It's hard to remember imaginary life before Math & Physics Club came along.  We are forever honored to have been one of the first places they sent their demo to back in the summer of 2004.  With their sweet indie-pop blend of The Smiths with The Lucksmiths, and all things Sarah Records with Matinee Records, their beautiful songs (even as demos) immediately made us both jump with glee and fill with pretty heartache.

Besides being hella nice folks who write hella nice songs, we adore them because they have been kind enough to be a part of many of our (even wackiest) show endeavors.  They are brilliant when they play their own songs (as we've written about countless times), but they are also really great at covers! They did a couple magic Magnetic Field covers at our 69 Love Songs cover night and they even perfected a Stone Roses cover at one of our showcases (video of them performing it in CA below).

Ethan Jones from MaPC is going to represent the band on at 10th Anniversary Rockstar New Wave Karaoke Bash on Friday, June 1st at Chop Suey {tix}. You might also remember Ethan as a touring member of Eux Autres in addition to his MaPC responsibilities of bass guitar and harmonies.  Besides rumors swirling that MaPC are possibly talking about one day maybe recording something perhaps sometime, Ethan is also currently working on an EP of his own.  And, also of very important indie-pop note, Math and Physics Club donated a very rare and very exclusive song to the 10th anniversary commemorative imaginary zine, which you can be the first of your friends to pick up AT THE SHOW!

He was one of the first folks to send over their requested song, so we can only imagine that he's spent ever single moment working on his new wave poses.

It usually isn't in my nature to go against the John Roderick grain, but when it comes to end of year lists of favorites, I can't help myself. I have to gather all of my favorite songs into an MP3 scrapbook for my own current and future mental sanity.

Perusing the song stacks of the past year allows me to recall and file the past year before opening up my next year's calendar. Having an MP3 scrapbook gives me a one stop shop when, a year or even 15 days from now, I ask my-list-driven-self "What was 2010?" {because aren't all of our best memories tied to a song?}.

The answer to that question is below in the form of the playlist of my Imaginary Liz's Favorites Songs of 2010 mix:

1. Stornoway - Zorbing / Beachcomber's Windowsill
This is a solid album that is a soothing blend of a bashful Mumford & Sons, randy Features with a pinch of John Denver. This is the most rocking song on the album and the best Stornoway gateway drug, although I nearly featured "Long Distance Lullaby" on this record because I'm a sucker for love letters about late night phone calls. If I was the kind of girl that would have two songs by the same band on a single mixtape, "Long Distance Lullaby" would be a great way to end this year's wrap up.

2. Drums - Let's Go Surfing / The Drums
I'm a sucker for their Spector-esque take on the new wave of the retro reverb. I also love that igDana suggested that the chorus is actually, "Obama, I want to go shopping!"

3. Allo Darlin' - Kiss Your Lips / Allo Darlin'
It is far from hyperbolic to say this is my album of the year if not the decade. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's got the sweet coy of Heavenly, the foresight of Weezer (name checked in this song), and the jangle guitar of the Wedding Present. I've got several candles lit in hopes Allo Darlin returns to Seattle this year {they are set to play the San Francisco PopFest over Memorial Day weekend - which is just a hopskipjump away!}. They are getting a lot of attention from critics and record store fans far and wide, so I can only hope that Allo Darlin' is the future of sweetheart pop {and that sweetheart pop is the future of twee}.

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Eux Autres has been releasing records since their first seven inch came out in 2003, and you can hear a band that grew up on 90s indie mod-pop, but they sound as fresh now as if they had just put things together in the garage for the first time earlier this year.

Broken Bow is only their third full-length though, which might explain why Eux Autres hasn't exhausted themselves through the '00s. The new full-length may not snap with the production buzz that debut Hell Is Eux Autres (first issued in 2004) had from Janet Weiss and Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Sleater-Kinney/Quasi), but it has a timeless, rough and tumble pure pop feel that perfectly matches its sometimes joyful, sometimes troubled, always kind of complicated lyrics.

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{Photo taken at the 2010 Imaginary Holiday Office Party by Laura Musselman}

We posted our own mix of holiday songs that kicked our imaginary holiday season off a couple weeks ago. But, since then, we've found ourselves up to our jingle bells with more awesome holiday songs! With the seasonality limitation of holiday music, sometimes it's easy for our holiday mixtapes to get stale. Here are some recommendations to fill out your annual holiday playlists:

Mangle Bell Rock by the Mangles
It's a wonderfully rocking batch of songs that blend both Seattle and Minneapolis vintages of garage rock. Favorite track: "Living White Hell"

Christmastime Approximately by various artists
I found this compilation via Eux Autres who have a super stellar track, "Teenage Christmas," on the Christmastime Approximately compilation. If you hurry on over to the Where It’s At is Where You Are Records website, you might still be able to download the entire album for free (for a limited time only). Another fave track: "Just Like Xmas (In Cottonopolis)"

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Before we let 2010 come to a close and we start building out our tops of the year lists, we wanted to share a few more songs that we have been listening to on repeat throughout the month. You can listen to a stream of the podcast below or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page.

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes, 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 and Indie Pages for hosting the file!}.

Tracklisting: Imaginary Mixtape - December 2010 {part 4}

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{Behind the scenes at last year's Imaginary Holiday Party - photo by Jason Tang}

It's that time of year again: the time of year in which we can listen to "Last Christmas" without headphones and not get chastised by our coworkers. It also gives us a time to sift through our holiday mixtapes and listen to our favorite bands get all holly jolly Christmas for us. Is there any better way to get into the mood for the Imaginary Holiday Office Party on December 16, 2010 at the Columbia City Theater?

You can listen to a stream of the podcast below or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page.

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes, 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 and Indie Pages for hosting the file!}.

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May is a magical month here in Seattle. We've got spots of sun teasing us with summer promises, Sasquatch anticipation running rampant, and the warm glows of SIFF oozing with the best international indie films. There's only one reason we'd ever want to leave our emerald city bubble during this sweet spot of the year... a good ole fashioned PopFest!

This year, the month of May brought with it two very enticing reasons to head elsewhere: The New York City Popfest {May 20-23, 2010} and the San Francisco Popfest {May 27-30, 2010}. To mark these special events, we've gathered up some of our favorite songs by folks playing these festivals which includes a couple cover songs, a not-yet-released Math & Physics Club song and some rarities to up the popfest ante.  If you were one of the lucky folks that caught any of the NYC or SF Popfest shows, let us know how it went!

***Listen to the Imaginary Popfest Podcast MP3***
{To download the podcast, right click on the link above
and save to your computer}

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(Photo by Laura Musselman)

April is trending to be one of the best months ever here at Imaginary Headquarters. Among the reasons we're kinda losing our stuff over here:

APRIL 10 and 17: Early Math & Physics Club shows at the High Dive (6p-8p)
Math and Physics Club will play a couple low key shows at the High Dive on Saturday, April 10 and Saturday, April 17 to test drive some new songs for their upcoming trip to the San Francisco Popfest their album release show at the Crocodile on June 12. Both High Dive shows are going to be early (6p-8p) and have the sweetest of openers: Eux Autres (on April 10) and The Special Places (on April 17).

APRIL 16-18: EMP Pop Conference
I always look forward to EMP's annual Pop Conference because it allows me to sit only feet away from my favorite, most inspiring pop (and non-pop) writers and listen to them casually espouse (and if all goes well, rant) on all things music and popular culture, which confirms my obsession's tangible significance. This year the biggest must see on my whole Pop Conference schedule is Tim Quirk and his look at "The Quiet Revolution: From the Walkman to the iPod, How Portability and Infinite Storage Have Changed the Way We Listen, and What We Listen To" on Friday at 10.45am. Tim is one of my all time favorite wordsmiths, music industry honchos (at Rhapsody), and band frontman (Too Much Joy) ever. When I am not sitting front row at his Pop Conference sessions, I'm hanging on his every tweet. Some studies suggest that I can link Tim/TMJ to who/where I am today.

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March Madness has morphed into Awesome April and it's kicking into high gear with a pair of Math and Physics Club shows this month.

The updated four-piece (now with new drummer and sans-strings), will play a couple low key shows at the High Dive on April 10 (this Saturday) and April 17 to test drive some new songs for their upcoming trip to the San Francisco Popfest (over Memorial Day weekend) and their highly anticipated album release show at the Crocodile on June 12. Both High Dive shows are going to be early (6p-8p) and have the sweetest of openers: Eux Autres (on April 10) and The Special Places (on April 17).

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The San Francisco Popfest starts today (imaginary Keenan is already headed south to get there in time for tonight's shows)!!!

The 'fest runs though Sunday, May 24, 2009 and Keenan, amazing imaginary photographer Steve Louie and I will be running around the greater San Francisco area basking in all that fine fine indie-pop.

We're looking forward to most all the bands (ballboy ballboy ballboy), but we put together a podcast of some of the lesser known ones and ones with hit songs we've been listening to on repeat (ahem: Stay Flyin').

You should go listen to it now (and go subscribe to our podcasts on iTunes 'cause we have big plans to make this the summer of podcasts!).

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