joven” and the song is another fantastic hit. With "El Joven," Barrio Manouche does what they do best: invigorating Spanish gypsy jazz all with beautiful backing, from trumpets to the cajón, lots of sax, beautiful guitar work, and plenty of reason to get up and dance. Check out their video and go see them in San Francisco April 13th or 20th at Club Deluxe, and April 26th at The Chapel! – Lucille Faulkner

On April 5th, LOUIZA releases her sophomore album Swim at Night, recorded with producer James Riotto (The Mountain Goats, tUnE-yArDs, Ezra Furman) at Oakland’s Tiny Telephone. The Deli is pleased to premiere the sweet, folk-jazzy single “Roll Your Eyes.”

Swim at Night is a blend of folk, jazz, electropop and art rock. When asked about that last genre, LOUIZA’s Rebecca Mimiaga says the name allows for more experimentation. “When I think of rock, it’s so expansive…my music isn’t rock but it isn’t jazz either; it’s this total blend of all these things and I want to keep this project in the vain of ‘experimentation.’ [On this album] …everything is more experimental [than the last]–the harmonies, everything.”

On the creation of the album itself, Mimiaga says she wants to give credit where credit is absolutely due. “With this album I’d come in with the song and a sort of mood board for what I wanted the song to be like, and Jaime (Riotto), would help determine what kind of synth sound to create. We have a lot in common sonically and he really helped determine the soundscape on the album. As for the musicians, I rarely tell them what to play, I want them to bring their own musical interest and influence to the album.” Tracks are refreshingly varied, from folk poppy rock to fantastic, horn-infused hip-hop jazz. Swim at Night is an exciting journey we recommend taking. Give it a listen and go see LOUIZA at Rickshaw Stop on April 18th for the album release show. Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Tim Bluhm (of The Mother Hips) is set to release his new solo project, Sorta Surviving on the 29th of March. The album was recorded and mixed at the forty year old Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, TN and was produced by Widespread Panic bassist & founding member, Dave Schools. The single “Where I Parked My Mind” is a solid, warm country introduction to the album: that two-step baseline, the steel guitar, lovely harmonizing and some familiar country themes: working hard, feeling tired, loving and losing. You can feel the production quality in the song’s bones and the richness and purity in Bluhm’s vocals. Sorta Surviving introduces some new songs and reimagines some classics.

The video for the song is interesting: it’s old country meets social media, where a bunch of young ladies phone-film themselves dancing around Bluhm, who is leaning on a liquor store strumming his guitar with a Jeff Bridges vibe (bless you both). Come on down this Friday to The Chapel for this record release show. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

It’s refreshing to find a band so hard to describe. Hello Yello’s debut EP, Love Wins, is rock n roll and it’s punk; it’s hip hop and it’s soul; it’s touched with pop and straight punk rock. Track “Without Me” starts with distorted, Hendrix-esq guitar work that pans trippily across your speakers then opens into emo-rock and surprisingly into thrashing punk. “Feel That Again” mixes poppy hip hop with a pure, emo vibe (even purer is the music video). 

They’ve got a touch of the Lenny Kravitz (ever heard his B sides?), are like a cooler version of Evanescence, and to be blunt: they just have something really likeable about them. They’re young, talentful, creative, and they’ve got heart. Hello Yello is Dylan (22, vocals and guitar), his younger brother Jaden (20, bass) and their friend Martin (20, drums). Come see them at The New Parish on April 11th. – Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Photo credit Julian Burgueno  

There’s a purity in The Fixins’ latest EP, Screens, Greens and Flying Machines. Tracks have a beachy folk rock feeling that are like a Jack Johnson-Neutral Milk Hotel hybrid but with more country feel-good vibes. Track “Dropping Bombs” has a sweet melody and lovely plucking for such a political song, which is perhaps why it’s effective. It’s not in your face–nor is the rest of the album. “Can’t Find a Reason” has a classic country baseline with a nice melody and some softer beach rock. The EP’s sweetest track is the last, “Same Old Story,” which closes out the EP with a quieter folk-pop lullaby and a guitar solo done nice n fine. Catch them at Neck of the Woods on April 6. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Sun Kil Moon’s latest release, I Also Want to Die in New Orleans (Caldo Verde Records) has singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek’s signature talk-singing style, like a Bill Callahan but with more of swaying, touch-of-blues rock and string-plucking country moments, and if you can imagine, more cocky. Tracks are embedded with Kozelek’s at times judgemental frustrations around San Francisco transplants and the general state of things in our country. Song “Day in America” is a very straight telling of Kozelek’s experience learning of the Parkland shooting; “I’m Not Laughing at You” is full of quotes of conversations Kozelek has had with frustrated people over the last 26 years. The most musically musical track on the album is “Couch Potato,” which has tidbits of all the disappointing ways in which newcomers don’t appreciate the natural beauty of San Francisco. Track “Bay of Kotor” includes distressing animal cries and concludes the album with a strange taste in our mouths. Take a listen on Spotify, (he’s not released any freshies in Bandcamp or Soundcloud) then refresh yourself outside with a long walk. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

The “Are You With It” showcase, presented by Makings, is coming up at Cornerstone the 30th of March and it’s getting quite the local buzz. Makings is a music and artist advocacy group founded by Austin Prince and his manager, Kara McCall. Makings is all about helping promote Bay Area musicians who might not yet have a huge name or representation. The “Are You With It?” series does just that.

Says Austin Prince, “There’s no genres; we’re not trying to put on a big clubby scene or something where you have to know people to get in a set. You just have to be musicians who have talent and the passion to perform. We’re all about making those connections within our communities, at these shows. We want to help less-exposed artists find their footing and get their music out there.” So who’s on feature at this month’s Are You With It? A lot of funk, sassy R&B, and a touch of poppy indie rock, all brought to you by Madi Sipes & the Painted Blue, Trace Repeat & Cereus Bloom and–back by popular demand and fan’s insistence–Austin Prince. To honor Mr. Prince, check out his charming new music video featuring a skateboarding bird. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Distant Mountains released their latest album Stationed Lockstep on March 1, the first full-length album the band self-engineered and self-produced (Light Rail Studios, San Francisco). Well they’ve done a fine job. The album as a whole is a breathing piece; songs fade and blend into each other with seamless mixing and a refreshing blend of experimental, alternative rock that might please fans of Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Track “Look Back” is an opening song with the epic quality of early Arcade Fire and has some clever-funny lyrical and vocal moments. Enjoy that deep warble for a second there. Our recommendation is to hold out for Side 2: tracks “Expensive Taste,” “Solstice,” and “Junipero” blend together with a seamless spacey quality. Distant Mountains is Paul McCorkle, Scott Lord, and Ben Manning. Stay tuned into their sites for upcoming shows. – Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

After a year of tribulations, Nate Salman of Waterstrider, poured heavy energies into his newest EP, The Way Out, on 30th Century Records. The result is a warlockian, mesmerizing blend of songs that have the surreal quality of our beloved Enya but with a Julien Ehrlich falsetto and dark, poppy synths. The single “Breed” is melancholy but hopeful. Lines like “Farewell to secrets/I’ll never keep them” are sung with a pure earnestness and are serenaded by keys with an airy, forestlike quality. This experimental, futuristic collection brings Waterstrider into a new realm. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

M. Lockwood Porter’s single off his forthcoming EP, Communion In The Ashes (out March 29, 2019) is a what a good folk-Americana song is supposed to be: it’s solid folksy rock infused with cultural heritage and the frustrations of our roots. Think Mountain Goats and Neutral Milk Hotel met the passion of There Will be Blood’s Eli–but less creepy, less religiously obsessed. After teaching in San Francisco for over a decade, Porter’s songwriting began to really reflect what he saw. He writes of the frustration of gentrification, of the sometimes heartless culture of change. In his own words, “The tech boom of the last 10 years has totally transformed the whole Bay Area and essentially made it a playground for the rich…Working-class folks and artists aren’t welcome there anymore and this has manifested in rising housing costs, closure of music venues, and the proliferation of homeless tent cities.” His album is an angry-beautiful homage to the people of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley. Give this song a listen, stay tuned for the full EP, and catch him at Amnesia on April 19. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Oakland’s own SPELLLING released her sophomoric album, Mazy Fly last month and it’s full of vampiric vibes and haunting lyrics. Tracks are somewhere between dark synth pop and experimental R&B, with wild noise clips of flies and whispers, spaceships and flying saucers. Chrystia Cabral, the woman behind SPELLLING, says she wants to evoke the disturbing feels of colonial violence “…that haunt the historical slave ship routes of the Middle Passage.” When you listen with that in mind, tracks take an even darker leap and plunge the listeners into reflection and emotion. – Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

We’re happy to report that Oakland’s own Rex Ruit will be playing at The Starline Social Club this Thursday the 28th as part of Noise Pop. Tracks like “Vertigo” and “South” give this rocky post-punk album a lighter feel. Lovely guitar melodies blend with vocals that come in and out of clarity and really push this album into an almost dream-pop beachy realm while still keeping that alternative feel the band is known for. They’ll be part of a pretty killer lineup: Black Marble, Spiritual Cramp and Shutups at one of our favorite venues. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor