You know how some records are just impossible to find in stores, due to small distribution and tiny awesome labels? Well, Chris Mac does too. And that's why he decided to open Jigsaw Records (5459 Leary Ave NW, 2nd floor, right above Resolution Audio). "We deal directly with bands and labels around the world (many of which have little or no distribution) to help them get more exposure", says Mac, also the creator of the wonderful indie pop haven Indiepages.

Mac's got the tiny store (14x14) stuffed to the gills with only the highest quality indie pop and rock records, cds, and tapes, and with his encyclopedic knowledge of indie pop is the type of guy who loves making suggestions, even to the point of putting descriptor stickers on every new release he carries (you know, so if you're looking for twee pop, you don't accidentally buy a pop punk album).

Not only is he supporting DIY music, but the shop itself follows a strict DIY aesthetic, with wonderful hand-built shelves, made with love, carrying your new favorite records.

The shop opens this Saturday, March 13th with the greatest possible opening party imaginable, featuring the first Math and Physics Club show in 2 years! Also appearing will be the fabulous D. Crane of BOAT. The show starts at 7 and is all ages and free! Come browse records and walk away with a new favorite band or five.

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Music from The Big Pink was the 1968 album from The Band. Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell know this, as their band's website is musicfromthebigpink.com. Yet, The Big Pink, circa 2010 bears little resemblence to The Band of 1968, and sounds more like what might happen if My Bloody Valentine reveled in the mid-90s Blur/Oasis/Pulp Britpop scene, rather than precede it.

The Big Pink are a London-based, shoegaze duo who are playing (I believe) their first show in Seattle Friday night at Neumos. Their debut album is modestly called A Brief History of Love and it was released on 4AD last September. That's what Wikipedia will tell you about The Big Pink but what you really need to know is that the LA Times called what they (and tourmates A Place to Bury Strangers) do "kicking the bejesus out of your reverb unit."

{The Big Pink plays Neumos Friday, March 12 with A Place to Bury Strangers, io echo and Grave Babies; $15 adv, 21+.}

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This weekend, some of Seattle's best music websites (and even better friends) are celebrating their birthdays and they've got your weekend booked with fantastic shows that showcase the talent and diversity of the Northwest. Back Beat Seattle is turning one on Friday and Ear Candy is celebrating it's birthday with what its founder, editor, chief, etc... Travis Hay calls "Ear Candy's Weekend of Awesome" and has shows Saturday and Sunday night at different clubs. Also quite thrilling: Dagmar and Amelia from Back Beat and Travis from Ear Candy have all written for TIG before starting their own flourishing websites.

Back Beat's show is Friday at the Blue Moon and it features Blood Red Dancers, THEESatisfaction and What What Now. It all goes down starting at 10pm and you'll need $5 and ID proving you're at or over 21 to get in the door.

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It's finally here! Tonight's the big night, and we hope you'll all be joining us for our very imaginary SXSW sendoff hootenanny at Neumo's! Doors are at 8, and tickets are going fast -- so make sure you get down there early.

We've told you about Fences, Mash Hall and Hey Marseilles over the last few days, and now it's time to give you some scoop on our headliner: Visqueen. Bringing big guitars, tight vocals, and catchy songwriting to the stage for as long as our imaginary hearts knew how to swoon, Visqueen is jumping on the success of their last album Message to Garcia and taking the show on the road. Literally.

March 13   Boise, ID @ the Record Exchange
March 13   Boise, ID @ Neurolux
March 14   Denver, CO @ Lion's Lair Lounge
March 16-21 SXSW
March 22   Tuscon, AZ @ Plush
March 23   Las Vegas, NV @ Thunderbird Lounge

Let's start them (and the rest of our fabulous favorite-ist bands) out right with a Seattle-worthy farewell tonight -- we'll see you all there!

I'm usually quite hesitant to recommend shows that have already sold out, but I'm quite excited for tonight's show at the Showbox with The Whigs and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It is a really good pairing because both are garage rock bands that are smart enough to know better than trying to reinvent the wheel.

The Whigs hail from Athens, GA and are releasing their latest album, In the Dark, on a week from Tuesday. I've been enjoying the title track, especially, as of late because it descends into a glorious wall of noise and distortion in its final moments. Still, though, The Whigs are closer to The Rolling Stones or a great Southern rock band than they are to My Bloody Valentine. In the right context, their songs can be anthemic, but almost always catchy. The video above has the band treating Neil Young as their biggest muse to their song (coincidence?) "Already Young".

BRMC has been one of my favorite live rock bands to watch. Just how good the vocals from Peter Hayes and Robert Been are can be missed on first listen when they're drowned out in reverb but they really do have a great sense of harmony. Like The Whigs, they're a power trio with a new album forthcoming (Beat the Devil's Tattoo is out on Tuesday) and I'll expect they'll be playing a lot of songs from that album, but I can't wait to feel like all is right in the world when they play "Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll?"

Fortunately, that rhetorical question will surely be answered later tonight.

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{Little Boots plays at Neumos on Saturday, March 6 with Class Actress and Dragonette.}

When I saw Little Boots perform last fall, it was the final stop on her brief US tour, at the Independent, a 500-person capacity club in San Francisco. The show, like every stop on that tour, was sold out, even more impressive that it would be almost six months before her excellent debut album Hands would land in US record stores. It was a very exciting set by a gifted performer that could very well become a big pop star in the United States and certainly worth the price of airfare and lodging.

Little Boots is Victoria Hekseth, a twenty-five year old pop ingénue from Blackpool, UK and has quickly become one of my favorite pop stars today, enough so that I would fly to San Francisco to see her perform a week and a half before another trip to the Bay Area for Kylie Minogue’s first ever US show and that I took the name for my pop music blog from one of her songs. Her songs are irresistably catchy and well-constructed and easy to get lodged in your brain for hours at a time.

Her music is straight-forward electro dance pop, with much emphasis on memorable hooks and choruses, or to borrow a line from my favorite Lady Gaga song, "glamourphonic, electronic, disco, baby". Hands was released in June of 2009 in the UK, where it charted as a top five album. It was released in the US just this Tuesday (March 2). The album is full of great, well-produced, -written and -polished pop songs, with the best songs (or at least my favorite) being the singles "New in Town" and "Stuck on Repeat."

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You know those bands that always seem to be there for you when your heart gets mangled? The band that gets your groove back in gear? For me, that's the Wedding Present.

The wonderful thing I've come to learn over the years? The Wedding Present is *that* band for a bunch of you too!

It's a strange and glorious fact that Bizarro, the Wedding Present's classic second studio album and the one that includes our favorites like "Brassneck" and "Kennedy" (to name a couple), will turn 21 years old this year. To celebrate, Gedge and company will be playing the album live, in its entirety, at concerts across North America, Japan and Europe (full tour shed-jule below). Obviously, those of us in Seattle are counting the days until April 21 when the Wedding Present is set to play the Crocodile.

We here at Three Imaginary Girls, especially me, want to mark the occasion here as well! Let's gather forces and geek out all Bizarro stylee!

Here's the idea: Send me a few sentences, a paragraph, or a story about a favorite song from the Bizarro album.  Tell us all about why the song (or songs - feel free to take on more than one!) rules or how it has affected you. It can be short, long, quirky, solemn, desirous, uplifting or clinical (i.e why the particular chord progression is magical).

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Mash Hall and Fences are the first bands on the bill this Friday at Neumo's, and trust us when we tell you: you're going to want to be there early enough to catch both of their sets. Seriously.

Having gone through some positive shake-ups as of late -- Mash Hall with a moniker change, and Fences with some rad additions to their lineup -- these two local favorites are polishing up their best shoes and bringing us a taste of what they've got in store for Austin (and the rest of 2010). Make sure you come check them both out this Friday -- and in the meantime, here's a peek at some recent creative output from these two local favorites.

{PS: Tickets are only $10 and they're going fast -- take advantage of the pre-show price and pick yours up today!}

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I'm going to be honest with you: seeing Evan Dando is completely a crapshoot. The last time he graced our fair city with the Lemonheads last June, it was, well, sort of a heartbreaking disaster. But when he's on, he's 110% on, crooning delicious indie rock like there's no tomorrow. Those of us that still stand behind him after all these years wait and hope and pray for those moments of clarity, and all we can do is show up  tonight at the Tractor and hope for the best. This fairly recent video makes me lean towards the side of hopeful for tonight (and seriously, doesn't this song still give you chills?)

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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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