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!
As if the upcoming week of shows isn't good enough already -- two nights of Magnetic Fields, Mudhoney at the Tractor, and Nada Surf, just to name a few! -- it's all capped off with the best place to be on a Sunday in recent memory, with Sharon Van Etten {and special guests The War On Drugs} at the Neptune Theater. Touring on the heels of her already much-loved latest Jagjaguwar release, Tramp, an album that both 'defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux' (not like we weren't already smitten enough with tracks like "Love More" and "One Day" off of 2010's Epic), Van Etten and band will be bringing their particular brand of sad embrace to the stage, and we want to send you and a guest to the show.
Send us an email anytime between now and 10am Friday morning {that's this Friday, the 23rd} to tig {at} three imaginary girls {dot} com with the subject line "MagicChords" so that we know it's you. We'll pick a winner Friday and notify you that you're on the guest list +1 to Sunday's show.
Remember that time when Nada Surf brought serious amounts of rock to the stage and melted our faces off with Say Hi at the Tractor? Oh, right -- that was just last month. Well, if you're anything like us, the strains from that show have been stuck in your frontal lobe ever since, running side-by-side with the still-in-heavy-rotationthe stars are indifferent to astronomy. And whether you saw or missed the show, whether you're listening to the new album and putting "When I Was Young" on a mix for the first or thirty-fifth time, you (and we, and the rest of Seattle) are in luck: Nada Surf is coming back to town this weekend, after a string of successful shows, South by Southwest performances, and all-around positive response to their latest studio effort.
Tickets are available through STG now for the upcoming show at the Neptune this Saturday, and we strongly recommend picking up a pair (or two) in advance before the show sells out. But if you want to roll the dice on getting in with a +1 for free, you can enter to win a spot on the guest list from us! Just drop an email our way, to tig {at} three imaginary girls {dot} com with the subject line "PicturesInOurPretendWallets" anytime between now and the end of the internet day, say 5pm-ish, on Thursday.
Even though I've had almost two months to let it sink in, it still hasn't hit me: Seattle will get to see Allo Darlinon Friday May, 11 at the Vera Project!!! And they are bringing their very talented friends (and fellow Darren Hayman collaborators) The Wave Pictures!!!
As we told you before (in an equally excited voice), this night is going to be extra special. In addition to seeing two of the most fabulous British sweet-pop exports perform some of my favorite songs ever, the evening also serves as part of our Three Imaginary Girls 10th Anniversary celebration series. Ten awesome events to celebrate ten awesome imaginary years (more details on other events soon!)!!!
We want you to be there to dance to the inspired post-twee songs of these two amazing bands along with us and Vera has given us a pair of tickets to give away to the show! To enter to win them, email us at tig @ threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "Henry Rollins Don't Dance" before May 3, 2012. We'll notify the winner (which will hopefully be you!) soon thereafter.
Also, both bands will be debuting songs from brand new albums that are both set to release in April (Allo Darlin's Europe and The Wave Pictures's Long Black Cars). If you have a hard time waiting, you can sample at least one new Allo Darlin song right now...
Huzzah! The Magnetic Fields are coming to Seattle (!!!) and we've got a pair of tickets for you to win! One of the Imaginary Girls' favorite melancholy indie-pop bands will be gracing the stage at The Neptune for two nights: Monday, 3/19 and Tuesday 3/20. Their newest album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, was released 3/6 on Merge records. (You can take a listen to the single "Andrew in Drag" in the video above.)
But look, I don't need to explain to y'all how great they are, YOU ALREADY KNOW IT. On to the deets! Shoot an email over to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com sometime between now and the end of the day Tuesday {3/13}, with the subject line "69 Love Songs". We'll pick a winner and notify you on Wednesday, 3/14 that you're on the list +1 -- just don't forget to let us know which night you want to attend! ♥
One of the excellent bands that caught my attention last year is Portland's Blue Skies for Black Hearts, who opened for Tennis Pro last summer. You guys, I'm not kidding - I was BLOWN AWAY by these boys, and rushed over to (drunkenly) buy a CD as soon as they finished their set. They had several to choose from, but I picked up their latest, Embracing the Modern Age, because it had this amazing retro-poppy song on it called "Caroline Make Up Your Mind" and that was stuck in my head forevs. Anyway, they are playing in Seattle next Friday, 3/9 at the High Dive, and we are giving away a pair of tickets! Which is awesome, because I keep telling you guys how great they are, and I feel like no one is listening to me.
GUYS. GO TO THIS SHOW AND CHECK THEM OUT. TRUST ME. THEY RULE.
Okay, now that I got that off my chest: email tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "Damn Those Girls" anytime between now and 5pm next Tuesday {3/6}. We'll choose a winner and notify you by email sometime on Wednesday to let you know you're on the list. Good luck!
If you’ve never heard of Eighteen Individual Eyes before, you may not be alone -- but if you don’t take a listen now, you soon will be. Irene Barber’s soaring siren call is so thoroughly appealing that it’s easy to ignore the hint of danger lying in the jangly, dirty guitars underneath. Although tender, their songs are eerily disturbing. It's a transfixing combination.
EIE’s talent was obvious on their early EP, Slightly Frightened, Mostly Happy. For their soon-to-be-released debut full length, Unnovae Nights, the group recorded with Matt Bayles (Minus the Bear) and took a big leap forward. You can hear how beautifully Bayles picked apart the intricate tangles of their sound on the track “Four Poses,” available to listen now.
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!
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!}
***UPDATE: Only two more days left to enter to win!***
It's a whole new year with a fresh round of shows to get excited about -- and to kick of the ticket giveaways, how about a pair for one of the PNW's new favorite local bands? Pickwick will be playing at The Doug Firdown in Portland next this Friday, January 13th, and you can enter to win a spot +1 on the guest list!
In case you haven't had an ear to the ground these last few months, Pickwick is taking the world by storm at pretty much every turn: a ginormous success of a show at the Neptune, followed by some time in the studio slated to birth an album that half of Seattle already has on their 2012 top-ten list; placing at number nine on KEXP's best 90.3 of 2011, firmly sandwiched between Beirut and Adele with a scant EP; and gorgeous, seemingly effortless videos that keep surfacing like Sound on the Sound's Doe Bay Sessions and the now-famed UW reading room rendition of Blackout.
Ready for a road trip? Just send an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "PickwickInPDX" anytime between now and noontime next this Wednesday, January 11th.
Hi Mary, have you heard anything of theirs other than this one track? Their bandcamp has a good selection of songs: http://pickwick.bandcamp.com/track/hacienda-motel
Even though I've had almost two months to let it sink in, it still hasn't hit me: Seattle will get to see 
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