Here I am, just sitting here at work stressing out about end of year deadlines and I decide to click on a link to watch the brand-new Princess Superstar video, for her sure-to-be-a-holiday-classic song, "XMAS SWAGGER."  I've long enjoyed PS for her kooky, white girl rap that lives up to her moniker since her debut album, Strictly Platinum (specifically "Blue Beretta"). She's like the Trucks if they were a blonde rapper who lived in NYC and was obsessed with Grand Royal Records.

Anyway... I'm just sitting here, revving my ho ho ho engines with a holiday-themed video and THERE IT IS!!! A PHOTO OF OUR AMAZING INDIE ROCK SANTA IN A PRINCESS SUPERSTAR VIDEO!!!

See it for yourself:  The above photo {taken by the lovely and talented Laura Musselman} is in the below video at the 14 second mark. 

It's quick and all, and I'm sure the Princess Superstar machine is such a lo-fi operation that they didn't know who or how to get proper rights to use it {sorry John and Laura}; but in case there's anyone out there who's wondering, we can give you the hook-up to the folks who made this amazing photo happen!  Email us, or just meet them at tomorrow night's Imaginary Holiday Party!

Whether you're ready or not, the holidays are upon us! Seattle is gearing up to be softly aglow as neighbors light up the block with LEDs and the flavors of peppermint, ginger spice and eggnog infuse themselves everywhere.  But, best of all, it means it's time for the Imaginary Holiday Party!

This year's shin-dig will be Friday, December 16 at the Columbia City Theater and feature all the important elements of a fabulous holly jolly time:

***MUSIC!***
-> Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide) will beautifully croon poignant vignettes against a backdrop of holiday melancholy.

-> Seattle supergroup Mal de Mer will dirty it up with their catchy, no holds barred post-garage-pop. With members of Slender Means, The Divorce, Lila, the Amazombies, and Ms Led / The Redwood Plan, you know it's gonna be good.

-> Heligoats come to us by way of Bellingham and bring a road-trip-worthy stash of exuberantly bittersweet songs.

***SANTA RODERICK!***
As is the imaginary tradition, Santa John Roderick will be on hand to spread holiday cheer with amazing photographer Laura Musselman ready to take your photo on his lap.  Yes, you read that right. You can sit on Indie-Rock Santa's lap and get your photo taken by an amazing photographer like Ms. Musselman.   We do our best to make your holiday wishes come true!
 

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Bands. Art. Comedy. Community. These are just a few of the things you can expect from the upcoming City Arts Festival, taking place at various venues throughout the city from Thursday, October 20th through Saturday, October 22nd. They've done a damn fine job of showcasing a ton of local artists as well as featuring some national acts, both sure to pack their respective houses -- and thus, it's through a sea of tears that we give you some of our picks for what you should do to make the best of those seventy-two hours.

City Arts isn't bringing us to tears, of course, unless you count tears of JOY at reading the full lineup! But we are a little sad to report that part of our imaginary team will be in New York for CMJ this year {for those of you keeping score at home, yep: it's the same week / weekend}.

THURSDAY

The Don't-Miss: The Long Winters / Campfire OK / Cobirds Unite / Cataldo
Where: Showbox at the Market
{tickets}

The Long Fucking Winters. At the Showbox. Seriously!! The rumors are true -- we're presenting this show, it's going to kick ass, the night will be full of surprises, and the lineup is killer. Cataldo will be warming up the night, fresh off the release of their latest album Prison Boxing, Cobirds Unite will send the masses swooning, Campfire OK will undoubtedly win the house over... and all of this before John Roderick and Company take the stage. Any night when he and Rachel Flotard are in the same house, whether they perform together or not, is sure to go down as one for the books.

The Runner-Upper: Seateeth
Where: Theatre Off Jackson
{tickets}

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Is this actually happening?

It sure is: not only are the Long Winters playing a show at the Showbox as part of the 2011 City Arts Fest, but the night is being presented by... us! That's right -- we are presenting {what will likely be} the Long Winters' only full-band show on the calendar this year. Pinch us!!

So, what does that mean, exactly? Well, first of all, we'll have some extra features on the Long Winters and the other bands on the roster over the next few weeks leading up to the show. Expect an interview or two, a custom-designed show poster from our friends over at Seattle Show Posters, and maybe even a few surprises! But first and foremost, we'd like to gush a little bit about TLWs and give away a pair of tickets to a lucky reader and their guest for the October 20th show.

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Happy Monday morning!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to make the most of what the experts have claimed to be the warmest day of the year.  My weekend was packed with some mundane blah stuff which was thankfully overshadowed by one hellava Saturday night in Columbia City.  After an amazing dinner at my new favorite restaurant (Island Soul, do not leave without trying one of their coconut corn muffins!), my friends and I headed over to the Fishboy / BOAT / Aqueduct show at the Columbia City Theater.

All the bands went above and beyond, but the highlight of the night was a surprise super special guest appearance. Mr. John Roderick joined BOAT on stage to chime in on "Landlocked," and then stayed on stage for a super-rock rendition of the Long Winters classic, "New Girl." {!!!}   To say it was jaw-dropping would be an understatement. It's been a while since I've heard the Long Winters rock-style, and boy oh boy, I hope this is a sign for things to come (next album, more shows). 

My favorite part of the story? The part in which I found out that BOAT and John hadn't actually ever practiced "New Girl" together.  The band just sprung it on John when he arrived to the show that night {sprung = asked really nicely}. This just furthers my claim that BOAT (with J. Rod on lead vocals now and again) would make a great house band for the next late night talk show. Watch out Roots! 

How was your weekend? What were your highlights?

Huge thanks to Button Dave for capturing the magic and posting to youtube:

(videos after the jump)

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{John Roderick/Long Winters photo by Victoria VanBruinisse}

City Arts announced their over the top City Arts Fest line-up late last week.  If you haven't seen it already, prepare yourself, it's a doozy (and it's cut and pasted after the jump)! It looks like our schedules for October 20-22, 2011 will be filled to the brim with radness!

The core of the fest hones in on the rich medley of bands saturating the Seattle music scene, from royalty like the Fastbacks and the Long Winters to a fine sampling of up and comers like Don't Talk To The Cops and Lovesick Empire. The organizers also secured some of the finest international acts to mix it up (Ryan Adams, Built to Spill). Oh, and then there are the laser dome shows (Grunge and Helio Sequence) and fantastic film sing alongs, including Hedwig and Purple Rain.

I wonder if Bumbershoot is looking over it's shoulder a bit and feeling the heat of such a diverse, jam-packed festival offering?

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I know, I know. Writing best of 2010 lists is so three-weeks-ago. But with such a good year in music having just passed, it would be remiss of me to not to let the imaginary-sphere know about a few of my favorite close-of-the-oughts things. I've never been a big subscriber to "this is better than that" -- it's not easy to put so much different stuff on one plane and deem some of them better, some of them worse -- so instead of file and rank, I've compiled a few chunks of albums, shows, and random happenings that made it to 'awesome' status for me over the last twelve months, with commentary, in no strict order.

That said, this best-of is meant to be enjoyed. Maybe your life was altered at the same show mine was, or maybe the same album had you trapped in the car for an hour listening tracks on repeat. Whichever is the case, remember one thing above all else: as John Roderick so eloquently stated earlier this week, "If you are too busy to discover new albums for yourself, the last thing you need is a list of more albums to buy. You should take a hot bath instead."

Agreed.

That said, let's start with the releases. I was seriously impressed with the amount of great EPs and LPs that came out this year, and this is coming from someone who's held fast to the belief that there hasn't been a 'great' year for new music since about 2005 or so. (Obviously, with a few onesie exceptions here and there.) Maybe it has to do with where I'm at and what I'm capable of absorbing at any given point, but seriously -- I'm able to look back at what made it into my itunes from January until now, and can state with confidence that some honest-to-goodness talented shit rose to the surface above the onslaught of mediocre that is now deemed 'indie' and/or 'indie rock' these days. (PS: in most cases, there's very little new music that can truly be deemed 'indie rock.' I'm just saying. When the next Wrens album comes out, we'll talk.)

Tied for First Place:
* Lovesick Empire / The Grind EP - I simply can not get enough of this EP. It's a sound that invokes a proper nod to grunge (which is seemingly inherent, rather than purposeful), laden with powerful big-guitar ache and smart lyrics to match. Catch them in the third-of-five spot at Neumos next Friday, January 7th before you head out to Columbia City (see below). {listen / free download}{tickets}
* Damien Jurado / Saint Bartlett - This ambitously-recorded album is a bold departure from Jurado's previous work, with a layered, throwback, one-take sound that begs to be heard on vinyl. Wielding the CD in my car on the way home from the West Seattle Easy Street pre-release show, I found myself pulled over on John Street, listening to "Beacon Hill" about twenty times in a row -- if you didn't pick this up yet, you can grab a copy at his upcoming show on Friday, January 7th at Columbia City Theater. {buy album}{tickets}
* The Head and the Heart / (s/t) - Unless you've lived under a rock since about April or so, you know why this band made my best-ofs. There's hardly enough adjective left that hasn't already been used since this band hit my radar over the summer, and they've gone from the stages of Conor Byrne and Sonic Boom to opening sets for Dave and Tim's most recent run of shows -- and with good cause. If you're lucky enough to have picked up tickets to the January 15th show at Neumos later this month (we're including the link in case any get released between now and then), I'll see you there! {buy album}{tickets}

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We kinda don't know where to begin on this one as it combines so many things we love, our hearts are on the cusp of exploding. A couple more watches and we could be toast (albeit tasty brioche french toast like served at Odd Fellows).

Our dearest man about town and Long Winter, John Roderick, offers a tour of Seattle that exposes his favorite nooks and crannies of our fine city with stops at Odd Fellows, Pretty Parlor, The Crocodile (including a chat with photographer great Charles Peterson), Earthwise Salvage, The Showbox (the night of the Telekinesis show), Shelby Earl recording with Eric Corson, and Le Pichet.

Behold the latest in Rhapsody's Rock Star Guide to the Galaxy -- Destination Seattle - featuring at least four eyewear change ups, three curse word bleeps, a kitty and a Barsuk hoodie (watch it).

What would have been mentioned on your rockstar tour of Seattle?

I like J. Rod's choices, but I'd make sure to show off Remedy Tea, Bimbos (predictable, I know, but you can't deny the power of the no-meato burrito and their happy hour margaritas), Gainsbourg (absinthe cocktails), Molly Moon's Ice Cream, and Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon. Ok, so my tour would basically be a food and drink tour of the city. I'd also include a stop at Velouria and Sonic Boom/Easy Street Records for proper fashion accessories.

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Iceland versus Seattle on Friday, November 5, 2010 at the Crocodile. WHO WILL WIN THE EPIC BATTLE? Who will be voted the most precious of all indie rockers between here and Reykjavik?

Akin to the now defunct Band Lottery, the musicians will be teaming up to possibly reinvent old material, but are more likely to create all new jangly and sparkly songs to soothe the (potentially) waterlogged audience. Personally, I am hoping that Sindri Mar Sigfusson (Sin Fang Bous/Seabear) and our own John Roderick are paired up. If you've never heard of Sin Fang Bous, think "The Commander Thinks Aloud" but with micro beats and quieter vocals. (DID YOU JUST GET EXCITED? I DID!!) Rachel Flotard (Visqueen / Cobirds Unite) will also be gracing the stage, possibly in a Bjork-style gown.

If that doesn't peak your interest, how about this: THE EVENT IS FREE!! It is 21+ (sorry kids!) and open until the venue reaches capacity. I hear rumor that Roderick will be sporting a genuine Icelandic-themed sweater! The other Seattle artists that night will be: Rusty Willoughby, Nathan Wade, and Jason Dodson. Lay Low, Petur Ben, and Mugison are rounding out the Icelandic team.

Flotard aptly described the upcoming night of radness, "Without getting too 'We Are the World' over the potential for kindred connection and cultural hilarity, this evening of Seattle/Reykjavik spin-the-bottle makes my heart implode."

Prepare your hearts and get there early. Don't miss a minute.

{Photo of Rachel Flotard by Kirk Stauffer from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool}

There was plenty to do this past weekend in our beloved, still sort-of sunny Seattle: The Black Keys at the Paramount. Youth Rescue Mission, Kimo Muraki, and a slew of amazing mini-bands at Columbia City Theater. Kurt Reighley's reading over at Elliott Bay Bookstore. Wheedle's Groove, DUG -- the list goes on and on.

But the one place that had it all, not surprisingly, was the John Roderick / Eric Corson (as the Long Winters) show at the Triple Door. The bright lights, big-city feel of the venue, the good food and strong drink, the gathering of friends -- and most importantly, John and Eric's epic set -- were all present and accounted for. To sweeten the pot, Tacoma-based openers Goldfinch and spot-drummer Jason Finn (Presidents of the United States of America) rounded out a lovely, late, packed-house kind of vibey night this past Thursday, and there was nowhere else that the collective 'we' would rather have been.

John Roderick, Eric Corson and Jason Finn at the Triple Door:

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