InDreama at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 28, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have to tell you, I love going to debut performances by local bands. A few weeks ago it was Beauty in the Beast (Eli Mardock of Eagle Seagull fame’s new band). Last night it was InDreama, a new band fronted by Nik Fackler that includes an all-star cast, as described in yesterday’s blog. Fackler made it very clear before the set that this was, in fact, the first time the band had performed in front of a club audience. It showed. The set was only about 15 minutes long and focused only on four songs that shared the same psychedelic sonic palette. As you can see by the photo, Fackler was going for drama with his lighting — a projector off stage left that shot beams at a hatchet angle augmented with a couple floor strobes, all other stage lighting was turned off. Add billows of stage smoke and you’ve got a recipe for theatrics, and there were plenty.

Fackler and Co. opened with a couple acoustic songs that showed his knowledge of Bookends-era Simon and Garfunkel. Vocally, he sounded nothing like how he did in The Family Radio, instead his voice was deep and resonant and enhanced by effects and it all sounded actually very good, backed with harmonies from Sam Martin (Capgun Coup) and Dereck Higgins (Digital Sex). The lyrics were slight and simple and somewhat affected (I could imagine these songs sung in French).

The set went full-bore when Fackler switched to electric guitar and closed out the micro-set with “Exodus from Reunion, A + STORM > great = End” that turned into a psychedelic soundwash complete with dramatic deep-blue synth effects and rigid, pounding power chords that eventually pulled back with the now-ritualistic kneeling-down-and-fiddling-with-the-foot-pedals noise collage. Very dramatic, very promising, but all-in-all, very short. Missing were their poppier rock numbers that the band has on their iLike page, but then again, I’m not sure how they would have fit into the dark interlude that Fackler was trying to create. So yeah, a work in progress, a dream half-dreamed. But Fackler tells me there’s more to come when he’s back from El Lay and the InDreama CD is released in December, backed by a tour.

Next up were The Prairies, a local garage noise-band that I wasn’t in the mood for but that converted me to their punk rock sound by the end of their set. More than half of their success rides on their incredible drummer, who hits his drums harder than anyone I’ve seen on stage in a long while. Just amazing drumming that drove this hot rod right over the edge, pushed along by some tasty guitar solos.

No Joy at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 28, 2010.

In the third slot was Montreal band No Joy, a buzz-saw shoe-gaze band fronted by two shaggy-haired women with electric guitars and a love for righteous riffs. I was reminded of Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Dinosaur Jr., and a bit of Throwing Muses. Each song was a pounding fuzz factory that chugged along at a hypnotic pace that made you wish they’d go on for 20 more minutes (even though most of the songs sounded pretty much the same). As described in yesterday’s Sentimentalist write-up, they closed out their set and began packing their gear while the amps were still buzzing, without saying a word to the crowd. I don’t know if that’s cool or insolent, and I doubt they care either way.

The crowd of about 50 or stuck around for Flowers Forever, whose sound continues to evolve from its original psych-rock to something that more closely resembles Talking Heads New Wave meets The B-52s with some deep-bass synth-dance beats thrown in to liven it all up. During their pogo-party moments, frontman Derek Pressnall turned into a Midwestern version of Fred Schneider, talk-echoing with the band’s cute blonde frontwoman whose rather demure singing has a dry air of Debbie Harry. Biggest surprise (of the night) was electric guitarist Nik Fackler providing some very interesting counters and leads that made it all work.

FF has been evolving into a psych-dance band for awhile now, and it seems close to the final stage. There’s no question that Pressnall enjoys leading the crowd on dance numbers more than anything else he’s doing on stage — leading the band as it repeatedly played two party-friendly songs over and over. He knows what his crowd wants and by-damn he’s going to give it to them. Things got weird toward the end when someone (Sam Martin?) threw a gigantic bag of popcorn into the crowd, which eventually became throwing material. More hi-jinx ensued, climaxing with an abrupt confrontation over a microphone stand that had made its way into the crowd. No one got hurt (at least while I was there).

* * *

I hate Halloween. I don’t mind giving candy to kids at the door, that’s fine, that’s what it should be. I’m not into the adult side of Halloween where everything turns into a costume party. And when Halloween’s on a Sunday, that means the costumes stretch over the entire weekend. That said, it would be kind of weird to see people dressed as pirates (or zombies) at Saturday’s Joan of Arc show at Slowdown Jr. though you can pretty much count on it. Also on the bill are Bear Country and Thunder Power. $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

It is one of the more compelling show line-ups in a while, and it’s tonight at Slowdown.

It kicks off with stage debut of Dreama, or InDreama. The band’s name is in dispute these days (because someone else already has it). I actually like InDreama better anyway. The lineup consists of some local all-stars: Nik Fackler (The Family Radio, Flowers Forever, director of Oscar-buzz motion picture Lovely, Still), Sam Martin (Capgun Coup, soon-to-be movie star), Craig DeMayo (a.k.a. Craig D of Tilly and the Wall and a handful of other bands), Dereck Higgins (legendary Omaha musician and bass player, Digital Sex) and Aaron Gum (a co-conspirator of Fackler’s in the film-making world).

But forget about the personnel for a minute, and go to InDreama’s iLike page and listen to Simon & G-ish “Dream Fool Fuck #9,” or noise-tango dance-scream “Saw a Blind Dad” or epic, cinematic “Exodus from Reunion, A + STORM > great = End.” InDreama’s music is scary good. Here’s a band that’s reaching for something few other local bands bother looking for — a sound that’s both contemporary and progressive yet tuneful and picturesque. Yeah, it’s arty, but it doesn’t give up melody for experimentation. With Fackler at the helm, who knows what its future holds (he’s a busy guy). He tells me it’s the real deal, as is his participation in Derek Pressnall’s Flower’s Forever. How will he be able to balance a life split between film making and rocking? Time will tell.

On top of the bill is No Joy, a Montreal female duo that has an album coming out on Mexican Summer (Best Coast, Soft Pack, Dungen) that I would describe as classic buzz-saw shoe-gaze in the Jesus and Mary Chain vein. Here’s what Sentimentalist Mag said about their Knitting Factory gig at CMJ this year:

No Joy, a Montreal/L.A. quartet fronted by two guitar-wielding ladies with Cousin It hair streaming down to hide their faces, opened the Mexican Summer night in contemplative fashion, summoning any darkness in the room and blasting it forth with grungetastic riffs and morphine-dosed vocals that sparkled and seared in equal measure. Their Lush-esque, shoegazer licks came on clean and strong, and an impressive rhythm section courtesy of their two black-clad band mate fellas gave songs like “No Summer” and “No Joy” a slick backbone and raised the hair on the back of our necks. We liked the novelty of the set ending without any final notes or any adieu; The ladies were already busy packing up their gear on stage while their guitars still blared against their ballsy amps, while drummer and bassist played on.

Sounds scrumptious. You can check out their music on their Myspace page.

Fackler tells me Flowers Forever is going in a new and different direction. A little bird also tells me we’re in for a cross between shimmery shoegaze and an electronic dance experience. We’ll find out what Mr. Pressnall and Co. have up their sleeves tonight. And, The Prairies also is on the bill. All of this for a mere $6. Get there early for InDreama, who kicks things off at 9.

* * *

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.

Azure Ray's Maria Taylor, left, and Orenda Fink.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 294: Starting Over

The return of Azure Ray.

What better way to open an interview with Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor than with a scoop?

Regarding band mate Orenda Fink, and her husband, The Faint’s Todd Fink, Taylor made the following statement: “I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next few years they pop out a little Fink.”

Boom goes the dynamite. OK, maybe it wasn’t that big of a scoop, but it was the closest I got to one while talking to these two indie rock divas (and I use the term “divas” in only the most loving way).

Taylor did most of the talking, as Fink was behind the wheel of the van that carried Team Azure Ray to San Diego after a show the night before in Phoenix. Talking to Taylor is like talking to your best friend’s goofy little sister; she’s sweet and funny and gets your jokes even when they’re not very good.

It was obvious that, so far, the tour has been hit-and-miss. “It’s going pretty good, getting better and better,” Taylor said. “We have more of a fan base on the West Coast. So the crowds are getting better, but it’s still a challenge to make people aware of us.”

The crowd’s amnesia couldn’t have been a complete surprise. Azure Ray was at its career apex with 2003’s Hold On Love. A year later, Taylor and Fink went their separate ways due to creative differences, or for some other reason I’m sure we’ll never know. In addition to her solo work, Fink went on to form Art in Manila and collaborate with Cedric Lemoyne as O+S. Taylor worked with Bright Eyes, Moby, Crooked Fingers and Joshua Radin when she wasn’t recording and touring in support of her own solo projects.

Azure Ray, Drawing Down the Moon (Saddle Creek). Released 9/14/10.

Then, rather organically a couple years ago, the duo found themselves living in Los Angeles and hanging out together. “We thought, ‘Why not just put out another record together?'” So they teamed up with long-time producer/collaborator Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers (and Archers of Loaf before that) and recorded Drawing Down the Moon, released in September by Saddle Creek Records. The album is earmarked by those same soothing, whispering harmonies and heart-breaking lyrics that defined Azure Ray from the beginning, which is appropriate considering that in many ways, Azure Ray is starting over.

“I think people have small attention spans,” Taylor said. “I don’t think they’ve forgotten us, it just needs to be brought to their attention that we have a new record out.” Judging by the crowds there, apparently the word didn’t make it to Florida. Taylor was unwilling to share the attendance numbers. “The scary thing is you have to pay your players and make money. We didn’t have any expectations, and we like to keep it that way.”

Still, one expects to make money playing music, especially if you’re one of the more influential indie music duos of the early part of the last decade. They both point to the Internet for the current state of affairs.

“As far as the music industry goes, I’ve lost a lot of faith that I’ll be able to make a living doing this much longer,” Taylor said. “In 2002, people were still buying records and a career in music seemed like an option. Our friends were doing so well. But that was a different time. We were just talking about this in the van, how amazing the Internet is and how it’s just screwed us.”

Taylor handed the phone to Fink. “Maria is right. The biggest change is the culture of the music industry and the economy,” Fink said. “In a strange way, being on the road now is like when we first started — we really didn’t know what was happening. It was before cell phones and the Internet. Now with technology, it’s creating still more uncertainty. The bubble has burst. The industry was cruising along for a number of years with a formula for how records were sold and how tours were sold and promoted. That formula doesn’t exist anymore, and everyone is trying to figure out how to make it work in this new climate.”

That uncertainty played a small role in both Taylor’s and Fink’s exodus from Los Angeles. Orenda and Todd recently moved to Athens, Georgia, while Taylor bought a house in Birmingham, Alabama. “We’re going to be touring so much and it’s so expensive to live in Los Angeles,” Taylor said, “And being closer to our families kind of seems nice.”

They haven’t forgotten Omaha. “We miss our friends a whole lot, especially when tragedy happens or hard times, it’s hard to be so far away from the people that you’re close to,” Taylor said. “I definitely miss it. I even miss the snow.”

Something tells me that the Nov. 3 Azure Ray show at Slowdown will be like a family reunion, or a time machine that takes everyone back to 2003. The difference is that this time Taylor and Fink are in it for the long haul. They’re already talking about their next record. “With this new record, we were specifically not trying to draw from what we learned in our solo work. We wanted to recreate the same feeling from the first album,” Taylor said. “We’ll experiment a little more with the things we learned on the next album.

“It definitely feels great to be together and work together again,” Taylor said. “We’ve been friends for 20 years — two people who, since they met, enjoy spending time together. We definitely don’t take each other for granted any more.”

Azure Ray plays with Tim Fite and James Husband Wednesday, Nov. 3, at The Slowdown, 729 No. 14th St. Show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $12 adv./$14 DOS. For more info, go to theslowdown.com.

* * *

There are two shows going on tonight competing for essentially the same audience. Over at O’Leaver’s it’s So-So Sailors with Portland trio System and Station and Conduits. $5, 9:30 p.m. Meanwhile, over at The Barley St. Tavern, it’s The Stay Awake and Techlepathy. $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.

Some heart-felt sentiments for the new property owners, left outside on the north wall of The 49'r.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Let me tell you about the last time I saw a band at The 49’r.

“Hold on a minute,” said the guy who took my $5 at the door. “Let me stamp your hand. How am I supposed to remember who you are?”

When was the last time someone stamped my hand at the door? It’s all about wristbands now, but it seemed fitting that The 49’r was still using a tried-and-true stamp. Nothing ever changed at The Niner. The place looked exactly like it looked when I went there for all those years, for Street Urchins and Black Eyed Snakes and The Carsinogents and Carmine and The Sons of The 49’r and Son, Ambulance and Mal Madrigal and Two Gallants and Race for Titles and After Dark and Little Brazil and Zyklon Bees and The Philharmonic and Kite Pilot and Bombardment Society and The Stay Awake and Ladyfinger and The Monroes and Bangs and Owen and No Blood Orphan and The Movies and Mercy Rule and Statistics and every other band including Bad Luck Charm, who’d I’d seen there all those years ago and was about to see again. Nothing had changed. It was just as crowded as it ever was — nowhere to sit, nowhere to stand without being in someone’s way. What was the saying on the matchbook cover? “In the middle of everything and nowhere to park” (in fact, I’d parked five blocks away Friday night, just like always).

I reached into my pocked for my iPhone to take some pictures and realized that I’d forgotten it at home and damned myself for it. I never go anywhere without my phone these days. Of all nights to forget it, on this historic night. And then I thought, well, it’s serendipity. I never had a cell phone before when I went to the Niner. It’s only fitting that I didn’t have one tonight. I’d have to rely on my memory for the pictures, just like I always used to. The picture I saw Friday night was of a bar that, through its ups and downs, always held a special place in the Omaha music scene, even if its glory days were years and years ago.

Outside with the smokers I’d heard a similar story. One guy told me that the passing of the Niner felt to him just like when the Cog Factory closed years ago. He’d never gone to the Cog in its waning months and years, and so when its time came, he didn’t really care. He’d quit going to the Niner years earlier, too, and so its passing wouldn’t hurt that much.

But then he began to tell me about his favorite shows, and how much he liked playing there — moreso than being a member of the crowd. I’d heard the same story from every musician that played at the Niner — they all said it was one of the best rooms they’d ever played because there wasn’t a stage so much as a space in the back where the bands stood, with the drums a step up behind every one. There was nothing separating the bands from the crowd.

The set up was the same for BLC. Lee and Wolf, the dueling guitars, were up front, a part of the crowd, while bass and drums were in back. Everyone stumbled over cords that stretched out across the linoleum among a discarded set list and empty shot glasses. It was a mess, but it was a necessary mess. And it didn’t matter when the band started playing.

Mike Tulis years ago gave me the secret of seeing shows at The Niner. Don’t bother trying to find a place to stand along the bar or over by the fireplace with the Rudolf reindeer head. Walk right up to the front, right by the band, there’s always room up there, and if someone’s pissed that you’re standing in front of them, well it’s their own fault for sitting down when the band is playing.

It was another rough crowd Friday night. Of all the venues in town, The Niner drew the roughest — lots of aging punks in vintage T-shirts — the real shirts, not ironic replicas that you can pick up at Urban Outfitters. And lots of drunks. More drunks than at O’Leaver’s (if you can believe that). The 49’r is/was a drinking man’s bar. What’s that that Nick says in It’s a Wonderful Life? “We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don’t need any characters around to give the joint ‘atmosphere.‘” Nick could have been talking about The Niner.

BLC sounded like they sounded the last time I saw them, probably five years ago. There’s something about their music that makes people feel tougher than they are. BLC is fighting music, a derivative of ’80s punk mixed with power-chord rock from an earlier time. But it’s authentic, it’s real and that’s why it’s so appealing. No one plays music like this anymore, and chances are no one ever will again. Except BLC, who inevitably will have another reunion show some day, but it won’t be at The Niner.

Frontman Lee Meyerpeter took off his stocking cap after the first song and rubbed his bald head, saying “I don’t need hair products anymore.” Lee’s message throughout the set between songs: “Let it go.” But he was talking about more than the bar, which we all knew would soon see its demise. He was talking about every piece of baggage and vanity and resentment and fear of getting old. Even though the music was hard and loud and angry, something felt like resolution in Lee’s voice, and I’ll be damned if I know why.

I left toward the end of the set, giving up my spot up front to the twisted crowd, as more and more people got off their feet and pushed toward the band, sort-of dancing, showing their appreciation with their bodies. As I went up those back stairs for the last time, the band played a cover of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” and the crowd went nuts. I could hear them as I walked back to my car along 49th street, keeping my distance from a pair of stumbling bald drunks trying to find their way home.  And when I did get home I leaned over the sink with soap and water and scrubbed and scrubbed but I couldn’t get that damn ink stamp off my hand…

And that’s the last time I saw a band at The 49’r.

* * *

BTW, The 49’r posted that tomorrow night (Tuesday) is the last night that it’ll be open for business.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s the return of Dr. Dog. Opening the show is Luke Temple’s new band Here We Go Magic, which just released its Secretly Canadian debut, Pigeons. $16, 9 p.m.

And in case I don’t get around to an update tomorrow, here’s a reminder that Merge Records band Wye Oak is playing at Slowdown Jr. tomorrow night (Tuesday) with Honeybee. $8, 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

Briefly, there has been plenty o’ feedback on Tuesday’s blog entry regarding OEA nominations. You can read most of it in the comments section. OEA organizer MarQ Manner posted that anonymous Artist of the Year nominee Daniel Christian was a “top public nominee,” which, apparently, automatically gets him on the ballot, just like last year. He also said that Christian has played “many times” at The Barley Street Tavern. And then five other folks commented saying that Christian is a really nice guy. I have no doubt that he is. He even wrote me a kind e-mail introducing himself and saying in addition to his pumpkin patch tour that he’s also playing a couple coffee house gigs in the near future. So I guess I was wrong. Christian indeed deserves to be recognized as the significant musician in the Omaha/Lincoln area in 2010. Right?

* * *

Word has it that not only is tonight the last show ever at The 49’r, but that the bar is closing its doors for good next Wednesday. Tonight’s gig features the return of Niner mainstay Bad Luck Charm along with power-pop superstars The Third Men. Expect a huge, boisterous crowd. I wouldn’t be surprised if some things go missing throughout the evening as people try to take home a piece of history. I’d love to see that moose head wind up at O’Leaver’s. Show starts at 9, if you can get in. Expect to pay at least $5.

* * *

While the 49’r show is the most important gig of the weekend, there is a slew of others going on tonight that makes this the busiest Friday night music-wise in recent memory.

Top of the bill is Of Montreal at Sokol Auditorium. The band is on the road supporting a new album, and has Atlantic recording artist Janelle Monáe in tow. According to Rolling Stone, expect a show that’s akin to a carnival or circus, with giant puppets and other surprises.  Read my ’04 interview with the band and then pick up your $25 tickets to tonight’s show, which starts at 8.

Also tonight, Lawrence band Fourth of July is having a CD release show at O’Leaver’s with Capgun Coup and McCarthy Trenching. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And those leather-gloved punk animals STNNNG are playing at The Brothers Lounge with Well Aimed Arrows. STNNNG has a hot new album called Smoke of My Will coming out on Tuesday, which you’ll likely be able to snag at the gig. $5, 9 p.m.

Last but not least, Sub Pop band Avi Buffalo is playing at Slowdown Jr. Saturday night with Mother Culture. $8, 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.

Conduits at The Waiting Room, Oct. 15, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 293: Where To Now?

The next Next Wave…

As 2010 begins to wind down a new crop of bands begins to rise up to carry on Omaha’s reputation as one of the country’s best music scenes.

There are some of you who, upon reading the above statement, quietly, sardonically, cynically laughed to yourselves, and thought (with a wry smile on your subconscious minds), “Best music scenes in the country? Tim, really. We haven’t heard that kind of talk in eight or nine years, and even then Omaha was only known by the tiny handful of music aficionados who give two shits about indie music.”

True, true. But even now, eight or nine or how many years later, when I interview a nationally known band that’s traipsing through Omaha on tour and ask (as I ask all of them) what they know about Omaha or Nebraska, they all say the same thing: “I’ve heard Nebraska has something special going on musicwise. Saddle Creek Records, right?” And so on. People remember. And the ones who knew — who were influenced by the city’s crown-jewel bands — still hold a flame for Omaha, whether or not that candle blew out years ago.

Will we ever relive those golden years when The New York Times, SPIN and the BBC were fumbling over each other trying to figure out what was in the water that made Nebraska songwriters so special? I am here to say that, yes, it could happen again. In fact, it probably will. And when it does, it will start (again) with those same legacy acts — Cursive and Bright Eyes (look for new albums by both in the near future) and maybe even The Faint (even though they seem to have given up making new music, a pity) — who will reinvent themselves in this new decade as bands that still have something important (and catchy) to say.

But it can’t stop there; it has to continue with a new crop of Omaha and Lincoln bands. It was just a few years ago that hope came in the form of what I idiotically called Omaha’s “Next Wave,” most of which recorded for Slumber Party Records — Capgun Coup (now with Team Love Records), the amazing Bear Country, the brash, bratty Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, cartoon kids Talking Mountain, Thunder Power, ultra-cute Honeybee, and hip-hop artist Conchance — all doing their own thing, creating their own sound but very much in the fashion of the Saddle Creek oeuvre.

Unfortunately, while those bands produced some fine recordings, they remained anonymous. Don’t blame their music; blame their schedules. What everyone forgets about the Creek bands was (and is) their bare-knuckle work ethic and willingness to get out of town and tour, even if they were only playing house parties and empty lounges. Sure, a few Slumber Party acts toured out of Omaha, but their roadwork was miniscule compared to, say, The Faint’s road marathons of yesteryear. A disappointment? Kind of, sure, when you consider what could have been, and what could still be.

Dim Light at The Waiting Room, Oct. 15, 2010.

So who are the next Next Wave bands? Two played last Friday night at The Waiting Room. First (and the one with the most promise) is Conduits. While so many local bands (including all those slumming for gigs in Benson) are enamored with dusty, countrified Americana, Conduits is trying to reinvent shoe-gaze. Consisting of J.J. Idt, guitar; Nate Mickish, guitar; Mike Overfield, bass, keys; Roger Lewis, drums, and frontwoman Jenna Morrison, their set was a slow-burn, droning methadone drip, a glowing haze cleanly cut by Morrison, who stands on the edge of the stage like a proud hood ornament in black-and-white striped sweater dress and heels. Morrison has come a long way since her days in Son, Ambulance where she was barely noticed standing in the background adding the occasional chirp. With Conduits, she has nowhere to hide; she’s a golden-haired chanteuse or a modern-day Nico, bending her notes through warm layers of guitar. Their music is mesmerizing, and when it goes on and on, ever building, it feels improvised and daring.

A lot of Saddle Creek people were in the audience, there to support Old Canes on the launch date of their latest tour. Playing as a five-piece, Chris Crisci’s runaway chuck wagon music was filled out by trumpets, glockenspiel, melodica and plenty of acoustic guitar. With Old Canes, Saddle Creek has looked toward Lawrence, Kansas, for hope; but maybe it’s time they look again toward their hometown.

Appropriately, the lights came down for Dim Light, a band that’s been evolving for years, but at its core has always been frontman/guitarist/caricature Cooper Moon, one of the most recognizable members of the Omaha music scene.

Dim Light’s music is the soundtrack to a David Lynch Blue Velvet nightmare. Not midnight — more like 3 a.m. music, a time when nothing good ever happens. Cooper can sound like bluesy Jim Morrison if he wants to, but his voice feels more like an angry-drunk strut over his rockabilly spy guitar, staggering forward but held up in that drunken sailor-Jesus pose by Tom Barrett’s slutty bass lines and Boz Hicks’ subtle stick work. It’s pure theatre that leaves nothing to the imagination when Cooper belts out weird lines about things burning in your veins.

Conduits and Dim Light — that’s just two. There are more. I’ll be bringing them to your attention over the coming weeks and months. I want the scoop before the Times or SPIN or BBC comes in and steals my thunder… again.

* * *

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

Well, despite my stepping down as an Academy Member (see why here), the OEAAs continues to function. The list of nominees was announced on their website yesterday, here. As always, there are lots of surprises. Among them: Who is Best Roots/Americana/Country/Bluegrass nominee Lymphnode Maniacs? Who is Best New Artist nominee Hello From Ghost Valley?

But the biggest question of all: Who is the multiple category nominee (including for Artist of the Year, and Best Alternative/Indie) Daniel Christian? How has this maverick, who apparently is better than Tim Kasher, Conor Oberst, most of the Slumber Party roster (congrats, Noah’s Ark) and Speed! Nebraska artists, and acts like Box Elders and Digital Leather (currently touring in Europe) managed to escape my ever-inquisitive ears?

I did a little research on Christian’s Myspace page and here’s what I found: “Out of Nebraska comes a singer-songwriter who blends pop/rock sensibilities with country/folk roots. He weaves hooky, stick-in-your-head melodies backed by big harmonies with thought-provoking lyrical content. The result is a style of art and entertainment that audiences have dubbed organic ‘thought rock,’ which, according to fans, ‘sounds like cinnamon rolls taste!”

The entry goes on to say that Christian has won two National Country Music Festival awards. His debut album, I Am Merely Sand, was released in 2007. “The collection of critically acclaimed songs features such notable talent as Grammy®-winning bassist Charlie Chadwick (Pam Tillis, Steve Earle, Peter Frampton) and guitarist Pat Bergeson (Chet Atkins, Alison Krauss, Lyle Lovett).” Impressive.

In addition, Christian is a “member of the American Federation of Musicians, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and the Nebraska Arts Council. He is also a founding member of Nebraska’s chapter of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and in 2008, composed the school song for Johnson County Central High School in his hometown of Tecumseh, NE.”

So there you have it. I may never have heard of him, but obviously someone has or else he wouldn’t be nominated for an award that honors the best musician/performer in the Omaha/Lincoln area for the past year. I listened to a few of the songs while on Christian’s Myspace, which I would describe as middle-of-the-road James Taylor. Well recorded, if not boring. But I figured the best way to really check out Christian’s music is to see him perform live, but according to his gig schedule it looks like he’s currently on some sort of regional pumpkin-patch tour, as he has a slew of gigs slated for Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Gretna, followed by a dining hall performance at Central Community College in Columbus. He is, however, playing at Myth in the Old Market Oct. 28 (no cover!), but that’s it for Omaha/Lincoln gigs. So… How did he manage to get nominated for Artist of the Year? It’s just one of the many mysteries that surrounds the OEAAs.

Regardless, good luck to all the contestants.

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Tonight at The Barley Street Tavern, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns (an OEAA nominee for Best Adult Alternative/Singer-Songwriter) performs with The Migrant, Tenderness Wilderness, and Chad Wallin. $5, 9 p.m.

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Tomorrow: Reviews of last Friday night’s Conduits/Dim Light show (w/pics).

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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

Kevin Coffey at the Omaha World-Herald has a brief update on the MAHA Festival (Looks like Kev’s digging in his heels on the how the event is spelled — all caps vs. upper/lower. Of course I agree with Kevin, though the organizers are dead-set on an all-caps MAHA spelling, and as they own the franchise and its naming rights, I’ll acquiesce to their wishes, even though all-caps words are generally relegated to acronyms and dullards who don’t know how to type without the cap locks on).

There’s not a lot of new news in Kevin’s piece, other than organizer Tre Brashear stating the the event made money last year and they they plan on beginning to book artists (hopefully, with the help of One Percent Productions) in January and February. One burning question is where the event will be held.  There was almost a feeling of resignation toward hosting it at Lewis & Clark Landing this past year, even though it made perfect sense considering the event’s so-so 2009 launch. The long-term vision for MAHA imagines a multiple-day event held in an area with access to camping — i.e., a midwestern Woodstock. It’s been suggested that the event move to one of the dam sites or even to the property adjacent to The Anchor Inn. What’s required for the right locale? I guess just plenty of space and electricity. You can bring in porta-potties and potable water.

So is MAHA ready for that leap? Like Brashear says, it all depends on the level of sponsorship.  My take: I don’t dislike Lewis & Clark Landing, and I’m not sure the festival is ready to expand to multiple days. Ultimately, it comes down to booking. If your headliners are, say, only Interpol and Arcade Fire, stay at L&C. But if it’s Interpol, Arcade Fire, Wilco, Bright Eyes and someone like Flaming Lips or Guided By Voices or Sufjan Stevens, you might have a good argument to spread it out over two days and hold it in an open field. But it’s quite a financial gamble. Then again, isn’t any festival a gamble?

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Sarah Benck has a new band. You’ll remember Sarah played her last show with her old band as part of the 2009 Lincoln Calling Festival. She’s unveiling her new band this Saturday night at Slowdown Jr. So who’s in it? Corey Weber on guitar, Chris Weber on drums and Bob Carrig on bass.  As for a name, well, Sarah says that’s still up in the air. Also on the bill are Down With The Ship, Nick Jaina (Portland) and Midwest Dilemma. $5, 9 p.m.

What else is going on this weekend?

Saddle Creek band Old Canes kicks off a national tour at The Waiting Room tonight. Old Canes is a project by Appleseed Cast’s Chris Crisci, whose album, Feral Harmonic, was released late last year. Joining them is Dutch band The Black Atlantic , as well as Omaha’s own Conduits and headliner Dim Light. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Pharmacy Spirits headlines a show at Slowdown Jr. with Talking Mountain, Lincoln band The Power and Flesh Eating Skin Disease. The best part — admission is free. Starts at 9.

Meanwhile, over at at fabulous O’Leaver’s, Techlepathy is headlining a show with Self-Evident and Traindodge. $5, 9:30 p.m.

While over at the Barley Street tonight it’s Peace of Shit with The Dads and Watching the Train Wreck. $5, 9 p.m.

On Saturday night, it’s Fat Possum band The Walkmen at The Waiting Room with Japandroids (Polyvinyl) and Tennis. $13, 9 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night at O’Leaver’s it’s Beauty in the Beast (ex-Eagle Seagull) with Matt Kurz One and Chotto Ghetto. $5, 9:30 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.

Ra Ra Riot at The Waiting Room Oct. 8, 2010.

Column 292: Rock of Ages

Live reviews of Ra Ra Riot, The Sons of…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve never bought into the whole idea that age has anything to do with enjoying rock music, and I still don’t, but the question did come up this past weekend.

I waded into the crowd of suburban youth at The Waiting Room Friday night too late to see either of the opening bands, thanks to the Yankees. I considered skipping the show altogether because it was already 11, but I was on the list and I figured why not? While I’d heard of Ra Ra Riot — the headliner — they’d always slipped under my radar. I knew that they’d been in the College Music Journal top-20 shortly after their Barsuk release hit the streets. I’d read their description at allmusic.com, where their style was described as “chamber pop,” probably because the band employs a violinist and cello player, both young women.

Upon entering the club, there they were like a pair of gorgeous bookends standing on opposite sides of the crowded stage, divided by RRR’s shaggy frontman who leaned forward on the microphone in front of a mob scene down below. The show wasn’t a sell out, but it was handsomely attended, again by more women than men — a trend that’s becoming familiar for indie shows these days.

So I stood back by the soundboard with my Rolling Rock and tried to lock in, but couldn’t. Other than those strings, the six-piece didn’t sound much different than any of the crop of hot indie pop bands currently burning up the CMJ charts — Vampire Weekend, Tokyo Police Club, Yeasayer, even Local Natives, a band who played a sold-out show at TWR a week earlier.

Outside the venue on the sidewalk along Maple Street a fan tried to convince me that Ra Ra Riot was different than all those other bands, that there was something special in their melodies that set them apart from the herd. I listened quietly, and then told him that as much as I respected his opinion, he was wrong. I said RRR was just another kick-drum-fueled open-chord pop act trying to skirt the border between indie rock and dorm-room dance music, and while that was all perfectly fine, nothing stood out about the band’s music, no lyric or melody was memorable, and that I was getting tired of hearing the same old song that I’d been hearing by all these bands for the past two years.

And then the question came up: Was I turning into one of those “back in my day” old guys who couldn’t get with the latest sound?

In my dismay, I mentioned this to one of the 20-something regulars at O’Leaver’s the following night. “Yes, you’re getting old,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean that Ra Ra Riot doesn’t suck.” He then went on to admonish me for not having been at The 49’r the night before to hear the band I was about to hear.

O’Leaver’s is a tiny club compared to TWR, and when it’s packed, it feels even tinier. Saturday night the drunken throng pushed out the door into the concrete beer garden, there to see the reunion of The Sons of O’Leaver’s (the night before, they were The Sons of The 49’r), a local band that made its mark in the early part of the last decade. The band features some of the city’s most notable musicians: Frontman Kelly Maxwell and drummer Mike Loftus, who had been in 60-Watt Saloon, Shovelhead, and Hong Hyn Corp, which is a band that included guitarist/vocalist Matt Rutledge, who had been in Compost, Miss Lonely Hearts, Holiday and The Great Dismal, which is a band that included bass player Mike Tulis, who is known for his work in Full Blown, The Monroes and The Third Men.

In other words, The Sons of… is a veterans’ club made that much more venerable that night by the addition of Omaha expatriate Mike Jaworski (Hello from Waveland, The Cops), who was in town from Seattle.  Dressed to the nines in formal suits and ties, the band took to the area that O’Leaver’s calls a stage and ripped through an hour of gritty rock that bordered on punk. It was just what I had been thirsting for after the past few weeks of indie rock pabulum. I could have listened to it all night.

But didn’t this underscore the whole “old guy” argument? The Sons of… music clearly is a reflection of a by-gone era — a sort of homage to ’90s “college rock” (the phrase used before the term “indie” came into vogue) played by a bunch of guys in their 30s.

I stood back by the sound board with my Rolling Rock and looked over a crowd that was as locked in as I was — a crowd whose age spanned from 21 to 50+. After the smoke cleared, Little Brazil took the stage, a band as modern as any you’ll likely hear on Sirius XMU, but with a sound not that far removed from the band I just heard.

And I realized that I knew the answer. Some new stuff will never jive with me. On the other hand, I’ve been digging the new CDs by Pete Yorn, Land of Talk and Deerhunter. While Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Ke$ha will always be greasy kids stuff. Rock music isn’t always universal; it doesn’t always span the ages, but in the end, the only person who can tell you if you’re too old to listen to it is you.

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Guster at Slowdown, Oct. 12, 2010.

I didn’t see many familiar faces last night at Slowdown for Guster. And I didn’t expect to, either. Regardless, the show sold out, and the big room was filled with hard-core Guster fans who sang along with the band throughout the evening. Performing as a five-piece, Guster’s usual trio had a second drummer and a second guitarist in tow. Overall, they sounded very good playing a broad selection of songs from all their albums, and making note whenever they played a new one. I know frontman Ryan Miller thinks their new record is a bold, new direction, but the songs fit into the rest of the Guster canon seamlessly, and could have come off any of the older records. Miller had good between-song shtick, talking directly to a few members of the crowd, including one poor person who said they saw him at dinner. His response: “I took a really good sh** today, too.” Hopefully, the poor patron wasn’t around for that.

In the end, it was a somewhat flat set by a band with lots of catchy songs that tend to blend into each other after an hour, which was when I reached my threshold. They seemed to be doing the set “by the numbers,” walking through the songs as if they’d been on the road for six months straight instead of just a few weeks — a general lack of enthusiasm from a band that’s been playing the same style of music for nearly 20 years. The performance, specifically from Miller, looked more like a chore than a spectacle.

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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

I have not forgotten you, dear readers. I simply have been… pressed for time. Tomorrow you’ll get a review of last weekend’s shows (in column form). But for now, a reminder that Guster is tonight at Slowdown, and tickets are still available for $30.50 at the door. Opening is Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves. The show starts at 8 p.m.

Also tonight, The Felice Bros. come to The Waiting Room with Adam Haworth Stephens (of Two Gallants), and the debut of Con Dios, the new indie supergroup featuring Matt Maginn of Cursive, Dan McCarthy of McCarthy Trenching and two more local heroes. $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.