We clapped for a man who had eaten four hamburgers, someone from deep in the crowd. Loko Ono’s drummer Jason Adam picked him out.

That was after vōx’s (pronounced “wokes”) opening set, which the audience gave a wide berth for. She ended on the floor after escaping from a sheer curtain, shadows of lancet arches blocking out flowers as she became a voice and nothing more.

And in the end, Jason and Kathleen Adams ended on the floor too, turned into some jumbling mess of limbs after recalling tales of a primitive world. A rhetorical question fell on self-conscious ears—most people were not willing to dance. But that didn’t undermine Loko Ono’s performance; it was quite clear they did not give a fuck either way.

By the time Miya Folick carved out her stage, fans were lining the ramparts of Non Plus Ultra. Formalities first: Folick revealed the music video for “Pet Body”, which also debuted at 2015’s CMJ Music Marathon. She watched on from the sidelines with her crew and Nick Ventura (Froth, HOTT MT), subbing in with his faded fiesta red Jaguar.

Minutes later, Folick was staring at the sea of strange darlings, head submerged in tessellations of light. We nearly suffocated on neighbors’ small talk until she cranked the fuzz way up and blew the room out. Made it sound large and vast like the ocean. She had no trouble adjusting; it was clear as the first time we saw her that the singer was in her element no matter the crowd. All she needed was a crowd.

You get a second chance next week at Girlschool Collective’s collab with San Pedro’s Third Thursdays Live, minus Loko Ono/plus Gavin Turek, Dot and DJ Suzie Strong. - Ryan Mo, photo by Rachel Collins

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In second place, much sought-after singer-songwriter Miya Folick also counted on the support of her fervent fans, thus collecting over 450 votes to earn her the most votes in the always-challenging indie rock category. Miya has been earning accolades from many a major blog, and we're elated to have seen her evolve into a full-fledged breakthrough artist since we first wrote about her early last year. Have a listen to her knockout new single "Oceans", a heartstring puller that should be a highlight once she performs it at the Echo on February 25th alongside headliners Palehound.

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Newhall's singer songwriter Soren Bryce made it to the third place of this chart. Her soulful songs, at times just featuring her and a guitar, at others built on sparse arrangements of electronic instruments, speak to the heart. Her 2015 self-titled debut EP has found many fans, gathering hundreds of thousands plays on Spotify. 

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In fourth place we have a witch-house outfit that, with their highly creative mesh of chopped audio effects and playful samples, are creating a tenebrous sound that is truly of their own making: GRYPT. The trio recently released their most ambitious statement yet, entitled Thy Flesh Consumed, which you can currently purchase as either a digital or limited cassette through their official bandcamp page.

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Another talented female songwriter made it into the top of this chart - so new we had trouble finding her website and aren't able to find any embeddable music! Michaella (click on her name to listen) accompanies her beautiful voice with a ukulele: when two thing work so beautifully together, less is always more.

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Trailing not too behind is power pop band No Win, who are thankfully not only keeping those Badfinger guitar hooks alive but also wrote a killer self-titled EP that should be precedent for a knockout full-length debut (hopefully soon!) that will have me singing along all day long. You can listen to No Win (released Summer 2015) here. 

We got into the Bootleg Theater for Miya Folick's EP release party thinking it'd be a pretty intimate gig. Some people trailed in as the sound guy checked levels with his iPad, but it looked sparse. No one was staking claim to the tables in front of the bar stage.

Then, five minutes before the set, a flash mob fashionably swarmed out of the theater end. It was lit.

Shannon Lay of Feels started the night with songs from her solo debut Holy Heartache while Alaska Reid (Alyeska) traded banter and set fire with her newest single "Medicine River". Miya Folick's performance, enhanced with the visuals of Vinyl Williams, drew a crowd so tight the photographers could barely move around. Lena Fayre's ethereal voice drew the night to a close with songs from her summer EP "Is There Only One?" Shoutout to Liv Marsico (Liphemra) for spinning in-between sets (we did cry), and we think we caught a glimpse of Jeremy Katz (Froth, HOTT MT)? That was tight.

Check our Instagram @TheDeliLA for more pictures from the show, and catch Miya again at The Satellite on December 17th for a benefit show with Mereki and Madi Diaz! - Ryan Mo, photo: Michelle McCausland

Singer-songwriter Miya Folick is not all that strange. She grew up in Santa Ana, went to college for Theatre, and moved to New York for a short period of time. In a recent interview with Drunken Werewolf, Folick concedes that she didn't consider pursuing music in her adolescence.

"I think I came to music fairly late. I didn't grow up thinking I'd be a working musician or even thinking that that was in the realm of possibilities for me."

And yet "Talking with Strangers", the first song we heard Folick half-nervously perform at James Supercave's 11/11 show, commanded a je ne sai quoi seldom felt from rosy-eyed musicians, and even less seldom heard by Los Angeles. For those six minutes, the Echo resonated with her voice and guitar, an off-white Telecaster finger-plucked with precision — unequivocably serene. As she performed alone, it was difficult to consider Folick's singing with embellishment, but listen to the studio version in her newly released "Strange Darling" EP.

Like the devil winds of Santa Ana, the katabatic pianos, synth dust, and guitar arpeggios fan Folick's verses into flames, burning presumption to leave us in the ashes of wonder and awe.

"Strange Darling" is available to stream on Miya Foick's Soundcloud and Bandcamp page. Watch Miya Folick perform at The Bootleg Theatre on December 3rd with Lena Fayre. And maybe buy some underwear, if you're a strange darling. - Ryan Mo

The psych-pop matador James Supercave came out with a new single yesterday, and by the first line we've already lost the game. From the wheezing synth riffs to Joaquin Pastor's choked falsetto, "Better Strange" unravels with a bass thump, shuffling around with anxiety like the most invisible wallflower at a house party. It's moody, yes, and sounds uncompromisingly honest. Uncompromisingly weird. And it's glorious.

"Better Strange" is our first glimpse and title-track to James Supercave's debut album. It's available to stream on Soundcloud and for purchase on iTunes. See the band live with VS Colour and Miya Folick at the Echo on November 11. - Ryan Mo