Three Imaginary Girls - Los Halos

imaginary liz's favorite albums of the last decade

imaginary liz — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

Best of 2003: Top 100 Imaginary Albums of the Year

three imaginary girls — Sat, 03 Jan 2004 08:00:00 +0000

You voted, and we tabulated. Now you can print and clip the top 100 imaginary albums of the year list for your post-holiday-gift-certificate shopping pleasure...

The Postal Service, "Give Up"
The Shins, "Chutes Too Narrow"
Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism"
Radiohead, "Hail To The Thief"
Outkast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"
The White Stripes, "Elephant"
The Long Winters, "When I Pretend To Fall"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Fever to Tell"
The New Pornographers, "Electric Version"
The Decemberists, "Her Majesty, the Decemberists"
The Strokes, "Room On Fire"
The Wrens, "The Meadowlands"
The Divorce, "There Will Be Blood Tonight"
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, "Hearts of Oak"
Nada Surf, "Let Go"
Visqueen, "King Me"
Idlewild, "The Remote Part"
Junior Senior, "D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat"
Cat Power, "You Are Free
Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"
The Rapture, "Echoes"
The Darkness, "Permission to Land"
The Thermals, "More Parts Per Million"
The Dandy Warhols, "Welcome To The Monkey House"
The Lights, "Beautiful Bird"
Stellastarr*, "Stellastarr*"
Various Artists, "Lost in Translation" Soundtrack
Massive Attack, "100th Window"
The Mars Volta, "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
Wonderful, "God Bless Our Pad"
British Sea Power, "Decline of British Sea Power"
The Delgados, "Hate"
Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music"
Los Halos, "Leaving Va."
Mogwai, "Happy Songs for Happy People"
My Morning Jacket, "It Still Moves"
The Aislers Set, "How I Learned to Write Backwards"
The Thrills, "So Much for the City"
Kaito, "Band-Red"
Basement Jaxx, "Kish Kash"
Gillian Welch, "Soul Journey"
Grandaddy, "Sumday"
The Decemberists, "Castaways and Cutouts"
Twilight Singers, "Blackberry Belle"
Sun Kil Moon, "Ghosts of the Great Highway"
American Analog Set, "Promise of Love"
Damien Jurado, "Where Shall You Take Me?"
The Hidden Cameras,"The Smell Of Their Own"
Cursive, "The Ugly Organ"
Clearlake, "Cedars"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Take Them On, On Your Own"
Mojave 3, "Spoon & Rafter"
Rufus Wainwright, "Want One"
Calexico, "Feast of Wire"
Crooked Fingers, "Red Devil Dawn"
Sleepy Jackson, "Lovers"
Fountains Of Wayne, "Welcome Interstate Managers"
Manitoba, "Up in Flames"
Pretty Girls Make Graves, "New Romance"
Andrew Bird, "Weather Systems"
Johnny Cash, "Unearthed"
The Libertines, "Up the Bracket"
The Paybacks, "Knock Loud"
Broadcast "Haha Sound"
Deerhoof, "Apple 'O"
Menomena, "I Am the Fun Blame Monster!"
Fanny Pack,"So Stylistic"
Jet, "Get Born"
Kinky, "Atlas"
The Notwist, "Neon Golden"
Broken Social Scene, "You Forgot It In People"
Ed Harcourt, "From Every Sphere"
Exploding Hearts, "Guitar Romantic"
The Kills, "Keep On Your Mean Side"
Blur, "Think Tank"
Four Tet, "Rounds"
Kings of Leon, "Youth & Young Manhood"
The Drive-By Truckers, "Decoration Day"
The Minus 5, "Down With Wilco"
The Orb, "Bicycles and Tricycles"
Downpilot, "Leaving Not Arriving"
Longwave, "The Strangest Things"
Okkervil River, "Down the River of Golden Dreams"
The Malinks, "Can't Shake Last Night"
The Stills, "Logic Will Break Your Heart"
United State of Electronica, "Demo"
Guided By Voices, "Earthquake Glue"
Anna Oxygen, "All Your Faded Things"
Beth Gibbons & Rustin' Man "Out of Season"
Dead Meadow, "Shivering King and Others"
Martina Topley-Bird, Quixotic"
Rachel's, "Systems/Layers"
The Fitness,"Call Me for Together"
The Primate Five, "1234567APE"
Triple R, "Friends"
Holopaw, "Holopaw"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Nocturama"
Smog, "Supper"
The Bad Plus, "These are the Vistas"
The Gossip,"Movement"

A list of the top 100 records of 2003 as voted on by you, our fabulous imaginary readers.

Samezvous from Los Halos and John Richards from Loveless Records and KEXP

three imaginary girls — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

An imaginary Liz, imaginary Dana, and imaginary boy Michael X confession: No one at this CWARS interview drank coffee.

Our rockstar Samezvous {S} from Los Halos had a gin and tonic {"no special brand" as he can't tell the difference, he told us}

John Richards {JR} of Loveless Records and KEXP had a beer.

And while we're confessing — John and Samezvous weren't even at the same interview. But we're taking imaginary journalistic license by writing this as if we were all in the same place at the same time, drinking together, thankyouverymuch.

Let's start this off with a romantic question "He said/He said" style. Samezvous, how did Los Halos and Loveless Records fall in love?

{S} Okay. We had the first CD done, and we sent it out to maybe 70 labels, and none of them were even the slightest bit interested — we got no responses. When I recorded "For Ramona," I sent that out, with the same result — nothing. Then we decided to put together a sampler of some of the more commercial, more accessible stuff.

Right about that time, I broke up with my girlfriend — actually she broke up with me — and I was feeling real sorry for myself. I was reading through a magazine and I saw a review of Voyager One. I didn't even read the review, quite honestly, I just saw "Loveless Records" and I thought, "They know how I feel..."

So we sent out the sampler to 50 labels, Loveless included. We were set to sign with Interstate Records in San Francisco. Then I got an email one day from John, saying he hosted the morning show on KEXP, and that he'd been playing the record and getting a good response from listeners. John and I kept emailing back and forth...

After a certain point, it came time to sign the contract with Interstate, but it didn't feel right. So I wrote to John and told him that I was about to sign this deal, and I just flat out asked him if maybe Loveless would be interested in signing us instead, because we shared a lot of similar ideas and similar tastes in music. A couple of days went by... I just sat and stared at this Interstate contract, and then finally I got an email from Loveless that said, "You know what? We would like to sign you."

So John — what about your side of the story? You must get sent thousands of CDs. From all of these, Los Halos was the chosen band, if you will. What about them initially spoke to you; how did you respond to the music when you first heard it; how did that evolve into the band signing with Loveless?
{JR} We do get thousands of CDs. At the time, we weren't very excited about what we were getting, and were considering putting up the "we don't except demos" sign on the front door of the office when suddenly — the Los Halos demo showed up.

I listened to it right before I was leaving for a drive across the state and took it with me. By the time I arrived at my destination I was blown away by the emotional intensity that Los Halos showed. When I got back to Seattle I wrote him an email, and he told me he was putting out the record with some other label but was very happy I liked it. In a way, I was excited about this because that meant I could play the hell out of it on my show without raising flags about playing something I'm putting out. Well, after a while they wrote me back and said, "Nevermind about the other label, we want Loveless." That was all I needed to hear... So they got less airplay and more Loveless play.

Samezvous, are you a full-time music guy?
{S} I'm currently a student at West Chester University. I try to juggle music and school, but trying to do both as much as I want really slows me down. I'm also a bartender at [well-known national chain]. You gotta pay the bills somehow. I got loans, man.

What's your major?
{S} Secondary Education. I'd like to teach Sociology or World Cultures. Maybe Psychology or History — it all really goes into one major pool of ideas.

If you have the music-thing explode around the time you're offered a dream teaching job, what would win out?
{S} Music is definitely my first love — there's no question about that. But I'll probably cross that bridge when I get to it. But if the music does take off... I'm really afraid of flying, so that might inhibit things with touring. I don't have any irrational fears, but I'm definitely completely afraid of flying; it's a real issue.

What's your five year plan?
{S} I don't know. I'd like to be able to make a living... maybe live in a small house and drive a used Toyota, and all I would have to do is just wake up and make music.

Let's talk about your life on the road: In terms of leading the band, where on the tyrannical scale would you say you fall, with nice-guy Conor Oberst on one end and meanie Billy Corgan on the other?
{S} You'd really have to ask the other guys. I think I'm pretty nice, I don't really tell people what they have to play. I mean, obviously because I wrote all the songs, I'm pretty much in charge. But when we play the stuff live, everyone pretty much writes their own parts. I tell them stuff like, "You need to hit the G right here." But however they get there is cool.

John, if you could hear Samezvous karaoke one song, what would it be and why?
{JR} "Roxanne". Because NO ONE can do Roxanne. Samezvous seems to pull off the impossible....

Samezvous, what are your musical influences?
{S} Well, my ultimate musical experience would be... I would love to jam with the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan. I know a lot of people are embarrassed to like the Dead, but they were a great band. You've got to be able to look past the scene, and admit that they wrote some great, great songs. I never really got into the whole lifestyle; I just think they're a GREAT BAND. I grew up on that stuff, you know.

I listened to Willie Nelson when I was a kid, 'cause that's what my parents listened to. Then I got into Journey in the 3rd or 4th grade. Then when I was in 6th grade, someone gave me a copy of the Sex Pistols, and I was like, "Oh, okay. Wow, okay. Yeah." And that got me into the Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, the Smiths...

Anyway, when I was in 7th grade, my friends and I went to a punk show, and they weren't very good. And I thought, "Hey, we could do that!" So I went out and spent $60 on a guitar and an amplifier, and started playing like one string at a time. We kept practicing, and eventually we got better. Better at punk, anyway.

But then at a certain age, I really got into the Dead — I liked the experimentation, how far they could take a song. Sometimes it sounded awkward, but there was always so much going on and play between the members.

The most apparent influence is the album "For Ramona," which was actually written as a response to the song, "To Ramona" by Bob Dylan. It was from Dylan's point of view, consoling a wonderful, beautiful, loving, caring, giving, amazing person who was just wrapped up in something bigger than herself. "For Ramona" was about my brother's wife, who played with us on the first album — she's a beautiful, wonderful person who at the time was battling something bigger than herself, a drug addiction.

John, could you describe each of the three Los Halos CDs in 8 words or fewer. Bonus points if you can do it in haiku format.
{JR}
Los Halos "Los Halos" = One of my all-time favorite records. Ever.
Los Halos "For Ramona" = Los Halos is the new loud.
Los Halos "Leaving VA" = VA stands for Virginia. I love Virginia.

Samezvous, How or why is it that all three albums sound so different?
{S} I really like the Bob Dylan approach to music. Every single album, he kind of reinvents himself, he tries something new. And that's what I like to do. I think all three of our albums really sound dramatically different. I don't want to be one kind of band and play one kind of music over and over again. I'd rather do anything and everything that can be done.

John, what do you think it would take to get Los Halos to relocate to Seattle, and if you succeeded, which neighborhood would he live in?
{JR} Cash money. Or a place to stay. And Samezvous would live in Ballard, as it's the closest thing to the dark Amish country that he lives in now.

Speaking of the Amish and all things Mid-Atlantic region... Samezvous, what's wrong with a west-coast Philly cheesesteak?
{S} You guys are not even close! First of all, you chop up steak and put it in there. It's supposed to be more like roast beef — chopped up really really fine, and then have all sorts of good stuff added to it. We've actually talked about moving to California to open up a real Philly Cheesesteak store.

If we fixed the cheesesteak, could we talk you into moving to Seattle?
{S} I'm pretty cool where I am, actually. I mean, I don't like to live in the city. I lived in Boston for a couple of years, and it was cool — I met some people, I had a great job, but I need to be able to go someplace where I'm by myself and I can do my thing without it being like the designated area where you go to be by yourself. I need to be able to like go into the trees without it being the "place where the trees are." I just need space to be alone without having to lock myself in my room. As corny as it sounds, I like the suburbs.

John, since Samezvous is incredibly prolific, tell us how you and he work together to create a single album from a massive body of work. Do you ever disagree on what should go on a release, and if so, how do you negotiate that?
{JR} Samezvous creates the record and we put it out. I would never disagree with Samezvous. That's how much we respect his work.

Wow. Anything else you'd like to tell the imaginary world about Samezvous, Los Halos, or Loveless Records?
{JR} If we do nothing else in this world, let it be known that Loveless Records gave the world the music of Los Halos. If we were remembered for this, we would look back and say we were successful. That and Samezvous should quit smoking. It's bad for him.

{imaginary boy Michael X comment} Wonderful wonderful stuff, all of it, John. Just one thing: don't you think that Samezvous can't quit smoking? After all, "Happy people don't need cigarettes/happy people just ain't seen my heart yet." And as you know, all great art comes from pain. No cigarettes=no pain=no Los Halos=sad.
{JR} Good point. Two cartons of Lucky Strikes are in the mail.

loshalos2.jpg

Los Halos

Michael X — Thu, 09 Oct 2003 07:00:00 +0000

4 Oct 2003

loshalos.jpg

As you all know, I was blown away the last time I saw Los Halos, so of course when they came back to town I cleared my schedule for the entire weekend to make sure that I could be everywhere that they were at all times. And a good thing it was, too, since my imaginary girl friends Dana and Liz called me up on Friday to tell me we had to go interview Samezvous before the show (you can read all about it over there; here, I would just like to take a brief moment to say OH MY GOD!).

Getting a second chance to see Los Halos live is a lot like sleeping with an ex-girlfriend. You know what it is that you love about it, and you know that it's not going to last, so you forget about the big picture and focus on the details — the parts you want to take with you when she leaves. Several people at the show were disappointed because the set was so short (only about six songs) and because most of the songs were newer, unrecorded material. Because it only got released in 2001, lots of folks in this town still consider the self-titled first album to be fresh material; in truth, it was recorded in 1995, and Samezvous has come a long way upward since then. I, however, understand that my ex-girlfriend has continued to live her life since we've been apart, and I appreciate the nuances that have made her her own person. The songs from "Leaving VA" definitely had a lot more punch live than they do on the album, and the band has come a long, long way since their show last August (which, rumor has it, was the first time they ever played a live show as a band). Still, for all the positive changes in her life, I still love it when my ex-girlfriend and I can fall into the groove we used to have and just get lost in what we were; which is why, when they played "Infinity Bitch," I had to wet my pants (see Mogwai).

If Friday's show at the Crocodile was a reunion borne of desperation, Saturday's solo performance by Samezvous at Victrola Coffee shop was a Final Affair to Last Through the Ages. No sense in going over the particulars, as you've heard them all before (and, honestly, it's kind of a private matter if you don't mind); let's just say that, taking into account the trials and tribulations in the Life of Samezvous, we were very lucky indeed to have this opportunity (also, when he broke his high E string three minutes into "Sugarbear" and kept on playing it for another ten explosive minutes, I had to wet my pants [see above paragraph]).

I know that I need to get over Los Halos, and I'm trying, but it's just that, seeing Samezvous sit there, holding his guitar, spilling his guts out to a room full of strangers, it would take the most calloused of individuals not to go weak in the knees. It is so rare to find an individual that matches virtuousic guitar playing with near-flawless songwriting and yet doesn't fall victim to the intellectualism of his own art, but instead glows with a passion for the primal instincts that drive us all. I miss you, Los Halos. I miss you and I love you.

Getting a second chance to see Los Halos live is a lot like sleeping with an ex-girlfriend.

Los Halos: Imaginary Infinity Bitch

imaginary dana — Thu, 29 Aug 2002 07:00:00 +0000

22 Aug 2002

loshalosvictrola.jpg

I should have known by now that any band that blows John Richards away like Los Halos did last year should be revered, respected... and of course, PURCHASED as soon as it was released.

But silly imaginary me, I still hadn't acquired the debut self-titled Los Halos CD (on Loveless Records)... and I've already been lapped by the band's sophomore release, For Ramona, just released in 2002. I suck!

But sheesh, at least I had the sense not to miss their Seattle debut, despite my regretful unfamiliarity with their music. One tidbit: according to a perfectly charming Loveless source, this was actually the first Los Halos live show EVER; literally, the FIRST time they ever played all together for a club audience. How intriguing, and what an honor for Seattle.

The turnout was beyond impressive for an opening band on a school night, and man, there sure were lots of boys at the show — including a very special boy, the Imaginary Michael X, writer extraordinaire and whopping Los Halos fan. I commented to him about the favorable male to female ratio (favorable for me, at least).

"Los Halos is boy music. Los Halos is boy music because Los Halos write about desperation. They can find the desperation in fulfillment. That's out there, that's so painful," he said.

Far be it from me to argue levels of anguish as they pertain to gender... and, well, who could think or argue about ANYTHING once Los Halos took the stage. Discourse became moot. We were floored, auditorially annihilated by the onslaught of this performance.

This was their FIRST live performance?? I find this incomprehensible — no band should be allowed to be this good its first time out in public. It will intimidate all aspiring musicians moving forward. Perhaps I shouldn't reveal this rumor to anyone, in an effort to keep our aspiring musical community afloat...? {oopsie, too late}

Los Halos played loudly, astonishingly loud, LOUD. It's difficult for me to draw a comparison; their music reverberated, it howled, it wailed, and devastated. I heard influences ranging from punk rock to bluegrass... to a post-apocalyptic wall of swirling noise and howling guitar energy reminiscent of psychedelia (without the stinky hippies, of course). Los Halos were truly beyond comparison.

Hearing "You Should Have Known By Now" performed live was particularly chilling. The song began as a whisper, nearly prayer-like, as front man Samezvous started singing that line... that line, that line... For those of you who have somehow managed to miss this song on the radio (KEXP, that is; is there any OTHER radio...?), the song has only one lyric, its title. But it speaks volumes; the song repeats lyrically but crescendos musically during the ten or so minutes it lasts. It's an epic relationship, a curse, a broken dream, a tragedy, and a hope, all wrapped in six simple syllables. I felt spent by the time they finished.

Los Halos have no business being an opening band. They filled the room with such presence, such power. Did anyone stay for the two bands that followed? I wasn't able to stay, and I can't even fathom another band following this performance.

I heard that Samezvous played an opening acoustic set before Los Halos came on, which I sadly missed (though I did catch his amazing acoustic performance at Victrola the next night). Michael X (superfan) managed to catch all three performances. His errant thoughts...?

"While the technical energy was great during the full Los Halos show, it didn't compare with the intensity and fervor of the solo performance. When it was just him, his passion and isolation were so much more powerful, so complete," he said.

I just don't see that this is possible. Perhaps this was Michael X's way of punishing me for being late and missing the opening act...? Was this my penance for not having purchased the CD sooner? Being so intoxicated with the performance, I couldn't fathom that it lacked passion or intensity. So I ran over to the merch table and bought myself a CD (the first one — figured I needed to catch up, and I didn't have enough money for both! Damn!), and started playing it as soon as I got in my car...

{I hate it when Michael X knows more about a band than I do}

It's an epic relationship, a curse, a broken dream, a tragedy, and a hope, all wrapped in six simple syllables.

Los Halos

Michael X — Fri, 23 Aug 2002 07:00:00 +0000

22 Aug 2002

loshalos.jpg

Until recently, I had always been a big fan of music. However, thanks to my inability to say no to a woman, I am now instead a Music Critic.

Thursday, the 22nd of August, Loveless Records' recording artists Los Halos played their First Show Ever. To reciprocate, I made my first ever trip Out to Review a Rock Show. I was a little nervous, so I arrived early to make sure that I didn't miss any pre-show goings-on that the casual fan might need to know about (for the record, nothing happened).

I was waiting for my imaginary girl friend Dana, and was feeling a bit apprehensive about trying to do this job without her. What if I forget to be critical? What if I devolve into some slobbering fan and forget how to speak? (Being imaginary is a lot harder than it looks)

Fortunately the show started with an acoustic solo performance by frontman Samezvous, which I was prepared to watch alone because I anticipated that he would be playing the poppier, simpler For Ramona songs — which I like, but not the way that I LIKE like the first album. So as he took the stage, I settled in to my seat to wait it out.

I'd like to tell you what he played or how it sounded or any of those other details, but less than four minutes into his set I found myself devolving into a slobbering fan and forgetting how to speak. Those songs that in my living room sound like tender love ballads had become roaring testaments to desperation. Hallelujah! The spirit is still alive!

When Samezvous sat up there on the stage, Los Halos suddenly just made sense. His guitar looked like it must be the one he learned to play on so many years ago, and I'm not sure he's ever even changed the strings. But he loves to play it, and it loves to be played by him. Suddenly the world melted away, and all that was left was Samezvous and his guitar, wailing away like it was the end of the world and there was no one to hear him scream — so he could be as loud as he wanted. And he was loud. Dana told you all about the fiery intensity of the full band performance, but I am here to tell you that it paled in comparison to the sheer [insert superlative of passion here] of the solo performance, which raged on through the missed chords and the shattering vocals and even more shattering silences and the strumming and the Strumming and the STRUMMING and what I learned on Thursday night is that

I hate Los Halos. I hate Los Halos in so many ways, because they are so much better than me. They've written all the songs that I have deep inside just waiting for my talent to catch up to me. They've said all of the beautiful things that I was just about to think of. And they do it all with such sincerity, which I will never have. I spit on you, Los Halos, and if you ever talk to my girlfriend I will kick your ass!

Then I woke up on Friday morning and realized that I couldn't go a full day without seeing Samezvous perform again. So I went to his show at Victrola. (For a full review of his performance on Friday night, please re-read review above.)

Those songs that in my living room sound like tender love ballads had become roaring testaments to desperation. Hallelujah! The spirit is still alive!