Column 42 — An (Old Country) Buffet of Music News
Saddle Creek, Cursive, Ladyfinger and MavStock

This week, a few observations, rumors, suggestions and hyperbole — the stuff that make columns worth reading.

— In Saddle Creek news: Touched by the devastation and need coming out of the Gulf port states, Omaha’s premiere record label is putting together a compilation CD whose proceeds will go entirely to The Red Cross for Hurricane Relief. Among those signed up are a cadre of local superstars, including Bright Eyes, Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life, Mayday, Orenda Fink, Maria Taylor, Broken Spindles and Criteria. The Creek says the collection will be available on iTunes shortly, while the CD version will be available for order from saddle-creek.com in the coming days. It’s just another way to do your part to help get the Gulf and its people back on their feet.

— And speaking of getting back on their feet, so is Saddle Creek band Cursive. The scuttlebutt was that the band had been preparing to hit the road. Now in a move reserved for the likes of The Rolling Stones and U2, they’re performing as an opening act under assumed names for a mini-tour leading up to the CMJ Music Festival in NYC (where they’ll be a surprise “special guest” at the Saddle Creek showcase at the Bowery Ballroom Sept. 15). Cursiverarmy.com spilled the beans late last week with this post on its homepage:

“You should look for the following bands in the next week or two: Flippy and Hambone, T Lite & the Heavies, Jazz Hessian, Cursifix, Stuffy Dumbfuck, and Sgt. Snippy, in these cities: Chicago, Columbus, OH; Wilkes Barre, PA; New London, CT, North Manchester, IN, and Lansing, MI. Oh boy, if you like seeing Cursive you should really see these shows.”

— So who is the pseudo-Cursive opening for? None other Ladyfinger — Omaha’s current “It” band. I caught Ladyfinger’s pre-tour warm-up at O’Leaver’s last Friday with The Third Men — themselves a pop-rock gem the combines Matthew Sweet pop, Replacements bar, dB’s cool and a little bit of The Feelies irascibility thrown in for good measure.

Maybe Ladyfinger can do what another gutter-groove band from the past was unable to. That band was Ritual Device — one of the city’s Golden Age icons, the band that often gets left out of the who-influenced-Creek discussions though they, along with Mousetrap, undoubtedly laid the foundation for the label’s heavier acts (Beep Beep comes to mind). Ladyfinger is the Second Coming of Ritual Device except they’re faster, and in some respects, harder than RD ever was. But in spite of their fleetness, they bare RD’s unmistakable knack for finding a head-bobbing groove via their rhythm section and chop guitar. What they don’t have is a frontman like Ritual’s Tim Moss, who was not only a stage ham, but a real factor in RD’s overall sound. Not so with Ladyfinger’s vocalists Ethan Jones and Chris Machmuller. Blame the mix, blame the sheer volume of the band, but I could not hear their vocals all night, and when I did, they were mere wisps before a hurricane. They certainly have the vocal chops — by god they both can sing better than Moss (Hell, I can sing better than Moss).

— And finally, there is MavStock. As an alum, I feel compelled to talk about this one-day, six-band music festival to be held at UNO’s Milo Bail Student Center Sept. 17, if only for the charities involved. Proceeds reaped from your $5 attendance fee will be split between the American Red Cross and MavRadio. The student-run station has a transmitter on UNO’s North Campus broadcasting at 93.7 FM. It can only be heard, however, on campus. Their biggest potential audience comes from those who listen via the webstream at mavradio.org. As I type this, the station is playing Spoon “I Turn My Camera On,” leading into Aqualung, “Brighter Than Sunshine.” Imagine if this station ever got a real license and transmitter. Dare to dream…

MavStock begins at around 3 p.m. The all-local lineup includes Liquid Static, Endeavor, Dielated, Emphatic and Smilin Liar, and headliner Venaculas. Find out more at mavradio.org.