by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Going through the ol’ mailbag…

James Reilly of Pharmacy Spirits tapped my shoulder via Facebook to say that he’s got a new band called Life Is Cool. Among the members: Eric Bemberger (ex-Beep Beep), Eli Mardock (ex-Eagle Seagull), Mike Elsener, Ben Armstrong and Kendra Campbell (Cat Island). They’ll be debuting Oct. 14 at Duffy’s in Lincoln, but you can check out a track from their SoundCloud page, below.

So is this a prescription for the end of Reilly’s other band, Pharmacy Spirits? Not at all. In fact Reilly said PS is recording a new EP right now with Mark Wolberg. And look out for PS drummer Courtney Nore’s new band Tubetop, which is the best new band name I’ve heard in a long time.

Life is Cook, JDWYD

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What else…

Lincoln Calling announced its second round of bands for this year’s festival, slated for Oct. 9-14. You can see the current list and get other pertinent info at the Lincoln Calling website. The geographic breakdown:

Acts by city (21 cities total):

73 Lincoln

14 Omaha

5 Kansas City

4 Chicago

4 Omaha/Lincoln

2 Des Moines, San Diego

1 Baltimore, Denver, Kansas City/Lincoln, Lawrence, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Paris, FR, Portland, OR, Provo, UT, Quincy, IL, Seattle, Springfield, IL, Stillwater, Twain Harte, CA

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Lots of early buzz about tomorrow night’s show at The Sandbox — Wild Nothing and Diiv. Both bands are red hot in the Pitchfork/indie world right now, and as a result of the interest, I’ve been getting questions about the venue.

The last time I was at the Sandbox was December 2011 for The STNNNG. Here’s the write-up/description of the venue. I’m told that since then they’ve added a new stage, new sound and professional lighting. But unless they’ve remodeled the entire upstairs of that building, it’s still going to have a warehouse/loft vibe, and as such, this gig could feel like a loft show. Depending on what you like, that’s either a good thing or a bad thing (from my point of view, it’s a good thing).

I’m told venue capacity is around 200, but as I’ve said, this isn’t your typical venue. Tickets are available online at mooseriot.com. As for parking, you’re on your own…

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Could the description of Pageturners Lounge in today’s OWH make the bar sound any more boring? “The sunken bar and dim lighting are reminiscent of retro Omaha neighborhood bars like the Holiday and the Interlude — places where (Phil) Schaffart and his friends have spent a lot of time over the years. And the menu is no-fuss — 10 beers on tap, another 25 in bottles and cans, four house cocktails (a fifth is coming as soon as one of the spirits comes in), and several dozen wines.” *yawn* Sounds like your run-of-the-mill hole-in-the-wall neighborhood bar, but maybe that’s what Phil and co-owner Conor Oberst were after. Mayhaps I’ll find out for myself this weekend…

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Providence, RI noise-rock duo Lightning Bolt takes the stage. They’re one of those bands that bring the party to you,  playing directly on the floor instead of the stage. We’ll see if they follow suit tonight. Opening is Touch People (Darren Keen, ex-The Show Is the Rainbow). $10, 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A 9/11 memory from the Lazy-i vault….

Around the time it happened, every band I interviewed for The Reader talked about how the tragedy was affecting their lives, like this comment from Frenchkiss Records founder and Les Savy Fav member Syd Butler, from an interview printed Nov. 7, 2001:

Butler said the tour’s Nov. 1, 2001, kick-off show was a benefit at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom for the family of a New York City firefighter killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. The tragedy remains in the forefront as the band hits the road.

“I was talking on the phone to someone inside the World Trade Center when it happened,” Butler said. “I was on my way down there to pick up plane tickets when he told me it blew up. I went up to the roof of my building with my girlfriend and freaked out. We sat there in disbelief. It was a real intense situation in that she works with the fire department and knew a lot of people involved.

“Life has changed here in New York,” he said. “I used to be the guy who was frustrated with police. I was not into cops growing up. Now I love them to death. I want to walk up and hug every one I see. They’re people who wouldn’t think for a second about putting their body in front of a bullet.”

Butler lives only a mile from ground zero, where the smell of “burned, plastic hotdogs” still hangs in the air. “Because of my girlfriend, I’ve been a block away from ground zero,” he said. “I don’t think I should have gone. It’s so awesome, but not in a cool way.”

He said it will be good to get away from the city for awhile. “I’m the most sensitive member of the band about this situation,” he said. “I’m the most affected by it. People in New York are processing it in different ways. Some are volunteering to do anything they can. I’m looking forward to getting on the road.”

Now 11 years later, I wonder how Butler looks back on those rather dark, sad days…

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Tonight at The Slowdown it’s the return of Old 97’s. Seems like the last time they came through was for the 2010 Maha Festival

. Opening tonight are Those Darlins and Rhett Miller. $25, 9 p.m.

Also tonight at an undisclosed location somewhere in Bellevue, Jeremy Messersmith is doing a one-man house show. I have no other details.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Twin Shadow at The Waiting Room, Sept. 8, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before I headed out to see Twin Shadow at The Waiting Room Saturday night, I sat out on the back patio of my Dundee/Memorial Park home and caught Dim Light’s set. No, Cooper and Co. weren’t playing in my back yard; they were playing miles away at Jake’s “Because We Can” outdoor festival in Benson, and never sounded better. While pure volume does wonders for these guys, I wonder how many fish floated to the top of Benson Park’s lagoon overcome by the sonic density of it all, a la circa 1971 Pink Floyd.

I don’t know who was playing Jake’s when I finally got to Benson a half-hour later, but they were just as loud; way louder than they needed to be to entertain the hundred or so milling about behind the chain-link fence at the edge of Military Ave., but not loud enough to seep through the thick walls of The Waiting Room, where Niki and the Dove were opening for Twin Shadow.

I knew virtually nothing about N&TD other than it was a duo (the name gave it away) and they played Euro-synth music direct from Stockholm. There on stage was Niki a.k.a. Malin Dahlström, sounding and looking like a Swedish Carol Kane singing Laura Branigan’s greatest hits. Her voice is sort of a nasal-inflected version of Stevie Nicks meets Kate Bush and is indeed lovely. The Dove is Gustaf Karlöf (how do you pronounce an umlaut?) the bearded ABBA-looking guy behind a rack of synths. While the music consisted mostly of prerecorded synth/rhythm samples, for a couple songs Gustaf pounded out beats on a small drum kit behind the keyboard rack, adding tasty Euro-tribal flair. Though clearly influence by ’80s synth-dance music, the duo were at their best when playing more intricate Eno-esque rhythms, closing out their set with a grand cascade that would have made Ms. Bush proud.

Smoke bellowed out of a fog machine for 10 minutes before Twin Shadow finally took the stage like a second coming of Prince, backed by his own 3-piece version of The Revolution. I’m not sure why I made that comparison, as Twin Shadow a.k.a. George Lewis, sounds nothing like the Purple One. TS’s recent 4AD release Confess is an homage to every ’80s and early ’90s New Wave dance project that you can think of, from General Public to Peter Gabriel. Even the album’s production cues sound purposely dated to fit the era.

But on stage, Twin Shadow was oddly modern-sounding, taking those ’80s-themed love songs and ramping them up with a more intricate, more intense approach; throttling back the synths and pumping up his electric guitar. The set was front-loaded with the best songs off Confess, including personal faves “Five Seconds” and “The One.” The crowd of somewhere around 150 grooved it up in front of the stage, doing the classic ’80s shoulder-shrug dance while George pounded out the chords on his guitar. There was a macho drama to everything he did, more intense than fun but fun nevertheless.

* * *

Unless you subscribe to Jeremy Messersmith’s various social media channels you’re probably unaware that the singer/songwriter who has played at Slowdown Jr. a couple times in the past (including opening for The Mynabirds and the debut of So-So Sailors) is playing a special “Supper Club” house show tomorrow night somewhere in Bellevue. Tickets to the intimate performance are still available from the tour website for $15. Don’t forget to bring a covered dish.

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There’s a sweet review of FYF Fest in The Orange County Register declaring The Faint and Desaparecidos as highlights from the LA festival’s second day. From the review, which went online Sept. 3: “But three bands from Omaha – Cursive, the Faint and Conor Oberst’s recently reunited post-hardcore project Desaparecidos – also were on the  bill, and without a doubt the latter two ruled the day.” The write-up called The Faint’s set “a final dazzling pick-me-up after a hot and particularly dusty weekend,” and went on to declare Desa as Oberst’s best project. “While Oberst’s other projects (Bright Eyes, the Mystic Valley Band) have been hit-or-miss, there was no question – throughout 45 minutes of loudly intoxicating new and old tunes, including a thrilling cover of the Clash’s ‘Spanish Bombs’ – that this is his most affecting outfit.” Whoa! Read the whole thing here. One question that came to mind: No love for Cursive? Come on… By the way, though Desa’s brief tour is over and Conor is now headed out on some solo dates later this month, I’m hearing rumblings that we haven’t heard the last from them…

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The June cover, June 1993

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I’ve been on the side of a mountain on the outskirts of Breckenridge, Colorado, since last Sunday. Without WIFI, there was no way to update the blog. But really, when you’re on vacation, aren’t you supposed to set aside such menial tasks and try to reconnect with what’s important in life? Or at least drink as much as possible?

While gone, it was reported that Larry Boehmer, the man who turned The Zoo Bar in Lincoln into a national blues destination, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 65. There’s no denying the role Larry played in

Behind Bars, pg. 1, The Note, June 1993

Lincoln’s and Nebraska’s music scene — as well as the national blues scene — for decades.

Click on the three thumbnail images on the left side of the page (and then click on the images two or three more times to magnify the scans) to read a cover story about Larry and the history of The Zoo Bar written for The Note waaay back in June 1993 to mark the 20th anniversary of the bar. Read more memories of Larry here at hearnebraska.org and the obit in the Lincoln Journal Star. He will be missed.

Behind Bars, pg. 2, The Note, June 1993

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Also while I was gone, I got an email from Phil Schaffart saying that Pageturners, the new bar he’s launching with Conor Oberst, will open its doors for the first time at 4 p.m. today, Friday, Sept. 7. Pageturners the bar is located where Pageturners the bookstore used to be, just west of 50th Street on Dodge (right next to Goldberg’s). Expect a crush mob, paparazzi and plenty of happy drunks. Will Conor and Phil (and Roger) be standing next to the taps slinging drinks? Will someone pull out a guitar and belt out a few bars of “How Dry I Am” or “If Winter Ends”? As that song goes, “And so I drink to stay warm / And to kill selected memories…” Don’t we all? Now we all have a new place to do it…

* * *

In this week’s column, a look at how Big Red mania engulfs everything in its path, and how we still don’t know what happened to UNO’s football team, or why it went down like it did. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader, or online right here.

* * *

Let’s get  into what’s happening tonight and this weekend. Looks like I got back in town just in time…

It’s another “First Friday” in Benson. Look for art stuff happening along Maple Street throughout the evening. For details, go here

.

While your stumbling around Benson gawking at all the art, drop in at The Sydney for Lightning Bug and Conchance. $5, 10 p.m.

Another hot ticket tonight is Toxie at The Brothers Lounge. Toxie (Goner Records) is a Memphis four piece with two guys and two girls playing endearing garage indie.. Check it out for yourself. Also on the bill are The Lupines and Solid Goldberg. $5, 9 p.m.

It’s back to Benson tomorrow night (Saturday) for a show I’ve been looking forward to for a few months. I’m not talking about Jake’s “Because We Can” block party, which is happening outside at 62nd and Military and features Satchel Grande, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship, Rock, Paper, Dynamite, Dim Light and Millions of Boys starting at 7 p.m. No, I’m talking about Twin Shadow at The Waiting Room.

Twin Shadow is Dominican-born George Lewis Jr. whose album Confess (4AD) is a dizzying trip back to ’80s electro-pop with a sound that recalls everything from General Public to Fine Young Cannibals to New Order to Peter Gabriel. For what it’s worth, Pitchfork gave it an 8.2 rating. It’s also one of my favorite albums so far this year for the sheer fun of it. Twin Shadow is one guy, so I have no idea what he’ll bring to the stage. For a gig last month in Seattle, Twin Shadow performed as a three-piece. Tickets are $12 today, $14 tomorrow. Opening is Sub Pop synth band Niki and The Dove. Starts at 9.

Twin Shadow, Five Seconds (4AD, 2012)

If all that ’80s synth pop just ain’t your thing, check out the return of Peace of Shit to fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night with Killer Blow (Genie Molkentine on drums and vocals, Todd VonStup on guitar) and Mosquito Bandito. $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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This might be the weakest weekend line-up I’ve seen this year show-wise. I blame Husker football.

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Des Moines band The Nadas plays with Moses Prey. $15, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, Landing on the Moon plays at Slowdown Jr. with Cannonista, The Bros and Timecat. $7, 9 p.m.

And that’s about it, other than DJ MarQ Manner will be behind the turntables this afternoon/evening at House of Loom as part of the bar’s “Non-DJ DJ” series. Expect to hear plenty o’ Prince, Adam Ant and Falco. 5 to 8 p.m. and free.

I may be missing something. In fact, I probably am. If so, please add your show(s) to the comments section.

Happy Labor Day, you tireless workers.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been somewhat quiet news-wise the past few days, which has given me a chance to catch up on some new releases. Look for a slew of reviews online in the coming weeks, including a summary of the best stuff from the first three quarters of 2012. The year indeed started out slow, but there have been a few interesting releases this summer.

What else…?

Omaha singer/songwriter/musician/filmmaker/golden boy Nik Fackler and bass playing legend Dereck Higgins talk about the upcoming InDreama debut right here at Hear Nebraska. The article is an intriguing combination of text and audio files from the interview. Look for the new InDreama to hit store shelves Oct. 23 on Team Love Records.

* * *

In this week’s column, a look back at last Saturday night’s Fashion Week finale, a review that’s bound to get me in trouble… You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here

.

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Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s The Barley Street Tavern, it’s the return of The Lupines with Baby Tears and St. Louis band Hope and Therapy. The usual $5, the usual 9:30 start time.

Also tonight, traveling troubadour Jake Bellows (ex-Neva Dinova) is playing a set at The New BLK, 1213 Jones St., as part of the Top Coat and Tails II closing party. Jake goes on at 10. According to The NBLK: “No cover. Free drink (until it’s gone, feel free to byob also). We’ll be taking donations to help Jake put a new clutch in the ’71 Datsun for it’s journey back to LA. Come down.” OK, now you have to go…

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just a head’s up today that Ladyfinger is playing tonight at The Sydney with The 87. According to their Facebook invite, Mach and Co. will be playing most of their new record, along with some oldies. $5, 10 p.m.

Also tonight, Anniversaire plays at Slowdown Jr. with Good Weather for Airstrikes and Bear Stories. $7, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

While clicking around the ol’ Facebook — and after receiving a message from a reader — I discovered the Facebook fanpage for a new band called Mummy Train. Just who is in this new band? Well, according to their Facebook page, Mummy Train consists of members of Conduits — specifically Jenna Morrison, Patrick Newbery and Mike Overfield. They describe themselves as an “experimental music project” whose influences include Bjork, The Knife, Cat Power, St. Vincent, Fever Ray, Yeasayer and Beck. Sounds intriguing. Mummy Train will make its (second) stage debut next Thursday, Sept. 6, at House of Loom following a Women in Music panel discussion. More info on that event here.

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Last week LA Weekly posted a list of its “20 Worst Hipster Bands” that spread across the Social Media griddle like wildfire, igniting hipster tempers with every viral post. In what likely is a reaction to that article, Prefix Magazine has posted its list of the Five Worst Music Lists.

Coming in at No. 5: Prefix’s own Top 10 Lyrics on Bright Eyes’ Lifted… So is that supposed to be a shot at themselves or at Bright Eyes? The LA Weekly‘s Worst Hipster list came in at No. 3 (by the way, how did the Weekly‘s list of “Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time” (LCD Soundsystem, Raconteurs, Fleet Foxes, Animal Collective and Sex Pistols) not make this list?).

The No. 1 worst list honor went to Rolling Stones magazine’s list of “Women Who Rock.” Sexist? Well, here’s how Prefix‘s Sasha Geffen put it, “Women make very few appearances in the publication’s many hyperbolic lists, which, while purporting to be gender-neutral, insist that the best of most music was made by men. So women get their own list, which is the journalistic equivalent of saying, ‘Yeah, she’s a pretty good musician–for a woman.'” Check out the rest of the Prefix list here.

* * *

Brad Hoshaw plays a solo set tonight at The Barley Street Tavern, opening for Philadelphia singer/songwriter boog and Matt Cox Band. $5, 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The highlight of my weekend was attending the closing night of Omaha Fashion Week, which I’ll be writing about in detail in this week’s column. One piece of music trivia from that event: Organizers played Icky Blossoms’ chick-mantra “Babes” during one of the walks proving (if there was any doubt) that it’s perfect runway music. Take note organizers of New York’s Fashion Week.

BTW, Icky Blossoms’ debut was sitting at No. 10 on last week’s College Music Journal top-20 radio chart. Check it out.

InDreama, self-titled (Team Love, 2012)

And speaking of bands that Nik Fackler is in, last Friday the folks at Team Love announced that they’ll be releasing the debut album by Nik’s other band, InDreama. You can pre-order the purple vinyl today for $16. Street date is Oct. 23. The entire album is currently being streamed at SoundCloud here or at the Team Love website.

Congrats to Nik, Dereck Higgins and the rest of the band, and to Team Love for putting this out…

Check out the album’s first “single,” Exodus,” below:

InDreama, “Exodus”

* * *

Sounds like Desaparecidos blew up Seattle last Saturday night, at least according to this review in the Seattle Weekly. Quotes of note: “So when a band incorporates politics into their songs, we may find ourselves driven to further reading or action–as Oberst directed show-goers to a table for more information about immigration rights–but we ought to still evaluate those songs as stand-alone works of art. And Desaparecidos’ songs fucking rock.” And, “Overall, though, it was a raggedly exhilarating show, with a set list covering all of sole album Read Music/Speak Spanish as well as new material. It should have been a sold-out crowd.”

Indeed. And it looks like (according to their website) that there’s still tickets available to tomorrow night’s Desa show at SF’s Bottom of the Hill.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And so we made it to the last weekend of the year before being engulfed by Husker mania. Let’s make the most of it, shall we?

Tonight at The Brothers Lounge Lincoln band Her Flyaway Manner headlines a show with Dim Light and Dead Wave — two bands with a few common demoninators, one of which is frontman Cooper Moon.  $5, 10 p.m. You should go.

Also tonight, Blue Bird plays at Slowdown Jr. with Orion Walsh and Steps to Mars. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday), Secretly Canadian recording artist Yeasayer returns to The Slowdown. Remember when they played Slowdown Jr. in 2008 with MGMT? This time Daughn Gibson opens, who’s new album All Hell (White Denim, 2012) scored a whopping 8.1 on the Pitchfork meter. Tix are $20 today, $23 tomorrow. Show starts at 9.

Also Saturday night, Millions of Boys returns to fabulous O’Leaver’s with Kite Pilot and St. Joe Missouri band Dsoedean. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Filter Kings return to The Sydney Saturday night with Matt D. and the Profane Saints. They’re calling this Lee’s Birthday Extravaganza in honor of the birthday of the Filter Kings’ illustrious frontman. This one should be out of control. No idea on the cover. The fun starts at 9.

There’s also a Cystic Fibrosis benefit at The Waiting Room Saturday night with Rock Paper Dynamite, Witness Tree, Two Drag Club and Vago. $10, 8 p.m.

Dundee Day is happening Saturday night. There’s a shit-ton of lame-o bands (other than Satchel Grande) playing the main stage all afternoon and night ($5 cover). At the same time, Dario Day is happening at Dario’s. Unfortunately, I have no idea what bands are playing this time around. If anyone knows, post it in the comments section.

I almost forgot — Jane’s Addiction is playing at The Orpheum Saturday night with Big Black Delta. Tickets are still available for $45-$65. Show starts at 8:30. 

Finally Sunday (and Monday) night is the reunion of ’70s Omaha band Crackin’ with L.A. Carnival and Les Smith Soul Band at the Om Center, 1216 Howard St. Both shows are sold out. Chris Aponick writes about the reunion in this week’s issue of The Reader, or read it online 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.