Epicsauce has teamed up with the excellent San Francisco blog SFist -- each week we provide SFist readers with a preview of the upcoming week in music.

While we are admittedly a bit exhausted after a long week of Noise Pop shows, there is still plenty to look forward to this week with electro-pop duo Phantogram at The Rickshaw Stop Wednesday, the ever so enigmatic Nobunny at Thee Parkside Friday and indie-approved hip hop act The Cool Kids at 330 Ritch Saturday.

Our pick for this week, however, is Los Angeles based Abe Vigoda, who play both Oakland's 21 Grand Saturday and Bottom of the Hill Sunday. One of the many great acts to come out of LA's legendary DIY institution The Smell, Abe Vigoda spent their early years cranking out what they lovingly dubbed "Tropical Punk" tracks -- think No Age, but with a fast-paced, almost calypso-inspired backbone. Last summer's excellent Reviver EP, however, found the matured group ditching the fun-loving island vibe for a decidedly slower and darker sound that has more in common with 80s shoegaze than it does with the lo-fi style of their Southern California peers. The quartet is gearing up for a sizable spring tour with chart-topping indie darlings Vampire Weekend, and are likely to make a serious amount of new fans in the process -- be sure to catch them at these smaller venues while you still can.

(photo: Weekend and Man/Miracle)

We wrote an article for 7x7 Magazine's blog this week highlighting five of our favorite lesser known local Noise Pop acts -- Man/Miracle, Far, Weekend, Ghosts on Tape and The Baths. The post is reprinted below.

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The 18th annual Noise Pop Festival has officially begun, and we already got you covered on all the must-see marquee acts playing throughout the jam packed week. We thought we would take a moment, however, to introduce you to some of Noise Pop's more overlooked local treasures -- those opening this year, headlining next year acts that you will wish you caught before they blew up. While Noise Pop is always a week of extremely difficult choices, below are five rising local artist that we highly recommend checking out. Don't worry, you can thank us next year.

Man/Miracle
Easily the most crowd-pleasing of our featured artist, Oakland's Man/Miracle caught us by surprise late last year with their stunning debut LP, The Shape of Things. With ten infectiously catchy tracks in under thirty minutes, The Shape of Things is that rare all-meat, no-filler album that you will find yourself playing on repeat throughout the day, subconsciously awaiting that self-satisfying moment where the last track ends and you get to start the whole affair over again. While in no way a carbon copy or mere appropriation, the go to Talking Heads comparison can hardly be overlooked here -- the quartet are clearly children of both David Byrne's unapologetic vocal styling and the group's legendary afrobeat inspired rhythm section, proof that the unique style has hardly lost its relevancy after all these years. There is little doubt that these guys are going to find commercial success in 2010, so you might want to start name dropping them to your non-SF friends now.

(Photo by phivephotography.com)

The 18th annual Noise Pop Festival begins with a bang tonight, with local legends Deerhoof opening for the star-studded Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band at The Fox Theater. We had a chance to catch up with Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier via email last week, where we discussed his love for Yoko Ono's live show, Deerhoof's difficulty jamming, the group's love/hate relationship with Kortrijk, Belgium and much more.

Deerhoof plays The Fox Theater tonight (2/23) with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono band. Tickets are $39.50

In a recent blog post, you wrote "[Yoko] Ono's music to me is very close to total purity … I'm never moved by any kind of music in the same way I am moved by traditional folk musics, but Yoko Ono is an exception." That is quite the affirmation! Can you elaborate a bit on why Ono's music is just so special to you?

I was really talking about seeing Plastic Ono Band live. On record it's one thing, but live it's a whole other experience. She's so spontaneous. That's why I said it is pure -- because she has so little plan, she just feeds off the energy of the band and the audience. It also seems emotionally pure. Like when she starts in, her singing seems like it's 0% brain, 100% feeling. But at the same time, I'd be hard-pressed to say what emotion she is expressing. It's like all emotions at once, or none at all.

I could imagine that this being one of the premier Noise Pop shows must make the night even more exciting for you. Do you particularly look forward to these big local shows?

I don't know if "look forward" is quite right. Maybe the right word is "dread." It's one thing to make a fool of yourself in front of strangers, another thing in front of your friends. We got lucky this time, Noisepop came a-calling. How are you going to say no to Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band!

Noise Pop has finally arrived, and we couldn't be more excited for the jam-packed week of excellent shows. Highlights include local shoe-gaze favorites Young Prisms at Cafe Du Nord Wednesday, England's post-rock leaning electronic hero Four Tet at The Independent Friday and New Jersey's one-man-band Memory Tapes at Bottom of the Hill Saturday. Be sure to check back throughout the week for a full breakdown of each day of the festival along with interviews from some of our favorite Noise Pop artist.

While many of the festival's premier events have sadly sold out, you still have a chance to snag tickets to !!!'s (pronounced Chk Chk Chk) highly anticipated Noise Pop appearance at Mezzanine Saturday. Since 1996, the notoriously entertaining Brooklyn-by-way-of-Sacramento based band have been pounding out infectious disco and krautrock inspired dance-punk tracks that even the most ardent indie geek can't help but uncross their arms and dance to. With the previously profiled Maus Haus and dance-friendly local acts Sugar & Gold and My First Earthquake rounding out the bill, this one is guaranteed to be a non-stop sweat fest. And check this -- we have a pair of tickets to giveaway to the party!

While we suggest you consult the full showlist, below is a taste of the week's many high points, both Noise Pop and non-Noise Pop alike.