Lord knows I tried to line up an interview with Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, but my requests went unreturned. Alas, my only experience with this band is seeing their performance on The Conan O’Brien show (It was gawdawful) and hearing their one track on the One Percent Productions website juke box — not exactly earth shaking, hardly innovative, but it has a beat and you can dance to it. I get the feeling that the youth crowd that’s eating these guys up have never heard New Order or The Feelies before. And I guess if you were 16 or 17 and grew up only on Omaha radio, you’d think they were groundbreaking. And you’d sell out their show weeks in advance, as this show has been. More interesting than CYHSY is opening band The Brunettes. If you missed it the first time, here’s the review of Mars Loves Venus that I put on the site last July.

Tomorrow night, One Percent is doing three shows at the same time — Three! Ah, but they hardly compete with each other (except, maybe for parking). Downstairs at Sokol Underground it’s Little Brazil, Race for Titles, The Cops and Le Beat — four hot bands for a mere $7. Starts at 9 p.m. Get there early. Meanwhile, upstairs at Sokol Auditorium, it’s the glorious return of Blue October for a sold-out show. I’ve seen Blue October before. They’re horrible. Their cheesy live performance is only eclipsed by their painfully bad CDs, released on Universal. That said, they’ve got a huge following thanks to lots of local radio support. So when you go down to see the good show tomorrow night, make sure to address your curses at The River when you can’t find a parking space. Finally, at Duffy’s in Lincoln Saturday night it’s Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, Eagle*Seagull and Kite Pilot, all for a mere $5.

Duffy’s is the place to be Sunday for a homecoming show of sorts — former Lincolnites (now Brooklynites) Ron Albertson and Pat Noeker’s new band n0 things are playing, along with Knife Skills and Ideal Cleaners. Ron (formerly of Mercy Rule) and Pat (formerly of Opium Taylor) also used to be the rhythm section of The Liars before they got screwed by the other half of that band. Check out their myspace account. If you miss them on Sunday, they’ll also be playing at O’Leaver’s with The Lepers on April 4.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Column 70: A Label of Love
Mt. Fuji Records’ difficult climb.

Before we get started, if you haven’t done it already, flip over to page __ and read Sarah Wilson’s lovely profile of Mike Jaworski’s band, The Cops. We’ll wait for you (*twiddles thumbs; patiently glances at his watch*). (Note: I’ll be adding a link to Sarah’s story as soon as the webmaster at The Reader gets off his ass and gets the story online).

Done reading? Good. Aren’t you happy you did? Having lived for the past few months with The Cops’ debut LP, Get Good or Stay Bad, I was eager to interview frontman Jaworski — or just “Jaws” as he’s known throughout the local music community. Not only about his band, but about his record label, Mt. Fuji.

Jaws started Mt. Fuji back in ’02 for the same reason most musicians start labels — to give his band at the time, Hello from Waveland, a platform to release their music. The label’s name, by the way, is a shout-out to Jaworski’s Omaha roots. “When I was in high school at Prep, I must have driven by the Mt. Fuji Inn a million times,” he said. “I always thought that logo looked cool and exotic.” He forgot to mention the restaurant’s multi-colored libations, the quality of which I can attest to personally (though it’s been too long since I’ve been to the Mai Tai Lounge).

The difference between Mt. Fuji and the run-of-the-mill vanity label is, of course, distribution. You can find Mt. Fuji records in stores all over the country, thanks to their deal with Redeye — the same outfit that distributes records for labels like Yep Rock, Gern Blandsten, Flameshovel, Parasol and GSL. Landing a “distro deal” is the biggest hurdle for any new label, let alone one as small as Fuji, so how did Jaworski do it? He used the time-tested combination of booze and old-fashioned salesmanship.

“I knew the president of the company, Tor Hansen, from my record store connections,” said Jaworski, who also works at Sonic Boom Records in Seattle. “I took him out, got him drunk and sold him on what we were doing.”

One “sell point” was having the band Little Brazil on the roster. With LB comes ties to Saddle Creek Records in the form of frontman Landon Hedges’ past service in The Good Life and Desaparecidos. “I also told him that every band I work with on the label is dedicated to touring. We want our bands on the road at least four months a year. It’s the only way to create a fan base.”

Touring is an absolute essential for any band that wants more than twice-monthly gigs at the local bar, Jaws said. “It’s fun to knock around town and play music and sell CDs to your friends,” he said. “But without touring, you have to be realistic about your goals. You aren’t going to get ‘discovered’ though your Myspace account.”

Little Brazil is living proof of Jaws’ theory. Landon and company — who have spent more time on the road than any other band on the roster — also are the label’s best sellers. Imagine how well recent Mt. Fuji recruit Slender Means will do once they start serious touring. They’ve already sold more than 1,000 copies of their debut in Seattle alone. LA band Wintergreen is the label’s most recent signing. Jaws said their new EP, which came out on Mt. Fuji in January, was compared to Death Cab for Cutie and The Smiths in an upcoming issue of The Big Takeover.

Add The Cops to the list and you’ve got a solid little line-up for having been in operation for four years. But the operative word here is “little.” Jaworski isn’t interested in putting out records for the sake of putting out records. He’s content with slow, steady growth — maybe adding one band per year. “I want to keep it small and focused, and take sort of a communal approach,” he said. “These bands are not only friends with one another, but believe in each other musically.”

Sound familiar? Jaws points to Saddle Creek Records as a model for his label. And just like Creek, Mt. Fuji pulled its bands together last week in Austin for a couple showcases in conjunction with the South By Southwest music festival. But unlike Creek’s showcase, Fuji’s weren’t “officially sanctioned” by the illustrious SXSW organization. Like dozens (maybe hundreds?) of other bands and labels, Jaworski bypassed the bureaucracy and organized his own day-long party at a lawn and garden shop called Big Red Sun, located off 6th St. A second Mt. Fuji showcase was held at The Longbranch Inn. Both were well-attended. “Sometimes the parties are better than the event — you don’t need a wrist-band to get in, there’s no line, there’s free beer, and the environment is more laid-back.”

Sound like fun? Maybe, but for Jaworski the weekend was mostly work. Such is the life of an independent record label owner and musician who has yet to see the financial rewards for all his work. But he ain’t complaining, at least not much.

“It’s definitely a labor of love,” he said. “I would like to see it become a profitable business. It’s been funded by credit cards from day one. I don’t recommend anyone start a label that way.”

Which forces me to end this column with this cheesy line:

Guitar picks: $2.95
Used Econoline van: $2,000
Bail money for incarcerated band: $5,000
Living the life of a music mogul: Priceless

The fun folks over at Pitchfork posted a nice little interview with Tim Kasher yesterday, where he talks about the upcoming Cursive album and mentions that a Good Life album also is in the works (read it here). Titled Happy Hollow (well, at least us Omaha folks got the joke), the new Cursive disc apparently will be rife with horns. Sounds like fun to me. Hmm… let’s see… Saddle Creek, Happy Hollow, can Bob Boozer Drive be far off? How ’bout L St.?

The Pitchfork piece also mentions the upcoming Cursive split with The Cops, which Cops frontman and Mt. Fuji Records executive Mike Jaworski mentioned during an interview we did last week for a column about his label that will be online here tomorrow. See you then…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Recently spotted on the web:

— Drowned in Sound does a nice, long interview with Nik Zinner (a.k.a. Edward Sissorhands) of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (read it here), where Nik invents a new word. He’s discussing the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, which the Yeahs were asked to curate a day, along with Devandra Banhart. The writer comments about the festival’s performers. “DiS: What’s ridiculous, really, is that any one of those bands could easily curate a day themselves, such is their level of recognition. Zinner: Yeah, absolutely. We have to leave on the Sunday, though, but I don’t know that many people that he (Devandra Banhart) has selected. They’re all beardos.” Beardos!

— Criteria get dissed roundly in this review in the MSU State News, with the headline Criteria Lags with Dark, Whiny Style. “To get right down to it: Criteria sounds like a bunch of suburban boys finding an alternative to working for ‘The Man.'” Uh, isn’t that the motivation for most bands these days? Notable for being one of the first outright negative review of the CD, which came out last year.

— Speaking of Criteria, Aversion reports the boys had some van troubles (read it here). And they gave WWB 4 out of 5 stars (here).

— Pop Matters has a super-long interview/profile with Two Gallants (read it here). Adam Stephens doesn’t like his band compared to Dylan and The Beatles, which, of course, they sound nothing like in the first place. “Not only is it lazy journalism, I think it is uneducated journalism. Mentioning Bob Dylan or the Beatles in the context of modern music is redundant. Of course the influence is there. It’s like pointing out Thomas Edison’s influence on a well-lit room. The only reason people say it with us more often is because our songs might have a bit of content. But, we don’t really like to describe our music with words either. Not like what we do is beyond description, but we just try to avoid the undertaking whenever possible. Whenever people describe bands, it’s always a litany of other bands. Sometimes that works, and some might think it works with us. I don’t. We just try to stay away from it altogether.” Wonder what he thinks of my description: “…rousing ship-galley sea-shanty ballads on meth.” Probably not much.

— Personal writing hero/mentor/guru Robert Christgau has posted another in his series of Consumer Guide CD review round-ups (read it here). He likes the new Arctic Monkeys (They sound like not knowing the doorman, like moving on a girl you think isn’t pretty enough, like missing the bus in a leather jacket that doesn’t keep out the cold.), hates Editors (Someone should tell him about the Human League.). Editors, by the way, don’t just rip off Interpol (who ripped off Joy Division) they mug them in broad daylight.

— Finally, there’s been enormous coverage of last week’s ‘Bring ’em Home Now’ concert, and Bright Eyes is consistently singled out as one of the evening’s highlights, including in this New York Times piece. “But as pure protest, a quintet version of Bright Eyes, the ever-changing band led by Conor Oberst, hit the hardest of the night.” Strangely, the next day, NYT Creek cheerleader Kelefa Sannah filed this story, where he calls out Oberst: “…in one sense: Mr. Oberst’s best political songs are full of ambivalence and confusion, not unshakable defiance.” Make up your minds, dammit.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I generally try to get live reviews online the morning after the show, but I was pressed this weekend for other things and never had a chance. That said, I did go out both Friday and Saturday nights. Here’s what happened:

Friday was Edith Frost/The Zincs down at Sokol Underground. What a disappointing turnout. I was one of around 40 people there. The Underground never seemed so empty. One guy I talked to wanted to leave because he was so embarrassed by the whole thing. Why wasn’t this show at O’Leaver’s? Maybe because the promoters understandably thought that bands of this quality would bring out throngs of Omaha music fans that can differentiate between good music and schlock (Note, Pomoroy was playing upstairs in the Auditorium). I guess they were wrong.

I missed the opener, McCarthy Trenching, but caught most of The Zincs’ set — very earthy, very moody rock with a frontman who’s voice was low and smoky. It’s the kind of band that you could imagine breaking through the indie-rock glass ceiling to bigger things. Very cool.

Then Edith was up. Backed by members of The Zincs, she uncorked a nice set of songs from her new album along with plenty of older material. Though generally twangier, her music reminds me a lot of Liz Phair, the difference being that Edith can actually sing. She didn’t seem to mind playing to a mostly empty room. Maybe it was the lack of people or the distraction of the UConn game on TV at the bar, but I never locked into her performance, as good as it was.

Saturday night was Western Electric at O’Leaver’s, along with The Pendrakes. Very packed house. O’Leaver’s is now packed just about any night they have a band (but you have to keep that in perspective — packed for O’Leaver’s means 60 to 75 people — the Edith Frost show would have seemed packed in there). I showed up just in time to catch the last couple of Pendrakes songs, which sounded like generic pop-punk to me. I need to see a whole set to make any judgments. Western Electric, fronted by Scott Roth (of Such Sweet Thunder fame) has only been playing together six months. You wouldn’t have known it by listening to them. They had the presence and sound of a veteran rock band. Yeah, they’re twangy… sort of. But their style is closer to classic chug-a-lug Americana bar stomp rock (think Anonymous American for comparisons). One guy in back said they reminded him of Jeff Tweedy. I didn’t hear it. And while the band was amazingly tight, it was Roth that was impossible to ignore — he has a ’90s grunge croon that recalls Pearl Jam or the dozens of bands that aped Pearl Jam back then — a style fans of Such Sweet Thunder will immediately recognize and remember. They played a long set for never having recorded a CD. Roth said they’re currently in the process of recording some of their material, and to look for some more gigs in the near future.

Tonight, Reggie and the Full Effect with Fluxuation and Common Denominator at Sokol Underground. Reggie’s on Vagrant. Used to be that was all you needed to say and you knew what you were in for. But now The Hold Steady is on Vagrant, and that’s thrown everything out of whack. I guess now I have to say Reggie sounds like old-school Vagrant. You know what I mean. $12, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

In the wake of The Faint news, I received a few comments from people who were just as surprised by the news that the Slowdown business/entertainment project was slated to begin construction this week. Well, looking outside my office window from 1400 Douglas I watched as a big steam-shovel-type piece of equipment dug a large hole in the southern portion of the Slowdown property. Construction has indeed begun. I was getting pretty worried there for awhile that barriers put up by various bureaucratic entities were going to quash the entire project. Can they race against the clock and get it finished by the end of the year or will another of my predictions for ’06 become a reality? I’ll keep you updated as construction progresses, and might even post a few snapshots.

The weekend starts off with a bang tonight as Edith Frost takes the Sokol Underground stage with The Zincs and McCarthy Trenching. I’m guessing last night’s Two Gallants show was either a sell-out or damn close (I didn’t go, so anyone with data, please post on the webboard posthaste). Tonight could be a different story. Frost has a rep for being a sad-sack singer/songwriter, yet the last time she came through, she most definitely brought the rock (think Throwing Muses/Belly). I’ve got a feeling tonight will be no different. The Zincs play cool, laid-back indie rock with a frontman who sounds like a cross between Nick Drake and David Bowie. And opener Dan McCartney has become one of the area’s must-see singer-songwriters. A terrific show for $8. Starts at 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night brings the return of Scott Roth (Such Sweet Thunder) and his new band, Western Electric, at O’Leaver’s. In addition to Roth, the band includes John and Jerry Stevens (Hanna’s Porch, Gauge, Box, Hong Gyn Corp, Midwest Dilemma) and Scott Petersen (Four Corners). Roth described the new sound as “more electric than western, but there are some twangy elements that round out the sound.” Veeery interesting. The Pendrakes are the openers. $5, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Lazy-i: I think your music is sad and beautiful, simple and honest, and your voice is gorgeous and very easy to fall for. Your songs remind me of Aimee Mann or Liz Phair. Do you think Liz sold out on her last couple albums? Would you consider doing that if the money was there?

Edith: I’m not Liz Phair, I wouldn’t be able to follow her same path. I have no problem with what she’s done with her career… it’s not a way I would want to go myself exactly, but that’s cool, we’re both doing our thing and making the kind of music we want to make. As a formerly huge fan I’d rather see her out there and continuing to make music even if it’s currently not my cuppa tea stylistically. There’s always hope.

Lazy-I: Speaking of song writing, I read somewhere that you’re suffering from writer’s block, or that you’re just having a difficult time writing new material. Is that true, and is it a cause of worry for you? Do you need a muse? Are you trying to put together a new album?

Edith: I don’t know where you’re reading these things. I write songs when I’m in songwriting mode; I’m not in that mode right now. Actually I am writing things down and coming up with some ideas but I’m not in any rush get them demo’ed. Right now I’m in *touring* mode, I’m promoting the album that just came out. I’m not going to worry about the next job until I’m done with this one… should be done with touring by summer so that’s when I’ll hopefully get crackin’ on new demos.

Lazy-I: What do you think of Omaha?

Edith: I need to get to know ‘er better I guess. I’ve never hung out there at all, just played a couple of shows, blew in and blew out… the audiences have always been really cool though, that’s for sure! Good audience = good show, for me and for them.

Column 69 — Not for The Faint of Heart
Is one of Saddle Creek’s biggest bands flying the coop?

Omaha is a very small town. And once a rumor gets traction — any traction — there’s no slowing it down. We are a species of gossips and information whores, constantly on the look-out for hot scoop (or poop, in some cases). Information isn’t power in Omaha, information is the new smack that forces those locked in the music scene to stumble around for their next fix.

There was plenty of smack on the streets last weekend in the form of a rumor that The Faint, one of the holy triad of Saddle Creek Records’ bands, is leaving their home-town label for greener pastures. Specifically pastures fed and watered by hip-hop guru and professional turn-around artist Rick Rubin.

I could not grab a beer at any bar without someone leaning in and whispering, “I’ve got a lu-lu. But you didn’t hear it from me,” then saying that The Faint are not only sniffing around, but have already signed a deal with American Recordings and are flying Rubin to Omaha in a silver dart to begin recording sessions post haste at The Faint’s swank new rehearsal space.

It wasn’t exactly fresh news. I had heard about it five weeks ago, maybe more. A well-connected deep throat sent me an e-mail with a single sentence: “The Faint are leaving Saddle Creek.” It sounded like shit to me. The band has been solid all around with the label from day one; no one’s held up the Saddle Creek banner higher. Whenever it came press time, the Baechle brothers were always first in line with a faithful quote. “Why would we leave when we got it so good here? You think we’re stupid?”

But my source had never been wrong. Never. Every bit of info no matter how lame-brained always proved solid. Even when I thought it was pure cockamamie, asking around always came up diamonds. But this seemed too big.

I immediately asked Creek about the rumor, but got zilch back on the record. Weeks went by with nothing new from the grapevine. Deep Throat was swollen shut. Then out of the blue a week ago, I got another tip from a different source. Same story. More details. This time Rick Rubin was mentioned by name along with his record label, American Recordings, home of Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and Slayer. By last weekend it was all over the streets; it was just a matter of time until I’d read it in the World-Herald, until it was old news.

Calls and e-mail to a member of The Faint went unreturned. No surprise there. So I tried Saddle Creek again, figuring label executives Robb Nansel and Jason Kulbel would be too busy schmoozing at South by Southwest to reply. Lo and behold, Nansel clarified the rumor. “They have not signed anything with American,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Not sure if they will. They are still talking to them, but that is all at this point.”

Nansel went on to write that Rubin has indeed expressed interest in working on the band’s new record, “but I don’t know that he ever expressed doing that in Omaha, let alone at their space.”

What’s in it for Saddle Creek? One story had it that negotiations were under way to compensate the label for its years of support, promotion, and all the other benefits. Apparently not.

“We are not negotiating any compensation with the band,” Nansel wrote. “We have briefly discussed different ways we could/could not be involved with their future records (assuming they don’t end up on Saddle Creek). (We) have not come to any agreement on whether we would be involved at all or not.”

None of this can be a complete surprise to Nansel or anyone at the label. It’s only a matter of time until one of their biggest acts leaves the nest. There are limits to the meaning of the word “loyalty” in the rock and roll business, especially when millions of dollars are at stake. The Faint have had offers before, but always turned them down. Something else must be driving this new level of interest beyond cash.

So, if it’s all true, why isn’t Nansel pissed? “The possibility of a band leaving has always been there,” he wrote. “The bands will ultimately make a well-informed decision about what is in their best interest. We will support their decision regardless of what it is, and hope that all parties are satisfied at the end of the day. Certainly (we) would not be pissed.”

But what would it mean if The Faint does leave the label? How would it financially impact Saddle Creek, especially during a time when so much of the label’s money is tied up in a new, untried venture — the Slowdown entertainment complex slated to begin construction this week just a couple blocks west of The Qwest Center? Nansel didn’t say. Maybe it’s too early to speculate. After all, Elvis hasn’t left the building… yet.

An afternoon update today because I was finishing a column about The Faint, which will go online tomorrow morning (and look for an Edith Frost interview/feature Thursday morning).

Not much news today, anyway. In the aftermath of SXSW, sounds like Saddle Creek’s Two Gallants made an impression on the masses, at least according to this San Jose Mercury News item. The writer called the band “one of the most exciting and unique acts I’ve seen this week.” Other than that item, coverage of Omaha-related bands at the event was all but nonexistent. On a side note, The AP filed an interesting interview with Barsuk’s Josh Rosenfeld, where he talks about the value of the SXSW, underscoring what everyone knows — no one goes to Austin to sign bands anymore. Those days are long gone.

Underground hip-hop acts P.O.S., Mac Lethal and Sims at Sokol Underground tonight. 9 p.m., $7.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

As expected, The Protoculture brought the faithful in droves to last night’s show at O’Leaver’s despite forecasts of snowy doom, a full house of 75 or so were there to see the legends. And the legends did not disappoint, playing six songs off their upcoming 7-song EP — almost the whole catalogue of Protoculture tunes. All except “The Hit,” as I warmly call their b-side single “My New Laugh,” the only Protoculture song with a sing-a-long chorus. Where was it?

They started out nervous and a tad tentative, or so they sounded. By the midway point of their brief set, they were firing on all cylinders. Having never seen them perform before, I had no idea that drummer Koly Walter did most of the singing. He was in good voice, as was co-singer Erica Petersen-Hanton, opening the set with the new material and closing with three songs off the ’97 singles that sounded as modern as anything you’re going to hear on today’s indie charts. The crowd, as you might expect, loved every minute of it. The young lad next to me said this was just the kind of band he would have worshipped had he been kicking around the scene back in the day. I kept turning to him, saying, “They’re gonna play their hit next.” But it never happened. Afterward I mentioned this to Walter, who said rather quizzically? “That song? That’s just a B-side.” Maybe so, but it’s my favorite of their entire oeuvre. Maybe they’ll play it when they open for The Stay Awake and The Bombardment Society at Sokol Underground sometime in April. I’ve waited seven years to hear “My New Laugh” live, I suppose I can wait a few more weeks.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—