Most recently, the Oakland-based group Club Night was early evening support at the famed Great American Music Hall in San Francisco as a part of the 26th Annual Noise Pop Music Festival. Consisting of vocalist Josh Bertram, Rebecca Lukens, Ian Tatum, Josiah Majetich and Devin Trainer, this five piece experiment is the logical conclusion of the Oakland DIY scene to which its members belong. Their latest release, Hell Ya, Club Night balances frenetic riffs and soaring musical moments between abstract punches of rhythm, pop-oriented synths, and guitars. The resulting backdrop is a collaboration that teeters between technical and noisy against which Bertram conjures up an emotive and dynamic vocal performance. Catch them next Friday, March 9 at The Hole, a performing and visual arts gallery/venue combo in Oakland before they hit the road to Austin, TX for SXSW. – Joshua Huver

We stumbled upon the name Barrie while browsing through the list of artists participating in the 2018 edition of SXSW. This is a very new SXSW quintet with only one single under their belt, entitled "Canyons" (streaming below), an intriguing blend of lounge and dream pop with airy female vocals and a bass line that, at times, ventures into groovy disco fluorishes. The band seems to have hit the ground running, since they will be performing at SXSW this March and, the following week, at Baby’s All Right.

A couple of years ago, soul powerhouse Pam Steebler graced The Deli ‘s NYC as one of its Best Emerging NYC Artists. Now she’s back with a new track called "Noise", from her upcoming EP of the same name. "Noise" takes the Brazilian-Canadian songwriter’s soulful voice and layers it over bubbling electronic synths and drums, which add a depth to the passionate sound she released to the world on her 2015 Give In EP. It’s certainly a song to keep in your pocket for the approaching dog days of summer. More songs are on the way from Noise, but The Deli is proud to premiere the title track, which you can stream below. – Will Sisskind

WeWork’s Creator Awards, in partnership with our friends at Sofar Sounds, is looking for innovative musical performers (solo or groups) based in the SF Bay Area. The initiative rewards acts that merge creativity and imagination with compelling performances, and it’s open to all genres (including performance arts, let your acting friends know about it!).

The winners will be rewarded with a cash prize between $18K and $72K, and will also secure a paid gig at the Creator Awards San Francisco event on May 10.

Applying for a Creator Award only takes a few minutes, you can start the process here (deadline is April 10th).

WeWork’s Creator Awards, in partnership with our friends at Sofar Sounds, is looking for innovative musical performers (solo or groups) based in the SF Bay Area. The initiative rewards acts that merge creativity and imagination with compelling performances, and it’s open to all genres (including performance arts, let your acting friends know about it!).

The winners will be rewarded with a cash prize between $18K and $72K, and will also secure a paid gig at the Creator Awards San Francisco event on May 10.

Applying for a Creator Award only takes a few minutes, you can start the process here (deadline April 10th).

New York-based songwriter Caroline Rose has reinvented her sound on her sophomore LP Loner. Dawning an ironically sporty aesthetic, Rose delivers poignant tales of loneliness and disillusionment with a cigarette in hand. Contrasting the americana sensibilities of 2014’s I Will Not Be Afraid, Loner combines elements of 70s punk and straight ahead pop. She’s heading to Austin for SXSW, and will be back in NYC to play Rough Trade on April 3rd. – Charley Ruddell

NYC chanteuse Odetta Hartman is more experimental than most, and in an endearing way, as demonstrated in the music video for her song "Dreamcatchers." It’s a compilation of home videos of Hartman as a little girl, doing various things such as playing the violin, swimming, and hitting a piñata, but the video is edited to move with the music, with a hazy, acid-trip-like manner. The songs on her last record 222 are short, sweet vignettes, led by banjo and textural vocals, infused with pentatonic guitars and experimental strings. Odetta Hartman will play at SXSW at the Townsend on 3/17. –Geena Kloeppel

Erica Eso is an art-pop experiment in genre.  Seductive RNB vocals melt into dream-pop soundscapes, powered by shocks of synthy discord. The music is curious but compelling. Their newly released single, “Love-gun,” feels like a slow, surreal seduction (a feeling thoroughly replicated in its accompanying music video) while the album’s eponymous single “129 Dreamless GMG” is a flurry of microtonality. Erica Eso promises to entertain listeners with further collapses in genre with the rest of 129 Dreamless GMG, which will have its release party at Alphaville, 03.15. —Amanda Ogea

 FOXTRAX is waking up the alt rock scene with their tight, nuanced arrangements and excellent songwriting chops. The trio embraces their music’s dark undertones but isn’t afraid to make light of a rainy day- or in this case, a "Grey Morning." Churning out consistently excellent vocal performances, guitar lines and all around vibes, this band is one of the most solid and compelling that I’ve heard for a while in the alt-rock genre. Be sure to check them out when FOXTRAX heads to SXSW, playing showcases at the Convention Center on 3/12 and Javelina on 3/14. –Geena Kloeppel

Bohan Phoenix raps like he’s born and raised in Brooklyn.  His style is so close to the Beast Coast vibe, that he could be a Flatbush Zombie bitten by a Chengdu werewolf.  He flexes flows between English and Mandarin with such ease, sometimes it’s hard to tell; you think he’s just flowing some fresh new slang you’re not hip to.  His beat selection is Sichuan.  His flow is sharp as a Jian.  His swag is Flatbush AF.  His Jala EP is rolling into your collection like a cloud of Kush smoke.  You’ll be rapping in Mandarin before you know it. See him live at Zone One at Elsewhere on 03.09.

In Santa Cruz-based Marty O’Reilly’s most recent LP Stereoscope, he takes Americana to another level, blending delicate violin arrangements with bluesy vocals and soulful harmonies to create something startlingly beautiful. The dynamic songwriting of O’Reilly—who is always joined by bandmates Chris Lynch, Ben Berry, and Matt Goff—takes the listener by surprise, as he breaks out of the tropes of his genre that would otherwise restrict such progression. The opening track “Firmament” (streaming below) offers a glimpse into the rest of the album, which is a complicated and well-crafted addition to a genre whose fans constantly think they have finally ‘seen it all.’ Marty O’Reilly and his band are currently on a cross-country tour and will be heading down to SXSW this year. – Lilly Milman

Oakland-based artist PASTEL GHOST is a synth-pop artist with a shoegazer’s agenda—a combination not often found in the electronica scene. Operating under a genre that she calls “dreamrave,” her music is ethereal and elusive. Her single “POSSESSION” (streaming below) is just one example of how she layers her slippery vocals over driving synth beats to create a seductive and mysterious sound unlike any other. Effortlessly cool and complex, PASTEL GHOST is definitely one to keep an eye on as she works on recording and releasing a follow-up LP to her debut project, ABYSS. She will be making her way down to SXSW this year, with a showcase on March 15th. – Lilly Milman