Icky Blossoms

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here’s the story: Icky Blossoms is headed to SXSW next week. They’re driving. The distance from Benson, Nebraska, to Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas, is roughly 770 miles the way the Google flies. Gas currently costs around $4 a gallon. They’ll be driving a van that probably gets (if they’re lucky) 10 miles a gallon. If you use the above numbers:

770 / 10 x $4 = $308

That number does not include the cost of roadside junk food and other assorted “necessities” to make the 14-hour non-stop drive tolerable. Nor does it include the cost of lodging (substantially more than $308 if they’re staying at a hotel) and meals needed while in Music City.

Icky Blossoms just returned from Los Angeles where they recorded their debut album with TV on the Radio’s David Sitek to be released on Saddle Creek Records in early July. If you’ve ever been to LA and know how expensive its pleasures cost, than you know the band very likely is tapped out.

That’s where you come in. This is an early heads up for this Saturday night’s Icky Blossoms show at The Slowdown. In an effort to generate as much money as possible to cover costs, the band has moved the concert from Slowdown Jr. to Slowdown’s big stage.

Icky Blossoms needs you. Change whatever you had planned for Saturday night. Buy your tickets now. $7, here. You will be watching the birth of Omaha’s Next Big Thing.

To entice you even further to come to Saturday’s show, Icky Blossoms’ guitarist/vocalist Nik Fackler offered to answer some questions about the new album, touring and the future of the band.

What did Dave Sitek do to improve these songs? Did he act more like an engineer or as a traditional producer, and what’s the biggest change we’re going to hear in these songs from what we’ve heard in the past?

Nik Fackler: Sitek produced a creative, experimental and pro atmosphere for us to work in. I personally haven’t worked with many music producers, so for me he was kind of like a film director. He orchestrated the flow, experimented with ideas, created beats and analogue synth sounds and kept us all on schedule. He had an ear for what would work on the dance floor and kept a continuity between all the songs. The biggest change to previously released songs is quality, clarity and bigness.

Did you guys write any new material in LA for this record? Will we hear new songs on Saturday? What is the scheduled release date for the new record?

Nik: We wrote three new tunes when we were out in LA and we will be playing all three at the show on Saturday. The record is going to come out in early July.

What’s the lineup for Saturday night’s show? Is it the regular “live band” lineup?

Nik: The live lineup has shuffled a bit. Saturday’s show will see Saber Blazek (Machete Archive) on bass, Clark Baechle (Faint, Depressed Buttons) on drums, Nik (Fackler), Sarah (Bohling, keyboards, vocals), and Derek Pressnall (lead vocals, guitar) take stage.

How is Derek going to tour with: 1) a new baby in the house, and 2) Tilly and the Wall releasing a new record (and, presumably, touring as well)? Is that going to limit the amount of touring that Icky will be able to do this year? 

Nik: We are planning on touring and promoting the record as heavily as we can. How much that will actually be will be determined in the way the record is received and what kind of offers come in. If all goes well it definitely will be a balancing act, but not one we can’t handle. Our main focus right now is to continue to make our best songs and as many of them as we can so we can build a fan base. Scheduling stuff can always be worked out.

What about your schedule? If funding comes through for one of your major film projects, won’t you have to put Icky on hold? Does one project (music or filmmaking) take precedent over the other?

Nik: Creation is my soul.  The goal for me is to never limit the amount of things I can create. I think we live in an age where artwork like film and music can be accomplished quickly. The digitizing of the world has removed some of the hands on aspects of art, but created the ability to produce things more quickly and with just as much quality. Right now, I am in a mode of work. Trying to forge a path for myself where I can do everything and not have to put anything on hold. Right now, it’s about coming up with a balanced and positive process to execute all these different ideas I have.

Neither takes precedent over the other. In a way I see them as all part of the whole.

How many times is Icky going to perform at SXSW? I know of only two gigs currently scheduled.

Nik: We are playing three shows. Thursday: The Waterloo Records Party, Waterloo Records Parking Lot, 2 p.m.; Friday: Saddle Creek Showcase at Lamberts BBQ, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday: Mad Decent/ Check Yo Ponytail/ Fool’s Gold Super Party at Emo’s East, Noon.

Opening for Icky Blossoms this Saturday at Slowdown is Midtown Marauders and Pony Wars. 9 p.m. $7. See you there.

And this just in: Rolling Stone is featuring the first track off the new album, “Babes,” right here. Or download it here

.

* * *

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Midwest Dilemma at Slowdown Jr., March 7, 2012.

Last night saw a much stripped-down version of Midwest Dilemma at Slowdown Jr., at least compared to the last time I saw Justin Lamoureux’s band, where there were something like 16 people on stage. Last night MD played as a 4-piece with Lamoureux on guitar backed by cellist, flautist and brass player (tuba, bass trombone). I know he likes the big ensemble (hey, who doesn’t want to be surrounded by their friends?), but I much prefer this slimmed-down format which strips the songs to their bare essentials with just enough unique accoutrement for added flavor. Years of performing have aged Lamoureux’s voice like a fine Bordeaux. He’s discarded any vocal affectations (at times in his career he used to sport an Oberst bray) and now sings with a purely unique folk voice that would be appealing to anyone who likes, say, M. Ward’s style of music. Among the highlights was an ode to The 49’r and Lamoureux’s pre-song take on the role the bar played in his life (spoiler alert: booze). He hinted that a new album could be ready to go in a couple months, but quickly added that he’s been saying that for the past four years. Maybe it’s time we all put a collective boot up his ass?

Headliner Water Liars came on at around 10:30 to play a short set in front of about 10 people (including myself, bar staff and Lamoureux’s bandmates). Despite the lax crowd, their songs sounded heartfelt and full for a duo in the classic guitar-and-drums design. I love this guy’s voice, which reminded me of Will Johnson on songs that reminded me of Will Johnson as well. Gorgeous stuff.

* * *

Tonight at House of Loom it’s the homecoming of nefarious hip-hop artist Buck Bowen, returning from California and places beyond. Hear Nebraska has the story of where Buck’s gone and where he going, right here. His hop-hop set tonight is part of Loom’s Midtown Marauder Showcase, which runs from 9 p.m. to 2 and costs $5. More info here. Bowen also will be manning the turntables at Loom Saturday night for a DJ set. Info on that showcase is here.

Also tonight, a live performance by KMG and Birthday Suits — I have no idea who these dudes are, but it don’t matter cuz the show’s at O’Leaver’s, which means it ain’t nothing but a party. $5, 9:30 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

Water Liars enjoy a smoke.

RIYL. That stands for Recommended If You Like, and it’s used by lazy journalists like me to describe bands by comparing their music to another band’s or performer’s music. It’s handy, but frowned upon by a lot of artists because it’s thought to marginalize and diminish their own creativity efforts.

Here’s how it works. Water Liars are playing tonight at Slowdown Jr. RIYL: Will Johnson (Centro-matic), The Bruces, David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), M. Ward, Okkervil River, Will Oldham… and so on. The duo’s new album, Phantom Limb (released by Misra Records) is pretty fantastic. This show flew under the radar for me, I had no idea it was coming up. Go. Opening is Midwest Dilemma. 9 p.m., $7.

* * *

Sometime in the middle of the night when I was fast asleep, my phone blooped/bleeped with the following tweet: “Bret Vovk took your column to heart and stepped it up a notch tonight. Guitar, piano and loops making a lush set.” The tweet came from O’Leaver’s Pub. I’m not sure who owns that account, obviously someone who works/lives there. When I saw it this morning I thought, “Good for him. I wish I would have been there.” Then I thought, “Why doesn’t he do this for all his performances?” There are a lot of musicians out there who make fantastically dense, creative albums with multiple tracks and layered sounds and then go on stage and perform them with just an acoustic guitar. I know, I know… it’s difficult and sometimes impossible to replicate the album’s sound live. It not only takes technology, it can take additional musicians to help bring the songs to life, which takes time and money, whereas it’s faster and cheaper to throw your guitar in the back seat and go to the club and just do them solo. Because it’s about the songs anyway, right? I get it. But… if you can add just a little more than your guitar and voice, if you can get just one or even two of your pals to help you on stage, if you can come a little closer to the target, especially when that target in no way resembles its solo acoustic counterpart, why wouldn’t you? Vovk’s got two advantages over a lot of local singer/songwriters: 1) He writes good songs, 2) He has a good, unaffected voice. Why not showcase both as best you can every time you perform? Because I’m afraid the next time Underwater Dream Machine plays live — and I’m able to go — it’ll just be Vovk and his guitar again…

* * *

BTW, I think there are something like 1.26 billion people playing solo acoustic shows somewhere on any given night.

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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

I’ve been meaning to write a formal review of Underwater Dream Machine’s new album, A Very Lonely Dream About Space, since it came out months ago. This is what I can tell you about it: It’s like a drug-induced lullaby to Andy Kaufman sung by an ex-member of the Up With People Choir who jumped parole after being arrested for running a prostitution ring while acting as the leader of a wilderness cult that lives on a small armed compound just north of Kennard. It’s weird. Maybe a little bit too weird at times. Maybe a bit distractingly weird, especially when you consider that songs of such singular beauty as “Revolution” and “Already Gone” are so good that Wayne Coyne has put a sizable bounty on the head of UDM frontman Bret Vovk. That’s a long-winded way of saying that this album is already on my short list for being one of the best locally produced records of 2012. Now the question is whether Bret can replicate these songs’ gorgeousness in a live setting. We’ll find out tonight at O’Leaver’s when UDM plays with Pearl and the Beard. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Based on what I’ve seen from their website and Facebook page

, Brooklyn band Your 33 Black Angels has about 33 members, or at least more than a half-dozen. How they’re all going to fit on the tiny Barley Street Tavern “stage” tonight should be an interesting challenge. They call their sound psychalternativepopsoulpunk, but I just call it twang-rock with a healthy dose of The Kinks thrown in for good measure. Opening is the always interesting, always evolving Dim Light and maybe one more band that’s TBA. $5, 9 p.m.

Also this evening at 7 p.m., it’s the third installment of the Record Club at the Saddle Creek Shop, where folks can sit around, flip through the bins and listen to a classic LP in its entirety and then chat about it afterward. Tonight’s record is Magnetic Fields’ new one, Love at the Bottom of the Sea. The music starts at 7 down at the Saddle Creek Shop in the Slowdown complex. Go here for more info.

* * *

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.

Cursive at The Slowdown, March 3, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

You have to hand it to Cursive. It’s one thing to play songs from your new album to an adoring sold-out crowd who want the hits. It’s another thing to end the show with one of the album’s more obscure tracks. But that’s exactly what Tim Kasher and Co. did Saturday night at The Slowdown.

The crowd began to arrive early for the opener, Virgin Islands, a band fronted by former Omahan now Seattle-ite Mike Jaworski (or just “Jaws” as he’s known by the inner circle). Like his other band, The Cops, Virgin Islands has a punk esthetic that recalls ’90s post-punkers like Bad Religion and Rocket from the Crypt. The style is straightforward, but unlike The Cops, there’s more variety between songs and more room for the rest of the band to stretch out, like on the set closer that turned into an extended punk jam centered around a blazing guitar. While the audience stood mesmerized, Jaws grabbed a tambourine and ran through the crowd.

Fellow tourmates Ume came next. A trio fronted by guitarist/vocalist Lauren Larsen, I had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by the band’s take on metal — yes metal, or at least a milder form of metal. Larson knows her way around a fretboard, though her Nancy Wilson (Heart)-style coo seemed out of place among all the abrasion. I tried to imagine a classic metal vocalist singing the words and was transported to an arena circa 1982. Ume’s sound had just enough angular elements to complement the headliners, but as much fun as it was watching Larsen toss her gorgeous blond locks while committing first degree riffage, the music was (for the most part) unmemorable.

Cursive came on shortly before 11 to an adoring crowd packed into the bowl in front of the stage. All this talk about the band’s “older crowd” is nonsense. I was surrounded by people in their teens and early 20s, though there were also plenty of “old folks” there who were around when Domestica came out more than a decade ago. Kasher, sporting the beginnings of a wilderness beard, was in fine voice as he ran through a set list that wove songs from the new album with most of the bands “hits” including “Art is Hard” “Mothership Mothership, Do You Read Me?,” “Big Bang,” “Dorothy at 40,” and, of course, “The Martyr” (strangely “Sierra” was missing).

I was surprised at how seamlessly the new songs fit in with the old stuff, nothing seemed awkward or out of place, but at the same time, none of the new songs, including the first release, “Sun and Moon,” stood out. The new album is the most divisive of their catalog — you either like it or you hate it. It’s a classic “grower” of an album that will take time and multiple listenings before it catches on with the fanbase. Taken out of context as they were Saturday night, the songs were pretty good; they have much more depth when taken as a whole with the rest of the album, which is yet another reason Cursive should consider doing at least a few shows where they play the entire album in order, and in full costume (just kidding about the costumes part).

The band obviously has great faith in this new record, judging by their encore, which included the highlight of the evening — a stellar version of “From the Hips” from Mama, I’m Swollen, an album that flew under the radar but is bound to be remembered in years to come as one of Cursive’s all-time best. By the third verse of the song, the crowd erupted into a pseudo-mosh pit — the first time I’ve seen anything like that at a recent Cursive show. There were even a couple guys hoisted up in the air crowd-surfing style. But instead of riding out that energy to the end, the band closed the encore with “Eulogy for No Name,” the challenging closer on I Am Gemini. It couldn’t have been the end, especially when Ted Stevens played off Kasher with a sound collage of feedback and loops. But then, just like that, the lights came up, and the guy next to me said, “I guess that’s it.” No one expected them to end on that song, but glancing at their tour sets on setlist.fm, they’ve been ending with “Eulogy…” at all their shows. I guess it’s a classic case of leaving the audience wanting more.

* * *

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.

Bleeding Rainbow at Slowdown Jr., March 1, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A brief conversation from Thursday night’s Bleeding Rainbow/Crocodiles show at Slowdown Jr…

Shortly after Crocodiles finished their set I made my way back to the merch table, not to buy their stuff, but to buy some music from the opener, Bleeding Rainbow. Blond, perky frontwoman/bassist Sarah Everton was more than happy to oblige.

Me: “Which of these is your most recent album?”

Sarah: “Well, none of these are really very recent.”

Me: “Well, which one has the last four or five songs you guys just played?”

Sarah: “Well, none of them. That was all new material. We don’t really sound like that on these records.”

Me: “OK then, when are you putting out a new record?”

Sarah: “We don’t know. We don’t have a record label.”

Me (What I wanted to say): Well then why are you on bloody tour with Crocodiles?

Sarah ended up pointing me to a 7-inch called “Color the Sky” that came out last April, which she said was the most current recording available and the closest to sounding like the band currently sounds, and which I quickly snatched up. Strangely, it’s a one-sided 45 — the flip side is literally groove less (how much more could it have cost to press a B-side?).

Turns out Bleeding Rainbow used to be called Reading Rainbow, and among the wares that Sarah had on her table were a couple 12-inch albums, including one that was released on the amazing HoZac label, who they apparently are no longer aligned with (though they’re playing a HoZac showcase at SXSW in March).

I bring you this long diatribe (and two days after the fact) because Bleeding Rainbow was absolutely amazing — one of the best bands I’ve seen in a long time. The set-up is simple — two guitars, drums and bass, with Sarah and one of the guitarists sharing vocals and creating flat-toned harmonies on songs that are jet-fueled by guitar riffs and loud as fuck. Their songs were fast and hard and often ended with those two guitars fighting each other in a symphony of blinding power. There was nothing terribly innovative about what they were doing. In fact, their sound heralds back to ’90s’ post punk. They (strangely) get compared to Dum Dum Girls and Wavves, who they don’t resemble (though their music is much better). They’ve also been throttled with a “low-fi” label, though there’s nothing low-fi about the sound.

I wasn’t alone in my adoration. One rather well-known local musician gushed even more than I just did, completely blown away. And yet, as good as their music was, we’re not going to hear it played on our stereos anytime soon if what Everton said is the case — no label, no plans to record. Maybe that’s where this tour comes in. Maybe some label flunky will come to one of their shows on this tour and will hear what I heard and offer to help them get their music recorded. Or, the way things are going with labels these days, maybe not…

Crocodiles were good, too, in a sort of The Cure-meet-Brian Jonestown Massacre sort of way. Not bad, but not memorable, and they paled in comparison to the opener. As that local musician/fellow gusher said after Bleeding Rainbow ended their set, “How would you like to follow THAT

.” No kidding.

* * *

If you’re reading this Saturday night, you’re either off to Cursive at Slowdown or off to The Brothers for White Mystery. White Mystery is a punkified, garage version of the classic guitar-and-drums two-piece a la The White Stripes. Opening is The Lupines and Snake Island.  The show is $5, and starts at 9 or shortly thereafter. White Mystery is headed to Lincoln tomorrow night for a show at The Zoo.

As for Cursive, if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet you’re out of luck as the show is SOLD OUT. Opening is Omaha expatriate now Seattle-ite Mike Jaworski’s new band Virgin Islands and Cursive tour mates Ume. 9 p.m., see you there.

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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

One of Omaha’s most-grooviest concepts, Loom, turns six tonight. It seems like only yesterday that Brent Crampton and his pals were hosting Loom dance parties at Espana in Benson. These days they’ve taken the party to the new House of Loom, which is quickly becoming known as one of the hottest dance clubs in Omaha.

Anyway, to celebrate Loom’s 6th birthday, Brent’s brought in one of his heroes, DJ Spinna, a.k.a. Vincent Williams, who according to Wiki has remixed artists such as De La Soul, Mary J. Blige and Stevie Wonder, and collaborated with Eminem before he went on to superstardom.

But before Spinna takes his place behind the rack at House of Loom, he’ll be the featured artist at a Red Bull Academy Symposium at Make Believe Studios, 805 Hickory St.

The Red Bull gig is 6-9 p.m. The 6-Year Anniversary party featuring DJ Spinna starts at 9 at House of Loom, 1012 S. 10 St. The event is 21+  and costs $5 or free before 10:30 w/RSVP to info@houseofloom.com. For more info about both events, go to houseofloom.com.

Also tonight, Fat Possum psych-garage-rock band Crocodiles headlines a show at Slowdown Jr. The San Diego duo of Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez will see their next album, Endless Flowers

, released this June on Frenchkiss Records. Opening is Philly psych/shoe-gaze four-piece Bleeding Rainbow who have released stuff on the ultra-hip HoZac label. $12, 9 p.m.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Released Feb. 21 on Saddle Creek Records, Cursive’s I Am Gemini is more than your typical concept album, it’s a full-blown 2-act play – or more specifically – a 2-act opera, whose plot would have been right at home performed either in ancient Greece or as an episode of The Twilight Zone.

The “official interpretation” via the record label: “I Am Gemini is the surreal and powerful musical tale of Cassius and Pollock, twin brothers separated at birth. One good and one evil, their unexpected reunion in a house that is not a home ignites a classic struggle for the soul, played out with a cast of supporting characters that includes a chorus of angels and devils, and twin sisters conjoined at the head.”

The album comes with a Playbill-style lyrics booklet that reads like a script complete with stage direction. But even if they follow the album’s lyrics word-for-word, fans will come up with their own interpretation of the album’s meaning. For example, this intrepid reporter was reminded of the schizophrenic 2010 Darren Aronofsky film “Black Swan.”

“Black Swan is a good example of how stories of duality are told,” said Cursive frontman and songwriter Tim Kasher over a PBR at the Old Dundee Bar & Grill a couple weeks before the band headed out on tour. “I hadn’t thought of ‘Fight Club’ as an example until an interviewer brought it up, but that’s essentially it. Those are stories about one person split into two.”

Cursive, I Am Gemini (2012, Saddle Creek)

At first, I Am Gemini feels like a departure from Kasher’s usual navel-gazing lyrical content. The band’s landmark album Domestica

, for example, allegedly focused on Kasher’s painful divorce; 2003’s The Ugly Organ

 was an exploration in creative self-loathing, while Kasher gave us his views on organized religion on 2006’s Happy Hollow. By contrast, I Am Gemini, with its good-and-evil twins and sisters with conjoined heads, seems like complete fiction… or is it?

“It’s important to note that it is really personal and based on a self-referential story,” Kasher said, “In the past, the lyrics were so literal or so thinly veiled to the obvious. This time it was a lot of fun to expand into something more fictionalized.”

But can a concept album this tightly drawn, where each song is dependent on the other to tell a cohesive story, be successful in this singles-driven iTunes era? Can songs on I Am Gemini stand on their own, out of context, without the rest of the album, and is Kasher confident that listeners will take the time necessary to sit down and absorb the album in its entirety?

“I’m not confident of that at all,” he said. “A lot of this is my personal interest in tackling a full story in an album, and I’m still scared having done it, but I’m glad I pushed myself a little further. A really small percentage of people will really appreciate it, and I really appreciate those people. I’m glad they’re there to take it on. But I think (the songs) can still be presented separately.”

Kasher said he considered each song as a self-contained short story, but added, “It’s been troubling releasing (songs) out of context of the album for premieres. I feel like they’re part of a whole, which goes counter to what I’m saying about them being able to survive on their own.”

There are indeed tracks that can stand in isolation. The album’s first leaked track, “The Sun and Moon,” taken completely out of context can be read as a love song of sorts. “A Birthday Bash” has one of the better guitar riffs Cursive’s ever put on tape. Still others act more like bridges between ideas, such as “The Cat and Mouse.”

So far, critics have been split on whether or not the concept worked. Indie taste arbiter Pitchfork called it “the weakest Cursive album by a disheartening margin” and summed it up as “Kasher talking to himself,” while AV Club called it “forceful; a demanding rock-driven opus” and Paste said, “Musically, the band is at their most adventurous, albeit not their most accessible.”

All agree that I Am Gemini is the hardest Cursive album since Domestica. It is brutal, but even more than that, it’s proggy — proggy enough to make the members of King Crimson and Roger Waters blush. At the very least, it’s an about-face from the apparent convergence music-wise of Cursive and Kasher’s other band, the more singer-songwriter based The Good Life. Kasher agreed.

“The last couple records, we were trying to marry those different styles and make a more diverse record,” he said. “This time around at the very onset of this album I thought ‘I’m going to do a Cursive album.’ It was right for this time in my life and for the other guys in the band. We decided if we’re going to do it, let’s do it full on. Let’s write something that fits into the rock category, something to listen to on a Friday night.”

Those “other guys” are Cursive’s core members, bassist Matt Maginn and guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, along with drummer Cully Symington and keyboardist Patrick Newbery, who played horns on the last two albums, but switched when Kasher once again moved away from less traditional instrumentation as he did when the band stopped using cello after The Ugly Organ.

“When we moved away from cello, it was a taste decision,” Kasher said. “At an early point, I thought cello would be a really good thing to have. By the end of it all, it was so overdone and we needed to move onto something else. Along those lines, we’ve done horns for the last couple records, and it felt like we’d done enough of it. It’s nice to not have to be bound by these additional instruments.”

Something tells me fans won’t be missing them when the band hits the road.

And despite the theatrical nature of I Am Gemini, Kasher said he has no intention of recreating the opera on stage by performing it sequentially. “We respect the ticket holder,” he said. “We’re still playing under the name Cursive, and that implies our full catalog. We’re happy to play the proper hits and some fun, deeper cuts, what we garner as the taste of the avid Cursive listener.

“We’ll be playing ‘The Martyr’ on this tour every single night, just like we have for the past 12 years,” he added. “It’s a moment in the set where we’re feeding off the energy of the people that are excited to hear it.”

Cursive plays with Ume and Virgin Islands Saturday, March 3, at Slowdown, 729 No. 14th St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $13 advance, $15 day of show. For more information, call 402.345.7569 or visit theshowdown.com.

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Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds is part of a panel that will be discussing “women in performance” this evening at House of Loom. Also on the panel are Susann Suprenant of ætherplough, Felicia Webster (aka WithLove) and actor Kirstin Kluver. The band Howard will be performing after the panel. The free event starts at 5 at House of Loom, 1012 Howard St.  For more info, go to houseofloom.com.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With nothing else going on today, I thought I’d pass along this new wrinkle on digital downloading that could quicken the already rapid erosion of the music industry…

A few weeks ago, a district court judge denied an injunction by Capitol Records against a company called ReDigi

in an effort to keep that company from facilitating the sales of used mp3 files.

You read that right. ReDigi is a company/website that enables its users to sell their used digital music files to each other. USED digital music files. Let’s say, for example, you purchased the new Leonard Cohen album from iTunes. Whether you listened to the downloaded music files or not, the tracks are now considered “used files,” just like a used CD. And just as you can sell a used copy of the new Leonard Cohen CD, you can also sell your used Leonard Cohen digital files. Never mind that there is absolutely no wear from using a digital file.

The premise seems absurd until you begin to realize that what you’re really acquiring is someone’s license to listen to mp3 files on your personal computer or iPod. ReDigi is supposed to facilitate not only the transfer of the file from one person’s computer to the next — along with the associated fees that are split between the seller, ReDigi and the record label — but it also is supposed to delete the file from the seller’s hard drive or at least make it impossible for him or her to listen to the file again.

When you think about it strictly from a licensing standpoint, it kind of makes sense, but the more you think about it, the more the cracks appear on the concept’s surface. Who’s to say that you didn’t make a copy of the files and place them on a thumb drive or burn them onto a CDR? And does it really matter that you still own a copy of the file? Whenever you bring a box of used CDs to Homer’s to sell, do they ask you if you’ve destroyed all the copies of those CDs that you’ve ripped to your hard drive? Of course not.

The idea of reselling “used” mp3 files – if proven legal (and it still hasn’t been) – could screw up every digital entertainment business model that currently exists. If a court says we can sell used mp3s, then why can’t we just give them away? And if we can, what was that business with Napster all about a decade ago?

But let’s take it to the next level. I recently bought and read a digital copy of Game of Thrones for my Kindle reader on my Mac. I liked the book, but I’m never going to want to read it again. Shouldn’t I be able to sell my “used” digital version of Game of Thrones to someone else, just like I could sell a used copy of the book on eBay? And if that’s the case, shouldn’t the same concept hold true for digital video? If you can sell used DVDs, why shouldn’t you be able to sell “used” digital movie files stored on your “cloud server”?

This could get ugly…

Here’s a good summary of the recent court decision from ExtremeTech.com.

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Pitchfork Music Festival, which is quickly becoming one of the largest festivals in the Midwest, announced its initial lineup for the event to be held July 13-15 in Chicago. Among the bands: Vampire Weekend, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hot Chip, Araabmuzik, A$ap Rocky, The Field, Liturgy, Kendrick Lamar, Grimes, Cloud Nothings, Tim Hecker and Willis Earl Beal.

What, still no headliner? Of the bunch, the ones that pique my interest are Grimes and The Field, two bands that would have a hard time selling out a show at The Waiting Room let alone Chicago’s Union Park. Even Cloud Nothings would be a stretch at Slowdown. I suspect they’ll be adding even larger names to the lineup… eventually.

That said, I’d love to see any of these band play the MAHA Festival. Tix are $45; 3-day tix are $110. More info at pitchforkmusicfestival.com (eventually, right now the site is merely a photo of a bunch of eyeglasses and link to an email address).

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I had no music experiences this weekend other than putting together a Cursive story that will go online here in a couple days in support of this Saturday night’s show at Slowdown. It should be a hoot, and is really the only rock show on my radar this week.

So with that in mind, check out this new video by Digital Leather for their track “Enzymes,” filmed in one take in the basement of fabulous O’Leaver’s. It’s here at Vimeo; here at Love Drunk:  and here at Hear Nebraska. I would have embedded the damn thing but Vimeo won’t let me, the jerks.

By the way, DL has just been booked to play Slowdown April 5 with Los Vigilantes and Yuppies…

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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

There are no touring indie bands playing here this weekend, which means another weekend of local-artist shows. Tonight, pickins are slim. I suggest getting your drink on at O’Leaver’s where Tyrone Storm, a.k.a. Roger Lewis, will be spinning the dark gaze stuff from 9 til 2 a.m. Glug-glug… And, of course, there’s always The Brothers and Krug, and so on.

There are more opportunities for live music Saturday night. All Young Girls Are Machine Guns open for Anniversaire and Lincoln band The Sleepover at Slowdown Jr. This could be my inaugural exposure to AYGAMG, who won an OEA Award for best songwriter this year.  $7, 9 p.m.

Over at The Waiting Room Saturday night Snake Island, Landing on the Moon and Traveling Mercies open for Rock Paper Dynamite, another 2012 OEA Award winner. $7, 9 p.m.

All you Lincoln folks will be getting your first chance to Simon Joyner in a Lincoln club in a decade this Saturday night when Simon rolls into the Zoo Bar with Kill County. To mark the occasion, Lincoln music legend L. Kent Wolgamott has an interview with Simon in the current issue of the Lincoln Journal Star‘s Ground Zero, which you can read online here. 9 p.m., $8.

And I guess there is one touring act coming through on Sunday night (though I wouldn’t consider them “indie”). The Reverend Horton Heat is playing at The Slowdown with Larry and His Flask and Godamned Gallows. $20, 8 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.