Oakland music producer Elephant & Castle (aka David Vincent Reep) recently released two videos for new tracks, “I Will” and “En Memoria” (featuring fellow Oakland darlings tUnE-YarDs), off his forthcoming album Transitions, out Tuesday, March 27 via Plug Research.

The nomadic, young producer traveled around Colorado, Texas, California and London, where he was inspired by the Elephant and Castle neighborhood’s blues and soul sound. After returning to the US, Reep became fascinated with rave music and started interning at a studio where he self-released a 7” of his own experimentations. Next he released the acclaimed Analogue EP, mastered by Daddy Kev, plus a bunch of singles available for streaming on Bandcamp. On Transitions, expect more jazz and ambient sounds similar to artists such as DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus and Burial.

— Amanda Dissinger

Elephant & Castle – En Memoria feat tUnE-YarDs from Plug Research on Vimeo.

San Francisco’s Siddhartha claim to be of the “dashiki shoegaze” genre. This isn’t another blog band buzz word–it’s a genre invented specifically by the group, for the group. While I’d be satisfied claiming them as a freak psych rock, dashiki shoegaze it is.

What does “dashiki shoegaze” mean exactly? My best guess is African inspired rock, rich with guitar pedal distortions. At least, Siddhartha’s “The Fire Next Time,” the first track from their upcoming LP IF IT DIE sounds like effect laden world rock. Download the mp3 here and if you like the dashiki effects, grab the full record out May 1st from Neurotic Yell Records.

-Justine Fields

SF electro-dream pop favorites Loquat are staging a semi-comeback with new album We Could be Arsonists, out April 24th digitally and May 1st physically via Nacional Records. The new album comes after a tumultuous few years of highs and lows for the band, with a complete lineup change as well as a new baby for lead singer and guitarist Kylee Swenson Gordon and her bandmate husband Anthony Gordon.

After their last release, Secrets of the Sea, the band fell upon hard times, eventually leading to two members leaving the band. The new lineup of Loquat now features keyboardist Chris Cooper, guitarist Chip Cosby, and drummer Jon Langmead, as well as a fresh perspective to performing and songwriting. We Could Be Arsonists features many songs that reflect the life changes for Swenson Gordon including “Seeds,” about her pregnancy, and “Monsters,” a song dedicated to her one year old son, Braxton.

The band is ready to reveal the new Loquat, starting with five shows at SXSW including the Deli Magazine’s party on March 15th at The Gypsy Lounge. SXSW dates are below and check out http://loquatmusic.com for more info and new music.

–Amanda Dissinger

Loquat @ SXSW:

THURSDAY, MARCH 15
Seagate booth; Austin, Convention Center; 500 East Cesar Chavez Street  Austin, TX 78701; 3:45 p.m.; acoustic

The Deli Magazine Un/Off party; The Gypsy Lounge; 1504 E 6th St., Austin, TX 78702; 8:20 p.m.

FRIDAY, MARCH 16
Nacional Records’ official SXSW showcase; Maggie Mae’s; 323 East 6th Street, Austin, TX 7870; 10 p.m.

SATURDAY, MARCH 17
Batter Blaster party; Hole in the Wall; 2538 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 78705; 12:45 p.m.

Quantum Collective party; Whole Foods rooftop; 525 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78703; 6:30 p.m.

SF’s soulful, 70s-esque rockers Sleepy Sun are set to have a big spring. The Northern California-born band, who crafts sprawling tracks reminiscent of Led Zepplin with an Americana edge, will release a new LP, Spine Hits, on April 10th as well as embark on a national spring tour and SXSW dates, listed below.

Following their past releases, Embrace and Fever, Spine Hits takes the eerie, yet familiar Sleepy Sun sound and makes it even catchier. First single “Stivey Pond” is lurking and creepy, like a road trip in the middle of a deserted desert; you don’t know what’s around the next corner and you’re bracing yourself.

Don’t miss the band of brothers as they kick off five shows at SXSW on March 14th or head to a city near you.

–Amanda Dissinger 

SXSW:

3/14 – Buffalo Billiards – Ache Ent Showcase – 10pm
3/15 – Spider house – Austin Psych Fest Day Party – 4pm
3/15 – Bat BAR – Leafy Green Showcase- 11pm
3/16 – Red Eye Fly – Noise Pop Day Party- 5pm
3/16 – Spider House – Panache Party – 9pm

Tour Dates:

03/12 – El Paso,TX – Low Brow Palace &
03/13 – San Antonio, TX – The Korvoa Basement &
03/18 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada – BRO FEST &
03/20 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
03/21 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
03/22 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
03/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
03/24 – Reno, NV – St. James Infirmary  w/ The Soft White Sixties
04/6 – Columbia, MO – Mojos
04/9 – Brooklyn, NY – Grasslands Gallery*
04/10 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge*
04/11 – Philadelphia, PA – North Star Bar*
04/12 – Boston, MA – Church of Boston*
04/13 – Burlington, VT – Monkey House*
04/14 – Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo*
04/15 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern*
04/16 – Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place*
04/17 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern*
04/18 – Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub*
04/19 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Garden Bowl
04/20 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean*
04/21 – St Louis, MO – Off Broadway Night Club*
04/22 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Conservatory*
04/24 – Austin, TX – Mohawk Austin*
04/25 – Houston, TX – Orange Show Center for Visionary Arts*
04/26 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia*
04/27 – Atlanta, GA – The 529*
04/28 – Raleigh, NC – Kings Barcade*
04/29 – Washington, DC – DC 9*

& w/ Crystal Antlers
* w/ White Hills

Andy Cabic, better know as alt folk outfit Vetiver, kicks off his West Coast tour tonight, March 8, at The New Parish in Oakland. Cabic draws inspiration for his hazy afternoon-listening folk from wandering the streets of SF’s sleepy Richmond District.

Fresh from his success at Sundance where his original score for film “Smashed,” a collaboration with Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats), received rave reviews, Vetiver also earned wide acclaim for last year’s album The Errant Charm on Sub Pop.

Catch Vetiver on tour this spring:

March 9 – Blue Lamp (Sacramento, CA) – Tickets

March 11 – Haven Underground (Nevada City, CA) – Tickets

March 13 – Seasons Performance Hall (Yakima, WA) – Tickets

March 14 – The Shakedown (Bellingham, WA) – Tickets

March 15 – Electric Owl (Vancouver, BC) – Tickets

March 16 – Logan’s Pub (Victoria, BC) – Tickets

March 17 – Columbia City Theater (Seattle, WA) – Tickets

March 18 – The Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR) – Tickets

–Whitney Phaneuf

San Francisco’s best lady rapper, K. Flay, is about to make the rounds, so get your calendar ready. She’ll be headlining a Popscene show on April 5th at Rickshaw Stop, but not before hitting SXSW, of course (Bay Area – represent!). No seriously, she’ll be doing some serious Bay Area representing in Austin as she’s playing the Oakland-based Pandora Party on March 14th at Antone’s, the SF-based Noise Pop Fest show on March 16th at the Red Eyed Fly and lastly, although they’ve got nothing to do with the Bay, the Baeble Music Party on March 17th at Peckerheads.

Not familiar with K. Flay? Download her latest EP, Eyes Shut, for free on her website or check out her spot on Last Call with Carson Daly. If it’s not obvious by her three South By slots, she’s not to be missed. And duuhhh, Bay Area peeps know that K. Flay’s Popscene show is what’s good on April 5th.

-Justine Fields

San Francisco’s favorite Americana-folk-punk duo Two Gallants returned from touring Europe to their hometown on February 23 and 24 for the 20th annual Noise Pop Festival. Two Gallants will begin touring with new material in the states this fall, including three SXSW shows.

Drummer Tyson Vogel and lead singer/guitarist Adam Stephens chose a nostalgic venue from their early days of live performances, the intimate Edinburgh Castle Pub. The two shows sold out their 100 tickets each within hours of going on sale a month in advance, and the crowd seemed to be long time fans. Vogel and Stephens chose the perfect balance of new songs and old favorites. The new songs went over quite well, leaving audience members incredibly eager for the next album.

New song “How’s It Going Baby Girl” is a classic Two Gallants hard rocker with an amazing edge that’s perfect for dancing along to, while “Girl with the Broken Eyes” finds the duo sharing a mic to mimic an acapela-style, sparse harmonica, tambourine and guitar picking their only accompaniment. Although the rocking song exemplifies the band’s talent at controlled chaos, the slower song is especially chilling as the two sing: “Though they say I’ll rue the day I gave you a piece of my heart/ It’s do-re-mi, dust to dust/ Things all fall apart.”

From their beginning as childhood friends to their shows outside the 24th St. Mission BART Stop to the Edinburgh Castle, Two Gallants have found themselves on tour as far reaching as China and Korea. Their unique sound is rooted in their genuine love of the art of musicianship and performance. These two lads certainly have many great years of contributing fantastic music to the Bay Area and beyond.   

–Shauna C. Keddy

As their name implies, Coast Jumper jumped to San Francisco last year after meeting and spending a few years together in upstate New York. Since arriving to the Bay, they’ve released a 10-song record, Grand Opening, a collection of tracks that perfectly melds together. When you press play on song one, the next time you check in with what you’re hearing it’s track four and you had no idea that much time passed. It’s not to say the record is easy to ignore, rather it’s genuinely listenable and it speeds by. You can test this theory yourself over at their bandcamp page.

Coast Jumper’s sound is the kind that tingles each nerve ending to shift in tempoImagine, think Real Estate swelled with more rock. The compositions are never too fast or overly energetic, but are intrigued-head-bob worthy. To see and hear Coast Jumper live would not be a mistake; the movements they arouse will have you looking cool. Follow Coast Jumpers as they Bay hop to Oakland next Wednesday, March 7th at Vitus along with Fierce Creatures and Royal Canoe.

-Justine Fields

Winner of our Bay Area Year End Poll, San Francisco’s Geographer brings a smart, sensitive edge to indie electro.

On new album Myth, out Feb. 28, the trio displays a more dramatic, fully realized sound that compresses its big, orchestral movements into neat pop songs. Stream the full album courtesy of Paste Magazine and download single Kaleidoscope on the band’s website.

If you didn’t score tickets to Geographer’s sold out Independent show on March 3, catch the band on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at a free show at Amoeba in SF. Geographer will be touring nationwide on The Modern Art Tour joined by its Modern Art Records label mates Miniature Tigers, The Chain Gang of 1974 and Pretty & Nice.

–Whitney Phaneuf

Anyone who’s ever lived in San Francisco knows or has heard of the trauma of finding housing on Craigslist. I once read that someone would rather have had an ambiguous liquid drip out of their bellybutton every time they got an email than look for housing on Craigslist.

While I’m not sure the San Francisco band Odd Owl, who met via Craigslist, would opt for the leaky liquids, they do have the classified site to thank for getting them together. That was back in 2010 in the Sunset district, when the group was a duo. Now they’re a quartet, they’ve toured the west coast twice and have two EPs to their name.

Odd Owl’s brand of indie pop is centered around Carmen Caruso’s pristine female-fronting and cushioned by keyboard coos, funk hooks and buoyant drumming. You can stream their newest EP It’s The World I Love below or download their track "Radioheart."

Odd Owl are playing at the Make-Out Room this Saturday, February 25th, so be there.

-Justine Fields

Punk trio Terry Malts will celebrate its debut album, Killing Time, out Feb. 21 with a record release show tonight at Hemlock Tavern joined by fellow SF punk trio Airfix Kits. 

If the first single “Nauseous” is any indication, Killing Time will be filled with the Malts’ catchy punk ditties, which have quickly established them as NoCal’s version of The Descendents.

While this may be your last chance to see Airfix Kits before drummer Philip Lantz leaves the band, Terry Malts will be playing throughout California this month:

02/17 San Francisco, CA Hemlock Tavern
02/23 Chico, CA Duffy’s Tavern
02/24 San Diego, CA Tower Bar 
02/25 Fullerton, CA Burger Records
02/26 Los Angeles, CA The Echo (PART TIME PUNKS)
03/09 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop

–Whitney Phaneuf