It's that time of year again... SXSW is upon us! I wasn't able to gather the necessary resources to head down there myself, so I'm looking forward to spending the next four days living vicariously through all of you headed Austin-ways.  I know that your hands (and days) will likely be full of free stuff (beer) and running into your band heros, but keep the twitters and flickr feeds full with your adventures!

I must admit, to protect myself from getting too depressed about missing this year's fest, I haven't kept extremely close tabs on who is playing where and when and what gift bags will be circulating. But, I have found two things that I'm particularly sad to miss this year.  If anyone hits these events, definitely report back (heck, whatever you see, feel free to report in!):

• 1. The world premiere screening of the film Strange Powers – Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
• 2. The undeniable indie-pop fest going on at Waterloo Bicycles (so many bands I've wanted to see in one place!)
• 3. The special guest duets that sneak up on you... one in particular I've heard a rumor about is the teaming up of a Fratelli and Colin of Mull Historial Society. Billy Bragg is there this year and I *know* he's going to join someone on stage. I just know it!

May the YouTube powers be with everyone down there!

Needless to say, you SXSW-ers are going to have a great time. I guess I'll make up for all that I'll miss by looking back and trying to relive some of my favorite adventures of SXSWs past:

• 1. Matt & Kim interview, with legos and a dorky interviewer
• 2. Los Campesinos! interview, in a hot tub with an interviewer who shouldn't have worn a hoodie
• 3. Chasing down Running into Owen Wilson
• 4. The time Dana chased down ran into Amy Winehouse
• 5. Everything else I've seen / done at SXSW, especially the hootenanny

What are your favorite SXSW memories?

We're all at SXSW in our hearts!

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It's a big big day my friends. It's so big that as far back as a month ago I had friends emailing me asking if my head was going to explode on this very day. It's not that absurd of a question considering two of my very favoritest bands ever are both releasing brand new full on albums today:

Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring
(in town at the Showbox / Market on May 4)

Magnetic Fields - Realism
(in town at Town Hall on Feb 23 and 24)

 

One saving grace preventing new album overload is that Los Campesinos loaded their entire new effort onto their MySpace page last week (it's their third masterpiece) so that I could listen to it wherever I could find an internet connection (however rickety). It's given me a chance to ease into all the new stuff all demanding priority in my iTunes. Once I get my copy of it on vinyl, the circle will be complete.

The Magnetic Fields tracks have proven a little more elusive. It's all fine though, a mountain of anticipation can be a good thing for a girl.

What new release are you looking forward to?

 

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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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Even though there is so much goodness oozing from the Los Campesinos! blog on a nearly daily basis, I've tried to show some restraint so that I don't wear you out with my regurgitation of witty campesino-isms as posted on their blog since I discovered it months and months ago.

Sure, I could have blogged my tracking notes of their whereabouts when they were in the Seattle-area recording their next record a month or so ago. Or recap all the progress they are making in the studio (Long Winter Eric Corson is even going to be on the next record!) -- but I haven't because I knew that one day there would be a post like the one they posted today: One that is so incredibly funny and crazy that it would be *the* post upon which I pile all my giddy goof-ball Los Campesinos! kudos and admissions in an effort to hopefully persuade you to RSS the shista out of the LC blog.

Want to start of slow? I highly recommend you watch their recap of their Coachella fun (listen for the Conor Oberst name drop).

Or, if you're feeling bullish, head right to the good stuff... today's full on HOT NAKED TEEN ACTION BOY ON BOY post... which might be my favorite thing ever. You could read the full story on their site... or you could just watch the video they posted of HOT NAKED TEEN ACTION BOY ON BOY. Have it your way.

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Los Campesinos emailed me this morning (ok, their record label sent out a mass email, but I know they'll be sending a personal note my way soon) to let me know that they had some GOOD news and some SAD news on the Campesinos! front.

The GOOD news:
They have a new album coming out later this year (more info coming soon on that) and they'll be touring the US in August!

The SAD news:
Right now they've only committed to the below tour dates... which suspiciously doesn't include a stop in Seattle (I'm *sure* they're just waiting to announce that when they release more details about the album). At least our friends in Texas and California are taken care of, right?

The SADDER news:
Sweet singer, keyboardist, etc. Aleks Campesinos! is leaving the band. It's all good (she's continuing her academic stuff) and their all friends and there was no late night argument at Denny's about Moons Over My Hammy that sparked the departure (at least TMZ hasn't posted as such yet).

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It's a major undertaking to get a gal like me to Coachella (what with all the sunshine, crowding, honey buckets, $5 water), so I am uber thankful that I had a couple friends head down there and send photos back of the highlights.

Here are two favorites. They might not have been taken with some fancy flash action - but they do capture what it's like to be "on the ground" (and in one case, it appears, possibly backstage - sigh!).

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at Neumo's

I've barely had time to catch my breath over the past two weeks, and it's not slowing up any time soon. John Wesley Harding, the Fastbacks (!!), the Roots, Los Campesinos!, and Clem Snide.. And it's only the fourteenth!

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It's been almost a year since the last time our beloved Los Campesinos! have been in Seattle. Since we last saw them, they've released one of my favorite albums of 2008 (for the second time - how many folks release two amazing albums in one year?), wow'd audiences all over the globe and rode around in amazing tour buses.

I am so excited to welcome them back to our fair city on Friday, April 10th at Neumo's and we have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky imaginary reader to join me up front. To enter, email us at tig @ three imaginary girls.com with your name and the subject line "LosCampsRULE" by Monday, April 6th at noon PST.

The moment I am most looking forward to? When they break out "Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1." And you?

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One of my end of the year rituals is to compile my favorites of the year into a single mix tape / cd / playlist. For me, this year has been ripe with songs I've listened to on repeat. So many so, I actually had to cut out some so that I didn't alienate the casual mix tape listener. After a casual polling of my friends, I found that four-cd mix isn't all that digestible.

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It has now been 2.5 years since I moved out of Seattle for the Golden State. I've slowly drifted out of the NW music culture, so sometimes I wonder if I know what to say on TIG these days.

Combine that with the fact that I was so distracted from music for a lot of 2008, this year's "best of" lists were especially difficult. Heck, I don't even think I can make a Best of NW music list this year, not because there was insufficient music, but because I just missed so many of those important-but-not-well-known releases that make these lists. I did enjoy Fleet Foxes, Common Market, Colin Meloy live, Malkmus and the like, but really, that isn't a "Best of the NW" list but rather a list of albums I liked that happened to be from the NW.

That being said, I did get a last minute music revival for the year. Maybe it was the election being over (and the good guys winning), maybe it was finally getting a faculty position after many years of trying (lets just say Erik will be moving east in 2009), maybe 2008 just didn't mesh with me musically. Who knows? However, there was a lot of great music anyway, and here are my top 20 (for your praise or fist shaking). Feel free to read the full commentary. 

 

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