photo: Zach Hollowell

It's only in the past few weeks that I've been able to come to grips with the reality that Conor Oberst and his Bright Eyes-side project band, Desaparecidos will take the stage this Saturday at the Showbox (Market).  

It's been over 10 years since I first saw them at the Paradox on February 18, 2002 (in the pre-TIG days).  The show was packed but, as with most Paradox shows, it felt intimate like a underground basement show. The band played through their (only and beloved) album Read Music | Speak Spanish and the Happiest Place On Earth single.  While still only semi-confident in their indie rockstardom, the band bolstered the shy crowd into a ferocious and unrelenting fever with each song they played.

Now it's 10 years later and although so much has changed in their (and our) lives, so much has stayed the same. Their rage against the machine is still justified and connects with every one of us (at least those of us who are reading this post).  Names and workplaces have changed, but the white-hot distaste of injustice and over-consumption still permeate our conversations (and Facebook threads).  

Sure all of us have had our moments in which "there is hope, and there is joy, and there is acceptance" (as illustrated in the Bright Eyes' "Kathy With A K's Song"), but a Desaparecidos reunion show and a couple of new songs is just the spark we need to reignite the fire that for some of us is apt to grow cold now and again when faced with mortgages and career paths.  Desaparecidos songs weren't crafted to make us feel guilty about adulthood, but rather, guide us into an adulthood centered around happiness, selflessness, betterment and compassion.

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(Please oh please let them play this song at Wednesday's show)

This has been a rough week for me. Two of my favorite bands of ever and all time decided September, 2011 is the perfect month to step away from the tambourine and call it quits.  Oh REM and the Bluetones, I will miss you so. Your songs have made life worth living on many a day and I thank you for the memories.  

The only thing that has made the last week musically bearable is the fact that my dear Bright Eyes is going to be in Seattle this Wednesday, September 28, 2012 at the Paramount. 

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Yup. There sure are a lot of exclamation points up in that headline, and with good cause: we're heading off for Austin City Limits this weekend, to catch some bands and some tan in the near-hundred-degree sun. Between pre-trip laundering, hydrating, charging our camera batteries and getting all that three-ounce-or-less business handled for the flight, we thought we'd take a minute to let you know about some of the acts we're particularly excited about this year -- especially since there seems to be a particularly strong PNW presence to be reckoned with every single day of the 'fest.

The start of the fest on Friday is kind of like easing in to that hot, soapy, not-too-dirty-yet festival bath. Hometown heroine Brandi Carlile will be getting things going early in the day, and we're hoping her sweet sounds will put us in the right kind of mood to slide over into Ray LaMontagne's late afternoon set -- they're both playing at the AMD stage starting around 2p. As the day darkens, we hope to get a little more gritty with the Cave Singers, and while Cold War Kids and Bright Eyes blow their sets out back-to-back {on the Honda and AMD stages respectively, for those of you following along in your custom-made schedules at home}, we might have to weasel our way forward to get a bigger-than-Bumbershoot-sized helping of Charles Bradley as he closes out the Vista Equity stage just before forever-legend Mavis Staples. As to whether we end day one with Kanye West or Coldplay -- my vote's on Kanye. But seeing as the fest is all sold out except for a few Sunday passes, we might not be able to make it close enough for a photo report. Fingers crossed!

Pending crowd surges (and weather permitting), we hope to also make time to get a little Delta Spirit, Smith Westerns, Kurt Vile, and Santigold into our schedules too!

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Rather than thinking of it as 2011 being halfway over, I prefer to see it as we're all halfway to my birthday {December 24th if it's not on your calendar already}. To celebrate, and take stock of this year's releases thus far, I've put together a mix of my favorite songs of 2011 {so far}.

This year has brought some predictably great albums from friends such as Mountain Goats, Okkervil River, BOAT, Matt & Kim, Telekinesis, Bright Eyes. I feel like I've been waiting for a fresh batch of songs from Brown Recluse for years. I love every note they play and having a two hearty releases in one year {Panoptic Mirror Maze and Evening Tapestry} makes me overjoyed.

Other bands, like When I Was 12 and Dangerous Ponies, I am thankful for crossing paths with for the first time this year.

And then there are the folks that have left me wanting more more more (I'm looking at you Oregon Bike Trails and Forbidden Friends)! Huge thanks to You Aint No Picasso for bringing Oregon Bike Trails to my attention. OBT fellow, singer/songwriter Zach Yudin, from Santa Monica, Ca., is quite the mysterious dude - only having a cassette tape release earlier this year (hand painted, limited to 50!) and a couple other MP3s swirling around the web.

Forbidden Friends, a side project by Thermals frontman Hutch Harris (with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis on drums and fellow Thermals Kathy Foster and Westin Glass backing him up), is still in the 7" only phase, and needless to say I'm counting down to a full album of FF stuff.

In short, I can't recommend the below songs and full releases enough. To help convince you of their brilliance, I made a virtual mix cd!

The tracklisting of my {hopefully very convincing} mix cd is:

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{This is part two of our opening day coverage of this year's Sasquatch! music festival at the Gorge -- click here to take a peek at part one!}

Our first full day at Sasquatch! kept rolling strong, with a big-guitar kick-ass set from Sharon van Etten, which shifted flawlessly over to an intimate solo performance from J. Mascis on the Yeti stage. The noise kept coming with the simultaneously loud/pretty sounds of Wye Oak, after which we changed gears to take on the upbeat, alt.indie.powerpop-ish party of Matt & Kim -- what a blast! The fading sun brought a powerful, dusky mainstage set from Bright Eyes, and we welcomed the night with an impressive (albeit late) performance from Robyn on the Bigfoot stage.

Closing out the night with a local flourish, hometown faves Death Cab for Cutie took us out well into the dark with a killer mainstage performance that spanned an impressive portion of their current and back catalog. Photos below!

Sharon van Etten:

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{Sasquatch photo by asclepius6 from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool}

Do you hear that?

It is the sound of folks feverishly tweeting and posting about the amazing #Sasquatch line-up just announced. After weeks (who are we kidding, months!) of mathematically calculating probabilities based on tour schedules and record release dates, we finally have a firm answer of who's going to be at the Gorge this Memorial Day weekend, as well as explanations as to why certain folks don't have a Seattle tour date in the next few months.

Not to sound like everyone else every other year, but this year's line-up has left me speechless. The Sasquatch folks have brought together the best of the best of the best (except Allo Darlin, which I'm guessing will be begged to participate next year) to celebrate their 10th Anniversary.  I mean Wilco, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, The Radio Dept., The Thermals, Stornoway, and The Young Evils!?!?!?  You're killing me!!!

Are you headed that way? Who are you most excited about (mine bolded below)? Anyone else you think is going to be added to the bill before we pack up our roadtrip munchies and head Quincy, WA way?

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{Photo by Etching A. Sketch from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool}

It's been a while since the last Conor Oberst release ("a while" by Conor Oberst standards). So, for the past year I've lived in fear that there was a new album, tour, or collaboration announced and I didn't know about it. Now I know he was working on a new album with all that time (although I did have a neat daydream that he was spending his time under the radar working retail in a Brooklyn boutique).

Looks like all that holding of my breath and lighting candles has finally paid off in the most St. Valentine's season of ways. It was announced this morning on ConorOberst.com that Bright Eyes will release their seventh studio album on February 15, 2011 on Saddle Creek Records.

The album, entitled The People's Key, was recorded in Omaha and produced by legendary Bright Eyes co-conspirator wizard Mike Mogis. To mark the release of the album, Conor and co will perform two shows:

- Radio City Music Hall in New York City on March 9, 2011
(Pre-Sale Begins: December 1 at 12PM EST. Public On-Sale: December 4 at 10AM EST)

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{stylish photo by nancyo23}

I hope I'm not getting too granular with my listage, but given the empowering nature of  turning the page on the decade, I can't help myself--I wanted to make sure that that certain song gems didn't go unrewarded for their brilliance.

Thusly, I compiled the below list of songs released in the last decade that are total A+++, but who's album didn't make it on my favs of the decade list... either because the song is from an EP or single; the album is good, but not as solid as the 75 albums that made my list; a bunch of other albums by the band/artists appeared on the list; or I just was bad with tabulating and this should have been on the list based on the strength of said song alone.

Please enjoy the below a recap of the top 10 songs from the last decade that amaze me beyond belief (and didn't make my favorite albums of the decade list). What amazing splashes of song brilliance rocked your 2000-2009? I bet between all of us we could make the most amazing quad-mix cd ever!

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Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

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It pains me that I'll be out of town the night that Monsters of Folk take the Paramount Theater stage on Thursday, October 15, so I want a lucky imaginary reader to go and weep and cheer and love it all in my place.

Want to be my stand in? Email tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "I will be your monster of folk" by Wednesday night at 9pm (PST) and you'll be entered in the drawing for the pair of tickets to the  (I hear they are going to be really really good seats too!).

If you want, when you email me your entry, let me know how long you think M. Ward is going to be able to stay clean shaven after prolonged exposure to his hairy band mates. I am guessing that Conor Oberst only held out for a few days into the recording of the album. His artist demeanor and devil may care attitude lends itself well to skipping the shaving cream morning sauce.

To confirm that I haven't taken this scheduling mishap lightly on my part, I've watched these two videos over and over to nurse my broken Oberst Ward'd heart:

Awesome Monster of Folk on Monster of Folk interview:

My favorite song from the new really rad 'cause it grows on you Monsters of Folk album: