Been playing depressing Gregorian chant music all morning, getting ready for tonight’s somber event at O’Leaver’s — the goodbye concert for Cloven Path. Details about their departure are sketchy and are probably too controversial to include here (and too dangerous). Needless to say, the band will be vacating the state, possibly forever. Your last chance to see/hear their ritualistic electroni-punk is tonight, that is if O’Leaver’s doesn’t burn to the ground during The Shanks’ opening set. Show of the year nominee? Maybe, maybe… $2, 9:30 p.m. Wear black.

Also tonight, Forty Twenty (winners of the OEA Award for Best Country / Bluegrass band) plays at The Waiting Room with fellow “country/bluegrass band” The Filter Kings. Actually, the odds of ever seeing these guys play at a two-steppin’ beer hall like Bushwacker’s is slim and none. This is bourbon-soaked country punk (but don’t tell the OEA music academy). $7, 9 p.m.

Down the street at Mick’s, Mark Olson of the Jayhawks is playing a set. $10, 9 p.m. While over at The Barley St. it’s Kyle Harvey and Matt Cox for free (9 p.m.), while The Killigans play at The 49’r.

Also tonight, Baby Walrus celebrates the release of its Slumber Party Records debut down at Bemis Underground with Flowers Forever. $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night it’s the PS Collective “Birthday Bash” featuring Mal Madrigal, Coyote Bones and Brimstone Howl. $5, 9 p.m. It’s also an opportunity for those who want their music aired on the new Benson radio station, KIND, to drop off their recordings and fill out a release form. KIND Program Director Mary O’Keefe will be on hand to answer questions. A copy of the release form is available at the PS Collective website. More details here.

This is a good opportunity to clarify a few things I’ve been hearing and reading about KIND over the past couple of weeks. I asked Amy Ryan, station organizer and owner of PS Collective, for an update. She said the station’s non-profit application is currently being pulled together with the help of some folks at the Creighton Law School, while a business plan is being developed with the aid of The Non-Profit of the Midlands and SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and small business.

“After the non-profit has been established, which we are hoping will be within the next two months, we will begin to make contact with the FCC,” Ryan said. “Our attorney will work with this process, as it’s extremely complex. The history of KZUM in Lincoln is a good example of the lengthy process one can go through, as it took them many years to do. We are also considering an AM frequency, which seems to have more availability.”

So, does this mean KIND has decided not to pursue broadcasting at below 100 milliwatts (i.e., the Part 15 approach that wouldn’t require a license)?

“At this time we are beginning with a stream / podcast, while we pursue which route to take with the FCC,” Ryan said. “Although our initial thoughts were KIND FM 99.1, we have not yet made a firm decision on whether this station will be Part 15 (below 100 milliwatts as we first envisioned), LPFM community license, or even an AM license. At this time, all options are on the table, even as we begin to undertake the development of local content.”

It would be a shame if they decide to shit-can the Part 15 station concept. It might have kept things rolling until a more “powerful” solution was developed with the FCC over the next couple of years. In the long run, they’re probably doing the right thing if they want to establish a more permanent foothold in the Benson area. I’m not a big fan of streamcast radio and I never listen to podcasts, but I might start once KIND begins operation.

Also Saturday night, The Pendrakes and Sarah Benck and the Robbers at The Waiting Room, $7, 9 p.m.; and Scott Severin and Paper Owls at The Barley St.

One last thing: I got my copy of Magnet magazine in the mail over lunch. It’s their year-end edition, with their top-20 list (No. 1 was Ween’s La Cucaracha). The pleasant surprise was in the “Hidden Treasures,” which lists the “10 Great Albums Buried in 2007.” Among them, Brimstone Howl’s Guts of Steel. Said Magnet: “…there’s nothing reverent about these Nebraskans’ unholy hot-wiring of the Sonics, the Damned and the Blues Explosion.” Congrats!

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—