Three Imaginary Girls - The Weakerthans

listmania continues: keenan's top 20 favorite albums of the decade

imaginary keenan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:27:46 +0000

{Long Winters photo by Trickshot Photography}

Because I'm some kind of masochist and a total nerd, I've been slaving over this list, keeping it brief (harder than you'd think!) at my favorite 20 albums of the decade without duplicating a band (even harder). Side note: I've probably forgotten something I really, really love, so let's just call this how I feel right this minute. These are the albums I know every note and breath of by heart and I love as complete albums with all of my soul. These are albums that in my humble opinion have no skipable track and are works of beauty in their entirety. I'd also like to point out that these are my favorite albums, as I tend to shy away from calling them "the best", as really, it's just my opinion, and who am I to tell you that you're wrong for not liking these records? (Though, if you catch me in a potentially altered state, I may completely negate that and call any number of these THE GREATEST of all time and call you wrong to your face if you disagree.) I digress. Here they are!

The Weakerthans at Neumo's

Imaginary Muller — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:10:32 +0000

18 Jul 2009

My favourite Canadian band played Neumo's on Saturday night. They were last in town for Bumbershoot last year, and don't get down to the States all that often.

One of my good friends came down from Vancouver for the show. We had seen the Weakerthans together in early May play the 2nd of two dates at the Commodore, which is a pretty large room. Getting a chance to see them play a smaller venue, like Neumo's, made for an engaging experience. It was absolutely fantastic. As an added bonus, I got to chat about cameras with JKS for a few minutes before the show.

Photos from their Seattle stop by Trickshot Photography:

My favourite Canadian band played Neumo's on Saturday night. They were last in town for Bumbershoot last year, and don't get down to the States all that often.

Photos from their Seattle stop by Trickshot Photography.

The Weakerthans

Imaginary Simon — Sat, 13 Sep 2003 07:00:00 +0000

12 Sep 2003

weatherthans.jpg

I love nights that start on a whim. A last minute plan for dinner out on a Friday evening resulted in catching a show that I cannot believe I almost didn't attend.

Although The Constantines and Roy opened up, I didn't find myself captured by the music until the The Weakerthans started their set. They were the headliners of this three-Canadian-band line-up. As soon as their set started I immediately jumped forward to catch a better glimpse of the band whose sound was incredibly pleasurable to my ears. The sound included an interesting and graceful voice that exuded warmth and sincerity, and two distinct but complementary guitars. Throughout the set they swapped parts or played melodies that wrapped around eath other.

As a fellow newly-Weakerthans-convert noted, "The second guitarist played his guitar like a Gibson should be played. He made it growl." Like him, I realized I would be purchasing their CD within the set's first few songs. I wanted to keep the feelings of serenity and good humor that the music lent.

The crowd obviously had been looking forward to the show, though only good fortune led me there. They knew the words and sang along. The crowd didn't drown out the vocalist. They were there to hear the band they most likely had been listening to for awhile. There wasn't much dancing (though I and a few others couldn't keep from moving). There were a lot of smiles... and since it was an all ages show there were a lot of sober happy faces. Little talk. A lot of enjoyment.

I decided to purchase Left and Leaving, an album from 2000. I relied on the advice of Ryan Schierling (TIG Photographer Extraordinaire), who originally recommended the show. Listening to the album, I was struck by the lyrics. They're displayed in paragraph form rather than in lines. Reading through them I found they are more similar to small stories or vingettes than poetry. The songs are intelligently put together and startingly funny, despite a tone of sadness thanks to the uplifting guitar and the heartfelt and hopeful voice.

As a fellow newly-Weakerthans-convert noted, "The second guitarist played his guitar like a Gibson should be played. He made it growl."