Foxtails Brigade’s Time Is Passed is like a cohesive compilation of adult lullabies for the broken-hearted romantic. With beautiful instrumentation and soft, delicate vocals, this album will resonate with the nostalgic lover in you. The San Francisco based band- Weinbach (lead vocals, nylon guitar), Anton Patzner (violin, electric guitar, percussion), Joe Lewis (bass), Dominic Mercurio (drums, percussion) and Joshua Pollock (electric guitar, vibraphone) are known for their interesting orchestra ensemble and complex layering of instrumentation. Laura Weinbach’s quirky lyricism coupled with Victorian-reminiscing guitar plucks, provide a unique sound with unexpected tonality and variation. Listeners can expect whimsical songs like “Lost” and “We’ll Always Have the Moon” to pull them into a jazzy, adult fairytale. Although they aren’t currently touring, you can catch Foxtails Brigade in small venues all around the Bay Area. –Lindsay Stickney  

PLUSH and Pardoner, local heroes, are back out on the town playing support for a show at Know Lodge Gallery in Oakland on January 7th, and y’all better not miss it! Both bands have been making their California rounds debuting recently released albums from 2015. PLUSH’s April release Pine is the perfect blend of classic San Francisco garage-y riffs, fuzzy reverb-ed pop sounds, and soft vocals that the quartette has dubbed “sob rock”. These talented young ladies and gent have been playing in Bay Area bands over the years, but only recently came together to create the dreamy sound of PLUSH. Pardoner brings a similar shoe gaze vibe with both of their 2015 EPs, but they pack a much more noise-punk punch, don’t let their soft intro’s fool you. Out of towners Run Forever and Looming will be closing out the show next thursday with some east coast indie rock. Come early, and bring your pretentious artsy friends (it’s a gallery), music starts at 7 pm. –Julia deAnda

Well, another year has gone by. Local music critic, Lindsay Stickney has made my job so much easier by using her discerning and well honed ear to choose her favorite Bay Area albums of 2015. A lot of these bands are friends and I am certainly fans of all of these artists so I was personally pleased with Lindsay’s choices (which I had NO say in whatsoever).

I hope you will enjoy her picks as well. Congrats to every single band who put out music in the Bay Area this year. The Deli SF loves you all and we completely acknowledge that this was an amazing year for well produced albums and truly talented artists.

I love you all.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. May 2016 be more musically fruitful and inspiring!

The Deli SF Editor,
Jordannah Elizabeth

1. The Stone Foxes, Twelve Spells

Bursting, bluesy-rock vibes that make you feel less like you’re listening to a record and more like you’re singing along to gospel in a church of rock n’ roll, Twelve Spells delivers an experience. With tracks like “Cold Like a Killer”, we’re reminded of how good it feels to effortlessly sway our hips to a single-note piano and how refreshing a vibrating guitar riff can be for the soul.

2. Monophonics, Sound of Sinning

Kings of dark, slinky soul, The Monophonics’ Sound of Sinning is heavily influenced by the psychedelic rock vibes of San Francisco, providing a funky 60’s-70’s sound that takes you through a colorful ride of epic horns and funky, noir beats. Packed with gut-wrenching vocals, hazy harmonies and hammond organs, it’s easy to get lost in this record and drift away to tracks like “Falling Apart”.

3. Lee Gallagher, Lee Gallagher and The Hallelujah

Lee Gallagher’s typical folky, country roots are uprooted and replaced by a much more soulful sound layered with emotional instrumentation and howling vocals. In Lee Gallagher and The Hallelujah, we’re carried back to a delightful 70’s trippy wave of movement that prove that a simplistic sound is sometimes the most powerful.

4. Lila Rose, We. Animals.

Bass. Power. Killer vocals. Power. We. Animals. is like your sweetest nightmare induced with passion, heartbreak, manic, and complexity. With whimsical beats, haunting vocals, and tribal drums, Lila Rose delivers an intense, sexually-charged album that lays its foundation on raw aggression. Tracks like “Tracking” will abruptly awaken the pissed off, sensual warrior in you.

5. Growwler, Even Tenor

Easing in with delicate acoustics and finishing with an aggressive bluesy piano sequence, the opening song “Long Hair, Short Wits” is a true ode to the San Francisco rock n’ roll scene and is a testament to the effectiveness of brilliant, simplistic instrumentation. Even Tenor is like a nostalgic storytelling that makes us miss the moments that we never lived for.

6. Ice Cream, Ice Cream

Sweet, sweet, classic garage rock. Ice Cream’s self-titled album forces us to remember the reasons we fell in love with rock in the first place. Dirty, honest guitar riffs, quick, aggressive drum patterns, weaved into gritty barely-there vocals, Ice Cream is the perfect combination of garage sound and punk attitude that will pour gasoline on that flickering fire inside.

7. Al Lover, Cave Ritual

The great Al Lover does it again. Cave Ritual is in fact exactly how it sounds: eerie, tribal, smoky, and sensual to the extreme. Textured beats layered with staccato samples give the album an imaginative sound that catapults us into a contemporary, psychedelic rock trance. Every track will take you to the sun, the moon, and then back again. Twice.

8. The Union Trade, A Place of Long Years

The Union Trade are masters of melancholy and it couldn’t be more gorgeously displayed than in their album A Place of Long Years. The subtle, aching cello atop the fluid, chilling piano make songs like “Svalbard” an escape from reality into the ethereal landscapes of your most tragic, stunning daydreams.

9. Guy Fox, Night Owl

Guy Fox are a musical enigma: elements of funk, old-school jazz, indie, pop, and rock can all be traced at different peaks in their most recent album Night Owl. Whether it be the use of timely instrumentation or charming lyricism, Guy Fox delivers an indecisive yet addicting sound. Tracks like “The City Line” create a steamy, devious tone portraying San Francisco as a playground designed for the mischievous.

10.Toro y Moi, What For?

Light, energetic beats coupled with smooth, romantic vocals make What For? the soundtrack to your hazy, yellow summer nights. Toro y Moi is known for his synthy-pop sounds, but the release of his fourth album slayed all former musical confinement. Tracks like “Lilly” walk the perfect, delicate line of modern synth and 60’s psychedelic rock, transporting you to a blurry wonderland that you’ll want to lay in for a while.

The San Francisco based "ambient fuzz-rock band", Fellow Wolf has released a crisp new music video for their single, The Bluebird.

"We rented the camera which shot the highest quality slow motion that we could afford. The location is a local San Francisco dive bar. We filled it with friends from close until sunrise. Everyone stayed, but mostly because we didn’t let them leave." – Christopher Drellow of Fellow Wolf

We like this song and the music video is very interesting to watch! Make sure you continue to support local artists and attend their upcoming show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on January 13 with Sea Knight and Ghost Tiger.

Fellow Wolf – The Bluebird (Official Music Video) from Fellow Wolf on Vimeo.

The San Francisco frontman and singer/songwriter, Luke Sweeney has released a new Christmas song to celebrate his holiday residency at Amnesia. We’re excited to share his charming new song and to give you details on the final date of the residency. Don’t miss it!

"For December 22nd we have holiday-decorated solos & duets by Bart Davenport, Sarah Bethe Nelson, Anna Hillburg, DONCAT, Michael Shaw, and Jitsun Vincent plus some special guests w/ DJ Golden Grams. I write a holiday original once a year, and I plan on playing a few of them for the occasion. It will be an inspired time sharing the stage with friends and creating some warm winter magic.” – Luke Sweeney

Tuesday 12/22 solos & duets with Bart Davenport, Sarah Bethe Nelson, Anna Hillburg, DONCAT, Michael Shaw & Jitsun Vincent, and Luke Sweeney. Presented by BFF.fm- Best Frequencies Forever

Bay Area music lovers will have the opportunity to see Brooklyn’s A Place to Bury Strangers play the Milk Bar in San Francisco for two nights only on January 2nd and 3rd! If you’ve been to The Milk Bar in San Francisco’s legendary neighborhood of Haight, you already know this venue is incredibly intimate. This is what makes these two shows so awesome. You won’t have to be crammed in a huge venue, unable to see or get the full effect of the band’s sound.

Take this opportunity to get an up close and personal live performance from A Place to Bury Strangers with special guests:

Night #1: Saturday Jan 2 (SOLD OUT)
A Place to Bury Strangers
SISU (LA, CA)
Astral (SF)

with DJ Clay Andrews (of The Spiral Electric)
Doors 8PM / 21+

Night #2: Sunday Jan 3

A Place to Bury Strangers
Highlands (Long Beach)
White Manna (Humboldt)

Doors 8PM / 21+

Tickets are $20 / $35 w/ limited edition poster
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-place-to-bury-stranger-w-white-manna-highlands-tickets-19899894119

Curated by Evan Hagen (Thief Presents) 

http://www.thiefpresents.com/

A very cool birthday show is coming up at Amnesia in San Francisco on December 19th!

Bay Area Folk and beyond! Celebrate the birthdays of one of the finest musical voices on the west coast, Miss Indianna Hale and Joseph Deakins, host of The Audio Grab Bag radio show and supporter of independent musicians, storytellers, and word performers across the known universe particularly in the SF Bay Area. PLUS this show is a tape release of a live performance Indianna did at Amnesia earlier this year via Camp Bud Tapes. Brought to you by Jessie Woletz’s Seaweed Sway Presents, it will be one of those nights we talk about for years to come.

The show will include performances by the San Francisco based folk artist, Michael Musika, birthday girl, Indianna Hale, the soulful rock band, Sparrows Gate, the psych pop band, FpodBpod and the dreamy folk alt band, The Range Of Light Wilderness.

Joseph will be doing a special set highlighting all these artists on the Dec 19th birthday edition of his show The Audio Grab Bag which is broadcast out of Fort Bragg, CA on the Mendocino coast on KNYO 107.7FM and streaming via http://www.KNYO.org beginning at 11am until 2pm. This a huge night of music and a special occasion, one not to be missed.

We love Ghost & The City‘s sultry jazz inspired music, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that we’re super excited to announce that the band is gearing up to release a new EP on January 15th! The new album is entitled Patchwork Soul and if you recall, we covered to release of the first single off this album, Steady Trippin’. Take a listen to it and we’ll keep you posted on any new developments!

Oakland outfit Ghost & the City is dedicated to elevating style and experience to create music that embodies elements of soul, trip-hop and jazz. Traveling across numerous musical genres to appeal to many tastes, Ghost & the City makes music that defies conventionality, yet solidifies a distinctive sound. Over the past five years, the project has successfully performed at venues all over the Bay Area, supporting such acts as The Internet, Hiatus Kaiyote, Incognito and Marco Benevento. Next year will see the release of Patchwork Soul, a 6-song EP that features fresh collaborations and a new direction.

You can catch Ghost & the City’s last show of the year on December 15th at Great American Music Hall. They open for Judith Hill.

The new San Jose based 60s revivalist rock band, The Gentle Cycle has just emerged into the Bay Area music scene! The band’s music has a bit of a lofi, vintage sound which makes sense because the band features the prominent local record collector, Derek See.

The Gentle Cycle is See´s current and main music project. He also plays occasional guitar with Myron & E,  The Rain Parade and The Chocolate Watchband. It’s always exciting to see new bands emerge, even when they consist of a group of accomplished, experienced musicians. A new group is a new group and we welcome their creative pursuits and look forward to seeing them grow!

You can check out The Gentle Cycle live at The Knockout of January 9th with The Hellenes and Light Fantastic.

The San Francisco native singer-songwriter, Rykarda Parasol will be performing live at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on December 12th. The Bay Area based post punk outfit, In Letter Form will be supporting Parasol along with the rock ensemble, The Lion’s Den.

This show will be Rykarda Parasol’s North American Record release show! Rykarda Parasol is a San Francisco native now living in Paris, France and perhaps somewhat strangely, signed to Warner Music, Poland! For the past four years, Parasol has pursued a European music career, along with her band in Warsaw. Recently she finished a Central European tour, which included the Waves Festival in Vienna, Austria along with Poland and several Balkan countries. Parasol just released her fourth album, the Color of Destruction, which she self-produced here in San Francisco at Room 5 Recording. A conceptual album, which touches upon facing one’s fatal consequence and whether they should choose to burn or to drown.

Well, this is going to be an awesome show as Parasol’s voice and style are throaty, exotic and dramatic in all the best ways! Make your way out to Bottom of the Hill on December 12th!

The San Francisco native singer-songwriter, Rykarda Parasol will be performing live at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on December 12th. The Bay Area based post punk outfit, In Letter Form will be supporting Parasol along with rock ensemble, The Lion’s Den.

This show will be Rykarda Parasol’s North American Record release show! Rykarda Parasol is a San Francisco native now living in Paris, France and perhaps somewhat strangely, signed to Warner Music, Poland! For the past four years, Parasol has pursued a European music career, along with her band in Warsaw. Recently she finished a Central European tour, which included the Waves Festival in Vienna, Austria along with Poland and several Balkan countries. Parasol just released her fourth album, the Color of Destruction, which she self-produced here in San Francisco at Room 5 Recording. A conceptual album, which touches upon facing one’s fatal consequence and whether they should choose to burn or to drown.

Well, this is going to be an awesome show as Parasol’s voice and style are throaty, exotic and dramatic in all this best ways. Make your way out to Bottom of the Hill on December 12th!

We´re excited to share another premiere today!! Emily Afton’s voice is transporting. Deep and smokey, Emily delivers her emotive and honest songs from a place that feels lodged in the past, rooted in a dreamy barefoot era. You can hear the Georgian lineage on her mother’s side, conjuring a Southern swamp, mixed with urbane pop relevance. Oakland indie-rock meets an after hours quest for mischief, with ribbons of soul and electro-pop interwoven.

"Archetype is an episodic album which explores themes of time passing, love, and the cycle of life/death (It’s also produced by Lila Rose and David Earl). The newest single "Someday" is one that particularly focuses on exploring death and relates it to "falling down the rabbit hole". I wrote it last summer when my mom was very ill and for the first time, was forced to explore what death means to me. It sort of has a mix of blissfulness and existentialism, because it begs us to be in love with our lives while we’re here, while also always remembering that we are inevitably going to die." – Emily Afton on the forthcoming album, Archetype and the single, “Someday”