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}
Latest comment by: d-bee: "A collection of videos I found from the NYC Popfest 2010 - Tender ...
NYC Popfest 2009 was a whirlwind of crazy awesome pop shows, and I was lucky enough to be there! I am way too exhausted to process all my photos and properly express how amazing the bands were, and how fun it was, and now I just need to get my ass on a plane and get home. But, I managed to find a few videos of some of my highlights of the fest, courtesy of SoundbitesNYC!
One of the greatest bands I saw was a band from LA called The Tartans (who are also playing SF Popfest next weekend!), who played Friday night of the fest. This song, "Cats of Cameford" has pretty much been stuck in my head for months, and it was really fun to actually get to see them play it live!
Latest comment by: keenan dowers: "Thanks for taking those videos, Bill! I forgot my camera that takes video, and am very happy I can still nerd out and rewatch all my favorites! The Cookies, MTS, and PY! were also among my favorites as well, but it wasn't a surprise to me, as I knew those three ...
Sometimes I think it takes me waaay too long to come up with my Top 20 albums of a given year. There are a lot of internal debates and arguments that really have no right answer. Really, you reach a point where all the albums are good but how to rank them gets to be quite the challenge. This year was chock full of good music (not matter what the naysayers might groan). I counted something like 175+ albums worth mentioning in 2007, and that is only a tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything that was released in the year. However, I did whittle it down to 20... well, 22 if you count my 2 EP exception (EP's don't count as real albums).
If you're interested in some sub-lists, like my albums "with apologizes" (albums I didn't hear but should have) or "best imports" or "most disappointing" (hint, the band who made it rhymes with Milo Biley), check it out here.
So, here we go:
#21 The EP's - Two EP's made me happy this year, and really, they would be in the top 20, but it seems unfair to me to include EP's versus albums. They're both UK pop, and they're both brilliant in their own cute way.
Los Campesinos! Sticking Fingers Into Sockets (Thanks to igLiz for this band!)
Latest comment by: Erik Gonzalez: "Hey all -- I have one copy of my Best of 2007 CD left and the first person to email me at erik (at) threeimaginarygirl (dot) com will get it mailed to them. It's nothing fancy, just a simple liner and a CD with 23 of my favorite songs from 2007."
Latest comment by: imaginary dana: "wow thanks for stopping by to comment... This just reminds me I still need to pick up a copy."
Those French surrender monkeys did not add to my trip. However, two bands I discovered did, and you should discover them too:
Latest comment by: Erik Gonzalez: "If you're really curious, here's how I spent >150 Euros on music: Die Fantastischen Vier: Lauschgift Die Fantastischen Vier: Fornika Die Fantastischen Vier: Best of 1990-2005 K.I.Z.: Das Rapdeutschlandkettensagenmassaker Pulp: Peel Sessions (BBC 2 Disc ...
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}