by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A glance at the week ahead show-wise…

Tonight at Pageturners it’s Lars + Mal and Silk Robespierre. No idea who this is, but it’s free and starts at 9:30. Why not?

Tomorrow night The Burkum Boys (Skypiper) play at O’Leaver’s with The Cactus Blossoms and Ojai.

Wednesday Slowdown Jr. has Midwest Dilemma, Brad Hoshaw and Landon Hedges (Desaparecidos, Little Brazil). Seems like forever since I’ve seen MD on stage.

Thursday is the final night of Cursive at The Waiting Room, with Ladyfinger and Ted Stevens Unknown Project. Expect the unexpected from what has become a very memorable “residency.”

Friday it’s The Seen and Texas band Crystal Wolf at O’Leaver’s; while Barley Street is hosting its annual X-mas spectacular.

Saturday is Brigadiers and Bear Antlers at O’Leavers; while Envy Corp. returns to The Waiting Room with Oquoa and Millions of Boys.

Finally Sunday Mezcal Brothers are at The Waiting Room with Matt Cox.

Not bad for the week before Christmas.

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In other news…

Neutral Milk Hotel (March 29) and St. Vincent (April 1) both have been booked to play at Sokol Auditorium. Seems like only yesterday that I saw St. Vincent at Slowdown Jr., and now she’s playing that famous South Omaha barn. Tickets on sale now via One Percent Productions.

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In 311 news… (yeah, you read that right)

The band that once called Omaha home confirmed via Billboard Magazine that its next album will be an independent release.  In the article, frontman Nick Hexum calls the move to indie status “one of the best moves 311 could have possibly made,” at least now that they have a distro deal with INGrooves.

But Hexum’s prime quote was this: “The label system is corrupt; they’re so incompetent with their ability to bring any value to the table. It’s just a rip-off.” I don’t think he was saying that back in the Sony/Zomba days… Things must be getting tough at the majors for 311 to turn its back on them.

Another interesting touch was Billboard referring to the band as “the Nebraska rockers.” As we all know, 311 hasn’t lived in Nebraska in over a decade. Where did that come from, and why?

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Finally, Hear Nebraska met its Kickstarter goal of $4,000 today. But the campaign continues, as money raised above the $4k goal will go toward replacing a Macbook Pro used to run the website that was stolen from an HN staffer’s car parked in Benson last Thursday night during the Cursive show…

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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.