The Imaginary Zine is a 60-page old school printed zine recounting our first 10 years with some of our favorite blog posts and stories from our imaginary friends. It is extemely limited with only 333 handcrafted zines made.
It also includes a cd chock full of rare, live, or exclusive songs by some of our favorite local artists, including The Long Winters, BOAT, Tullycraft, Exohxo, Tennis Pro, Math & Physics Club and many more!
We love the expansive, inclusive pop sound of Anacortes-based The Lonely Forest so much we imagined listening to their previous release was akin to infusing your body with light drawn directly from the heart of the sun. The 2006 Sound Off! winners have only grown since then, signing with Chris Walla’s Trans Records, and releasing Arrows last March. In a combination as brilliant as chocolate and peanut butter, they’ll be playing a special show with the Seattle RockOrchestra at the Neptune on Saturday.
If all that wasn’t enough to earn them Recommended Show status, Black Whales will be opening. If you haven’t heard this mid-fi, 60s-tinged, Richard Ashcroft-gone-country band yet, don’t wait until Sasquatch. Black Whales’ album Shangri La Indeed! was released last June, a fact that will be quite familiar to regular readers, because we just can’t stop talking about, and watching, this great local band.
While you’re waiting for Saturday night, take a listen to a few tracks after the jump:
Riveting, modern yet vintage-without-trying, just the right amount of haunted and desolate vibes while remaining full to the very seams.
These are the notes from my first few watches through the official video for "Nothing Is The News" by Damien Jurado, off the much-anticipated, almost-released new album Maraqopa, but they might as well be the words that describe both the music and Damien as a whole from a fan and listener perspective. To date, there's been nothing Damien Jurado has done that hasn't been fully immersive:each album a project unto itself, each track an experience, each phase clearly defined, described, presented, and finally ventured on from. The last album, Saint Bartlett, is a perfect example of this, where we traveled along for the story of the tracks, sat listening in the rain, stood stage-side and were all scarred beautifully by our favorites -- and now, the time has come to shelf it for the takings-on of a new journey. It will always be there when we need the nostalgia, of course, or when that phase of the journey re-presents itself sometime down the line -- but as of today, it's Maraqopa time.
Our friends at Secretly Canadian describe this latest work as "the most vital and engaging... heard from Damien in five plus years of working with him here at Secretly Canadian. In this second project with producer Richard Swift, Damien's folk roots are fleshed out with flourishes of blues, psychedelia, and soul breathing a whole new world into Damien's sound" andinform us that "with each visit to National Freedom, Jurado is exploring, taking risks. He's not only freeing his songs. The gate is opened wide to allow us all into his once-isolated musical universe. One gets the sense he's just now hitting his stride." We couldn't have put it any better ourselves, and strongly encourage you to pick up the album as soon as you're able -- preorders are alive and well here, or, take the in-person trip with us and several hundred of your closest friends for the record release party next Friday {2/17} at the Neptune, where you can see Damien play live and pick up a real-live copy at the merch table.
We know we've already warned you to buy tickets to Dancing on the Valentine Seven (and the Ragged Tiger), because WE KNOW this thing is gonna sell out - but just in case, here's another reminder, and a chance to win a pair of tickets so you can spend your money on booze and (LOTS of) raffle tickets instead!
DOTV7 is officially ONE WEEK AWAY, and ALL ticket and raffle proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Here's another look at the awesome lineup of Northwest bands that will be on stage at The Crocodile covering Duran Duran songs:
Just send us an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "Sing Blue Silver" sometime between now and 5pm on Wednesday, February 8. We'll pick a winner and notify you on Wednesday night so you and your date have time to plan outfits for Friday!
It is just a little over a week until the Los Campesinos! show at the Neptune Theater on Saturday, February 4, 2012 and I am beside myself with pre-show excitement. Every single LC! show I've seen has left me gleefully ravaged by the frenetic enthusiasm and beguiling live set. For them, it's a moral imperative to put on an amazing show.
Their latest album, Hello Sadness, is a further step down the path towards debilitating heartbreak. It tempers the deep cuts of longing with a glimmer of hope for what's ahead (I can't wait for them to get a room with Conor Oberst already. Oh how my world would be complete).
Currently, I've been listening to "Songs About Your Girlfriend" (which I bet is David Gedge's favorite song on the album), "Life Is A Long Time" and "By Your Hand" on repeat. I love it when it hurts so good.
Next Saturday cannot come fast enough!
If you haven't gotten your tickets yet for this all-ages show, you can pick them up online.
Oh, and did you see them perform "By Your Hand" on Letterman? Can I get a hallelujah for the Beautiful South t-shirt? (see the video after the jump)
By the way... I just delved into the world of the opening band, Kithkin. I'm loving the songs on their bandcamp page... this is going to be a hella night for music cacaphony! Try ...
Just when we thought the new track from Nada Surf, "When I Was Young" {off the stars are indifferent to astronomy, which is officially out tomorrow on Barsuk} couldn't get any better, we stumbled across this gem of a video. While it's definitely a stripped-down version that doesn't have the same big, building, wall-of-sound vibe that the full band delivery brings, the intimacy and DIY element make this rendition a treasure of a whole other caliber -- and, of course, seeing and hearing this has gotten us that much more excited for the currently-sold-out show at the Tractor next Thursday.
Yep. Believe it or not, Nada Surf is playing at the Tractor. What's that? You didn't get tickets in time? Well, you're in luck: we're giving away a pair to one lucky winner, and you've got a whole week to enter to win! Just send us an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "PicturesInOurPretendWallets" sometime between now and 5pm on Friday, January 27th. We'll pick a winner over the weekend, and notify you on Monday morning that you're headed to Thursday's show.
Good luck!
{21+ / 8p doors / SOLD OUT / Say Hi opens. Hat tip to Laura Musselman for sending the video our way!}
This weekend is getting so good, we may just have to draw out of a hat to see where we wind up -- with so much to choose from, it's getting hard to decide on just one place to be each night! Case in point, this show at Chop Suey on Saturday {Absolute Monarchs, The Young Evils, and Land of Pines} just popped onto the radar, making it one notch closer to impossible to sort out our plans. Depending on traffic and parking -- and since a little bird told us The YEs are actually headlining this one -- it's completely feasible to plan a double dip, starting the night out in Columbia City for a chunk of the Honky Tonk Angels tribute show, and then moseying on over to Capitol Hill to catch this show's last set.
Can anyone confirm or deny the final call on the lineup order? Let us know!
It looks like Friday's gonna be alright this week, with so much out there to pick from -- first we made plans for Pickwick's show in Portland, then Lovesick Empire's first-of-three at the Highline, and now we catch wind of Star Anna at the Fireside Room at the Sorrento. Can someone hurry up and invent cloning, please? Seriously.
If you need any convincing as to why you should stop into the Sorrento's Fireside Room for this set, just take a peek at the video for the title track off of Star's most recent release, Alone In This Together -- assuming the powerful, cinematic drive of this song is indicative of the direction her music is headed, here's yet another local artist who's well on the track to continue blowing minds with her work. And PS, Friday's show is free, so you literally have no excuse not to go.
There's a whole lot of us who will be migrating south for Friday night's Pickwick show at the Doug Fir, but if you're in town this weekend, there's plenty going on that's worth going out for: namely, Lovesick Empire's opening spot at the Highline in Capitol Hill on Friday night. They're playing with SAYS and Black Nite Crash, and you shouldn't miss it. Period.
If you haven't seen or heard Lovesick Empire yet, you are truly missing out. Their self-titled EP tied for first place in 2010's best-ofs, and my first round of listens earlier that year yielded quite the enthusiastic word-salad:
To say that this brand-stinkin'-new release from local notables Alicia Amiri and Jason Lajeunesse is in heavy rotation would just about be the understatement of the year [...] Lovesick Empire manages to give a nod to their roots while maintaining a sound that's completely their own -- we can hear hat-tips to true [word-other-than-]grunge and "He War"-esque Cat Power, layered with a good helping of black eyeliner and a missle-lock stare. You can almost see the movie scene playing out in a deafeningly loud bar during "Something in my Blood," hear the radio hit two tracks later, and realize you've got the perfect addition to your next mix tape with "Can't Get Right." Big, filthy guitars will keep the post-punks happy; and just enough forlorn-ness in the lyrics will draw the indie rockers in.
It's barely 2012 and already we have news worthy of a shower of fireworks. Imaginary favorite Allo Darlin' are coming back to town!!!
Three Imaginary Girls is beyond excited to present their all-ages show at the Vera Project on Friday, May 11, 2012 as part of our big 10 year celebration (yes, can you believe it? TIG is turning 10!!!). Don't delay, tickets go on sale at 10am on Wednesday {1/4/12}!!!
Latest comment by: Mark: "Already got tickets! And I remember when she did "Tallulah" as a ukelele solo at the Rendezvous. So glad they're coming back to make up for the previous cancellation."
We've had the pleasure of seeing Brandi Carlile twice in as many years: most recently during a full-bore daytime set at this year's Austin City Limits festival, and prior to that at an intimate-yet-packed house at the Crocodile back in 2010. Both sets were packed with energy and positively enrapturing from start to finish, whether Brandi + band were playing sing-a-long, clap-a-long crowd favorites or simply serenading the masses with sweet, sweet ballads.
Fans of The Story and of her earlier work will agree that, long story short, you just can't go wrong at a Brandi Carlile show. That said, and with what basically amounts to a guarantee of an incredible evening, we're beside ourselves with excitement to announce that we'll be giving away a pair of tickets to Brandi's New Year's Eve performance at the Neptune this Saturday night. Come and ring in 2012 with us!
For a chance to be there with bells on, just send an email over to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "LetItBendBeforeItBreaks" sometime between now and 10am on Friday, December 30th.
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Imaginary. You could call it that.