by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s actually a pretty slow weekend, until Sunday night when Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks headlines at The Waiting Room.

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Wig Out at Jagbags (Matador, 2014)

So how’s the new Malkmus/Jicks album, Wig Out at Jagbags, released last month on Matador? If you’re familiar with Malkmus’ recordings and the last couple Pavement albums, you already know what to expect. The music and style doesn’t stray from his usual slacker indie formula of laidback arrangements centered around his rather narrow, unadorned vocals. Like the best of Pavement, there’s still plenty of wonky jam moments and odd time shifts to keep you guessing.

Along with Beck’s stream-of-conscious haiku, Malkmus writes some of my favorite “smart” rock lyrics — playful and funny but always with a stab of cynical insight. Lines like “We lived on Tennison and venison and the Grateful Dead” (from “Lariat”); and “Come and join us in this punk rock tomb / Come slam dancing with some ancient dudes” (from “Rumble at the Rainbo,” which ends with the sad truth: “No one here has changed and no one ever will…“).

Every Malkmus record has one song that takes a shot at someone or something. This time it’s “Cinnamon and Lesbians,” which has Malkmus “Shanghaied in Oregon” making Portlandia-style observations like “Raised in a numbers trailer / With grass-blowing funky neighbors / Come downtown ’cause we’ve got a cure for your head lice.” Nice.

Then there’s “J Smoov,” where Malkmus pulls in a sunset horn section and strings and an amazing stumble-through trombone solo that sums up the song better than the lyrics, which are more obtuse than usual. That solo was the first thing on the album that caused me to look up from whatever I was doing and glance at the sleeve to see what I was listening to.

At times Malkmus both lyrically and musically reminds me of very early Steely Dan, back when Steely Dan was a rock band and not a yacht-rock jazz-fusion project. Is Malkmus a Gen X version of Donald Fagen? Maybe, maybe…

The summary: It’s just another Malkmus record, so if you like Malkmus (or in my case, love Malkmus) than it’s a must have (I bought it on vinyl the weekend after it was released).

Needless to say, I’ll be there Sunday for the show. The last time Malkmus came through two years ago (down at The Slowdown, review here) it was quite a treat. Get there early to see Tyvek, who just played at the Sweatshop Gallery Tuesday night. $17, 8 p.m.

Also Sunday night is the 8th annual Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards. The ceremony is being held at the DoubleTree Hotel downtown. Details here.

I’d give you my predictions but I’m so far out of the loop with the OEAAs that I was surprised it was still being held. There’s a few real oddities in the categories this year. Two bands listed in the Best Album category, for example, don’t even live in Nebraska. I guess they’ve stretched the qualifications to merely “having once lived in Nebraska.” No doubt the music category of the OEAAs represents a very (very) small subset of Omaha music, but relevant nonetheless to those bands’ fans, whether or not the bands are relevant to anyone else.

Happy Valentine’s Day (to those of you who observe it). Have a good 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Poet Kyle Harvey

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In this week’s column, an interview with Poet Kyle Harvey on what it’s like to be a poet and why he turned his back on the music world. It’s in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here, and since this tangentially involves music, you can read it below.

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Over the Edge #94: The Life of a (Real) Modern-Day Poet

Hyacinth (Lithic Press, 2013)

Just the word “poet” makes some people’s eyes roll in exasperation and disbelief. “Who does he think he is, calling himself a poet? Is he serious?” To those same people, anyone who would classify himself as a poet is very likely a self-involved, deluded, pretentious asshole who thinks he has all the answers and can even make those answers rhyme. Either that, or he’s a university professor.

The only problem with that theory is that Kyle Harvey is a poet, and he’s anything but a pretentious asshole.

He used to be a musician, the kind that plays rock ’n’ roll and folk songs of his own writing. Once upon a time when he lived in Omaha, Harvey was known to stand on stage with his guitar behind his rather bushy beard and sing painful, personal love songs designed to draw tears from your eyes (and often succeeded). He also played in a rock band that no longer exists called It’s True, which released records and drove around the country in a van playing concerts in night clubs.

All of that was a long time ago. These days Harvey lives in picturesque Fruita, Colorado, a town of around 12,000 located just outside of Grand Junction on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. He and his wife, Veronica, live a quiet life raising kids (with twins on the way), hold down day jobs and are part of a community where Harvey recently was elected to the City Council.

But on top of all that, Harvey writes poems, like this one from his latest “chap book”:

Tulips

There’s an overcoat of cottonwood,
on a quilted field in Holland.

Words spill from one pocket
and rhythms from the other.

Down into the soil they seep,
Cupping seeds in their hands

and sprouting the promise of bulbs
from which colorful miracles leap.

“I’m only a poet when I write a poem,” Harvey explained. “The rest of the time I’m just an average dude.”

How does one go from performing rock songs in front of an audience to quietly writing at the foot of a mountain? Harvey says at some point he “fell out of love” with being a musician and the pressures that came with it.

“Music just doesn’t hold as much value as it used to,” Harvey said. “I think it stopped a long time ago, well before I started stepping back from it. I got burned out on the formula of writing songs. Poetry seemed a little bit more open-ended and felt a little more free.”

Harvey said he also didn’t feel fulfilled playing rock shows. “The fulfillment came from the process of creating something,” he said. “With the band, the value for me was hanging out with my friends and traveling to different cities, but the shows and the grind of it was not as exciting or fun. I don’t crave being on stage in front of people, I almost like not being on stage — which is weird considering how long I played music.

“There doesn’t seem to be much to a poet’s lifestyle, like there is to a musician’s.” he added. “Poetry is solitary, you do it in solitude.”

Well, except for when he takes part in poetry readings, but even then all he has to do is read four or five poems. “Then you get to hang out with people who read books,” he said. “I’d rather read a book than listen to an album.”

What? Sacrilege!

Harvey said he began writing poetry back in his musician days. After he moved to Colorado one of his poems, “Hyacinth,” won the 15th Annual Mark Fischer Poetry Prize awarded by the Telluride Arts Council.

Shortly after that, friend and fellow poet Danny Rosen suggested Harvey collect his poems — many of which had been published in small poetry journals and magazines — and put out a book. Named after that award-winning poem, Hyacinth was published by Rosen’s Lithic Press. Harvey calls it a “chap book,” which he said is the term for books under 42 pages that use staples for the binding.

Unlike the music business, which seems to thrive on album sales, there isn’t a lot of pressure to sell copies of his chapbook. Harvey said Rosen would love to at least break even, but “in his mind, the most important part (of the process) is creating the artifact, the beautiful book,” Harvey said. “(Rosen) would tell you he already considers it a huge success, which is neat to hear.”

So what’s the pretentious part in all of this?

“There’s a misperception that (poetry) is some sort of pretentious high art. It’s not like that at all,” Harvey said. “What I’ve learned is that the poetry world to me doesn’t seem nearly as pretentious as the music world. Even the biggest, most widely read, best-selling poets — and there’s not a whole lot of them — are still nothing like rock stars. There’s a purity to it that maybe comes from the fact that there’s not much of an audience for poetry, and from the lack of exchange of money. There’s not even a whole lot of people who have been to a poetry reading. They’re almost considered taboo.”

And now you can take part in this taboo ritual when Harvey presents some of his work at a poetry reading Feb. 24 at the Petshop Gallery, 2727 No. 62nd St. in Benson. Joining him will be Greg Kosmicki (the 2000 and 2006 recipient of the Nebraska Arts Council’s Merit Award), Paul Hanson Clark (co-founder and operator of the poetry studio SP CE in Lincoln), and Omaha musician and novelist Michael Trenhaile.

And if you’re wondering what Harvey sounded like on stage, well you’ll get your chance to find out when he once again slings on a guitar as the opener at the Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies album release show Feb. 21 at The Waiting Room. No one said poets can’t sing, too.

Over The Edge is a weekly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com.

First published in The Reader, Feb. 13, 2014. Copyright © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Tonight at O’Leaver’s, Shreveport band Ghost Foot plays along with locals Those Far Out Arrows. Whenever I see shows like this listed, I wonder how they got booked. Ghost Foot has almost no web presence. They have a Facebook page with 375 likes with an “about” section that has almost no information about the band. They have a bandcamp page but no formal releases. Beyond that, nothing. And yet, here they are hundreds of miles away from home on tour.

Somehow they found O’Leaver’s, or O’Leaver’s found them and they booked a show for tonight. Maybe they’re friends with the TFOA guys, who also only have a Facebook page and a Reverb Nation page. I think it’s safe to say this is the punk underground at its finest. $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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Not much happenin’ today. We got Talking Mountain headlining down at Slowdown Jr. tonight with Lincoln band Green Trees — a synth pop project that should fit right in with TM’s electronic party vibe. Also on the bill, Chris Couse. The show is absolutely free and starts at 9.

What else…

I just noticed Warpaint has been booked to play The Waiting Room April 2. Their new self-titled album is pretty good.

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Jessica Errett joins Matt Whipkey tonight at Tracks Lounge. 8 p.m. and free.

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Tomorrow: The return of Kyle Harvey, Poet.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Conor Oberst’s latest promo photo.

Conor Oberst’s press agent today announced that he’s signed to Nonesuch Records for the release of his next solo outing, Upside Down Mountain, out May 20. This presumably is the “country-flavored” album he recorded in Nashville with Jonathan Wilson and First Aid Kit, mentioned in the recent Rolling Stone interview.

Nonesuch is the home of such artists as Magnetic Fields, Emmylou Harris, Brian Eno, k.d. lang, Jeff Tweedy, Joni Mitchell, Fatboy Slim and Ben Folds. Oberst’s pseudo solo records (as Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band) were released on Merge. Monsters of Folk came out on Shangri La. And we all know that Bright Eyes is/was on Saddle Creek.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Catching up on old news…

I was informed last week that Val Nelson no longer is employed at The Slowdown. Val used to run hospitality and coordinate booking for the club. Jason Kulbel has taken over the duties for the time being. I’ll miss Val. She’s been at Slowdown since the club opened in 2007  It was always nice to see her smiling face in the crowd or behind the bar.

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It was reported a few weeks ago, but you may have missed it: Pleasure Adapter broke up. No details as to the reason for the breakup, though I’ve been told that Jeff Ankenbauer is already working on his next project. Keep an eye out for that.

Pleasure Adapter had recently recruited Matt Maginn of Cursive to play bass and looked poised to move to “the next level.” There had even been talk of the band entering the studio. Funny how these things go down.

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In other local band news, I’ve been told Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds has moved to Los Angeles, and her Facebook page confirms it. Laura moved from D.C. to Omaha sometime after 2009 after leaving her previous band, Georgie James, and forming Mynabirds. Another loss for the Omaha music scene…

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Looks like yours truly will once again be traveling to Austin to cover the SXSW Music Festival. This year’s festival may have the smallest Omaha representation in recent memory. Saddle Creek will not be sponsoring a showcase, though Creek artist PUJOL will be performing and I’m told Twinsmith could make an appearance. Beyond that, I’m not aware of any other Omaha/Lincoln act taking part. If you know otherwise, drop me a line or leave a message in the comments area.

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Looking at the ol’ blog it’s been two friggin’ weeks since I’ve posted a live review. That’s because it’s been two friggin’ weeks since I’ve been to a club. Blame it on a combination of the cold weather and lack of touring indie shows.

That said, Detroit band Tyvek (In the Red Records) is playing at Sweatshop Gallery tomorrow night for what’s practically a secret show as it’s not listed  on either the Sweatshop or Tyvek Facebook pages. Are they purposely keeping the show on the down low as to not detract from the fact that Tyvek will be opening for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at The Waiting Room this coming Sunday? Maybe, maybe…

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Bloodcow as seen in the major motion picture documentary The Making of Crystals and Lazers.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Onward to the weekend…

Ghosty is playing tonight at O’Leaver’s. The Lawrence band has been around since the late ’90s. If I remember correctly (and I probably don’t) Ghosty toured with Son, Ambulance almost a decade ago for what had been described as “The Dirt Tour” because at one point the band found themselves sleeping on the floor of a house covered in dirt and cigarette butts. Ah, the glamorous life of rock stars. Ghosty has come through Omaha numerous times since. It’s good to see they’re still together and touring. Ghosty is listed as the opening band tonight along with KC band Shy Boys and headliner, Omaha’s own See Through Dresses. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, hip-hop stylist Buck Bowen performs his new album, Truth Before Confort, at the new Side Door Lounge (now under new management) for what they’re calling “A SkeptiCelebration,” which features Bowen performing with a jazz trio. Saxophonist Steve Thornburg opens. 8 p.m., no cover!

If you missed Long Low Signal last night at The Waiting Room they’re headlining tonight at Slowdown Jr. Joining them are Mitch Gettman, Freakabout and Manic Pixie Dream Girls. $5, 9 p.m.

Also, it’s Benson First Friday.

Tomorrow night the mighty Bloodcow joins Civicminded to form Voltron on The Sydney’s stage. $5, 9 p.m.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes “sneak peek” of the new Bloodcow album:

Have a mighty fine 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Ross Brockley from a scene from Sick Birds Die Easy.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In this week’s column, an interview with the Nik Fackler, Sam Martin and Ross Brockley, the stars of Fackler’s new film, Sick Birds Die Easy. Fackler separates the real from the unreal, the fact from fiction in this documentary that isn’t a documentary but kind of is. You can read it in the current issue of The Reader, or online right here. Go ahead and read it now and come on back, we’ll wait for you…

With the column being more of a review and description than a Q&A, there was a lot of leftover interview content that didn’t make into the 1,000-word news hole. Hopefully much of what I missed was covered in a story that (I was told) was being written by Leo Adam Biga, The Reader‘s cover story writer. That said, here are a few details:

— Sam Martin’s soundtrack is as central to the film as the visual footage. Martin seamlessly combines the style of music he’s known for with a sublime score that perfectly accentuates the mirth and madness of every frame. “All the score work was done after a (mostly) final cut was done,” Martin said, “but while Nik was editing I gave him a hard drive of everything I recorded in the last two years so he picked (music) out of that hard drive. After that I tracked all the score work.”

“It was like a treasure chest hard drive of amazing music,” Fackler added. As I mentioned in the column, the DVD version of the film comes with a separate copy of the soundtrack.

— Fackler said the film’s budget was a little less than $100,000. His producer was Steve Hays of 120 dB Films, who Fackler had met when his film Lovely, Still premiered in Toronto. “(Hays) whole concept was ‘Let’s make a film that’s kind of like this new genre that’s popping up that’s a hybrid, kind of like Paranormal Activity.’ Initially I wasn’t interested in doing it, but then sent him a one-page concept.”

Hays gave the green light and Fackler proceeded to shoot more than 500 hours of footage that took a year and a half to edit between tours with Icky Blossoms and Tilly and the Wall. The entire time Hays was breathing down his neck for a print to hand over to various festival committees.

“It was good having that pressure to get the film edited,” Fackler said, but added. “I’m really burnt out on editing. Editing this film really took a lot out of me. I’m ready to put that hat away.”

— I’ve been a fan of Ross Brockley since he played the slacker son in the series of commercials with the pitch phrase: “What do you think this is, a Holiday Inn?” Brockley becomes the central figure in this film — you love him, you hate him. I asked why he doesn’t do more work and Brockley said his main focus these days is his organic farm operation located south of Lincoln called Brockley Farmaceuticals that he’s operated for the past 14 years. The farm was partially paid for by his Holiday Inn work. Still, Brockley hasn’t turned his back on acting. “It’s not like I”m passing up roles and offers all over the place,” he said.

— Dana Altman of North Sea Films, who is seen running a camera in the movie and plays a minor role, is said by narrator Fackler to be giving up film making to buy a farm of his own. “He did buy a farm,” Fackler said during the interview. “It’s so beautiful, I think if Dana had his choice, he would be there full time, but you can’t take the film maker out of him. He’ll always love film.”

— As for Fackler’s future: “I don’t know what I’m going to do next,” he said. “I like to have small goals and work real intensely one thing at a time. I don’t like to have all my eggs in one medium. Right now the focus is releasing Sick Birds and then music full-time. I’ve started writing a new script. Film will always be a part of my life. I don’t see being a musician and touring into my 40s and 50s.”

If you don’t have tickets to next Tuesday’s screening of Sick Birds at Film Streams and you want to go, you better get them soon. Fackler implied sales have been brisk. I wouldn’t be surprised if it sells out. And though it will be available on DVD and Video on Demand, it’s worth seeing on the big screen. Details/tickets are available here, and the after-party at The Slowdown should be (as the kids say) off the hook.

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A couple shows on the radar tonight.

New band Long Low Signal headlines at The Waiting Room with The Love Technicians, The Sub Vectors and Let Alone. Interestingly, LLS plays tomorrow night at Slowdown, apparently prepping to go into the studio. I have no idea what they sound like. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, tonight at Slowdown Jr., Betty Jean of The Betties is hosting a CD release show. Joining her is Travelling Mercies and Matt Cox. $5, 9 p.m.

And in Lincoln, it’s night two of Lincoln Exposed. Get the deets here.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Lincoln brings out its stars beginning tonight for the 9th annual Lincoln Exposed festival. The Zoo, Duffy’s and Bourbon team up to showcase the best and brightest from the star city for four days of shows. Tickets are $6 a day for access to all three venues each night. More details here, and below is the evening’s line-up.

WEDNESDAY

Zoo Bar
9:30-10:15 – St. Christopher
10:45-1130 – Orion Walsh
12:00-12:45 – North of Neptune
1:15 – 2:00 – Pat Nichols Band

Duffy’s Tavern
6:00-6:45 – The Allendales
7:15-8:00 – Dear Herman
8:30-9:15 – Jazzocracy
9:45-10:30 – The In-Betweens
11:00-11:45 – Thirst Things First
12:15-1:00 – Bogusman

Bourbon Theatre
6:30-7:15 – Dude Won’t Die
7:45-8:30 – Answer Me
9-9:45 – Domestica
10:15-11 – What is Jazz?
11:30-12:15 – Producers of the Word
12:45-1:30 – Thundersandwitch

Also tonight here in Omaha, John Klemmensen joins Matt Whipkey at Tracks Lounge (the former Trackside Lounge) 1506 So. 60th St. 8 p.m., free!

And Wax Trax-influenced EBM/Industrial band Youth Code (Dais Records) headlines at Slowdown Jr. tonight. Lincoln electro-leather-freakshow Plack Blague opens. $8, 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Conor Oberst did an interview with Rolling Stone, posted online last week (and in the current issue), that was more of a sidebar than a full-blown interview. Still, the writer, Patrick Doyle, managed to cram a lot of little facts into the piece, all handled nonchalantly.

Facts like: Conor has been secretly married for three years. Conor spent six months writing a screenplay that got shit on. Conor is working with a producer other than Mike Mogis on his next record. All of these facts were laid out without any explanation as to why they happened, reported matter-of-factly as mere asides. Sort of like, “Oberst then pulled down his trousers and revealed he was born with a tail. ‘Yeah, I’ve had it my whole life,’ Oberst said. ‘It’s the reason I’ve never been photographed swimming.'” No follow-up from Doyle, just move right along to the next question on the list. Very odd.

Oberst’s marriage has been widely rumored for years among people outside of his inner circle (who, presumably, knew all along). I got a tip about it back in 2010. “You should ask about how Conor got married last weekend in New York,” someone told me. So I did. I asked around and no one would confirm it. It’s one of those little things that would be embarrassing to report without a confirmation. More like gossip than news.

But Oberst’s marriage is significant in how the relationship played into his rather vocal, rather public protests against immigration laws in Fremont and Arizona in 2010. At the time, Oberst never really explained why he was leading the protest. Had he explained the context — the personal nature of his concern — it would have resonated with more people than just his fans. Instead, here he was raising his fist against backwards-thinking immigration laws, leaving people wondering “Why the fuck does this rich, suburban white boy care so much about the plight of illegal immigrants?”

But the most surprising revelation from the RS article was this line: “‘She’s the reason to go home,’ he says, digging into a sausage pizza (he recently started eating meat again).” This was a true what-the-fuck moment. Oberst, once a vegan, has proudly hoisted the banner of vegetarianism for a long time — for as long as I’ve been listening to his music. Out of nowhere he drops the lifestyle and does it in a way that couldn’t be more “in your face” to vegetarians — eating a sausage pizza with a reporter. Of course there’s zero context for any of this in the article, no explanation and apparently no question from Doyle as to what happened and why, just Conor eating his sausage pizza, a statement unto itself.

On one level, it couldn’t be more flip; on another, what could Oberst have said about eating a sausage pizza that wouldn’t have offended a die-hard vegetarian?

Below, from the Peta website circa sometime in the first half of the last decade.

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It’s looking like another blah week for indie shows.

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.