The Grammys officially closed the book on 2012 on Sunday night.  And, with SXSW nearly here and the Sasquatch line-up already announced, I think it's safe to share my very likely possibly concrete list of my favorite albums of 2013… even though I haven't heard any of them yet.  There is no better reason to track them down as soon as I can than naming them as favorites of the year, right?  

The thing is, I know and love all these bands to near tattooing-their-name-on-my-arm proportions. So, the fact that they are ALL releasing albums (or in my heart I presume that they are) in the next few months is going to make this year one of the most magical ever (!) and has made putting my end of year list together a snap.  Such a snap, I'm proclaiming them as fantastically brilliant albums in February! Starting with this post, I'll countdown all 10 (very likely) super amazing radtastic albums.  Is there any better band to begin with than with BOAT?

No one knows how to build up to a record release date better than BOAT.  For the past month or so, BOAT has shared some tracks from a special cassette tape gift available to the first 100 folks who pre-order their album, Pretend to be Brave.  The cassette, titled Pretend to be BOAT (listen), features various other bands covering tracks from Pretend to be Brave.  For that alone I give a hearty hat tip to BOAT for their major project management skills. So far they've featured covers by Fishboy, Throw Me From the Statue and John Roderick, and for that I give a hearty hat tip for their amazing good taste in friends. 

As far as hearing BOAT's versions of the songs, they've posted a couple on soundcloud and they've shared some of the songs in their late 2012 live sets (notably in a stripped down setting last year at our Imaginary Ice Cream Party)… and I love them all.  Of course I pre-ordered the album on Magic Marker Records website {I *must* have that ltd. ed cassette!} and the confirmation email said the album is due to ship on March 5, 2013 with an in-stores release date of March 12, 2013.  BOAT is celebrating the album release with a show on Friday, March 2nd at Barboza. I bet they'll have copies of the album for sale there for those of us that just can't wait for a package in the mail!

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We promised a ton of imaginary events to celebrate our tenth anniversary, and true to our word, we've got another one around the corner! Now that you're fully recovered from the Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Party, it's time to get a little summertime on and join us on the Hill for some treats: yep, we're talking about an old-fashioned Ice Cream Social, and you're invited!

Imaginary staffers and friends will be gathering on Thursday, July 12th at Bluebird Ice Cream on Capitol Hill, and we want you to join us! It's free and all ages, and we'll even have some live music -- we'll be hanging out for happy hour from 5pm til 7pm, and D. Crane and the Unlikely Friends (of BOAT fame) will be performing right around the six o'clock hour. Come say hello, have a treat, and if you haven't done so already, you'll be able to pick up your very own copy of the imaginary zine. You can get it online, of course, but it's a whole lot more fun to get it in your hands live and in-person, with a fresh cone of Birthday Cake-flavored goodness and all your pals around, don't you think?

You're the adult now, so you get to decide what's best: ice cream for dinner! Pop on up to Bluebird after work on the 12th and hang out with us. And not like you need it, but here's a little reminder about how awesome BOAT is, just to get you double-dip excited.

We'll see you on the 12th!

at Jigsaw Records

This Saturday Jigsaw Records opened it's indie-pop doors to the public. The shop, located on the second floor of Resolution Audio in Ballard is a wee place full of indie-pop rarities that make my heart beat triple-time. No matter what your favorite indie-pop format, I am fairly certain you can find whatever is on your ebay seach list here (or owner guy Chris could connect with the record label to find a copy). There are scads of new and used cds (even 3-inch cds), delectable vinyl selections, cassette tapes (yep!), and even badges and zines to round out your packed indie canvas bag.

For the meek among us, the store might seem a bit intimidating to find. It is set in the far northeast corner of the antique-mall style second floor of the fancy audio shop. Once you make it through the downstairs shop to the carpeted stairs in the far back, pass the heavy metal / death metal record store, head straight back to Jigsaw where Chris will most likely greet you with open arms full of sweet jangly pop.

The best and most dangerous part? All of that rare and out of print stuff isn't priced as such. As our coolest Finest Kiss friend put it, the stuff is set at "90's prices."

Saturday night's show spotlighted the Seattle talent that fits right into Jigsaw's mission statement of featuring "indiepop, power pop, indie rock, lo-fi pop, twee, and pretty much any other kind of fun pop music that we fancy" with performances by Math & Physics Club and D. Crane of BOAT. It was MAPC's first appearance in two years and a very rare solo set by D. Crane of BOAT.

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