Three Imaginary Girls - Grand Hallway

Now hear this: Youth Rescue Mission will fracture your heart.

imaginary victoria — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:11:57 +0000

This is so much more than a recommended show and a ticket giveaway, even though *technically* this post is all of those things.

We're coming to you bright-and-early this fine Wednesday morning to talk to you for a moment about Youth Rescue Mission. They're new to the concert-going masses, but if you've kept an ear to the ground, you've seen them here and there about town as far back as one of the Collective Presents shows last year out at Columbia City Theater, where they played for free and wowed a full house. They've scored some bills since, picked up a bit of airplay on KEXP, and as of this week, are hitting the streets with a debut album: it's 39.4 minutes of some of the most emotionally entrenched new music we've heard this year. No kidding.

It could be the (sounds like) twelve-part harmonies, it could be the wave of alt.indie.earnestcore that's been sweeping the town lately, but whatever the hell it's technically called, we're filing it under LIKE. Caps Lock Intended. There's a seamless element to the sound of this ten-song effort that's likely brought about by good production and a family affair (a fair amount of the band members are siblings), coupled with an urgency of tone in the vocals and a catchy instrumental underpinning that makes you want to open up the proverbial vein for more, more, more. "Very Nice Things" starts up the album with a goosebump-inducing level of honesty, "Problem Solver" is a surprise picker-upper, "Great White" has high moments that show you what the band is really capable of, and "Dark Star" (no, fellow Heads, not a cover tune) closes out the journey as a good closer should, with a near-flawless flourish and an element of flat-out longing. Obvious verbage, perhaps, but there's really no other way to put it.

Simply stated, anyone who's ever had an emotive pang in their gut at any level needs to give this album some time -- 78.8 minutes, to be specific, which is just enough to listen through twice for the things you didn't catch the first time. And we know there's a veritable plethora of things going on Saturday night (ahemreallygreatshowattheCroccoughcough), but if you lace up your running shoes, you can probably hit YRM's set up out at Columbia City Theater to start your night, and still make it over to a good part of the Damien Jurado / Viva Voce show out in Belltown. And to entice you to do just that, we're giving away a pair of tickets for you and your +1 to start the night off right out at CCT! Amen!

Recommended show: BARE at Fremont Abbey {Friday, January 21}

imaginary victoria — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:38:28 +0000

The first two weeks of 2011 have set the bar pretty high for shows: Lovesick Empire killing the stage at a real-life $5 cover night at Neumos, Damien Jurado selling out Columbia City Theater, and back-to-back nights with The Head and the Heart (an impromptu night at Porterhouse in West Seattle last Thursday, and Friday's packed house at Neumos). Suffice it to say that what we're about to see this week is no exception.

On Friday night, the Great Hall of the Fremont Abbey will be filled to the brim with nothing more than the voices of some of our favorite artists -- The Maldives, Sean Nelson, Grand Hallway, Goldfinch, Drew Victor, Shenandoah Davis, Pablo Trucker, and a half-dozen other talented local folk will be hosting an entirely acapella evening, and we're already counting down the minutes to the show. It's the second annual installment of a show called BARE, where we'll be spending the evening sans instruments, electronics, or any kind of amplification -- just the audience, the voices, and the rafters of the hall.

***UPDATE: We've got two tickets to give away to the show, and we want to send you and a friend! Send an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls.com by 5pm on Thursday, January 20th with the subject line BareItAllAtTheAbbey, and tell us why we should choose you to attend the show.

We totally get it if you don't want to run the risk of the show selling out, so click here to pick your tickets up while you still can -- the event is all ages, and prices are only $12-$15 depending on where you'd like to sit your seat.

We'll see you at the show!

Triple Door to host Grand Hallway's last show... OF THE YEAR

heather hydra — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:51:53 +0000

Normally song titles like "Blessed Be Honey Bee" and "Napoleon's Left Shoe" make me want to run for the hills. However, with Grand Hallway, I cannot get enough. Singer Tomo Nakayama's voice is pure gorgeousness, warm and honey-toned. I also have a wee crush (shh, don't tell her!) on vocalist/piano/accordion player Shenandoah Davis. Her vocals are fantastic and I am relatively positive she can play every instrument known to man - and probably some that aren't.

This isn't a put-on. These kids are phenomenally talented and genuine, which is why with such precious song titles, even a hard-ass like me can get into it. I would hazard that Grand Hallway's sound could be included in the realm of orchestral or chamber pop, much like Belle & Sebastian. The show is Wednesday, November 17th at the Triple Door. Opening the evening are the lovely Nick Jaina and Drew Victor. Doors at 6pm, music at 7:30. All-ages. Tickets are $10.

The Doe Bay Sessions: reliving summer with Sound on the Sound

imaginary victoria — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:49:10 +0000

Missing on summer? We feel you. So do our friends over at Sound on the Sound, who have been posting a series of exclusive videos of their trip out to Doe Bay this past August of some stellar local bands. Gorgeous content from some of our favorite songsterers and songstresses are yours for the viewing, over at their website. You can watch and hear tracks from...

* The Head and the Heart
* Drew Grow and the Pastor's Wives
* Grand Hallway

and a whole slew of great bands. Keep an eye out on their site for updates throughout the month of October -- thanks, SotS! We can almost feel the sunshine.

This weekend's recommended shows: The Head and the Heart, twice!

imaginary victoria — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:27:42 +0000

Remember that one time? You know. Before we knew about The Head and the Heart and all their full-frontal amazingness?

Right. Us neither.

If you've yet to experience the sorta-indie-roots-ish, not-quite-americana vibe that these kittens have been putting out all over the PNW recently, you're in for a treat. You have not one, but two chances to get your swoon on with The Head and The Heart this weekend, and both times in the company of some stellar headliners.

Rad bands for a great cause: the NFTN 2010 lineup

imaginary victoria — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:48:45 +0000

{photo credit: the lovely Laura Musselman, courtesy of our imaginary flickr pool}

Now that we're all done with Sasquatch, it's time to set our sights on the next raddest lineup to hit the west coast: it's Noise for the Needy, 2010 edition. There's close to seventy-five bands and djs playing a baker's dozen of venues next weekend, when NFTN takes over every corner of Seattle from June 9th (Thursday) through the 13th (Sunday). Among the notables in big font this year are John Vanderslice, Visqueen, Horse Feathers, Delta Spirit, the Maldives, The Album Leaf, Animals at Night, The Portland Cello Project, and The Redwood Plan -- along with enough supporting acts to make your head spin. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets, or you can just buy a la carte at each show / venue -- although there's some sweet all-access wristband deals being offered if you want to rock it like that.

Grand Hallway packed the Tractor

bobby mchugh — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:28:30 +0000

9 Jan 2010

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Tomo Nakayama (and all of Grand Hallway for that matter) is a pleasure to watch perform. The eight piece orchestral indie-pop band played to a bursting Tractor Tavern, last Saturday, with headliners Black Whales and Amateur Radio Operator. Having never caught Grand Hallway live before, I was surprised by Tomo's ability to alternate between intensity and composure, while weaving together delicate songs that tug at the heart and mind in equal measure.

If you missed it, you have a chance to catch them again at the Triple Door, March 6th, backed by the 50 piece Seattle Rock Orchestra and the Perkins School Children’s Choir. I can't imagine a better place to experience their brand of sweet orchestral pop in it's full glory. Bam.

{Check out more great photos in the TIG sparkly indie-pop flickr pool}

Tomo Nakayama (and all of Grand Hallway for that matter) is a pleasure to watch perform. The eight piece orchestral indie-pop band played to a bursting Tractor Tavern, last Saturday, with headliners Black Whales andAmateur Radio Operator. Having never caught Grand Hallway live before, I was surprised by Tomo's ability to alternate between intensity and composure, while weaving together delicate songs that tug at the heart and mind in equal measure.

Three Imaginary Girls IndieTunes Podcast {Bumbershoot 2009}

three imaginary girls — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:02:21 +0000

Bumbershoot takes place at the Seattle Center this September 5-7 and there's about a million and a half things to do (bands, literary panels, art shows, Flatstock, kettle corn lunches) over the three-day fest.

To help folks (especially ourselves) prepare for Bumbershoot 2009, we put together this lil mix of some of the things you should add to your Bumbershoot scheduling spreadsheet. We hope this helps you pick your must-sees or at least provides a soundtrack as you wander to and fro.

{go listen}

54:38 minutes (50.02 MB)

Bumbershoot preview: Grand Hallway

Chelsea Werner — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:19:23 +0000

I believe that one reason Seattle and the Northwest in general puts out a crap-load of great music is the constant incest between bands. Whereas incest usually creates mutant babies, Grand Hallway is a band where it gives birth to a unique (but not in that “special” way) and lovely sound that encompasses the octet’s orchestral swells on songs like “Blessed Be, Honey Bee,” and the delicate finger picking of “Usagi No Uta” off their newest release, Promenade, out this September.

The band is mainly Tomo Nakayama, formerly of Asahi and Jen Wood Trio. The rest of the lineup includes members from the Maldives, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Widower, and Voyager One. More than this, on their newest album they also had help from Heatwarmer (a band whose songs are such a mash-up of different styles that I continue to see them live just to figure out exactly what the hell I think of it, and have decided, I love it), Cory Gray, and Goh Nakamura.

Grand Hallway’s songs are melancholy, melodically Beatlesque simultaneously Japanese and European, at times sparse and at others dense, but they always hit home in a direct and charming way that brings a listener into the folds of what the Northwest music scene has to offer. Don’t miss them at 3:15 on the Northwest court, Monday of Bumbershoot.

Photo Essay: Loney, Dear with Headlights & Grand Hallway

Steve Louie — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:53:00 +0000

13 May 2009

loneydear_stevelouis.jpg

Grand Hallway is no stranger to the Seattle music scene having their album Yes is the Answer named as one of the top Northwest releases of 2007 on Three Imaginary's Girls Editor's picks. I received an inside tip to go the Crocodile early to catch them. I'm glad I did.

This eight piece orchestral group is fronted by Tomo Nakayama. They perform songs that can involve the entire band (various string arrangements, piano, accordion) or Tomo mostly himself singing quietly. You can hear both his soaring and hushed singing style on the song "Sirens". If you youtube the song or go to their Myspace, Tomo and Chris perform this song in a restroom at the Lake Wenatchee State Park. The recording captured the reverb really good.

Other notable songs they played were "Seward Park" and "Blessed Be, Honey Bee" (Grizzly bear's and honey bees can be in love). Definitely a friendly organic nature feel to their songs and just a love of simple things.

For those that are already looking forward to this year's summer festivals, they are scheduled to perform at Bumbershoot in September.

Headlights broke the "just-stand-there-not-even-close-to-the-stage" monotony in the crowd by telling them to come closer. The band was in jovial mood and while the crowd was inching their way closer, Erin called out "You guys put cream cheese on your hot dogs?!I Is it good?"

Apparently so judging by the crowd's reaction. The band joked about a duck committing suicide on the front of their tour van. Or was it they killed the duck? Who knows. Headlights played last month at the Nectar Lounge so their new songs are still somewhat fresh in my mind. This time around they played a good mix of the old and new and they sounded great. Really looking forward to their album coming out in August.

Loney, Dear. Gotta love the Swedish folk. They love to tell stories about their experiences on tour in America. Lead singer Emil Svanängen recalls his day spent visiting the Sub Pop offices (and being very appreciative of them) and walking around memorizing the street names near the Crocodile.

Emil has this funny innocent way of leading the crowd to sing aloud (and sing softly), mostly the "na na na na la la la la" parts of his songs (ie on "And I Won't Cause Anything At All").

It was close to an hour and half set which was a real treat even though the encore was a little drawn out or pausing between songs and talking to his bandmates in Swedish.

The performance he gave was a good mix of pop songs that ebb and flow in tempo and mood. It's definitey notable on songs on super high fast singing in "I am John", the dance beats of "Airport Surrounding" to the vocal harmonies of "Ignorant Boy".

Loney, Dear. Gotta love the Swedish folk. They love to tell stories about their experiences on tour in America. Lead singer Emil Svanängen recalls his day spent visiting the Sub Pop offices (and being very appreciative of them) and walking around memorizing the street names near the Crocodile.

Win tickets to see Hey Marseilles and Grand Hallway Thursday night

ChrisB — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:41:52 +0000

We have a pair of tickets to a lucky reader to see Hey Marseilles and Grand Hallway on Thursday - send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before noon on Thursday to enter.

The Maldives opening for Joe Biden on Sunday in Tacoma

ChrisB — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:33:22 +0000

It is scheduled to take place at Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers minor league baseball team at 2pm.

Grand Hallway added to Sasquatch lineup

imaginary dana — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:41:19 +0000

As if the lineup at Sasquatch 2008 could get any better, local Seattle dreamy orchestral band Grand Hallway have just announced that they're joining M.I.A., Death Cab, R.E.M., and about a zillion other fantastic bands at the Gorge this Memorial Day Weekend.

Grand Hallway covers Neil Young for new video

ChrisB — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:32:45 +0000

It's a cover of Neil Young's sound "Philadelphia", and like the rest of the album (Yes Is the Answer) it is a fragile thing of beauty.

TIG Best Northwest Releases of 2007: Editors' picks

three imaginary girls — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 05:21:26 +0000

We gathered our imaginary staff to determine our collective Northwest favorites for 2007. It was hard work. Imaginary battles were fought, alliances formed, and finally, winners emerged.

You should have seen the way that imaginary Liz can arm wrestle, and how Erik Gonzalez can duke it out for his favorite bands. It was fierce and fun, and we think our final list was well worth the effort.

Here they are: the TIG official editor picks for best Northwest releases of 2007. Enjoy!

#20 Grand Hallway Yes Is the Answer (Self-released)
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#19 Aqueduct Or Give Me Death (Barsuk)
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#18 Night Canopy Of Honey and Country (Go Midnight)
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#17 Team Gina Gina Gina Revolution (Self-released)
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#16 Arthur & Yu In Camera (Hardly Art)
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#15 Minus the Bear Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)
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#14 The Cops Free Electricity (The Control Group)
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#13 Ms Led Shake Yourself Awake (Fish the Cat)
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#12 The Femurs Modern Mexico (HomeSpun)
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#11 Patience Please Fleeting Frequencies (Happy Happy Birthday To Me)
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#10 Grand Archives Grand Archives (Self-released / Sub Pop)
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#9 Shake Some Action! Shake Some Action (Satellite 451)
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#8 Math & Physics Club Baby I'm Yours (Matinee)
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#7 Throw Me The Statue Moonbeams (Baskerville Hill)
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#6 Blue Scholars Bayani (MassLine Media, Rawkus)
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#5 Siberian With Me (Sonic Boom Recordings)
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#4 BOAT Let's Drag Our Feet (Magic Marker)
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#3 Menomena Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
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#2 Tullycraft Every Scene Needs a Center (Magic Marker)
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#1 Cave Singers Invitation Songs (Matador)
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Honorable mentions:

Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation (Lidkercow Ltd.)

Modest Mouse We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)

Schoolyard Heroes Abominations (Stolen Transmission)

The Shaky Hands The Shaky Hands (Holocene Music)

The Shins Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)

Bestof07-TIG_sm.jpg

We gathered our imaginary staff to determine our collective Northwest favorites for 2007. It was hard work. Imaginary battles were fought, alliances formed, and finally, winners emerged.

Best of 2007: Sero(tone)in's picks

serotonein — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:01:25 +0000

Every December I go through over 80 albums and try to codify them some way. Though it may take until after Christmas before my final top list (and mix cd) is ready, my favorite albums of the year are always fairly obvious to me by now. These are the ones that meant the most to me.

Top NW Albums

1) Grand Archives - s/t
2) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3) Menomena - Friend & Foe
4) Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs A Center
5) Shake Some Action - s/t
6) Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
7) The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs
8) Welcome - Sirs
9) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
10) Awesome - Beehive Sessions
11) Carolyn Mark - Nothing Is Free
12) Grand Hallway - Yes Is The Answer
13) The New Pornographers - Challengers
14) Ghost Stories - Quixoticism
15) The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

Overall Top 10 Albums of 2007

1) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
3) Emma Pollock - Watch The Fireworks
4) Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
5) Feist - The Reminder
6) Menomena - Friend & Foe
7) Blonde Redhead - 23
8) Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound
9) Apostle Of Hustle - National Anthem Of Nowhere
10) Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best of 2007: ChrisB's Top 10 Northwest releases

ChrisB — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:24:50 +0000

OK, the rain has let up a bit but I'm still not anxious to leave the apartment yet. Here's my 10 favorite local albums from 2007, complete with YouTube-y goodness - as best I could find it.

(I'm sure there'll be some continuity issues with the scores I've assigned - I wrote the reviews for four of the albums below. This is how I am ranking them at the end of the year.)

10. Fleeting Frequencies, Patience Please, Happy Happy Birthday to Me (song: "Bint"):

9. ...The Art of Becoming One's Own Shadow, Lillydale, Mt. Fuji (song: unknown, at least to me, but it was the only one I could find):

Tonight! A local show that should not be missed: Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies, PWRFL Power, Grand Hallway

ChrisB — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:35:04 +0000

While I do thoroughly enjoy both PWRFL Power and Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies, the band I'm most excited about is Grand Hallway.