Live Review: Matthew Sweet; Yo La Tengo tonight at The Waiting Room…

Category: Reviews — Tags: , — @ 8:15 am February 19, 2024

Matthew Sweet at The Waiting Room, Feb. 17, 2024.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

If it wasn’t a sell-out, it was dang close, as The Waiting Room was crazy-packed Saturday night for Matthew Sweet. Just moving around in the crowd was a challenge – a crowd that consisted of people in their 40s and 50s (and older), big people, mostly dudes, many carrying two drinks at a time because they didn’t want to deal with the bar situation. I didn’t even try to get my usual Rolling Rock, knowing I would never get it in time.

Instead, with no clear path in sight, I pushed my way through the cushion-like mass of humanity toward my usual perch at stage left, only to find that the bar had set up a four-top table in that small niche on the other side of the bathrooms, making things that much more crowded. At the table, two post-middle-aged couples dressed as if attending an awards program chatted and laughed in what was probably a rare night out for them. They didn’t seem bothered that tall people stood right next to their table, blocking their view. 

Sweet and his band took the stage a little after 9 p.m. Wearing a Greek sailor’s hat and mustache, he looked like a younger version of George R.R. Martin, a guitar slung over his shoulder, with wee lead guitarist John Moremen to his right, Velvet Crush bassist Paul Chastain on his left, young guy Adrian Carter between them on acoustic guitar and legendary Bangles drummer Debbi Peterson glowing perched behind her drum set. 

With no fanfare they tore right into opening song “The Ugly Truth” and kept on playing the hits, mostly songs off Girlfriend and Altered Beast, with newer song “Pretty Please” from the Tomorrow Forever thrown in for good measure. Sweet was in great voice and the band was tight.

It was right after playing “Winona” that things took a bit of a turn. Sweet launched into what felt like a 20-minute story that covered everything from Valentine’s Day to his second career making cat art (bronzes, now paintings) to his new tattoo to his love for the film MIdsommer to ideas for his next album and on and on – a speech that seemed even longer for me having already heard most of it a few weeks earlier during our interview. Sweet knew he was going on too long because he said so a few times during the monologue while his band wandered about adjusting their instruments, this wasn’t the first time they’ve heard these stories, either. 

I like stage patter as much as the next guy, and even feel offended when a band rifles through a set without acknowledging the audience standing right in front of them, but this massively long monologue killed the momentum the band had built up to that point in the evening, and felt like it would never stop. 

But it finally did stop and the band tore right back into their performance with “Devil with the Green Eyes” and continued for seven or more songs, ending their set with favorite “Evangeline,” wherein Sweet closed the song standing alone on stage with his back to the audience creating feedback with his guitar and pedals. I could hear him start to explain what he was doing as I left the Waiting Room, missing an encore that no doubt included “Girlfriend” and “Sick of Myself,” which he’s been playing as encores throughout this mini tour. 

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The Waiting Room has another terrific show queued up tonight – Yo La Tengo. This show was rescheduled from last fall to allow Georgia Hubley to recover from knee surgery. Promoted as “An Evening with Yo La Tengo,” expect to hear two sets filled with songs from throughout their career followed by an encore. The band played 22 songs at their Fort Collins show this past Saturday (the set list is here).  Good thing there’s no opener. 8 p.m. start time and $35. How will it do on a Monday night? 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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David Nance & Mowed Sound tonight (album reviews); Matthew Sweet Saturday…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , — @ 8:33 am February 16, 2024
David Nance and Mosed sound play at their LP release party tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ironically, the last band I saw in 2023 will be the first band I see in 2024. David Nance & Mowed Sound host their LP release show tonight at Reverb Lounge. The self-titled debut on Jack White’s Third Man Records came out two weeks ago. I mentioned the Pitchfork review already. But since then Allmusic, Paste and Spectrum Culture have also weighed in.

Allmusic gave the album a 4-star rating and concluded with: “It’s anyone’s guess if David Nance & Mowed Sound represents a new direction for the frontman or just a detour on the way back to wilder things, but if his goal was to show he had some cards up his sleeve we hadn’t seen before, he succeeds brilliantly.” 

Paste rated the album 8.0 – “The Nebraska musician’s latest shoulders rock music into new phenomena while remaining achingly indebted to its capacity for magic and freedom.”

Spectrum Culture gave the record a 79% rating (almost four stars) — “A surprisingly tight set of gently pan-fried country-tinged numbers from Omaha’s finest DIY rockers still contains plenty of good old American weirdness.”

High marks, almost “critical darling” territory. Heck even Matador Records co-founder Gerard Cosloy mentioned the record in on his Can’t Stop the Bleeding twitter account with this comment: “alright.  for the price of a lawn GA ticket to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse, you could instead purchase David Nance’s ‘Mowed Sound” AND Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band’s ‘Dancing On The Edge’ and you’d still have enough left over (for a downpayment on parking to see Neil Young)

My review? 

David Nance & Mowed Sound, self-titled (Third Man Records) – This is throttled down David Nance. Restraining his usually blewsy, rough-hewn psych/garage rock, brings forth a rootsy, folk rock style more interested in songcraft than in blowing your head off, and that’s not a bad thing. And while there’s a hint of twang, as Nance says this ain’t no country album, and it ain’t. This is an old-fashioned record that should be purchased on vinyl, enjoyed one side at a time, preferably on a sun-drenched weekend afternoon.  So yeah, I dig it. I’d dig it even more if he’d amped up these songs with harder riffs and longer solos, like in his good old days. Rating: Yes.

Maybe we’ll get the harder versions of these songs tonight at Reverb Lounge. Pagan Athletes opens at 8 p.m. $15. Methinks this one could sell out.

Tomorrow night, Matthew Sweet returns to the Waiting Room Stage. I wrote about Sweet and this show yesterday, if you missed it. Mobile, Alabama-based twangin’ singer/songwriter Abe Partridge opens at 8 p.m. $25.

And that is all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Lazy-i Interview: The Return of Matthew Sweet @ The Waiting Room this Saturday…

Category: Blog,Interviews — Tags: — @ 8:43 am February 15, 2024

Matthew Sweet plays at The Waiting Room Saturday night. Photo by Evan Carter.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When people talk about successful bands from Omaha, they immediately think of Bright Eyes or (more likely) 311 – a band that moved to California just before they hit it big. But one of the most successful Nebraska musicians from the ’90s (and today) still lives right here in Omaha. 

Born and raised in Lincoln, Matthew Sweet had one of the biggest hits of the early ’90s with his gem-filled power-pop collection Girlfriend (1991, Zoo Records) that boasted infectious singles like the title track, “I’ve Been Waiting,” “Evangeline” and “Divine Intervention.” The album became an international indie favorite.

It would be followed by Alterer Beast in ’93, 100% Fun in ’95 and the critical obscurity Kimi Ga Suki in 2003. In his heyday, when he wasn’t touring Sweet lived in Los Angeles. 

But as he said in an interview last month, after 20 years in La La Land Sweet moved back to Nebraska — and Omaha — 10 years ago. In fact, I once bumped into him at a Thai restaurant in Aksarben Village, whispering to my wife over my Tom Ka Chicken, “Pssst… look over there, eating those noodles, it’s Matthew Sweet.”

“It’s amazing that there still are people who recognize me, because I feel like a relic of a bygone era,” Sweet said. “But hey, we’re going out touring again. I’m finally getting out after Covid, and it’s been a long time.”

Four years, to be precise. Sweet said a health issue made him very afraid to go out in public during the pandemic, not only for himself, but also knowing so many bands that announced tours only to cancel them when a band member came down with Covid. 

“And then over the last year, I’ve really gotten myself together on my health and solved some problems — some breathing things I had — that had made it a big danger for me getting Covid,” Sweet said.

His first performance outing was at the fabeled 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida in early January. 

“I was very, very freaked out and horrified to have to sing and play at all,” Sweet said, adding that he’d only performed a few times online during the pandemic years, “but not really in a venue with real mics and PA. I was able to play a whole hour-long set with the backup of a couple of friends, and my voice worked surprisingly well.”

For this mini-tour that includes the performance this Saturday, Feb. 17, at The Waiting Room, Sweet has pulled together a band that includes him on rhythm guitar, John Moremen (who played on 2017’s Tomorrow Forever album) on lead guitar, Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush on bass and drummer Debbi Peterson from The Bangles. 

“Debbie’s a good friend of mine from Los Angeles,” Sweet said. “She came out here in 2016 or 17 to play drums on Tomorrow Forever, and I’ve recorded the Bangles at my house in Los Angeles. She’s a really good drummer.” Since this interview, Adrian Carter has been added to the band on 6- and 12-string acoustic. 

Sweet said the show’s set list will consist mostly of fan favorites. “Honestly, I’ve never been the sort of artist who has to force new stuff on people, even when they want to hear other things,” he said. “It’s great to see the reaction from people hearing the songs they remember and care about.”

That said, Sweet just released a new album – Live in Grant Park Chicacgo July 1993. The 17-song collection includes favorites from Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, performed live backed by a band that included Richard Lloyd (Television) on lead guitar, Will Rigby (the dB’s) on drums and Tony Marsico (Cruzados) on bass. 

In addition, Sweet is in the early stages of writing his next album, which has a project title Midsommar, a name he “swiped” from one of his favorite recent movies. “I really like that title,” Sweet said. “I’m having the ideas for the songs musically. I’m having tons of lyric ideas and all of it’s starting to come kind of in advance of making the album.”

For Sweet, songwriting inspiration comes from every angle and every medium – film, art and music. When he isn’t making music, he can be found making art, including his lovable cat images that are taking the world by storm.

“I was never good when a label wanted (me to write) a single,” Sweet said. “If anything, as I’ve gotten older, I feel more like an artist because it helps me to think about what I do and who I am. It’s more about doing the art than about whether someone cares at this point. I turned 59 in the fall. I’m sort of at a place where I kind of feel like I can be doing my little things whether I’m making a living or not. And I think that’s what it means to be an artist.”

Matthew Sweet plays with Abe Partridge Feb. 17 at The Waiting Room. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 Adv./$25 DOS. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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T’was the week before Christmas; Matthew Sweet, Big Thief news…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 8:41 am December 18, 2023

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It looks to be a very quiet week in terms of rock shows.  I’ll be posting the Lazy-i Year in Review later this week and the predictions for 2024 the following week, so look for them. In year’s past, they would have been published in The Reader, but, alas, The Reader is no more. A small group of former Reader writers/editors got together last Saturday night at The Admiral to send it off in style. What, if anything, will take its place in terms of arts and entertainment coverage for the Omaha area? 

From the in-box…

  • – Omahan Matthew Sweet (or at least I think he still lives here, he’s actually a Lincoln native who spent years in the East Coast but somehow ended up back in Omaha a few years ago), announced his first live concert dates in four years with a mini tour of the Midwest in February 2024, that includes Feb. 17 at The Waiting Room. The dates seem to support the release of a live album recorded at a 1993 concert at Chicago’s Grant’s Park. Strangely, the press release doesn’t say when that album will be released.  Tickets on sale now.
  • – Former Saddle Creek Records act Big Thief announced last week that they’re rereleasing their 2016 debut Masterpiece on 4AD Records in a remastered format. The album was a ground-breaker for the band and a real feather in Saddle Creek’s cap when it came out, but it appears the album’s rights have reverted back to the band and they’ve chosen to rerelease it at their new home. In fact, if you go to the Saddle Creek website you’ll notice the album is no longer available, but the follow-up – 2017’s Capacity — still is, along with a couple Big Thief singles and T-shirts. 

That’s it for now. 

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Barley Street reopens; new releases from No Thanks, Benny Leather, Matthew Sweet, Bright Eyes, Steady Wells, STATHI…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 2:22 pm November 2, 2020
VOTE!

So who’s nervous on this Election Day eve? Despite all the threats and sturm and drang, for some reason I’m less anxious than I was in 2016. We’ll either have a new president or Marshall Law by the end of the week… Look, if you have voted already, make sure you go to the polls tomorrow. Has there ever been an election where an individual vote was more valuable?

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A quick music update: Things have been quiet lately and are bound to get even quieter with winter and COVID-19 spiking in Douglas County. That tiny taste of live music at the end of summer/early fall is probably going to be it until next spring. I just finished a column that’ll be in the next issue of The Reader wherein I say we take live music for granted. Something tells me we won’t come next May…

One place where we might see live music again is The Barley Street Tavern, which reopened last Friday. The venue is now operated by the folks who operate Brokedown Palace on 88th and Maple. According to a Facebook post that went online Friday, the new owners have no plans to change the Barley’s operations / vibe, but let’s face it, they need to make it what they want it to be. Just keep some of ol’ Barley spirit (or ghosts) around for good times’ sake….

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Lots of new local music was released last week. Here’s a few of those releases that are on my radar:

Omaha goth/indie punk band No Thanks released their latest LP, Submerger, on Halloween via Kansas City’s Black Site Records. Produced by No Thanks, the album was recorded, engineered, and mixed by Mathew Carroll (See Through Dresses) at Little Machine in Omaha, and was mastered by Mike Nolte at Portland OR’s Eureka Mastering with vinyl mastering by Chris Muth at Taloowa Corp. out of Yonkers, NY. That’s right, vinyl, limited to 75 (at least for the first pressing). Order it here (sure to be a collector’s item).

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Omaha blank wave/electro-punk band Benny Leather dropped its full-length, Temporary Insanity, yesterday via FDH Records. Who is Benny Leather? Nobody knows (but actually, everyone knows but they’re not saying). Let’s just say I’d love to see this band play at O’Leaver’s (or the new Barley Street). This one also is available on limited-edition vinyl. Order yours here.

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Omaha rocker Matthew Sweet announced last week he’s releasing his 15th album, Catspaw, Jan. 15 on Omnivore Records. Says the press release: “…aside from excellent drumming by longtime collaborator Ric Menck (Velvet Crush), this is Matthew Sweet’s first entirely solo effort. Sweet handles all of it: recording, mixing, Höfner bass, electric guitars, and Pet Sounds-like background vocals.” The first single, “At a Loss,” was released last week.

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Bright Eyes released a song in support of Planned Parenthood called “Miracle of Life,” with proceeds generated from its sale benefiting he organization. Said Conor Oberst: “It is a protest song, I guess. Or maybe just a little story about what was, what still is in many parts of the world and what could be again here in this country if the GOP is successful in reshaping the Supreme Court and rolling back all of the hard fought progress made for reproductive rights in the last fifty years.” On the track Bright Eyes is joined by Phoebe Bridgers, Jon Theodore and Flea. Buy it here.

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Jordan Smith of Twinsmith has another band called Steady Wells and it released a new single last week called “Good Again.” I believe this is the second single by Smith under this moniker.

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And finally,

Omaha singer/songwriter Stathi Spiros Patseas has released new song from his band STATHI. “This is my first release since my debut EP Life of Compromise, which I released in March of last year,” he said. “This single is part of an upcoming EP called Post-truth, which has not yet been announced, but will likely be released sometime next month. The EP was recorded at ARC in September of 2019 and produced by Miwi La Lupa.

Kevin Donahue, Drew Tvrdy and Miwi join Stathi on the track. Dig it:

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily (if there’s news) 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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Oquoa, David Nance, BFF, Lodgings, Digital Leather tonight; Matthew Sweet weekend; Rips, Thick Paint Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 12:52 pm July 7, 2017

Matthew Sweet at fabulous O’Leaver’s, July 30, 2014. Sweet and his plan plays at The Waiting Room Saturday and Sunday nights.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Who’s going to the horse races this weekend? Anybody? Anybody? Ah well, what else is going on? Glad you asked…

Tonight is Benson First Friday, and part of BFF is a show at The Sydney featuring Oquoa, Dave Nance Band and FiFi NoNo, who just dropped a new single (below). 10 p.m. and free, according to Facebook (though the last free show I went to at The Sydney cost me $5).

If you’re going to the Sydney, you might as well drop by The Little Gallery, 5901 Maple, at the bottom of the Masonic Lodge building. We’ll be opening a new show featuring prints by Myles Dunigan. The show runs 6 to 10 p.m. And as always, the beer is free. Come on over… More info here.

Also tonight, Lodgings is playing at fabulous O’Leaver’s. I’m told their recently released EP, Daisies, is about to come out on colored vinyl. Jump the Tiger headlines this show and St. Bernard opens. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And The New BLK is having a moving out party tonight at what will soon be their old digs at 12th and Howard. The new The New BLK will be located at 2626 Harney, about a block west of Midtown Art Supply. Anyway, the party starts at 4 and runs until 2 p.m. Performers include Digital Leather and Conny Franko. Find out more.

Tomorrow and Sunday night Matthew Sweet is playing at The Waiting Room. The two-night engagement is in support of his new double album, Tomorrow, Forever, which I reviewed here yesterday. Tommy Keene, who was releasing music on Matador back when Sweet was on Zoo, is opening both nights. Keene opened for Sweet when he played at O’Leaver’s a few years ago, and is something of a legend in his own right. Tickets for either night are $20; these are early shows with 8 p.m. start times.

Finally Sunday NYC band Rips plays at Milk Run. Their debut album was produced by Austin Brown of Parquet Courts. Thick Paint and Razors also are on the bill. No price given for this 8:30 p.m. show, so you’re on your own.

And that’s all I got for this weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend…

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Review: Matthew Sweet, Tomorrow Forever; Lincoln Calling adds more bands (Pile, El Ten Eleven, Palehound)…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , , — @ 12:55 pm July 6, 2017

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Matthew Sweet, Tomorrow Forever (2017, Honeycomb Hideout)

What goes into writing a “hit song,” a song people will sing along to or remember or select for a play list or mix tape? It’s something I’ll have to ask Matthew Sweet if I ever get a chance, but I have an idea how he’ll answer: “I don’t know. If I knew, I’d have written more hit songs.”

“Come Correct,” the 13th track on his new double album Tomorrow Forever (2017, Honeycomb Hideout) and the last song on Side 3 has all the makings of a hit song — the crack rhythm track, chop guitar, a simple melody, sing-along lyrics. It’s a great song that stood out the first time I listened to the record. You can imagine it playing on your favorite FM channel… 20 years ago, back when there was such things as a hit record.

It’s not the only good song on the album. Tomorrow Forever is a return to form for Sweet and maybe his most accessible collection since 100% Fun or that Japanese “thank you” record, 2003’s Kimi Ga Suki. Old time fans will want to know how it compares to Sweet’s magnum opus, 1991’s Girlfriend. It holds its own, though it’s not quite as accessible or an obvious classic (only time will tell).

If you’re not familiar with Sweet’s sound, it’s sort of a power-pop amalgam of The Byrds with Big Star with Teenage Fanclub with The Posies with Sweet’s unique high-end, nasal voice. You could say there’s a ’90s flair to the music. His style hasn’t changed much since Girlfriend, but then again, why should it?

The only thing holding this album back is the lyrics, which too often are overtly obtuse or speculative — they’re too spacey and ungrounded, as if trying to be psychedelic. On the other hand, almost every song on Girlfriend was memorable thanks to lyrics that something anyone could identify with — love songs loaded with pain and/or redemption. “Come Correct” of this new one scores because the lyrics are obvious and real: “Don’t dance don’t dance / Get your head out of the sand / I don’t want to be in anybody’s band.”

The same holds true for tracks like “You Knew Me,” “Carol” and “Country Girl.”  But not so much for all those time travel/inter-dimensional songs, like opening track “Trick,” or “Entangled” and “Hello,” which have a ephemeral, hippy-ish quality wherein afterward you wonder what Sweet was trying to say (if you remember the lyrics at all).

In some of his past albums (and live performances) Sweet’s guitar noodling veered dangerously close to jam territory. Not so here, where the clear, simple arrangements keep the songs focused, as if Sweet was trying to write as many hit songs as possible. There’s more than a few on Tomorrow Forever, which is more than you’ll hear on most albums reviewed in Pitchfork. Rating: Yes

I only hope Sweet uses the same restraint when he plays The Waiting Room this weekend. The last couple times I saw him perform he and his band were more focused on rocking than trying to capture the subtleties of his best songs.

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As if Lincoln Calling wasn’t big enough, this morning they announced another wave of 67 bands for the festival that runs Sept. 28-30 in Lincoln (duh), including Pile, El Ten Eleven, Mount Moriah, Umm, See Through Dresses and Digital Leather. They’re also now selling day passes that run from $29 to $34. 3-day festival passes are $59. Find out more at lincolncalling.com.

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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New Twinsmith, Matthew Sweet tracks; Brother Ali tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 12:47 pm May 2, 2017

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A couple tracks from upcoming albums dropped yesterday.

Twinsmith announced their next album, Stay Cool, comes out on Saddle Creek Records July 14. Produced by Graham Ulicny (Reptar, The Faint), the band is down to a trio these days, at least based on their publicity photos. They’ve got a date scheduled at The Waiting Room June 21. Here’s the first track:

Matthew Sweet also dropped the first track off his upcoming double album Tomorrow Forever via Stereogum. Sounds like classic Sweet-flavored power pop. The old boy has two nights booked at The Waiting Room July 8 and 9. The new album hits the streets June 16 via Sweet‘s own newly launched Honeycomb Hideout label.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s the return of Brother Ali. You read his Ten Questions interview last week right here. Opening are Sa-Roc, Last Word and Sol Messiah. Tix are $18, show starts at 8 p.m.

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Matthew Sweet album update; Pkew Pkew Pkew tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 1:36 pm February 20, 2017

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The current state of Matthew Sweet’s new album, Tomorrow Forever.

Matthew Sweet chimed in with a number of updates over the weekend about his forthcoming album Tomorrow Forever.

The record has been mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London and will be a two-disc 17-song vinyl outing. Sweet’s trying to decide if he should use colored or black vinyl, saying black vinyl is better sound quality.

In addition, Sweet said he just signed a deal for his new label, Honeycomb Hideout, through Sony/RED. Sweet’s label will release Tomorrow Forever sometime in late spring. It’s been a longtime coming.

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The OEA Awards were last night at the Omaha Design Center. You can see the list of winners here.

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Reports of Milk Run’s demise in its current location appear to be exaggerated.

I was told last weekend’s shows were the last at the Leavenworth location. Since then, there have been a couple shows at Milk Run, including one scheduled tonight at NEO, the art gallery space next to Milk Run in the same building.

Headlining is Toronto rock band Pkew Pkew Pkew (Royal Mountain Records). I’m listening to their self-titled debut, which very much reminds me of Andrew W.K., but a little less rough around the edges. Opening is Ill Noise, The New Rosenbergs and Gongfermour. $8, 8 p.m.

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Conor at Carnegie Hall; new Maria Taylor video; Matthew Sweet releases track listing…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 2:04 pm November 29, 2016

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here are a few newsy notes on a quiet Tuesday (no shows tonight that I can find)…

The New York Daily News did a longish review of Conor Oberst’s Carnegie Hall performance last week, declaring it the “first post-Trump rock concert.” Writer Gersh Kuntzman (imagine having that name in high school), said Conor only mentioned Trump a couple times during his set, “but the sadness that Trump’s election unleashed on Oberst was not far from the surface at any time.”

From the review: “He also added in a crowd-pleasing (but not Oberst-pleasing) speech about Donald Trump’s victory, describing how he went through all the stages of grief — ‘puking, s—ting, crying’ — on Election Night, only to admit that he was crying ‘because I’m a p—y, as you can tell from my songs.’” Come on, now.  You can read the entire review here. Oddly, no mention of Simon Joyner, who opened the Carnegie Hall show…

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Speaking of Conor, Mr. Oberst makes a guest appearance in the video for Maria Taylor’s new song “If Only,” from her album In The Next Life, out Dec. 9 on her own Flower Moon Records. The video also feature’s Maria’s hubby and children (I didn’t know she had a second baby). Check out out below.

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Matthew Sweet sent out via his Kickstarter page an update this morning about his upcoming album, Tomorrow Forever. The record, which has been in the making for a couple years, appears to be nearing completing having been mixed and sequence. The email included the track listing not only for the record, but also for a 12-song extra tracks album called Tomorrow’s Daughter, which he appears to be releasing instead of a demos disc as a Kickstarter premium. We’re all waiting, Mr. Sweet.

TOMORROW FOREVER. 17 songs

  1. TRICK
  2. ENTANGLED
  3. PRETTY PLEASE
  4. YOU KNEW ME
  5. CIRCLE
  6. HAUNTED
  7. COUNTRY GIRL
  8. OFF THE FARM
  9. NOBODY KNOWS
  10. THE SEARCHER
  11. MUSIC FOR LOVE
  12. BITTERSWEET
  13. COME CORRECT
  14. FINALLY
  15. CAROL
  16. HELLO
  17. END IS NEAR

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TOMORROW’S DAUGHTER. 12 songs (in place of demos disc)

  1. BELONG
  2. RUN AWAY
  3. MISERY
  4. YEARS
  5. LADY FRANKENSTEIN
  6. SOMETHING SOMEONE
  7. GIRL WITH CAT
  8. NOW WAS THE FUTURE
  9. EVER AFTER
  10. SHOW ME
  11. CAN’T PRETEND
  12. PASSERBY

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Finally, on this so-called “Giving Tuesday,” consider a donation to Hear Nebraska, the only Nebraska non-profit whose vision is to make the state a globally recognized cultural destination. The organization has a lot of stuff brewing for 2017. Help them make it happen. Go to hearnebraska.org and click the donate button.

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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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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