Three Imaginary Girls - Best of

Imaginary Linkage: Stuff We Spied Online This Week {1/28-2/3}

Imaginary Amie — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:51:05 +0000

So much internet love this week! Here are the things that thrilled us so much we had to share.

There's not much we can add to the video above, except that the people at Archie McPhee clearly RULE.

Ever wondered where the best of the worst roadside dinosaurs are? Now you know.

Rough breakup? Sell your ex's gifts on Never Liked it Anyway, or tell a story about items they left behind on I Still Have Your Stuff.

Den of Geek put together a pretty good list of Top 25 Cult Film Actors - but Amie is upset that they forgot Jeffery Combs. I mean, SERIOUSLY.

Cards Against Humanity: Our new favorite game (that you can download for free!)

The best cover of Depeche Mode's "Strangelove" on the entire internet.

Low-Commitment Projects: Crafting for lazy people.

{probably NSFW} Someone who calls themselves Dianne Amazeballs (rightfully so!) started a collection of Ridiculous Pregnancy Pictures on Pinterest, and we can't. stop. looking. at. them.

What you'd see that's worthy of an Imaginary Shout-out?

Movie Crushes: My Top 5 Imaginary Boyfriends

Imaginary Amie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:35:09 +0000

So here's the thing; my crush list is kind of EPIC. By that I mean, there are a lot of celebs that I find myself dreaming about, and my dreams aren't limited to just the actors, they extend to specific characters they've played on screen. I felt compelled to share them with y'all* just in case you need some ideas for silly romantic comedies with men that will make you swoon.

Dylan McDermott as Leo Fish in Home for the Holidays
It’s probably hard for everyone to erase the image of McDermott crying while masturbating in American Horror Story—but if anything can get it out of your mind, it’s his sweet, ruggedly handsome Leo Fish in one of my favorite holiday movies of all time. Leo pursues a sullen Holly Hunter with respect, romance, and just enough smoldering sexiness. There’s a bit in a coffee shop where he explains to the young clerk why he needs him to stay open long enough to buy this girl a cup of coffee that’s so endearing it’s insane, and when she rebuffs his romantic advances, I guarantee you’ll scream at her—as if she can hear you. I don’t want to ruin anything for those that haven’t seen it, but the ending. MYGODTHEENDING.

Imaginary Linkage: Stuff We Spied Online This Week {1/21-1/27}

Imaginary Amie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:39:22 +0000

We sure do love the internets! And we also love the millions and millions of things we see everyday while we're surfing around, trying to kill time or relieve stress, or just plain distract ourselves. Because we also love YOU, we wanted to share the following things that made us happy.

Social Media Madness: TIG jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon! It's fun (and time-consuming).

Awwwwww! We <3 this really sincere reaction to being nominated for an Academy Award.

Hipster heaven: create your own animated gifs with stenographs from the NYC Public Library.

Film nerd heaven: Watch short films from Sundance - for Free!

Seattle real estate porn: the revamped Sanctuary is back on sale (yet still too expensive for normal people) condo market. It sure is beautiful, though.

Seth Rogen speaks the truth at the Golden Globes. (hee!)

What'd you see on the 'net this week? Please share your imaginary awesomeness in the comments!

These are a few of our favorite things: best all-around photos and moments of 2011 {pt. II}

imaginary victoria — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:03:13 +0000

{This is part two of two in our best-of photo series of 2011. Take a peek over at part one here, and don't forget to check out our festival best-ofs part one and two as well!}

Favorite photo #5: Ocean Shores :: In a get-to-know-your-roots {PNW edition} kind of road trip, we hopped in the car one weekend with esteemed sometimes-imaginary photographer and fellow transplant Laura Musselman for a ride out to the water -- Ocean Shores, to be exact -- with jaunts to Aberdeen and Hoquiam on the way. It was all at once melancholy and sun-filled, juxtaposing sad, semi-abandoned mainstreets with a big, bright, full-fledged kite festival once we were beachside. Strange as it was for those two worlds to meet, it was definitely a day trip for the books, yielding a half-dozen photos that easily made our best-ofs for the year (like the one above). {more field trip photos} {Laura Musselman}

Favorite moment #5: Eef Barzelay {at the Madrona Ale House} :: The night after Eef Barzelay's headlining appearance at our Imaginary Holiday Spectacular, he played a much quieter affair as part of a private party at the Madrona Ale House. Abandoning the PA after three-quarters of a song, he sat down across the table from us, where he proceeded to stay for much of the show. The result? A very front-row seat for one of our favorite performances of the year. You can even hear a moderately decent recording of one of his Journey project tracks from the show over here and relive the moment along with us! {more photos of Eef} {Eef Barzelay / Clem Snide bandcamp}

Favorite photo #4: Lovesick Empire at Neumos :: This one happened so early in the year that it almost slipped through the great sort-through! Way back in January, Lovesick Empire played an AMAZING set at Neumos, and even though they're pushing forward with a slightly different lineup than seen here, they are still making some of the most kick-ass music coming out of Seattle today. It's huge-sounding, dirty, full of guitars, and cuts right to the point -- another one to add to your "do not miss under any circumstances" list of live bands to catch so that you don't regret it forever the morning after they've played. {more photos from the Neumos show} {Lovesick Empire FB}

Favorite moment #4: John Roderick's pre-City Arts house show :: We were the luckiest of all ducks to not only attend, but actually host a super-intimate house show with John Roderick out in Ballard this past October, where less than two dozen folks pulled together a potluck and a city of tealights for one of our favorite shows of the year. John held court in front of the mantel, singing and storytelling and taking requests for more time than we could keep track of (minutes? hours?) while the room swooned away with delight -- like Eef's Alehouse show, we even managed to sneak in a homemade recording, which you can take a listen to here. Honestly, there's not much we can think of for 2012 that's going to be able to top it. {more photos from the house show} {The Long Winters}

These are a few of our favorite things: best all-around photos and moments of 2011 {pt. I}

imaginary victoria — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:43:15 +0000

There were so many great times in 2011 that we've had to divide them up into little compartments just to review them all: there are the photos that captured everything in the perfect just-so kind of way, forever burning the days and nights into the backs of our minds and our notebooks, and the moments where the light was less than perfect but we were swept off our feet nonetheless. Even though we're likely forgetting some key {literal and metaphorical} snapshots from both categories, we've taken a crack at listing our favorites spanning back to January of this year.

Favorite photo-and-moment #10: Michael Lee {of The Young Evils} :: Just the other month -- was it November? -- we found ourselves at the Rendezvous in Belltown for a most-excellent set from our friends The Young Evils, who put on a performance so good that it left us practically beside ourselves at the thought of new music coming from their camp sometime in 2012. While they shook and swayed the stage, we managed to snap our tenth-most-favorite shot of the year in between applause and hollers of bass player Michael Lee, who was looking particularly dapper that evening all dolled-up in a suit and tie. His whole vibe had a very alt.indiepop.McCartney-esque slice to it, and we're so glad we managed to capture it in a photo! {more photos from the show} {The Young Evils}

Favorite moment(s)-and-photo(s) #10: the Market in the summertime :: Right around the time of the Eddie Vedder / Glen Hansard shows this year -- July, to be exact -- we found ourselves with a bit of free time and some friends visiting from out of town {namely one of our imaginary Austin liasons, Amanda}, which made for an excellent excuse to get our tourist on down at Pike Place Market. Even though the sun this summer was moderate and fleeting, we were able to soak up some of it on the sidewalks and benches on some of the most picturesque spots in town, by far making it one of our favorite little slices to remember 2011 by! {more photos from the Market}

Favorite photo #9: Heligoats :: Ah! Heligoats may just be our favorite knew-about-but-didn't-know-about-until-this-year act, which we happily discovered during his sets over the weekend of the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular. Seen above performing at Columbia City Theater earlier this month, Heligoats {in this incarnation as Chris Otepka, solo} stole our hearts and our kneesock-clad tapping toes all at once with his wordy, smart storylines and earnest, upbeat sound -- and to have this photo to remember it by makes it all the better! {more photos of the Imaginary Holiday Spectacular} {Heligoats official}

These are a few of our favorite things: best festival photos and moments of 2011 {pt. II}

imaginary victoria — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:38:50 +0000

{This is part two of our one-two punch showcasing the best in festival moments and photos from 2011. Start from the beginning here, where you can see picks #10 - #6!}

Favorite photo #5: Wye Oak :: Standing in the pit at Sasquatch! at the small stage is always a treat -- you're right up next to the performers, and unless someone's career has exploded between the time they got booked and the time the festival rolls around, there's not too many people mobbing the area surrounding the stage. Such was the case for Wye Oak, and while they were already a good, established band then with a solid crowd turnout, we were able to get up-close-and-personal for their set to capture this mid-song moment. If you haven't seen one of their many appearances -- Sasquatch! 2011, the shows with the National at the Neptune last month, or from the "HOLY SHIT" file: that time they played with Shearwater at the Triple Door in 2010 -- get out to see them on mid-sized stages while you can. {more photos from Wye Oak's set at Sasquatch!} {Wye Oak official}

Favorite moment #5: Del :: So, technically, this happened *during* Austin City Limits and not *at* Austin City Limits proper, but we couldn't compile a best-of without mentioning Del.

One morning, while loading up on espresso and bagels while uploading photos pre-fest on a hundred-degree day in Austin, we met Del. And as it turns out, Del is just an artist in a corner at a cafe, akin to those writing furiously in a notebook -- only he doesn't blog it, "show" it, exist anywhere on the internet, or have openings in art galleries. This is just what he does, and after getting permission to take his photo and chatting with him for a bit, we learned that this inky artpile is Del's form of art-therapy journal-y processing. While it wasn't a We Are Augustines set or a moment in front of the stage with Elbow, it was nonetheless a highlight of our ACL trip and well-worth preserving here in our 2011 storyline!

Favorite photo(s)-and-moment #4: Sharon van Etten

Favorite moment-and-photo(s) #4: Aloe Blacc

What an amazing, amazing pair of sets these two put on at Sasquatch! this year. Sharon van Etten's sparse, gut-wrenching performance rang out all the way into the darkest corners of our hearts where the best reverb lies, and Aloe Blacc held up to every expectation we had going into the set. The fact that they both looked good doing what they both obviously love {and are so, so well-suited} to do just made capturing it in photo-form all that much easier. {more Sasquatch! 2011 photos} {more about Aloe Blacc} {SVE official}

These are a few of our favorite things: best festival photos and moments of 2011 {pt. I}

imaginary victoria — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:24:08 +0000

2011 was {is still!} a great year, not only for releases but also for live shows, festivals, and those grit-of-the-stage-under-your-fingertips kinds of moments that we have all come to love and live by: nights like The Head and the Heart blowing the roof off of Porterhouse in West Seattle, a few sweet Lovesick Empire sets, John Darnielle's solo show at UW, and some incredibly intimate events like David Bazan's performance at Barsuk Records and some killer in-studios at KEXP. And with that said, here's the start of {one of} our 2011 countdown, featuring our top moments and photos of the 2011 festival circuit:

Favorite photo #10: Andrew McKeag :: Whether he's taking a big stage with his regular band {The Presidents of the United States of America}, holding court as a Honky, or anything in-between, this man simply does his thing with an understated level of skill that most musicians can only hope to attain (and manages to look pretty damn good doing it, too). Pictured above as part of the Kasey Anderson and the Honkies set at this year's installment of Bumbershoot, Andrew made us pretty happy to have gotten to the 'fest in time for the early bands that day with this dead-on look into the lens. {more KA&tH shots from the 'shoot} {POTUSA official} {KA&tH}

Favorite moment #10: WATERS :: Maybe it was just that moment -- being New York City for a few days and suddenly realizing that the city has basically charmed your pants right off, and being totally okay with it -- in conjunction with some incredible live sets day after day after day, but we really, really did very much dig the WATERS set that went on as part of KEXP's broadcast from the Ace Hotel for this year's CMJ. It was all those things you hope for from an indie rock band: big guitars, a cohesive sound, and an overwhelming sense of want-more! once the music stops playing, all wrapped up in a surprise as we hadn't seen or heard them enough previously to know what to expect -- get a taste of their glorious noise over at Stereogum, where a post this year offered a free download that's still up for the taking. {more photos of WATERS at CMJ 2011} {WATERS}

Recap: Visqueen's fare-thee-well performance at the Neptune

imaginary liz — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:02:27 +0000

This past Saturday, we said goodbye to our dear, dear Visqueen. The duo of Rachel Flotard and Ben Hooker (with a rotating team of equally disarming and talented friends on bass and rhythm guitar throughout the years) charmed a sold out crowd one last time. The evening couldn't have been any more sweet, or touching, or amazing. It's the night that we will all be talking about for years to come, about the last time Visqueen rocked our socks off: the final Rachel in-between song banter that made us laugh so hard we cried, and a final song that was so stunning, I weep buckets at just the mention of it.

Rachel was able to cajole Broadcast Oblivion into reforming for this special night. I'll admit, it's been a while since I've listened to my copy of Transmita Olvido to sing along to "False Starts for Blackened Hearts" (on repeat), but it was magical to enter the showroom as they were working up a sweat. Capping off their set with a drum off between Ben Hooker and Coady Willis (who you might have recognized as a Murder City Devil), they really set the tone for the rest of the night: the next few hours were going to be full of surprises, and the fun of a good ol' fashioned party among friends. Visqueen entered the stage to “I Had the Time of My Life” from Dirty Dancing, hugging and laughing and taking the edge off of the finality of it all, and cementing the fact that when it comes down to it, we're all still going to be BFFs -- nomatterwhat.

A mixtape of Imaginary Liz's Best of 2011 {so far)

imaginary liz — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:49:41 +0000

Rather than thinking of it as 2011 being halfway over, I prefer to see it as we're all halfway to my birthday {December 24th if it's not on your calendar already}. To celebrate, and take stock of this year's releases thus far, I've put together a mix of my favorite songs of 2011 {so far}.

This year has brought some predictably great albums from friends such as Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, BOAT, Matt & Kim, Telekinesis, Bright Eyes. I feel like I've been waiting for a fresh batch of songs from Brown Recluse for years. I love every note they play and having a two hearty releases in one year {Panoptic Mirror Maze and Evening Tapestry} makes me overjoyed.

Other bands, like When I Was 12 and Dangerous Ponies, I am thankful for crossing paths with for the first time this year.

And then there are the folks that have left me wanting more more more (I'm looking at you Oregon Bike Trails and Forbidden Friends)! Huge thanks to You Aint No Picasso for bringing Oregon Bike Trails to my attention. OBT fellow, singer/songwriter Zach Yudin, from Santa Monica, Ca., is quite the mysterious dude - only having a cassette tape release earlier this year (hand painted, limited to 50!) and a couple other MP3s swirling around the web.

Forbidden Friends, a side project by Thermals frontman Hutch Harris (with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis on drums and fellow Thermals Kathy Foster and Westin Glass backing him up), is still in the 7" only phase, and needless to say I'm counting down to a full album of FF stuff.

In short, I can't recommend the below songs and full releases enough. To help convince you of their brilliance, I made a virtual mix cd!

The tracklisting of my {hopefully very convincing} mix cd is:

Shimokita Is Dead

Chris Estey — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:45:09 +0000

8.1

http://www.tennispromusic.net/index.shtml

063011_2205_tennisprosh1.jpg

Usually when a band gets down to business time it isn't always fun: it can be a release of pent up disappointments and missed chances. But Tennis Pro do a complete 180 degree breakdance spin and, instead, throw a party of a record. And their world domination just means fun for everyone at that party. The opening lines of tight gut-funk opener "Dance Hit Number 1" (this isn't a track on a UK greatest wavo-disco 12" from the 80s compilation??), upon which is preached, "Are you downtrodden my brother? Afflicted, my son? Well, pick yourself up, you're not done."

From there, drummer Sean Lowry, vocalist and guitarist David Drury, and multi-talented bassist Philip Peterson (oh yeah, vocals, strings, backrubs, brass, breaking glass, keyboards, champion snogger, knows a guy, who knows a guy, works a room, keeps swinging, et al) just fully determined to break out of the miasmatic indie rock ghetto of focused failure and small club woes. The big fat bold blue sound of Shimokita Is Dead? puts all the clocks to bed and demands the guests have at least one more, to paraphrase the sweet warning of " Saratomi Bicycle" -- those beloved fellow partiers being Dita Vox (Thee Emergency!), Cristina Bautista, guitarist Matt Black, Jessica Abbey, and Blake Jeffcoat. Their crisp, welcomed talents add to the jumped-up franticness what all those weed dealers dealers did for The Clash on Sandinista! Except in one third the size and only dubbed out at the end of a couple surfy, bonfire-glowing burn-down tracks (and you got to have those by 3 am).

Honestly, where previous (third) album Are You There, God? It's Me Tennis Pro perfectly sort-of evoked the dark, down edges of the '00s (indie feeling creepy about the good times being almost gone), the band has brought a whole new barefoot, mock the cops before you get the pepper spray, antagonistic playfulness recalling their balls-hanging-beneath-the-dress live shows. The trio is a briskly playing, siren-winding shit-hot blur of sweet power pop and post-psyche on this fifteen track creature of joy. There's still some serious messages here beneath the messing-your-mind-up hilarity (the clap-dazed and Gary Glitter-crunchy "Clothing Optional Christian Barbecue," the vividly visceral "Song Detergents"), but every other track is a straight ahead MAKE THIS A TOP TEN HIT Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer first LP-type hit. My first pick: "Make You Think You Want Me," which I think I hear on a thousand radio stations with a true clue right now. Please fetch me a Captain Morgan's and Cherry Coke, and I'll give you my theory on the rest all ready for individual put-em-out treatment. Make it a double because summer's just starting, and there's plenty!

Photoessay: The Head and the Heart win us over... again.

imaginary victoria — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:18:45 +0000

Friday night was one of those nights we forgot we were working -- of course, Friday night being the sold-out show at the Showbox with The Head and the Heart, Lemolo, and The Devil Whale. In between the big-guitar feel-good riffs of the The Devil Whale, Lemolo's mesmerizing sparse brand of genius, and THatH's forty-five-minutes-to-the-minute (plus a three-song encore) professionally polished set, we managed to snap off a few shots -- you know, when we weren't dancing, swooning, tweeting, or singing along to every word coming off the stage.

We're happy to report that THatH's songs have evolved beautifully, and having been present at last summer's Sonic Boom and Comet shows, we can safely say that not one ounce of that thing they do was watered down by the size of the stage or the vibe of the room. Naysayers be, um, nayed! Instead, here's a big fat bravo, lady and gents. You've certainly earned it.

Live Recordings You Cannot Live Without

Andrew Boe — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 23:03:12 +0000

It seems that a lot of people I speak with are not fans of live albums. Contrarily, I have always been a collector of both official and bootleg live releases by groups that I follow.

In many instances, bands sound so much better live, especially when considering dated production periods such as the mid to late 1980s. When great songs are marred by stale production, similar era live recordings often sound so much more natural and powerful than their often rigid studio counterparts. In other examples, artists work out different arrangements or simply have more time to develop a track when it is performed over a period on the road. Of course, many live releases are not definitive, but following are a few that I consider to be as good, if not better than the original album renditions.

Portishead: “Sour Times” (from Roseland NYC Live, 1998): This murky, intense version of “Sour Times” was occasionally performed in this arrangement during the tour for their eponymous album (1997) and is included on the CD (but not the DVD) of Roseland NYC Live. This amazing and rather different rendition was actually recorded in San Francisco in April of 1998. I will take this over the standard version any day.

Come see my live interview w/Steve Ignorant of legendary punk band Crass tomorrow night {4/26} at The Comet

Chris Estey — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:33:09 +0000

You should come to my (absolutely free, though 21+) live interview with Steve Ignorant tomorrow night (April 26) at The Comet starting at 6 pm - because Crass, the band he sang vocals for, sound better and truer and more meaningful than ever in these uber-apocalyptic times. Have a listen to their greatest non-hits collection Best Before 1984, and you will hear the voices and noises of women and men beating back the darkness as hard as they could. Whether that despair be political repression, male domination, religious hypocrisy, Crass sounded like the Sex Pistols and The Clash on overdrive, in song revolutions so real you could taste the tear gas and pints that fueled them.

As keenly described in his honest and humorous autobiography The Rest Is Propaganda (scribed with Steve Pottinger), which Ignorant will be signing copies of for sale at The Comet, he was a fun-loving teenager when he began hanging out at the Dial House, a hang-out for artists helmed by Crass co-founder Penny Rimbaud. Ignorant was kicked off the dole for a bad attitude, and didn't have much hope given him growing up in a poor, violent part of England. When he saw the near-30 year old book designer and vegetarian Rimbaud living life exactly the way he wanted to, he came along, in his own fashion. Wine-soaked nights ranting about the UK going right wing, along with seeing Rotten in the Pistols on TV and Simonon of The Clash commanding mod coolness live, put these two men into a spoken word/drums duo for rants like "Do They Owe Us a Living?" and "Reality Asylum."

Wire

Andrew Boe — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:07:36 +0000

13 Apr 2011

Most Wire fans agree that their first three albums are excellent recordings that still sound as vibrant and challenging today as they were upon their initial release approximately thirty years ago.

Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 are all timeless classics in their own right and each successive LP was vastly different from the previous one, making them that much more impressive. Interestingly, Wire fans tend to have wildly fluctuating opinions about their subsequent output. Personally, I quite like the 1980s albums too, but have not exposed myself nor been exposed to any of their records after that period. On Wednesday evening, Wire took the stage at Neumos and offered a retrospective of their entire career, which provided the audience with a sampling of each decade’s evolution through music.

The last time that the group came to Seattle, the set was centered around harder rocking tracks. This time around, Wire focused on the more experimental side of their material, which was much more satiating as they are perhaps the quintessential art rock band. Red Barked Tree, the band’s newest offering, was featured heavily in the set as were several songs from the underrated 1980s albums, The Ideal Copy and A Bell is a Cup Until it is Struck.

Wire is currently a three-piece consisting of Colin Newman (vocals, guitar), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals) and Robert Grey (drums) as their other original member, guitarist Bruce Gilbert, left the group in 2005. The band does have a second touring guitarist, but only the three original members performed on the newest studio LP.

They did not set foot onto the stage until after 11:00 p.m., which seemed a bit late for a weeknight, but the group was as tight as could be. Wire churned out a solid performance from start to finish, and the new songs from Red Barked Tree blended in quite well with the familiar tracks. Of these, two opuses from the stunning 154 album were performed, the poppy, Low-esque "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W," and the incendiary "Two People in a Room." Newman was playing a rare National guitar through his vortex of pedals and the instrument sounded wonderful.

Other highlights were A Bell is a Cup's trance inducing "Boiling Boy" and The Ideal Copy's centerpiece "Drill." Of the new tracks, the song "Red Barked Trees" closed the main set and this composition was just as good as any of the classics. The band waited until the very last song of the evening to delight the hardcore fans with "Pink Flag." The song selection alone was enough evidence to reveal that Wire is one of those legendary bands who have influenced hundreds of others throughout the years. It is easy to see why as they uniquely blend pop, rock and experimentation into their music while remaining difficult for imitators to copy.

Setlist:

Comet

Smash

Advantage in Height

Please Take

Silk Skin Paws

Kidney Bingos

Clay

Map Ref. 41°N 93°W

Bad Worn Thing

Moreover

Two People in a Room

106 Beats That

Boiling Boy

Red Barked Trees

---------------------------

Down to This

Drill

Underwater Experiences

----------------------------

Adapt

Pink Flag

Photo by: Amy Bernard

Most Wire fans agree that their first three albums are excellent recordings that still sound as vibrant and challenging today as they were upon their initial release approximately thirty years ago.

Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154 are all timeless classics in their own right and each successive LP was vastly different from the previous one, making them that much more impressive. Interestingly, Wire fans tend to have wildly fluctuating opinions about their subsequent output. Personally, I quite like the 1980s albums too, but have not exposed myself nor been exposed to any of their records after that period. Last Wednesday evening (April 13), Wire took the stage at Neumos and offered a retrospective of their entire career, which provided the audience with a sampling of each decade’s evolution through music.

Photo by: Amy Bernard

Photoessay: Nirvana exhibit at the EMP, Head and the Heart at Easy Street

imaginary victoria — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:18:41 +0000

Between the star-studded opening of the Nirvana exhibit at the EMP, and the 800 different kinds of awesome that took place on Record Store Day, we could barely keep up. However, we did manage to sneak a few shots off at the EMP, as well as at The Head and the Heart's evening set at the Queen Anne Easy Street, both of which are below for the viewing. Enjoy!

Friday night's opening of the Nirvana exhibit:

Nirvana exhibit opens this weekend: EMP members prefunk tonight with Kurt Bloch, Steve Fisk, Charles Peterson, and more!

imaginary victoria — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:37:32 +0000

Based on all current internet reports, tonight is going to kick some serious ass.

EMP members, press, and invited guests are being beckoned down to Seattle Center to check out the prefunk for the opening of Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses. It's just the beginning of a weekend full of grand-opening events, but we're particularly excited about this evening's affair -- because some legendary folks will be taking to the turntables (!!) and spinning hits for the night, including Kurt Bloch, Steve Fisk, Charles Peterson, and Mark Pickerel. No shit.

You know. Just another Friday night in Seattle.

Here's the whole rundown of the weekend, if you're out kicking some Record Store Day activities and want to take break to peek at the EMP's happenings. Please note that tonight's event was closed for RSVP replies last week, so the first chance you'll have to view the exhibit is tomorrow morning (for members, at a family-friendly pre-opening) or tomorrow afternoon (for non-members, starting at noon).

Wilderness Decades: Lesser Known Dylan

Andrew Boe — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:20:47 +0000

It is more than a little daunting to write about the music of Bob Dylan. He has been recording music for fifty years now, and so many beautiful things have been said about his songs for decades.

Taking this as a cautionary guideline, I have always preferred Dylan’s post-1960s output to his earlier, universally-lauded material and wanted to discuss some of his great latter day albums. His earliest records feature ahead of their time political and humanitarian statements, while the mid-60s ones have an amphetamine-fueled surrealistic brilliance to them.

There is no doubt that every album he released up to Nashville Skyline (1969) is unadulterated genius, but his work after that is what I am especially drawn to. I gravitate to the records and songs that Dylan recorded when he was vulnerable and not fully confident. This, to me, is the Bob Dylan that is truly fascinating.

Labour Of Lust (Reissue)

Chris Estey — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:43:06 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Labour-Lust-Nick-Lowe/dp/B004K9HIXO/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

Nlowe.jpg

THIS LP POPPED MY NEW WAVE CHERRY. It was 1979, my parents had taken me to Peaches on 45th (R.I.P.), a great big old record store, and my mom made me choose between this, Nick Lowe's second solo album (after playing with pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz, which I still don't think I've heard to this day, and while he produced Elvis Costello's first few amazing records), and The Clash's Give 'Em Enough Rope. A hard choice, but Labour Of Lust became my 13th birthday present.

Up until that purchase, it had mostly been all Queen and Heart and such for me. One day in 1978, I heard "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight" on the radio when some rednecks from Walla Walla were making fun of it for an April Fool's Joke as they did their radio shift. I expected to hear Dr. Demento that Sunday evening, but discovered The Rezillos instead. And I started to think of myself as "punk," but that meant listening to the end of "Bohemian Rhapsody" over and over, you know, the part where it gets really aggressive.

Though I had my older brothers' Runaways and Lou Reed and David Bowie albums, I didn't have my own thing yet. Labour Of Lust sounded like it was the start of something I really wanted to be. It sounded like cool guys in flannel shirts and tight jeans making music for themselves, not concerned with the bands full of congo players and back up singers on Midnight Special.

I remembered in the store that a really British guy (as British as Monty Python! But sounding as American as The Byrds!) named Nick Lowe was all over the radio with a new, really creepy hit called "Cruel To Be Kind." It was really self-deprecative, a bit offensive, and catchy as hell, and somehow had more musically to do with the Buddy Holly and John Lennon I'd overheard than the Doobie Brothers and Robbie Dupree played around it on Top 40. Being a twisted little kid, I knew exactly what the double entendres in the song meant, but after my mom bought me the album, I got introduced to a whole new world of adolescent skeeve-out: getting strung out and going crazy ("Cracking Up," which kind of reminded me of that somewhat cool Tom Petty guy also hanging around the airwaves at the time); oblique references to drugs (the never-heard-anything-like-it-before Krautpop-minimalist-funk of "Big Kick, Plain Scrap"); screwing foreign -- my country's! -- groupies with sadistic glee ("American Squirm"); boner jokes ("Switchboard Susan"); STDs ("Dose of You"); et al. Somehow, you don't remember these hastily offensive scenarios; what stays in the mind are the great hooks, riffs, and perfect rhythms of the band Rockpile, which backs Lowe throughout.

But really, even though I played this album CONSTANTLY as a 13 year old, I knew the somewhat weird and realistically wasted lyrics were a small part of it. It was about the sumptuous palette of wide power pop-cum-C&W-rockabilly treats spread throughout, even showing off a vocals-and-acoustic only ballad ("You Make Me") which horrified my punk-expectant ears. That was good for me.

At times, I wished I'd gone with Give 'Em Enough Rope instead; but that was soon to happen anyways, and Lowe offered up a joy in timeless songcraft that connected me from my first love, The Monkees (the covers even looked a little like their Headquarters LP, all white and sloppy-hippy mod) to what was happening now (then). I think I needed that bridge, though I would later go on to find that Lowe's first album, Jesus Of Cool (Pure Pop For Now People in the States) was superior in terms of satirical songwriting and punk-era musical bite.

Still, Labour Of Love was my first, and I don't regret that. Soon, it would be the more philosophically extrapolative and subversively ironic Armed Forces (also produced expertly by Lowe), Blondie, and then very soon London Calling (but that's a whole other story there I guess). As for Lowe, this was his last great album; sadly, it was only his second. It seems shallow to say, but the haggard, extremely casual, shambolic photos of him on the cover and inner sleeves of Labour Of Love, sort of foretold he didn't give a shit about fashion or what was happening outside the recording studios he labored in so passionately.

Lowe's lyrics are about the fucked up and the far from fabulous, but his recording style with Costello, himself, and others was a sort of lo-fi Roy Thomas Baker, which seems very 70s but also eternally kind of sweetly sleazy. (I wish he could have done a Cheap Trick LP.) Lots of flange, deep bass, tricks of all sorts, but hilariously at odds with the sods in his stories.

I never bought another Lowe full length. It may seem cruel, but there was Psychedelic Furs and the Dead Kennedys and so many other new bands to keep up with as the decade turned. I got a couple for review early on as I started to do a zine, and they were good. But I was glad then I didn't pay for them. But I would pay for Labour Of Lust in a heartbeat: It's hard to imagine a Three Imaginary Girls without its smorgasbord of full-on proto-indie ("Love So Fine"), genre-breaking underground hard rock ("Born Fighter"), etc.

One thing (young) Americans should know though that other reviews of this aren't mentioning, is that "Endless Grey Ribbon," which is on this brilliant Yep Roc reissue, was UK only. (The reissue is worth buying instead of a vintage copy too for the amazing liner notes as well.) It's great that that song is here, but it's also a little more mature in tone and content than what we in the States got when we originally bought Labour; also is the bonus B-side included, "Basing Street."

These are quiet, sincere protest songs about anxious lives coming apart that wouldn't be really appropriate for even the alternative market until the coming of songwriters like John Vanderslice or John Roderick. They're all adult narrative, and obviously kept from immature listeners in the States for a reason (probably). Here they both are though. But me, I was satisfied enough with the sweeping, disingenuous, grand meanness of "American Squirm" or "Skin Deep" than anything else I'd heard since the late 60s. (GOD I'M OLD.) It still sounds like pure gold scuffed up by neglected spirits, working hard to make tunes maybe no one will ever hear outside of pubs and venues that come and go. Respect your elder (reissues): Don't miss this indie pop soul music.

Magic

Chris Estey — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:39:43 +0000

8.3

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Sean-Rowe/dp/B004GHYC2A/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

sean_rowe-magic.jpg

When my wife heard this playing yet again on the stereo last night she chirped, "So you found a record you really like a lot? That's awesome!" Yes, Sean Rowe's brandy-baritone vocals from his ANTI- debut Magic have become as sonically ubiquitous in our apartment as, say, those by Dylan, Cohen, and most recently Van Morrison. Now, that's pretty heady praise to write those names in a review of a new artist, and I'd need you to check in with me this time next year to see if Magic is still pouring out through apartment #301 here above the Ave. But the fact that the juxtaposition is even presumed should tell you enough that there is unique promise involved.

Most of the praise I have for this full-length would better be used by the placement of a handful of the tracks on a mix tape to friends. Because it's a really, really good album -- but due to so many slow burners with similar tempos, the sequencing lacks a certain ingenuity. Still, maybe that's OK: The first of the ten tracks is titled "Surprise," and it's a hale, modest, romantic soul number that might have been better placed as the third track. A steady hand full of flowering imagery ("Your body shows up to take it all")... still, this is where the average consumer is going to look for the quick pop fix, and this is the closest thing to a Steve Winwood number Magic is going to give. (However, deep cut art song fans will love following lines like, "I found a little shelter inside of the sickness ... I want to bottle the night and use it on you when the night goes down.")

There is further proof that new singer-songwriter gods can possibly be born new, or at least their rhythms reborn through the cryptic night poetry and the plainly textured strum and thrum of their dusky song-blankets. It's when Rowe starts to caterwaul supernaturally halfway through "Old Black Dodge," like how L. Reed has been using Antony's otherworldly vocals to augment his more minimal sing-speak. "Wet" may have been a better opener; I can guess what it's about, but I love how (spartan) it sounds. Pretty much just a couple of acoustic guitar notes, over and over, with confessions about "leaving friends behind the graveyards with jars of rum" razoring out of the song's almost-stillness. Whether the kitchen knives and abusive boyfriends and moving are metaphorical, it all (as they say) rings true. Just as true as "Fast Car" from Tracy Chapman, and it's been a long time since alternative-kissed soul-pop has been both this pinching and relaxed.

But it's when more instruments are used, as on the fluidly-paced full-band masterpiece about the metaphysical car crash we'll all find ourselves in one day, "Jonathan" -- which, by the way, is the song here everyone needs to hear a few times -- that I fall in love. The scenes shoot out in sparks of lived-in observation, worn out reserve, and that ever-present musical restraint. "Jonathan" lets go crazily a little bit though, and it's like hearing "Born To Run" all over again -- suicide machines and Catholic girls wrapping their legs around you and votive candles lit in an abandoned building and all that.

The two tracks before "Jonathan" are almost equally as strong; the end of the world as the end of relationship (or vice versa): "Time To Think," perfect for that final drink before she comes home to dump you, and "Night" brings up a child's love and death in breaths too sharp to repeat. But it's where it's coming from that has me convinced to listen. There are some near-hymnals later on that I lose focus on; but maybe it's just because these previous jewels gleam so bright. (Maybe the sequencing was smart, after all.) "Wrong Side Of The Bed" is an example that even a fast-paced tune might lack the brilliance of the ballads. Rowe might be a bard like Cohen; weaving a tapestry, not building the bonfire. "American" is genuinely surprising in how deeply inside it reaches, for example, its spiritual thirst defying the simplicity of its title.

It's been a long time since I wanted to play an album over this much, my wife was right about that. This has been out since February but I think it's got a bad Catholic girls' legs, so let them do their work on you if they haven't. Sean Rowe's words and voice definitely have the Magic; here's to him casting future spells on me, and hopefully on you, too.

He Gets Me High

Chris Estey — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:15:48 +0000

8.5

http://www.amazon.com/He-Gets-High-Dum-Girls/dp/B004I3U7EY/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

dum-dum-girls-he-gets-me-high.jpg

Kristin "Dee Dee" Gundred and her in-shades art-babes are at the #2 spot in the current Billboard charts for this EP for a rare but giddy reason: a quick-change, yet supremely matured, transitional moment between full-lengths -- sounding bold and elegant after dense, terse debut I Will Be. And, telling from the three intoxicating originals and firm-shouldered cover of a Smiths classic, what I think will probably end up being one of the very best albums of 2011: Coming up next.

Since she left Rilo Kiley-mentored Grand Ole Party in the indie rock band glut of the past decade, Gundred has put on the paint-spattered motorcycle jacket and had quite a gas-choked rip around the music scene since. Probably figuring out that with her easy skills and fuzz-rock finesse she could dominate the rest with ease, her one-time one-gal band Dum Dum Girls first gladdened synthetical seven inch collectors with a smattering of singles and buzz. Then getting Link Wray/Blondie/Strangeloves band-baron Richard Gottehrer to help out with I Will Be, the latter must be thrilled to help produce an EP that is as bold a mini-/between album statement as fully fleshed out and dapper as He Gets Me High. I was there for the beautifully fat Gang of Four's Gold EP, for the absolutely assured one between the first two Pretenders albums; these were albums that took the magical mix of discovery and danger of their first records and went deep groove audacious in the post-punk era, perhaps proving that rock and roll really is an Extended Play medium. (Buy me a whiskey and we can argue those details.)

He Gets Me High is just that great, too, a giant leap forward onto the dance floor and into the after party, where the the bliss of opener "Wrong Feels Right" somehow blends early rockabilly Blondie with later "Dreaming" swankiness, and then pigging out on wicked romance with the title track (a "fix me up" anthem the Bangles would have walked like a whatever for). The apex of the cycle is the deeply concerned "Take Care Of My Baby," where the nurturing protagonist broods over her self-destructive Johnny Boyfriend like a classic Ronnie Spector ghetto handmaid. It's startling and steamy, and all of these songs exude the rebellion of late 50s girls gone rawk attitude with a whole lot of 60s stoner pop freak beat.

So why end ambitiously on a "take this!" straight-ahead cover of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," a Morrissey/Marr signature tune that even many Smiths fans can't resist? Because it sounds like the straight world about to crash into the counter-culture; a teenage melodrama built on William Blake's "London," where the emptiness of life has to burn out even if all over the concrete -- it's perfect for a modern Anglophile girl group to make its own. And Dee Dee, with her eager vocals jumping all over the minimalist drums, well... she and her gang almost punctures a sparkling leash through its mighty snout. Pretty bold, and about to blow up.