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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Our friends from Friday Mile are celebrating the release of their brand new album Good Luck Studio this Friday (November 13, but don't let superstition keep you from checking out a great show) at the Tractor. Earlier in the year, they rocked the hell out of my birthday show at Chop Suey in January and in the spring they unexpectedly happened to be in the same city on their west coast tour as I was for my vacation (San Diego) and made for a great surprise.

Like the good, caring friends they are, the band asked if they could send a TIG reader (and guest) into the show for free. Of course we couldn't say no because the show will likely sell out and you know how the economy is and all that. If you want to be said TIG reader who gets to go to the Friday Mile CD release show for free, please just send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Thursday, November 12 with "GoodLuck" in the subject line. The show is 21+, so please enter and choose your +1 accordingly. The Dimes, The Banyans and Indian Valley Line round out the solid lineup.

Fact: everyone loves Mission of Burma. Amiright?

Proof: if you happened to be in Boston on October 4, less than a month ago, you were in Boston on Mission of Burma Day. Even more convincing, even Wikipedia loves MOB:

Mission of Burma's efforts are largely concerned with extending punk's original vocabulary without losing its essential rebellious spirit. Using rapid shifts in dynamics, unconventional time signatures and chord progressions along with tape effects, Mission of Burma challenges the prevailing idioms of punk while attempting to retain its power and immediacy.

The converse of which is that the exact opposite of the percentage of people who love Mission of Burma is equal to the same percentage of people who like paying for stuff. So, we want to send one of our readers (and a guest) to share in the love of MOB live at the Crocodile on Wednesday, November 11. Just e-mail us by Monday, November 9 at 9am with "BurmaIsNowMyanmar" in the subject line. One name will be drawn at random and it'll appear on MOB's guestlist  +1 on Wednesday night.

{Photo by Kelly Davidson}

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Athens, GA-based garage rockers The Whigs recently finished their third album In the Dark (ATO Records) and are scheduled to release it in early 2010. Their heading out on the road on an ambitious tour across North America that will include a stop at the Tractor on Saturday, November 14.

TIG was asked if we knew of anyone that would like to see The Whigs for free and, surely, we said we had a reader that would love to go. If you want to go but don't want to pay to get in, send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Wednesday, November 11 with "WhiggedOut" in the subject line. One lucky winner will get a spot on The Whigs' guestlist for the night and provided they're 21 or older, will get in and get to rock out with The Whigs.

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The staff at TIG doesn't agree on many bands, but the closest we ever come to reaching consensus seems to be on Art Brut. Whether it's singer Eddie Argos' unique style of singing (which is neither irony, nor rock and roll) and hilarious lyrics or the kick-ass rock band behind him, most of us here seem to love Art Brut.

Even better: Art Brut is coming back to Seattle to once again rock Neumos next Monday night (November 2) - and we get to send a lucky TIG reader to rock out with both us and Art Brut. If you want to be said lucky reader, just e-mail us at tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Friday, October 30 with "AlcoholicsUnanimous" in the subject line (also, please be 21 or older) and we'll draw someone's name at random and notify them shortly thereafter.

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We love it when bands play their biggest, most influential or most popular album from beginning to end, of course, but what about the bands that have recorded more than one? If you're Devo, maybe you'd play one influential album, say Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo on one night (maybe November 8) and the other, say, Freedom of Choice (maybe November 9), with both at the Moore. Sounds reasonable enough to me.

We have pairs of tickets to each show to give away to lucky TIG readers. All you need to do is mail us at tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Tuesday, October 27 with "AreWeNotMen?" or "FreedomOfChoice" in the subject line (you can enter for both shows but please send separate e-mails and no spaces, either, please) and include your mailing address in the body of the e-mail so we know where to mail the tickets. Optional (but it won't improve your odds): include alternate answers to the question "are we not men?" in the body of the e-mail. The winners (one pair per show) will be notified shortly thereafter and have the tickets mailed to them.

To test out the new songs from their last album, 2008's Accelerate, REM had some "working rehersals" that they played for packed crowds in Dublin a year before. They thought those shows went pretty well and turned it into a movie. The result is an hour long concert film called This is Not a Show: Live at the Olympia in Dublin. Said film is screening for three nights this weekend (all at 8pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at the Northwest Film Forum.

We also have a pair of tickets to give a TIG reader to one of the screenings. If you want to go, just e-mail us at tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Wednesday morning, October 21 with "accelerate" in the subject line and the screening you want to go to in the body (either Friday, Saturday or Sunday).

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Did I just type that headline? Really??

It's true, we have a pair of tickets to give away to a VERY lucky TIG reader to see my queen of rock and/or roll at the Paramount on November 3. Regina Spektor is one of my very favorite artists as she her combine nonlinear songwriting with a harmony that is lovely when it needs to be and jarring when it's called for.

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If you want to see the very-sold out Passion Pit show at the Showbox on Sunday, we have a pair of tickets to give away to one of our lucky readers. The tickets literally just arrived in the mail, so there isn't much time. To win, just send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with "Passion" in the subject line and your mailing address in the body by 3pm today, Wednesday, October 7. We'll notify the winner shortly thereafter and I'll head to the post office immediately after that.

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: