I have come to expect a few things from TMBG: Brass and polka-tron influences, references to interesting people of historical significance, and to err on the side of the absurd. TMBG have a strange influence on their fans - they appeal to children as much as adults, but one would should not mistake brevity for simplicity. I was delighted to find several TMBG tracks were included on a shyly-collated mixtape from my boyfriend; many years later we would play several of their songs at our wedding. I was sitting in a play a week ago, and the cast included "Ana Ng" in their scant soundtrack, without it sounding out of place. TMBG have a diverse appeal, in all their galloping, oom-pah-pah craziness and joy.

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I had a low-key Sunday writing nearly-overdue thank-you notes (which is actually quite fun because you get to gush to your friends about how great they are), sipping copious amounts of tea, and pulling an afternoon soundtrack from the most recently acquired vinyl in the stack. Near the top of the stack was the debut album by Melbourne, Australia's Summer Cats entitled Songs for Tuesdays. It's a mighty fine album (if the fact that it's on Slumberland Records wasn't enough proof) and all, but what raised my interest most was that the record is printed on what experts describe as "multi-color splatter vinyl." Songs for Tuesdays is both mesmerizing to listen to and to watch spin round as it plays. Note: the above photo doesn't do it much justice, but that's what happens when you've got an iPhone and bad lighting. You get the *idea* that it's spectacular though, right?

Colored vinyl is magical. It's way up there with the phrase "limited edition" on the list of things that make me lose my cool (and empty my wallet). I read somewhere that, for some scientific reason, colored vinyl doesn't have as good of sound quality as the standard black issue... but whatevs. I can't deny it's power.

It got me thinking... what vinyl records rank up there as prettiest? I put 7" and 12" in the running and came up with these off the top of my head:

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They Might Be Giants may be the most imaginary of bands. Imaginary Liz is a super-fan who even got to interview one of the two Johns, John Flansburgh in one of my favorite TIG interviews ever.

What I love about TMBG is the randomness that comes with every one of their live shows. I've seen them in bigger venues (The Paramount) and smaller places (EMP's Sky Church) and on Tuesday night they are continuing "Play your most influential album(s) week" in Seattle* with their first (and I think only) platinum album, Flood. While I'll miss the unpredictability of their sets (they have almost thirty years of songs to pull from a hat to play), Flood is a really great album with a lot of favorites, like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "Particle Man". Their shows are plenty wild - they turned that packed Paramount crowd into the largest conga line I've ever seen.

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Chalk this up to the cutest thing I've seen in a while: They Might Be Giants are sponsoring little league teams around the country -- with one of the lucky (in names and sponsorship) beneficiaries being a Seattle pack of sweet-ums. It's even cuter than that wee batter with the stuffed elephant on his lap!

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Sick of slinging copies at your Kinko's night shift? Keep your nose to the grindstone and follow your dream. Maybe in 20 years, you'll have a 15-album back catalog, a devoted following and cartoon renditions of your songs.

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Recaptured joys of youth, where are you?

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Massachusetts-via-Brooklyn indie legends They Might Be Giants will be releasing their first non-kiddie album in 3 years come July. The odd thing is that its being produced by the Dust Brothers, the same fellows who brought us the soundtrack to Fight Club. Now, I'm always excited about a new TMBG disc (though their last couple haven't been that great) but it sounds like they're turning towards the sound from songs like "Man, It's So Loud in Here" and "Mr. Xcitement". Exciting? I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Over the course of an hour, Liz was able to learn the intricacies of the coffee bean and hear about the time TMBG opened for Chicago. Oh, and John and Liz have figured out what Sean Nelson should do next.

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Why is the world in love again??

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Three Imaginary Girls see the film "Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns" and hope that one day they can have coffee with a Giant.

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