1090 Club, Shipwrecked on Shores (Side-Cho) — SOS is the debut from the four-piece rock ensemble 1090 Club from Billings, Montana. I use the term “ensemble” instead of “band” quite intentionally. At first listen, this album doesn’t sound like it was made by a rock band. It is meticulously orchestrated between violin, guitar and piano. The parts flow fluidly between one another and are locked into time and place by extremely technical and spot-on drumming. When you add 3-and 4-part vocal harmonies, it only gains strength and momentum. The culmination is a wonderful rock album with catchy pop riffs that will stay in your head for days. Rating: Yes — Brendan Greene-Walsh.

I’m writing a column based on Joe Vavak’s last show under the moniker of Someday Never — it was Saturday night at O’Leaver’s — which is why I didn’t post a live review of it yesterday. I realized after I started writing the column, though, that I wasn’t going to get too much into the performances because I was too busy lauding Joe as this great, flawed humanitarian who’s lost his vision only to find another…

So, how were the bands? I missed Rent Money Big because I was busy watching the Philadelphia Eagles blow it. I got there just in time for Ideal Cleaners. It was jam-packed. Yes, a lot of people there were Joe’s friends on hand to wish him well, but the bands were the major draw (sorry Joe). Ideal Cleaners is quickly gathering a substantial fan base in Omaha for their rugged brand of post-punk. For whatever reason, they remind me of Bad Religion, Jesu and Fugazi these days, though their music only barely resembles those bands. I think it’s time for a new record (or a rediscovery of their old ones). Along with Ladyfinger and The Stay Awake, they’re my favorite local hard-rock heroes.

Race for Titles was the perfect band to headline a show that honors one of the scene’s originators. They’ve been around about as long as Vavak has been putting on shows. And just like Joe, style and soundwise they haven’t changed much, though drummer Matt Baum (wearing a pair of red headphones) sure beats that old drum machine they used to have. If there’s an evolution in their sound, it’s in the layering. When I saw these guys last April at Sokol, they seemed more stripped down and raw. Last night they sounded like a well-lacquered machine, glistening under layers of guitars. Their weakness (to me) has always been their lack of sonic diversity, especially in the vocal lines, which act more as an additional layer of sound than as a communication tool — who knows what their songs are about. I doubt they care if anyone knows. They lock into a trance-like groove and hope the crowd hangs on for the ride. What is the future of this band? Are they recording again? Do they plan on touring? No idea. I do know that they have a serious fan base — clearly they were the central draw of the evening (sorry Joe).

Look for the Someday Never column online Thursday. Wednesday I’ll be posting an interview with Asobi Seksu, who are opening for Appleseed Cast Jan. 22.

Finally — I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again — you’ll never have a better chance of winning a copy of the Lazy-i Best of… Compilation CD than you have this year. Despite the fact that readership has never been higher, the fewest number of people have entered the annual drawing. That means the odds are in your favor. This year’s disc includes tracks by Yo La Tengo, Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men, Scissor Sisters, Junior Boys, Cursive, Cat Power, Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Royskopp, Ladyfinger, The Terminals and more (see the track listing here). All you have to do is e-mail me (tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and you’ll be entered into the drawing. You can’t win if you don’t enter! Deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 17.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

It’s 7 degrees out right now. Why do we subject ourselves to this, this Ice Station Zebra weather? Meanwhile, my friends in sunny LA and south Florida are chuckling to themselves while they walk along the ocean in their shorts...

Anyway, it’s cold outside but it’s a hot weekend for shows (How’s that for a catchy segue?). Tonight at Sokol Underground it’s the Capgun Coup CD release show with Bear Country, Outlaw Con Bandana and Flamboyant Gods. Capgun Coup count Archers of Loaf and Pavement as influences. Yeah, that sounds about right. The track I’m listening to now, “Adorable Doorsteps,” is a cute go-go rocker with lots of people yelping in the background, as if it were recorded during a party in the band’s basement. Bear Country is a 6-piece with a lot of local buzz for their style of acoustic indie featuring male and female lead vocals. You already know about Outlaw Con Bandana. $7, 8 p.m. (Note earlier start time).

Also tonight, over at O’Leaver’s, Midwest Dilemma plays with Paleo and Run On Sentence. $5, 9 p.m. More info here.

Tomorrow night is the grand and glorious goodbye to Someday Never Productions at O’Leaver’s with Race for Titles, Ideal Cleaners and Rent Money Big. The event will likely be the subject of next week’s Lazy-i column. Show up and maybe you’ll end up in print. Considering everything that Joe Vavak has done for the music scene over the past decade, the least you can do is show up and say goodbye. $5, 9:30 p.m.

But if you never liked Joe (and who doesn’t? Just kidding…), there are other options tomorrow night, specifically at The 49’r where Prostitute, Life After Laserdisque and Thunder Power will be playing, starting at around 10 p.m. $5 gets you in.

That’s all I got, but that’s enough for this weekend. I’ll leave you with this new photo of the Slowdown construction project (click here). I figured I’d take a pic before the big snowstorm slides into town this weekend and wreaks havoc on the construction crews who are feverishly trying to button up the site before the real deep freeze moves in. They’ve been lucky with the weather so far, lucky enough to stay on schedule for a summer launch.

Column 109: Odd Bedfellows
The OEAs bring them together.

And so, a week after the occasion of the first-ever Omaha Entertainment Awards, we reflect on its necessity and ask ourselves, “Was it all worth it?”

The night after the OEAs at O’Leaver’s where unlikely-to-be-nominated-though-worthy bands Cloven Path, Kite Pilot and Latitude, Longitude were playing, the topic of conversation was whether there should be music awards at all. The consensus from members of the local punk and indie scenes was that the OEAs were nothing but hype, that the best award any band could possibly receive was to sell their CDs and get people to come to their gigs. In the end, the crystal phallic symbol doesn’t mean jack if your band is playing to crickets in O’Leaver’s or Sokol or Mick’s or any other venue in — or out of — town.

They’re right, of course. It’s impossible to argue against that logic. Award shows are, for the most part, a marketing ploy designed to sell advertising and promote bands that generally already have more than enough press. And you could quickly discard the whole thing as a giant ego-stroke except for one thing: Never in Omaha have I seen such a diverse group of creative people together in one place at one time.

In the lobby of the Holland Center prior to the show, while a Mariachi band played on the steps leading to the auditorium, Mayor Mike Fahey nattered with an elegantly dressed member of the local theater guild, while a few feet away two guys wearing Mexican-style wrestling masks sipped drinks through straws just a few feet from a stately older gentleman in a tux and his wife who faced a guy in jeans wearing a satin bar jacket who was a few feet from two young ladies in gorgeous ball gowns who whispered in the direction of a gaggle of slam poets looking too cool to be there who were a stone’s throw from a 40-ish guy and his pre-teen son who leaned against a wall a few feet from one of the city’s best punk bands who moments earlier stood next to a blues guy from Lincoln who stood in line at the bar next to folks from Tilly and the Wall who were standing next to Mayor Mike Fahey.

Where else would — or could — such a diverse crowd ever be brought together?

One of the flaws of the Omaha music scene is how it segregates itself from itself. Go to a blues show at Shag and you’ll see a completely different crowd than you’d see at an indie show at O’Leaver’s or a play at The Blue Barn or a metal show at Shea Riley’s or a hip-hop show at Sokol or a Dixie Chicks concert at The Qwest Center. We don’t hate each other, we just don’t understand each other very well, nor do we want to. People in this city know what they like — and what they don’t like — and are more than happy to leave it at that. Any effort to at least try to expose people to something alien to their every-day existence is an achievement in my book, even if, afterward, everyone goes back to their private little corners. At least for one night they shared the same auditorium and maybe even heard something that they wouldn’t have heard otherwise.

So, was it worth it? Yeah, even with all the flaws that comes with any first-annual event. It was too long (What awards show isn’t?), the sound wasn’t quite right, some of the theater people left after their awards had been handed out. There was the problem with the music categorization, specifically jazz and R&B/funk, where the winner was one of the evening’s few performers to take home more than one crystal trophy, The Jazzwholes.

The problem, of course, was that The Jazzwholes aren’t exactly known for their jazz, R&B or funk chops. They’re an alt-pop rock band with a horn section that also happens to have one of the largest followings in the city, thanks to regular Sunday night gigs at Shag (and before Shag, The Goofy Foot Lodge). No one’s arguing that The Jazzwholes aren’t a talented bunch of guys, but the best jazz band in Omaha?

The error undermined the entire reason for the evening — to honor the best and brightest of Omaha’s music scene in their respective categories. For the OEAs to grow into a respected platform for recognition, the organizers must find a way to guarantee that it doesn’t happen again. Someone with some music knowledge has to draw a line and throw out bands that don’t belong, or else the whole thing becomes embarrassing both for the misnominated bands and for the Academy who votes for them (of which, I am a member).

Next year, I’m told, this will be fixed, along with the other glitches. In their place will be new ones. But hey, it’s all in good fun, right? Now if we can only get those guys at O’Leaver’s to lighten up, put on a dinner jacket and join the rest of us, at least for one night.

Everything Absent or Distorted (A Love Story), The Soft Civil War (Needlepoint Records)– Plodding grunge may be the most inaccurate, yet to-the-point way to describe this album. This 7-piece comes from Denver with a certain approach to simple songs that makes them sound much more alive and full than one is accustomed to hearing. The song structures are loose and dirty, and somehow melodic. Imagine Snuffalufagus slowly moving down the street, but with a backing band in tow providing theme music for such a ridiculous spectacle. The lyrics are what really caught my attention. “Its too hot for murder/Lets go to the creek instead” was a gem on “Its’ This Way.” An all-too-real picture is created on “Closer Than You Think, Pt.1” with “Monday morning / Give us our razors / Feel like dying / But we’ll just shave and go on.” Rating: Yes — Brendan Greene-Walsh.

Tim Sez: I don’t know about “plodding.” I’ll say this: They know how to play melodic ’90s indie rock, sounding at times like they spent too much time with their Echo and the Bunnymen discs (when they weren’t playing their Pixies records). They’ve been compared to Elephant Six bands, and I can hear it, especially Neutral Milk Hotel on the songs that sport the most intricate arrangements (“Burial of Yards and Docks,” “Buried in Guitar”) which feature the occasional horn part. Other than that, they don’t have that sense of nostalgia that characterizes most other Elephant Six bands (and which I generally don’t like) They’re at their best when they leave their earnestness locked up and let the groove take over. Rating: Yes.

American Watercolor Movement, It Takes Fifteen to Tango in My Book, What Book Do You Read? (self-released) — A strong beat keeps a song moving, pulsating and gyrating. But a strong beat can only carry you so far. A song (an album, more so) needs substance. It needs layers. It needs to be interesting. There must be something that can captivate the attention of the listener. This album fell flat. The “layers” turned to mud in the mix. The focus of the songs became lost. The addition of vocals that switched between singing and spoken word were a mystery. I had no idea what the goal of this album was. If it was techno beats with weirdness surrounding it, then success is theirs. Unfortunately, I cannot allow myself to believe that that was their aim. Rating: No. — Brendan Greene-Walsh

Tim Sez: Clearly an homage to Eno, these guys also throw in a little Prodigy and PiL to their brand of electronic proto-punk dance music. The CD’s experience is summed up on the opening tracks. The title, when frontman Jason Cieradowski does an earnest speak-talk shtick, is pure PiL Johnny Rotten. When he actually sings, like on “Flowers for Catalan,” he sounds like Peter Gabriel backed by guitars and rhythms lifted off early Gabriel records. Sound good? Then you might really dig this disc, and in fact, I liked it enough to recommend it even with its considerable drawbacks — a little of Cieradowski’s whimpering goes a long way and becomes tedious as early as the fourth track. And then there’s the muddy mix. Still, interesting programming and smart dance rhythms derived from Eno make it worth a spin. Rating: Yes.

Emily: Really Charles, people will think–
Charles Foster Kane: –what I tell them to think.

• At The Brothers, it’s Now Archimedes with one other band, whose name escapes me. Thornton says his band will play first and should get started after 10.
• Right across the street, at 3821 Farnam to be exact, Bombardment Society is playing a benefit gig with Outlaw Con Bandana and Oui Bandits (details here).
• While, over at The 49’r, it’s OEA nominee Little Brazil with No Blood Orphan.

A few random thoughts about last night’s Omaha Entertainment Awards at the Holland Center…

I was both pleasantly surprised and impressed at the turn-out (even though no one I spoke with actually paid for a ticket). We showed up at the VIP pre-party at the downtown library just after 6 p.m. and found the place packed to the gills with one of the most odd, eclectic mixes of people I’ve seen at any local event, everyone decked out in suits, sport jackets, tuxes and dresses, with a few rebels exceptions in jeans and the usual Midwestern rock gear.

When we got to the Holland at 7, the place, again, was jammed. My first impression: Somehow, some way, John Heaston — the main guy behind the award show after organizer Tony Lange flew the coop — pulled it off. High-brow, storied public figures and dignitaries stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the bar line with the cream of the Omaha and Lincoln music scenes. When was the last time that happened?

The program started at the stroke of 7:30 — on time thanks to television. And for the first 45 minutes — maybe an hour — I felt like I was at a real, big-time gala awards show. Despite the usual technical glitches and miscues (the TelePromTer was either broken or poorly operated) the presenters were professional, the voice-over announcer was first-class and the stage direction kept things rolling along. Spotlights, music, glam.

The entire first half of the show — the better-produced, better-run half — was dedicated solely to theater awards. Unfortunately, I know nothing about local theater, having not seen a stage play since Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Blue Barn a couple years ago. So while the awards were classy and the acceptance speeches perfectly sincere, I had no idea who I was being honored, nor did I care.

Conversely, those on hand for the theater awards obviously did not care about the live music awards that would follow, because after the theater portion of the program concluded, about half the audience got up and left. The live music awards got Omaha’d. Note to Heaston for next year’s show: Stagger the categories between theater and live music throughout the entire evening, forcing everyone to sit tight ’til the end.

I guess I can’t entirely blame the theater folks for leaving early. Just like a real awards show, after about two hours the whole thing became tedious and boring, and I, too, just wanted to get the awards awarded and go home. You can’t really expect people to sit tight for three and a half hours. If Heaston keeps this format, next year I shall arrive at around 9 p.m.

Of the music performances, the stand-outs were Little Brazil, who unveiled a new song from their upcoming album that blew up the stage (literally having blown out an amp during the rehearsals the day before). All LB band members wore shirt and ties, except frontman Landon Hedges, who wore his uniform-like white underwear T-shirt and black jeans — the same get-up you’ll see him in on any given night at O’Leaver’s. The other stand-out was the entry (and winner) for the night’s best cover band honor, Acoustic Groove. On the whole, half the acts were pretty good, the other half was real amateur-hour fodder, but that’s what you get when you put a show like his together. I wasn’t surprised to find, when I stepped out during the Jazzwholes song, that the lobby filled with people drinking, chatting, smoking outside, missing the entire performance.

Anyway, as far as the awards themselves, I batted around .500 on my guesses in yesterday’s blog. Here are last night’s winners:

Adult Contemporary: Sarah Benck. The Robbers got left off the nomination announcement and the graphic used on the huge big screen over the stage. They came up and accepted the award with Sarah anyway.

Alternative Indie: Bright Eyes, much to the consternation of the presenters. Conor Oberst came on stage (a surprise in itself that he even showed up) and thanked Satan, “who’s responsible for all of this.” This was a response to a previous winner’s acceptance speech, which thanked God for the same reason. Oberst also took a moment to recognize the performers who are just getting started, the ones playing two-dollar shows or the kids with the demo CDs. It was the nice sentiment.

Bluegrass Country: Forty Twenty. I don’t know if the music they play could be categorized as bluegrass, but regardless, I like what they do.

Blues: Kris Lager Band. The crowd seemed pleased.

Classical/Symphony: The Omaha Symphony. Nice acceptance speech. Where was Thom Wilkins?

Coverband: Acoustic Groove. They thanked their rhythm section.

Folk Americana Roots: The surprise winner, to me anyway, was Anonymous American. I knew Whipkey and Co. were going to snag at least one award last night. I didn’t think it would be this one, since their music isn’t folkie, rootsie or Amiericana-y. Whipkey beseeched people to go to more shows.

Gospel: Heidi Joy. Eek. She said she was shocked. She should be. She also announced that The Jazzwholes are her backing band, which explains a lot.

Hard Rock/Metal: Venaculas. Again, the presenters sounded disappointed when they read the name.

Hip-Hop/Rap: Another big surprise, the award went to a bleach-blond-headed Buck Bowen. Bowen seemed rather out of it when he accepted his award, saying that it should have gone to Surreal for everything he’s done for the scene. He then went on to mumble through a list of names before being cut off by the music and then forcibly removed from the stage. (Seriously).

Jazz: In one of the more bizarre wins of the evening, The Jazzwholes took the prize, even though the band all but admitted in their acceptance speech that they don’t play jazz music, and their performance on the stage earlier that evening underscored their sentiment. The win wasn’t the Jazzwholes fault, it was the Academy’s fault, and it was an embarrassment to them and the OEAs, especially when you consider that jazz legend Luigi Waits was in the house and hadn’t even been nominated.

Live Music Event: Bright Eyes in Memorial Park. Oberst accepted the award saying, “You’re off to a good start…” even though it came at Hour Three of the shows. It would be the last we would Conor on stage that evening.

Punk: Straight Outta Jr. High.

R&B/Funk: The Jazzwholes. Ironic, again, when you consider that they also don’t play R&B or funk.

Rock: Perhaps the most surprising win of the evening, the award went to Grasshopper Takeover, a band that hasn’t produced an original album in a few years. Grubb and Co. graciously accepted, saying something like “I didn’t think anyone gave a shit about us anymore…”

Slam Poetry: Johnny Tornado

Techno/Electronic (DJ Category): Brent Crampton

Traditional/Indigenous: Ellis Island

In the academy-chosen categories, the winners were:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Luigi Waits. Waits, I’m told, had to fly in from Atlanta to accept the award. He seemed genuinely touched by the recognition.

New Artist of the Year: Ladyfinger. Accepting the award, front man Chris Machmuller said, “I’m happy I wore my award cardigan.” Nice.

Best Musical Ambassador: The Omaha Blues Society’s Terry O’Hallaron.

Artist of the Year: Bright Eyes. By this time in the evening, Oberst apparently had tired of going on stage to accept awards, and who can blame him? No one seemed to mind that he wasn’t there, though. I saw him afterward in the hallway carrying around his hardware.

Album of the Year: Cursive’s Happy Hollow. Tim Kasher and Matt Maginn graciously accepted the award.

So in retrospect, was the event a success? It’s hard to argue that it wasn’t. People seemed to be having a good time, everyone I talked to was impressed (initially) with how everything was handled. I didn’t hang around to ask anyone their impressions after the show, as all I wanted to do was get home and get out of my shirt and tie.

The biggest flaw from the awards standpoint was in the categorization of bands. Again, it wasn’t The Jazzwholes’ fault that they got nominated — and then won — an award in the jazz category (and the R&B category for that matter). The nomination process itself is flawed. While public input is the right thing to do, it shouldn’t matter if 2,000 people write in to nominate Indigenous — a blues-rock band from South Dakota — in the Indigenous music category. Someone with some knowledge has to draw a line and throw out bands that don’t belong or else the whole thing becomes embarrassing both for the nominated band and the award process. In the end, Indigenous was thrown out. Unfortunately, a number of miscategorized bands were overlooked.

As for the program, next year they should only have performers, musicians, actors and actresses present awards — not media members, business owners and sponsors. One presenter was the guy who runs a local formalwear shop — what does that say about the award he’s presenting? It makes the whole thing look cheap, commercial, shoddy.

See you next year.

Tonight at O’Leaver’s, perhaps one of Omaha’s biggest buzz bands, Cloven Path, opens a show for Latitude Longitude and Kite Pilot. $5, 9:30 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

The Omaha Entertainment Awards presentation is tonight at The Holland Center. If you can’t afford a ticket, you can watch along at home (if you have Cox digital cable) by tuning into Cox 248. In the interest if full disclosure, as an academy member, here is who I voted for in each category, along with who I think will win:

Adult Contemporary: Singer-songwriter Scott Severin got my vote. Of all the candidates, he reaches the furthest in his music and lyrics. The winner, though, will be Sarah Benck, who has the largest following among the nominees.

Alternative Indie: With the nomination timeframe going all the way back to January 2005, I had to vote for Bright Eyes, whose dual releases in January 2005 were probably the best records released out of Omaha in the past two years. The rest of the academy will agree.

Bluegrass Country: Of the nominees, South Paw Bluegrass band is probably the closest to what the genre should represent. The academy will likely agree (if they listened to all the nominees’ music).

Blues: I consider blues bands to be defacto cover bands, and taking that approach, it’s impossible for me to not vote for Blue House. The award, however, will go to Sarah Benck, again based on sheer popularity.

Classical/Symphony: The Omaha Symphony is top of the list. The academy will agree.

Coverband: A category that shouldn’t be included and likely won’t be next year, I didn’t cast a vote having not seen/heard any of the nominees. The winner will be Acoustic Groove.

Folk Americana Roots: Folk to me is either interpreting classic/traditional folk songs by Guthrie, Dylan and others, or writing songs in the folk style. Since none of the candidates perform traditionals, my vote goes to the best songwriter of the bunch, Simon Joyner. The academy will select Charlie Burton, who is another local hero and pals with a lot of the academy members.

Gospel: Again, I didn’t vote here (We were instructed not to vote if we didn’t know what we were voting for). The winner will be Heidi Joy, who I think is one of the worst performers in the area, but who has the largest following among the candidates.

Hard Rock/Metal: Just based on momentum, I had to vote for Stigmata, who have solid backing from The River and from live shows (and they played the OEA show at Shag). The winner will be Venaculas, however, based on their longevity in the scene.

Hip-Hop/Rap: Buck Bowen is the only one that really speaks in a voice that represents the world I live in. Is Omaha a gangsta haven? Hardly. The winner, however, will be Surreal the MC, as an acknowledgment of everything he’s done for the local music scene.

Jazz: Again, a no-vote for me. I would have voted for Luigi Waits had he been nominated. Steve Raybine will likely win as he’s the closest of all the nominees to playing real jazz.

Live Music Event: Bright Eyes in Memorial was the most important of the five nominees. The winner will be the Jazzwholes Whole-a-ween show.

Punk: None of the nominees are punk bands. That said, I voted for JV Allstars. The winner, however, will be Straight Outta’ Jr. High based on their exposure on The River.

R&B/Funk: Satchel Grande, which isn’t really an R&B band, still got my vote. The winner will be The Jazzwholes.

Rock: For pure beer-bottle rock, you can’t beat Anonymous American. The rest of the academy will agree.

Slam Poetry: I have no idea why this is a category. Slam Poetry is like a sad, sick combination of amateur poetry and stand-up comedy. Horrible. No vote. No idea who’ll win.

Techno/Electronic (DJ Category): Having heard none of the nominees, I didn’t vote. No idea who will win.

Traditional / Indigenous: Again, I did not vote. The winner will be Mariachi y Luna based on the exotic quality of their name.

Finally, the six academy-only categories. There was no list of nominees, we were instructed to give our top two or three in each category. Here’s what I put down:

Best Live Music Event of the Year: 1. Bright Eyes in the park, 2. Whole-a-ween.

New Artist of the Year: 1. Ladyfinger, 2. The Terminals, 3. Eagle*Seagull

Best Musical Ambassador: 1. Conor Oberst, 2. Tim Kasher, 3. Thomas Wilkins

Artist of the Year: 1. Bright Eyes, 2. Cursive, 3. Tilly and the Wall

Album of the Year: 1. Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning; 2. Cursive, Happy Hollow; 3. Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men, Skeleton Blues.

Lifetime Achievement Award: 1. Preston Love, 2. Luigi Waits

See you at the show.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Here it is, bigger and better than ever — my annual music predictions for the coming year (read it here). The story is split in two in this week’s issue of The Reader, with the “look-back” segment used for this week’s column. They’re joined as one here, for your convenience. Someone once asked me how many of these predictions are pure shot-in-the-dark guesses, how many are rumors and how many do I already know as a fact will happen. The answer: There’s a little truth to everything, either based on what I know or my intuition (which is probably more accurate than my general reporting). Regardless, it’s all done in fun… isn’t it? Take a look.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—