This not a test. I repeat: this is not a test. This is an actual ticket giveaway. (It's so good, I almost thought that we were kidding.)

The Swell Season will be stopping by the Paramount this Sunday, touring in support of Strict Joy which hit the shelves a few weeks ago at record stores across the States. The lucky winner will not only receive a pair of 14th row floor seats (!!!), but they'll also get a print of this limited edition tour poster made just for the Seattle date of the tour. Email tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line "StrictJoyInSeattle" to get in the running!

For anyone out-of-town that can't catch a Swell Season date on their relentless upcoming tour schedule, here's the link to Glen and Marketa's recent visit to NPR. (Click "Listen Now" at the top of the page for the full twelve minute interview on "All Things Considered".) I often will quip that performances like these are pull-the-car-over-and-stop kind of amazing, and that's exactly what this performance caused me to do. If you have the time, it's well worth the watch for both the sings and the interview. Enjoy!

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I want to sit you down and talk -- I want to pull back the veil and find out what it is I've done wrong, Glen Hansard croons earnestly. It's the first line from the opening track of the new Swell Season album, Strict Joy. The song "Low Rising" is at once classic Hansard -- heartache, folklore, anguished cries in the middle of a set of casual, life-altering sentences -- and also a gorgeous representation of what old fans will refer to as the 'newer' signature sound of the Swell Season. Hansard's achy, telltale traits are layered in with Marketa Irglova's delicate shared-lead vocals, which vary across the tracks from barely-secondary to her Damien Rice-esque lead on "Fantasy Man." Add in some catchy choruses, two parts major-label caliber production, and a few members of the Frames -- and you've got the perfect follow-up to the Once soundtrack.

Having been a Frames fan for quite a few years now, I was happy to hear the full-band style of the Strict Joy tracks carrying hints of a restrained, filtered-down hint of their tone, as Colm Maclomaire, Joe Doyle, and Rob Bochnik are all contributing members to the Swell Season sound. Which is not to pigeonhole the Swell Season as a side-project of any sort, as it solidly stands on its own legs among Frames and non-Frames albums alike. The dozen tracks wind the listener from the feel-good ache of "Low Rising" to the sad, haunted "The Rain," crossing to the distant, staring-out-the-window-of-the-train movie-scene sound of "Paper Cup." The beginning of the album never stalls out, laying out tracks cohesively one after the other, seamless but not too similar; constantly pretty and yet shot through with knife-in-the-gut writing that begs you to pull the car over and pay attention.

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Ok, so the brand, spanking new Tom Waits website went up today and the internets blew up immediately. My iTunes has more Tom Waits tracks than anything else 'cause I sure do love me that man. The website promises information regarding "news, releases, tours, films and more...a resource for lyrics, photos, wit and wisdom, strange but true tales, and more imponderables on topics as far ranging as the origin of consciousness, the sexuality of Christ and the lonely journey of the male seahorse." In other words, anything a serious Waits fan could ever dream of.

The new album Glitter & Doom Live will be released on November 24, 2009 and is a collection of recordings from Waits' 2008 US and European tour, 17 tracks in all. There are some special offers available for all the Waits fans out there:

1) Pre-order a whole host of merchandise, from T-shirts to tour books, CD's and LP's and any combination thereof here (long load time). I'm on the edge of my seat for the album extra "Tom's Tales" compiling all of his famous tall tales and random stage banter. I love his wacked out stories.

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For every blog that posts the song, and iLike user who adds it to his/her profile, Neko and Anti- will make a donation benefiting Best Friends Animal Society.

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Arm's Way equals punishment food.

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It's funny, smart, strange, loud, dark, and just damn fine rock music. In other words, it's the balls. Nick Cave and the boys have my full attention back.

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Sydney indie-rock quartet Youth Group tread dangerously close to the semi-hopeful yet melancholic territory that made Coldplay simultaneously annoying and world famous.

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He looks a little like Alfalfa from 'Little Rascals' and he can sound a bit like Snoop Dogg, hence probably the confusion.

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The top Northwest releases of 2004 as voted on by you, our readers (see winners #20-11 here).

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