Digital Leather, Pagan Athletes, Specter Poetics tonight at O’Leaver’s…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 10:38 am December 23, 2022
Digital Leather at O’Leaver’s, Sept. 19, 2015. The band returns to O’Leaver’s tonight for a very special Christmas performance.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As far as I can tell, tonight’s Scary Synthmas show at fabulous O’Leaver’s is still happening despite forecasts of windchills of -22 at showtime. Believe me, no matter the outdoor temperature, it’ll be red hot in The Club. 

The five-band bill is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. with sets by synth-powered acts Specter Poetics, Jeff in Leather, Pagan Athletes, Divider, and finally, Digital Leather. Much like the Reverb show last week, this show could “sell out.” Unfortunately, they’re only taking the $10 entry fee at the door (no ticket sales), so go early or risk getting shut out as I did at last week’s Filter Kings show. You have been warned.

Interestingly, Jack McLaughlin, a.k.a. Specter Poetics, is also playing a set tonight at The B. Bar, 4330 Leavenworth (next to Barrett’s). DJ Tyrone Storm (a.k.a., the legendary Roger Lewis) is also performing. 8 p.m., no cover price listed. 

And then it’s Christmas. An early head’s up about Monday’s Universe Contest show at Reverb. They’re actually selling tickets to this one, which, again, will very likely sell out. More on Monday. Have a great weekend and a Merry Christmas. 

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Mainstream weekend; new Digital Leather, Cursive reissues ‘Domestica’…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 1:06 pm July 25, 2022
Sheryl Crow at Omaha’s Memorial Park, July 22, 2022.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was a sort of mainstream music weekend, with Sheryl Crow in the park, Lovett/Isaak at the Holland and Greta Van Fleet at CHI.

I strolled up to Memorial Park for part of Crow’s set, and she sounded fine. I like Sheryl Crow but her music is a bit too middle of the road for my liking. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, at least the folks closest to the stage. I caught the back end of the set from my backyard, where it was clearly audible. 

So, a boring weekend, but next weekend is Maha…

. 0 0 0 .

Couple releases worth checking out:

Digital Leather dropped a new 8-song album last week called Tales from the King. There’s not a heckuva lot of info about it at the band’s Bandcamp page, and it looks like it’s digital-only (no vinyl). The collection is more of the electronic post punk you’re familiar with, but Shawn Foree — the man behind the madness — goes out pm a limb on a few numbers, including the poppy “Thistle and Thorn” and the keyboard-driven “Friend of Failure.” Every DL album is worth checking out and this one is no exception.

On a more nostalgic note, Cursive announced their label, 15 Passenger, is releasing a special anniversary edition of Domestica that includes a 7-inch of four songs by Braces, Tim Kasher and Clint Schnase’s short-loved pre-Cursive band that included bassist Kim Heiman (Kasher’s ex). As for Domestica, it’s been remastered and available again on vinyl, dropping Sept. 9. Want one? You’ll have to buy the bundle because it looks like the stand-alone vinyl is already sold out, pre-order here.

Part of the the reissue’s fun was reshooting the album art with the same models – who have aged gracefully. 

Domestica 2000 vs. 2022. Looking good!

Here’s hoping Cursive does a special Domestica concert here in Omaha with the band Domestica opening!

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Digital Leather, Liily tonight; Bright Eyes weekend (at The Admiral); O’Leaver’s “secret” show, Mike Schlesinger Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 2:42 pm July 1, 2022
Bright Eyes at Westfair Amphitheater, June 4, 2011. The band plays at The Admiral Saturday and Sunday nights.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The long wait is over this Saturday as The Admiral — f.k.a. Sokol Auditorium — finally opens its doors, and for Bright Eyes no less. This, after months of “construction delays” have forced at least a dozen shows to be rescheduled or moved to other venues. I have to believe the 1% guys (and the Mammoth folks and other investors) are relieved to finally be open for business.

So, strange story about Saturday night’s Bright Eyes show — earlier this week I announced that it was sold out, because it was marked “sold out” on the 1% website and on the etix site. Then suddenly a day or so ago, it’s no longer sold out. No idea what the deal was.

I also noticed that both Saturday and Sunday nights are “Masks required unless eating or drinking” shows, as well as No Vax No Entry. Maybe it was on there before and I didn’t notice it. So if you’re going this weekend, be vaxed or get tested and be able to prove it, and bring your mask (though for the life of me, I have no idea how they’ll enforce the mask mandate — just wear one anyway). Tickets are $45 or $75 for “Premiere Balcony” seats. I’m told the balcony is completely renovated, and the original plans were to have a separate bar in the balcony. Hurray for the Riff Raff kicks things off at 8 p.m.

OK, so what about tonight (Friday)?

Digital Leather is playing tonight at The Sydney as part of Drag Night at The Sydney. There’s two listings for this show — one says it’s an amateur drag night (Hit ‘em w/yr catwalk), and the other is DL’s listing (+ drag night), which says they go on at 11. $5. Grab your wig and heels and come on down.

Also tonight, the Slowdown is back at it after harvesting (millions?) of CWS dollars the past couple weekends. Well, the tents are gone and the bands are back. Tonight it’s LA alt-rock band Liily with Catcher and our very own Infinite Video. $18, 8 p.m.

Over at The Berkley, 1901 Leavenworth St., new local four-piece Indian Caves (Dan Krueger, Joe Ranne, Kyle Moeller and Leslie Wells) headlines tonight with Saltwater Sanctuary and ol’ favorites Midwest Dilemma (acoustic). $5. 8 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) there’s a sort of “secret show” at fabulous O’Leaver’s. The listing says Secret Serenade w/Cookie Mug. No idea who these bands really are, but the show is free so the only thing you’re risking is your time. Plus, it’s nearly impossible to have anything but a good time at O’Leaver’s. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Finally, Pageturners Lounge is hosing a folk-poet quartet called The Snarlin Yarns Saturday night. Opening is one of Omaha’s best kept music secrets, Mike Schlesinger. This is a free show and it starts at 8 p.m.

And that’s all I got for this long July 4 weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a bang-up time.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Compactor, new Shawn Foree (Digital Leather) project tonight at The Sydney…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 12:50 pm June 13, 2022

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

After a long weekend of shows, the Sydney in Benson keeps the hits coming. Tonight at the Sydney, Industrial noise act Compactor headlines. Their description via Bandcamp:

COMPACTOR is comprised of mostly obsolete machinery, manipulated by an anonymous figure known as The Worker for the Waste MGT corporation. The sounds of the machinery form soundtracks to the daily grind in the urban wasteland. Each Audio Work Document has a different subject and corresponding sonic focus, often some aspect of work and/or technology.”  

Opening tonight’s show is Lil Vo1d, a new project by Shawn Foree of Digital Leather. No idea what this entails, but if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably another one-man electronic project . FLT RTH also is on the bill.

$10, 9 p.m.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Live Review: Digital Leather at The Sydney…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , — @ 12:51 pm June 28, 2021
Digital Leather at The Sydney, June 26, 2021.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It felt like old times at The Sydney Saturday night when Digital Leather played a split set to a crowd of around 40 unmasked revelers.

This might be the biggest DL ensemble I’ve seen on stage — six people including frontman Shawn Foree, who for the first time in memory, fronted as a vocalist — not behind a keyboard, not with a guitar slung around his neck — just straight-up Sinatra-style crooner in front of five folks crowded behind guitars and technology.

The line-up: long-time DL drummer Jeff Lambelet, Blake Kostszewa on synths, newcomer (though old acquaintance of the band) Bobby Hussy on guitar, Erica Van Engen on synths and Bright Eyes collaborator MiWi La Lupa on bass.

Foree played a few songs off DL’s most recent album, New Wave Gold, including a unique version of stand-out track “Compass” that saw Foree pass the mic to Kostszewa to handle lead vocals while Foree took his place behind the synths for this one song. Great idea, except Kostszewa started out a bit too tentative on a song that demands voice-of-doom vox. He got his footing by the second verse.

The addition of Hussy was a welcome one. Hussy brings an aggressive guitar style to a project that in recent years shifted back to its synth-focused origins. His guitar work blazed through the artificial smoke, adding a new, brighter color to Foree’s usual dark palette.

The majority of the set was dedicated to trying out new material, much of which took the band in different directions. The performance was split as Hussy broke a guitar string halfway through the set. The band took a 30-minute break while he restrung, and then played five more songs to a crowd half the size.

As I mentioned, the audience at Sydney was maskless, one hopes because all had been vaccinated. It did, indeed, feel like a pre-COVID (or, I guess now, post-COVID) show, a reminder of how things once were and hopefully will be again. Things will heat up again Friday night at The Sydney when Little Brazil returns in honor of BFF with Living Conditions and Sean Paul. See you there.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2021 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Digital Leather (sort of belated) album release show Saturday at The Sydney…

Category: Blog,Interviews — Tags: , , — @ 1:01 pm June 25, 2021
Shawn Foree of Digital Leather. Photo by Ben Vanhoolandt.

It feels like the following story on Digital Leather, published in The Reader last August during the height of the pandemic, was written 10 years ago. Some of Shawn Foree’s predictions about post-COVID gigging came true — some clubs did close permanently, some bands did break up for good. But the one about new regulations post-COVID seems to be a miss. More and more, it’s beginning to feel like the pandemic never happened.

That said, we’re still not “fully back” in Omaha, and the live music calendar reflects that. Touring is only now just getting off the ground again, and a lot of local bands are still getting back in performance-shape and aren’t ready to return to the stage.

That said, it’s good to see Digital Leather is playing Saturday night at The Sydney. I have no idea who will be in Foree’s band for this gig or if he’ll be playing songs from his most recent release, New Wave Gold (No Coast, 2020). So much time has passed, Foree has likely already shelved those songs for new material, he’s such a fast (and prolific) song writer.

For those of you who missed it, here’s that Digital Leather article again, written in support of the new album, released when we were all hidden in our bunkers. DJ WAffLEZ also is on Saturday night’s bill at The Sydney. Show starts at 9 p.m., tickets are $10. It’s the only show I have on my calendar this weekend.

Digital Leather in the Days of COVID
The Omaha electro-punk act celebrates 20 years with its 24th album.

Aug. 13, 2020 — Prior to the interview for this column, the last time I spoke with Shawn Foree, the mastermind behind the musical project Digital Leather, was a couple years ago. It was late in the evening standing outside the patio door at mid-town punk club O’Leaver’s, no doubt killing time between live sets from a couple local garage bands we both knew.

Foree, who looked like an unholy cross between Jim Morrison and Deliverance-era Burt Reynolds, told me he was about to hang it up as far as Digital Leather was concerned. He’d just turned 40 and was tired of banging his head against the music industry wall, trying to get someone to notice what he was doing. And it sure didn’t look like things would ever change.

The conversation bummed me out, because Foree / Digital Leather was and is my favorite Omaha-based music project. The only person more frustrated by his music never receiving the attention it deserved was me. Digital Leather music is the perfect amalgamation of modern songwriting, instrumentation and vintage digital sounds. The product is highly addictive, darkly worded 21st Century synth-punk that can stand alongside music by acts like Gary Numan, Psychic TV and The Faint.

As it turned out, Foree was just in a bad mood that night at O’Leaver’s. “Don’t believe me when I say I’ve given up,” he said over the phone July 21. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again.”

In fact, only a few months after that announced retirement, Digital Leather recorded and released a new album, followed by another and another.

And now comes New Wave Gold, out Sept. 15 on Madison, Wisconsin, label No Coast Records (Thee Oh Sees, Red Mass, The Hussy). The 16-track collection is the 24th full-length album (in addition to 13 EPs and singles) released by Digital Leather over the 20 years Foree has made music under that moniker.

Digital Leather fans will be happy to know New Wave Gold is the most cohesive, pop-fueled collection Foree has released since 2009’s Warm Brother (Fat Possum Records). He recorded and mixed the album in his apartment studio with contributions by drummer Jeff Lambelet and mastering by sound engineer Ian Aeillo.

The album opens with the first COVID-19 quarantine-inspired song I’ve heard, “Dark Ages,” which closes with the lines: “Don’t you go and worry about me, baby / You got better things to think about, I’m sure / Honey, don’t you know these are the Dark Ages / Disease is in the air, and it’s pure.”

Foree is the only person I’ve talked to who’s tested positive for COVID-19. “I tested positive a month and a half ago,” he said. “I was asymptomatic. It was a little freaky. I wasn’t sure if I was going to become sick, but fortunately, I was OK, maybe a little tired. I tested again a couple weeks after, and it came back negative.”

His day job doing environmental testing, which he’s kept throughout the pandemic, takes him all over the country. “I was floating around South Dakota, Missouri, all around red states, so it could have come from anywhere,” he said. “It was a positive test, but none of my friends had it, just me. So I don’t know if I really had it.”

With COVID-19 shutting down music venues and making touring impossible, it’s a strange time to release a new album. Foree, who has released more than an album a year on average, didn’t want to wait around for the world to reopen. “The record was done,” he said. “I showed it to Bobby (Hussy), who runs the record label, and we just said fuck it and put it out so I can move on to new material.”

To help market the release, Foree is working with national publicist Grandstand Media, whose massive client roster includes acts like Tame Impala, Waxahatchee, Soccer Mommy, Bright Eyes and Kim Gordon, to name a few. “It’s totally new ground for me, selling records without playing live,” Foree said. “If we can make our money back, that would be fine. Making a profit is not on my or the label’s to do list.”

Foree also is the first musician I’ve interviewed since COVID-19 began. The pandemic has had a huge impact on his music world. “All my friends want to play shows and are depressed, because it’s not only their livelihood, it’s part of their sanity. It’s part of who they are,” he said. “I have friends who were about to release records, go on tour, go to Europe, and now it’s all TBD. I think everyone is pretty fucking depressed about it.”

Even after the pandemic is under control, he said things won’t be the same. “There will be all kinds of new regulations; it’ll be weird,” Foree said. “A lot of people won’t want to go out to shows. Venues might close. How are they going to support themselves if they can’t do business? The same goes for musicians who live off their music.”
Foree isn’t one of those, not anymore. He’s managed to find a balance between making a living and making music, and has accepted the fact that, despite having toured the country and releasing albums on a dozen different record labels, he may never make it to “the next level.”

“Part of me is frustrated that I don’t have a larger audience, but I’m also kind of glad things are the way they are,” he said. “I see the silver lining. I have freedom to do what I want. You’re supposed to give it up at 30 and get a real job once you realize there’s no money in it. Well, I have a real job and can still do it, so fuck them all.”

First published in The Reader, September 2020. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

KC’s Black Site Records to release new No Thanks album; more new Digital Leather…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 12:01 pm September 3, 2020
No Thanks’s new album, Submerger, comes out on Halloween on Black Site Records.

Self-proclaimed Omaha “goth punk” band No Thanks yesterday announced the Oct. 31 release of their sophomore album, Submerger, on Kansas City label Black Site Records.

The album was recorded by See Through Dresses’ Matt Carrol in his Little Machine Studios. From the press release: “The band’s first release on vinyl is a ten-song blast of stripped down, honest rock and roll that combines proletarian ethics with blood, bats and ripped black mesh to create a fearsome sound with a looming menace that aptly captures the stark reality of our hellscape era.

Fierce! The band consists of bassist Cam Stout, drummer Gabe Cohen, guitarist Michael Huber and one of the most entertaining — if not flamboyant — frontmen in Omaha, Castro Turf. The band throws around the “goth” term a lot these days no doubt in part because of Mr. Turf’s stage craft, which looks influenced by Cramps’ legend The Cramps’ Lux Interior. This is one of my favorite local bands to see live, preferably smashed into a crowd at O’Leaver’s or The Brothers Lounge.

So who is Black Site? According to the release, it’s “a record label cooperative created by Kansas City musicians interested in supporting regional punk and rock bands (releasing) their recordings on a physical medium.” The label’s roster includes Red Kate, Stiff Middle Fingers, Truck Stop Love (who remembers the ’90s?) and Libations, among others.

Check out the the track below and pre-order here via Bandcamp.


.

* * *

Also yesterday, Digital Leather released the third track from the project’s upcoming full-length release, New Wave Gold, out Sept. 15 on No Coast Recordings. Frontman / project mastermind Shawn Foree said the track, “Sinking Ship,” is “about how fucked the world is, and how we are all going to die in the worst way possible soon. There is nothing we can do. It’s far too late. Plus, it’s got a beat and you can dance to it.” 

Very nice. You can order the record from bandcamp, here: https://nocoastrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/new-wave-gold

For those of you who missed the article/interview with Mr. Foree in the August issue of The Reader, here’s the story in its entirety. I like to post these on Lazy-i just so’s I have a digital copy if/when The Reader goes belly up…

Digital Leather in the Days of COVID
The Omaha electro-punk act celebrates 20 years with its 24th album.

Prior to the interview for this column, the last time I spoke with Shawn Foree, the mastermind behind the musical project Digital Leather, was a couple years ago. It was late in the evening standing outside the patio door at mid-town punk club O’Leaver’s, no doubt killing time between live sets from a couple local garage bands we both knew.

Foree, who looked like an unholy cross between Jim Morrison and Deliverance-era Burt Reynolds, told me he was about to hang it up as far as Digital Leather was concerned. He’d just turned 40 and was tired of banging his head against the music industry wall, trying to get someone to notice what he was doing. And it sure didn’t look like things would ever change.
:
The conversation bummed me out, because Foree / Digital Leather was and is my favorite Omaha-based music project. The only person more frustrated by his music never receiving the attention it deserved was me. Digital Leather music is the perfect amalgamation of modern songwriting, instrumentation and vintage digital sounds. The product is highly addictive, darkly worded 21st Century synth-punk that can stand alongside music by acts like Gary Numan, Psychic TV and The Faint.

As it turned out, Foree was just in a bad mood that night at O’Leaver’s. “Don’t believe me when I say I’ve given up,” he said over the phone July 21. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again.”

In fact, only a few months after that announced retirement, Digital Leather recorded and released a new album, followed by another and another.

And now comes New Wave Gold, out Sept. 15 on Madison, Wisconsin, label No Coast Records (Thee Oh Sees, Red Mass, The Hussy). The 16-track collection is the 24th full-length album (in addition to 13 EPs and singles) released by Digital Leather over the 20 years Foree has made music under that moniker.

Digital Leather fans will be happy to know New Wave Gold is the most cohesive, pop-fueled collection Foree has released since 2009’s Warm Brother (Fat Possum Records). He recorded and mixed the album in his apartment studio with contributions by drummer Jeff Lambelet and mastering by sound engineer Ian Aeillo.

The album opens with the first COVID-19 quarantine-inspired song I’ve heard, “Dark Ages,” which closes with the lines: “Don’t you go and worry about me, baby / You got better things to think about, I’m sure / Honey, don’t you know these are the Dark Ages / Disease is in the air, and it’s pure.”

Foree is the only person I’ve talked to who’s tested positive for COVID-19. “I tested positive a month and a half ago,” he said. “I was asymptomatic. It was a little freaky. I wasn’t sure if I was going to become sick, but fortunately, I was OK, maybe a little tired. I tested again a couple weeks after, and it came back negative.”

His day job doing environmental testing, which he’s kept throughout the pandemic, takes him all over the country. “I was floating around South Dakota, Missouri, all around red states, so it could have come from anywhere,” he said. “It was a positive test, but none of my friends had it, just me. So I don’t know if I really had it.”

With COVID-19 shutting down music venues and making touring impossible, it’s a strange time to release a new album. Foree, who has released more than an album a year on average, didn’t want to wait around for the world to reopen. “The record was done,” he said. “I showed it to Bobby (Hussy), who runs the record label, and we just said fuck it and put it out so I can move on to new material.”

To help market the release, Foree is working with national publicist Grandstand Media, whose massive client roster includes acts like Tame Impala, Waxahatchee, Soccer Mommy, Bright Eyes and Kim Gordon, to name a few. “It’s totally new ground for me, selling records without playing live,” Foree said. “If we can make our money back, that would be fine. Making a profit is not on my or the label’s to do list.”

Foree also is the first musician I’ve interviewed since COVID-19 began. The pandemic has had a huge impact on his music world. “All my friends want to play shows and are depressed, because it’s not only their livelihood, it’s part of their sanity. It’s part of who they are,” he said. “I have friends who were about to release records, go on tour, go to Europe, and now it’s all TBD. I think everyone is pretty fucking depressed about it.”

Even after the pandemic is under control, he said things won’t be the same. “There will be all kinds of new regulations; it’ll be weird,” Foree said. “A lot of people won’t want to go out to shows. Venues might close. How are they going to support themselves if they can’t do business? The same goes for musicians who live off their music.”

Foree isn’t one of those, not anymore. He’s managed to find a balance between making a living and making music, and has accepted the fact that, despite having toured the country and releasing albums on a dozen different record labels, he may never make it to “the next level.”

“Part of me is frustrated that I don’t have a larger audience, but I’m also kind of glad things are the way they are,” he said. “I see the silver lining. I have freedom to do what I want. You’re supposed to give it up at 30 and get a real job once you realize there’s no money in it. Well, I have a real job and can still do it, so fuck them all.”

First published in The Reader, September 2020. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Shawn Foree (Digital Leather) interview (in The Reader), second DL single drops…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 12:58 pm August 13, 2020
A still from the “King of Idiots,” the new single/video by Digital Leather.

I picked up the August issue of The Reader while I was also picking up a pizza last night at La Casa. This month’s Over the Edge column is an interview / story with Shawn Foree of Digital Leather, where he talks about his new album, New Wave Gold (out next month on No Coast Records) and life during the pandemic (and testing positive for COVID-19), among other things.

Foree’s new album is my favorite since 2009’s Warm Brother (Fat Possum Records) and has a similar detailed feel to the recording, which you can get a gander at by listening to the second single, whose video dropped yesterday — that is if it’s still online. The first video was yanked by YouTube copy write police a few days after it went online, presumably due to the stolen footage used (and there appears to be plenty in this new video as well).

Anyway, read the story in the printed version of The Reader (People do still read printed stuff, don’t they?) or go to the online version right here.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Lots o’ Leather: Benny Leather, Digital Leather announce fall releases…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 1:02 pm July 17, 2020
Digital Leather’s Shawn Foree enjoys a cold beverage in what looks like either a market in Bangkok or a taco stand in Tekamah, NE.

The last time we heard from Benny Leather was last fall when the mysterious digital-fueled punk act with links to Omaha and Antwerp released a couple singles destined for a full-length release later that year that never materialized. Well, the wait is over.

Temporary Insanity, an 8-song LP, is slated for release Oct. 1 on Philly label FDH Records, though you can pre-order it now right here (the full digital release drops Oct. 1 while the vinyl release won’t ship until last December).

Recorded in bedrooms and basements in Portland, Omaha, Bentonville, OR, Raleigh/Durham, NC, and Phuket and Krabi Southern Thailand between 2018 and 2020, the album was mixed by Omaha’s Benny Leather and Antwerp’s Modus Ponens, and features guest vocals from Modern Love’s Chandra Moskowitz (yes, the world famous chef!), and Thick Paint’s Sarah Bohling.

The album was mastered by sound engineer/genius Ian Aeillo at ADSR (A Dark Sun Room) studios.

Says Mr. Leather: All non vocal instrumentation created from scratch on the following analog synthesizers:
Moog Spectravox Vocoder hand built by Benny Leather at MoogFest 2019 (Raleigh/Durham, NC)
— Moog Sub Phatty (a personal gift from Digital Leather’s Shawn Foree and Todd Fink back in 2014)
— ARP Odyssey
— Sequential (fka DSI) Prophet Rev 2
— DSI Tempest analog drum machine (all drums/percussion made from scratch from raw white, pink and green noise signals processed through various analog filters, VCAs, envelopes and augmented by pitched analog oscillators).
— Reverb/delays: Earthquaker Devices Avalanche Run

Got all that?

Check out the first two singles below and order it post haste.

* * *

Also announced this week: Digital Leather’s new 18-track LP, New Wave Gold, will drop Sept. 15 on No Coast Records. Digital Leather is Shawn Foree, who’s been creating some of the country’s most intriguing modern rock under the Digital Leather moniker for 20 years.

From the press release:

Recorded in Foree’s apartment in Nebraska over the last couple of years, during which time Shawn also travelled the country doing environmental work, New Wave Gold is its own genre; something uniquely wonderful. Lyrically, each song is crafted of deceivingly simple lines, but the words soon reveal their true identities: culprits to a dazzlingly moody manifesto. It’s a mid-life crisis and a global crisis smashed together and thrown onto tape. Scattered with analog synths, acoustic guitars and a fully operational DIY approach, New Wave Gold is also reminiscent of work from groups like Sebadoh and Psychic TV.”

Check out the video for first single, “A Cut Above,” directed by Mat Badura. You can pre-order the vinyl or CD right here from the No Coast Bandcamp page.

https://youtu.be/Wrcgwf_R_EQ

Looks like the video got pulled by YouTube! Methinks someone didn’t get permission to use those vintage film clips. Well, here’s the track at bandcamp:

That’s all for now. Have a great weekend.

* * *

Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Digital Leather, Universe Contest, BFF, Kamasi Washington tonight; Black Lips, Las Cruxes Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 1:46 pm March 6, 2020

Digital Leather at The Sydney, Sept. 6, 2019. The band returns to The Sydney tonight for #BFF.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s a surprisingly busy weekend musicwise.

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson, Digital Leather headlines the monthly Benson First Friday program. Find out what Shawn Foree and Co. have been up to. Joining them are Universe Contest and DJ Wafflez. Featured art artist is Finn Bainbridge. 10 p.m., $5.

Since you’re in Benson anyway, might as well drop over to The Little Gallery, 5901 Maple St. (the east bay of the Masonic Lodge storefronts) where we’re featuring the art of John Stillmunks for an opening that runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Come by and say hi! I’ll be there sometime after 7 p.m., likely with beer in hand.

If it weren’t for Benson First Friday I’d be down at The Slowdown tonight for the big Kamasi Washington concert. His 2015 album The Epic is a modern jazz odyssey. Tickets are still available for $35. Mesonjixx opens at 8 p.m.

There’s also a Guster show going on tonight at Scottish Rite Hall, but it’s SOLD OUT. By the way it’s “an evening of acoustic music and improv,” whatever that means (but it can’t be good). Starts at 8 p.m.

The red hot show tomorrow night (Saturday) is veteran garage punk band Black Lips at Slowdown Jr. I’m kind of surprised this one hasn’t sold out yet. Joining them are Poppy Jean Crawford and Omaha’s And How. 8 p.m., $20.

Maybe it’s not sold out because everyone is planning on seeing Omaha’s favorite Spanish-language punk band Las Cruxes at The Brothers Lounge. Joining them are I Hear Thud and Mere Shadows. BTW, this is a Burger Revolution show! $5, 10 p.m.

Then suddenly it’s Sunday…

Everyone’s favorite wandering poet / retired musician Kyle Harvey will be in town at the Omaha Film Festival Sunday afternoon for the screening of his documentary It’s Nice to be With You Always: A Film about Neeli Cherkovski. The film screens at 12:15 p.m. at Aksarben Cinema #6, with a soundtrack that includes music from our old friend Jake Bellows and Neva Dinova. For more information, go to omahafilmfestival.org

Also Sunday, the folks in Relax, It’s Science are hosting a listening party for their new album Now It’s Your Problem at Hi Fi House. Drinks start at 4 p.m. followed by listening at 5 and Q&A at 5:45. And it’s free!

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend and WASH YOUR HANDS!

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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