{Visqueen photo: Ben Haley / Bunnygrunt photo: JoshBomb}

September marks the biggest festival season in the Pacific Northwest. In a move to test our endurance, the biggest of the mammoth festivals take place within days of each other: Bumbershoot from September 4-6 in Seattle and Music Fest NW from September 8-12 in Portland. But, besides those mega-shows, we've got plenty of our favorite Seattle bands taking to the stage. In this edition of the Imaginary Mixtape we'll share tracks from noteworthy bands with shows in the coming weeks, feature some exclusive live recordings from the Athens Popefest, and a sneak preview of brand new songs by The Thermals and Superchunk.

You can listen to a stream or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page. Bandcamp prohibits tracks longer than 25 minutes {I think it's some regulation against jam bands?}, so the podcast is split into three sections. Click below to listen via the bandcamp stream.

 

PART 1: Preview of some September Seattle shows, Bumbershoot and Music Fest NW

 

PART 2: A listen to more Seattle bands with September shows and a preview of our Imaginary Crafty Listening Party albums for September

 

PART 3: Live tracks recorded at the 2010 Athens Popfest and some lovely Seattle indie-pop

 

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes (and who doesn't), download the .m4a file here {it's one single file with fancy chapter markers!} and then open it in your itunes {big thanks to Jigsaw Records for hosting the file!}.

 

Tracklisting: Imaginary Mixtape - September 2010:

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If it hadn't been for my Twitter friend @JohnstonMike, I wouldn't have known about this awesome free bundle-o-music at Tether Gallery tonight for its First Thursday exhibition, featuring "Thunderbitch: Women Designers in Northwest Rock".

The art is all about females who created looks for musicians, including fliers, posters and album covers, and ranges from 1966 to the present including a piece by Neko Case (!!!), and one of my favorite photographers, Alice Wheeler.

The music is all about variety, starting off with peformances by artist and songstress Barbara Ireland & Stone Freakin' Gossard (!!!!) at 6pm, followed by the amazing Visqueen at 7pm, and then at 8pm: a show with Damien Jurado in the gallery itself.

I had aleady planned on hitting First Thursday this eve with a friend, buy hey - I thought I was just going to see some art! Now I'm even more excited. How 'bout you?

(Pictured: L7 Poster by Ellen Forney)

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Yes, you're reading that correctly. And yes, we're just as excited as you are!

We're cordially inviting you (yes, you -- with the shirt! Hi!) to join us this Friday, July 16th at Solo Bar in Lower Queen Anne. The generous folks at Solo have pushed their happy hour aside so that we can host a night of music for A Drink For The Kids, starting at 6pm. There will be DJ sets from some of your favorite imaginary hosts, including the one and only Damien Jurado (!) who will be guest-headlining for us at 8pm. Expect lots of vinyl, lots of drink specials, and a rad hang!

In case you're not familiar, here's how A Drink For The Kids works: A designated sponsor (in this case, it's Pyramid Brewing Company ) will be supplying a few types of ale for you to enjoy, and the bar will have a designated liquor special too. You buy one of these specials, and the proceeds go directly to the Vera Project. And while you're getting your drink on, we'll be spinning some killer tunes. The end.

Yes, really. We know. It's pretty genius.

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It's definitely a time -- in the imaginary world at least -- when one of those 'holy crap, there's so much good music right now!' cycles is in full swing. So, between all the sounds and all the sunshine, we thought we'd take a moment to fill you in on some of our new all-time favorites before we get caught in the tidalwave of awesome and it all becomes a blur.

Ready? Steady, go:

The Head and The Heart - While this heavy rotation list is by all means in no particular order, this local band's new self-titled, self-released album is easily a favorite among new favorites. A perfect blend of total hope and full-force emotional cutting, The Head and The Heart's sweet, poignant lyrics pour out of the speakers in a sea of crafty, unexpected time signature changes with harmonies that just about stop the proverbial car. Singing about the everyday things we all ache over, they give snapshots of sadness and paint landscapes of far-off daydreams, in an indie.alt.americana /slash/ Avett Brothers multi-genre encompassing appeal, all of which translates tenfold in their live performance.

Favorite tracks: "Ghosts," "Lost in my Mind," and "Sounds Like Hallelujah."

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Last Friday, Damien Jurado played to a packed house at Easy Street Records in West Seattle, as part of KEXP's Hood-to-Hood challenge winner's day. Not only did the performance round out a day of tremendous live acts and a blast of a broadcast, but it also gave us a sneak peek at the new album (out today), Saint Bartlett. The songs are tremendous, the performance blew the roof off of Easy Street, and the record completely translates into a dozen or so tracks of pure greatness.

If you missed all of this, however, fret not: you (and seventy-five of your closest friends) can go pack the Ballard Sonic Boom tonight for a encore performance at 6:30p. Tonight's set also marks the official release of Saint Bartlett, being new release Tuesday and all, and we'd highly recommend picking it up (on vinyl, if you have the means) while it's there to get your hands on.

Easy enough, right? Let's recap:

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 "I wish I that I could float up from the ground / I will never know what that's like," are the first lines on Damien Jurado's latest record, Saint Bartlett, but it takes repeated listening to hear what he's saying. Not because his voice is muffled, as he and production collaborator Richard Swift have created a gliding, string-swollen tune that is very memorable and Jurado's sing-song voice floats in it like a crystal clear cross-current. It's when an initially annoying, distracting vocal repeats much of what he sings that the meaning of the song goes from someone imagining flying in reverse; it's about someone crashing. "Some day these hospital stays get the best of me / Trying to fix my mind / Trying to work it out, still trying to fix my mind." 

Saint Bartlett opening track "Cloudy Shoes" does a rare thing in pop music, creating a dragoon of hooks while getting under the skin; pushing the listener away just as the story pulls them in. It's one of Jurado's boldest mid-tempo pop songs, and the fact that he and Swift would allow the cracked inner life of its character to possibly hinder its potential for popularity by displaying it as a forthright effect is unsettling. 

{Damien Jurado plays at The Triple Door on Saturday, May 29 with Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, $14, 8pm, all ages.}

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Secretly American record label Secretly Canadian has announced the long list of upcoming tour dates for Damien Jurado's next Big Adventure; the keen-eyed troubadour has assembled a batch of cheap wine-swilling hobos playing spoons and rattling tin cans to join him hopping trains and playing midnight bonfires all over this post-Bush Depression-stricken land. So save them some Mulligan's when they pull into the train-yard nearest you, boys! And watch out for the railroad goons!

Oh wait, I was thinking about Pee Wee Herman. This latest super-tour starts at the Triple Door at the very end of May, on the 29th, and from there it's all over North America, winding up back in Portland on July 3. And singer-songwriter Damien Jurado does have a new band though, called the Saint Bartlett Band, which is totally weird, because (you won't believe this) his new album is named Saint Bartlett. Coincidence? Maybe. (Damien has a new kitten named Pear. I'll let your own mind find its way home now.) Actually, what's weirder is that the Saint Bartlett Band is actually eight fellow Seattle musicians from Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground. That's a lot of members to borrow from one band! And that's a lot of players Damien will have joining him for this very multi-dated tour! (Dates below.)

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at Crocodile Cafe

No frills set up for Damien. He walks on stage 10 minutes before his scheduled set time, takes his jacket off, opens a can of Coke, plugs his guitar in and starts playing. I've equated Damien's music as musical elixir in the autumn/winter months. I don't know what it is but themes of despair, longing and brokenness just sets the right mood in the background for those dark, wet foresty Pacific Northwest days. So here I am now in the spring and spirits are much higher, the outside air fresh and warmer.

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Upset. The word of the our 2008 Best Northwest Releases of 2008 Readers' Poll is upset.

With the Fleet Foxes winning readers and critical polls alike, who would've thought they wouldn't get top honors in our humble little Northwest poll? But they didn't -- they placed a distant second to New Faces, another debut record from some very talented, very young Northwest fellas.

We had other surprises as well, with unsigned newcomers such as Hey Marseilles, the Kindness Kind, and Kaylee Cole cracking the top ten, beating out Northwest heavyweights such as Death Cab for Cutie. We did not expect that. And we love it when you surprise us, dear readers.

We imaginaries like to champion the up-and-comers from the Northwest, and our results indicate that you do as well. We think you all also have fabulous taste, as always. Thanks to everyone who participated in our poll. We couldn't be more proud or thrilled to present the top 50 winners on your behalf...

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TIG staffers are a lot like you -- coming up with our list of faves for the year is a fun and gripping process. After comparing/contrasting/debating our individual favorites, we figured the sum of our imaginary parts would make for an interesting list.

While ChrisB and Keenan, among other things, brought in the power-pop elements,  Chris Estey stood by the smartie subtle elements of this year's Northwest offerings. Imaginary liz, as usual, loved the lo-fi and indie-pop songs, while imaginary dana spent much of the year obessed with Throw the the Statue and of course, the Fleet Foxes. And nearly all of us agreed that the Saturday Knights album was a force to be reckoned with. Here's our our staff votes tallied up...

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