Land of Talk at Slowdown Jr., Sept. 23, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There was a modest, loving and patient crowd at Slowdown Jr. last night for Land of Talk. Modest, as in fewer than 100 people. Loving, as in the response to every one of their songs. Patient, as in putting up with long delays. Actually, not everyone was patient…

I showed up in time to catch the very tail-end of Conduits, just long enough to snap a picture and hear Jenna Morrison stretch out one final heart-breaking note over a closing crescendo. Along with So-So Sailors, this is the newest local band to keep an eye on.

Suuns were amazing. The Montreal combo killed on a set of very modern, very well-crafted rock songs that cleverly used electronic noises along with the usual guitar/bass/drums set-up to create a sound with an entirely new sense of urgency. Both edgy and trippy, the highlight was closer “Sweet Nothing,” an odyssey that grew from synth noise, sirens and a simple drum beat to a shredding conclusion before receding to nothing.

Suuns would eventually come back as the backing band for Land of Talk. I say “eventually,” because the set was delayed for more than a half-hour while frontwoman Lizzie Powell searched for a missing bag (or so she said from stage). And while the wait was worth it, this was my third night in a row of shows, each of which was followed the next morning by a 6 a.m. wake-up call. In other words, I was running out of gas, and no amount of Powell sweetness was going to keep me awake much longer.

Once she got the ball rolling, Powell cranked out a set of the best from her latest album. On recordings, Land of Talk is a great pop band with catchy songs reminiscent of bands like The Sundays, Cranberries, even Fleetwood Mac. But with Suuns added, everything got a little darker, a little grittier, a little more on edge. It’s territory that I’d love to hear Powell and Co. continue to explore. Unfortunately, about a half-hour into their set, Powell began fiddling with her Gibson SG between songs, tuning and retuning, then snapping on a capo than retuning again. This went on for about five minutes, and then she asked the audience if someone would give her a new guitar. Silence. “I take that as a ‘no,'” she said, while she continued fiddling with the tuning knobs. Finally she gave up, and grabbed another SG from a rack of guitars, strapped it on, and began the whole process again. I looked at my watch, noticed it was past 12:30, and headed to the door with my eyes half closed…

* * *

It’s been a helluva week for shows, and I have to tell ya, I’m exhausted. But the fun ain’t over yet. Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s the return of Little Brazil. A re-energized, recently relocated (back to Omaha from San D.) and just-married Landon Hedges is back tonight with the rest of the miscreants and a slew of new songs. Opening is the red-hot So-So Sailors and Honey & Darling. $6, 9 p.m. It could be a madhouse.

Tomorrow night, David Dondero returns to The Waiting Room with Darren Hanlon. $8 adv./$10 DOS. Show starts at 9.

And, of course, Sunday is Wovenhand (ex-16 Horsepower) with amazing opening band  Serena-Maneesh.  $12, 9 p.m.

When am I going to get some  sleep?

* * *

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

Serena-Maneesh

Serena-Maneesh: From the Abyss

Serena-Maneesh uncovers layers of sound.

Norwegian noise-pop band Serena-Maneesh dug deep for its latest album, literally.

For Serena-Maneesh 2: Abyss in B Minor, released this past March on 4AD Records, mastermind Emil Nikolaisen recorded tracks in a cave located outside of Oslo, Norway.

“It was an interesting journey, at times rough, at times inspiring,” said Nikolaisen via cell during a sound check at a concert hall in Harleem, The Netherlands, where the band performed last Sunday night. “I wanted to put myself and my collaborators in an interesting new spot with new sounds and find new universes where there were no preconceptions of any kind, like a little kid trying to find new spaces in the world to discover.”

But don’t go listening to the album expecting echoing, cavernous noises. Instead, Serena-Maneesh music is an odyssey of beats and dense, layered noise that covers — and then slowly uncovers — melody upon melody. There are moments on the nearly 8-minute opening track, “Ayisha Abyss,” where the intensity of sound is so overwhelming that you’ll feel like you’re stumbling through utter darkness, finding your way by touching the wall with your fingertips, lost in a maze of noise and whispers.

Even the album’s poppier moments, like the soaring “I Just Want to See Your Face,” glisten through layers of guitar sheen, snare drum and cacophony. What you’ll hear the first time through isn’t necessary what you’re going to hear the next time you listen, and that’s just the way Nikolaisen wants it.

“It’s like when you hear a band next door in the basement or behind walls — when you open the door and enter the room, the music reveals itself in a more… boring way,” he said. “You thought it was more mystical or intriguing when you didn’t hear it so clearly. I try to apply that principal to what I’m doing — so that the more you zoom in, the more the mysteries of the chords and the overtones and the new harmonies appear.”

Serena-Maneesh, Serena-Maneesh 2: Abyss in B Minor (4AD Records)

The band’s style of revealing melody beneath countless layers of noise often brings comparisons to shoe-gaze masters My Bloody Valentine. Nikolaisen acknowledged that he loves MBV frontman Kevin Shields’ pop songs. “I grew up on a lot of stuff that’s clearly in the music that I’ve been pushing,” Nikolaisen said. “There was a time when no one was talking about My Bloody Valentine and these bands, and we were doing it. And suddenly, there’s a lot of these types of bands popping up here and there.”

But there’s more to Serena-Maneesh’s music than MBV comparisons. Nikolaisen said that through his music, he’s trying to find a place where “symphony and Stooges meet.”

“On one side, I love rock, and on the other side, I love symphonies,” he said. “If you can integrate the mysterious, subconscious sounds of strings into something that’s more immediate, that’s a really valuable thing. The idea is that the 10th time you hear it, you still feel like you’re on an interesting journey, you’re still hearing new sounds and (discovering) things that are not exposed right away. That’s the journey that I’ve spent many years of my life trying to refine.”

Joining him on that journey has been a number of collaborators, including American indie icon Sufjan Stevens, who played vibraphone, flute and piano on the new album. “I get sick of myself and my own ideas,” Nikolaisen said about his collaborations. “You might be able to play everything yourself, but I’m depending on other people for perspective — different souls gathering on many different levels.”

And while Serena-Maneesh has toured Europe and Australia with bands that include Oasis, Nine Inch Nails and The Dandy Warhols, Nikolaisen said Nebraska has an exotic quality of its own. “To us, Nebraska is extremely exotic,” he said. “I have these portraits in my mind of Nebraska that I’ve seen from childhood. I wonder if it’s translatable to the people there. Are they really any different from iconic New York or European minds, or are they fully redneck or fully California sunshine?”

He’ll find out next Sunday when his five-piece band rolls into The Waiting Room to open for Wovenhand. Nikolaisen said fans should expect them to “push the melodic perspective in a really loud context.”

“(The concert) is almost a physical experience with pristine melodies carved through,” he said. “Our songs need to be translated slightly different than on the recording, so we’re not just repeating or imitating it. It’s really important to give listeners a new perspective on the songs and the story. We keep it elastic in a way that’s really meant for the moment, and try to portray something different every night.”

Serena-Maneesh plays with Wovenhand Sunday, Sept. 26, at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $12. For more information, call 402.884.5353 or visit waitingroomlounge.com.

* * *

Menomena at The Waiting Room, 09/22/10.

Suckers last night at The Waiting Room: There’s just something about Frenchkiss bands. They’re always entertaining. And they all seem to have a head spazz that anchors the onstage antics, provides the energy and gives the audience something to look at while quietly pondering such things as “What’s wrong with that man?” “Are those jerky movements a side-effect to whatever drug he’s taking?” “Is he dangerous?” And so on. The spazz in The Suckers was a headband-wearing beardo on lead guitar and primary vocals who switched between a pained howl and a classic Prince falsetto throughout these hazy, hash-fueled art-damaged tunes that owed a lot to Talking Heads — both early noisy and later dancey Heads. In fact, countering the grinning headband was a stand-up-straight second guitarist whose rigid stance and lilting voice reminded me of David Byrne. The band was filled out by a bass player/percussionist/trumpet player and a drummer/keyboardist (like Box Elder’s Goldberg, there were moments when he played both at the same time), and everyone provided harmonies, which was sweet. And when headband guy just plain sung, he was dynamite — he had an earthy growl that felt good to hear, especially on their last song. I will be searching out their music in the very near future.

Suckers at The Waiting Room, 9/22/10.

Menomena had a fourth member with them last night, apparently a guy from the opening band that I missed. They sounded more mainstream — more smoothed out and fluid — then I remembered them from a couple years ago. The entire set seemed less arty, or maybe I was still buzzing from Suckers, who were just flat-out more entertaining (and had better songs). There was nothing wrong with Menomena, they were just kind of boring. That said, they broke through to me every time their lead guy picked up that Bari sax and crushed out a melody. Otherwise, the music was dominated by their rhythm section (quite a contrast from the previous night, when neither band even had a bass player). The bass and drum were huge, which is enough to carry you through the first 10 minutes, but becomes one-dimensional thereafter.

Last night’s crowd was twice the size of the crowd there Tuesday for School of Seven Bells. Maybe 200? The draw might have had something to do with Menomena having the No. 8 album on the college charts, according to the latest issue of Rolling Stone. More likely it might have something to do with being around for so many years. Still, I was told that last night’s Menomena show drew a few less people then when the band came through two years ago — when they didn’t even have a charting album. Add the fact that ground breakers School of Seven Bells drew less than 100 and you have to wonder what’s going on. Maybe it’s the lack of radio. Or maybe Omaha isn’t as hip as it thinks it is.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr. it’s Saddle Creek Records band Land of Talk with Montreal band Suuns (formerly Zeroes). Sayeth Chicagoist: “Much like ‘70s bands Can and Suicide, the heartbeat of the Suuns’ music thumps out in pulses of electro-synth that rolled in the dirt with a few Fenders.” Having listened to their new album, I concur. Get there early for Omaha’s own drone adventurists Conduits (Jenna Morrison, Roger Lewis members of Eagle Seagull). $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

A capture from Land of Talk's video for "It's Okay."

Column 289: Government Issue

Paying for Land of Talk’s work of art.

It was at least six months ago, maybe longer, that I stumbled across the video for Land of Talk’s song “It’s Okay.” It was being hyped on Saddle Creek Records’ website, the band’s label.

I grew up watching videos. I remember when MTV was fresh and new and actually played music videos. And though the videos being produced in the late ’80s weren’t exactly masterpieces of cinematic art, they were entertaining and fun and a good way to kill time between classes or hangovers. Well, time, as it’s been known to do, marched on, and videos became passé, especially when the MTVs and VH1s of the world set them aside for plague-like reality-TV programming.

So I’d long ago given up on music videos as being anything more than expensive, dopey commercials. And then along came that Land of Talk video. It opens with a close-up of a masked warrior whose long black hair — more of a mane — is floating overhead as if underwater while the song’s opening notes pulse forward on a cushion of beats. From there, the mini film is a pastiche of slow-motion black-and-white images of gravity-defying science-fiction landscapes, crows soaring above floating mountaintops, flaming wolves darting through misty forests, and always at the center, the masked, horse-mounted warrior with hair flowing for miles overhead, creating a star-specked sky cutting through the daylight. Finally, horse and rider come to the edge of the earth and leap slowly into space before igniting into flames. This wasn’t your typical five-guys-and-a-camera-doing-goofy-shit video; it was a visualization of a nature myth set to a modern beat. View it on YouTube here.

The video blew my mind and made me reconsider not only the song but the album and the band. Sure, I knew about Land of Talk; I’d listened to Some Are Lakes, and thought it was a pleasant, soft-pop indie-rock effort, nothing more. But after watching the video, I dug through my iTunes to find the album and listen to it again with fresh ears. And isn’t that what videos are supposed to do? It turns out I wasn’t alone in my admiration. The 5-minute masterpiece was nominated for “Video of the Year” at the 2010 Juno Awards — sort of the Canadian version of The Grammy’s — and was chosen as one of the five best music videos of 2009 by Time Magazine.

So how did a little label like Saddle Creek, and an under-the-radar band like Land of Talk, afford to make such a video? Its combination of live action and special-effects animation must have cost a fortune.

“Going in, I was very disenchanted with the whole idea of making a video,” said Land of Talk frontwoman Lizzie Powell Monday night while driving to Chicago on a tour that will bring them to The Slowdown this Thursday, Sept. 23. She said videos had become “fast-edited, sexy, nonsensical shit. And I was protective of that song and never wanted anyone to interpret it in video form.”

But when “It’s Okay” was chosen by production company WeWereMonkeys for the video treatment, Powell had little choice but to relinquish control to director Davide Di Saro. “It turned out to be one of the best creative relationships I’ve ever had,” she said, adding that when she saw the final product, “We were floored, we were speechless, it brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud to be a part of it.”

So who fronted the cash to make it happen? None other than the Canadian government through the Department of Canadian Heritage and a program called FACTOR, The Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings. Powell said FACTOR and other government-sponsored arts organizations are vital to every independent Canadian band’s’ survival.

“All of these organizations are there to support independent artists,” she said. “Land of Talk would not exist without the government. It’s at the core of our band and most of the Canadian bands touring out there to the states and abroad, from Broken Social Scene to Arcade Fire — any bands that have not signed away their masters abroad.”

Without that government grant money, we probably wouldn’t be seeing Land of Talk Thursday night. “We wouldn’t be able to tour in a 15-passenger van and go out for three weeks,” Powell said, adding that the financial support goes beyond what a record label can provide. “Record labels are screwed now with the transition to the digital age.”

In fact, she doesn’t know how independent bands in the U.S. do it. “What you have in the States is not sustainable,” Powell said. “I feel horrible for bands with talent and skill that can’t get off the ground and get on the road. It’s heartbreaking, and at the same time, it makes me proud that we can afford this, but I’m not completely waxing Canada’s car right now.”

That’s because arts funding has been cut back under Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Powell said. “Harper’s government is spending more money on military than arts and eduction,” she said. “It’s something we’re trying to save and protect; it’s a wonderful thing to defend. Cutting funding for arts and culture is very short-sighted.”

Are you listening State Senator Gwen Howard? Howard plans to introduce a bill in the Unicameral that will suspend Nebraska’s “1% for Art” program. Talk about short-sighted.

Powell said if Land of Talk doesn’t win any more grants, we probably won’t be seeing videos like “It’s Okay” for songs off the band’s new album,Cloak and Cipher. But if it programs like FACTOR are eliminated, we may not see any more bands like Land of Talk.

* * *

School of Seven Bells at The Waiting Room, Sept. 22, 2010.

Last night at The Waiting Room felt inspired by The Cure. In fact, the opening band, Active Child, sounded so Cure-like that I thought Robert Smith was in the house. I only caught their last two songs (I missed out on the harp solo): the first song was a pure Cure rip; but the last one featured falsetto vocals a la The Temper Trap and was… pretty. Still, just keyboards and guitar. No drums, no bass, and they could have used that bottom end.

School of Seven Bells was a four-piece — a guitarist, two women vocalists (one on keys/synth, the other sometimes adding a second guitar), and real live drums supported by electronic beats/handclaps. The music was dreamy dance stuff, with both girls adding angelic harmonies. Their slower numbers again owed a lot to the Cure’s later lush music. By now Disintegration has become a sort of benchmark album for so many bands. Just a few years ago, it seemed everyone sounded like Pavement. Before that, it was the Pixies. But a certain cadre of today’s bands seem enamored with Smiths, The Cure and MBV (see tomorrow’s interview). And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The best moments came when guitarist Benjamin Curtis was allowed to run wild run free. His tone was amazing; it reminded me of every great soaring guitar solo of ’80s post-New Wave/dream rock era. The Deheza sisters sounded like what you’d imagine Azure Ray would sound like fronting a dance band. Unfortunately, too often the vocals were buried in the mix and sounded limp, like an afterthought. As with the opener, the sound would have benefited from more bottom end (no bass again). The 70 or 80 people on hand spent the night huddled by the stage, but few if any danced, except for one girl who spent the evening with her arms in the air. Maybe that’s why they didn’t come out for an encore after their 45 minute set concluded. A pity. I could have listened to them for another hour.

* * *

So the City Council approved the CVS pharmacy. Goodbye, 49r. Here’s the WOWT coverage

.

One last thought on CVS… I can say as a resident of the Memorial Park neighborhood, which abuts Dundee, that other than the cursory walk-through upon its grand opening, I will never step foot in that CVS store. Never. And judging from neighbors and other Dundee residents, I won’t be alone. A hollow threat? You don’t know Dundee very well. Very clannish; very grudgeful; some might say angry. This isn’t like when Wal Mart moved in at the expense of The Ranch Bowl, where people vowed to never shop there. I knew that wouldn’t make a stitch of difference. Wal Mart attracts every bit of human trash in every city it inhabits, people who wouldn’t care if Wal Mart ran a white slavery ring out of its appliance department, as long as they could still buy their 10 cubic foot bricks of toilet paper. CVS, well, that’s another matter. It has zero competitive advantage over Walgreens. It won’t even be convenient to access. And now they’ve pissed off the neighborhood in which it resides, a neighborhood that has a long, long memory. I do not wish them luck.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Portland experimental rockers Menomena returns supporting a new album on Barsuk Records. This is what I said about them when they came through way back in June 2007:

Though not nearly as crowded as the prior evening, there was a large draw to see Menomena (pronounced Men-Naw-Men-Naw — like phenomena — not as I stupidly pronounced it, Men-Oh-Meen-uh). The trio featured a drummer/vocalist, keyboard/guitarist/vocalist, and frontman/vocalist/guitarist/saxophone player. Huge sound for a trio. Everything seemed keyed off the drums, which were big and brawny, the kit set up at the front of the stage so all three members could watch each other throughout the set. Trying to think of what they sounded like, the guy next to me said, “Man, it’s like early Peter Gabriel.” Bingo. Especially when the drummer sang the leads, the keyboards were in loop and the frontman added harmonies or played an odd line on baritone sax, it was 1980 Melt-era Gabriel all the way. Other times, when the keyboardist held the vocal spot, Menomena resembled early Death Cab or a more conventional indie band. They were at their best when being unconventional, however, which was most of the evening

Opening the show tonight is Williamsburg band Suckers (Frenchkiss Records) and Tu Fawning. $12, 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.

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Titus Andronicus at The Waiting Room, Sept. 16, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

How would I describe last night’s Titus Andronicus show at The Waiting Room? I wouldn’t say it was “epic” as much as an attempt at being epic. You could describe Titus’ music as tuneful anthem punk — the songs usually start off as quiet indie ballads that slowly build and explode into pounding riffs, sing-along lyrics and the occasional Celtic-flavored melody. It’s a lot of territory to cover, and that means some pretty long songs. And though I was exhausted at the end of their 90-minute set, I felt like I just saw what could become an important band at a pivotal moment in its history.

They’re still just starting out. While Titus has gotten a lot of national press and attention (including some late-night network chat-show airplay) for a band that’s only been around only a couple years, it’s still very much flying under the radar, judging by last night’s draw of only a couple hundred, many of whom came to see pop opener Free Energy. In fact, at the end of the set, Titus did the ol’ “We’re looking for a place to crash tonight” spiel from stage. They’re definitely living out of the van these days, but judging by last night’s performance, they won’t be for long.

The band is centered on frontman Patrick Stickles, who looks like your typical indie rock beardo but sings like a man trying to exorcise his own evil spirits. He’s both a crooner and a howler, and as I said in yesterday’s feature, has often been compared to Conor Oberst vocally. You could hear some of that last night, and Stickles even acknowledged it about four songs into the set, saying that though the band has never been to Omaha, they’ve been plagued by a certain Omaha singer/songwriter, and then went on to say that his next song’s self-loathing nature (“No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”) would showcase this. And that’s exactly what it did. We got the bray, we got the shrill screams, but they weren’t a central part of his vocal style, and when he flat out sang, he didn’t resemble Oberst at all.

Beyond the countless anthems, the highlight was the ironically named “Theme from ‘Cheers'” (my fave from their latest album) and their cover of The Misfits’ “Where Eagles Dare.” Stickles has a great band behind him these days (Titus has gone through a number of personnel changes over the past couple years), but the most entertaining addition is guitarist/violinist Alexi Crawford, whose constant pogoing — bouncing around the stage — was infectious, especially to the crowd up front. She’s the kind of person anyone would want in their band because in addition to being an amazing musician and having a sweet voice, she is intensely “into” every song — you get the sense that she feels like the luckiest person on the face of the earth to be on stage performing with this band.

If Titus has a drawback, it’s in their lack of editing. There were just too many anthems, too many attempts at heroics with each song. One can only stand so many epic closers before they begin to wear on you. It’s hard to fault a band that is just trying to entertain the best way it knows how — and with large portions. But sometimes you have to push yourself away from the table and say “no more” (but this comes from a guy who has zero interest in sitting through one of Springsteen’s legendary four-hour marathon concerts — an hour is more than enough of the Boss). I think Titus is still trying to figure out the right balance, and when they do — both on stage and on their recordings — they’re going to find themselves sleeping in the Hilton downtown instead of on somebody’s floor.

Free Energy at The Waiting Room, Sept. 16, 2010.

Lots o’ hype about opening band Free Energy, and like I said, they were the reason a large portion of the crowd was there. And while I like pop rock as much as the next guy, I just wasn’t feeling it. Sure, they know their way around a good ’70s-style rock song, but frontman Paul Sprangers (following in a long tradition of frontmen who don’t play an instrument on stage) is no Robin Zander or Phil Lynott (or Julian Casablancas, for that matter) when it comes to cock-rock stage presence (if anything, he reminded me of Evan Dando). But that may come with time, along with some better songs. One of their set’s biggest crowd-pleasers was when members of Titus joined them on stage for a cover of Springsteen’s “I’m Going Down” that made me wonder why more people don’t cover that song.

* * *

On the radar screen this weekend

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Appleseed Cast returns. As interesting as the headliner are opening bands Lawrence’s Cowboy Indian Bear and new Omaha shoe-gaze flavored rockers Conduits. $12, 9 p.m.

Down at Slowdown, Ember Schrag returns. Opening is The Chiara Quartet and Noah Sterba & The Cocktails. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, this year’s Nebraska Pop Festival continues (it’s been going on in Benson for the past few days) at PS Collective. On the bill is Lincoln’s Floating Opera along with Omaha’s Thunder Power and a slew of out-of-towners. The full line-up is here. 7 p.m., $5.

Tomorrow night punk superstars/deviants Bloodcow celebrates its 10 year anniversary at The Waiting Room with Filter Kings and Saudi Arabia (The Dinks). $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at O’Leaver’s Saturday night, it’s a Speed! Nebraska mini showcase with Wagon Blasters, Ron Wax (Ron Albertson of Mercy Rule) and Students of Crime. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Then Sunday night, it’s night one of two nights of Cursive at The 49’r. Opening is So-So Sailors. Starts at 9, SOLD OUT.

Finally, at The Waiting Room Sunday night, it’s the Pine Ridge Live Recording session for a benefit CD that will be sold later this year to generate cash for Lash LaRue’s annual Toy Drive. Slated to perform: Kyle Harvey , Jake Bellows, Dustin Clayton, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, Son of 76 , Platte River Rain, Korey Anderson, Vago, Matt Cox, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship, Brad Hoshaw, Josh Dunwoody, LL Dunn, Mariachi San Juan, Cass Brostad, Brad Thompson and more. The show starts at noon and runs ’til closing, and is absolutely free.

* * *

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.

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Jenny and Johnny at The Waiting Room, Sept. 11, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve got some interesting good news, but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s column. For now, here’s a belated review of last Saturday night’s show at The Waiting Room.

Opener, Sub Pop band Love as Laughter, was a trio of Brooklyn guys who spent the first 15 minutes of their set playing the same flat, mid-tempo song over and over (well, at least it sounded like it). But about four songs in, they shifted gears to more conventional indie rock (one song even had an uptempo, boogie vibe). Overall, the songs were consistently too long, but at least it became a little less boring by the end. A couple little girls (little girls made up most of the sold-out audience) even danced a grind to the last couple songs.

Now more than 10 years after the first Rilo Kiley EP was released, Jenny Lewis continues to be one of the cutest indie rock performers on stage. She’s got a sweet voice and a killer smile, and that combination can take you far in this business. It’s apparently taken her to the “tour bus” level, or at least I assume that giant bus parked right outside TWR was hers. I thought those monsters were reserved for arena/casino-sized artists, but apparently Warner Bros. has high hopes for this new album. And while the songs on I’m Having Fun Now (the Jenny and Johnny WB debut) are kinda catchy, none of them hold a candle to the songs on either of her first two solo albums. But what do I know about music marketing?

So who got the better deal out of this merger? Hands down it was Johnathan Rice, whose singer/songwriter fare I’ve always found to be somewhat droll. With Lewis and this band behind him, he ratchets up the rock to new levels (for him, anyway); while Lewis comes away relatively unscathed, but no better off than where she started.

The band’s secret weapons are their lead guitarist (who looked like he was 17 years old), and drummer Jason Boesel, who Lewis fans remember from Rilo Kiley. As a whole, it was worth it so see Lewis in a smaller setting (rather than the Slowdown’s big stage or Scottish Rite). If she ever starts earning that tour bus, you won’t get another chance to see her in such an intimate setting again.

* * *

Tonight at The Barley St., Kyle Harvey shows off his fine art skills, along with his musical skills. Joining him will be Nicole Le Clerc, Lincoln Dickinson, and Michael Trenhaile. 9 p.m. (no idea on the price).

Also tonight at The Sydney, Bear Country plays a show with Sam Martin (Capgun Coup) and Toronto band Wooden Sky. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 287: Five Above Earl

Reviews of Arcade Fire, new Saddle Creek releases…

I write this crammed into a window seat flying straight into the heart of a hurricane named Earl, but I’m not worried. NYC will protect me. It always has. So if there’s a sense of impending dread throughout these five reviews — a look at the hottest indie release of the year, along with four new, strong albums from our friends at Saddle Creek Records — I blame the weather and anticipation of my long-deserved vacation (or demise). See you on the other side of the storm.

Tim Kasher, The Game of Monogamy (Saddle Creek). Out 10/5/10.

Tim Kasher, The Game of Monogamy (Saddle Creek). Like most of Kasher’s confessional catalog, it’s an examination of his ongoing struggles with guilt. Guilt about his inability to commit, guilt for taking the easy way out, guilt over his unwillingness to accept contentment (“I’m Afraid I’m Gonna Die Here”) and guilt over his unwillingness to change in the face of that dreaded contentment (“Cold Love”). Lucky for him, with that guilt comes numbness as a symptom of middle age. There’s a certain sense of inevitable desperation that underlies this entire album, but don’t feel sorry for poor Kasher. He knows (as we all do) that whatever misery he suffers, he brought on himself. Musically, it veers closer to The Good Life than Cursive. Fine. The differentiator is the baroque strings, the upbeat brass that reminds me of Madness, and the cool electronic claps on “Gonna Die Here,” which would be a radio hit in any other universe. His tendency to occasionally throw too many words into a phrase makes for some clumsy moments, but those are few and far between. In the overall Kasher oeuvre, this is a minor, simple, but ultimately satisfying guilt trip.

Azure Ray, Drawing Down the Moon (Saddle Creek). Out 9/14/10.

Azure Ray, Drawing Down the Moon (Saddle Creek) — The question: Is the sum better than its parts? When Azure Ray split up all those years ago, we thought we’d get twice as much goodness as when they were together. Instead, we were treated to some hit-and-miss releases that allowed the girls to experiment with some things they wouldn’t have tried together. Now they’re back, and they’ve brought the best of their separate experiences along with some interesting electronics. Both dabbled with beats (none moreso than Fink’s O+S), and those clicks and pops have given us one of the more upbeat AR albums in their catalog. Even more noticeable is Eric Bachmann’s production and arrangements, especially on those rollicking guitar-picking numbers (“Shouldn’t Have Loved,” “Make Your Heart.”). But in the end, it still comes down to the same soothing, whispering harmonies that defined them from the beginning. The underlying theme: Just getting by, with or without someone else’s heart alongside theirs (Though they’d surely prefer the former. And who, other than Kasher, wouldn’t?). And if you know their personal back stories, it’s fun to try to connect the dots, whether they’re singing about familiar old (and current) boyfriends or not.

Adam Haworth Stephens, We Live on Cliffs (Saddle Creek). Out 9/28/10.

Adam Haworth Stephens, We Live on Cliffs (Saddle Creek) — AHS is half of Two Gallants, the singing/guitar playing half. We love 2G songs for their reckless drunken sea-shanty style mixed with wry story telling – sort of like an American version of Pogues meets Gordon Lightfoot. Well, the sea balladeering is long gone on this album. Instead, AHS has opted for a more streamlined, straightforward, AOR approach both in the songwriting and arrangements. In fact, the second track, “Second Mind,” creeps dangerously close to Jack Johnson territory. My take: This solo effort was an opportunity for Stephens to turn things down, smooth them out and try for a more peaceful, easy, mainstream feeling. When he does turn it up, like on driver “Elderwoods,” he can’t help but hold the leash a bit too tightly. The result is a pleasant record that will makes 2G fans yearn for a return to that drunken, piss-soaked pub by the sea.

Land of Talk, Cloak and Cipher (Saddle Creek). Released 8/24/10.

Land of Talk, Cloak and Cipher (Saddle Creek) — Saddle Creek has its first dream-pop act with these wily Montreal-eans led by dreamy front woman Elizabeth Powell. Their first Creek release, 2007’s Some Are Lakes, was a sneaky comer that required repeated listens before locking in. Not so this follow-up, which leaps out of the gate with its dense, bouncy title track where Powell croons in her husky, sexy voice the indecipherable code: “I won’t redeem another / Lose that.” What’s it mean? Who knows? Just like on the pulsing “Quarry Hymns,” where she coos “Leaving on the hottest day / To sink this quarry under,” you never know what she’s singing about, and you won’t care because you’ll be lost in the layers of the trio’s beautiful pop. There will be the inevitable comparisons to the usual suspects: The Sundays, The Cranberries, Fleetwood Mac, but Land of Talk brings its own mystery to your headphones, its own intensity that none of the others can match.

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (Merge). Released 8/3/2010.

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (Merge) — Mewing frontman Win Butler may be too smart for his own good — a sad, tortured realist, he’s stuck in a rut, dwelling on the past, on the future and on our current state of affairs. And yet, his music on this, his third album, is as inventive as anything on 2004’s Funeral, certainly moreso than the disappointing Neon Bible. The album is so radio-friendly (in an ’80s sort of way) that it almost slips out of an indie classification into the mainstream. But it’s the songs’ consistently bleak lyrics that will keep any of them from becoming household anthems. The themes: Boredom, lost opportunities, futility, modernism, isolationism, instant nostalgia, and some unforeseen looming apocalypse. All that desolation wrapped in such a pretty package. So yeah, it’s an endearing bummer that’s appropriate for these bummer times we live in, a perfect snapshot of an uncertain world, and dead accurate, but that doesn’t make it any more fun to listen to. My advice: Hang on for the ride and pay attention to the lyrics at your own peril — you may never want to get out of bed in the morning.

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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

Earl didn’t get me. In fact, it didn’t get anywhere close to New York. Other than a momentary sprinkle during one afternoon match at the U.S. Open, there was no impact (though you wouldn’t have known it listening to The Weather Channel, where there’s always a catastrophe going on somewhere). The only music experienced over the long weekend of Yankees and tennis was seeing “Next to Normal” on Broadway (highly recommended). See you next year, Gotham City.

There is no better place to write CD reviews than strapped into a window seat in a plane for four to five hours. And flying to and from NYC was just such an occasion. Tomorrow’s column features reviews of four new Saddle Creek Records releases, while today’s blog entry is a look at three new electronic pop albums.

Glasser, Ring (True Panther Sounds). Out 9/29/10.

Glasser, Ring (True Panther Sounds) — Glasser is the one-woman orchestra of Cameron Mesirow, who’s opened for bands like The xx and Delorean. Could her voice be any more icily beautiful in its layered glory? Augmented with an array of glowing cushiony synths and click-pound polyrhythms, Glasser might be the music you’ll hear on the escalator headed to heaven. In fact, its dense layers can get overwhelming and tonally predictable in a New Agey, Enya sort of way that allows your mind to casually wander away from the lyrics, which seem obviously secondary. I bet it’s quite a spectacle on stage (preferably in a sit-down theater), but not something you’ll ever find yourself casually singing along to in  your car. Rating: No.

Blonde Redhead, Penny Sparkle (4AD). Out 9/14/10.

Blonde Redhead, Penny Sparkle (4AD) — More multilayered synth pop with breathy female vocals. The advantage over Glasser is its slightly better melodies, and when Amedeo Pace pulls out a between-the-eyes counter melody (like on the pouty “Oslo”) the music pushes to the next level (as in it’s catchy.), while “Everything Is Wrong,” and “Spain” would make smashing James Bond movie themes. I’m not sure what the point is to synths if they’re not urging you to dance. Even Sade knows that. I’d love to hear what these songs would sound like performed with just a piano, drums and Kazu Makino’s heavenly voice instead of with all those ambient clouds. Rating: No.

Autolux, Transit Transit (TBD Records). Released 8/3/10.

Autolux, Transit Transit (TBD Records) — On “Census” there’s a drama that only could come with a steady diet of Sonic Youth. It’s common to hear people slap an SY comparison on anything that’s noisy, and rarely does the tag fit. Here, and on the ultra-dense “Supertoys,” it makes sense in their obvious tone and structure. You’ll recognize the influence, but you won’t accuse them of aping. It’s too sophisticated for that. That said, this is a strange album in how it runs the gamut between noise and lush ambient beauty (“Spots” warm tonal drama; “Highchair” aggressive DM dance vibe, “The Bouncing Wall” off-kilter coo-coo-ca-choo strut). It comes together with a classic epic closer that doesn’t get out of hand. Controlled right until the bitter end. Rating: Yes.

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Cincinnati adult alternative combo Over the Rhine plays at The Waiting Room tonight. Around since ’89, their laidback vibe, led by vocalist Karin Bargquist, comes close to Lilith Fair fodder (re: Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Sam Phillips). No opener is listed, and the start time is 8 p.m., so expect this to be an early night. $15.

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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 performs at Slowdown Aug. 27 under the watchful gaze of their sponsor.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 286: Under the Moon, Under the Stars

Live Review: Built to Spill, She & Him.

The best thing about outdoor concerts: Even if you can’t stand a single note of the music, all you have to do is look up, overhead, and there’s something worth seeing.

Of course that wasn’t necessary this past weekend at two of the summer’s most anticipated indie concerts, both held under the black ocean of night, lit only by streetlight, stage light, star light and eventually, moonlight.

In the case of the Slowdown Block Party — held in the venue’s parking lot Friday night — there also was advertising light in the form of massive stenciled floods that blared “TOYOTA aNTiCS” — the primary event sponsor and the reason you didn’t need to pay to get into the show. Parked throughout the lot was Toyota’s line of economy cars “tricked out” to make the young, ultra-hip audience covet them. It’s all about demographics, my friend, which we would hear more about from stage later.

In this era when the dying shell of the music industry continues to decay before our very eyes, it’s sponsors like Toyota that are helping prop up the carcass. There was a time when bands and their fans would consider such blatant commercial “opportunities” as “selling out” — an inexcusable crossing of the line between art and commerce. In the old days (just 10 years ago) any respectable indie band would have taken one look at that aNTiCS sign, packed up its gear and left. But these days gigantic sponsor banners are the norm at music festivals, while most indie bands would kill their publicist and/or booking agent just for a chance to get their music used in a Toyota commercial. Selling out, it seems, is just good business.

But I digress.

When I joined the crowd of around 2,000 just after 9 p.m., The Mynabirds were finishing their set as the last remnants of daylight waned. Laura Burhenn’s band sported a new cello player tucked neatly behind the front-stage vocalists. As is the case with almost every cello I’ve seen at a rock show, you could barely hear it except at the quietest moments. There was a time when it seemed like every indie band was trying to work a cello into its line-up, including noise-makers like Cursive. But slowly they all got the drift, and cellos began to disappear. Until now.

A stroll around the grounds between sets revealed beer tents, food tents and merch tents mingled among the little Toyotas. You don’t realize the enormity of Slowdown’s parking lot until you’re at this kind of event. It easily could hold a few thousand more music — or sports — fans. In the shadow of the half-constructed TD Ameritrade Park, imagine all the money that will be rolling in during the College World Series next spring, and every spring thereafter. Enough money to “make their year” and allow Slowdown to host more concerts like this one, but without the tacky sponsors.

The Mynabirds were followed by another Saddle Creek band, The Rural Alberta Advantage, whose dusty backbeat hoedown fare makes them a strange fit for the label (though their new material sounded promising). Finally, on came Doug Martsch and Built to Spill. With his stringy hair and big, crazy graying beard, Martsch looked like he just walked out of a survivalist compound. Tough his Neil Young-meets-Kermit the Frog voice can’t hit the high notes on crowd faves like “Time Trap,” Martsch can still shred like few others in the indie world. And when joined by two other axemen, Built to Spill becomes a Fender-powered rocket at lift-off.

Too often, however, the songs turned into extended jam sessions — great stuff if you’re a guitar enthusiast, boring for anyone else. It was between jams that guitarist Brett Netson let loose on the night’s sponsor, angrily warning the crowd that they had been defined as “a demographic.” “I wonder who’s sponsoring this show,” Netson snarled. “What kind of car do you want to buy? A used one.” Hope they got paid up front.

The following night outside along the river a different kind of star took the stage at The Anchor Inn. It was movie star Zooey Deschanel — the she in She & Him — who’s had her own fling with selling out, acting in a TV commercial where she sings about how Cotton is the “fabric of my life”– a jingle that would fit comfortably on the latest She & Him album.

Fortunately, Zooey didn’t sing about her love for natural fibers Saturday night. Instead, she and M. Ward (“Him”) played a selection from their two Merge records. Deschanel indeed has a sweet voice. But you wonder if she would be singing in front of 1,600 people if not for her film career. At its best, her voice is second-round American idol pitchy, especially on an ill-conceived Beach Boys cover. Still, Deschanel and Ward are smart for taking on a retro ’60s girl-group pop style that’s both musically and lyrically risk free. But while Ward and the entire band are talented, there was something strangely inauthentic about their retro sound in a way that only a freed Phil Spector could decipher.

The crowd of mostly women, however, could have cared less about authenticity as they drank their watermelons and bobbed their heads to the milquetoast beat, while the rest of us leaned back on the banks of the Missouri River and looked up as a burnt orange new moon slowly rose in the northeastern sky.

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A terrible summer  head cold kept me away from The Waiting Room last night for Crooning for Kat — figured I shouldn’t ruin everyone’s night by infecting them with my pestilence.  I hope all of Greater Omaha made it out, and that Kat’s quickly on her way back to good health.

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I bet the hot topic of conversation last night at TWR (other than Kat) was the Omaha City Council yesterday rejecting the request by CVS Pharmacy to build a new store at 49th and Dodge, the current location of The 49’r (story & video here). So I guess that means The 49’r will live on, right? Right? Did Mark Samuelson, who owns the Niner, hope to put the bar to bed? One would assume so, since CVS couldn’t have developed the property unless Samuelson wanted to sell it. Looks like he’s lost his buyer, which also makes one assume that The 49’r will indeed live on… until Samuelson finds another buyer.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Capgun Coup with Conchance featuring Black Johnny Quest, and Dojorok and Kethro. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Poison Control Center with Talking Mountain. $7, 9 p.m.

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

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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.

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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.

The Stay Awake at O'Leaver's, Aug. 21, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Stay Awake sounded particularly sinister Saturday night at O’Leaver’s. Frontman/guitarist Steve Micek explained from stage that he couldn’t “feel” with his ring and pinkie fingers of his left hand after having pinched a nerve. “I’m getting old,” he said. Aren’t we all? Regardless, no one in the audience could tell he was suffering from this temporary disability. The band sounded as raw and unnerving as it always does. They don’t make it easy on their audiences, nor do they try to. The trio’s music is rhythmically violent — a throbbing math equation that solves itself by kicking over the instructor’s desk and kneeing him/her in the groin before scrawling a giant “Fuck You” on the chalk board with the skin/blood of their fists. I like this band; I like them even more when they “lock in” and drive everyone right over the edge with no intention of slowing down. Circumstances have placed The Stay Awake’s future in question. I strongly suggest you catch them the next time they play, because it may be your last chance.

Saturday night also was the debut of Millions of Boys, a new band by Honey & Darling bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sara Bertuldo. She’s primarily playing guitar in this new trio that sounds more cuddlecore K Records poppy than her other band, which also played Saturday night. It’s the first time I’ve seen Honey & Darling in about six months, and they’ve honed their sound to a glistening edge, no matter what instrument any of the members end up playing on any given song (They change it up a lot). In both bands, Bertuldo’s soft, sweet voice could barely be heard over rhythm sections. Frankly, there’s not much a club like O’Leaver’s — with its limited PA — can do about someone who sings just barely above a whisper when the rest of the band is in flames.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Good Speakers — a new monthly series by Darren Keen. The show features Talking Mountain

, Enfant Coma (Jacob Thiele’s DJ project) and Bad Speler, which Keen describes as  “experimenting with Drum and Bass and noise.” The show is well-explained at the One Percent website, so go there for more info. $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.