by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First and foremost, tonight at The Waiting Room is Crooning for Kat, a fund-raising benefit for Kat Smith. Kat sings and plays guitar in The Black Squirrels, and chances are if you’re a regular at rock shows in Omaha, you’ve seen her in the crowd (when she wasn’t on stage).

The story behind her recent medical problems is explained in detail here at the Crooning for Kat website. It’s sad and scary, and needless to say, Kat is one tough lady. But now she’s asking for help, and that’s where you come in.

Tonight’s benefit at TWR includes a silent auction that starts at 6 (goodies, listed here

, include tickets, food, booze, artwork, fitness stuff, home & garden, fashion, beauty, and more), and live music starting at 7 from some of the area’s best musicians, including Kyle Harvey, Filter Kings, The Bruces (Alex McManus), McCarthy Trenching, Whipkey Zimmerman Sing, Outlaw Con Bandana, and Adam Hawkins (ex-It’s True). Cover is $10, with all proceeds going to Kat. It should be a fun night and a chance to help out a great lady with a great talent.

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There’s a boatload of Cursive news today. One Percent Productions mailed out their list of upcoming shows this morning. Among them are two Cursive dates at the soon-to-be-demolished 49’r Bar Sept. 19 and 20. Sayeth One Percent: “That’s right. Cursive wants to play The 49’r before it disappears.  And two shows at that. Can you blame them?  It’s an Omaha landmark.” That it is. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, Sept. 4.

One question that comes to mind is: Who will be playing drums for these Cursive gigs? It was announced today that Cully Symington, who played with Cursive last year, has joined My Jerusalem, an “indie supergroup” that also includes Jeff Klein, Dave Rosser (Twilight Singers), Ashley Dzerigian (Great Northern, Ed Harcourt) and Rick Nelson and Matt Bricker (both of Polyphonic Spree). The band’s debut, Gone for Good, will be released on Sony/RED Oct. 26.

Finally, a reliable source who’s active in the local stand-up comedy circuit tells me that Cursive fans may want to drop by the Sydney’s open mic comedy night Sept. 9. Those of you who were at the Fancy Party Comedy Show a couple weeks ago and saw local sketch troupe OKFMDOA know what I’m talking about. Is this a new career move by everyone’s favorite “Martyr” (or “Recluse” or “So-So Gigolo”…)?
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Lastly, the Arcade Fire yesterday released what some are calling a “ground breaking” online interactive video for the track “We Used to Wait.” You can see it here, but you have to have Google Chrome to really make it work. What’s it do? Well, you type in the address of your “childhood home” and it integrates Google Map and Google Streetview images into the video. Interesting idea. Unfortunately, where I grew up doesn’t have a street view available. In fact, a lot of locations around here don’t, and when I plug in my current address, it shows the next street over — which isn’t very compelling. Still, they get an “A” for effort, and it’s making me like that song just that much more.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Built to Spill at The Slowdown Block Party, Aug. 27, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The full review of this weekend’s outdoor shows — the Slowdown Block Party and She & Him at The Anchor Inn — will be online as this week’s column on Wednesday. Until then, here is a selection of photos taken at the shows.

The Mynabirds at The Slowdown Block Party, Aug. 27, 2010.

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The Rural Alberta Advantage at The Slowdown Block Party, Aug. 27, 2010.

She & Him at The Anchor Inn, Aug. 28, 2010.

* * *

Update: The Seafarer Kickstarter project met its $3,500 fund-raising goal. Shooting for the film, that will include music by local bands, will begin in the next couple of weeks. More info about the film is available at seafarerfilm.com.

* * *

Envy Corp drummer Scott Yoshimura’s side project, Canby, is playing tonight at The Waiting Room. Opening is Skypiper and Pictures of Then. $7, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Ember Schrag will be performing at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Gallery 2, along with Baltimore’s Daniel Higgs, The Chiara String Quartet and Carnal Torpor. $6 members, $8 non-members. Doors open at 7.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I knew when I arrived at The Barley Street Tavern last night at around 10:30 that I wasn’t going to be able to hang in there long enough for Little Black Stereo’s last hurrah. The first opener, Kyle Harvey, had only just completed his set and Cowboy Indian Bear was still setting up with Landing on the Moon still to come, and some of us had to work the next morning…

Hailing from Lawrence, Kansas, Cowboy Indian Bear have played in Omaha regularly over the past couple of years, usually down at Slowdown, though they’ve done the full circuit (TWR, O’Leaver’s, etc.). You say you like four-part harmony? How about solid bass lines? What about brawny, thick-beat drums augmented by electronic beats? CIB has it all, along with gorgeous melodies that lean toward the sweeter side of indie pop — think Spoon or upbeat DCFC or Broken Social Scene. Their strength really lies in their vocals — all four members can sing well, including a new female band member whose voice falls somewhere in the Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays) wheelhouse. Their sound is cleanly, crisply captured on their new album, Each Other All the Time, which came out earlier this year and is worth seeking out if you’re looking for a cool, laid-back summer album.

After CIB came Landing on the Moon, but not until around 11:30. I made it through four songs, including what’s become their set highlight, “California,” before I gave up the ghost for the evening. Alas, I missed LBS one last time, though you can catch them tonight for what really is their final show, at The Zoo Bar in Lincoln with Cowboy Indian Bear and High Art (Darren Keen and Co.).

* * *

Reminder: You’ve only got a couple days left if you want to help finance the Seafarer film project via Kickstarter. The locally produced project will feature music from local bands (most likely including Honeybee and Capgun Coup). The project goal is $3,500, and pledges currently stand at $3,065. A pledge of $15 or more will get you some nice goodies along with the knowledge that you helped make the project a reality. Check it out.

* * *

It’s fitting that as summer winds down there are two marquee outdoor shows happening this weekend. The highlight is tonight at Slowdown’s parking lot, the site of what’s being called the “Omaha Block Party,” featuring Built To Spill, The Rural Alberta Advantage, and The Mynabirds. If it’s anything like last year’s outdoor bash at Slowdown (that featured Azure Ray and Cursive, among others) it will have a sort of festival vibe. The best part, of course, is that it’s free, but you’ve got to go to this website and print out an RSVP ticket. Door opens at 7, and the show starts at 8:30. No idea where you’re supposed to park other than on the streets around Slowdown.

Then tomorrow night, She & Him are playing at The Anchor Inn with The Chapin Sisters. I have no idea if the Inn is still suffering from flooding. Regardless, there will be a stage set up somewhere on the grounds. If you haven’t been out there for a show, you’re in for a treat. $20, 9 p.m.

That’s not all that’s happening this weekend.

Tonight is the last show of the summer at Lincoln’s Clawfoot House.  Ember Schrag, who runs Clawfoot with Brian Day, said they are turning over the venue to a young artist/musician couple who will be moving in and taking over as of Sept. 1, with a grand reopening Sept. 30 with Pillars and Tongues from Chicago and FATHR^.

“I had a blast starting Clawfoot House,” Schrag said. “We hosted 89 events at our apartment in a year and a half. And tons of artists from all over came through and performed in our living room and kitchen and porch. But Bryan and I are both ready to have more time to devote to our own projects.”

Those projects include a two-and-a-half month U.S. tour that starts next week, but that really kicks off at tonight’s show, which is a “casual fundraiser to help with a few tour expenses.” It’s at Clawfoot House, 1042 F St., and includes a spaghetti dinner, indoor garage sale, tarot card readings, four bands and a video/sound performance. It’s a $6 cover, $3 for the dinner. The event starts at 6 and music starts at 9 with Ron Wax (featuring Ron Albertson of Mercy Rule), Ed Gray (Iowa City), Ember Schrag and her band, and Tiny Tiny Tongues.

Meanwhile, tonight back here in Omaha, The Ground Tyrants are headlining a show at the Barley Street Tavern with All Young Girls Are Machine Guns. $5, 9 p.m.

Saturday has Lincoln band Wastoid playing at The Brothers Lounge with opener Ron Wax (featuring Ron Albertson of Mercy Rule) and The Lepers. $5, 10 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Ketchup and Mustard Gas are at O’Leaver’s with Birthday Suits. $5, 9:30 p.m.

And Simon Joyner is playing a house show at 4208 Mayberry Street with Ed Gray, The Prairies and Ember Schrag. Show starts at 9 and suggested donation is $5 to $10.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Nick Semrad of Little Black Stereo emailed to say that LBS is calling it quits. In fact, tonight’s show at The Barley Street Tavern is their last Omaha gig. Tomorrow’s Zoo Bar show in Lincoln is the band’s official “last show.”

I asked Nick what the story was behind the breakup. “Well, part of it stems from a guitar player moving to Nashville, and I’m headed to LA within the year to be a session player…” he said.

Despite their long history, I’ve never seen a full set by LBS. It’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to avoid them, it’s just been one of those things. Also playing LBS’s farewell show are Landing on the Moon, Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear and Barley Street regular Kyle Harvey. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

HearNebraska.org isn’t the only new effort designed to improve your online search for music news. The Reader is in the process of a bottom-up redesign of its website at thereader.com. I’ve seen the initial drafts, and they’re a huge improvement over what’s out there now. As part of the process, The Reader is asking folks to take a little survey and tell them what they’d like to see on their new site. That means you, so click here

and fill the dang thing out. Watch for the new Reader website to launch in the very near future.

* * *

Lincoln music promoter and all-around good guy Jeremy Buckley says that if you want in on the discounted $30 pass that will get you into all of this year’s Lincoln Calling performances, you’ve got ’til the end of the day. The discounted tickets can be purchased online from etix, here. Tomorrow, the price goes up to $40.

There’s also a brand new Lincoln Calling website that just went online at lincolncalling.com that will answer all your questions about the festival, and includes performance schedules, venue and ticket info, everything.

Buckley also announced today that he just locked in a handful of additional bands and performers for this year’s festival, and they are:

Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo

Blue Martian Tribe

Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies

Carrot Carrot

Conduits

Dirty Talker

Down With the Ship

The Envy Corps

The Filter Kings

The Flatliners

High Art

If Only He Had the Power

The Killigans

Landing on the Moon

Little Brazil

The Machete Archive

Masses

Midland Band

Mitch Gettman

Moustache

Pablo’s Triangle

Pecha Kucha Volume 3

Pharmacy Spirits

The Photo Atlas

The Renfields

Ted Stevens

Tempo

Vibenhai

The Vingins

Voodoo Method

Those additions bring the total number of bands and performers to around 100, which has got to make this the biggest music festival in Nebraska. Lincoln Calling is Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

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There’s a lot happening tonight in addition to the LBS swan song concert:

Tonight at O’Leaver’s, noise-riot-punk brawlers Peace of Shit is headlining a show with Mosquito Bandito and The Spooks. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Sub Pop band Fruit Bats are playing at The Waiting Room with Nathaniel Rateliff and Hospital Ships. $10, 9 p.m.

And finally, everyone’s favorite messed-up art punk garage kids, The Yuppies, are playing at The Hole with Daikaiju (Alabama surf-rock), Ampline (Cincinatti rock rock), and Butchers. $5, 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As NYPD detective John McClane said, “Welcome to the party, pal.”

Former Reader editor turned-environmental journalist-turned music writer Andrew Norman yesterday launched a new music column on the starcityblog.com website called Hearing Lincoln.

And he’s already got a prime-time Lincoln scoop:

“A collective groan welcomed news that UUVVWWZ is going on an indefinite hiatus as drummer Tom Ambroz leaves to work in Australia. Bummer. Catch their secret last show Tuesday night at Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St., at 9 p.m. Free.”

That show is tonight, btw. Seems like only yesterday (instead of back in Feb. 2008) that I first heard UUVVWWZ playing at the now-closed Saddle Creek Bar and declared them (in this review) “the best local band I’ve heard play live in a couple years.” I also said that if I had a label, I’d sign them. Instead, It Are Good and Saddle Creek Records both signed them and released their debut album. And now, it’s over…

Starcityblog.com is a temporary home for Andy’s blog until his music website, hearnebraska.org, launches sometime next month. Organized as a non-profit entity (he’s going all 501c3 up in there), the site is being designed to communicate all things music in Nebraska — not just Lincoln, not just Omaha. It’ll do this via a conglomeration of blogs, feeds, video, streams, and of course, social media. The hearnebraska Facebook page, vimeo page, and Twitter feed have been live for weeks now.

Full disclosure: Yours truly is on the Hear Nebraska board, along with a handful of other “movers and shakers” who are — in some way — involved in the music scene. Stay tuned…

* * *

Aussie performance/noise artist Justice Yeldham is doing his thing tonight at The Hole, 712 S. 16th St. According to the gig page, “this dude is amazing! uses broken glass on his mouth to make music/noise, not for the faint of heart (i.e. BLOOD!)” Ugh! Also on the bill is Bad Speler (Darren Keen project); Solypsis (experimental/grindcore/breakcore) from Denver/Phoenix/Chicago; Plack Blague (black metal/techno/house) from Lincoln; Violator X (experimental/metal/noise) from Lincoln/Minneapolis, and Seeded Plain (experimental/noise) from Lincoln. It’s a veritable Lincoln noise Invasion. $6, 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just as I posted the item yesterday saying Tim Kasher wasn’t touring anywhere near Omaha, he released a full tour itinerary that includes a date at The Waiting Room Nov. 19. You can read the full schedule at the Saddle Creek website, here.

* * *

Someone e-mailed yesterday asking for more details on the 5th of May recording after having seen this week’s column in The Reader (No. 284). The respective blog entry with links, etc., is here. Check it out.

* * *

It’s looking like another O’Leaver’s weekend…

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Dim Light is headlining a show with Leeches of Lore and Comme Reel (No Blood Orphan). $5, 9 p.m. And then tomorrow night at O’Leaver’s, The Stay Awake is headlining a show with Honey & Darling and Millions of Boys. $5, 9 p.m.

Also on my radar screen is a special birthday bash for Filter Kings‘ frontman Gerald Lee Meyerpeter at The Barley Street Tavern tonight. Performing at this festive event are Lash Larue, Alex McManus, Whipkey/Zimmerman/Sing, and of course, Lee himself. Show starts at 9, no idea what it’ll cost you to get in. Drop down and buy Lee a shot of Thunder Chicken…

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

My mailbox is becoming crowded with fall tour information. You can check out the Merge tour schedules on the webboard here. There are only two Omaha dates — The Love Language opening for Local Natives Sept. 30 at The Waiting Room, and She & Him at The Anchor Inn Aug. 28. Arcade Fire has no Midwest dates.

HitFix has an interesting list of “10 Indie Rock Tours to Get Excited About.” No. 1 is Conor and the Felice Brothers.*yawn* The most intriguing is No. 3, Sufjan Stevens. How’s those states albums coming along, bro? The closest he’s coming to Omaha is KC’s Uptown Theater Oct. 17.

Tim Kasher also announced some tour dates — four to be exact, nowhere near here (though since he lives here now, you never know where he might pop up with a guitar) — along with releasing his first track from The Game of Monogamy for streaming, called “Cold Love” (listen to it here). It sounds like a Good Life song, right down to the mopey lyrics, which Kasher told SPIN

,  are “mostly, [about] really boring sex, couples who have run out of steam in their relationships, whose sex life is reduced to going through the motions,” and that laments a “vanilla existence.” Yikes. Ever wonder what would have happened to Kasher’s career if he’d gotten married and had three kids and lived in a big house in Dundee? Thankfully, it sounds like he’s miserable, which, of course, means more music for the rest of us (what would he possibly sing about if he were happy?).

* * *

Two shows tonight:

Tapes ‘n’ Tapes are playing at The Waiting Room tonight. Just as interesting are the openers. Broken Spindles — Joel Petersen of The Faint’s “side project.” And Touch People, a new electronic project that has a new vinyl-only record out on The Faint’s blank.wav label, which you’ll likely be hearing tracks from tonight. $12, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., Midwest Dilemma is headlining a show with Kyle Harvey that’s also a CD release show for ukelele singer/songwriter phenom Rebecca Lowry’s project All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, whose debut, Secret Attic Recordings, is being released by Harvey’s Slo-Fi Records. Backing Lowry on stage is drummer Scott Zimmerman and upright-bass player Travis Sing. $5, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Filmmaker Lindsay Trapnell e-mailed me a week or so ago to tell me about a film she’s trying to get financed via Kickstarter, the fund-raising website which you remember from Digital Leather.

The film is called Seafarer and the primary actors are Melissa Geary from Honeybee and Sam Martin from Capgun Coup. “And though we’re not quite to the scoring/music stage of the film, the film will feature original music from area musicians and bands,” Trapnell said.

According to the film’s Kickstarter site, the movie is “about floating between adolescence and adulthood. It’s about feeling swallowed up by a big city and yearning for a simpler life. It’s about realizing that every relationship in your life is in transition, from your parents to your partner. It’s about feeling lost and searching. It’s about realizing you are still young and letting go. It’s about getting up one morning and taking off, driving across the country, and landing in the Midwest.” In other words, it sounds like a coming-of-age rock movie. You can check out an early trailer at the Kickstarter site or at the official Seafarer website.

Plans call for shooting on location in Omaha this fall. “Our most expensive costs include procuring camera and sound equipment and accessories like lenses, a dolly, a car rig etc. These items, which are quite costly, are critical to our film as the story will be told primarily through visuals. We will also use money raised to feed our cast and crew, pay for necessary travel, create DVDs, and market the film and enter festivals.”

So far, 34 people have pledged $2,365 (including one who pledged $500!). The goal is to raise $3,500 by Aug. 30. Of course your pledge will earn you all kinds of cool stuff, including limited edition recordings, DVDs, photos, souvenirs, even a cameo in the film. Check out the Seafarer Kickstarter page.

This is not Trapnell’s first attempt at film making. Her short film, Hump, was selected as part of Film Streams’ Local Filmmaker Showcase. You can watch Hump online at www.lindsaytrapnell.com

* * *

Even more mail… Last month I got an email from Lazy-i reader Kelly Murphy, who uncovered a rare 1990 recording of Omaha band 5th of May made at the old KRCK studio which was located “above the drug store at 50th and Dodge and was broadcast on KRCK 95.3 via Cox Cable,” Murphy said. He added that KRCK was a true pirate FM station until the FCC paid a visit to owner Paul Kriegler. Afterward, the station changed hands a number of times before Matt Markel took over, made it “legitimate” and changed the format to goon rock.

Anyway, the line-up of 5th of May was Marty Maxwell, vocals; Frank Maxwell, guitar; Bob Boyce, drums; Mike Jaworski, bass, and Bob Crawford, guitar. The setlist from that November 1990 session was, according to Murphy: The Kid, Backdoor, Calling Out Your Name, All Kinds of Weird, Shoutdown, Take What’s Yours, Lead Singer of Firehose, The Ride, Out of Time, Crosstown Traffic, He We Go Again.

Here’s the kicker: Now you, too, can own a CDR copy of that 5th of May performance. Murphy has offered to burn copies for anyone who drops him an e-mail at kelly@triagestaff.com. I’ve got a copy, and the recording quality is surprisingly good, while the music can only be described as “groovy.”

* * *
There are two very hot shows going on tonight.

At Slowdown Jr., Denver indie buzz band Tennis hits the stage. Read about them in this article in the New York Times or check out their music at their Myspace page. Headlining is Omaha’s very own Honey & Darling. Also on the bill are bark-rockers Well Aimed Arrows and the debut of Cabana Boys (Annie from Digital Leather, Kit from La Casa Bombas, and Kev from Watching the Train Wreck). $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, The Watson Twins (who you might remember from Jenny Lewis’ first solo tour) are playing at The Waiting Room with Ferraby Lionheart. $10, 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What, no show reviews from this past weekend? The reason: I just got back from vacation since last Wednesday, in cool, dry Breckenridge, CO, one of the few places in the world where there is no good music — not in the bars, not on the mountains, not on the radio. Which made me thank my lucky stars that the GTI is equipped with a satellite radio. We spent the weekend listening to XMU, the indie satellite station, which I have to believe is becoming as important as Pitchfork even though their playlist is woefully narrow.

After overdosing on Arcade Fire for a few days in the row (it was as if XMU was sponsored by the band), Teresa insisted on Sirius “80s on 8” for the drive home — that meant nine straight hours of ’80s pop music. Why not? It’s been awhile since I dipped myself into the Reagan Era, music-wise.

Every once in a while, someone will tell me that he thinks his parents’ music was better than the music from the current era. Well, if his parents’ music is ’80s pop, I’m not sure that’s true. Was there a more flamboyant, more excessive era in pop music? Believe me, I know. I grew up in the ’80s with MTV and hair metal and the disco hangover. Listening back now, I have to believe all that excess was fueled by nose candy in the sort of opposite way that downers and pot influenced music in the droopy, drowsy ’60s.

By contrast, the ’80s was speed, glitter, rainbows and more more more. I can imagine high-dollar recording studios booked by rich rock bands for months at a time and helmed by zoned-out record producers who spent their time trying to figure out how they could squeeze more sound effects into every track. “I think we should add some zinger effects right here – zing zing zing

,” says the mustached former Sabbath roadie as he desperately tries to keep his elbow from knocking over the mountains of cocaine piled along the top of the sound board.

How else do you explain a song like “The Reflex,” by Duran Duran? It’s as if the band and producer were trying to put every inane sound effect into every spare second of the song. Go back and listen to it again. It’s the most idiotic, cartoonish-sounding recording you’ll ever hear.

It had to be the coke that made them want everything bigger, right? Take drums. Back in ’85, your typical pop song couldn’t use regular analog drums. Not big enough. Every song had to use sampled electronic explosions – crash, crash, crash

! Every beat was a bomb going off. Thirty years later, those bombs sound both big and hollow at the same time.

And then there were the egregiously narcissistic guitar solos — the staple of ’80s macho rock, so drenched in testosterone they wreaked of Brut and body odor. Sure, there were guitar solos in the ’70s, but they generally fulfilled a purpose, they at least tried to enhance the music experience. Not in the ’80s. Every hair metal song had to give 20 seconds (which felt like two minutes) to the lead ax man so he could pull down his leather pants and let everyone know how good of a guitarist he thought he was. But instead, those solos almost always just got in the way.

But more than hair metal, which was Cro-Magnon dumbshit music for a white-trash nation, the ’80s, specifically the mid-’80s, brought on the emergence of gay American dance music — post-disco good-time synth pop that was more effeminate than anything in the past. People point to Bowie’s androgyny in the ’70s, but to those who weren’t “in the know,” Bowie and the glam crowd were just a bunch of clowns who discovered their girlfriends’ make-up kits. “Gay” to them meant “Look at me, I’m a freak.”

That wasn’t the case on the dance floor in the ’80s. There was no mistaking the intent. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, George Michael, these guys weren’t wearing crazy orange Bowie wigs or dresses, but there was no mistaking where they — and their music — were coming from. Sure, they were coke heads too, and were among the most guilty when it came to excess in their music arrangements. Add the calliope of sound to the late nights, the colored strobes, the sweat and the poppers, and the ’80s for them became a glorious blur that would, eventually, end tragically.

But before that, the gay culture had never so permeated popular American culture. Before long, even ’70s legends were trying to update their sound and style to fit the era. How else do you explain Born in the USA-era Springsteen? The guy who used to look like a skinny, greasy mechanic, suddenly emerged post-workout, with tight jeans, tight shirt and headband, he couldn’t have looked more gay. And “Dancing in the Dark” — with its tooting synths — couldn’t have sounded more un-Springsteen-ish.

So that’s what went through my head after listening to “80s on 8” for seven hours. We eventually couldn’t take it anymore and had to change it back to XMU, where I discovered something about the ’80s and what’s wrong with today’s indie music. No matter how excessive or overindulgent ’80s pop music was, you almost always could find the melody to every song, and after just one time through. They were songs that, after a couple spins, you could  sing along to, whether you wanted to or not.

Try that with most of today’s indie rock. Listen to the “Barricade,” the new track by Interpol, then afterward, try to hum the melody. When was the last time a melody by Spoon stuck in your head (other than the one used in the commercial)? Can you sing one line from a Deerhunter song? When it’s not singer/songwriter fare, indie music is drama and effect, an emotional tone poem or soundscape with a few lines of poetry thrown in. There aren’t a lot of indie “songs.”

And these days, there aren’t many good pop songs, either. We listened to XMU Hits or whatever its called and got an hour of Katy Perry and the rest of the current tribe of girly girl artists who all seem to be singing the very same, proudly misogynistic songs that no woman over the age of 25 (and certainly no straight man) would take seriously. Do not compare them to Madonna.

Hmmm… in retrospect, and considering that it also marked the birth of indie, maybe the ’80s was a better era after all…

* * *

Tomorrow: An interview with Young Love Records artists Setting Sun and Quitzow. Be 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Festival season continues Saturday with Farnam Festival at the corner of 40th and Farnam Sts. starting at 3 p.m. The goal: To raise $50k to help turn Farnam into a two-way street between 36th and 42nd. How this will help the businesses along that street, I’m not entirely sure, other than the fact that they’ll be getting traffic from both directions instead of one. I personally can’t imagine a two-way Farnam (especially in front of The Brothers), but what the heck, right? I assume money raised will go toward, what, construction to make the street two-way? Isn’t that a job for the City of Omaha? Does the money go to the City? More likely it’ll go to the Midtown Business Association who is spearheading the effort. Maybe they need it to pay for lawyers and architects? Look, I don’t know and it’s not spelled out on their website.

Regardless, what it means for the rest of us is an afternoon and evening’s worth of music by a handful of local bands (most of whom are Benson regulars) for a $10 admission. And, of course, a beer tent also will be set up. The sched:

3:15 p.m. – Normandy Invasion

4:25 – Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies

5:30 – The Third Men

6:35 – Sarah Benck

7:45 – Thunder Power

9:00 – Midwest Dilemma

10:15 – Southpaw Bluegrass Band

BTW, this thing is supposed to become an annual event.

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Meanwhile, the North Downtown district (sadly nicknamed “NoDo”) is having a block party this Saturday. You can read about all the festivities here, but the music part of the gig is an open house at Slowdown starting at 7 p.m. The line-up is Bear Country, Talking Mountain and the mysterious KISS-loving DJ known as Tyrone Storm. The cost, absolutely free.

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There’s more to this weekend than festivals and block parties.

Friday night Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship plays at The Barley St. with Why Make Clocks and the Ketchup and Mustard Gas. $5, 9 p.m.

And, The Mynabirds are playing at the Stir Lounge Saturday night with opener Jake Bellows. $5, 9 p.m.