In the throes of a killer party at the Neptune last night, we were thrilled beyond belief to find out the details on another most excellent year for the Sasquatch! music festival, taking place out at the Gorge on Memorial Day weekend {May 25-28}. Sasquatch! is by far one of our favorite fests every year, and 2012 is going to be no exception.
We're particularly excited about partying down with the likes of Jack White, Beck, Tenacious D, Beirut, Girl Talk {hell yes!}, The Head and the Heart, Tune-Yards, Wild Flag, Blind Pilot, Mark Lanegan Band, The Cave Singers, Grouplove, Ted Leo, Deer Tick, Alabama Shakes, We Are Augustines, Shearwater {!!!!!}, Charles Bradley, Pickwick, Hey Marseilles, Sallie Ford, Dyme Def, Fresh Espresso, and Katie Kate -- but by no means does that even scratch the surface of the seemingly-zillion fantastic bands included on this year's lineup. As usual, there's a thoughtful mash of notable locals and squee-worthy headliners, so much so that slapping down the ticket price to spend the long weekend with twenty-plus thousand of your closest friends is an absolute no-brainer.
The goodness just keeps on coming! Check out these Musicfest Northwest photos from our most excellent imaginary photographers:
The Tallest Man on Earth
The Thermals
"If there's one place where you're scared, it's a bunker." So said urbanist, art critic, and political theorist Paul Virilio in an interview in a book of conversations called Crepuscular Dawn, before he and author Sylvere Lotringer described the architecture of the Brutalists, in which construction is associated with "pulling out the insides, the guts of a building." So that it "makes a facade of the skeleton" of a structure. Sort of how our country has been pulled inside out from eight years in a bunker, the hope still sucked out of our lungs by the louts in power.
In a similarly Expressionist way, power pop prophet Ted Leo welcomes back his fans with "When the cafe doors exploded, I reacted to you," the opening to "The Mighty Sparrow," the splattering, rippling opening track on his return and Matador debut, The Brutalist Bricks. "Then I saw you, the red, white, and blue."
Ted Leo by Lori Paulson
For years I have followed Ted Leo's music. I was fanatic for a while, even. Then it came to the point where one of his songs would pop up on my iPod and it would be a pleasant reminder of why I love him so. Friday night was that reminder times a million and then some. Oddly enough, it was my first time seeing him. Neumos started out a bit empty, but upbeat local band, The Sea Navy, came out and got everyone dancing as more people filtered in. The Hive Dwellers (fronted by K Records head Calvin Johnson) followed up The Sea Navy with a set that defied the laws of most Neumos shows by not using one microphone or any fancy lighting. I can do no justice in describing what happened, you really had to be there. I'll just mention that there was a lot of hip-gyrating. A lot of it.
Soon enough, Neumos was jam-packed with die-hard indie rock fans, buzzing excitedly about their love of Ted Leo. It seems he has quite a cult following and it's really not hard to see why. Ted Leo is a great indie-rock god to believe in, a force to be reckoned with, really (but likely the nicest force you will ever encounter). I will definitely be seeing him any time he is back in the area because, I don't know about you, but I really like to get my face rocked off. ...Also, covering Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" is one of the keys to my heart.
Latest comment by: Leo Fan: "Although I agree that Ted Leo's version of Dancing in the Dark was great and helped bring out some of the true darkness of that song, it was Ted's version of the Waterboys' classic "Fisherman's Blues" that led into Dancing in the Dark that really took the cake. It ...
As if you needed another reason to have a mad rad crush on Ted Leo...
Ted Leo has secured his place in my heart with the release of an EP in response to the Minnesota Police brutality at the RNC case which he put together to bring awareness and financial aid to the people affected by the police brutality in Minnesota.
OK, well, nobody likes to reflect and rank more than I do (I'm a scientist, I love to quantify), so here goes. I've got my favorite songs of 2007 - no, not best or most innovative, but rather the songs I liked ... lots and lots and lots. There is a little overlap from my forthcoming Best Albums, but also some curveballs. Enjoy!
Honorable Mention:
#10. "The Prayer" by Bloc Party from Weekend in the City - This song is one of the most interesting songs Bloc Party has recorded. Too bad the rest of the album (short of "Hunting for Witches") just wasn't as cool.
Latest comment by: bloodfist: "Wow, that LCD Soundsystem song is really great. Really, really great. I could tell from the first 20 or 30 seconds that I was going to love it. There's almost a certain air of 'confidence' about it, if that makes any sense."
Latest comment by: imaginary dana: "Just thinking about Sour Patch kids makes me wince... but I like them too. Such a strange sensation... and a great metaphor for a performer too."
Amazing photographer Chona Kasinger strikes again!
Latest comment by: imaginary chona: "ted is one of the greats."
The kind folks at Neumo's have offered up five (5!!!!) free pairs of tickets to the Ted Leo & the Pharmacists / Quasi / the Intelligence show that's this Tuesday (as in, tomorrow) at Neumo's.
Latest comment by: Philip Giles: "I want to see Ted Leo for free!"
Recent comments
Imaginary exclusive! More Than Shapes, starring John Roderick of the Long Winters
For the (whole) love of Wilco
Imaginary exclusive! More Than Shapes, starring John Roderick of the Long Winters
Imaginary exclusive! More Than Shapes, starring John Roderick of the Long Winters
Imaginary Mixtape: Shuffle Surprise!
Imaginary Mixtape: Shuffle Surprise!
Imaginary Mixtape: Shuffle Surprise!
Imaginary Mixtape: Shuffle Surprise!
Imaginary Linkage: Stuff We Spied Online This Week {1/28-2/3}
Imaginary Linkage: Stuff We Spied Online This Week {1/28-2/3}