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.

We'll see you at the show!

The days are getting shorter and it's getting harder and harder to deny that winter is on its way. It's sweet timing that Three Imaginary Girls gets to debut the brand new Black Whales video for "Rattle Your Bones" -- a beautifully shot video complete with laid back acoustic guitar rifts and tambourine against a backdrop of a perfect summer day on a boat. It's no remake of Duran Duran's boat times a la "Rio," rather they spent their video-shoot time taking it easy on a sailboat while Doe Bay Festing it this past August. Take a look!

OK, I can't help myself. A little Simon anyone?



What is your favorite nautical-themed video?

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We asked Alex Robert, frontman for Black Whales, to keep us posted about what's going on with the band now that they are unsigned and recording a new album with John Goodmanson. We'll be posting his words here in three parts. This is the third. If you missed it, check out the first and second parts, here and here.

{If you would like to see the Black Whales at the Chop Suey, June 11th for free, email us your name and a reason why we should give you a pair of tickets to <tig@threeimaginarygirls.com> by Tuesday, June 8th at 5:00pm with "Black Whales" in the subject line. We have two pairs of tickets folks. Get 'em!}

So, if you've been following any of the little studio diaries that we have put up over the past four or five weeks, then a thanks is in order. Thank you very much! We really appreciate it. If you haven't, then nothing is in order. Nothing for you in this. Thank you for nothing.

To close things out: The next couple of weeks are John's time to do his thing to the thirteen songs that will be on this record. It's kind of a downer really, finishing a record. The next time I'll be in a studio to record music won't  be for awhile. And I've gotten so used to doing it everyday that everything else seems like plain Yoplait by comparison.

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Here at TIG, we love John Goodmanson. Not only has he worked to make some of our favorite artists sound a-mazing (from Los Campesinos, Wedding Present and The Gossip to The Blood Brothers, Bikini Kill and The Lashes), but he is also, just a great guy. So, as we finish our studio diaries with Black Whales, we couldn't resist a short interview with John about the process. Here's what we got.

1.  What was your approach to making/recording the Black Whales record?

To capture the group sounding great in a room together.  Their songs were pretty well worked out, so really getting the live performance of the basic track was key.

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We asked Alex Robert, frontman of Black Whales, to keep us posted about what's going on with the band now that they are unsigned and recording a new album with John Goodmanson. We'll be posting his words here in three parts. This is the second. If you missed it, check out the first one here!

Day 13 of recording - Moved studios. London Bridge was amazing, but money flies as fast as time and our five day residency was up. We moved the gear to John's studio, deep in the womb of the lush and mystical valley that is Seattle's alluring Central District. The room here is packed wall-to-wall with recording equipment and a who's who of machines and instruments from the past 50 years. Today we struggled for a keyboard sound for the choruses of "Young Blood" (which we decided to re-record for this record). We wanted something old and kind of melancholy and bell-like to back up the vocal line. After messing around with some really depressingly bad synth sounds, John jumped up and said, "Oh, right…I know what needs to happen here", and put a Cembalet in the middle of the room. The Cembalet is this weird little wooden keyboard that plucks strings when the keys are played, instead of the traditional hammering motion. It has that "Sunday Morning": Velvet Underground thing to it. It's the kind of instrument that is a war to keep working, costs way too much and takes up a lot of space, but you none-the-less store in the corner somewhere, just in case you have that one song that might need it. Young Blood needed it. That's a lot of what this recording has been; digging through unmarked closets and boxes and asking, "What's this do?".

 

 

 

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We asked Alex Robert, frontman of Black Whales, to keep us posted about what's going on with the band now that they are unsigned and recording a new album with John Goodmanson. We'll be posting his words here in three parts over the next three weeks.

Hello. I'm typing to you from the control room at London Bridge Studios in Shoreline, WA. This is day four of recording and I've slept a total of eight hours. My eyes are wide and my blood is a mixture of coffee and sake. Davey is sitting here on my left and John Goodmanson and Eric Corson (his engineer) are sitting in front of me working at the board. Slowly working through each track.

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at Ash Street Saloon

Local to Portland, Viva Voce seemed to light up the crowd the most. Kevin Robinson taking to smashing his guitar on the stage near the end of the set.

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at Chop Suey

The lineup at Chop Suey on Saturday night was uneven. It started strong with Grant Olsen’s project away from Arthur and Yu. The country twang of his songs was subsumed by The Moondoggies harmonies ringing out behind Olsen’s slow, almost spoken, singing. The songs were tight and the bass hooks kept even their simplest songs interesting. This didn’t sound like a side project.

Next, Black Whales played a derivative set accompanied by an epilepsy-inducing light show. Song by song, Black Whales delivered tunes that wore their influences on their sleeve. The extra toms and cymbals next to the full drum set seemed superfluous, as the main drummer was the best part. The band seemed to flounder for a distinct sound, something that would make a listener say, “hey, isn’t this Black Whales?” Rather than ask if it’s The Stones.

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All parts Oregon, Point Juncture, WA is going to rock you. Slowly. In their collectively cradled arms. And when they do, you should look at the calluses on their hands and be thankful that someone out there is working hard to provide for you. They released Heart To Elk in February 2009 on Mt. Fuji Records.

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at Capitol Hill Block Party 2008

Black Whales' melodies, like candy, give you a great rush.

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