by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And so, as we enter into the year 2012 (the last year of our existence, according to another great seer), it is once again time for me to gaze through the fabric of time to reveal how all of our lives will unfold, music-wise, anyway. Before we get to the little ol’ Omaha music scene, let’s look at The Big Picture. The following will happen, if not next year, then soon:

Digital subscription music streaming services such as Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody – and eventually iTunes – have only just begun to take their toll on CD sales, which already were in the shitter.

The lone bright spot has been the sales of vinyl records. But unfortunately, we’ve already seen the peak in that nostalgia. The novelty of vinyl will begin to wear off, as people finally come to the realization that paying twice as much for a new release that they’re going to have get up and turn over on their record player, that they can’t play at work or on their smart phone or in their car, is quaint but woefully inconvenient. There always will be the luddites who refuse to acknowledge technology — who will hold on dearly to the ideas of yesteryear — but their numbers will only wane

Meanwhile, the technology behind streaming music will only get better. We’ll see better quality streams and better connectivity to streaming sources. Eventually it’ll get to the point where fans won’t even remember purchasing individual albums or singles. The music they want to hear will just “be there,” as long as they’re within reach of a Wi-Fi or 3G/4G/5G hot spot. Just turn on your device, dial in your favorite artists, and the music appears. What do you mean, “buy your new album”? As a subscriber to Spotify, I already own your music.

The problem, of course, is that only American Idols and huge international pop stars make real money off services like Spotify. The smaller independent artists, who used to be able to scratch together enough cash from CD sales to finance recording another album, will only make a few bucks from streaming (if they’re lucky).

That cold reality will spawn a backlash against these services, but in the end (just like with iTunes) artists will cave – especially after it becomes easy for them to get their music available on these services.

Spotify and the others will adopt iTunes’ seller model. Right now, any band with decent credit can set up an account in the iTunes Store. They don’t have to be associated with a record label or an “aggregator” such as CD Baby or Tunecore. That’s not the case with Spotify, but that will change (especially after iTunes adopts a subscription model). Getting music in Spotify (and the other services) will be as easy as setting up an account, and eventually anyone with access to Spotify (or the other services) will have access to any artist’s music.

(By the way, those “other services” will eventually go away. Just like The Highlander, there can be only one. It’ll be either Spotify or iTunes or one of the others, but only one will survive as the sole online catalog for recorded music, that is until the regulators step in and break up the monopoly.)

If the above model becomes reality – if all music is streamed or downloaded by subscription – than publishing rights, which have helped sustain musicians by paying them for use of their music on television and films, will eventually erode. Artists will begin paying to have their music played in TV and movies if only to widen their exposure.

So with no income from CD sales and publishing rights, how will the independent musicians of old make a living? Three ways: charity, subsidies and performances.

Kickstarter, an online funding platform launched in 2009 to help artists and musicians generate money through pledges, was a first glance at what will become one of the only sustainable models for independent artists to generate income to record new albums. Some bands will blanch at the idea of asking for “charity” from fans, but let’s be honest: most of us buy local artists’ CDs now not because we want the music (which we already have on our computers), but because we want to support their efforts. The only thing missing is the ability to write off those purchases as a charitable donation (at least for now).

Which brings us to the government and private foundations. In Canada and some European countries, governments and private charitable organizations have subsidized artists and musicians for years. Organizations such as Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Records (FACTOR) are credited with making Canada the third largest producer of musical talent in the world. These private foundations are critical, especially as the global recession takes its toll on budgets.

But these foundations will never be enough. Here in the U.S., federal and local governments have to step up – either in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for musicians – or risk losing our creative class altogether. Look, we’ve subsidized farmers and other industries for years, now we have to do it for artists.

Finally, the last and most important source of income for musicians is live performances. Because no matter how available recorded music becomes, fans will always pay to see a great performance, whether it’s in a club, coffee shop, concert hall or arena. The live experience is something that will never be replicated digitally, thank god.

Next week, the fun stuff: Future Tense: 2012 Music Predictions, Pt. 2, the local edition.

* * *

It’s a night of low-fi rock down at Slowdown Jr. this evening with Built To Spill/Pixies-influenced rockers (at least judging by this Bandcamp track) Eric in Outer Space headlining a show that also includes K.C. band Knot Lazy, Omaha garage noise act The Dads and the mysterious Iron Hug. $5, 9 p.m. Get out in this spring weather, wouldja?

* * *

Lazy-i Best of 2011

OK, folks, time to remind you yet again to enter the drawing to win a copy of the highly coveted, highly collectable Lazy-i Best of 2011 Sampler CD.  All’s youse gotta do is send me an e-mail (to tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and your name will be dropped into the ol’ shoebox with all the others for a chance to win this once-in-a-lifetime prize. Because, really, who doesn’t need another valuable CD in their collection? Hurry! Deadline is Jan. 15!

Track listing:

1. Eleanor Friedberger, “My Mistake”
2. Peace of Shit, “You Can’t Let Me In”
3. Lykke Li, “Youth Knows No Pain”
4. The Beastie Boys, “Nonstop Disco Powerpack”
5. tUnE-yArDs, “Gangsta”
6. It’s True, “I Don’t Want to Be the One”
7. The Decemberists, “Down By the Water”
8. Big Harp, “Goodbye Crazy City”
9. Kurt Vile, “Jesus Fever”
10. Low, “Try to Sleep”
11. So-So Sailors, “Young Hearts”
12. Destroyer, “Downtown”
13. St. Vincent, “Cruel”
14. Icky Blossoms, “Perfect Vision”
15. Gus & Call, “To the Other Side of Jordan”
16. Lana Del Rey, “Video Games”
17. Digital Leather, “Young Doctors in Love”

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve still yet to receive my first preview/review CD for 2012, but while I’m waiting, here are some new tracks that became available online to start off your new year.

Cursive, “The Sun and The Moon” — from the forthcoming album I Am Gemini, slated for release on Saddle Creek Feb. 21, if the rest of the new record sounds like this, Kasher and the boys may have another hit on their hands. Check it out here. The album is now available for pre-order here at the Saddle Creek online store, where it’ll ship Feb. 7. Buy it now and get access to a second track from the new album, “The Cat and Mouse,” instantly.

Depressed Buttons, “Dance with Me (Brianski)” — The electronic/dance/DJ triumvirate of Todd Fink, Jacob Thiele and Clark Baechle drop this new acid-themed jam designed to get your rump shaking. Also at SoundCloud.

Bad Speler: Darren Keen is giving The Show Is the Rainbow the year off so he can concentrate on his other projects: Bad Speler and Touch People. Yesterday he posted the following new Bad Speler tracks at SoundCloud. Says Keen: “This is the stuff I’m going to be doing at my monthly at House of Loom.” His “monthly” is a residency at Omaha’s newest dance club every 4th Wednesday of the month, starting Jan. 26.

“Throw Ya Guns”

“Pistols, ETC.”

“My Intentions”

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Har Mar Superstar at The Waiting Room, Dec. 30, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Oh Har Mar Superstar, how you vex me so as you jump around stage wearing nothing but thong underwear, your sweaty mane flopping on your chubby ivory shoulders like a filthy floor mop while your gigolo posse poses so demurely, so rock star, in the background.

It’s a shtick that never gets old, or does it?

This was my first time seeing Har Mar Superstar, and based on everything I’d heard, I expected a lot. There are those ’round these parts who consider a Har Mar show to be the epitome of fine rock entertainment. His O’Leaver’s performance from years ago is still whispered about with respect (and a little fear) by the elders who are slowly poisoning themselves into senility at that famous lovable shit hole.

And I admit to being a fan of HMS’s last full length, the sexy, sultry dance romp called Dark Touches. The man knows his way around a funk-o-licious beat.

So it hurts me to say that I was a bit disappointed by last Friday night’s performance at a packed (but not sold out) Waiting Room. Har Mar a.k.a. Sean Tillmann looked and sounded like the rest of us — half-gassed and exhausted after a week’s worth of holiday bullshit. He seemed tired as he bounded on stage in his full-length macramé hoody, only half singing his “hits” surrounded by a band that included two drummers, two bass players (including former local hero Denver Dalley in trademark white v-neck T-shirt and flowing blond hair), a guitarist and the one thing that was doing the yeoman’s share of the work — a laptop loaded with pre-recorded audio tracks. In fact, most songs started with a touch of a button before the band slowly started playing along. Half the fun was wondering if/when anyone was actually playing their instruments on stage (most of the time, they were).

The routine calls for Har Mar to slowly strip away his clothes at the conclusion of each song, eventually stripping to his thong by the end of the set. Those yearning to see his gleaming buttocks were not disappointed. On any other night, I’m sure we’d all be celebrating his virile portliness with ironic aplomb, but Friday night, Tillmann just looked like he wanted to get the set over with and get back home for New Year’s Eve. He sure didn’t look like he was having fun (though the rest of his band did). Maybe he was (too) loaded? Or maybe all of his shows are like this? I don’t know, but I doubt it. You don’t rise as high as Tillmann has by phoning it in every night.

Pinkerton at The Waiting Room, Dec. 30, 2011.

One band that didn’t phone it in was Pinkerton, who opened for Har Mar Friday. Fronted by Criteria’s Stephen Pedersen and featuring former Cursive drummer Clint Schnase, this band of old friends gets together at least once a year to play a set of Weezer covers for fellow adoring fans. Many a fist was pumped in the air as they tore into the band’s greatest hits, including set highlight “Tired of Sex.” Running through my mind the entire set — will we ever see Criteria again?

* * *

And speaking of burning questions, are the SLAM Omaha message boards — one of the oldest bastions of local online music “discussion” — finally closing down? Maybe, temporarily. After a recent spate of hate, SLAM admin “Mick” posted that the boards will be taking a little vacation. “At some point even the simplest of things need to be evaluated and decisions need to be made about how they help our cool art and music community.” As of this morning, the boards were still live but users who tried to post a comment were met only with a Terms of Service statement.

If SLAM Omaha goes away, it’ll be an end of an era for a website that used to be a viable source of music news and discussion. Yes, there are a lot of options for music calendars and news now, but other than Lincoln’s Star City Scene music board, none of them have been able to generate online discussions. Hear Nebraska’s “forums” are a barren wasteland, mainly due to the board’s poor design and usability. Omahype.com, which launched a snappy redesign over the holiday weekend (complete with “responsive design” for portable devices) only allows feedback on individual news items (as comments). And Saddle Creek Records’ old discussion area is a long faded memory.

These days all of the “discussion” is handled in well-mannered Facebook, where users actively monitor criticism and a “dislike” button doesn’t even exist. Are we better off not having some place where an anonymous critic can tell bands that they suck? Yeah, too much bitching can get old, and there should be no tolerance for personal attacks, racial/sexual comments and threats. That said, SLAM Omaha is/was one of the last places where bands could get unfiltered feedback, even if 95 percent of it was bullshit. Learning to deal with criticism — be it warranted or not — is an important part of being an artist. How you react to negative feedback helps define who you are. Unfortunately, we live in a town where criticism of anything “local” is viewed as hate, whether its constructive or not. The rule seems to be either throw roses at their feet, or go home.

But the cold hard fact is, maybe your band really does suck.

* * *

Hey you — yes you!

Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of the highly coveted Lazy-i Best of 2011 Sampler CD!  Just send me an e-mail (to tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and you’ll be dropped in the digital hat. Deadline lis Jan. 15. Enter today!

Track listing:

1. Eleanor Friedberger, “My Mistake”
2. Peace of Shit, “You Can’t Let Me In”
3. Lykke Li, “Youth Knows No Pain”
4. The Beastie Boys, “Nonstop Disco Powerpack”
5. tUnE-yArDs, “Gangsta”
6. It’s True, “I Don’t Want to Be the One”
7. The Decemberists, “Down By the Water”
8. Big Harp, “Goodbye Crazy City”
9. Kurt Vile, “Jesus Fever”
10. Low, “Try to Sleep”
11. So-So Sailors, “Young Hearts”
12. Destroyer, “Downtown”
13. St. Vincent, “Cruel”
14. Icky Blossoms, “Perfect Vision”
15. Gus & Call, “To the Other Side of Jordan”
16. Lana Del Rey, “Video Games”
17. Digital Leather, “Young Doctors in Love”

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight is a huge night of music to kick off your New Year’s weekend.

Down at Slowdown Jr., Icky Blossoms is hosting a “let your freak flag fly” burlesque throwdown. Joining the Blossoms are punkers STDz (described to me as a “crazy dirty all-girl rap group”), DJ Brent Crampton (he’s dirty all by himself) and a virtual parade of drag stars including Dusty Bibles, Wanda Bones, Pope Trojan II and Lincoln “smut with a smirk” group Potboiler Burlesque. More details here. Should be a hedonistic debacle not seen since that bash they threw when Moses climbed the mountain. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, across town at The Waiting Room, Har Mar Superstar returns with Marijuana Deathsquad and Weezer tribute band Pinkerton. Believe it or not, this one has yet to sell out. And it’s only $8, 9 p.m.

So you say you want live ORIGINAL music on New Year’s Eve? Well this year you got it, and it’s at The Sandbox where Snake Island will be celebrating the release of their debut vinyl 12-inch record. And check out the rest of the punk-o-licious line-up: Peace of Shit, Baby Tears, Sun Settings, Artillery Funk and Cheap Furs. Admission is free with two non-perishable food items to be donated to the Omaha Food Bank, otherwise it’s $3 for adults, $5 for minors. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Have a happy New Year! See you in 2012.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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One of the year's best shows, The Shanks at O'Leaver's, June 24, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In years past I made it to at least a hundred shows in a calendar year. This year the number was around 60, but looking over the following list, 2011 was as good as any year that I can remember:

Jan. 18 – Cursive performs Domestica at The Waiting Room – It didn’t matter if frontman Tim Kasher messed up the opening line of “The Casualty” or if he even remembered the words, because the SRO crowd spent the evening singing along like an indie rock Greek chorus — a happy soccer mob chanting anthems that have become part of their lives.

Feb. 11 – Best Coast / Wavves at The Waiting Room – In this battle of the hyped indie bands, Wavves won with its morph of modern post-punk, low-fi, garage and So. Cal surf music, even though Best Coast had the better songs.

March 12 – Gus & Call at Slowdown Jr. – The band’s coming out party, Gus & Call unveiled a new kind of psychedelic, droning, alt country. Instead of “shoegaze,” call it “bootgaze” — a slower, denser sound that still held a hint of twang.

April 1 – It’s True at The Waiting Room – A combination reunion show, CD release show and last show (for now) for Adam Hawkins, he and his band of more than a dozen played a set that was at times angelic, explosive, violent, angry, loving, lost, lonely, funny, happy and familiar.

April 17 – The Decemberists at The Holland — Frontman Colin Meloy had the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout almost two hours of music, which included most of the songs off the new album and plenty of old stuff from Crane Wife.

April 30 – Digital Leather at O’Leaver’s – Stripped down to a three-piece, DL standards like “Your Hand, My Glove” were transformed into punk trash anthems that ride the bass line. The night ended with a cover of M.O.T.O.’s “Deliver Deliver Deliver” beefed up raw and twice as fast as the original.

May 6 – Of Montreal at The Slowdown — Strangest moment: Simulated sex between two stage performers in flesh-colored body suits wearing pig-head masks. Who says cabaret is dead?

May 13 – Solid Goldberg at The Barley Street Tavern – With just two keyboards, a battery of effects pedals and amplifiers, a digital projector and colored lights, one of the area’s – nay, one of the country’s – most ingenious music talents, Dave Goldberg, blew our minds.

May 21 – Dundee Spring Fling – Three of the area’s best bands — So-So Sailors, Gus & Call and Conduits — invaded sleepy Dundee for a post-thunderstorm rock party.

June 4 – Bright Eyes at Westfair Amphitheater — Simply put, Conor Oberst put on a rock concert. Not an indie-folk show; not an “intimate acoustic evening of personal confessions.” A rock concert. As heavy a show as he’s probably capable of or would ever want to do. Bright Eyes at its peak.

June 5 – Iron & Wine at The Slowdown — Looking all formal and Zack Galifianakis-like in his intimidating dark suit, Iron & Wine frontman Sam Beam took charge of a huge ensemble that included a small woodwind/brass section, turning the Slowdown into his own private lounge.

June 24-25 – The Shanks at O’Leaver’s – The bloody, brawling conclusion to a band that played punk rock seething with the twisted life of those who wrote and performed it, who stood on the front line drunk or amped doing whatever they could to make contact with the crowd, with a smile or a fist.

July 16 – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at Stinson Park — Jones, age 55, performed with more energy than most R&B divas 1/3 her age — singing, dancing, grooving, pulling guys on stage to act as foils for her “you-better-do-me-right” rockers.

July 22 – Icky Blossoms at The Waiting Room – No longer “emerging,” with this show Icky Blossoms took The Faint’s place as the show-stopping dance, prance, throb-rock psychedelic must-see band in Omaha (and beyond).

Aug. 13 – MAHA Music Festival at Stinson Park – In the wake of one of the worst floods to hit the area since the ‘50s, Omaha’s premiere music fest headed west to Aksarben for a day-long concert featuring Cursive, Matisyahu and headliner Guided by Voices. Despite disappointing numbers (>4,000), it was nothing less than a success.

Aug. 27 – The Show Is the Rainbow at Dundee Day – The day-long street dance ended with TSITR’s Darren Keen precariously climbing the tower of speakers that balanced on the edge of the stage, looking like a big pink bear climbing a tree in search of a bee’s nest. Once on top, he looked out over the crowd he just conquered, and saluted them with his microphone.

Nov. 2 – Future Islands at The Waiting Room — Like a young Streetcar Brando combined with Deliverance Burt Reynolds and Kirkian Shatner, but with the intensity of a Rollins or Morrissey frontman Samuel T. Herring owned the stage with a voice that ranged somewhere between Richard Burton, Pee Wee Herman (in la-la-la-la mode), a monster and Billy Idol.

* * *

Tonight, Gus & Call ends its December residency at Slowdown Jr. with special guests Simon Joyner & The Parachutes and The Bruces (Alex McManus’ band). Should be a fantastic evening of folk/rock/noise. $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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Music Year in Review 2011: Pt. 1

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Two years ago for The Reader’s Year in Review wrap-up article, I said that it was the beginning of the end, that there had become a universal recognition that the best days for those who make a living making music were very likely behind them.

That was in the year 2009 B.S. – Before Spotify.

Now it’s 2011 and nothing has changed, not really. Except for one thing: There used to be a glimmer of hope that a talented band with good songs could maybe land a record deal with some small independent label. That glimmer of hope continues to fade, and not just for young bands like local heroes So-So Sailors, who in any other year would have had labels like Saddle Creek or Merge clamoring to release their debut album. No, even established acts like Morrissey have been left out in the cold. Last week, after a successful national tour that included a live performance on Conan, Morrissey announced, “I now no longer expect to live long enough to experience an offer to record for a grownup label….The world, I expect, will somehow endure, even as the follow-up to Years of Refusal grows less and less likely.”

Left with the choice of either going the self-release route (like So-So Sailors) or never getting his music heard, Morrissey, it seems, has chosen the latter. How many other bands or songwriters are choosing a similar path? Sure, online digital services like Spotify now give us access to all the music all the time, but with virtually no way to generate money, fewer labels are releasing fewer “albums.”

And yet… bands persevere. Music continues to be made. Live performances are only getting better (see my “best live shows” list, online here tomorrow) and fantastic albums continue to be released. And to prove it, here’s the list of my top-10 favorite albums in 2011 (in no particular order):

1. Eleanor Friedberger, Last Summer (Merge) — Friedberger has left the proggy chord/key changes of Fiery Furnaces behind for a collection of songs that are SONGS, complete with melodies and choruses and playful lyrics that bounce atop piano chords, hand claps and the occasional sax riff.

2. So-So Sailors, Young Hearts (self-release) — Despite its Ladyfinger progeny, there’s no screaming on this six-song’s worth of strong central melodies and sentimental showmanship. Young Hearts is more ’70s arena ballad than modern-day indie, and is better  for it.

3. The Decemberists, The King Is Dead (Rough Trade) — They can no longer be marginalized as just another twangy indie band, now that they’ve broken through with a collection that defines modern-day, above-ground Americana. They’d be radio stars if radio hadn’t died a decade ago.

4. Destroyer, Kaputt (Merge) — The band hasn’t remade its sound (you heard this coming on Trouble in Dreams) as much as given into its influences. “Savage Night at the Opera” is the best clear-cut homage to New Order you’ll ever find, right down to the “Bizarre Love Triangle” guitar cues. Other, more disco-y moments will make you think you picked up a Pet Shop Boys album, while the dreamy stuff is pure Roxy Music.

5. The Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2 (Parlophone/Capitol) — Worthy of the hype, they haven’t sounded this “fresh” since Paul’s Boutique, even though their bouncing style of hip-hop is destined to be classified as “old school” by today’s young gangstas.

6. Future Islands, On the Water (Thrill Jockey) — Like an homage to early Factory Records, Samuel T. Herring and Co.’s update of New Order is lush and elegant and dramatic and fun.

7. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Mirror Traffic (Matador) — Malkmus always came off (to me, anyway) as a more tuneful version of Lou Reed — deceptively simple melodies that belie some of the smartest (and this time, strangest) lyrics that cynically capture a life lived in America.

8. M83, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute) — Sprawling, ambitious to a fault at 74 minutes, Hurry Up takes M83′s penchant for dreamy, ghostly pop and blows it up to sonic mountains. It’s as if they’re trying to become this generation’s version of The Cure, but skipped over the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me era and went straight for Disintegration.

9. EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions) — With the opening line of “California,” (Fuck California, you made me boring) Erika M. Anderson positions herself as this generation’s Chan Marshall (the Moon Pix one), Liz Phair (the good one) and PJ Harvey (the one that wants to bathe in milk).

10. Big Harp, White Hat (Saddle Creek) — Chris and Stefanie’s simple story ballads — sung with a smoky, throaty yowl similar to Mr. T. Waits or Mr. R. Newman or Mr. D. Berman or Mr. S. Merritt — may be born of LA but never seem to leave Nebraska.

* * *

In this digital era that we live in, the year’s “best tracks” are as important as the year’s best albums. And it just so happens that I compile my favorite tracks every year in a CD I give to friends, family and other associates called the Lazy-i Best of 2011 sampler. The track listing is a collection of the best stuff I’ve come across (local or national) during my sojourns as a music critic for The Reader and Lazy-i.com. Check it out:

1. Eleanor Friedberger, “My Mistake”
2. Peace of Shit, “You Can’t Let Me In”
3. Lykke Li, “Youth Knows No Pain”
4. The Beastie Boys, “Nonstop Disco Powerpack”
5. tUnE-yArDs, “Gangsta”
6. It’s True, “I Don’t Want to Be the One”
7. The Decemberists, “Down By the Water”
8. Big Harp, “Goodbye Crazy City”
9. Kurt Vile, “Jesus Fever”
10. Low, “Try to Sleep”
11. So-So Sailors, “Young Hearts”
12. Destroyer, “Downtown”
13. St. Vincent, “Cruel”
14. Icky Blossoms, “Perfect Vision”
15. Gus & Call, “To the Other Side of Jordan”
16. Lana Del Rey, “Video Games”
17. Digital Leather, “Young Doctors in Love”

So you’re probably wondering, “How can I get my hands on a copy of this awesome CD?” The answer: Enter the drawing! Click on this e-mail link: tim@lazy-i.com and compose a small message that includes your name and mailing address (so I know where to send it, duh). It’s pretty frickin’ easy, and it’s free. If you’re lucky enough to win, you’ll also get a limited edition Lazy-i Sticker to stick on something. Even though the deadline is Tuesday, Jan. 17, take a second and enter right now (before you forget).

* * *

Tomorrow: Music Year in Review, Pt. 2 — The best live shows of 2011.

* * *

Tonight at The Slowdown, grind masters Back When celebrates the release of their first full-length recording since 2005. Recorded and produced by Clark Baechle at Enamel, Champion Hologram is an hour-long behemoth that boasts 12 tracks and guest appearances by Ted Stevens (Cursive) and Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds). Opening the show are Conduits, Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship and Honey & Darling. This one will be huge. $7, 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A few after-holiday tidbits today…

Coyote Bones frontman, proprietor of CoCo Art Records and former Omahan David Matysiak has once again put together his annual holiday compilation. Roam for the Holidaze3 features tracks by InDreama, Icky Blossoms, Dust Bunnies, Dereck Higgins, Brainworlds, Sam Martin and 18 more artists. The best part: You can download it free from the CoCo Art page, right here.

* * *

Songwriters Tara Vaughan and Edge of Arbor’s Jessica Errett are playing tonight at The Waiting Room. $7, 9 p.m.

* * *

Tomorrow: The 2011 Music Year in Review (with my top-10 list) and details about how you can win a copy of the Lazy-i Best of 2011 CD comp…

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here are a few odds and ends of interest that have been cluttering up my in-box:

Who remembers what the first title was in Sub Pop’s Singles Club back in 1988? Why it was none other than “Love Buzz,” the debut single by a little ol’ band that went by the name Nirvana. The Singles Club worked this way — for a subscription price you received one Sub Pop single per month by mail — awesome.  Sub Pop has done two more Singles Club series since then, the last one in 2008. Who knows if they’ll ever do it again.

In the meantime, our old friends at Matador have launched their own singles club. Titled Singles Going Home Alone, the Matador club is offering six 7-inch singles to be distributed throughout 2012.  The first of the bi-monthly releases features Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and L.A. Guns, with the former covering the latter’s “Wheels Of Fire” and Tracii & Co. tackling “Gorgeous George” by The Jicks. Following that, releases are set to come from OBN III’s (March) and The Men from New York City (May). Subscriptions are $45. That’s quite a chunk of cash, but you also get a tote bag, 10% off the Matador store all year and a “secret surprise” (and BTW, copies of that limited-press Nirvana Singles Club offering are now fetching more than $2,500 on ebay). Check it out at Matador. Now when is Saddle Creek going to get off its tired ass and put together a Singles Club?

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Speaking of Matador and end-of-year lists, the label recently published its contributors’ annual end-of-year lists right here

. I usually skip down to the end to see what obscure shit that label guy Gerard Cosloy is listening to these days. Of note: Digital Leather’s “Mind Eraser” made Steve Glauber of Matador Direct’s list of favorite tunes in 2011.

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Speaking of Digital Leather, their song “Young Doctors in Love” is featured at SPIN.com’s “First Spin” page, where you can download it for free. The song is from DL’s forthcoming LP Modern Problems, slated for release on FDH Records Feb. 14. It’ll also be included on another year-end comp that will be announced in the coming days (can you guess who’s?)…

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Speaking of album previews, our old Eagle Seagull pal Eli Mardock is offering an online preview of his upcoming album, Everything Happens For The First Time, right here. No street date or label info was passed along with this bit of news other than we’ll be seeing it sometime in 2012.

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Finally, kind of interesting is the return of D.C. post-punk band Q & Not U.  John Davis and Chris Richards recently performed together and intend “to keep working on songs and, hopefully, playing more shows,” according to this story in the Washington City Paper. Mynabirds fans may recall that Davis was half of Georgie James with Laura Burhenn.

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And so we enter the Christmas weekend where as per usual, there’s not much going on. You know, Christmas is for families, and all that jive. That said, tonight there’s a “Holiday Hootenanny” going on at The Sandbox featuring a plethora of rockabilly bands, including Snake Island, St. Christopher, Th’ Empires, Rumble Seat Riot and Gerald Lee Jr. or The Filter Kings. $10, all ages, show starts at 7.

Also tonight, Two Drag Club and Witness Tree are playing at The Barley Street Tavern. 9:30, probably $5. And Satchel Grande, is playing again tonight at The Waiting Room, where they’re practically becoming the house band (and why not?). $7, 9 p.m. Finally, Ragged Company is playing a set this afternoon down at House of Loom with cellist David Downing. 5 p.m. and free.

And that’s it for the weekend. Here’s hoping you get a brand new guitar for Christmas.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Column 355 – Final Score: A Look Back at the 2011 Music Predictions

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Because many of you (most of you) center your lives around my annual music predictions (and why wouldn’t you?) I’m starting the process early this year by scoring last year’s predictions. Look, if I haven’t got it right yet, I’m not going to in the next two weeks (Hang in there, Courtney). So with that, let the scoring begin:

2011 Music Prediction: Apple will announce that iTunes now lives “in the cloud.” All your iTunes music will be available on any Mac, PC or iPhone/iPod with 3G/4G or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Reality: It’s called iCloud.

2011 Prediction: Music no longer will be sold in units, but in subscription format — all the music in the world on your speakers or earbuds for just $10 a month.

Reality: Say hello to Spotify.

2011 Prediction: This new music subscription format will mark the end of illegal downloading.

Reality: Too early to say, but one recent report said that in Sweden, the number of Spotify users surpassed the number illegal music downloaders in a mere three months after the service was launched.

2011 Prediction: Artists no longer will be paid based on album or singles’ sales, but on how often online services play their music. Record “labels” will become full-time promotion companies whose goal is to get their artists’ music streamed as much as possible.

Reality: The dream of CD revenues hasn’t lost its luster.

2011 Prediction: Publishing rights fees paid for music used in TV commercials or movies and TV will dry up. Instead, artists will begin to pay producers to get their music used in commercials and movies just to gain exposure.

Reality: It ain’t happening…yet.

2011 Prediction: The death of terrestrial radio as a music promotion tool will mean the rebirth of music videos.

Reality: Despite a lack of television or cable outlets (MTV died as a music channel years ago) more bands are making videos than ever, thanks to grassroots production companies like our own Love Drunk and Ingrained studios providing content to Vimeo and YouTube.

2011 Prediction: Big-league commercial artists will post their playlists online or in Rolling Stone to spotlight new or unknown artists.

Reality: Unfortunately, that ain’t happening.

2011 Prediction: CD prices will drop below $10, resulting in a brief resurgence in record stores. However, the audience for cheap CDs is dying off, literally. And the last kick in the crotch will be when automakers quit offering CD players as standard equipment.

Reality: CDs dropped in price, but not that much; and carmakers continue to offer CD players, though autos are becoming more 3G/4G connected. Watch out.

2011 Prediction: Artists we’ll be talking about this time next year: Bright Eyes, Deathcab for Cutie, Justin Timberlake, U2, Cat Power, Beastie Boys, Madonna, Tilly and the Wall, Decemberists, Commander Venus, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, Dismemberment Plan, Beck, Radiohead, Animal Collective, Conduits and Grasshopper Takeover.

Reality: About 50/50 correct. We’re still waiting for those Commander Venus and Grasshopper Takeover reunions.

2011 Prediction: Artists we won’t be talking about next year: Lady Gaga, Kanye, Eminem, Ke$ha, Susan Boyle, Arcade Fire, The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, M.I.A., Wavves, Best Coast, The National, Sleigh Bells, Vampire Weekend, Sufjan Stevens and The Faint.

Reality: Direct miss.

2011 Prediction: All of Courtney Love’s problems will be solved once and for all.

Reality: She’s still kicking.

2011 Prediction: The Red Sky Music Festival’s ticket sales will fall below their projected target in its first year.

Reality: It’s safe to say that the festival was a financial (and artistic) disappointment, but it’ll be back in 2012.

2011 Prediction: MAHA will take fewer chances for fear of messing up all the good it accomplished in 2010, and ticket sales will suffer.

Reality: Though a solid line-up (headlined by GBV), it wasn’t very risky, and ticket sales were flat compared to 2010.

2011 Prediction: With the surge of local online music news outlets, a couple will fail to catch traction and will quit updating content. One will emerge as the true winner.

Reality: Hearnebraska.org, Omahype.com and TheReader.com are boiling to the top, while old-timer slamomaha.com continues to decline.

2011 Prediction: At least one local over-the-air radio station will commit to a CMJ-style indie rock format.

Reality: Uh, no.

2011 Prediction: Another long-time local music venue will be gobbled up by a developer.

Reality: O’Leaver’s will outlive us all.

2011 Prediction: Homer’s Records will have one of its best years in recent memory and will consider opening a new storefront in Benson.

Reality: The Homer’s chain was reduced to a single storefront in ’11.

2011 Prediction: Saddle Creek Records will add another local band to its roster.

Reality: In fact, the Creek passed on two of the city’s hottest acts – So-So Sailors and Conduits.

2011 Prediction: Another band will emerge from Linoma and attract national attention, and it won’t be a Saddle Creek act.

Reality: Can we count Emphatic?

2011 Prediction: An enterprising young local businessperson will launch a new subscription-based vinyl records club, like Grapefruit Records.

Reality: No subscription label, but Rainy Road and Doom Town emerged as new vinyl playas.

2011 Prediction: A new band will emerge consisting of the progeny of members of a classic local ’90s-era band.

Reality: What about Omaha Girls Rock!?

2011 Prediction: A new live music venues will open along Maple Street in Benson. Another will open as the first serious live music venue west of 72nd Street since The Ranch Bowl.

2011 Prediction: The City of Omaha will get behind the return of a “youth concert” in Memorial Park.

2011 Prediction:  Lady Gaga will return to Nebraska, for her wedding.

2011 Prediction:  Bright Eyes will get nominated for a Grammy.

No, no, no and no. So the final count (by my skewed math) is around 11 for 25. Not, uh, good. But check back in three years and see how many come true. And look for my 2012 predictions in a couple weeks.

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Other than maybe the first night, tonight’s episode of Gus & Call’s December residency at Slowdown Jr. may be the best lineup with the biggest draw. Each night of the residency has a theme, and tonight’s is “Light It Up” — make of that what you will. It features a return of two Saddle Creek Records bands that haven’t been on an Omaha stage in a long time. Lincoln act UUVVWWZ sort of disappeared after Creek re-released their debut album (which first appeared on Darren Keen’s It Are Good Records) back in 2009. I’m told that they’ve been writing new material and performing it on Lincoln stages. Now us lowly Omahans will get a chance to hear it.

Also on tonight’s bill is the return of Ladyfinger, who have been kind of dormant since frontman Chris Machmuller began focusing on his other band, So-So Sailors. Who knows what Ladyfinger will unveil tonight. Also on the bill, of course, is Gus & Call, and apparently there will be some comedy as well. With a lot of us having tomorrow off, this one could be huge, folks. $7, 9 p.m. 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When it comes to rock shows, these indeed are the holiday/winter doldrums, especially this year. No holiday reunion shows. No big national indie shows to speak of, and very few for the foreseeable future. The only national indie shows I’m looking forward to are Har Mar Superstar Dec. 30; Craig Finn Feb. 3, Tennis Feb. 22, and Cursive March 3. That’s it. Yeah, I know Lemonheads are coming, but I’ve always thought they sucked.

A Lazy-i reader recently e-mailed asking if I thought there was an unnatural downturn in national shows coming through Omaha.  He pointed out that Cults, Magnetic Fields, Zola Jesus, M83 and Neon Indian are all coming through the area but routing past Omaha. I told him I didn’t know, but that I doubted it. We always experience a lull in touring indie shows during the winter months. A glance at touring indie shows I went to last year at this time: Cursive played Domestica last January, followed by Interpol, Best Coast/Wavves, Pete Yorn and Smith Westerns all last February. Not much else.

We get spoiled in the warmer months with fantastic national touring shows almost every weekend. So spoiled, in fact, that some of the best ones go virtually unattended. I went to a number of shows this past fall that had terrible attendance despite the quality of bands (Future Islands and Milegras come  to mind). I’ll say what I said back then: If you want to continue getting cutting-edge indie bands at our clubs, you need to go to the shows, and when possible, buy tickets in advance. As things warm up, hopefully we’ll begin to see more bands coming through. In the meantime, continue to support our local heroes, who continue to work throughout the winter months…

A few other news and notes on this boring Wednesday…

Bright Eyes, The People's Key (2011, Saddle Creek)

Pitchfork posted its annual list of the top-50 albums last week.The one band missing is also missing from a lot of other year-end lists: Bright Eyes. The People’s Key didn’t make the Pitchfork top 50.  Or the Rolling Stone top 50  or the SPIN top 50  or the Filter Top 20  or even the Paste top 50.

In fact, the only lists I’ve found that included The People’s Key are Magnet‘s top 20 (where it was No. 7),  American Songwriter‘s top 50 (No. 22),  BBC‘s top 25 (No. 25)  and Drowned in Sound‘s top 50 (No. 8). Disappointing? Probably, though I doubt Conor and Co. give a shit. Is the lack of inclusion a reflection of Bright Eyes’ waning popularity or was The People’s Key a misfire? The only thing that matters is how well the album sold and if Bright Eyes continues to draw crowds to concerts. So did The People’s Key make it on the Lazy-i Best of 2011 list? You’ll just have to wait and see.

By the way, you can find almost all of the year-end lists at the fantastic Album of the Year website.

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Tomorrow: Predictions Pt. 1: Looking back at last year’s predictions. Yikes.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.