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.

The Twilight Singers

DJ Pillow — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 08:00:00 +0000

1 Dec 2003

twilightsingers.jpg

Monday night shows just don't do it for me. But for Twilight Singers, my friends were very persuasive, and since it also happened to be the last night of the quarter for me at Seattle U., I decided it'd be a great way to celebrate.

Opening act Black Angel, the Portland super-sized salt-n-pepper singing duo, was just picking up steam by the time we got in the door, delivering an interesting blend of punk-tinged soul and blues. Miss Thang Tahoe Jackson was calmly seated on a stool, with occasional storms of the truth emanating from her pipes, an unsurprising image for a diva. But the salt in the combo was definitely out of the ordinary, as J.R. Pella shivered and shaked his plumber's crack in an untucked sweatsuit, wailing out with both power and control. I don't think I've ever seen a white boy sing like that, something like the monster child of James Brown and Frank Black.

At first the rock-loving patrons were a bit hesitant to drink from the hydrant of emotion pouring out, perhaps because neither the appearance nor style of the band was what they expected. But Black Angel was not to be denied, winning over the crowd and making us believe we were in for something really special with the headliners yet to come.

If you ever find yourself in Portland on a Thursday night, and are looking for a talented band to enjoy, look up Black Angel at Dante's. They have a standing gig, except first Thursdays, called Soul Kitchen.

Former Seattleite Greg Dulli (Afghan Wigs) and his latest band Twilight Singers dashed onto the stage and got right down to work, jamming their way through most of their latest release Blackberry Belle. We learned immediately that while Dulli's vocals are not as pitch-perfect as they sound on the albums, his heart is every bit as into it as you might think. His band compensated on backing vocals, smoothing over the rough parts from Dulli's cigarette-toughened tones.

A couple of references to Afghan Wigs songs were worked into the mix, and the set was over. The band quickly returned for a second set — and then the fun really began. Dulli began paying homage to innumerable musical influences by interpreting their songs in ways only they could. Blue Oyster Cult, Stevie Nicks, John Coltrain, Marvin Gaye, Eric Clapton, the Beatles and Prince all made appearances at various points in multiple montages of melodies, but the highlight had to be the Pepsi challenge, comparing Outkast's "Hey Ya!" to an older Afghan Wigs song I didn't immediately recognize.

Also of note: during the first encore, Greg told a story about a friend who he'd met in the bar he owns and operates in L.A., a man by the name of Elliot Smith. The reference was pretty spooky for me, since I had last seen Smith on that very stage when Chop Suey was the Breakroom. Dulli's emotional story-telling trailed off into a dedication to Smith, "Martin Eden", the first track off of the new album Blackberry Belle. The crowd roared with approval as Dulli growled, "Black out the windows, it's party time. You know how I love stormy weather, so, let's all play suicide."

As the night wound down, it seemed I wasn't the only one with Monday night work issues. I could sense a shared sense of, "It's a Monday night. I have to work in the morning," from the well-mannered Seattle crowd, as we initially failed to lure the band back for another encore. We got chided from the bass player, who told us Seattle, "used to be a rock and roll town." This incited the crowd to get our act together enough to garner another long set of medleys from Dulli and company to close out the evening.

We learned immediately that while Dulli's vocals are not as pitch-perfect as they sound on the albums, his heart is every bit as into it as you might think.

Three Imaginary Girls - The Twilight Singers

Best of 2003: Top 100 Imaginary Albums of the Year

The Twilight Singers