You’ve probably noticed, but shit is damn weird out there in America these days. In the midst of all the violence, oppression and division comes new Austin hip-hop act OTC3 (Out There Conscious Commercial Concepts) with a deeply striking new music video calling for us all to band together and fight the evils in this modern world. Called “Black Rose,” this video is striking both visually and mentally, pairing a gorgeous high contrast look of all blacks and whites with a high concept message of people of all colors- black, white, brown and everything else there is- joining in solidarity against oppression and injustice. “We don’t want to fight/We will, we will, we will” sings featured artist and soulstress Tree G in the song’s hook, which plays over the rooted, heartfelt reggae bass that is the track’s backbone. It’s just some good come together music with a nice 90s hip-hop style “talking straight to the viewer,” up in the camera approach, plus some nice interpretive dancing and a very fun little funksoul part at the end. It looks like they filmed that part right out in the middle of a downtown street, and much of the rest on the steps of the Texas State Capitol itself, lending an immediacy of place and a further edge to an already powerful video. It’s heady, it’s good soulful shit, and it bodes well for this trio that just came together themselves last year. We look forward to seeing more from OTC3, and we stand with them in their mission of solidarity and change for the good of all people. Check it below.

There's been quite the buzz flying around the Mt. Portland compilation, and that buzz could not be more warranted. An idea turned reality, solo musician Joel Magid saw how transmuted Portland and its music scene have become, and decided to capture it one track at a time. Featuring 13 of PDX's most beloved and brightest, like the Century, Talkative and what very well may be the last recording from Grandparents to name a few, the Mt. Portland compilation doesn't even come off as such thanks to its production. Each original, previously unreleased track was recorded at Buzz or Howl Studios by owner Stan Wright. Though the bands on the comp aren't bred of the same genre, Wright's analog recording technique melded each contributed track seamlessly, resulting in a collection that's more cohesive than just compiled. Both Wright and Magid fronted recording time, pressings and all other costs themselves, keeping the compilation not for profit and free for us to consume.

Stream the compilation below and check out the Mt. Portland release show tomorrow at Rontoms, for free. Performing will be Boone Howard and Michael Finn (the Domestics), Candace, Joel Magid himself and headlined by And And And. 

-Cervante Pope

Deli Readers,

Our Best of SF Bay Area Poll for Emerging Artists has been - as usual - a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

Heartwatch

The Bay Area has spoken and the local indie pop band, Heartwatch has not only won this year's overall poll, but they dominated the Deli SF's Reader Poll as well making them our undisputed Artist of the Year! We can tell why with their dancible brand of pop music and admirable work ethic. It all paid off this year!

Emily Afton

Emily Afton's sultry, soulful style of indie pop melds elements of pop, soul and electronica to create original and penetrating modern ballads. She didn't come in too far after Heartwatch. She deserves a huge congratulations and we look forward to seeing more from her.

Annie Girl and the Flight

Well, Annie is nothing but pure rock and roll! We're thrilled to see her come in third place as she's been a relentless force in the local underground rock scene. A great songwriter, composer and live musician is something that is sorely needed in the Bay Area right now. Congrats to Annie Girl and the Flight!

Check out our poll's top 15 below, and don't forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

AVANT INDIE - ELECTRONIC - INDIE POP - PSYCH- REVIVAL POP/ROCK - ROOTS MUSIC

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING SF BAY AREA ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS - TOP 15 ******

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Heartwatch 5.5   2 7.5 2 Emily Afton 5.5   1 6.5 3 Annie Girl and the Flight 3.5   1.5 5 4 The She's 4.5   0.009 4.509 5 Eight Belles 2 2 0.029 4.029 6 The Seshen 3.5   0.015 3.515 7 Zodiac Death Valley 3.5   0.004 3.504   Night Shapes 2 1 0.054 3.054 9 Bells Atlas 3   0.015 3.015 10 Waterstrider 3   0.009 3.009 11 Wicked Man   3 0.005 3.005 12 Useless Eaters 3   0.004 3.004   Cellar Doors 3   0.004 3.004 14 Fuzz 3   0.003 3.003   Cathedrals 3   0.003 3.003 Legend: J = Jurors, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ SF Bay Area scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music SF Bay Area produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: David A Sikorski (Writer at SF Weekly), Doug Kinsey (The Night Light), Dace James Hines (Writer for SF Critic), Anisa (Sofar Sounds), Barry Smyth (Brick and Mortar Music Hall), Dennis Gonzales (POW Magazine), Jason Black (Writer for Beatport), Aisah Gemora (Sofar Sounds), Derek See (Indie Record Collector/Retailer), ​Sam Lefebvre​ (East Bay Express), Audra (Thee Parkside), Ash Reiter (Founder of Hickey Fest), Bob Patterson (SF Critic Managing Editor), Jordannah Elizabeth (The Deli SF).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

Deli Readers,

Our Best of Austin Poll for Emerging Artists has been - as usual - a lengthy and painstaking journey which took us through prairies of numbers, horizons filled with band names, and a dense, (mostly) joyous rain of music. We have finally reached our destination and we can announce the final results!

1. CAPYAC

The Artist of the Year for The Deli Austin 2015, the artist voted in by our panel of Austin music folks in the know in tandem with you the public, is the inimitable future funk outfit and Austin standard carrier CAPYAC. To put it as blunt and forward as the good beats this act puts out, the win was no surprise. CAPYAC have taken their sound, their show and their presence in the music scene and have exploded them all to new heights this year. We once called them the 'smoothest music in Austin right now,' and not only has this sly scifi-appropriate spacefunk + beats duo lived up to that title with numerous spot-on spaced-out releases since our last review of them, they've also added 'most fun,' 'most consistent' and very possibly 'best live show in Austin, right now' to the list of claims they can make on the Live Music Capital of the World's local scene. Those alone are some damn chops to contend with, but since CAPYAC also had the single that was the biggest repeat play in The Deli Austin's offices this year with the cherry red, lazer-beats and deep funk glorious “Speedracer,” we really can't argue with this pick. It's been, and it continues to be, the age of CAPYAC in Austin, Texas.

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2. Annabelle Chairlegs

If there are two scenes producing at the top of their game in Austin right now that are most visible (out of many such scenes, let's not short this crazy city its talent), it'd be the beat scene, of which our contest winner CAPYAC is a member, and it would also be the psych rock side of this here music town. Among those acts bending the psych thing back around to new 2016-primed directions, Annabelle Chairlegs is perhaps the most exciting. They're also The Deli Austin's #2 Best Emerging Artist of 2015, an accomplishment this young and daring band has achieved due both to its embracing of the spirit of early psychedelic music and for where they branch off from that parent sound to express themselves in their own new and rebellious ways. They're as much punk and 80s/90s lush indie pop influenced as they are psych; pretty and layered when they're being edgy and poppy and druggy, and pretty even when they are actually trying to be pretty. It's hard to do both of those at the same time, but 2015's Watermelon Summer was a debut album that is very likely to be the soundtrack of this summer in Austin for the young and ultra-hip in the hippy/psych scene, just as it was last summer. These young art partiers, with their bubblegum hair-sporting banshee songstress and dreamy pop singles, are one of the acts we think very well could break out of this city in a big way. With a second place showing in our contest, it looks like the rest of Austin agrees with us.

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3. Tomar and the FCs

The thing about real, good soul is that it says it right there in the name: it's gotta hit you in the soul. That shit can't be faked; though many try to achieve it, soul isn't something that can be tried at or denied when it's heard in its real form. It hits you, in your own soul like a burning weight, and you know you're hearing it done right. And, when you hear it done right, you know just why it is so good, and why that's important. Tomar and the FCs, our third place band this year, are soul. They're soul, and they're good, and it's cool as fuck. They put out songs that sound like new classics, like the guys writing and performing them know their musical history and just went and inserted themselves into the soul canon through the sheer quality and dedication and, to bring it back to the point, the pure fucking soul of their music. Hell, Tomar and the FCs, aren't trying to bring soul back, they've done it. They are soul, and it's just plain feel good badass sing-it-out music. To do what they do with an old sound in a day that's so aware of what's come before, and to make it feel fresh and damn fine to boogie down to, is tremendous, and Tomar and the FCs well deserve the showing they've made in our poll.

Check out our poll's top 15 below, and don't forget to get even deeper, exploring all the finalists organized by genre:

ALT ROCK - FOLK ROCK - HIP HOP + FUNK - INDIE POP - INDIE ROCK -PSYCH - PUNK/METAL - ROOTS MUSIC - SINGER-SONGWRITER

BEST OF 2015 POLL FOR EMERGING NKC ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS - TOP 15 ******

ARTIST J OS R TOT   1 Capyac 8.5   0.012 8.512 2 Annabelle Chairlegs 7.5   0.028 7.528 3 Tomar & the FCs 6.5   0 6.5 4 Loteria 6   0.015 6.015 5 Cross Record 5.5   0.005 5.505 6 Carl Sagan's Skate Shoes 5.5   0.004 5.504 7 Super Thief 5.5   0.001 5.501   Mayeux & Broussard 4.5   0.014 4.514 9 The Cuckoos 3   1.5 4.5 10 Daniel Eyes & The Vibes 3   1 4 11 The Halfways 3.5   0.372 3.872 12 Sailor Poon 3   0.01 3.01 13 Hard Proof   3 0.003 3.003 14 Aaron Miller aka Multi-Tracker 3   0.002 3.002   Katy Kirby 3   0.002 3.002 Legend: J = Jurors, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

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If you wonder how this chart came into existence, here is how it all went down: first, we let the local bands submit their music (for free), and got our Deli editors to pick the nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Austin scene expert (our jury) and asked them to nominate 3 more bands of their choice each (3 points for the top choice, then 2 and 1). Then we polled our readers. We tried to keep things open for each single genre, from Indie Rock to Roots Music to Hip Hop.

If you are a geek interested in all the subtelties related to how this poll works, you can read its rules here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music Austin produced in the year 2015, this list is all you need. Enjoy!

Many Thanks to our Jurors: Trevor Talley (The Deli Austin), Howdy Darrell (The White Horse), Austen Bailey (The Parish), Tyson Swindell (Red 7), Jason McNeely (Hotel Vegas), Ashley Bradley (Ovrld) Ben Webster (The North Door) Alice Geaccone (Witchxxdoctor) Matt Reilly (KUT Austin) Maggie Lea (Cheer Up Charlies) Margaret Galton (C3) Diane Scott (Continental Club) Shelley Neuman (ATX Streetstyle) Marcus Lawyer (Transmission Events) Jonathon Gaylon (American Icon Records) Gillian Driscoll (Sound Dessert) Alexander Dubois (Self)

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

The Deli Magazine Reader's Poll Results are completed! Congratulations to the winners, especially the amazing Heartwatch who came in first, stealing the hearts of The Deli Mag Bay Area Readers! We wish all the bands the best of luck in their endeavors!

Heartwatch

 
Annie Girl and the Flight

Emily Afton

Lost Dog Found

And a huge shout out to our honorable mentions!

Kendra McKinley
Keyan Keihani
Night Shapes
Debbie Neigher
Dangermaker
The Soft White Sixties

You can see all the nominated artists organized by genre here:

AVANT INDIE - ELECTRONIC - INDIE POP - PSYCH- REVIVAL POP/ROCK - ROOTS MUSIC

The Deli's Staff