at The Triple Door

 

{Apologies for the crappy cell phone pic, you guys!}

Was this my most anticipated show of the year? So far—YES. I think it was. And so I was a little worried when my friend told me that Matthew had stumbled a bit during his Portland show, but I needn’t have been: The Girlfriend Tour was exactly what I wanted it to be.

Opening band Summer Twins (from Riverside, CA) took the stage, and I was pretty much immediately taken with the two sisters at the heart of the band: Chelsea and Justine. First off, Justine plays DRUMS, and I’m a sucker for a female drummer. Second, Chelsea has one of these awesome sultry-cute voices, and plays the guitar in an adorable sway-dancing way that is almost too twee to handle.

Rounded out by Marcia Rivera on guitar (who stood completely and totally still the whole set) and Levi Audette on bass (who bounced around the other side of the stage in stark contrast), Summer Twins played a bunch of really solid, utterly danceable super-fun indie rock tunes that mixed a hint of of surfy-garage rock with retro pop.

Bounciness was in abundance, my friends. I bought their self-titled debut CD at the break, resisting the vinyl…but only temporarily. Because I bet they sound AMAZEBALLS on vinyl.

more...

The usual is all here for The Magnetic Fields fans: Stephin Merritt with Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, John Woo, Shirley Simms, Johny Blood, and Daniel Handler making Spanish influenza-catchy, basement speakeasy lo-fi itchy, top shelf bourbon-breathed novelty hate snog orgies out of lyrical cliches, turned around and spanked sweetly.

However, there are some obvious twists on Love At The Bottom Of The Sea -- starting with the fact that they're back on Merge Records, the label that launched them as DIY synth-pop demigods in the 90s. And for the occasion TMF bring back the keyboards with all the squeaking, squonking, squealing, and the beep-beep-beeps beneath. The sweet fragrance of infatuations crooned and bleated on alt-boom classics like Get Lost and The Charm of the Highway Strip lingers here, but richly infused with the robust LP-learnin' Merritt and friends have been bringing in from late 60s/early 70s pop-folk-AM cabaret on their albums since the immense, ever-expanding 69 Love Songs.

more...

{Perfect Sense is screening at SIFF Cinema at the Uptown starting today, Friday, 2/17 - through Thursday, 2/23}

A love story wrapped around a frightening Sci-Fi premise, Perfect Sense is one of those films that’s hard to pin down—is it a story about the connections we form when we’re frightened? A tale of true, pure, meant-to-be love? A commentary on how the human race reacts in times of crises? A cautionary tale about how you should appreciate every moment in your life because you don’t know when it could be taken away? It’s kind of all of these things, and a little bit more.

Beautiful immunologist Susan (the always sultry Eva Green) is suffering from major depression due to an apparently horrific break-up, but decides to return to work just as a mysterious illness is starting to spread across the world. Michael (Ewan McGregor) is a chef whose restaurant just happens to be across the street from Susan’s flat, so it’s inevitable that they’ll meet, be initially resistant to each other, and then of course, fall in love.

The twist being that while they’re doing that, an unexplained and apparently incurable disease is ramping up...

more...

Remember these guys? I've been going through my piles of CDs lately because my harddrive crash caused me to lose about 80% of my iTunes tracks, and found The Lightning Seeds Cloudcuckooland (best.album.name.ever.) rattling around in one of the trays. I popped that sucker in and was immediately transported back to 1990 -- uh, the good parts only -- and remembered why I used to put this shiz on repeat for days on end. 

This first track, "All I Want" is some pretty rad stuff, but the whole album kicks some serious UK-indie ass. Among my faves: "Bound in a Nutshell", "Love Explosion" and "Sweet Dreams." And of course their dance-y Billboard hit, "Pure." Retro, head-swaying, sing-along, fun!

What other 90s albums do you still jam to?

Riveting, modern yet vintage-without-trying, just the right amount of haunted and desolate vibes while remaining full to the very seams.

These are the notes from my first few watches through the official video for "Nothing Is The News" by Damien Jurado, off the much-anticipated, almost-released new album Maraqopa, but they might as well be the words that describe both the music and Damien as a whole from a fan and listener perspective. To date, there's been nothing Damien Jurado has done that hasn't been fully immersive: each album a project unto itself, each track an experience, each phase clearly defined, described, presented, and finally ventured on from. The last album, Saint Bartlett, is a perfect example of this, where we traveled along for the story of the tracks, sat listening in the rain, stood stage-side and were all scarred beautifully by our favorites -- and now, the time has come to shelf it for the takings-on of a new journey. It will always be there when we need the nostalgia, of course, or when that phase of the journey re-presents itself sometime down the line -- but as of today, it's Maraqopa time.

Our friends at Secretly Canadian describe this latest work as "the most vital and engaging... heard from Damien in five plus years of working with him here at Secretly Canadian. In this second project with producer Richard Swift, Damien's folk roots are fleshed out with flourishes of blues, psychedelia, and soul breathing a whole new world into Damien's sound" and inform us that "with each visit to National Freedom, Jurado is exploring, taking risks. He's not only freeing his songs. The gate is opened wide to allow us all into his once-isolated musical universe. One gets the sense he's just now hitting his stride." We couldn't have put it any better ourselves, and strongly encourage you to pick up the album as soon as you're able -- preorders are alive and well here, or, take the in-person trip with us and several hundred of your closest friends for the record release party next Friday {2/17} at the Neptune, where you can see Damien play live and pick up a real-live copy at the merch table.

more...

One-half of this new musically-inclined duo has been a friend of mine for years: Celene Ramadan, AKA Leeni - so just to be clear, this isn't lip service or me trying to pump up a pal's music, as I've been a genuine fan or her pretty tunes since the moment she started creating. I've got all her stuff in my library, and am particularly fond of her 8-Bit work, so naturally when I saw she had a new band happening, I was intrigued.

The other half, Jon-Michael Kerestes, I was wholly unfamiliar with. This Pittsburgh, PA musician apparently reached out to the internets (via Craigslist) to find collaborators around the US, and lo & behold, Leeni answered his call. The result is Romeo + Juliet, a trippy psychedelic alt-rock band that could be direct from a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack.

Their debut, Month of May, is packed full of music with a gritty, full-on 60s sound. Leeni & Jon-Michael sometimes switch lead vocals, and other times go for it with a full duet,  always incorporating beautiful harmonies at just the right moment.

more...

{A Cautionary Tale will be in stores 3/8/2011}

First off, I have to confess that I picked up this CD simply because of its AMAZING cover, which is styled like an uber creepy Little Golden Book with illustrations by artist Travis Lampe (I've already picked out 10 things I need from his site). The disc itself even looks like a little 45! *squee*

Secondly - omg, you guys. I don't think I've fallen in love with an album at first listen like this since Rilo Kiley's The Execution of All Things. The Pauses have put together a simply stunning debut. From the synthy keyboard notes of "Beyond Bianca" to the sway-worthy heartbreak beats of "Pull the Pin", I adore every single goddamn thing about A Cautionary Tale. Lead singer and keyboardist Tierney Tough's throaty vocals are complemented by pretty melodic oohs and ahhs from multi-instrumented Jason Kupfer (guitar, keys, computerboard (!), and foot bells), and ably backed by Nathan Chase's drums and electronics.

more...

I love and hate the bipolar skronk of Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death. I have ever since I bought their "Diamonds In The Mine" (a Leonard Cohen cover) 45 at Easy Street Records a few years ago. That first bitter taste of their smeared mediation between old world magic and new chaos, between folk and punk and noise and song and anti-song, can be found in their hasty approximation of a song based on moral outrage and spat out brusquely.

Years down Highway 99, after a smattering of releases and a sputtering of shows, on the new Don't Stop Believin' full-length Some Of Us Are In This Together, the dead hooker's bruises still haven't healed. Who can expect them to? Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death is as cold as they come. It's still-born squalor, between abyss and existence. The ten tracks on Some Us Are In This Together are as tribal-loyal, exclusive, paranoid-defensive, and elitist as the LP title sounds. Drummer Andrea Zollo (ex-Pretty Girls Make Graves) is at the center of the activity, pounding away like an embittered Moe Tucker pummeling on an abusive boss's balding cranium with a Walmart price gun, allowing Corey J. Brewer (guitars, Cold Lake) and Joel Cuplin (bass, Constant Lovers) to churn death-pasta into a bile casserole.

more...

(This is the beginning of a column about getting cable turned back on after five years and watching regular television again. What has happened in the meantime? What has the rest of the country been doing since I've been playing music, going to shows, reading books, talking with friends, avoiding creditors, trying like hell to escape the too-tolerated madness of mainstream consumer society? Well, here goes -- for as long as I can take it, before calling to cancel cable.)

We got cable television a few weeks ago. It was a slow form of hell getting prepared for it and following through. This included disconnecting from the previous internet company to buy a “bundle” (cable, phone, internet) but the guy who normally hooks up the apartment building we live in didn’t put in the right order, so while I tried to get rid of the previous internet provider in the politest way possible, I also had to act as a liaison between the technicians at the new company and the dude who, um, brought over the paperwork (?).

more...

I hope you're ready for this, because we're about to take your Tuesday from good to grrrrrrrreat!

On top of it not being Monday (woo!) as well as the designated day to go-get-the-latest-and-greatest at the record store, this Tuesday we've got a pair of tickets to give away to two rad upcoming shows -- Dave Rawlings Machine down at the Showbox on Valentine's Day, and Sarah Bettens over at the Triple Door on Thursday. Seriously!

Touring on the heels of this past fall's release, A Friend of a Friend, Dave Rawlings Machine (aka Dave Rawlings and the ever-lovely Gillian Welch, alongside Belmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, Karl Himmel, and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) is bringing their beautiful sound that's "built on the same careful spine that Welch's songs are" to the Showbox this upcoming Sunday. Want to get in on the goodness? Just email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "FriendOfAValentine" before 9am this Friday (February 12th). Extra points for your pitch on why you should be the one we pick to attend the show!

And on a slightly lower key but just as lovely note, Sarah Bettens (formerly of K's Choice -- a quick Googling will refresh you on their smash hit, "Not An Addict") will be swinging through town this Thursday to headline the Triple Door for our listening pleasure. Her lush, thoughtful songwriting coupled with her dynamic, earnest performance style has had audiences flocking to her shows for over a decade -- most recently to celebrate the her latest releases, Never Say Goodbye and Shine. If you want to be part of the action, email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "Who'sBettens, Who'sBest" before 9am this Thursday (February 11th). Act fast -- that's only two days away!

Good luck, and we'll see you out at the shows!