Three Imaginary Girls - The Strokes

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!

Julian Casablancas live at the Showbox

imaginary hyme — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:47:19 +0000

22 Nov 2009

After acing the downhill parallel parking job, my roommates and I hustled down the hill and over a few blocks to the Showbox. There on the marquee read: Julian Casablancas. We strutted our way through with just a few straggler smokers still hanging outside. My roommate got stopped at the door for a purse search, finding a five hour energy drink, the bouncer said she could give it to him or chug it. Not wanting to waste the $2.59 she spent on it, she shot it back. Little did we know then, but it was a good decision because an hour later we were dancing our asses off.

Julian Casablancas is on tour promoting his new solo debut album Phrazes for the Young. Seattle was one of only four cities on the US leg of the tour. After listening to Phrazes for the Young, I was curious to see if he could pull it off live. They don't seem like the easiest songs to play, with the multiple layers in each song filled with drums, beat machines, guitars, synthesizers, and who knows what else.

When we walked into the Showbox, you could feel the energy, it was nothing but good vibes. The room was filled with excited chatter, this was not just a concert, The Strokes front man was coming back to Seattle after three and a half years; this was an event; a celebration! It almost felt like we had won tickets to get in, like this was some secret show that only an exclusive group of people were allowed in for. Or maybe it just seemed like that to me because in my eyes Julian Casablancas is the guy who saved mainstream music for awhile. Maybe if he hadn't, someone else would have, but no one stepped up until The Strokes did. It was Casablancas who was responsible for getting indie rock 'n roll to become widely accepted, record companies to start jumping at good little bands and getting radio stations to give airtime to good music. With all the hype The Strokes received and then the negative backlash; in the midst of it all people seemed to forget that before The Strokes, Limp Bizkit ruled the airwaves.

At around 10:00 the band came on minus Julian, and started playing the intro to "Ludlow Street", while the crowd screamed and yahooied. Julian Casablancas walked on stage about 45 seconds later to even louder cheers and began to sing. I've seen The Strokes multiple times over the years and Julian's voice has always been flawless, tonight was no different. Though critics usually take aim at Casablancas for not being able to understand him when both singing and speaking, this was definitely not the case. Casablancas seemed extremely happy to be there, sober, and appeared to be almost surprised that any of us had come to his show.

The sound was incredible, right off the bat you could tell the band was tight and the sound guy had his A-game. The band featured two guitarists, a synth player, drummer, and a percussionist / bass player. These were no slouches; everyone in the band was very good at what they do. On stage Casablancas looked like a band director, directing his own symphonies of futuristic 80's beat driven pop treats created just for our ears to hear. After a few songs the band launched into the first single off the album, "11th Dimension", with its catchy synths and beats that made everyone dance. It's almost impossible not to get that song stuck in your head, and I mean that in the best way possible. From there they went into Left and Right in the Dark, an awesome 80's sounding song with a strokesy chorus and a riff that reminds me of a flock of seagulls' song.

The band then left the stage, leaving Nelson the synthesizer player and Julian on stage. Julian said "I'm going to sing a cover, I'm not sure if you know it, its called I'll Try Anything Once". He was referring to the stripped down Strokes B-side, everyone yelled. Of course we all knew it, it was a song I personally never thought I'd get to hear live. In the middle of it you could here the audience softly singing along like a children's choir. I think everyone was a little mesmerized.

The crowd was unusually easy going in nature, dancing around and having a good ole time, thanks in part to the all ages crowd. Casablancas claimed it was the best crowd they've had yet. They played "Old Hollywood", a b-side, followed by the Cure-ish sounding, "30 Minute Boyfriend" and the epic movie ending song, "Glass". Julian and the band then rolled off stage for a minute and came back to finish the night with the soulful, "4 Chords of the Apocalypse". When the song ended Casablancas graciously bowed with his hands together and thanked the crowd again before leaving the stage.

All in all, they were on for about an hour, playing all but one song off Phrazes for the Young and leaving the crowd amped and wanting more. Though we missed them, I heard opening bands Rainbow Arabia and Strange Boys were pretty great. After the show my roommates and I decided we were, without a doubt, driving to Canada the next night to see Casablancas and his crew again. Then, regrettably we realized none of us have passports. I guess there's always next time. Julian, please come back soon.

Setlist:

1. Ludlow St
2. River of Brakelights
3. Out of the Blue
4. 11th Dimension
5. Left and Right in the Dark
6. I'll Try Anything Once
7. Old Hollywood
8. 30 Minute Boyfriend
9. Glass
10. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse

"Someday" by the Strokes

Erik Gonzalez — Tue, 22 May 2007 16:52:59 +0000

It was very difficult to wake up this morning, even will all the bright sun outside my window and the birds forming some sort of wild bird-pyramid on my porch to show me their elaborate plans for a workable national health plan. Or, at least that's what I thought they were trying to get across to me. Those sorts of events make me think that someone should make a musical out of the first Strokes album. I'm not sure why particularly I think this is an excellent idea, possibly the best I've ever had, but "Someday" sounds like it should have an elaborate dance number associated with it, maybe with a little soft-shoe, maybe with people with twirling umbrellas circa "Singin' in the Rain". It feels so right to me today, maybe we can cast some semi-famous Hollywood star to make his Broadway debut to take Julian's place, maybe it can be about a band struggling to make it in the Big City only to be thwarted by an evil raja. Baz Luhrmann can direct. I'm genius! Now I just need an agent ...

singing.jpg

A Broadway musical based on the Strokes? It can't fail!

Greatest Indie Anthems

imaginary liz — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:04:09 +0000

Just because it is now officially NME Thursday, how about we talk about the Greatest Indie Anthems ever... and what NME / Xfm and the general UK public think they are.

First Impressions of Earth

Travis Hay — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 08:00:00 +0000

7.5

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BVQ9JO/wwwthreeimagi-20

strokes06jan.jpg

Outside of the world of hip hop and The Ramones, I generally don't care for many musical acts that come from New York City, which is why I'm highly skeptical toward bands like The Bravery, Interpol, and any other band from NYC that happens to be the hipster chic artist du jour. Maybe it's because I prefer my music with a little Northwest flavoring, or maybe it's because I am a jaded SOB who doesn't easily buy into hype, but New York bands have to be something special to tickle my musical taste buds.

This brings us to The Strokes, a NYC band that has been dubbed everything from "rock revolutionaries" to "garage rock saviors." At the time of The Strokes' first release, Is This It? bands like The White Stripes, The Vines and The Hives were raising a garage rock revival with a sound that favored dirty guitars and cranked up amps. Singer Julian Casablancas crooned his way through a fairly solid 11-track debut highlighted by nifty guitar work by Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. that showed plenty of potential.

By the time the band's second album hit, 2003's Room On Fire, The Strokes were critical darlings. However, it seemed as if they allowed their acclaim to interfere with their music because the record came off as a near carbon-copy of their previous album. While the press continued to wave the flag of The Strokes high atop the summit of Mt. Hype, I wasn't sold.

This brings us to the band's third release, First Impressions of Earth, a record that has been anticipated since its lead single, the Tommy Gun-tinged "Juicebox," leaked onto radio several months ago. On the record The Strokes finally prove they can deliver on the mounds of potential they displayed on their debut, showing they are more than a smoke-and-mirrors band built on a foundation of fuzzy guitars and craftily-crooned vocals.

Multiple songs are carried by Valensi's and Hammond Jr's angular, and at times mind-bogglingly masterful, guitar parts. You'd think that this would get boring after a few tracks, but it doesn't. Somehow the pair mixes it up enough to create a sound that's very un-Strokesy while retaining the The Strokes watermark. If Valensi and Hammond Jr. continue down the path they're forging on First Impressions, they could become the garage rock equivalent of Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien. How's that for hype?

The diversity of song structure shows plenty of growth by a band that could have easily gotten away with releasing a record that sounds similar to its previous pair of LPs. The bridge of "Vision of Division" is an almost wickedly AC/DC interpretation of a Middle Eastern lick that could easily fit on a System of A Down record. The melancholy "Ask Me Anything" strangely fits in perfectly as Casablancas repeatedly sings "I've got nothing to say," and "Fear of Sleep" comes off as soothing as a late night lullaby you'd hear after a hard fought night of bar hopping amongst the hipsters in Capitol Hill.

There are very few flaws on this album. The Strokes seemingly redefined themselves and their sound while at the same time raising the stakes for any copycat hipster group — from NYC or anywhere else. Although First Impressions of Earth is the first major rock record to be released in 2006, it will likely remain one of the best of this year's offerings for a long while.

The Strokes seemingly redefined themselves and their sound while at the same time raising the stakes for any copycat hipster group — from NYC or anywhere else.

Best of 2003: Your #1 Album Picks of the Year

three imaginary girls — Sat, 03 Jan 2004 08:00:00 +0000

Although some folks couldn't rank their lists {igChar}... which is fine... you know... if you just can't bear to proclaim to the world, "THIS WAS THE BEST FUCKING ALBUM OF THE YEAR!!!" but some of us could. And albums that have such an exclamation bestowed on them deserve a special note. So here they are... the albums that our voters deemed "THE BEST FUCKING ALBUM OF THE YEAR!"

These albums all received at least one #1 vote:

Outkast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" *
The Postal Service, "Give Up" *
Radiohead, "Hail To The Thief" *
The Strokes, "Room On Fire" *
The White Stripes, "Elephant" *
Wonderful, "God Bless Our Pad" *
Audioslave, "Audioslave"
The Bad Plus "These are the Vistas"
Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"
British Sea Power, "Decline of British Sea Power"
Broadcast "Haha Sound"
Cat Power, "You Are Free
Coil, "The Key to Joy is Disobedience (limited box set)"
Crooked Fingers, "Red Devil Dawn"
Dead Meadow, "Shivering King and Others"
The Dears, "No Cities Left"
The Decemberists, "Castaways and Cutouts"
The Delgados, "Hate"
The Divorce, "There Will Be Blood Tonight"
The Drive-By Truckers, "Decoration Day"
Eddie Izzard, "Circle (live)"
The Flaming Lips, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"
Four Tet, "Rounds"
Holopaw, "Holopaw"
Idlewild, "The Remote Part"
Kaito, "Band-Red"
Led Zeppelin, DVD {This voter explains, "No album release came close to the monumental Zeppelin DVD package"}
The Long Winters, "When I Pretend To Fall"
The Malinks, "Can't Shake Last Night"
The Mars Volta, "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
Martina Topley-Bird, Quixotic"
Mogwai, "Happy Songs for Happy People"
Mojave 3, "Spoon & Rafter"
Nada Surf , "Let Go"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Nocturama"
The Primate Five, "1234567APE"
The Rapture, "Echoes"
The Shins, "Chutes Too Narrow"
Sleepy Jackson, "Lovers"
Sloan, "Action Pact"
Smog, "Supper"
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, "Hearts of Oak"
The Thermals, "More Parts Per Million"
Triple R, "Friends"
Twilight Singers, "Blackberry Belle"
Visqueen, "King Me"
The Wrens, "The Meadowlands"

* Denotes more than one #1 rating received.

return to the full 2003 recap

Best of 2003: Top 100 Imaginary Albums of the Year

three imaginary girls — Sat, 03 Jan 2004 08:00:00 +0000

You voted, and we tabulated. Now you can print and clip the top 100 imaginary albums of the year list for your post-holiday-gift-certificate shopping pleasure...

The Postal Service, "Give Up"
The Shins, "Chutes Too Narrow"
Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism"
Radiohead, "Hail To The Thief"
Outkast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"
The White Stripes, "Elephant"
The Long Winters, "When I Pretend To Fall"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Fever to Tell"
The New Pornographers, "Electric Version"
The Decemberists, "Her Majesty, the Decemberists"
The Strokes, "Room On Fire"
The Wrens, "The Meadowlands"
The Divorce, "There Will Be Blood Tonight"
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, "Hearts of Oak"
Nada Surf, "Let Go"
Visqueen, "King Me"
Idlewild, "The Remote Part"
Junior Senior, "D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat"
Cat Power, "You Are Free
Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"
The Rapture, "Echoes"
The Darkness, "Permission to Land"
The Thermals, "More Parts Per Million"
The Dandy Warhols, "Welcome To The Monkey House"
The Lights, "Beautiful Bird"
Stellastarr*, "Stellastarr*"
Various Artists, "Lost in Translation" Soundtrack
Massive Attack, "100th Window"
The Mars Volta, "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
Wonderful, "God Bless Our Pad"
British Sea Power, "Decline of British Sea Power"
The Delgados, "Hate"
Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music"
Los Halos, "Leaving Va."
Mogwai, "Happy Songs for Happy People"
My Morning Jacket, "It Still Moves"
The Aislers Set, "How I Learned to Write Backwards"
The Thrills, "So Much for the City"
Kaito, "Band-Red"
Basement Jaxx, "Kish Kash"
Gillian Welch, "Soul Journey"
Grandaddy, "Sumday"
The Decemberists, "Castaways and Cutouts"
Twilight Singers, "Blackberry Belle"
Sun Kil Moon, "Ghosts of the Great Highway"
American Analog Set, "Promise of Love"
Damien Jurado, "Where Shall You Take Me?"
The Hidden Cameras,"The Smell Of Their Own"
Cursive, "The Ugly Organ"
Clearlake, "Cedars"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Take Them On, On Your Own"
Mojave 3, "Spoon & Rafter"
Rufus Wainwright, "Want One"
Calexico, "Feast of Wire"
Crooked Fingers, "Red Devil Dawn"
Sleepy Jackson, "Lovers"
Fountains Of Wayne, "Welcome Interstate Managers"
Manitoba, "Up in Flames"
Pretty Girls Make Graves, "New Romance"
Andrew Bird, "Weather Systems"
Johnny Cash, "Unearthed"
The Libertines, "Up the Bracket"
The Paybacks, "Knock Loud"
Broadcast "Haha Sound"
Deerhoof, "Apple 'O"
Menomena, "I Am the Fun Blame Monster!"
Fanny Pack,"So Stylistic"
Jet, "Get Born"
Kinky, "Atlas"
The Notwist, "Neon Golden"
Broken Social Scene, "You Forgot It In People"
Ed Harcourt, "From Every Sphere"
Exploding Hearts, "Guitar Romantic"
The Kills, "Keep On Your Mean Side"
Blur, "Think Tank"
Four Tet, "Rounds"
Kings of Leon, "Youth & Young Manhood"
The Drive-By Truckers, "Decoration Day"
The Minus 5, "Down With Wilco"
The Orb, "Bicycles and Tricycles"
Downpilot, "Leaving Not Arriving"
Longwave, "The Strangest Things"
Okkervil River, "Down the River of Golden Dreams"
The Malinks, "Can't Shake Last Night"
The Stills, "Logic Will Break Your Heart"
United State of Electronica, "Demo"
Guided By Voices, "Earthquake Glue"
Anna Oxygen, "All Your Faded Things"
Beth Gibbons & Rustin' Man "Out of Season"
Dead Meadow, "Shivering King and Others"
Martina Topley-Bird, Quixotic"
Rachel's, "Systems/Layers"
The Fitness,"Call Me for Together"
The Primate Five, "1234567APE"
Triple R, "Friends"
Holopaw, "Holopaw"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Nocturama"
Smog, "Supper"
The Bad Plus, "These are the Vistas"
The Gossip,"Movement"

A list of the top 100 records of 2003 as voted on by you, our fabulous imaginary readers.