There’s a ton of great shows going on Friday — but we’re particularly excited about the Black Whales / Dan Mangan / Jared Mees and the Grown Children show that’s happening over at Columbia City Theater. The Black Whales are releasing a 7″, it’s Dan Mangan’s first Seattle show in over three years, and the whole thing is being presented by our friends over at Sound on the Sound. And we’ve got tickets to give away!
We would love to send you and a friend to this 21+ show, and here’s how we’re going to do it: just sent an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls dot com, and tell us why you should be the winner of these ticktes! Be sure to use the subject line “WhalesAndManganAndMeesOhMy” so that we know it’s you.
Get those entries in soon, because we’ll be picking a winner Thursday afternoon at 3pm… and should you be the type that doesn’t like to tempt fate, just mosey on over to the Columbia City Theater website and pick up some tickets the old-fashioned way. In either case, while you’re waiting on that email confirmation, make good use of your internets and dig on Dan Mangan’s latest album, “Nice, Nice, Very Nice.” Trust us — you’ll be glad you did.
There are a bunch of great things on tap for tomorrow night.
First, we hope you will join us at the Moe Bar between 7p and 9p for the FREE Dark Was The Night listening party. The compilation benefits the Red Hot Organization (benefiting AIDS charities) and features great tracks from some of your favorite artists (Stuart Murdoch, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and tons more). Also, there will be some copies of the album available for you to win at the party as well. It'll be a supa supa fun way to start out your Saturday night or even just meet up with folks to strategize the rest of your night. More info and a tracklisting of what you'll hear at the party here.
After that you could move one door over from the Moe Bar (or walk through the low-ceiling'd corridor connecting them) to the A.C. Newman show at Neumo's with Dent May opening up. I have been loving Dent May's Jens Lekman ukulele quirk with indie-folk catchy story lines (see "You can't force a Dance Party") for months now and would love to see him on the Neumo's stage. The added bonus of A.C. Newman headlining isn't shabby either.
I will be heading across the street to see Jared Mees and the Grown Children at the Comet Tavern. Jared and the kids released one of my favorite albums last year and I've been waiting for them to travel from Portland to Seattle to show off their fancy indie-folk ways in person. There's a ton of songs I want to hear from the album, but here's video of a favorite one on the list, Bee's (I don't *think* there will be any hippie kids with towel capes at the Comet show). Also on the bill The Quiet Ones, Little Pieces, and The Kindness Kind. I hear that Jared Mees will be third on the bill.
TIG staffers are a lot like you — coming up with our list of faves for the year is a fun and gripping process. After comparing/contrasting/debating our individual favorites, we figured the sum of our imaginary parts would make for an interesting list.
While ChrisB and Keenan, among other things, brought in the power-pop elements, Chris Estey stood by the smartie subtle elements of this year’s Northwest offerings. Imaginary liz, as usual, loved the lo-fi and indie-pop songs, while imaginary dana spent much of the year obessed with Throw the the Statue and of course, the Fleet Foxes. And nearly all of us agreed that the Saturday Knights album was a force to be reckoned with. Here’s our our staff votes tallied up…
Top Northwest Releases of 2008, TIG Editorial Picks:
25. The Nextdoor Neighbors – Magic Vs The Machine {live show review} 24. The Dead Science – Villanaire {album review} 23. H is for Hellgate – Come for the peaks stay for the valleys {info} 22. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underdround – Kay Kay and His Weathered Underdround {live show review} 21. BOAT – Topps EP {live show review} 20. LoveLand – The Beautiful Truth {info} 19. Damien Jurado – Caught In The Trees {album review} 18. Common Market – Black Patch War {album review} 17. Chris Walla – Field Manual {album review} 16. Hey Marseilles – To Travels and Trunks {live show review} 15. Jared Mees and the Grown Children – Caffeine, Alchohol, Sunshine, Money {album review} 14. Grand Archives – Grand Archives {album review} 13. Man Plus – Hungarian Suicide Songbook {album review} 12. Wallpaper – On The Chewing Gum Ground 11. (TIE) Young Sportsmen – If You Want It {album review} 11. (TIE) Doll Test – Mosque Alarm Clock 10. The Pica Beats – Beating Back the Claws of the Cold {info} 9. Team Gina – Products of the 80s {album review} 8. The Kindness Kind – The Kindness Kind {info} 7. The Pharmacy – Choose Ur Own Adventure {info} 6. Throw Me The Statue – Moonbeams {album review} 5. Dutchess and the Duke – She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke {live show review} 4. The Old Haunts – Poisonous Times {live show review} 3. All Girl Summer Fun Band – Looking Into It {live show review} 2. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes {album review} 1. The Saturday Knights – Mingle {album review}
If we've crossed paths this year, you've probably heard me go on and on about how Nana Grizol is my favorite thing of the year (thanks for humoring me btw). More than Mad Men, Lipton Vanilla Caramel Truffle tea , and coconut almond chocolate chip ice cream, I could be trapped on a desert island (or snowed in) with a stereo and the Nana Grizol album Love It Love it and be happy. As a matter of fact, one of my goals of 2009 is to get to a Nana Grizol show and plant myself front and center (and not to faint from giddiness).
So, it's no surprise they topped my Top 10 for 2008 (otherwise known as "The albums that I think everyone should own and listen to on repeat"):
1. Love It Love It by Nana Grizol (Orange Twin) 2. Hold on Now, Youngster… by Los Campesinos! (Arts and Crafts) 3. Choose Yr Own Adventure by The Pharmacy (Don't Stop Believin') 4. Mingle by The Saturday Knights (Light in the Attic) 5. Feed The Animals by Girl Talk (Illegal Art) 6. Volume One by She and Him (Merge) 7. Lavalogy by Hot Lava (Bar None) 8. Caffeine, Alchohol, Sunshine, Money by Jared Mees and the Grown Children (Tender Loving Empire) 9. The High Decibels by The High Decibels (Rollin Jack) 10. Beating Back The Claws Of The Cold by The Pica Beats (Hardly Art)
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.
So, I culled it down to this playlist of non-stop winner batch of tunes (to be listened to in this order):
{If you do burn a cd of these songs, here a PDF of cd case ready cover art for it. Me, obsessive? No.}
1. Nana Grizol – “Circles 'Round The Moon” from Love It Love It
2. Bears – “Since I Met You” from the Summer Tour EP and also from Simple Machinery
3. Gina Young – “If I Could Wake Up” from 3AM Voice
4 . The Pharmacy – “Little Toys On A Shelf” from Choose Yr Own Adventure
5. Jared Mees & the Grown Children – “the tallest building in hell” from Caffeine, Alchohol, Sunshine, Money
6. Hello Seahorse – “Won’t Say Anything” from Hoy A Las Ocho
7. Los Campesinos! – “Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1” from We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed {It's kinda unfair that Los Campesinos! released two albums domestically in one year, so although in official terms the January 2008 release is the bestest album, this song is sooo very 2008 for me.}
8. The Pica Beats – “Cognac & Rum” from Beating Back The Claws Of The Cold
9. She & Him – “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” from Volume One
10. Girl Talk – “In Step” from Feed The Animals
11. Hot Lava – “Apple+Option+Fire” from Lavalogy
12. The High Decibels – “That Dude” from The High Decibels EP
13. Cars Can Be Blue – “Coat Tails” from Doubly Unbeatable
14. Matt and Kim – “Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare” from Grand* {releases January 20, 2009} (*Yeah, the album releases in 2009, but I listened to this single over and over to the point that it will always bring late 2008 to mind.)
15. The Saturday Knights – “Dog Park” from Mingle
16. The Death Set – “Impossible” from Worldwide
17. The Smittens – “Something Sassy” from The Coolest Thing About Love
18. Miniature Tigers – “The Wolf” from Tell It To The Volcano
19. Kevin Devine – “You'll Only End Up Joining Them” from Put Your Ghost To Rest
20. Conor Oberst – “NYC-Gone, Gone” from Conor Oberst
21. Throw Me The Statue – “About To Walk” from Moonbeams
22. Red Pony Clock – “Don't Forget Who Your Friends Are” from God Made Dirt
23. Keith John Adams – “imaginary girls” from 43 Personal Songs {more info here}
If you want to hear any of the albums on *imaginary liz's Best of 2008 mix*, here's a handy link to buy any of the albums featured on the compilation.
Do you know about Voodoo Donuts? It’s the best donut shop in Portland. Check that, it’s the best donut shop on the West Coast. You can get married there. You can also get a donut there that has a strip of bacon on top of it. It also has this donut you can (try to) eat that’s bigger than your head. It’s cool, Voodoo Donuts. It’s funky. It’s fun. It’s diabetes-inducing.
Why am I telling you all this? I can see Portlander Jared Mees and the Grown Children singing there. They’d fit in because they’re a lot like Voodoo Donuts, but without the whole diabetes thing. That’d be a downer, to go into diabetic shock at a rock show and Mees is certainly not a downer. No, he’s funky and fun and swell, like a Cocoa Puff-coated chocolate donut.
The new album, Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money (their first was If You Wanna Swim with the Sharks) which was recorded in Portland and delivered to the music-loving masses by Tender Loving Empire (also of Portland), is kind of a silly fun little affair. You’re not going to find gut wrenching stuff here. You won’t find too much in the way of thoughtful insight, introspection, social themes discussed. No, you won’t find solid orchestration, clean voices, that sort of thing.
What you WILL find is a band ready to have fun (with an exclamation point!). Got a beer in your hand? Cool. Shaking the tush? Rock on. Sort of smile/laughing/flirting with a girl from work not really hearing her because the music is a little too loud? Sweet.
“In the fall we can go huntin’ down by the banks of Old Mill Creek,” Mees sings in the song “In the Fall.” And, indeed, the band tries huntin’ a jostle-y bustling boot-scoot-y tune on the banks of musical structure. Fire away, Mees and the gang. Oopsie daisies, shot a tree dead but who cares? It’s fun out here on the banks of Old Mill Creek. During the waltzy “Trampling Daisies,” Mees sings, “I’m taking photographs of loved ones because I can. I’m going to paste them over the doorways so God knows who to spare.”
There’s nothing but chipper tunes to spare on the album. That’s not to say this album doesn’t have a certain “Let’s untuck the shirt, swing around, get a little sweaty, laugh with friends, boozily kiss that coworker” kind of feel. But sometimes it’s a Tuesday morning, you have a report due at work, and you want a simple raised donut. Mees does not do raised donuts. Mees gives you frosting, lots of frosting and not a lot of filling. I wonder what his next album will be like? Simple maple bar, maybe, or perhaps a bear claw of sweet sweet goodness.
![[the black whales]](https://threeimaginarygirls.com/wp-content/uploads/files/uploaded-images/black_whales.jpg)
