Apparently the Albatross guys got stuck in Texas with van troubles. No show tonight.

No shows for me last weekend, but that’ll likely be the last time that happens for a couple months.

Moving on… Seems like scuttlebutt of The Faint’s rumored move to American Recordings has been picked up by a couple other websites (beyond this one), which are reporting the signing as fact even though nothing appears on the Saddle Creek, American or Faint sites. However, I don’t remember there being a mention on the Creek site when Rilo Kiley flew the coop for Warners. Among those talking about the deal are Mammothpress, Absolute Punk and Punkbands.com. Someone even told me they heard it on The River. I’ll believe it when I hear it from the horse’s mouth. Those curious about confirming the story will have a chance to ask Dapose tonight when his other band, Precious Metal, takes the Sokol Underground stage with An Albatross and Fromanhole. $7, 9 p.m.

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No barn-burner shows this weekend, just a series of smaller outings. In fact, I don’t know much about any of these shows or these bands, but here’s the rundown:

Tonight O’Leaver’s hosts singer/songwriters Chris Koza and Brad Hoshaw ($5, 9:30); Sokol Underground has a local metal show ($7, 9 p.m.).

Saturday night’s highlights include O’Leaver’s again with Minty Fresh band The Living Blue (formerly The Blackouts) along with local retro garage monsters Brimstone Howl (formerly The Zyklon Bees), who I have seen before and do bring the rock ($5, 9:30). Sokol Underground is hosting Prospect Avenue’s CD release show with SOJH, Eyes Catch Fire and 8th Wave ($8, 8 p.m.).

Sunday night, alt rock band Eisley (Reprise records) is at Sokol with Simon Dawes and Brighten ($10, 9 p.m.).

And th-th-th-th-that’s all, folks. You know something better going on? Please let us know on The Webboard.

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Column 71: No Stars, No Letters
Recent releases, for your consideration…

Those who read the Lazy-i website already are aware of my pejorative CD rating system — a simple “yes” or “no.” No stars, no letter grades. Look, listeners simply want to know if a recording is worth dropping their hard-earned rubles for. I’ve been told my system is too draconian by those who would prefer a “you’d like this if you listen to that” system, which, of course, is spineless. That said, all of the CDs mentioned below rate a “Yes” unless otherwise noted. Pay attention, they’re short (and in iPod alpha order, for your convenience).

The Ark, State of the Ark (EMI) — They rip off every ’70s act from The Knack to Sweet, but remind you why you liked those bands in the first place. Inspired line: “Try some manners, f***face.”

Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit (Matador) — Their retro upbeat dance record heavy on Bowie and T. Rex, I hated it at first. It’s grown on me (like a fungus).

Cat Power, The Greatest (Matador) — The first album that Chan Marshall has made that I’ve enjoyed from beginning to end, she’s sounding even more like Mazzy Star with her sleepy, slurred vocals and warm, mid-tempo dream-melodies.

Centro-matic, Fort Recovery (Misra) — The most unheralded geniuses in indie since The Grifters (or Silkworm, but that’s another story). It’s about time they get discovered by the masses.

Chad VanGaalen, Infiniheart (SubPop) — Simple one-man band production is dark, haunting, cool shit. A singer-songwriter creep show.

The Cops, Get Good or Stay Bad (Mt. Fuji) — Mike Jaworski’s bands have always been derivative, but they’ve never been this good. This time he combines The Clash, Rocket from the Crypt and a black-leather New York garage punk band. Heartfelt.

David Dondero, South of the South (Team Love) — Hear once and for all where Conor Oberst got his bray. Smart songwriting.

Donald Fagen, Morph the Cat (Reprise) — I don’t want to hear how “uncool” it is to like Fagen and Steely Dan. Few people write smarter, snarkier lyrics, and even fewer can make them bounce with such infectious ease.

The Eighteenth Day of May, self-titled (Hannibal) — British acoustic folk in the style of Richard and Linda Thompson/Fairport Convention; the kind of music we all need more of in our lives.

Elf Power, Back to the Web (Rykodisc) — From Athens, they have the same sheen of early acoustic R.E.M., though Andy Rieger is no Michael Stipe, but maybe that’s a good thing.

The Fall, Hex Enduction Hour (reissue) (Castle Music) — Indie’s last wave was all about rediscovering the desolate funk of Gang of Four; the next will be about rediscovering the arrogance of The Fall.

Hayley Taylor, Waking (self-release) — Like Jenny Lewis (whose music her music resembles) she’s another TV veteran (Sabrina, ER) turned musician. Produced by A.J. Mogis.

The Headlights, The Enemies EP (Polyvinyl) — Another Death Cab-influenced band. This one’s better than most. At O’Leavers 4/10.

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love) — Easily the best thing Lewis has produced since The Execution of All Things back in ’02.

Kyle Harvey, Truth Is the Color of Teeth (self-release) — Stark, almost grim heartbreak tone-poems infused with electronics. Bleak.

Mad Happy, Renegade Geeks (Mutiny Zoo) — Mike iLL and Rivka are hip-hop’s Pat and Barbara K. McDonald. They have the same subversive vibe as Timbuk 3, though their music is more electronic than organic, and slightly more in your face (but only slightly).

Minmae, Le Grand Essor de la Maison du Monstre (Greyday) — What you’d get if Bill Callahan (the one from Smog, not the Huskers) fronted Pavement.

Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (American) — Again, I don’t want to hear it. This gets added points from the Rick Rubin production, the only guy that can convince these dinosaurs that all they need is their guitar.

Neil Young, Heart of Gold (Reprise) — With apologies to our cadre of movie critics, this is a flick review (though you can buy the soundtrack). Not as good as Rust Never Sleeps, but few concert movies are. Worth seeing if only for Neil’s VH-1-style “songwriters” confessions and “Old Man,” again.

The Plastic Constellations, Crusades (French Kiss) — Frenetic, proggy, spazzy rock, strange and danceable, exactly what you’d expect from a band on this label (Les Savy Fav, Rahim, etc.).

Rahim, Ideal Lives (French Kiss) — Frenetic, proggy, spazzy rock, strange and danceable, exactly what you’d expect from a band on this label (Les Savy Fav, The Plastic Constellations, etc.).

Simon Joyner, Beautiful Losers (Jagjaguwar) — This B-sides and singles collection is an excellent introduction to Joyner’s early work (though nothing beats his masterpiece, The Cowardly Traveler Pays His Toll, which remains out of print).

Stereolab, Fab Four Suture (Too Pure) — I admit to never being a fan, but I can see why some might dig this French/Euro/Retro pop. I’m not one of them. Rating: No.

Talking Heads, Speaking in Tongues (reissue) (Rhino) — Part of a massive reissuing of early Heads material, Rhino wouldn’t send me the whole thing. Each DualDisc includes the album in 5.1 Surround Sound with a couple videos included. If you don’t own this, now’s the time.

The Twilight Singers, Powder Burns (One Little Indian) — Greg Dulli (ex-Afghan Whigs) knows how to put his soul on the slab for anyone to poke at. He’s done it again, albeit less subtly than on Blackberry Belle.

Two Gallants, What the Toll Tells (Saddle Creek) — While a little of these hippy, ship-galley sea-shanty balladeers goes a long way, I’m beginning to see why they appealed to the sexy young execs at Saddle Creek.

The draw was light last night at O’Leaver’s. I blame the Simon Joyner show at The Pizza Shoppe, which I completely forgot about. And the fact that the O’Leaver’s show got next to no hype (other than on this site, of course, which is next to no hype). I got there at about the eight-minute mark of The Leper’s 12-minute opening song. These guys’ songs are looong, and are meant to be, I suppose. They’ve changed up their sound somewhat since the last time I saw them (probably over a year ago). A couple of the songs were downright fast compared to their usual tribal, tonal head trips. I’m told by drummer Ken Brock that the new pace will be heard on their new CD, which they’ve finished recording and have out for mixing. The band had just returned from two weeks on the road including a pass through SXSW. These guys are almost acidic in how they can divide a crowd between people who “get” where they are and where they’re going and what they’re trying to do along the way, and those who just plain hate their music. I’m part of the first group, though in all honesty, I have to assume this style of psychedelic drone tunage is best accompanied by hallucinogenics or grass (both of which I’ve never had the pleasure to have known). Guitarist/vocalist Owen Cleasby even asked if anyone had any pot in the audience (He was just kidding… I think).

Knife Skills was a different animal altogether. A Brooklyn trio that features two girls and a guy had one immediate noticeable difference from The Lepers — they had a bass. And man, was it loud. They call their sound punk/rock/black metal on their myspace page. I would categorize them more as heavily rhythmic noise rock, dense and unforgiving. Their music doth not swing, nor doth it intend to. Instead you’re bludgeoned repeatedly by that friggin’ bass and those women’s shrill, mocking voices. They apparently just finished a new album recorded by Steve Revitte (Liars, Black Dice, The Double) to be released on 5 Rue Christine and headed to a music-store bin near year this summer.

Finally, up came N0 Things. I’m not going to get too detailed here as I intend to run down Ron Albertson via cell sometime this week for an interview for next week’s column. Needless to say, for those wondering, Ron looks fine, though a bit tired (doesn’t he always look tired?). The music blew me away. Like the best of The Liars’ stuff, it’s all about the rhythms and the rhythm section of Ron and bassist Pat Noecker, who converge in some sort of unholy, decadent Vulcan mindmeld of sound. The bass and drums power everything, while guitarist/vocalist Christian Dautresme keeps his head above the waves with a tingling guitar and his stark, nasal vocals (he may not be a walking monster like Angus Andrew, but he’s certainly a better singer). The crowd (of maybe 40) dug it, as did I, even calling them back for a one-song encore. Yeah, I like these guys more than The Liars first incarnation (and certainly more than the current version).

Tomorrow, the weekly column featuring 26 CD reviews — 26! I’m going to get caught up with that Reviews Matrix if it’s the last thing I do…

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A brief reminder that n0 Things are tonight at O’Leaver’s with The Lepers at O’Leaver’s. As I mentioned last week, n0 things is Ron Albertson’s and Pat Noeker’s new band. Ron (formerly of Mercy Rule) and Pat (formerly of Opium Taylor) were in The Liars for that band’s first (and only listenable) album They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top, released on Gern Blandsten. They were poised to be as big as the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs (and, in fact, had toured with the Yeahs). They quickly outgrew Gern Blandsten and signed to Mute. Then Pat and Ron unceremoniously left The Liars, a band that they formed. I’ve never gotten the straight scoop on what happened (maybe I will tonight). I assume the label thought that sideshow-freak frontman Angus Andrew was the driving force behind the band. Well, anyone who’s heard the two Mute releases that followed know that isn’t the case. Ron and Pat licked their wounds and formed n0 things in the spring of 2004 with singer/guitarist Christian Dautresme. Based on what I’ve heard on their Myspace page, their sound has evolved into something more dissonant and disturbing, though you can still dance to it. Show starts at 9:30 and is $5.

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Another notable music-related event I attended this weekend was a screening of the new Neil Young film Heart of Gold at The Dundee Theater. It’s worth checking out for Young fans, though it pales in comparison to his ultimate concert film, Rust Never Sleeps. Here we see a reflective Young performing a mostly acoustic set in Nashville sometime after an aneurysm scare that resulted in successful brain surgery. Backed by a band, strings, choir and a robotic, ghostly-looking Emmylou Harris, Young performs most of his new album, Prairie Wind, written just prior to his surgery. That influence, as well as the death of his father, adds weight to the proceedings. The concert is set up by brief interviews with longtime band members, then launches with a handful of Prairie Wind songs, most of which are forgettable. He then uncorks his usual chestnuts, further making the PW stuff pale in comparison. From a filmmaking perspective, Demme spends a lot of time on tight crops of Young’s face (a la Silence of the Lambs) and wide shots of the stage. Not exactly exciting. The sound, on the otherhand, is amazing, especially in the Dundee Theater, which I’ve always thought had a superior sound system. See it while it’s still here, cuz it’ll be gone before you know it.

Tonight: The sold-out Death Cab for Cutie concert at Sokol Auditorium. Opening band, The Cribs, is (according to AMG) a British trio influenced by The Beatles with a couple albums out on Wichita Records. The last time I saw Death Cab there was maybe 300 downstairs at Sokol Underground — it was packed, but not a sell-out (I think they’ve probably been through here since then). While I like their CDs, I’ve always thought their live show was somewhat lackluster. Now that they’re “huge” I suspect they’ll be bringing more to the stage than the usual stand-there-and-sing performance…

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…and no Little Brazil. Seems the band played a show in Billings, Montana, Friday night and raced to cover the 900 miles back to Omaha in time for last night’s show. They didn’t count on the black sheets of rain that met them along the way on the Interstate, slowing them down to a 70-mile-per-hour crawl. As midnight rolled around, the band was still 40 miles away. So close and yet so far away. Could be a long wait until we get to see these guys again as they don’t have any shows booked that I’m aware of. Then again, they could pop up at O’Leaver’s in a moment’s notice.

LB’s labelmates The Cops did make it last night, along with around 200 other folks who were able to find a place to park near the crowded Sokol, where a sold-out Blue October show was going on upstairs in the main auditorium. That show — and that band — were the butt of a lot of jokes from stage, and who can blame them? You ever heard Blue October? Anyway, The Cops kept up their end of the deal last night, sounding pretty much like how they sound on their new CD — a cross between The Clash and Rocket from the Crypt and a New York garage punk band. Extremely well played. Mike Jaworski looked at home strutting around stage in the frontman role and sounding like a modern-day Joe Strummer. I’ve got to hand it to them, they actually managed to get a few people dancing — maybe a dozen or so right in front of the stage.

This was the first time I’ve seen Race for Titles with new drummer Matt Baum (ex-a dozen local bands including The ’89 Cubs and Desaparecidos). No doubt he brought a different style to the mix than former drummer Matt Bowen — a more throaty, muscular sound, leaner, more straightforward, more epic. Though the set was all new material (or so they said from stage) it still had that same RFT sound heavy on delay, dense with echo, and the same dry, wailing vocals that aren’t so much about melody as they are about adding another layer to the moody, red-light vibe the band casts, reminiscent of shimmering ’80s bands like The Church and (a less poppy, more moody version of) The Cure. Their best number was an ambitious, larger-than-life closer that would send the crowd home through a driving rain, wondering if Little Brazil’s vanishing act was just another April Fool’s Day prank…

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Lord knows I tried to line up an interview with Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah, but my requests went unreturned. Alas, my only experience with this band is seeing their performance on The Conan O’Brien show (It was gawdawful) and hearing their one track on the One Percent Productions website juke box — not exactly earth shaking, hardly innovative, but it has a beat and you can dance to it. I get the feeling that the youth crowd that’s eating these guys up have never heard New Order or The Feelies before. And I guess if you were 16 or 17 and grew up only on Omaha radio, you’d think they were groundbreaking. And you’d sell out their show weeks in advance, as this show has been. More interesting than CYHSY is opening band The Brunettes. If you missed it the first time, here’s the review of Mars Loves Venus that I put on the site last July.

Tomorrow night, One Percent is doing three shows at the same time — Three! Ah, but they hardly compete with each other (except, maybe for parking). Downstairs at Sokol Underground it’s Little Brazil, Race for Titles, The Cops and Le Beat — four hot bands for a mere $7. Starts at 9 p.m. Get there early. Meanwhile, upstairs at Sokol Auditorium, it’s the glorious return of Blue October for a sold-out show. I’ve seen Blue October before. They’re horrible. Their cheesy live performance is only eclipsed by their painfully bad CDs, released on Universal. That said, they’ve got a huge following thanks to lots of local radio support. So when you go down to see the good show tomorrow night, make sure to address your curses at The River when you can’t find a parking space. Finally, at Duffy’s in Lincoln Saturday night it’s Tapes ‘n’ Tapes, Eagle*Seagull and Kite Pilot, all for a mere $5.

Duffy’s is the place to be Sunday for a homecoming show of sorts — former Lincolnites (now Brooklynites) Ron Albertson and Pat Noeker’s new band n0 things are playing, along with Knife Skills and Ideal Cleaners. Ron (formerly of Mercy Rule) and Pat (formerly of Opium Taylor) also used to be the rhythm section of The Liars before they got screwed by the other half of that band. Check out their myspace account. If you miss them on Sunday, they’ll also be playing at O’Leaver’s with The Lepers on April 4.

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Column 70: A Label of Love
Mt. Fuji Records’ difficult climb.

Before we get started, if you haven’t done it already, flip over to page __ and read Sarah Wilson’s lovely profile of Mike Jaworski’s band, The Cops. We’ll wait for you (*twiddles thumbs; patiently glances at his watch*). (Note: I’ll be adding a link to Sarah’s story as soon as the webmaster at The Reader gets off his ass and gets the story online).

Done reading? Good. Aren’t you happy you did? Having lived for the past few months with The Cops’ debut LP, Get Good or Stay Bad, I was eager to interview frontman Jaworski — or just “Jaws” as he’s known throughout the local music community. Not only about his band, but about his record label, Mt. Fuji.

Jaws started Mt. Fuji back in ’02 for the same reason most musicians start labels — to give his band at the time, Hello from Waveland, a platform to release their music. The label’s name, by the way, is a shout-out to Jaworski’s Omaha roots. “When I was in high school at Prep, I must have driven by the Mt. Fuji Inn a million times,” he said. “I always thought that logo looked cool and exotic.” He forgot to mention the restaurant’s multi-colored libations, the quality of which I can attest to personally (though it’s been too long since I’ve been to the Mai Tai Lounge).

The difference between Mt. Fuji and the run-of-the-mill vanity label is, of course, distribution. You can find Mt. Fuji records in stores all over the country, thanks to their deal with Redeye — the same outfit that distributes records for labels like Yep Rock, Gern Blandsten, Flameshovel, Parasol and GSL. Landing a “distro deal” is the biggest hurdle for any new label, let alone one as small as Fuji, so how did Jaworski do it? He used the time-tested combination of booze and old-fashioned salesmanship.

“I knew the president of the company, Tor Hansen, from my record store connections,” said Jaworski, who also works at Sonic Boom Records in Seattle. “I took him out, got him drunk and sold him on what we were doing.”

One “sell point” was having the band Little Brazil on the roster. With LB comes ties to Saddle Creek Records in the form of frontman Landon Hedges’ past service in The Good Life and Desaparecidos. “I also told him that every band I work with on the label is dedicated to touring. We want our bands on the road at least four months a year. It’s the only way to create a fan base.”

Touring is an absolute essential for any band that wants more than twice-monthly gigs at the local bar, Jaws said. “It’s fun to knock around town and play music and sell CDs to your friends,” he said. “But without touring, you have to be realistic about your goals. You aren’t going to get ‘discovered’ though your Myspace account.”

Little Brazil is living proof of Jaws’ theory. Landon and company — who have spent more time on the road than any other band on the roster — also are the label’s best sellers. Imagine how well recent Mt. Fuji recruit Slender Means will do once they start serious touring. They’ve already sold more than 1,000 copies of their debut in Seattle alone. LA band Wintergreen is the label’s most recent signing. Jaws said their new EP, which came out on Mt. Fuji in January, was compared to Death Cab for Cutie and The Smiths in an upcoming issue of The Big Takeover.

Add The Cops to the list and you’ve got a solid little line-up for having been in operation for four years. But the operative word here is “little.” Jaworski isn’t interested in putting out records for the sake of putting out records. He’s content with slow, steady growth — maybe adding one band per year. “I want to keep it small and focused, and take sort of a communal approach,” he said. “These bands are not only friends with one another, but believe in each other musically.”

Sound familiar? Jaws points to Saddle Creek Records as a model for his label. And just like Creek, Mt. Fuji pulled its bands together last week in Austin for a couple showcases in conjunction with the South By Southwest music festival. But unlike Creek’s showcase, Fuji’s weren’t “officially sanctioned” by the illustrious SXSW organization. Like dozens (maybe hundreds?) of other bands and labels, Jaworski bypassed the bureaucracy and organized his own day-long party at a lawn and garden shop called Big Red Sun, located off 6th St. A second Mt. Fuji showcase was held at The Longbranch Inn. Both were well-attended. “Sometimes the parties are better than the event — you don’t need a wrist-band to get in, there’s no line, there’s free beer, and the environment is more laid-back.”

Sound like fun? Maybe, but for Jaworski the weekend was mostly work. Such is the life of an independent record label owner and musician who has yet to see the financial rewards for all his work. But he ain’t complaining, at least not much.

“It’s definitely a labor of love,” he said. “I would like to see it become a profitable business. It’s been funded by credit cards from day one. I don’t recommend anyone start a label that way.”

Which forces me to end this column with this cheesy line:

Guitar picks: $2.95
Used Econoline van: $2,000
Bail money for incarcerated band: $5,000
Living the life of a music mogul: Priceless