by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I did not go to Retribution Gospel Choir last night at The Waiting Room. And judging by a post on David Leibowitz’s Facebook wall (Dave’s the guy behind New Day Rising — the only must-hear indie-rock music show on local broadcast radio (89.7 FM every friggin’ Sunday night at 9 p.m. DO NOT MISS IT)) no one else was, either. Dave said there was only six people there. Drag. If you have to blame something, I point to the band’s name. In all honesty, I didn’t know RGC was Alan Sparhawk from Low until I looked up the band over my lunch hour yesterday while putting together the daily blog post. Had they promoted themselves as Low or Low’s Alan Sparhawk or The Alan Sparhawk Project they might have drawn considerably more than six people. But when people see Retribution Gospel Choir, well, they just assume that it’s a local gospel choir playing a weird benefit gig at TWR, and who wants to see that?

Anyway…

There will be a much larger crowd at The Waiting Room tonight for Local Natives. The LA band’s debut, Gorilla Manor, was released on Frenchkiss Records way back in February and received an 8.4 by Pitchfork and 80 out of 100 at albumoftheyear.org (where I’ve been finding composite ratings lately). The band and the album have that whole Vampire Weekend/Tokyo Police Club indie pop-rock sound that the kids love these days — you know what I’m talking about. I think it’s interesting that they compare themselves to CSNY and Zombies — two bands they have nothing in common with. I have heard them compared to Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear, which I also think is a stretch considering the overal lethargic quality of those bands’ music. Find out for yourself tonight. Opening is Merge Records artist The Love Language and Union Line. $13, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, experimental instrumental duo El Ten Eleven (Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty) are playing at Slowdown Jr. with Dosh and Baths. $8, 9 p.m.

And Lincoln Calling is going strong. See the full line-up at lincolncalling.com. The highlights from my lofty perch 50 miles north of “O” Street are all at 12th St. Pub, where it’s Once a Pawn, Honeybee, Bear Country and Pharmacy Spirits are playing, while The Photo Atlas is playing at Duffy’s at 11 and Ted Stevens and the Filter Kings are at The Zoo Bar at 10 and Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies are at The Bourbon at 9. Better get yourself a wristband so you can move around.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 290: Lincoln Calling, Pt. 7

Nebraska’s biggest music festival returns.

For this week’s column, I simply could have listed the bands that are playing at this year’s Lincoln Calling Festival — along with their time slots — and been done with it. What else do you need to get your asses to Lincoln this weekend?

Instead, I’m telling you to use that magic box on your desk and go to lincolncalling.com — a website that lists all the particulars in a well-organized, well-designed online experience that will do a better job than I ever could (especially with my 900-word limit).

I could have just left it there, but you know me. I had to get in touch with the festival’s Svengali mastermind, Jeremy Buckley, who’s been pulling this musical rabbit out of his hat since the first annual event in 2004.  Back then, LC was 25 bands and a handful of bars. Today it comprises 100+ acts in 11 venues over five days. It’s mammoth.

I interrupted Buckley’s usual Sunday afternoon multi-screen pro football orgy to ask a few questions about the fest. Chief among them: What’s different this year? He said it came down to three things: 1) DJs, 2) Sponsors, 3) More (and better) out-of-town bands.

Points one and two came courtesy of Spencer Munson — a.k.a. DJ Spence, who readers may know from Gunk nights at The Waiting Room. Buckley said Spence helped pull together the nearly 30 DJs who will be playing at four clubs throughout the festival.

“(DJ’s) are an additional aspect that I didn’t focus on before,” Buckley said, confessing that when it comes to clubbing, he’s one of those guys who would rather watch than do. “I don’t go to too many dance clubs, but I have a lot of friends who do and like dancing. I sometimes go with them and sit at the table, drink my High Life and watch the coats, backpacks and purses.”

Despite his lack of love for the dance floor, Buckley said he recognizes that Lincoln has a strong culture for electronic music. That’s why he enlisted Spence to find the top talent from the region.

But that’s not all Spence did. “When he and I began putting this together last spring, I told him my long-term wish was to find someone reliable enough to be our marketing guru and help find sponsors. I don’t have the personality to sell product.” Buckley said. “Spence said, ‘Let me give it a shot.'”

Spence found Scion (which is part of Toyota Corporation), who plunked down $3,700 as a primary sponsor, along with the Downtown Lincoln Association and The Young Professionals Group – Lincoln, both of which threw in $1,000. Add a handful of food and hotel sponsors, and the total came to around $6,000 in sponsorships.

“With that money we built a decent website (lincolncalling.com), and paid a film crew to shoot a video of the event that we can send to agents and bands next year to get them to sign on,” Buckley said.

The dough also helped cover guarantees for larger out-of-town bands, such as The Hood Internet, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, The Love Language, Those Darlins and Sea Wolf. “I couldn’t have paid guarantees back when I was taking the risks all by myself,” Buckley said. “Now we can pay (those bands) what they need. The sponsors make a huge difference.”

The trade-off for all that cash is putting the sponsors’ logos on the website, posters, T-shirts and other promotional materials. “Since Scion is the main sponsor, we’ll have industry swag at each venue,” Buckley said, adding that he hasn’t had anyone call him a sell-out for taking corporate cash. “It was a step that was necessary for bringing in national talent that’s played on Sirius and MTV2.”

In addition to the larger bands, Buckley said he’s excited about the out-of-state acts that he specifically wooed to take part in the event, such as Lawrence’s Cowboy Indian Bear, Denver’s The Photo Atlas, and Deerpeople — a Stillwater, Oklahoma band that Buckley says “plays fun pop with disturbing lyrics.”

Deerpeople are playing at Duffy’s Friday night along with a reunion of classic Lincoln band Pablo’s Triangle, whose members included Matt Focht and Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur, and Jonathan Hischke, who’s been on tour with Broken Bells. “The Pablo’s Triangle reunion is a huge coup that brings together old-school Lincoln folks and kids who know about Broken Bells,” Buckley said.

That show, which also includes bands Shipbuilding Co. and Down with the Ship, is only $5. In fact, each show is individually priced for those who don’t want to wander around “O” Street all night long.

And just like in years’ past, every band that takes part in Lincoln Calling will go home with some cash in their pockets — something that makes this multi-day festival unique. Buckley said bands get their split after paying the sound guy, covering the promo costs and paying he and his partners their 15 percent cut.

This year, advertising costs topped $2,000 — it’s all part of trying to keep the festival growing. But with 100+ bands and 11 venues, does Lincoln Calling really have room to grow?

After seven years of putting it together, Buckley says he still doesn’t know. “We haven’t reached its limit, but we’ll never get 80,000 people in Lincoln over the course of a weekend, other than for football.”

Famous last words.

* * *

Retribution Gospel Choir, who’s  performing tonight at The Waiting Room, doesn’t play gospel music and isn’t a choir. Who it is, however, may surprise you. The trio is fronted by Alan Sparhawk, who you’ll remember as the frontman of indie-rock monsters Low — yes, that Low. RGC released their latest album, 2, on Sub Pop this past January, and it roars. If you, like me, have missed seeing Low, here’s your fix. Opening is DJ M Bowen. $10, 9 p.m.

Also tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s Paleo a.k.a. singer/songwriter David Andrew Strackany. Joining him is Zach LaGrou and Simon Joyner & The Parachutes. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Fortnight returns to Fabulous O’Leaver’s opening a show with headliners Bad Country and Nashville band Milktooth. $5, 9:30 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In case you missed it, our friends at Pitchfork reviewed the new Azure Ray disc, Drawing Down the Moon, a couple days ago, giving it a slightly-above-mediocre 6.5 rating. Their summary/closing graph: “The upside is that it sounds warmly familiar, a reminder of why we missed them in the first place, but the downside is that the album gives very few indications of what Fink and Taylor have learned during their hiatus– the new tricks they’ve picked up from their various projects and collaborations, the ways their individual outlooks might have changed, and why they got back together at all.”

You can read the full review here, and my take on the album is online here.

Speaking of Saddle Creek releases, the new solo disc by Two Gallants’ frontman Adam Haworth Stephens, We Live on Cliffs, dropped today. You can also read my take of that disc here.

* * *

It’s a loaded night of music tonight featuring bands that will be traveling to Lincoln tomorrow night for Lincoln Calling.

At the Waiting Room it’s Sea Wolf playing an acoustic set. Joining him is Sara Cahoone and Patrick Park. $12, 9 p.m.

Down at Slowdown it’s Those Darlins with Turbo Fruits and Dim Light. $8, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, Those Darlins will be playing at Duffy’s with Turbo Fruits, while Sea Wolf/Cahoone/Park will be at The Bourbon Theater. Check out the full Lincoln Calling schedule at lincolncalling.com, and check out my interview/overview on LC in tomorrow’s column.

Meanwhile over at The Barley Street Tavern, it’s noise night with Baby Tears and Nymph. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Serena-Maneesh at The Waiting Room, Sept. 26, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Slowdive. Ride. My Bloody Valentine. I never saw any of them perform live on stage. I can only imagine how those godfathers of shoegaze would have sounded during their early-’90s heyday. But after last night’s Serena-Maneesh show, I think I might have a little better idea.

As I bought my usual jar of Rolling Rock, I was asked by the kindly barkeep if I’d brought my earplugs. “Why, yes,” I said. “Why ever do you ask?” Because, he replied, S-M’s soundcheck was the loudest he’d ever heard in The Waiting Room, and he’s been there since the doors first swung open in 2007.

I had plenty of time to ponder his warning as S-M didn’t hit the stage until 9:45. I don’t know if it was the loudest show I’ve ever heard at TWR (actually, that distinction goes to The Faint’s first show there, which I think cracked a few ribs), but it was still pretty freakin’ loud, not so much in a deep-bass boom, but a shattered-glass sort of way. It was a relentless, ferocious roar of which there was no escaping, driven by two guitars, a keyboard, drums and a lovely 7-foot-tall blond bass player, who I couldn’t actually hear but could clearly see.

Fronting the band was Emil Nikolaisen, who, wearing a headband and hooded jacket, looked like an elf from The Lord of the Rings. No elf ever played guitar like Emil, however, who spent most of the 45-minute set torturing his axe along with a second guitarist who during one song, slammed the strings and held his guitar out in front of him as if it were a dead fox that he just trapped and was about to skin. There was a slightly frightening, almost tribal air about the entire band.

Musically, their style shifted between a morphine drip, slow and slurred and hazy, to an amphetamine rage. In either case, the drums cut through the layers of heavenly sound and were the centerpoint that kept the music from becoming completely unhinged — always sharp, sometimes rapidfire, always a necessary guidepost through the malaise.

Their live set was much more violent and dissonant than their recordings, much more of an adrenalin release, and every second, mesmerizing.

It was nearly 11 before Wovenhand came on stage. Looking like a ’70s-era Howard Hessman in his Panama-ish hat and mustache, frontman David Eugene Edwards unfurled a couple mesmerizing minor-key dirges before I had to head home (deadlines!).

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., Darren Keen’s breakbeat/noise/drum & bass project Bad Speler headlines his monthly weeknight concert series called Good Speakers. Along with Bad Speler on tonight’s bill: Grab Ass and Bassthoven. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Land of Talk at Slowdown Jr., Sept. 23, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There was a modest, loving and patient crowd at Slowdown Jr. last night for Land of Talk. Modest, as in fewer than 100 people. Loving, as in the response to every one of their songs. Patient, as in putting up with long delays. Actually, not everyone was patient…

I showed up in time to catch the very tail-end of Conduits, just long enough to snap a picture and hear Jenna Morrison stretch out one final heart-breaking note over a closing crescendo. Along with So-So Sailors, this is the newest local band to keep an eye on.

Suuns were amazing. The Montreal combo killed on a set of very modern, very well-crafted rock songs that cleverly used electronic noises along with the usual guitar/bass/drums set-up to create a sound with an entirely new sense of urgency. Both edgy and trippy, the highlight was closer “Sweet Nothing,” an odyssey that grew from synth noise, sirens and a simple drum beat to a shredding conclusion before receding to nothing.

Suuns would eventually come back as the backing band for Land of Talk. I say “eventually,” because the set was delayed for more than a half-hour while frontwoman Lizzie Powell searched for a missing bag (or so she said from stage). And while the wait was worth it, this was my third night in a row of shows, each of which was followed the next morning by a 6 a.m. wake-up call. In other words, I was running out of gas, and no amount of Powell sweetness was going to keep me awake much longer.

Once she got the ball rolling, Powell cranked out a set of the best from her latest album. On recordings, Land of Talk is a great pop band with catchy songs reminiscent of bands like The Sundays, Cranberries, even Fleetwood Mac. But with Suuns added, everything got a little darker, a little grittier, a little more on edge. It’s territory that I’d love to hear Powell and Co. continue to explore. Unfortunately, about a half-hour into their set, Powell began fiddling with her Gibson SG between songs, tuning and retuning, then snapping on a capo than retuning again. This went on for about five minutes, and then she asked the audience if someone would give her a new guitar. Silence. “I take that as a ‘no,'” she said, while she continued fiddling with the tuning knobs. Finally she gave up, and grabbed another SG from a rack of guitars, strapped it on, and began the whole process again. I looked at my watch, noticed it was past 12:30, and headed to the door with my eyes half closed…

* * *

It’s been a helluva week for shows, and I have to tell ya, I’m exhausted. But the fun ain’t over yet. Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s the return of Little Brazil. A re-energized, recently relocated (back to Omaha from San D.) and just-married Landon Hedges is back tonight with the rest of the miscreants and a slew of new songs. Opening is the red-hot So-So Sailors and Honey & Darling. $6, 9 p.m. It could be a madhouse.

Tomorrow night, David Dondero returns to The Waiting Room with Darren Hanlon. $8 adv./$10 DOS. Show starts at 9.

And, of course, Sunday is Wovenhand (ex-16 Horsepower) with amazing opening band  Serena-Maneesh.  $12, 9 p.m.

When am I going to get some  sleep?

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Serena-Maneesh

Serena-Maneesh: From the Abyss

Serena-Maneesh uncovers layers of sound.

Norwegian noise-pop band Serena-Maneesh dug deep for its latest album, literally.

For Serena-Maneesh 2: Abyss in B Minor, released this past March on 4AD Records, mastermind Emil Nikolaisen recorded tracks in a cave located outside of Oslo, Norway.

“It was an interesting journey, at times rough, at times inspiring,” said Nikolaisen via cell during a sound check at a concert hall in Harleem, The Netherlands, where the band performed last Sunday night. “I wanted to put myself and my collaborators in an interesting new spot with new sounds and find new universes where there were no preconceptions of any kind, like a little kid trying to find new spaces in the world to discover.”

But don’t go listening to the album expecting echoing, cavernous noises. Instead, Serena-Maneesh music is an odyssey of beats and dense, layered noise that covers — and then slowly uncovers — melody upon melody. There are moments on the nearly 8-minute opening track, “Ayisha Abyss,” where the intensity of sound is so overwhelming that you’ll feel like you’re stumbling through utter darkness, finding your way by touching the wall with your fingertips, lost in a maze of noise and whispers.

Even the album’s poppier moments, like the soaring “I Just Want to See Your Face,” glisten through layers of guitar sheen, snare drum and cacophony. What you’ll hear the first time through isn’t necessary what you’re going to hear the next time you listen, and that’s just the way Nikolaisen wants it.

“It’s like when you hear a band next door in the basement or behind walls — when you open the door and enter the room, the music reveals itself in a more… boring way,” he said. “You thought it was more mystical or intriguing when you didn’t hear it so clearly. I try to apply that principal to what I’m doing — so that the more you zoom in, the more the mysteries of the chords and the overtones and the new harmonies appear.”

Serena-Maneesh, Serena-Maneesh 2: Abyss in B Minor (4AD Records)

The band’s style of revealing melody beneath countless layers of noise often brings comparisons to shoe-gaze masters My Bloody Valentine. Nikolaisen acknowledged that he loves MBV frontman Kevin Shields’ pop songs. “I grew up on a lot of stuff that’s clearly in the music that I’ve been pushing,” Nikolaisen said. “There was a time when no one was talking about My Bloody Valentine and these bands, and we were doing it. And suddenly, there’s a lot of these types of bands popping up here and there.”

But there’s more to Serena-Maneesh’s music than MBV comparisons. Nikolaisen said that through his music, he’s trying to find a place where “symphony and Stooges meet.”

“On one side, I love rock, and on the other side, I love symphonies,” he said. “If you can integrate the mysterious, subconscious sounds of strings into something that’s more immediate, that’s a really valuable thing. The idea is that the 10th time you hear it, you still feel like you’re on an interesting journey, you’re still hearing new sounds and (discovering) things that are not exposed right away. That’s the journey that I’ve spent many years of my life trying to refine.”

Joining him on that journey has been a number of collaborators, including American indie icon Sufjan Stevens, who played vibraphone, flute and piano on the new album. “I get sick of myself and my own ideas,” Nikolaisen said about his collaborations. “You might be able to play everything yourself, but I’m depending on other people for perspective — different souls gathering on many different levels.”

And while Serena-Maneesh has toured Europe and Australia with bands that include Oasis, Nine Inch Nails and The Dandy Warhols, Nikolaisen said Nebraska has an exotic quality of its own. “To us, Nebraska is extremely exotic,” he said. “I have these portraits in my mind of Nebraska that I’ve seen from childhood. I wonder if it’s translatable to the people there. Are they really any different from iconic New York or European minds, or are they fully redneck or fully California sunshine?”

He’ll find out next Sunday when his five-piece band rolls into The Waiting Room to open for Wovenhand. Nikolaisen said fans should expect them to “push the melodic perspective in a really loud context.”

“(The concert) is almost a physical experience with pristine melodies carved through,” he said. “Our songs need to be translated slightly different than on the recording, so we’re not just repeating or imitating it. It’s really important to give listeners a new perspective on the songs and the story. We keep it elastic in a way that’s really meant for the moment, and try to portray something different every night.”

Serena-Maneesh plays with Wovenhand Sunday, Sept. 26, at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $12. For more information, call 402.884.5353 or visit waitingroomlounge.com.

* * *

Menomena at The Waiting Room, 09/22/10.

Suckers last night at The Waiting Room: There’s just something about Frenchkiss bands. They’re always entertaining. And they all seem to have a head spazz that anchors the onstage antics, provides the energy and gives the audience something to look at while quietly pondering such things as “What’s wrong with that man?” “Are those jerky movements a side-effect to whatever drug he’s taking?” “Is he dangerous?” And so on. The spazz in The Suckers was a headband-wearing beardo on lead guitar and primary vocals who switched between a pained howl and a classic Prince falsetto throughout these hazy, hash-fueled art-damaged tunes that owed a lot to Talking Heads — both early noisy and later dancey Heads. In fact, countering the grinning headband was a stand-up-straight second guitarist whose rigid stance and lilting voice reminded me of David Byrne. The band was filled out by a bass player/percussionist/trumpet player and a drummer/keyboardist (like Box Elder’s Goldberg, there were moments when he played both at the same time), and everyone provided harmonies, which was sweet. And when headband guy just plain sung, he was dynamite — he had an earthy growl that felt good to hear, especially on their last song. I will be searching out their music in the very near future.

Suckers at The Waiting Room, 9/22/10.

Menomena had a fourth member with them last night, apparently a guy from the opening band that I missed. They sounded more mainstream — more smoothed out and fluid — then I remembered them from a couple years ago. The entire set seemed less arty, or maybe I was still buzzing from Suckers, who were just flat-out more entertaining (and had better songs). There was nothing wrong with Menomena, they were just kind of boring. That said, they broke through to me every time their lead guy picked up that Bari sax and crushed out a melody. Otherwise, the music was dominated by their rhythm section (quite a contrast from the previous night, when neither band even had a bass player). The bass and drum were huge, which is enough to carry you through the first 10 minutes, but becomes one-dimensional thereafter.

Last night’s crowd was twice the size of the crowd there Tuesday for School of Seven Bells. Maybe 200? The draw might have had something to do with Menomena having the No. 8 album on the college charts, according to the latest issue of Rolling Stone. More likely it might have something to do with being around for so many years. Still, I was told that last night’s Menomena show drew a few less people then when the band came through two years ago — when they didn’t even have a charting album. Add the fact that ground breakers School of Seven Bells drew less than 100 and you have to wonder what’s going on. Maybe it’s the lack of radio. Or maybe Omaha isn’t as hip as it thinks it is.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s Saddle Creek Records band Land of Talk with Montreal band Suuns (formerly Zeroes). Sayeth Chicagoist: “Much like ‘70s bands Can and Suicide, the heartbeat of the Suuns’ music thumps out in pulses of electro-synth that rolled in the dirt with a few Fenders.” Having listened to their new album, I concur. Get there early for Omaha’s own drone adventurists Conduits (Jenna Morrison, Roger Lewis members of Eagle Seagull). $10, 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A capture from Land of Talk's video for "It's Okay."

Column 289: Government Issue

Paying for Land of Talk’s work of art.

It was at least six months ago, maybe longer, that I stumbled across the video for Land of Talk’s song “It’s Okay.” It was being hyped on Saddle Creek Records’ website, the band’s label.

I grew up watching videos. I remember when MTV was fresh and new and actually played music videos. And though the videos being produced in the late ’80s weren’t exactly masterpieces of cinematic art, they were entertaining and fun and a good way to kill time between classes or hangovers. Well, time, as it’s been known to do, marched on, and videos became passé, especially when the MTVs and VH1s of the world set them aside for plague-like reality-TV programming.

So I’d long ago given up on music videos as being anything more than expensive, dopey commercials. And then along came that Land of Talk video. It opens with a close-up of a masked warrior whose long black hair — more of a mane — is floating overhead as if underwater while the song’s opening notes pulse forward on a cushion of beats. From there, the mini film is a pastiche of slow-motion black-and-white images of gravity-defying science-fiction landscapes, crows soaring above floating mountaintops, flaming wolves darting through misty forests, and always at the center, the masked, horse-mounted warrior with hair flowing for miles overhead, creating a star-specked sky cutting through the daylight. Finally, horse and rider come to the edge of the earth and leap slowly into space before igniting into flames. This wasn’t your typical five-guys-and-a-camera-doing-goofy-shit video; it was a visualization of a nature myth set to a modern beat. View it on YouTube here.

The video blew my mind and made me reconsider not only the song but the album and the band. Sure, I knew about Land of Talk; I’d listened to Some Are Lakes, and thought it was a pleasant, soft-pop indie-rock effort, nothing more. But after watching the video, I dug through my iTunes to find the album and listen to it again with fresh ears. And isn’t that what videos are supposed to do? It turns out I wasn’t alone in my admiration. The 5-minute masterpiece was nominated for “Video of the Year” at the 2010 Juno Awards — sort of the Canadian version of The Grammy’s — and was chosen as one of the five best music videos of 2009 by Time Magazine.

So how did a little label like Saddle Creek, and an under-the-radar band like Land of Talk, afford to make such a video? Its combination of live action and special-effects animation must have cost a fortune.

“Going in, I was very disenchanted with the whole idea of making a video,” said Land of Talk frontwoman Lizzie Powell Monday night while driving to Chicago on a tour that will bring them to The Slowdown this Thursday, Sept. 23. She said videos had become “fast-edited, sexy, nonsensical shit. And I was protective of that song and never wanted anyone to interpret it in video form.”

But when “It’s Okay” was chosen by production company WeWereMonkeys for the video treatment, Powell had little choice but to relinquish control to director Davide Di Saro. “It turned out to be one of the best creative relationships I’ve ever had,” she said, adding that when she saw the final product, “We were floored, we were speechless, it brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud to be a part of it.”

So who fronted the cash to make it happen? None other than the Canadian government through the Department of Canadian Heritage and a program called FACTOR, The Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings. Powell said FACTOR and other government-sponsored arts organizations are vital to every independent Canadian band’s’ survival.

“All of these organizations are there to support independent artists,” she said. “Land of Talk would not exist without the government. It’s at the core of our band and most of the Canadian bands touring out there to the states and abroad, from Broken Social Scene to Arcade Fire — any bands that have not signed away their masters abroad.”

Without that government grant money, we probably wouldn’t be seeing Land of Talk Thursday night. “We wouldn’t be able to tour in a 15-passenger van and go out for three weeks,” Powell said, adding that the financial support goes beyond what a record label can provide. “Record labels are screwed now with the transition to the digital age.”

In fact, she doesn’t know how independent bands in the U.S. do it. “What you have in the States is not sustainable,” Powell said. “I feel horrible for bands with talent and skill that can’t get off the ground and get on the road. It’s heartbreaking, and at the same time, it makes me proud that we can afford this, but I’m not completely waxing Canada’s car right now.”

That’s because arts funding has been cut back under Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Powell said. “Harper’s government is spending more money on military than arts and eduction,” she said. “It’s something we’re trying to save and protect; it’s a wonderful thing to defend. Cutting funding for arts and culture is very short-sighted.”

Are you listening State Senator Gwen Howard? Howard plans to introduce a bill in the Unicameral that will suspend Nebraska’s “1% for Art” program. Talk about short-sighted.

Powell said if Land of Talk doesn’t win any more grants, we probably won’t be seeing videos like “It’s Okay” for songs off the band’s new album,Cloak and Cipher. But if it programs like FACTOR are eliminated, we may not see any more bands like Land of Talk.

* * *

School of Seven Bells at The Waiting Room, Sept. 22, 2010.

Last night at The Waiting Room felt inspired by The Cure. In fact, the opening band, Active Child, sounded so Cure-like that I thought Robert Smith was in the house. I only caught their last two songs (I missed out on the harp solo): the first song was a pure Cure rip; but the last one featured falsetto vocals a la The Temper Trap and was… pretty. Still, just keyboards and guitar. No drums, no bass, and they could have used that bottom end.

School of Seven Bells was a four-piece — a guitarist, two women vocalists (one on keys/synth, the other sometimes adding a second guitar), and real live drums supported by electronic beats/handclaps. The music was dreamy dance stuff, with both girls adding angelic harmonies. Their slower numbers again owed a lot to the Cure’s later lush music. By now Disintegration has become a sort of benchmark album for so many bands. Just a few years ago, it seemed everyone sounded like Pavement. Before that, it was the Pixies. But a certain cadre of today’s bands seem enamored with Smiths, The Cure and MBV (see tomorrow’s interview). And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The best moments came when guitarist Benjamin Curtis was allowed to run wild run free. His tone was amazing; it reminded me of every great soaring guitar solo of ’80s post-New Wave/dream rock era. The Deheza sisters sounded like what you’d imagine Azure Ray would sound like fronting a dance band. Unfortunately, too often the vocals were buried in the mix and sounded limp, like an afterthought. As with the opener, the sound would have benefited from more bottom end (no bass again). The 70 or 80 people on hand spent the night huddled by the stage, but few if any danced, except for one girl who spent the evening with her arms in the air. Maybe that’s why they didn’t come out for an encore after their 45 minute set concluded. A pity. I could have listened to them for another hour.

* * *

So the City Council approved the CVS pharmacy. Goodbye, 49r. Here’s the WOWT coverage.

One last thought on CVS… I can say as a resident of the Memorial Park neighborhood, which abuts Dundee, that other than the cursory walk-through upon its grand opening, I will never step foot in that CVS store. Never. And judging from neighbors and other Dundee residents, I won’t be alone. A hollow threat? You don’t know Dundee very well. Very clannish; very grudgeful; some might say angry. This isn’t like when Wal Mart moved in at the expense of The Ranch Bowl, where people vowed to never shop there. I knew that wouldn’t make a stitch of difference. Wal Mart attracts every bit of human trash in every city it inhabits, people who wouldn’t care if Wal Mart ran a white slavery ring out of its appliance department, as long as they could still buy their 10 cubic foot bricks of toilet paper. CVS, well, that’s another matter. It has zero competitive advantage over Walgreens. It won’t even be convenient to access. And now they’ve pissed off the neighborhood in which it resides, a neighborhood that has a long, long memory. I do not wish them luck.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Portland experimental rockers Menomena returns supporting a new album on Barsuk Records. This is what I said about them when they came through way back in June 2007:

Though not nearly as crowded as the prior evening, there was a large draw to see Menomena (pronounced Men-Naw-Men-Naw — like phenomena — not as I stupidly pronounced it, Men-Oh-Meen-uh). The trio featured a drummer/vocalist, keyboard/guitarist/vocalist, and frontman/vocalist/guitarist/saxophone player. Huge sound for a trio. Everything seemed keyed off the drums, which were big and brawny, the kit set up at the front of the stage so all three members could watch each other throughout the set. Trying to think of what they sounded like, the guy next to me said, “Man, it’s like early Peter Gabriel.” Bingo. Especially when the drummer sang the leads, the keyboards were in loop and the frontman added harmonies or played an odd line on baritone sax, it was 1980 Melt-era Gabriel all the way. Other times, when the keyboardist held the vocal spot, Menomena resembled early Death Cab or a more conventional indie band. They were at their best when being unconventional, however, which was most of the evening

Opening the show tonight is Williamsburg band Suckers (Frenchkiss Records) and Tu Fawning. $12, 9 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

An e-mail went out today from Voice Omaha focused on today’s Omaha City Council meeting that will decide the fate of The 49’r and (some say) the fate of Dundee as a residential neighborhood if the council approves plans to build a CVS pharmacy at 49th and Dodge. Voice Omaha is a “non-partisan group dedicated to creating a more inclusive, just, transparent, sustainable and culturally vibrant Omaha by actively supporting leaders, policies and projects that advance this vision.” The CVS pharmacy proposal apparently doesn’t fit into that vision, as the e-mail asked readers to not tolerate a “corporate-run Omaha.” The letter said:

“Not only were the New York developers unwilling to negotiate to create a structure more suitable for urban neighborhoods, they took to veiled threats and coercion to get the job done. One of the more active opponents of the development was contacted by the principal developer and told ‘we know where you work and we know where you live.’ City Council members were told CVS would pull plans for additional sites, including the location at 72nd and Maple already in process, if the 49th and Dodge location is blocked.”

Strong stuff. While I’ve heard rumor of the above-mentioned threats, I haven’t seen it stated in print, until this e-mail arrived. The Voice Omaha letter went on to ask readers to contact Ben Gray, Thomas Mulligan or Franklin Thompson and urge them to vote against CVS. I guess they gave up all hope on changing bitter ol’ Garry Gernandt’s mind (Rosenblatt is dead, Garry, let it go).  You can read the entire letter online at the Voice Omaha website.

My guess is that the two votes — one to reconsider the previous vote and the other to approve the CVS proposal — will be handled as promptly as possible just so the council members can get the issue behind them. After all, there’s no public hearing on the matter, and it’s clear that everyone has made up their minds. Still, if you want to go down there and be seen (but not heard), the circus starts at 2 p.m.

* * *

There are two shows worth your time tonight:

At good ol’ Sokol Underground it’s a benefit concert for the new Hole in downtown Benson. Money raised presumably will go toward fixing up the new location, which is in the basement of the building just east of 60th St. on Maple. Headliner is NYC punk band Star Fucking Hipsters, while the undercard includes Eastern Turkish, Youth and Tear Gas and Bombs Blast. The $10 show starts at 6 p.m. Here’s some more background on the new Hole.

Also tonight, School of Seven Bells plays at The Waiting Room with Active Child. $10, 9 p.m.

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Tomorrow: Land of Talk

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

T’was a quiet weekend. The only music of which that I did partake was watching Cass Brostad record a song at The Waiting Room yesterday afternoon during the all-day recording marathon for the Lash LaRue Pine Ridge Live recording. Cass and her band (a guitarist and drummer) belted out a sweet Americana-flavored folk-rock song again and again and again. I left during the third take. I’m told that was the SOP throughout the day — each act was given a handful of takes, performed from TWR stage, which Jim Homan recorded from the soundboard, while over the bar the Bears and Chiefs games were blaring on the flat panels (with the sound off, of course). I’m looking forward to hearing what got laid down when the CD becomes available this holiday season.

* * *

There’s a good selection of shows going on for a Monday night this evening.

On top of the list is the second sold-out Cursive show at The 49’r. I didn’t go last night and won’t be going tonight, seeing as I was out of town when the tickets went on sale, and they got snapped up rather quickly. Opening tonight’s show is Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. This could be the last chance to pull together the troops before tomorrow’s City Council Meeting, where the fate of the 49’r will be decided. It would be a good time for frontman Tim Kasher to give a fire-and-brimstone speech from the Niner stage, asking folks to show up at the meeting in a dramatic show of force. Will it make a difference? I doubt it, but at this point in the battle, there’s not much left to do. There has been talk of a potential lawsuit against the city, but that would require some cash that no one seems to have. The only other option is to let Councilman Ben Gray know that his actions will result in a sizable, organized effort to campaign against him when it comes time for his re-election. When the wrecking ball finally swings, it’ll be Gray who will be remembered and blamed for aftermath.

Also tonight, LA-based Funk/Soul/Afrobeat band Orgone is playing a show at the Studio Gallery, 4965 Dodge Street. Brought to you by the Loom crew and uber DJ Brent Crampton, it promises to be a sweaty good time. 8 p.m., $7.

And finally, downtown at Slowdown Jr., Olympia-beat hip-hop act Christmas plays with Sam Martin (Capgun Coup) and The Yuppies. $7, 9 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Titus Andronicus at The Waiting Room, Sept. 16, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

How would I describe last night’s Titus Andronicus show at The Waiting Room? I wouldn’t say it was “epic” as much as an attempt at being epic. You could describe Titus’ music as tuneful anthem punk — the songs usually start off as quiet indie ballads that slowly build and explode into pounding riffs, sing-along lyrics and the occasional Celtic-flavored melody. It’s a lot of territory to cover, and that means some pretty long songs. And though I was exhausted at the end of their 90-minute set, I felt like I just saw what could become an important band at a pivotal moment in its history.

They’re still just starting out. While Titus has gotten a lot of national press and attention (including some late-night network chat-show airplay) for a band that’s only been around only a couple years, it’s still very much flying under the radar, judging by last night’s draw of only a couple hundred, many of whom came to see pop opener Free Energy. In fact, at the end of the set, Titus did the ol’ “We’re looking for a place to crash tonight” spiel from stage. They’re definitely living out of the van these days, but judging by last night’s performance, they won’t be for long.

The band is centered on frontman Patrick Stickles, who looks like your typical indie rock beardo but sings like a man trying to exorcise his own evil spirits. He’s both a crooner and a howler, and as I said in yesterday’s feature, has often been compared to Conor Oberst vocally. You could hear some of that last night, and Stickles even acknowledged it about four songs into the set, saying that though the band has never been to Omaha, they’ve been plagued by a certain Omaha singer/songwriter, and then went on to say that his next song’s self-loathing nature (“No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”) would showcase this. And that’s exactly what it did. We got the bray, we got the shrill screams, but they weren’t a central part of his vocal style, and when he flat out sang, he didn’t resemble Oberst at all.

Beyond the countless anthems, the highlight was the ironically named “Theme from ‘Cheers'” (my fave from their latest album) and their cover of The Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare.” Stickles has a great band behind him these days (Titus has gone through a number of personnel changes over the past couple years), but the most entertaining addition is guitarist/violinist Alexi Crawford, whose constant pogoing — bouncing around the stage — was infectious, especially to the crowd up front. She’s the kind of person anyone would want in their band because in addition to being an amazing musician and having a sweet voice, she is intensely “into” every song — you get the sense that she feels like the luckiest person on the face of the earth to be on stage performing with this band.

If Titus has a drawback, it’s in their lack of editing. There were just too many anthems, too many attempts at heroics with each song. One can only stand so many epic closers before they begin to wear on you. It’s hard to fault a band that is just trying to entertain the best way it knows how — and with large portions. But sometimes you have to push yourself away from the table and say “no more” (but this comes from a guy who has zero interest in sitting through one of Springsteen’s legendary four-hour marathon concerts — an hour is more than enough of the Boss). I think Titus is still trying to figure out the right balance, and when they do — both on stage and on their recordings — they’re going to find themselves sleeping in the Hilton downtown instead of on somebody’s floor.

Free Energy at The Waiting Room, Sept. 16, 2010.

Lots o’ hype about opening band Free Energy, and like I said, they were the reason a large portion of the crowd was there. And while I like pop rock as much as the next guy, I just wasn’t feeling it. Sure, they know their way around a good ’70s-style rock song, but frontman Paul Sprangers (following in a long tradition of frontmen who don’t play an instrument on stage) is no Robin Zander or Phil Lynott (or Julian Casablancas, for that matter) when it comes to cock-rock stage presence (if anything, he reminded me of Evan Dando). But that may come with time, along with some better songs. One of their set’s biggest crowd-pleasers was when members of Titus joined them on stage for a cover of Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down” that made me wonder why more people don’t cover that song.

* * *

On the radar screen this weekend

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Appleseed Cast returns. As interesting as the headliner are opening bands Lawrence’s Cowboy Indian Bear and new Omaha shoe-gaze flavored rockers Conduits. $12, 9 p.m.

Down at Slowdown, Ember Schrag returns. Opening is The Chiara Quartet and Noah Sterba & The Cocktails. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, this year’s Nebraska Pop Festival continues (it’s been going on in Benson for the past few days) at PS Collective. On the bill is Lincoln’s Floating Opera along with Omaha’s Thunder Power and a slew of out-of-towners. The full line-up is here. 7 p.m., $5.

Tomorrow night punk superstars/deviants Bloodcow celebrates its 10 year anniversary at The Waiting Room with Filter Kings and Saudi Arabia (The Dinks). $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at O’Leaver’s Saturday night, it’s a Speed! Nebraska mini showcase with Wagon Blasters, Ron Wax (Ron Albertson of Mercy Rule) and Students of Crime. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Then Sunday night, it’s night one of two nights of Cursive at The 49’r. Opening is So-So Sailors. Starts at 9, SOLD OUT.

Finally, at The Waiting Room Sunday night, it’s the Pine Ridge Live Recording session for a benefit CD that will be sold later this year to generate cash for Lash LaRue’s annual Toy Drive. Slated to perform: Kyle Harvey , Jake Bellows, Dustin Clayton, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, Son of 76 , Platte River Rain, Korey Anderson, Vago, Matt Cox, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship, Brad Hoshaw, Josh Dunwoody, LL Dunn, Mariachi San Juan, Cass Brostad, Brad Thompson and more. The show starts at noon and runs ’til closing, and is absolutely free.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.