Adam Green has recently released his sixth solo album, Minor Love, and he's coming to town. Newly signed to Fat Possum Records the new album is at once haunting and playful. The lilt in his sparse vocals, reminiscent of Lou Reed, on the first half of the album is accompanied by finely place organ, guitar and bass, the drums skittering around in the background. The second half of the album takes on more of a Leonard Cohen feel, growing a bit darker and unfolding a seriousness that flatters the singer/songwriters skills while expanding his scope.

I can only imagine how the slight kitsch of a song like “Goblin” and the video game sound clips on the lo-fi “Oh Shucks” will translate to stage. Find out by emailing us for these tickets!

Send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com by Monday, March 26 with "AdamGreenWonder" in the subject line. If you win these tickets, I'll see you there and together we can wonder whether or not Greg Rogove of Megapuss is going to be playing on this leg of Adam Green's tour.

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Just a few days ago I got a Facebook message from a friend in Denmark who said "you need to go see the Danish band, Efterklang, at the Triple Door on March 11th. They are amazing!!"

Intrigued, I wanted to learn more and Wikipedia told me:

The name Efterklang comes from the Danish word for "remembrance" or "reverberation." Formed in Copenhagen, its four core members are: Casper Clausen, Mads Brauer, Thomas Husmer, and Rasmus Stolberg.^[1] The original lineup also included Rune Mølgaard, but he has taken a more secluded role since 2007.^[1] When performing live, the core four-piece band is complemented with the addition of three to four closely-related live band members.

So that doesn't tell us too much more, but trust me, I've come to enjoy the music I've heard from the band (including their song "Mirador" embedded above) and am now looking forward to their show next week at the Triple Door. Even better, we can sneak a few more people in. If you want to see Efterklang, please send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Monday, March 8 and put "Efterklang" in the subject line. Shortly thereafter, we'll draw a name at random and that person will win a pair of tickets to see Efterklang at the Triple Door.

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Saturday night is the finals to the EMP's always excellent Sound Off! competition for under 21 Northwest bands. After three narrowing down the competition to four bands over the past four weeks, the winner will be named here, with Candysound, Hooves and Beak, Great Waves and SEACATS viable to take home lots of great prizes (including a guaranteed spot at Bumbershoot). A few days after the first night of Sound Off!, I ran into a local music legend at a book reading and she was raving to me about Candysound, for what that's worth.

On another note, our friends from the EMP asked me if we thought we had readers of TIG who wanted to see the finals for free. So, if you are one such reader who would like to go (and bring a friend), please send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Friday, March 5 with "Soundoff" in the subject line. Of course, this is all-ages with the show starting at 8 (doors 7).

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Come and get your gee-haw on this Friday night at Neumo's -- on us!

That's right, we're giving away a pair of tickets to the show of the week, our very own SXSW 2010 Sendoff! You can rage along to Visqueen's big guitars, swoon to the orchestral-pop melodies of Hey Marseilles, get your groove on with Mash Hall, and warm your night up right with Fences -- all under one roof! (And PS -- tickets are only ten dollars in advance. Ten! It's a steal at twice the price!)

Just send an email to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line, "Let'sGetReadyToSX!" by this Thursday, March 4th at 10am, and tell us why you and your +1 should be our lucky guests.

Good luck -- we'll see you all at the show!

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As you shake free from your mandatory PNW hibernation, you've undoubtedly caught wind of all the rad lineups coming our way as the first whiffs of spring tour sneak up on us. And next week is bringing one of the first post-winter shows to Seattle that we're really beside ourselves about -- those gorgeously accent-laden Scottish sad bastards We Were Promised Jetpacks will be hitting the stage at Neumo's on Tuesday, March 2nd.

(Yes, next week is March. Already. Yikes!)

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I hope you're ready for this, because we're about to take your Tuesday from good to grrrrrrrreat!

On top of it not being Monday (woo!) as well as the designated day to go-get-the-latest-and-greatest at the record store, this Tuesday we've got a pair of tickets to give away to two rad upcoming shows -- Dave Rawlings Machine down at the Showbox on Valentine's Day, and Sarah Bettens over at the Triple Door on Thursday. Seriously!

Touring on the heels of this past fall's release, A Friend of a Friend, Dave Rawlings Machine (aka Dave Rawlings and the ever-lovely Gillian Welch, alongside Belmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, Karl Himmel, and Nate Walcott of Bright Eyes) is bringing their beautiful sound that's "built on the same careful spine that Welch's songs are" to the Showbox this upcoming Sunday. Want to get in on the goodness? Just email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "FriendOfAValentine" before 9am this Friday (February 12th). Extra points for your pitch on why you should be the one we pick to attend the show!

And on a slightly lower key but just as lovely note, Sarah Bettens (formerly of K's Choice -- a quick Googling will refresh you on their smash hit, "Not An Addict") will be swinging through town this Thursday to headline the Triple Door for our listening pleasure. Her lush, thoughtful songwriting coupled with her dynamic, earnest performance style has had audiences flocking to her shows for over a decade -- most recently to celebrate the her latest releases, Never Say Goodbye and Shine. If you want to be part of the action, email tig [at] threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "Who'sBettens, Who'sBest" before 9am this Thursday (February 11th). Act fast -- that's only two days away!

Good luck, and we'll see you out at the shows!

{Nana Grizol photo by Jon Manning}

Update! Looks like we found another pair of tickets! Folks who've already entered are still eligible! Details after the jump!

There are some bands that we could go on for hours about how much we love. Athens, GA's Nana Grizol are no exception. I've personally taken to describing them as a combination of the Thermals and the Weakerthans with a horn section, but that barely even scratches the surface of their sometimes 8-infinity piece band awesomeness (complete with floppy hair-ed jumping up and down). Their songs are so heartwrenchingly beautiful and meaningful, complete with lyrics that make you rethink your entire attitude towards life (ex: "Cynicism isn't wisdom/it's just a lazy way to say that you've been burned" from their new album Ruth).

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There are few things in this world that make me laugh as hard or as regularly as the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm", so it should surprise exactly no one that I'm really looking forward to seeing one of the stars, Jeff Garlin, next weekend (Janary 16) at the Paramount as part of former KMTT morning show host Marty Riemer's "Funny Fest" (which also features the very funny comedians Kyle Cease, Brian Burr and Nick Thune).

For our first ticket giveaway of 2010, we are thrilled to give away a pair of tickets to the show to one of our lucky TIG readers and their guest. It's simple, just send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com sometime between now and 9am next Monday morning (January 11) with "FunnyFest" in the subject line and we'll draw a winner's name at random and notify you shortly thereafter.

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This not a test. I repeat: this is not a test. This is an actual ticket giveaway. (It's so good, I almost thought that we were kidding.)

The Swell Season will be stopping by the Paramount this Sunday, touring in support of Strict Joy which hit the shelves a few weeks ago at record stores across the States. The lucky winner will not only receive a pair of 14th row floor seats (!!!), but they'll also get a print of this limited edition tour poster made just for the Seattle date of the tour. Email tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "StrictJoyInSeattle" to get in the running!

For anyone out-of-town that can't catch a Swell Season date on their relentless upcoming tour schedule, here's the link to Glen and Marketa's recent visit to NPR. (Click "Listen Now" at the top of the page for the full twelve minute interview on "All Things Considered".) I often will quip that performances like these are pull-the-car-over-and-stop kind of amazing, and that's exactly what this performance caused me to do. If you have the time, it's well worth the watch for both the sings and the interview. Enjoy!

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One of the last times the Pitchfork-approved, London-based noise-experimentalists Fuck Buttons came through town, I thoroughly enjoyed their set (which was opening for Mogwai) and wrote:

For a little over 40 minutes, Fuck Buttons held the rapt attention of the audience, who seemed mesmerized by the two men up front; that could be, though that it was too loud to have much of a conversation. They used laptops, synths, a drum machine (and a drum pad) and a vocoder with their microphone. When Benjamin John Power or Andrew Hung would sing, their vocals were drowned out by the sounds around them; rather than pay attention to the lyrics Fuck Buttons force you to respond to the sounds they are creating.

Now they're coming back with a highly-regarded new album called Tarot Sport and playing at Chop Suey on Sunday night (November 15). If you want to go but aren't into the whole "paying to get in" sort of thing, send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Thursday (November 12) with "TarotSport" in the subject line and one lucky person and guest will be able to say to their friends "I'm going to see Fuck Buttons for free". The show is 21+, so you and your guest will need to have that taken care of before Sunday.

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