SF’s Adios Amigo has just released a shimmering EP of songs for free on Bandcamp. The self-titled EP is pure California dreaming: nostalgic, jangly music that makes you feel sun-soaked and happy. The solo project of the drummer for Il Gato, Johnny Major, Adios Amigo has a similar indie-folk vibe.

Catch Adios Amigo headline Rickshaw Shop on February 29, Hotel Utah Saloon on March 28, or Thee Parkside on April 20 with LA-based Goldenboy.

–Amanda Dissinger

Happy Tuesday! Why so happy? Recently named San Francisco Bay Guardian 2012 band on the rise, Silver Swans release their latest LP, Forever, today.

Listen below to the first single, "Let It Happen," aptly titled with its mellow-on-the-surface, synthy touches and harp glimmers contrasted by huge booms. If you’re looking to tune into and drop out of your responsibilities at work today or in bed tonight, Forever will be your pick.

-Justine Fields

Let It Happen by Silver Swans

The Deli readers have spoken!

After two weeks of voting and with 1,480 votes, new wave rockers Excuses For Skipping (pictured) emerged as the winner of our Bay Area Best of 2011 Fans’ + Readers’ Poll. Don’t miss SF’s favorite quartet when they play Hemlock Tavern tonight, Feb. 3, and Brick and Mortar on March 1.

Kudos also to the seven-piece, indie orchestra The Family Crest and pop punk, hardcore kids Local Hero, who placed respectively second and third.

Stay tuned: The overall results of the Bay Area Year End Poll for Emerging Artists – including votes from our esteemed jury and open submissions – will be released Monday.

–Whitney Phaneuf

Yesterday, Hunx debuted the video for "Always Forever," the first single off his solo album, Hairdresser Blues, due out at the end of the month.

While Pitchfork got first dibs on the song, Hunx premiered the video via a more girly outlet: The Rookie Mag. Tavi Gevinson, founder and top editor of Rookie, is arguably the coolest tween on the face of the planet. A perfect duo if you ask us!

Directed by Hannah Lew of Bay Area punk trio Grass Widow, also responsible for the awesome video for "Lover’s Lane," check out "Always Forever" below.

–Justine Fields

Bay Area/LA rapper Young L lives up to his name: his raps are young, stupid, wild and reckless, but also a lot of fun.

After producing Berkeley, California rappers The Pack’s hit "Vans," Young L started releasing his own mixtapes, leading up to his latest Praktika. Using video game beats and silly, catchy rhymes, Praktika establishes Young L as a rapper to watch in the West Coast hip hop scene. Download here.

–Amanda Dissinger 

Have we mentioned how excited we are that Ezra Furman (the Ezra Furman of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons) recently relocated to San Francisco? Well, we are soooooooooo excited! We’re also excited about his solo record, The Year of No Returning, which comes out next Tuesday and promises a more raw sound. It was recorded in the attic of his Chicago home.

Next Saturday, February 11th our new San Franciscan friend will grace us with an awesome release party at Hotel Utah Saloon. And hot damn! We are so super, freaking excited because the show includes another San Francisco transplant, pianist Debbie Neigher, who used to perform with Furman back on the right coast when they were undergrads at Tufts.

Okay. Enough excitement for one day. We’ll return to our breathing exercises to contain our composure until next weekend.

–Justine Fields
 

Perhaps inspired by the Bay’s gray June and July, Cruel Summer‘s dreamy, noisy sound hit the scene in late 2011. Singer/guitarist Thea Chacamaty and guitarist Josh Yule talked to the Deli about their first few months as a band. Read more here.

Next up for these Mission dwelling musicians (which include drummer Sean Mosley and bassist Chani Hawthorne)? Studio time with Jason Kick of Maus Haus. We can’t wait to hear the result. Don’t miss Cruel Summer with Micro Mtns February 17 at Makeout room. 

Sacramento’s Trash Talk has been quietly creating loud, thrash hardcore since 2005. Last year, the band reluctantly emerged from the underground, receiving New York Times ink following an unforgettable CMJ performance.

Check out the new video for “Slander,” off the Awake EP from late 2011, featuring animation by artist Jay Howell, a longtime Bay Area resident now living in LA. Warning: Not a cartoon for kids!

–Whitney Phaneuf

SF’s pioneer producer Al Lover has just released a new album in support of the Austin Psych Festival taking place April 27-29 in Austin, Texas. Download or stream the mixtape, filled with the artist’s trademark chopped up blends of garage and psychedelic rock featuring artists such as Woods, The Black Angels, Psychic Ills and Brian Jonestown Massacre. The artist also just released an amazing new video for his track “Smoke Filled Thrills” from the album Satanic Tambourines, out now on Impose Records.

–Amanda Dissinger

We sat down with Tara Tati, the dark-rocking, cabalistic visionary behind Oakland’s emerging indie band, Metal Mother. Metal Mother is a finalist for the Deli’s Year End Best of SF Poll.

Deli: What first got you interested in music?

TT: Since I can remember, I was dancing around to the records my parents played. They listened to Talking Heads, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, all the classics. But if you’re asking me when I got interested in making music, that’s a different story. I first learned that I loved piano when I was about 10, but never thought I was capable of being an actual musician. Writing songs and having a band seemed like a daunting and unthinkable task to undertake, so I dismissed my little talent as a hobby and nothing more. Then, in 2007, some friends who had seen me goofing on the keys at my house one day, asked me to play at their festival in Oregon, so I did. From there, the support and encouragement snowballed, making it a comfortable journey into musician-hood. 

Deli: How did you find your niche?

TT: I’m definitely still figuring it out. It seems the majority of my fan base is too broad to really know a specific demographic at this point, other than people who appreciate dark, melancholy, tripped-out music.

Deli: Where do your various influences stem from?

TT: Though I’ve been primarily involved with the underground rave scene for most of my adult life, it’s brought me full-circle to really appreciating the magic of live instrumentation and classical arrangement in addition to electronic production. I’m wildly inspired by other female performers such as Grace Jones, Siouxsie Sioux, and Bjork; and as for song writing and composing, I’m really into the work of Brian Eno, Sufjan Stevens, and Nico Muhly.

Deli: What’s it like to start your own label and what was the most difficult aspect of the process?

TT: I’ve started a couple other businesses in the past, so I kind of knew what to expect. When I decided to really go for it, I read like five books on how to start my own label and crack into the music industry. From that I devised a fairly solid plan, and of course, left room for sweet luck to fill in the gaps.

Deli: What’s up next for you in 2012? 

TT: Right now I’m starting to work on the next album, which will be inspired by the world’s greatest female warriors and witches. We’re also planning a tour in March, which will include a week at SXSW, and then there’ll be a couple more months of writing and recording followed by a slew of summer shows. There may be a music video happening in there too somewhere.

Deli: What do you find inspiring about the color black?

TT: It’s a blank canvas; all the impossibilities of vision are possible within its darkness. Plus, it symbolizes the great feminine mysteries that so heavily influence my songwriting.

Deli: What do you hope to accomplish in your career?

TT: I know its cliché, but honestly, all I’ve ever wanted is to be happy.  I’ve always believed that if I wanted it badly enough, I could find something I loved doing and actually make a living at it, no matter what it was.

Deli: If you could open for one artist dead or alive, who would it be?

Deli: Man, tough question. Shit, Klaus Nomi. Just so I could see him perform.

–Courtney Garcia