Boasting two stages and over 20 bands, the First Annual What Cheer? Festival is kicking off the season of outdoor jubilance in style. The Deli LA is proud to be sponsoring the event along with Burger Records, Rollo & Grady, Lo-Pie, Comune, Bandwidth Mondo, underStory, and LA Phun. An inspiring effort to showcase an immense amount of local talent, the line-up is a solid collection of psych, garage, surf, folk, and indie rock. Quite a few of our past poll winners, and even Best of 2012 runners-up, The Vim Dicta, will be gracing the stages, including Cotillon, and Criminal Hygiene. Tickets are on sale now, and won’t be available at the door. For only $10 you better get them while you can. While you’re at it, spend some time perusing the line-up on the flier, and give a listen to one of the headliners, The Abigails - streaming below. - Jacqueline Caruso

We've tallied the results for the Open Submissions stage of our LA Area Year End Poll. All of the submissions were ranked by Deli Editors from other scenes, and the list of acts that have advanced to our Readers’/Fans’ Poll phase are below. We will also be releasing the list of nominees chosen by our local "scene expert" jurors very soon. 

Thanks to all the rad folks who submitted their heart and soul to us - we never received as many submissions from LA as this year! Our open submissions pool was truly a celebration of the LA Area's talent and diversity.   

Total submissions from the LA Area Scene: 85  

Qualified to the final phase of the Best of LA Area Poll:

1. Little Red Lung - 7.6 (out of 10)
2. Fake Furs - 7.5 
3. The Morning Birds - 7.5 
4. So Many Wizards - 7.3 
5. I Hate You Just Kidding - 7.3 
6. Cotillon - 7.16 
7. Nightmare Air - 7 
8. Dark Furs - 7 
9. IAMEVE - 7 

Honorable Mentions (Score above 6.5): The Smoking Trees (Psych Pop), Maston (Indie Pop), Hi Ho Silver Oh (Folk Rock), megachoir (Electronica), of Verona (Electro-pop), The Cigarette Bums (Garage) 

Jurors: QD Tran (Deli Philly), Brandi Lukas (Deli contributor), Paolo De Gregorio (Deli NYC)

The Deli Staff

Harvard & Stone will be serving up a super-sized menu this January. It’s fitting for a month with five Tuesdays; each one carefully curated to feature some of the best local bands in the lo-fi, garage, surf and punk oeuvres. The headliner for each night will be newbies, Cotillon, who have very recently released their first EP, Votive Flower. A potpourri, if you will, of delicate pop melodies straight from the heart, poured out over gritty guitar riffs, and an almost early Beatles-esque frenzy. The heartbroken longings of frontman, Jordan Corso, are tinged with the kind of teenage angst fit for the soundtrack of a John Hughes movie. They will be joined by acts such as Colleen Green, The Abigails, Dirt Dress, Cosmonauts, and Criminal Hygeine, with DJ sets from the likes of Este Haim. Check out the facebook invite for all the specifics - and if you’re looking for an extra incentive, each night is Free. That’s right, everyone’s favorite price. - Jacqueline Caruso

If you’re looking for an all-day, all-out, end of the year party showcasing every local band worth your time, money and sweat, then get tickets now for the First Annual XMAS FEST presented by underStory and Galaga 2331 at The Echo Country Outpost. With a full 12 hours of live music on 2 stages, catering by Lot 1 Cafe, Go Go Dancers, and a chance to snap a photo on Santa’s lap, this is also a fundraiser for the LA Mission and Toys for Tots. The lineup features an exhaustive list of local favorites including, Races, Gothic Tropic, Raw Geronimo, LA Font, Nick Diamonds, Tommy Santee Klaws, Voice on Tape, Tes Elations, Criminal Hygiene and The Janks. Check out the Facebook event for set times, and instructions on how to buy pre-sale tickets.While you're at it, check out our playlist filled with the best songs from some of the bands on the lineup. - Jacqueline Caruso

French New Wave films usually portray fleeting moments of human connection. The relationship start like a fairly tale (when two people are infatuated with each other), then things get complicated when they get to know each other on a deeper level (boredom begins to set in), and finally, grow apart without any defining reason. Inspired by this transitory period, Jordan Corso wrote Votive Flower with his band Cotillon, a seven track EP of fuzzy garage tunes that illustrate the difficulty of maintaining a relationship in the bustling urbanity of Los Angeles. The overall core of the record is informed by garage, but a closer listen unravels much more depth than it seems at first glance - the mid-tempo drive of "I Wanna Move to Paris" has a jangly, upbeat vibe reminiscent of Teenage Fanclub; "The Fall" invokes a classic country-meets-R&B dirge with its strained guitar licks, and "The Devil Lives in Lyman" has a strong pop hook alongside its old-school reverb drench. Corson's snotty, disaffected vocals are the centerpiece in a story that brims with awkward, lyrical quips and lovestruck clichés. A sad record indeed, but its light burns bright.