by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Oh my achin’ head… It’s going to be one of THOSE weekends — a show every night… and day.

Before we get to that, even without a bass player Peace of Shit lived up to its name last night in front of a pizza-farting crowd at O’Leaver’s. The free grub was both a play on words (Pizza Shit… get it!) and a donation from a band member who works at Godfathers. All night I watched the lettuce slowly wilt on a half-eaten taco pizza that sat with its grease melting in a half-open pizza box, the cardboard slowly turning brown to black like an old diaper. Pizza shit indeed. Next time bring some friggin’ Cinnamon Monkey Bread, pizza boy.

I missed opener Watching the Train Wreck as I was home watching the train wreck that is the U.S. Olympic diving team. Traveling band Oakland’s Bonnie & the BANG BANG (an ill fit on a bill of garage music) played a set of adult contemporary indie that would have been right at home at P.S. Collective rather than O’Leaver’s, where it went mostly unnoticed by a crowd that sat outside smoking in the beer garden waiting for them to get done. POS came on at around midnight as a trio without a bass player, which was missed but not a deal breaker as the rest of the band stepped up and nailed the landing with little or no splash (That’s a diving reference for you unpatriotic sports haters, btw). I like this band and stand by yesterday’s statement that they would have made a fine addition to the Maha Festival though that will never happen as their trashy looks resemble a group police mug shot featuring Randy Travis

, Nick Nolte and Mr. Peabody. I spent the morning listening to their new cassette Business as Usual (Rainy Road, 2012) at work and getting the usual squinty, annoyed looks by people passing my veal fattening pen, a sure sign that you should seek out this tape and purchase it immediate and then play it as loudly as possible in your ’98 Trans Am (That’s a Randy Travis reference for all you unpatriotic sports haters, btw).

Tonight we do it all over again, but this time at The Barley Street Tavern where a cast of O’Leaver’s All Stars takes Barley’s hippie-fied stage. Headlining the sleazy brigade is Digital Leather who are about to embark on a mini tour of the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know if they’re the best band in Omaha but they’re my favorite. Not that it matters. Opening is New Lungs (DMax, straight from last night’s Little Brazil 400 Bar gig w/Desa) and The Fucking Party. Expect a higher-than-normal number of cop cars cruising the streets of Benson triggered by the influx of the degenerate O’Leaver’s crowd. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, The Casualties play at The Sandbox with a handful of punk bands including the always dashing Cordial Spew. $15, 8 p.m., more details here

.

Then comes Maha.

The full lineup and all the particulars about this 4th annual event are available at mahamusicfestival.com.

If you’re still looking to buy tickets, a friend of mine forwarded me this offer from Daily Mav

that takes $10 off per ticket. It expires at midnight tonight. Keep your eyes peeled for other offers, or quit being a cheap-ass and just buy your tix at the Maha website (Tix will be $40 each at the gate, so better get them now).

So when you going to get there? Here’s the stage schedule:

12:10 — The Seen
12:45 — Conduits
1:30 — Eli Mardock
2:05 — Frontier Ruckus
2:55 — Universe Contest
3:30 — Josh Rouse
4:35 — UUVVWWZ
5:10 — Dum Dum Girls
6:15 — The Mynabirds
7:00 — Delta Spirit
8:10 — Icky Blossoms
9:10 — Garbage
10:40 — Desparecidos
Show ends at Midnight

Maha keeps boasting that there will be lots of parking, and I’m sure they’re right. Regardless, if you live within biking distance (as I do) I recommend pedaling it over there. Omaha Bikes is suppose to have a bike corral set up over by the Aspen Athletic Club. Check out the map at the Maha website. This should be a blast.

* * *

Your weekend ends Sunday back at The Barley Street Tavern for Capgun Coup along with Candywhompus and the always entertaining Worried Mothers. $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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Omaha press is going ga-ga for Maha as everyone gears up for this Saturday’s big bash in Stinson Park. Check out features in The Reader, Shout Weekly, Omaha World-Herald and Hear Nebraska. The Chicago Tribune gives a glimpse of what we’re in for with this review of Wednesday night’s sold-out Garbage concert at Metro. “Wearing tall stiletto heels, black tights, a large necklace and sleeveless top, the spindly Garbage vocalist spent the first half of the ensemble’s 90-minute set in seek-and-destroy mode.” Imagine how Garbage’s sleek, well-oiled sound will contrast with Desaparecidos’ messy, suburban punk… Better get your tix.

* * *

In this week’s column: Turns out Jonah Lehrer made up those Bob Dylan quotes in his new book Imagine, but does that make Lehrer’s ideas any less valid (or interesting); and how his publisher wants to make sure you don’t find out. It’s in this week’s issue of The Reader, or you can read it online right here.

* * *

I know what you’re thinking: Why isn’t a highly cultured, sophisticated band like Peace of Shit playing the Maha Music Festival?

That very question has run though my deviant mind more than a few times as well. After all, tunes like “Drink Without You,” “Panic in the Streets” and “Out of Our Heads” from the band’s debut cassette tape (on the Rainy Road label) were among the best stuff released in 2011. Conventional wisdom is that the producers who make up Garbage were afraid that they might be outclassed on the massive Maha stage. Or that the “Stupid Girl” herself, Shirley Manson, would be lured into one of Peace of Shit’s famous gimp-approved sex pits. Well, Maha’s loss is your gain, as the boys of Peace of Shit are playing tonight at everyone’s favorite mid-town drunk tank, O’Leaver’s, with Oakland band Bonnie & the BANG BANG and Watching the Train Wreck. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, the slab of noise known as Back When tries to burn down the House of Loom with FVTHR^ and Zach Peterson. The bludgeoning begins at 9 p.m, $7.

* * *

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.

online pharmacy vibramycin online with best prices today in the USA

Desaparecidos, from left, are Conor Oberst, Matt Baum, Denver Dalley, Landon Hedges and Ian McElroy. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

The Politics of Thrashing

Desaparecidos is back and angrier than ever.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Also published in The Reader, Aug. 9, 2012.

In the on-again off-again world of indie rock band Desaparecidos, when Conor Oberst calls you drop what you’re doing and run to his side, right?

Not at all says Desaparecidos guitarist Denver Dalley. “Well, maybe to some extent, but it’s not like anyone abandoned any commitments.”

Over the phone last week, Dalley quickly ran down what the rest of the band’s been up to. Guitarist/vocalist Landon Hedges is busy with his band, indie powerhouse Little Brazil. Keyboard player Ian McElroy has been in New York working on hip-hop project Rig 1 “but I don’t know how close he is to releasing new material,” he said.

Drummer Matt Baum has been vacant from the drum kit. “Before we started back up again he said he had an itch to make music,” Dalley said. “He’s done a lot of podcasts for his comic book world (called The Two-Headed Nerd).”

As for Dalley, he’s been bouncing between homes in Omaha, Nashville and Los Angeles. When not touring as part of dance-rock project Har Mar Superstar, he’s been finishing recording his own project, Statistics, as well as a score for a feature film about the Joplin, Missouri, tornado. “I also went to massage therapy school last year,” he says, though he doesn’t know if he’ll ever actually apply those new skills.

And then there’s Conor Oberst. But we all know what the Bright Eyes frontman has been up to.

“Marikkkopa” b/w “Backsell” 7-inch, Desaparecidos (2012, self released)

Just two years after the last time Desaparecidos got together for the Concert for Equality concert, all their schedules have aligned and the boys are back in town. And judging from their new single, “Marikkkopa” b/w “Backsell,” they’re better than ever.

The single’s A side continues the band’s attacks on anti-immigration xenophobes by taking on Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, the king of racial profiling who has earned the title “America’s Worst Sheriff” by the New York Times. If you’re wondering what Arpaio is all about, just listen to the song’s lyrics, which paint the portrait of a racist rounding up illegal immigrants in a style that recalls the worst of Nazi Germany or The Klan.

Oberst has never been one to pull punches when it comes to his politics, so it’s a good thing the rest of the band shares his beliefs. “Fortunately, we all agree on these things,” Dalley said, “but we do discuss them ahead of time.”

For example, Dalley said there was some back-and-forth over the use of the word “spic” in “Marikkkopa,” in the line “These spics are brave and getting braver.”

“The whole song is written from the perspective of this person who is really anti immigration,” Dalley explained, “but we didn’t want it to come across in the wrong way. We thought about it and decided there is a time and a place and a context where (that language) is appropriate. This song is supposed to be controversial and make people think. Not to compare ourselves to them, but songs like Lennon’s ‘Woman is the Nigger of the World,’ and Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’ prove that there’s a point in using that kind of language.”

Considering that most of Desaparecidos’ fans already share their politics, isn’t the band merely preaching to the choir? Dalley said songs like “Marikkkopa” stoke the flames when the fire dies down after the headlines are forgotten. “It gets the conversation going again,” he said. “After we started streaming the songs yesterday (Aug. 2), we watched the Twitter feed and some people thought it was dead on while some said we’re lumping too many things together.”

Then there’s that sizable portion of the audience who doesn’t care about the lyrics, the ones who just want to rock out. “I’m guilty of that myself at times,” Dalley said, adding that he loves it when the crowd gets revved up over the message “but there’s a line you don’t want to cross. There’s a way to bring (issues) up, and a point when someone gets carried away.”

So when Oberst spends too much time on his soapbox, whose job is it to tell him to shut up and play? Dalley laughed. “Knock on wood we haven’t had to deal with that,” he said. “Maybe one night he’ll get on a tear and we’ll have to play him off, like on The Oscars.”

Good luck with that one.

Despite the politics behind the band’s message, Dalley said Desaparecidos (for him at least) is more about having fun, just like it was when the band first started in the early part of the last decade. Though 10 years have passed since the band’s only album, Read Music/Speak Spanish, was released, little has changed.

“It’s shockingly the same in the best possible way,” he said. “I was excited about the idea of practicing and the hi-jinx and laughing with the guys, and it really has been like that.”

There is a nostalgic way in how Dalley describes not only the band’s reunion, but the entire Omaha music scene. He compares the heyday of Saddle Creek Records circa 2001 like being in high school.

“There was a point afterward where everyone went off to college and got married or whatever,” he said. “Now it’s like people are returning from college and going back to their old stomping grounds, where they find a new, younger generation. I could go to a Cursive show back in 2000 and name everyone in the crowd. Now I only know a handful, and that’s great. I still feel like part of something. It’s different, but it’s the same.”

Desaparecidos is slated to play only a half-dozen shows after this Saturday’s Maha Music Festival. Dalley is unsure what will happen after that.

“There’s no plan as of now,” he said. “I think Conor has a handful of solo dates this winter, so as of now there’s nothing scheduled, but we’re all kind of open to whatever and hoping something happens.”

But only “as long as it’s still fun,” he added. “One of the reasons we went on hiatus was because there was starting to be expectations and it was getting stressful. It got away from being dudes having fun playing the music that we love. We’re all focused on that now.”

* * *

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Seems like only yesterday instead of 11 years ago that I was drinking coffee with Denver at the 13th St. Coffee Shop where he broke the news about his new band for this story. We all expected big things from Desaparecidos, and we got them. Desa was destined to be Saddle Creek’s counterpunch to Cursive’s uppercut — a brash, in-yer-face punk band pissed off at the suburbia that would become its fan base. Oberst was and is at his best when he’s political, and Desa provides that outlet in a time when this country desperately needs his voice. It would be a shame if he and the rest of the band put away the boxing gloves after this brief reunion tour.

Speaking of which, Desa kicks off that tour tomorrow night at the infamous 400 Bar in balmy Minneapolis before they head back to town to co-headline the Maha Music Festival at Stinson Park Saturday night. Tix are still available for $35 at mahamusicfestival.com, where you can also check out the full festival line-up, schedule and other pertinent info. I’m told this is the fastest selling concert in Maha’s brief history.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Big Harp with Gus & Call and Field Club. $7, 9 p.m. Get your weekend started on Wednesday!

* * *

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

Washed Out is playing tonight at The Waiting Room. The one-man Sub Pop band (a.k.a. Earnest Greene) is known for its dreamy electronic synth rock. His music has been associated with the so-called “Chillwave” movement. What is Chillwave? Well, wiki defines it as “a genre of music whose artists are often characterized by their heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic lines.” That’s a rather broad definition that doesn’t say much, and would seem to exclude some of the acts that Washed Out most reminds me of, including Roxy Music and 10cc.

NYT‘s Jon Pareles calls Chillwave “recession-era music: low-budget and danceable” because it’s usually just one guy and his laptop, which is what this will be tonight (UPDATE: Derek Pressnall of Icky Blossoms, who opened for Washed Out last night in Lawrence, said the band is touring as a 4-piece). Is it worth $14 to watch one guy stand behind a keyboard rack and a Macbook and sing along to pre-recorded synth/audio loops? I guess it depends on how much you like his music. Check out the SoundCloud file below and decide. I do know that Washed Out played a sold out show at the House of Blues in Chicago last Friday with Tune-Yards, and just played at Lollapalooza, and that he’ll be opening for The Shins starting in the latter half of September.

Opening for Washed Out tonight is Omaha’s own Underwater Dream Machine, which is worth $14 on its own. Show starts at 9.

Washed Out – Amor Fati

* * *

Tomorrow: Desaparecidos

* * *

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.

online pharmacy spiriva over the counter with best prices today in the USA

Simon Joyner & The Ghosts at The Sydney, Aug. 3, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You wouldn’t know by attending Friday night’s show at The Sydney that Simon Joyner’s new album, Ghosts, consists mainly of down-tempo numbers. That’s because Joyner wisely only played the most uptempo stuff off the double LP during his set. Tunes like rousing drunk ballad “When the Worst Doesn’t Happen,” playful death nod “If I Left Tomorrow” and acid shot album opener “Vertigo.”

The seven-member drone-folk orchestra kept the vibe in a noisy haze throughout the night, filling every inch of dense space with waves of feedback, pedal steel, violin and cello, with two percussionists keeping beat for the tribe. Joyner did slip in one of the album’s most distorted, dissonant and disturbing tunes, the 6-plus minute noise ballet called “Answering Machine Blues” a dark, foreboding nightmare reminiscent of hours spent playing records backwards listening for hidden messages in the grooves. He closed the set with a rarity — “Tums” off the ’93 album Iffy, a tune that’s screaming to be rerecorded with this full band. As a whole, it was a very satisfying night spent listening to a dark orchestra play dark balladry in the dark. What more do you want?

* * *

Tonight Jack White of the White Stripes plays at The Music Hall. I’m one of only a handful of people in the entire world who never “got” Jack White, always found his guitar work derivative and never much cared for his voice. But I can’t fault those who are into the guy, who by everything I’ve read, has done a lot for the garage scene. This one has been sold out for a long time.

Also tonight, nerd-core messiahs Harry and the Potters play at Slowdown Jr. with Potter Puppet Pals. Early 8 p.m. show, $10.

Finally, Trampled by Turtles is playing at The Waiting Room. I have never heard a single song by this band, whose music is described as “bluegrass.” Opening is Joe Pug. $18, 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

online pharmacy sildalis with best prices today in the USA

Simon Joyner (the one in the hat) and his band. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s another Benson First Friday tonight so expect plenty of foot traffic and crappy parking up and down Maple Street.

Actually, parking as a whole has become a bit of an issue in Benson. Just a bit. You can still find somewhere to park on any given weekend night, but you may have to walk a few blocks further than you’re used to. Last show I went to at The Waiting Room forced me to park about four blocks due south of TWR, a few blocks south into the shadows past the Barley Street. I survived it. Something tells me there’s a few hidden parking lots around town center that I’m missing.

Does anyone know of any near The Sydney, where tonight Simon Joyner and his band celebrate the release of Ghosts. The album’s actual street date is Aug. 14, but you’ll be able to pick up a copy of the vinyl (complete with download key) at tonight’s show for $20 (which also gets you into the show for free). Also on the bill, Sun Settings and Lightning Bug, and the amazing Solid Goldberg, who I’m told will hit the stage at around 9:45. If you haven’t seen Dave Goldberg’s latest project, you’re missing out on a life changing experience that can only be eclipsed by Joyner’s band. The first band starts at 9. $5. Go!

Also tonight, Underwater Dream Machine and Low Horse are playing at The Barley Street Tavern. $5, 9 p.m.

Across town at O’Leaver’s it’s a recreation of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” USA hockey victory over the Soviets as performed by The Fucking Party with Catalyst and Servus. Bring your ice skates. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night’s big show is the second annual Omaha Girls Rock! Showcase at The Slowdown. This year’s line-up: Beyond City Limits, Black Rock, Gummy Bear Gals, Jumping Giggles, Lightning Bolts, One & Only, Shooting Stars, The Black Diamonds, The Fire Eyes, and Urban Scrunchies. The show starts promptly at 6 p.m. in the big room and will set you back $5, all of which will go to the 2013 Omaha Girls Rock Camp (Come one, folks, you can afford to put another $20 in the hat for this cause). Here’s a review from last year’s show, which was a blast.

Finally Sunday night, British alt band Animal Kingdom (Warners) plays at The Waiting Room with Royal Teeth (Dangerbird Records). $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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Simon Joyner (in hat) and his band. Photo by Zach Hollowell

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Simon Joyner said way too much to get into one article, so the overflow went into this week’s Over the Edge column. The headline: The Woody Allen of Indie Folk. It has to do with a comment Joyner made about record labels and his music and the fans’ role in supporting art over the long haul. The column is in this week’s issue of The Reader, or you can read it online right here. Joyner and his band celebrate the release of their latest album, Ghosts (Sing, Eunuchs! 2012) tomorrow night (Friday, Aug. 3) at The Sydney.

* * *

The weekend starts early tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s for what will no doubt be a raucous display of public inebriation combined with dollops of rock music and sexiness. That’s right, Little Brazil returns to the house that Frederick Pabst built (or maybe it was Joseph Schlitz?). The party starts at 9:30 with Underwater Dream Machine, followed by Millions of Boys. $5. Free parking. Go.

Also tonight, The Bishops and All Young Girls Are Machine Guns are at The Sydney. $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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Simon Joyner (the one in the hat) and his band. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

Simon Joyner: The Ghosts in the LP

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Also published in The Reader, Aug. 2, 2012.

Singer songwriter Simon Joyner would very much prefer that you listened to his new double album, Ghosts, as it was intended to be heard: Played on a record player.

Unlike other artists who over the past few years have made their recordings available on vinyl as a sort of kitschy gimmick or nod to a hipster scene that prefers analog over digital, Joyner wrote Ghosts, which comes out Aug. 14 on Sing! Eunuchs!, as four sides contained in a one gatefold sleeve, its dark themes ebbing and flowing from the dissonant chaos of Side One to depths of guilt, confusion and regret on Side Two to the grim, bleak darkness of Side Three to a deceptive pop relief on Side Four. The time it takes to get up and turn the record over gives listeners a brief respite between waves of desolation.

“There’s a lot of death on this record,” Joyner said. “Our guitarist, Mike Friedman, said that it was so heavy that he listened to the first record and then took a couple hours off before he listened to the second one.”

Simon Joyner, Ghosts (Sing, Eunuchs! 2012)

It’s hard to imagine listening to a digital version of Ghosts on an iPhone in shuffle mode while jogging, and stumbling across a song like the piano-and-guitar dirge “Swift River, Run” with its lines: “I’ve seen the levee burst / Seen fences devoured by the sun / Should the giant redwood burn / The ash will darken everyone.” Taken out of context sandwiched between, say, KC and the Sunshine Band and a Twin Shadows track, the slow, dismall song could seem almost comical. Taken in its proper place with the rest of the album, and it’s sobering darkness before the dawn.

Is it too much to ask a generation of distracted iPod-slinging youth to listen to and experience all four sides of Ghosts in their entirety? “I don’t think so,” Joyner said Saturday over the phone.

“I really don’t appreciate what that convenient form of listening has done to the album as an album. It’s kind of ruined it in a lot of ways,” he said. “There’s been some damage done to the album as a work of art in the new media, but I think there will always be serious appreciators of music who want the whole experience and not just convenient and quick entertainment. But it’s always been comparatively few.”

Joyner said he created the song arc on Ghosts in an attempt to make the listeners feel like they’ve “been through something and come out on the other side, whatever it may be.”

“Especially with a double record, the middle can get really deep into it. The songs work in a way where you’re kind of getting through the mess of what’s being worked on thematically.”

Side One opens with “Vertigo,” a violent, psychedelic, psychotic blues song that’s a crash of noise and fear. “(The song) announces some of the (album’s) themes: Escape and entrapment,” Joyner said. “Musically speaking, it sets the tone as far as the jagged, dissonant qualities of a band doing jagged, dissonant songs. It lets people know that this is going to be something different.”

“Different,” as in a change from Joyner’s usual style, though there’s nothing “usual” about a Simon Joyner album. Joyner began playing intelligent, personal coffee-shop-style folk back in early ‘90s, releasing his first cassette of songs, Umbilical Chords, when he was just 17. Since then, he’s recorded a dozen albums that range from the static folk of his landmark 1994 release The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll to the droll, bleak Heaven’s Gate (1995) to the afternoon balladry of ’99’s The Lousy Dance to the midnight acid blues of ’06’s Skeleton Blues to the somber beauty of ’09’s Out Into the Snow. Though the albums vary in their own ways, the common thread always has been — and continues to be — Joyner’s personal lyrics that provide dark and sometimes uncomfortable glimpses into the way he views life and death and all the stuff in between.

Ghosts continues those themes, but with more death than usual. It’s not so much a collection of eulogies as much as elegies to his own life and the lives of friends now gone. Side Two highlight, “Cotes Du Rhone,” for example, is about singer songwriter Vic Chesnutt, an old friend and musical influence who took his own life on Christmas Day 2009.

“I wrote (the song) in a Vic way, describing things in sort of a goofy, poetic way that I associate with him,” Joyner said. “I tried to write a Vic Chesnutt song about Vic Chesnutt’s death.”

The rock incantation “If It’s Alright With You (It’s Alright with Me),” which bridges Sides Two and Three, also is a tribute to Joyner’s friends who have passed. One verse, for example, repeats “If it’s alright with Jessica / It’s alright with me.” Joyner said he’d read a book about the Viet Nam War with a section about soldiers marching through the jungle chanting a similar recitation for their fallen comrades.

“It was a way of preparing themselves for death, trying to strengthen themselves for what’s going to happen,” Joyner said. “It got me thinking of the people I had lost over the last couple years and how it was weighing on me, and this idea of cataloging them as a way of respecting the dead. The more you deal with and interact with the difficult things in life, the better you will be in actually confronting these things. It’s not always a celebration.”

If it sounds depressing — and it certainly can be — there are plenty of breaks in the clouds, like the Side Four gem “If I Left Tomorrow,” which could be mistaken for a pop song. “It’s hopeful in its own way lyrically,” Joyner said. “It’s saying even though this thing is probably going to end, it’s not just wasted time, we didn’t compromise anything.

“Sometimes a tornado will take a house and will leave a staircase, that’s a hopeful thing,” Joyner said, referencing a line from the song. “There are disasters and rough stuff we go through, but there’s usually some exit, something provided that allows you to make it through another day. And whether it’s in a relationship or just whatever various things that life presents, that’s where the hope comes through.”

Simon Joyner and his band will celebrate the release of Ghosts with Solid Goldberg, Lightning Bug and Sun Settings Friday, Aug. 3, at The Sydney, 5918 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $5, or purchase the album for $20 at the venue and admission is free. For more information, call 402.932-9262 or visit thesydneybenson.com.

* * *

There’s a second part to this interview with Simon Joyner that appears in print as this week’s column in The Reader. It talks about record labels and Kickstarter and that sort of thing. I’ll link you to it tomorrow.

* * *

Conor Oberst picked The Huffington Post to debut and explain the new Desaparecidos single “MariKKKopa,” which you can read and hear right here

. It’s a darn good punk song laser focused at Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz. Once again, Conor proves he’s not afraid to name names to give his message some teeth. The single and its b-side “Backsell” (streamed at Alt Press) features (as the article says) “Oberst adopting the voice of anti-undocumented immigrant groups.”

Also from the article:

“As far as paying for public services for these new Americans — although I believe their participation in the economy would do so — I’d recommend cutting our military budget in half. We’d have more than enough money for all the basic public services we all require. I’ll never understand how we allow public health and education to suffer here at home while we spend endless amounts of money overseas fattening the purse of defense contractors.”

Tell it like it is, Mr. Oberst. Something tells me he’ll have even more to say when he takes the stage at The Maha Music Festival next Saturday night at Stinson Park.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Manchester UK producer/DJ Star Slinger with LOL Boys and Touch People (Darren Keen, ex-The Show Is the Rainbow). $12, 8 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve been under an avalanche of Reader deadlines the past couple days and am just now lifting my head above the waves. Needless to say, you’ll be reading a lot about Simon Joyner here and in The Reader this week. He’s got a vinyl release show Friday night at The Sydney, and the hype meter is definitely off the charts.

In other news… Conor Oberst has been lighting up The Google the past few days after Omaha’s Golden Child played The Newport Folk Festival. Jambands.com — I site that I practically live at (no, really… not really) — reports that Oberst performed with Dawes and Jackson Browne the Friday prior at Newport’s Pickens Theater. You can watch the Conor Browne performance on the YouTube here

. Have the Eagles ever sounded so good?

In addition, The Conor performed a couple new numbers during a gig in Fairfield, CT, last Thursday. That’s also online at YouTube, right here.

In other Saddle Creek news, your old pals Tilly in the Wall released the first track from their new one, Heavy Mood, which comes out Oct. 2 on Team Love. You can hear “Love Riot” via SoundCloud below. It definitely has that familiar Tilly shout stomp vibe:

* * *

Speaking of vibes, Orgone returns to Omaha tonight at The Waiting Room. The L.A. project’s sound draws form soul, funk and Afrobeat. Satchel Grande is opening. $8, 9 p.m. Wanna taste? Check out “Lookout” via SoundCloud below:

* * *

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

Benson Days is going on all weekend. Happy 125th birthday to Omaha’s own version of “New Boho,” or as I like to call it, The Booze District. I’m only halfway kidding about that name. With, what, 11 bars along a five-block stretch of Maple Street, Benson should brand itself with a name like The Barley District or Beer City U.S.A.

Anyway, Benson will host various and sundry family-flavored events all weekend, including a special appearance by The Pancake Man tomorrow morning. I hate pancakes. Why couldn’t they hire The Breakfast Burrito Man or The Belgian Waffle Man? Good thing the beer garden opens at, like, 10 a.m.

ANYWAY… you can keep up on all the Benson 125 action right here. The website includes a schedule for the “Benson Days After Dark” rock shows on Saturday night. A $10 wristband gets you into four different venues to watch the usual collection of Benson regulars perform starting at 8 p.m. —  it’s kind of like a lite version of an OEA showcase.

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, fabulous O’Leaver’s continues its usual celebration of booze and debauchery tonight with Dirty Flourescents, Comme Reel and John Klemmensen and The Party. $5, 9:30 p.m.

There’s also a punk show going on tonight at good ol’ Sokol Underground. On the bill: Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers and Luther. $18, 8:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night it’s back to O’Leaver’s for Snake Island, Empty Spaces and Dads. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And then Sunday night, The STNNNG returns to The Waiting Room with Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, Baby Tears and Birthday Suits, all for a mere $7. Starts 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.