The first time I ever heard La Luz, I really thought they were carefully curated for my own musical tastes. The distant waves of surf rock with significant femininity creates the loveliest thing I’ve heard in a long time. Recently, the Seattle-based band suffered through a semi-truck versus them on the highway, but powered through it with their own tough stride and support from the music community. That resilience continues to shine through their music. Songs like "Sure As Spring" and "T.V. Dream" assist you in wading through a time warp, back to where taunting guitar melodies were done best. The aftermath leaves you hungry for anything else these ladies will throw your way. That hunger will stay. 

They will be headlining the release party for She Shreds Magazine, a Portland-based publication dedicated to female guitarists and encouraging a revolution involving awareness for the underrepresented. The Ghost Ease and Hooded Hags will be supporting, offering plenty of mind tingles for the night. – Colette Pomerleau

I was excited to see so many local bands that I love had submitted their music to be reviewed for our Year End Poll (see right), but what excited me even more was seeing who came out on top once the reviewing process was over (see here for more details on the reviewing process). The post-indie stylings of Rare Monk, hook driven songs written by Just Lions, progressive musical experiments conducted by Sama Dams and the dreamscapes that only Soft Shadows can create deserve inclusion in our Best of 2013 list as much as any band nominated by our jurors. Be sure to check these bands out and vote for your favorites here. – Benjamin Toledo

The Verner Pantons play with a style that’s rooted in ‘60s psychedelia, venturing through fluid compositions to make the sonic splashes that can be heard on their debut EP, Melancholy Girl. Each song on the release has a different flavor; from the reverberating hooks complemented by driving beats on the title track to the surfy lead lines and lo-fi spanish vocals on the closing track, “Dejame”. The EP is well worth a few listens, as would be catching these guys live at Club 21 this weekend for a free show with Psychomagic and Hollow Sidewalks. Be there for a most  rocking psychedelic party. – Benjamin Toledo 

The eponymous album by St. Even may be your perfect solution to enduring the gray, rainy days of winter. It breathes the type of nostalgia that reminds you that with the right musical remedies, lazy days are the best thing about cold weather. The songs on this sophomore album are full of instrumental arrangements that are put together in orchestral fashion and all tied together with an acoustic guitar. St. Even’s voice carries a storyteller’s tone and the music behind it moves around in beautiful whimsy. It’s a combination of Greenwich Village folk and Fantasia making sounds extremely fitting to the Portland landscape.

The album starts out reminiscent of the various folk songs of the Magnetic Fields, complete with horn and string sections that move slowly into the music behind his vocal build ups. You can hear a variety of instruments such as trumpet, trombone, violin and piano. About midway through on the song “Really Real” beautiful female vocals shine through while melodic piano riffs dance in the background. And the piano keeps going on the bluesy track, “Don’t Hold Your Breath” while the words are sung like a Southern ballad.

In the end, all these songs are cultivated with folk roots and brought together with eloquent and classic songwriting. The music is perfect fitting for any kind of day, but especially nice with a warm cup of coffee on cold morning. – Colin Hudson

After receiving a remarkably high number of submissions, we are ready to announce the bands that ranked highest in the first phase of our Year End Poll. A huge thanks you to all of the bands that submitted their music, the results show the diversity and talent that covers Portland’s DIY scene. Please note that the Portland editor wasn’t eligible to vote for any of the bands that submitted. Instead, the submissions were reviewed by three Deli editors in different cities.

Acts advancing to our Readers/Fans Poll with a ranking above 7.1:

Adam Brock (8)

Adventure Galley (7.83)

Coma Serfs (7.33)

Rare Monk (7.16)

Just Lions (7.16)

Sama Dams (7.16)

Soft Shadows (7.16)

Honorable Mentions (ranked above 6.5):

Appendixes (7)

Bevelers (7)

Autonomics (7)

Hawks Do Not Share (6.83)

Altadore (6.83)

Ask You In Gray (6.83)

Fringe Class (6.75)

Grandhorse (6.75)

Slutty Hearts (6.75)

Towering Trees (6.75)

Total submissions from the Portland scene: 59

WHAT’S NEXT: Now that we’ve finished up the first step of the poll it’s time to reveal the bands nominated by our local jurors. The jurors who gave us their opinions are experts on Portland music – working as promoters, bloggers and with platforms that promote local music. Noone knows the scene better than them. Once all of the bands involved are announced, our viewers will have the chance to cast their votes to determine who will be named The Deli Portland’s Best Emerging Artist of 2013. 

Thanks again to all of the bands who submitted their music and spread the word about the poll, stay tuned for the next phase of the poll. 

The Deli Staff

Chervona opened for Pink Martini at the Crystal Ballroom’s NYE celebration, but for eight years in a row now, they have played their own "signature" winter party in mid-January. It’s a celebration of the Russian (and widely Eastern European) tradition of Old Russian New Year, that is, the history involving when the turn of the year translated from the Orthodox Julian Calendar to the current Gregorian, it fell on Januarry 14th. 

Local professional chiller and former bass player of Talkative, Ali Muhareb just released a solo album, Mujahedeen, and it rips. The album displays a remarkably more dynamic musical genius than was showcased in his role with Talkative, and sounds surprisingly different than his previous group to boot. Sonically resemblant to some stoned fusion of Animal Collective and Hot Chip, Mujahedeen adds a solid new layer to Portland music that contends with the best…. Read the full review here!

Doug Fir will be different this Friday night. You’ll be stepping deep down below for sound heaven. Tiburones and Old Age are opening for the Builders and the Butchers, delivering sensory excursions one after another. Tiburones will give you all that is charmingly unbalanced, thriving folk music with a dust of a dangerous underground. This is perfect music to play while faking your own death and hosting a wild summer picnic simultaneously. Initially being Luz Elena Mendoza of Y La Bamba and Nick Delffs of the Shaky Hands and Death Songs, the collection and creation has grown to an amazing 5-piece destined to expand your sound experience. Old Age, another intimate Portland secret, imply mental torture with the mention of endless local weather and heartfelt vocals. Meet the soundtrack to your new year. – Colette Pomerleau

Lunch are starting off 2014 right this week with the release of their first 7” record, Johnny Pineapple. The four tracks within, originally off of Quinn Touched the Sun, were remastered for the new release and together display the low-fi, garage-punk sound that encapsulates Lunch’s style. Dirty guitar tones, tight rhythms and shouting vocals color the songs with an frenzied energy that overlaps their addictive hooks. Celebrating the release with Lunch will be L.A. Drugs (from Los Angeles, of course), Wounds and Dark Light, get to the show and pick up one of these awesome green records for yourself. – Benjamin Toledo

Calling on their spaced out, summery, surf-pop good vibes, Charts are the perfect remedy to lift the grayness cast by old man winter here in Portland. These guys killed it so hard in 2013 with their short but tasty summer release, Vacation, I have no doubt that 2014 will be the year of Charts. Also on my “killing-it radar” is Hands In, the electro psych pop solo project of Erick Crosby, front man of rad Chicago transplant band Yourself and The Air. According to his Facebook page he has a new album coming out soon titled Polyester Itch so keep your ears to the ground, but in the meantime he leaves us with this weirdo teaser. Join me this Sunday night, January 5th, at Rontoms to kick 2014 off right. Hands In at 9:30 and Charts at 10:30, the show is free. -Travis Leipzig

With all the year-end music floating around the blogosphere, people tend to forget that January and February come heavy with great new music. 2014 is no exception as the six piece Thanks releases Blood Sounds at Mississippi Studios this Saturday. Thanks is a band that is constantly walking the line between being the most soulful band in indie rock and the most indie band in soul. Their music is surrounded by minor progressions and highlighted by the sweet melodies by vocalist Jimi Hendrix. Probably not the first Jimi Hendrix that comes to your mind but she is just as powerful. Her voice, bass, and drums play new-age soul comparable to the likes of Lily Allen and the guitarist comes through with protruding bluesy-indie riffs channel names such as Tapes N Tapes. And while all this is going on the keyboards and the cello provide calmness make their music so easy to listen to. – Colin Hudson

Carcrashlander has just debuted the first single off of his upcoming LP, A Plan to Tell the Future titled, “All My Light Begins to Dissipate” through Impose Magazine. The solo project of musician and songwriter Cory Gray (who has collaborated with The Dodos, Laura Gibson, Graves, the Dandy Warhols and many more) was made as an outlet for a musically adventurous drive with no particular genre in mind as writing began. When talking about the record Cory states that, “I was trying to avoid conceptualizing any particular style, or entertaining thoughts about accessibility.” You can hear that kind of openness to experimentation in the new track as driving rhythms and unique instrumentation move between hypnotic verses and an explosive chorus. Listen to the new track below and be sure to be at Valentines on January 13th to celebrate the release of the new LP with Carcrashlander and Graves. – Benjamin Toledo