by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we get to the OEAA weekend, another reminder about tonight’s Hear Nebraska Live event at 1200 Club at The Holland. Show starts at 7:30 and features Big Harp, Digital Leather and Kill County. No idea on the band order. Tickets today are $30. The whole thing is being filmed for rebroadcast on Nebraska Educational Television sometime in the not-so-distant future. Tix at ticketomaha.com.

OEAAs…

Which brings us to the other big event this weekend, the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Award Summer Showcase held in bars and showcases throughout Benson. All-entry to every place is $10 per night or $15 for a 2-day pass. All money raised at the door goes to the OEAA folks to help fund their annual awards show. The unofficial benefactor is, of course, the bars who are getting two free nights of entertainment on their stages, as the bands aren’t paid. This explains the overall lack of bands from Saddle Creek, Speed! Nebraska, Slumber Party, Rainy Road and other local labels. Those bands have moved beyond what has become a Benson talent show, complete with a prize — the opening slot on the local stage of this year’s Maha Music Festival.

Still, as I’ve said in the past — no one’s put a gun to any of these bands’ heads and told them they had to play for free. With that in mind, I’ve placed (*) by recommended sets. Should be a good time, if they don’t get hit by a thunderstorm tomorrow night.

Friday, June 7
The Waiting Room

8-8:40- Escape from AlcaJazz
8:55-9:35- Civicminded
9:50-10:30- Narcotic Self
* 10:45-11:25- The Whipkey Three
* 11:40-12:20- Travelling Mercies
12:35-1:05- Ten Club
1:20-2am- Galvanized Tron

The Sydney

8-8:40- Towne, Murray & Polipnick
8:55-9:35- Morning at Sea
9:50-10:30- All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
* 10:45-11:25- Halfwit
* 11:40-12:20- Touch People
* 12:35-1:05- Universe Contest
1:20-2am- BuckHunter

Barley Street Tavern

8-8:40- Skyman
8:55-9:35- Black On High
9:50-10:30- Those Far Out Arrows
10:45-11:25- Dirty River Ramblers
11:40-12:20- Moses Prey
12:35-1:05- The Sub-Vectors
1:20-2am- The Big Deep

Sweatshop
2727 N 62^nd Street

8-8:40- Pancho and the Contraband
8:55-9:35- Tracey Skretta
9:50-10:30- Polka Police
* 10:45-11:25- The Shidiots
11:40-12:20- Never Trust the Living
12:35-1:05- Guilty is the Bear
1:20-2am- Kaitlyn Maria Filippini

Burke’s Pub

8-8:40- SPORK and SPiNSTER
8:55-9:35- 24 Hour Cardlock
* 9:50-10:30- Scott Severin
10:45-11:25- Michael Wunder
11:40-12:20- Mitch Gettman
12:35-1:05- Hector Anchondo Band

PS Collective

8-8:40- Acoustic Gangster
8:55-9:35- Belles & Whistles
9:50-10:30- Lucas Kellison & Undisco Kids
10:45-11:25- Witness Tree
11:40-12:20- One Eye White
12:35-1:05- Island Alumni

Louis Bar & Grill

8-8:40 – More Machine Now Than Man
8:55-9:35 – The Minnahoonies
9:50-10:30 – Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers
10:45-11:25 – The Matador
11:40-12:20 – The Impulsive
12:35 – 1:05 – Linear Symmetry
1:15 – 1:50 – Rygol

Saturday, June 8

The Waiting Room

8-8:40- Save the Hero
* 8:55-9:35- John Klemmensen and the Party
9:50-10:30- Cannonista
10:45-11:25- The Electroliners
11:40-12:20- Voodoo Method
12:35-1:05- After the Fall
1:20-2am- Lon-Meezy

The Sydney

8-8:40- Mola-B
8:55-9:35- Edge of Arbor
9:50-10:30- Vago
10:45-11:25- Artillery Funk
11:40-12:20- AZP
12:35-1:05- Purveyors of the Conscious Sound
1:20-2am- Wrekafekt

Barley Street Tavern

8-8:40- The Counterplot
8:55-9:35- The Decatures
9:50-10:30- Big AL Band
10:45-11:25- Molehill (touring band)
11:40-12:20- Rock Paper Dynamite
12:35-1:05- Field Club
1:20-2am- The Beat Seekers

Burke’s Pub

8-8:40- FINO
8:55-9:35- Phoenix Rising
9:50-10:30- Ryan Osbahr
10:45-11:25- Dominique Morgan
11:40-12:20- shooK on3
12:35-1:05- Buzz Junior

PS Collective

8-8:40- A Wasted Effort
8:55-9:35- Square1
9:50-10:30- Tenderness Wilderness
10:45-11:25- The Bishops
11:40-12:20- The Ronnys
12:35-1:05- Steps to Mars

OEAA’s couldn’t have picked a better weekend for this (except maybe weather-wise) as there isn’t much else going on.

It’s Benson First Friday tonight, but that just means parking will suck in Benson.

The legendary Dereck Higgins is performing tonight at the Carver Bank Art Space at 2416 Lake St. The show starts at 7.

Saturday night O’Leaver’s is hosting a punk show featuring Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and the legendary Qing Jao. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Polka party stewards Brave Combo are playing at the Summer Arts Festival downtown Saturday. (Probably a good time to reread my 2000 interview with the band). They go on at 7 p.m. and the event is free.

Did I miss something? Put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

They Might Be Giants at The Slowdown, June 5, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here’s a surprise coming from a veteran band with a handful of gold (and platinum) albums throughout their legendary career: The best song of the night came from their new album.

Sure, you got usual run of faves: “Istanbul,” “Birdhouse in Your Soul” (How many thousands of times have they had to sing that song throughout their lives? I wonder if they would have written it had they known beforehand), “The Guitar,” etc., but the real connection came from a revved-up version of “You’re On Fire,” the first song of the encore (and the first song on Nanobots, their new release) and first time I felt any real energy coming off the stage.

The duo have grown old before our own aging eyes. Instead of the dapper, pipe-smoking Mad Man extra we remember from their early videos, Flansburgh now looks like a shaggy Kevin Smith bouncing around all roly-poly with his guitar; while ol’ slouched Linnell is finally beginning to resemble the 53-year-old guy that he is, shuffling between his keyboard and accordion, rarely smiling or looking up, tired. Maybe he was saving his energy for his voice, which has a darker timbre than on the early recordings but still carries that same unique, woody quality (Flansburgh’s nasal croon hasn’t changed a bit).

I’ve always (wrongfully) written these guys off as novelty nerd music, chock full o’ odd syncopated rhythms, tight-riff guitars, countless lurching breaks and odd lyrics that sound like they were written by a couple Mathletes killing time during detention (for doing something wise-ass like correcting their history teacher in front of the rest of the class). But perhaps the two Johns had a plan all along, and knew they’d be able to sing these unconventional, wonky tunes ‘til very late in their lives without sounding like a couple pervs (see Rolling Stones recent viral vid of “As Tears Go By” featuring Taylor Swift).

There was genuine charm as they ran rapid-fire through their set of short, sharp pop songs like a couple hip teachers singing a hyper-active version of Schoolhouse Rock to an audience of their nerdy disciples (I’ve never seen more people wearing eyeglasses in one room). Even when they switched to hand puppets during the mid-set break you couldn’t help but smile.

The fact that they’re creating some of their best material at this point in their career (Nanobots is their best album since Flood, which is their best album) is a testament to their creative spark. “You’re On Fire,” could be a conventional hit if there was a way to get it heard now that radio has all but died. Despite a few kooky moments, this album is closer to a straight-forward rock album, and Linnell’s keyboards (especially live) remind me of early Steve Nieve (Elvis Costello). And while EC’s songwriting trajectory over the past decade has been spotty (and boring), TMBG’s songs never fail to bounce with characteristic spark and whimsy.

That said, maybe it had something to do with my view of the stage (the usual stage left wing) but Linnell tottered around like he was fulfilling an obligation. Flansburgh, however, still looked and sounded like someone having fun, at least as much fun as the folks in the near capacity crowd, come to see some old friends.

* * *

Speaking of reviews, this week’s column is a the second-quarter CD reviews roundup, featuring a few reviews regular Lazy-i readers have already seen along reviews of new Low, Daft Punk, Art Brut, BIg Star, Statistics, John Klemmensen and the Party, etc. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader, or online right here.

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That sexy, sassy guitar-playing troubadour Jake Bellows, formerly of the late, great Neva Dinova, announced yesterday that his debut solo album New Ocean will be released on Saddle Creek Aug. 6.

According to the press release, the album was recorded at ARC Studios with engineer Ben Brodin (Before the Toast and Tea, Conor Oberst),  Ryan Fox (The Good Life), Todd Fink (The Faint), and Heath Koontz (Neva Dinova). New Ocean is available for pre-order on CD & LP via Saddle Creek and limited edition cassette through Majestic Litter (yes, cassette!).

The back story:

“After fronting Neva Dinova for more than 15 years which included five full-lengths, a split EP, and countless tours, he packed up his dog and moved from his native Omaha to his girlfriend’s hometown of Los Angeles. Two days before he left he recorded 18 demos with musician and engineer Ben Brodin at Brodin’s insistence. Once in L.A., Bellows got a job installing sliding-glass doors and sold his Les Paul to buy a Datsun pick-up truck.

“Though he had no plans to form a new band, he played the occasional solo show, performed with Whispertown, and continued to write songs. In early 2011, an invitation arrived from Omaha’s Film Streams Theater for Jake’s old friend Ryan Fox also living on the West Coast, to perform an original live film score. Fox enlisted Bellows and Brodin to collaborate and the trio began to compose and discuss improvisational ideas over long-distance. Since they were all going to be in Omaha and had a long history of playing in each other’s bands, Brodin and Fox nudged Bellows into booking studio time to record some of his dormant songs.

“Fox and Bellows drove from LA to Omaha that November in a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle that didn’t have heat, a speedometer, a fuel gauge, seatbelts, or radio. They made it as far as Lincoln, NE, before the car caught fire at 4 in the morning. Later that week the trio performed the score to The Adventures of Prince Achmed. That weekend, they entered ARC Studios for a feverish recording session, arranging and writing parts on the fly with an impromptu band including Heath Koontz, Todd Fink, Whispertown bandmate Morgan Nagler and other old friends. Committing quickly to intuitive arrangements the band recorded 17 tracks in a little more than a week. They worked remotely on the record throughout that winter and spring, adding overdubs in basements and bedrooms across western North America.

“The group reunited in Omaha to debut the new songs at a couple of shows one week the following June. Excited to release the new material on their own terms the band put out a preview EP on cassette, Help, at the end of 2012. The new music is underpinned by philosophical conviction and shaped by an interest in physics, cosmology and mythology. Bellows returned to music with a renewed sense of the intrinsic value of art and its ability to express the commonality of human experience. His debut full-length, New Ocean, offers a mix tape of different kinds of songs hanging out on one record – love songs that are not necessarily ballads despite their introspective gauziness, with left turns into drunk-in-the-sun bossa nova and blue-eyed-soul ruptured by fuzz guitar. Bellows believes that songs change the fabric of the universe through the very frequencies they emit. As such, the record attempts to create the world he wants to see instead of reflect the world that is. ‘Our theory of the beginning of the universe is the big bang – a sound,’ Bellows said. ‘What gave birth to the universe is our one tool that we can change the universe with.'”

I’ve got a feeling he’ll be headed back to good ol’ Omaha on the upcoming tour. Call it a victory lap.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You going to Friday night’s 1200 Club show at The Holland Performing Arts Center? Well, you should.

It’s a joint production by Omaha Performing Arts, NET Television and Hear Nebraska (an auspicious organization to which I’m a board member). The show’s called Hear Nebraska LIVE and features three bands we’re all very familiar with: Digital Leather, Big Harp and Kill County. NET is recording the entire show, creating TV shows from the material which will be sort of inspired by Austin City Limits. The shows will be broadcast within Nebraska, and could possibly have national distribution through PBS. Imagine that?

Anyway, you can be a part of this historical program and broadcast (as an audience member) for a mere $25.

Or — better yet — enter promo code HEARNE13 when buying here from Ticket Omaha and get $2 off (that’s $23 for you math-impared). What a friggin’ steal!

I’ve never been to 1200 Club. I don’t even know where it is in conjunction with the rest of The Holland, but I’m sure there will be signs pointing the way. I’m trying to imagine what Digital Leather has up its sleeve. I know they’re planning something special. BTW, it’s an early show (7:30 p.m. start).

* * *

Two noteworthy shows are happening tonight, both with early start times.

At The Slowdown, it’s the return of They Might Be Giants. Seems like they were just here a year ago. The band just got back from “down under” touring in support of their new studio album, Nanobots (Idlewild Records). Brooklyn horn ensemble Moon Hooch opens. $23, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, Peter Case (The Plimsouls (“A Million Miles Away”), The Nerves) performs “an evening with…” at The Waiting Room as part of the Sunday Roadhouse series. $20, 7:30 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Baths at The Waiting Room, June 2, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was a three-day weekend for me, thanks to my birthday (and thanks again to all you Facebook peeps who sent good wishes). Monday off meant I was free to attend Sunday night’s shows at the good ol’ Waiting Room

We grew up thinking of a future where musicians will be able to create any sound using their computers. We landed there Sunday night — three bands whose sound was mostly driven by computers and synths, which meant lots of people on stage bouncing around, looking down at their gear and furiously twisting knobs and stabbing buttons.

Opener D33j created electronic soundscapes behind his work panels. He looked like a DJ, but I didn’t see any turntables or hear any specific samples. Instead, he created his own sounds / beats / melodies adding vocals mostly as just another layer of sound. Very trance-y.

He was followed by Houses, a more “traditional” band in that they actually had a lead guitar player who can shred with the best of them. I described Houses’ record last week as sounding like a more upbeat version of The National (thanks in part to Dexter Tortoriello’s vocals). But that comparison was lost Sunday night as Houses brought a much denser dreamscape sound augmented (in a New Order sort of way) by that amazing guitar. Despite modern beats and sounds, Houses owes a lot to late-era Cure (Disintegration, for example).

Headliner Baths gets grouped with the chillwave outfits, where it doesn’t really fit. Will Wiesenfield is the mad genius creating all the sounds from two panel racks, with the help of one other guy who “played” alongside at his own rack of electronic gear, occassionaly threatening to play guitar (but he if he did, I didn’t hear it in the din). Wisenfield’s “music” is an intricate proggy blend that reminded me of early, trippy Peter Gabriel mixed with the chaos of other electronic outfits like Grimes. When he isn’t shrieking in falsetto, Wisenfield’s voice bears an eerie resemblance to Adam Goren (Who remembers Atom and His Package?).

I wasn’t a follower of Baths (as most people who I spoke to at the show beforehand were) and found Wisenfield’s sounds take some… adjustment. In addition to having the deepest, loudest low-end I’ve heard at The Waiting Room since the last Faint show, Wisenfeild’s melodies were abrasive and tricky but worked their way into my psyche. What starts as awkward and ugly becomes big and beautiful by the end.

It was surprising how entertaining a guy standing (or sitting) behind a laptop, keyboard and pedal rack could be. I could ask you if this is the future of rock and roll, but it’s already here. And while artists like Baths and Houses and D33j can recreate almost any sound you can imagine, they can’t equal the energy of a traditional rock band, nor would they want to try. There’s an intentional soullessness to it all, a weird hollow trancelike quality, which I’m guessing is so appealing to their biggest fans.

And then there was Friday night.

Last Good Tooth at O’Leaver’s, May 31, 2013.

Opening band Last Good Tooth might have the worst name in the music business but they’re still a darn good band. I said their lastest album was in the M. Ward vein, and that’s pretty much what the four -piece (including a tasty fiddle) brought to O’Leaver’s in one of the oddest, diverse line-ups I’ve seen at a show in a long time.

LGT was followed by Malaikat dan Singa, whose rhythmic, violent style bordered on confrontational performance art, except that the lead guy could play a mean bass clarinet.

Finally, it was the return of Touch People a.k.a. Darren Keen. Keen’s current sound mixes his own electronic creations (rhythms, noises, clicks, beats), with his electronically augmented voice (on helium). I’ve seen Touch People before and got lost in the noise due to sounds coming at me too fast, too disconnected, too dissonent. Keen’s finding his sweet spot with these new songs that not only have a more cohesive central rhythm/melody, but incorporate Keen’s abbrasively honest real-world views (which I just happen to agree with). Keen would have been right at home at TWR Sunday night.

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Pseudo indie (but not really) popsters Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros headline at Stir Cove tonight. The show starts at 7:30 and will run you a cool $42 (with fees).

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.