I had a seemingly innocuous query for all-teenage, all-girl sunny rock'n'roll quartet, the She's: what've you got in store for 2013? The band's answer sums up its appeal: "New EP in the works, inspired by our secrets, other people's secrets, The Great Gatsby, heartache, etc. Musically inspired by bands...such as La Sera, Wild Nothing, Tame Impala, and Dum Dum Girls. Graduating (from high school), touring, recording, making friends." Just perfect, right?Read more »

A-1's slaps are full of sparkling, one-way conversation. The born-and-raised Mission resident's flow is verbose, packed in nicely and precisely, but often with a humorous edge and a cutting wink. There's the most obvious peek at his wit, with After School Special, a '90s TV show themed mixtape he dropped in 2010.Read more »

The people were itching to be pumped for whatever Warm Soda was going to be. After producer-musician Matthew Melton's beloved garage pop outfit Bare Wires dismantled ceremoniously early last year, he announced the name Warm Soda, and we collectively gripped our seats. Thankfully, there was no cause for disappointment.Read more »

This is the year we'll finally get to spend some QT with Trilingual, which will technically be Trails and Ways' debut LP. Though there's still no release date or label, it will be coming out in 2013. It seems like we've been hearing about this much-anticipated release for ages, given all the buzzy blog love thrust on the Oakland indie-pop quartet.Read more »

East Bay rapper Chippy Nonstop is meant to be seen as much as heard. Last fall's "Money Dance" single off the Money Dance 101 EP was made exponentially better by the club-worthy video accompaniment — which has since racked up more than 45,000 views on Youtube in three months — created by Jon Smiff, with beats managed by producers DJ Twostacks and Grave Goods.Read more »

Using just her laptop and live vocal processing, Holly Herndon creates alternate universes. The PhD student at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics manipulates programs into heart-racing, thumping, brain dripping compositions that methodically carry the listener away, then jerk it back with startling shots of noise. The best case example of this is "Movement," the title track off last fall's experimental RVNG Intl. release.Read more »

emilysavage@sfbg.com

MUSIC Ask 10 artists the same question, get back a dozen answers. The replies to my very brief questionnaires this year — it's our second annual On the Rise issue — were revealing, like peeling back the skin of a tender orange, or rather fragrant onion.Read more »