by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It took an associate of mine to remind me that Everest — last night’s opener for Minus the Bear (along with Little Brazil, who I missed) — also was the opener at last year’s Neil Young concert at Qwest. Now here they were, back down on the club circuit. Americana is the new alt country (and has been for a couple years), and the Everest guys looked the part with their untucked western-cut shirts, work boots and hippie beards. Their sound, however, carried a darkness that belies typical alt country. It would be easy to compare them to The Jayhawks or Wilco, especially considering the lead singer Russell Pollard’s vocal resemblance to Tweedy, but they (thankfully) lacked Wilco’s tendency for wonky jam-band noodling. Everest is more… what? Majestic? Grander? Some of their music teetered on the edge of epic (in line with a band like The National), especially when Pollard dropped his guitar and slid behind a second, smaller trap set. Two drummers is almost always a novelty, and almost always fun to watch. Overall, Everest had a great — if not slightly monotonous — sound. It’s one of those bands whose records would require (many) repeated listenings before they grew on you. (more…)

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s an insanely busy night for live music.

Top of the list is Minus the Bear at The Slowdown with Everest and Little Brazil. Seattle’s Minus the Bear now finds itself on Dangerbird Records (Silversun Pickups) for their next release, Omni, which comes out May 4. I haven’t seen them since they came through here way back in July 2003, when Matt Bayles was still in the band. He left after Menos El Oso came out in ’06. I assume their sound is as mathy as ever. $20. 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, Strokes mastermind Julian Casablancas is playing tonight at The Waiting Room. I’m told this gig originally was slated for Sokol Auditorium and was moved a few weeks ago for reasons one can only speculate. He’s still pushing his solo debut, Phrazes for the Young, out on Rough Trade. Opening is LA female-fronted pop band HAIM. Tickets are $25, starts at 9.

And, tonight is Night 1 of the Omaha Invasion in Lincoln. Below is tonight’s schedule. $6 gets you into all the clubs all night.

12th St. Pub
10:00 – 10:45 Dim Light
11:00 – 11:45 Matt Whipkey
12:00 – 12:45 Brad Hoshaw

Duffy’s Tavern
09:00 – 09:45 Down With The Ship
10:00 – 10:45 Flight Metaphor
11:00 – 11:45 It’s True
12:00 – 12:45 Lonely Estates

Bourbon Theatre
09:30 -10:15 Vago
10:30 – 11:15 The Answer Team
11:30 – 12:15 Paria

Bricktop
Brent Crampton
Kethro
Stryke

And finally, at beautiful O’Leaver’s Pub, it’s Australia’s favorite export, Electric Jellyfish, with Blue Rosa. $5, 9:30 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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

One last thought on Harrah’s Stir lounge: I was told that it was designed to be a live performance space, but there’s something about that room that makes it, well, unappealing. Maybe it’s the low ceiling over the stage which gives you the impression that the band is being crowded. Or maybe it’s the blank-white-blue stage lighting that’s about as appealing as being lit by a row of drugstore fluorescent bulbs. Or maybe it’s the flat, brittle sound of the PA — sonically bright with no bottom and plenty of bounce. Needless to say, I didn’t stick around for Little Brazil, who I’m told played a hugely long set…

Column 267: Identity Crisis
Live Review: Digital Leather

I look back at my list of favorite albums from last year and it stands out as a glaring omission: Digital Leather’s Warm Brother.

It’s not entirely my fault. I don’t think I actually bought a copy until late in the year, and then never gave it the time it deserved. I now listen to the CD more than any other on that best-of list. Its strength comes from its songs — an obvious statement I know, but there are no less than six that are absolute killer singles (but which, of course, will never actually be singles): “Your Hand, My Glove,” “Kisses,” “Photo Lie,” “Hurts So Bad,” “Gold Hearts” and centerpiece “Modern Castles,” a breathy, disturbing synth-pop gem, dense and throbbing and gorgeous.

If you grew up in the ’80s, you’ll feel a tinge of recognition when you hear some of these. It’s mostly in the keyboard lines that glow like neon through a dark, tonal undercurrent, and from the brooding, ominous vocals. I’m reminded of Psychedelic Furs, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy, Joy Division and Lou Reed. Warm Brother is retro-modern; a combination of synth-punk, pop, garage and Digital Leather mastermind Shawn Foree’s own unique songwriting voice. If I managed the album’s publishing rights, I’d be hustling these tunes to every savvy movie and television producer in Hollywood who is looking for that perfect song for that perfect moment best experienced in the dark.

So yes, I love this album. It’s not only my favorite from last year, it’s one of my favorites from the past few years, which just happens to be created by someone who lives and breathes right here in Omaha. Foree, who I’ve only met for a brief mumbling conversation outside of The Waiting Room (though we did an email interview for SXSW), is an Omaha transplant from Arizona. What he’s doing here, I do not know, nor does it matter. Find this record, released on Fat Possum, available at the Antiquarium or Homer’s or Drastic Plastic. Call around, it’s worth the effort.

So why am I gushing about an album that came out last fall?

Last Friday night I ventured over the great Missouri River to the house of decadence known as Harrah’s Casino to see Digital Leather perform in the Stir Lounge. Set up more like a strip club than a music venue (then again, doesn’t every venue in Council Bluffs resemble a strip club?), the stage was built behind the bar, effectively turning the bands into a piece of live artwork — like a giant television set or an aquarium or glass-bottomed swimming pool where naked women swim while you order your whiskey sour. Stir was the last place you’d expect to find this band or the night’s headliner, Little Brazil. But to its credit, instead of its usual staple of cover bands, the lounge is hosting Omaha acts over the coming weeks, one assumes to lure the lucrative indie crowd to their smoky boats where the slots and tables live and wheeze.

Digital Leather took the stage at around 9. The five-piece consists of Foree handling vocals and synths, drummer Jeff Lambelet, guitarist Austin Ulmer, bassist John Vredenburg and recently added second synth/keyboard player Annie Dilocker — enough fire-power to fuel any band. Their sound was raw, numbing and very punk, and only vaguely resembled the music heard on Warm Brother. If you listened closely, you’d recognize tiny elements within songs buried beneath the 20-ton wave of guitar/bass/drums. But you’d have to have listened very, very closely.

This is the third time I’ve seen Digital Leather play with this line-up over the past month or so. The other times were at O’Leaver’s and The Mohawk in Austin as part of the South by Southwest Festival. I am now convinced that I’ll never hear Warm Brother performed as it’s heard on the album — a record whose beauty lies more in its subtlety than its power.

Foree instead has decided to recreate those songs as straight-up garage/punk anthems, and it’s a shame. Acoustic guitar is used on about half of the record instead of electric, but it wouldn’t matter if someone was playing acoustic on stage because you’d never hear it behind the wall of sound. Poor Dilocker. I’ve seen her play three times and still don’t know if she’s any good because I can barely hear a note from her keyboard in the mix. She’s like that second guitarist that we all know who, while watching him play, you wonder if his guitar is even plugged in.

I have yet to hear Foree perform the two best songs from the record: “Modern Castles” and “Gold Hearts. Maybe he doesn’t know how to do them live or doesn’t want to marginalize them into just another bam-bam-bam garage rock song. If the latter, I’d prefer that he keep them off the stage (along with the unrecognizable “Hurts So Bad”).

Foree said on his blog that “touring is part of my essence. To not tour is to not be me.” Yet what we hear on stage isn’t what we hear on his recordings. As the creator, he knows the difference. I guess Digital Leather will always be two bands — a studio project and a garage rock project — and never the two shall meet.

* * *

Briefly, starting Thursday Omaha invades Lincoln for the first-ever Omaha Invasion Festival. The three-day event features some of Omaha’s best acts — including Dim Light, It’s True, Conchance, Little Brazil, Capgun Coup, Brad Hoshaw, Matt Whipkey and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship — playing at four of Lincoln’s best clubs. Get into all four clubs all night for just $6 per night. For more information and a schedule, search “Omaha Invasion 2010” in Facebook.

* * *

One of Slowdown’s early “hits” from an event standpoint was Goo, which had more buzz surrounding it than most of the live performance on Slowdown’s stage. Despite its massive popularity, it didn’t take long for Slowdown to tire of the hassle that came with the theme-related dance event. Goo quickly became a 21+ night, and eventually Slowdown quit hosting Goo altogether. Now Goo returns, this time to The Waiting Room, which in the past hosted Goo-inspired Gunk nights. Tonight they get the real thing. 9 p.m., $5 if you’re under 21 (free if you’re over 21).

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Darren Keen, the mastermind behind The Show Is the Rainbow, says TSITR is going on hiatus indefinitely. “We went on tour as a full band, and now we decided to keep doing that,” he said. That band is called High Art, and features drummer Jim Schroeder from UUVVWWZ, bassist Saber Blazek from Machete Archive and keyboardist Josh Miller from Columbia V. Challenger. All will provide backup vocals.

“We played out the rest of the TSITR dates and the promoters and fans fucking loved it pretty much unanimously,” Keen said. “My bandmates are super fucking awesome and really cool people and really great musicians and I think we are really onto something and we are just gonna jam so hard and so fun and say ‘fuck it’ to all of the people trying too hard.”

High Art is currently recording a live demo and video before recording a formal CD next month in Keen’s home studio. A complete DIY project, Keen said the band will release and promote the CDR and vinyl themselves. They’re also booking their own shows, which includes dates at The Bourbon Theater in Lincoln April 27 (w/Nice Nice), May 24 (w/Dapose and Golden Lions) and July 10 (w/Mahjongg).

“We are really having trouble booking a show in Omaha,” Keen said. “If anyone has a living room/basement/Ted and Wally’s hook-up and they want us to come play in Omaha, call/text me at 402.540.8001 or email me at tsitrainbo@gmail.com“

As for TSITR, Keen said he’s “just a bit tired of it.”

“I’m not killing TSITR for good probably, but I don’t even know what I would do with it right now,” he said. “It will rise again as a one-man band, but not for a year or so. I need a legit break to find out what the fuck TSITR is all about.”

* * *

Lincoln singer/songwriter Ember Schrag wrote in to say that she’s currently recording a new album at Enamel with AJ Mogis. “Musicians are me (guitar, piano, vocals), Günter Voelker (guitar, drums, banjo, vocals), AJ Mogis (on upright bass), Joe Salvati (from Triggertown, pedal steel), Dan McCarthy (piano), Rebecca McPherson (piano), Pearl Lovejoy Boyd (vocals) and Lenna Pierce (from Das Hoboerotica, cello),” Schrag said. “Thirteen new songs. I’ve got some interest from a label that I’m excited about, can’t say who quite yet.”

Schrag also said that she’s bringing Jad Fair to Lincoln’s Clawfoot House (1042 F St.) next month. “His art will be up at Clawfoot House during May,” she said. “May 7 will be the opening, with a concert afterward. The opening is at Clawfoot House from 6-9 p.m. with music by The Shipbuilding Co, and the concert is at the Zoo Bar at 10 p.m. with Jad Fair, UUVVWWZ and Samuel Locke Ward & the Boo Hoos, $6. (Entry to art opening is free).”

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ll post my thoughts on Friday night’s Digital Leather show at Harrah’s at a later date in the very near future. Later that night I headed back over the river for the Slumber Party Records showcase, and was pleasantly surprised. Remember, I had accidentally said online (and in print) a few days prior to the show that it was going to be held in the front room, based on assumption more than anything, and not bothering to double-check with the Slowdown site. Stupid, lazy me. Turns out that Slowdown’s big room was the right room. When I arrived at around 10:30, the main floor and the railing area back to the bar were completely filled for Conchance, which made me wonder if he’s emerging as the label’s next (or first) big star. We’ll find out when he finishes recording his new album. In the meantime, I’ll say what I’ve said in the past — backed with an eight-piece band that included trumpet, bongos, bari-sax, keys and the usual rock accouterments, Conchance must be taken seriously. The band definitely knew its way around a comfortable, mid-tempo groove, and Conchance did his thing with the right amount of swagger and confidence needed to pull it off. So is he any good? You’d have to ask a real hip-hop aficionado. My take: You can tell about 10 seconds into any hip-hop performance if the guy/gal on the mic knows what s/he’s doing (or doesn’t, which in those cases, is embarrassing for everyone involved). Conchance knows what he’s doing. But we’ll have to wait for the record to decipher what he’s got on his mind, and if there’s any weight to his words.

The crowd dwindled slightly for Talking Mountain, who put on their typically colorful circus act — lots of LEDs, smoke, strobes and, of course, the monster mask, worn by frontman Jason Meyer-Cusack. Goofy fun. I still think they need to get a live drummer and drop the pre-recorded drum tracks, but who knows — the crowd didn’t seem to care as they hopped around to the bands candy-punk beat.

Closing out the evening, with the floor only half-filled, was Noah’s Ark was a Spaceship, whose sound these days resembles a cross between Sonic Youth and metal, and is very loud indeed. See photo. If you missed the showcase, you’ll be able to catch all of these bands again this week/weekend at the Omaha Invasion Festival in Lincoln. The sched is in Facebook, here.

* * *

What did I expect from Students of Crime, who had their debut Saturday night at a respectably packed O’Leaver’s? Well, since frontman Robert Thornton is sort of known as a punk rock guy, I was expecting another punk band. What we got instead was something that bordered on alt country — like a combination of Uncle Tupelo, Buffalo Tom and The Replacements. Call it Americana or Whipkey Rock, but with a punk sheen. Or think of it as Thornton’s previous band, Carmine, with an undercurrent of twang and you’re halfway there. For their first performance, they were very solid and a lot of fun, though Thornton’s vocals were timid for the first half of the set. He and the rest of these criminals in training will only get better over time.

* * *

Slowdown and Matador Records are hosting a special listening party in the front room tonight for the new New Pornographers album, Together, which comes out May 4. The “event’ starts at 8, and according to Matador, the first 20 folks through the door get an exclusive/numbered mix from New Porno’s Carl Newman. Admission is free and 21+.

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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.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I know I’ve messed up dates and times throughout the week, but I’m going to get this right:

So tonight, at the floating gambling den called Harrah’s Casino, Digital Leather and Little Brazil are performing in the Stir Lounge. My understanding is that each band will be forced by rifle-barrel to play sets that are longer than they’ve probably ever played before. That fact, added to a menu of cheap booze, gambling and general decadence, will likely result in an evening of fun and embarrassment, which is just fine because what happens in Council Bluffs, stays in Council Bluffs. $5, and I’m told Digital Leather could start as early as 8:30.

My plan is to catch some early-evening gambling/rock action and then head over to Slowdown for the Slumber Party showcase on the big stage. The lineup includes some of the area’s best bands: Capgun Coup, Conchance, Honeybee, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, Talking Mountain and Thunder Power. The price: Free. Show starts at 8:30.

Saturday night Students of Crime — the new band featuring Robert Thornton (The Wagon Blasters, Now Archimedes!), drummer Brad Smith, guitarist Dan Stewart and bassist Marc Phillips — will make their stage debut at O’Leaver’s with The Third Men and The Ground Tyrants. 9:30 p.m., $5

Meanwhile, in Benson Saturday night, Bloodcow returns after a lengthy hiatus to perform at The Waiting Room with Saudi Arabia (formerly The Dinks), Bible of the Devil and Desire to Destroy. $7, 9 p.m.

Finally, Lincoln punk duo Once a Pawn is playing a rare Omaha show at The Barley Street with Cat Island, Charles S. McVey and Chad Wallin. Once a Pawn’s new album, Mission Accomplished, is one of my faves so far this year. $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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s springtime at O’Leaver’s. The volleyball players are back, drunkenly flopping around out in the sand. The smoke hut has been dismantled and put away ’til next year, and there’s new outdoor furniture in the beer garden — handmade, thick, wooden benches and tables surrounding the perimeter, which I’m told have been weatherproofed with multiple layers of marine-quality spar varnish so as to never warp. It’s only a matter of time until those benches have been lovingly carved with dick jokes and badly drawn nude women with over-sized boobs. A topic of discussion last night: Would it be possible for someone to light this new wooden furniture on fire? Conclusion: I suppose, yes. With enough gasoline and time, anything will burn, even weather-treated moisture-sealed wooden planks. And at O’Leaver’s, nothing is fire-proof.

By the time A Weather took the stage last night, the volleyball players and their cars had disappeared, leaving the parking lot partially empty. A small crowd of around 30 was inside to hear the trio play a quiet, slightly withdrawn set that didn’t resemble their new album, but was good in its own way. Live, A Weather deconstructs their lush, dense music with a frontman who sings and (barely) plays an electric guitar, and a rhythm section that includes a bass player and a cute blond girl with a pretty voice that gently tap-tap-tapped on drums. Last night the music was all about bass and voices, together in a minimal setting that reminded me of ’90s band Bedhead. I liked it, but in the end I prefer the sound of their new album (Everyday Balloons), which has an added beauty and depth thanks to its keyboards. The album is a daylight walk through a forest in summer. Last night’s performance was that same walk, but in December with the trees bare — it’s still a beautiful stroll.

* * *

Tonight at Slowdown Jr., Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen performs along with Simon Joyner, Samuel Locke Ward and the Boo Hoos (Iowa City), and our very own Yuppies. $7, 9 p.m.

* * *

One more correction — I said yesterday in my column that The Slumber Party showcase Friday night would be held at Slowdown Jr. In fact the showcase will be held on Slowdown’s big stage. All the more reason…

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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.

I promise I’m not going to keep writing columns about this festival every week, but I feel obligated to report on what’s become something of a dream concert for indie music fans. And as I say below, they’re not done yet. If they want to make this festival pitch-perfect, they need to get at least one more keynote national act, preferably a cutting edge up-and-comer like Hot Chip or Beach House (who just played here last week) or Frightened Rabbit or Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (who aren’t really new or up-and-coming, but are just plain awesome).

Column 266: No Excuses
The MAHA Festival line-up is indie paradise.

You now have nowhere to hide. Nowhere. If the MAHA Festival fails, well, it’s as much your fault as theirs.

I say this upon receipt of three more national bands named to play the festival’s Lewis & Clark Landing main stage July 24 along with indie mega-band Spoon. If you follow local music or indie music or music in general, you’ve probably heard who they are by now, but let’s review anyway.

First there’s The Faint, arguably the funnest band from Omaha since 311 (who hasn’t been “from Omaha” for a couple decades). The Faint playing MAHA was a coup on a number of levels. Because of their extensive audio/visual requirements, the band rarely if ever plays outdoors and certainly not before dark. Yet, they’ll have to accommodate both fresh air and daylight for this festival.

“We knew getting The Faint would be a huge score, but we didn’t know if it would work in an outside setting, given the energy of their performances,” said Tre Brashear, president of YFC, Inc., the nonprofit organization that launched the event. “There was a lot of discussion regarding price, their rider and technical specifications for the performance. They wanted video screens, but even if we had them, we didn’t know if they’d be visible during that time of day. We’re still working that out.”

The Faint adds something unique to MAHA — a performance on the main stage by a local band, and that’s something Brashear and his partners are proud of.

Next, Old ’97s, the Dallas band whose name is mentioned alongside acts like Drive-By Truckers, The Jayhawks and Uncle Tupelo as alt-country pioneers. Brashear said they were one of the first bands the MAHA folks targeted. “It’s a band with commercial appeal, that has a different age demographic and that attracts a beer-drinking crowd,” he said. “The fact that they were available, and that they sold-out the last time here and are recording a new album makes them a natural fit.”

Other than Spoon, Old ’97s is the most popular band on the bill, but still fits into the festival’s under-the-radar nature when you consider you’ll never hear them on your radio.

Finally, the wildcard: Superchunk, the pride of Chapel Hill, a punk band whose name is synonymous with the DIY essence of indie rock. The word “legendary” is appropriate to use here. Anyone even vaguely familiar with this band is smiling right now. Their appearance at South By Southwest this year was one of the most talked-about performances of the festival, in part because they rarely play live these days, and when they do, everyone wants to be a part of it. And now, unbelievably, they’re being flown to Omaha for a one-off show.

Brashear said the MAHA team knew of Superchunk and their connection to Merge Records, a label founded by Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance. Merge is one of the most important indie labels going today; whose roster includes Arcade Fire, Conor Oberst, She & Him and Spoon. But that’s not why they booked them.

“We’re getting a band that is recognized as a legend,” Brashear said. “We don’t believe they’ve ever been to Omaha before.” He hopes that Superchunk’s position as indie-rock royalty will help attract out-of-town fans that realize the rarity of the performance. “The challenge here will be attracting young people who don’t connect with the name.

“We think all the bands work well together,” Brashear said, adding that with every new band they considered, they consulted with promoter Marc Leibowitz (One Percent Production) to think through how many more tickets each would sell. “We needed to add pieces to the puzzle, because we weren’t sure that any one band would be able to sell enough tickets.”

Here’s where they’re being somewhat conservative. Spoon by itself is a $35 ticket in most markets. The Faint, $25 or more. Old ’97s, $30+. And Superchunk: priceless. MAHA will give you all four bands, plus two more TBD national bands and a handful of the best local bands all for $33 when tickets go on sale April 24.

So there are no excuses. Unlike last year, no one can point to the lineup or ticket price as reasons for not going to this show, especially if they’re indie music fans. It’s the “indie” part that may be the clink in the armor, however. How many indie music fans are there in Omaha and the surrounding area? Enough to sell 6,000 tickets?

“We know we’re taking a risk,” Brashear said. “We’re not booking Ke$ha. We could have gone that direction. Instead, we’re excited about our line-up, and with Marc (Leibowitz’s) input, feel good that people will come out for these bands.”

* * *

Here’s another show worth mentioning: Slumber Party Records, one of Nebraska’s most innovative labels, is hosting a showcase this Friday night on Slowdown’s big stage. The lineup includes some of the area’s best bands: Capgun Coup, Conchance, Honeybee, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, Talking Mountain and Thunder Power.

Slumber Party label executive Aaron Markley said that each band either recently released new music, has just finished recording or is in the process of making its first full-length album. “Music from these new albums will be performed live, and in many cases for the first time, at the showcase,” he said. The show starts at 8:30 p.m., and the price: Free. Don’t miss it.

* * *

C O R R E C T I O N S: That’s right, there’s more than one. In Monday’s blog, I boasted about all of the great shows going on this week, and in the process got the dates wrong on two of them. I said the Slumber Party Records showcase was Saturday night — it’s not, it’s Friday night. And I said that the debut of new band Students of Crime starring Robert Thornton (The Wagon Blasters, Now Archimedes!), drummer Brad Smith, guitarist Dan Stewart and bassist Marc Phillips was Sunday night. Wrong wrong wrong! The debut is Saturday night at O’Leaver’s with The Third Men and The Ground Tyrants. Take note.

* * *

I did get the date right for tonight’s show at O’Leaver’s — Team Love recording artist A Weather is playing along with McCarthy Trenching and Thunder Power. Check out the clever, cool A Weather website (right here), where you can hear their gorgeous new album, Everyday Balloons, streamed in its entirety. $5, 9:30 p.m. Do not miss this one.

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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.

You’ve very likely heard the news by now. You’re not dreaming: The Faint, Old ’97s and Superchunk all have been added to this year’s MAHA Music Festival lineup. I’ll be waxing poetic about this in tomorrow’s column, but thought I’d share it with you now (as I won’t have time for a blog update later). It’s hard — nay impossible — to argue with this lineup, and MAHA isn’t done yet, as they’re considering two more nationals to fill out the bill along with the local stage. Impressive, and all for only $33. Tix go on sale April 24. How many people can they fit into Lewis & Clark Landing? We’ll find out July 24.

Also, briefly, tonight at The Waiting Room it’s San Francisco indie-psychrock band Girls (Matador Records) with Sub Pop act Dum Dum Girls. $15, 9 p.m. Be there or be square.

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

My allergies got the best of me this weekend. I’m hoping they retreat quickly as there are a number of promising shows this week, including Girls tomorrow night, A Weather on Wednesday, Little Brazil and Digital Leather at the boats Friday, the Slumber Party Records showcase also Friday night, and Bloodcow/Saudi Arabia and the Students of Crime debut both Saturday night. Someone, get me a Zyrtec.

A few items worth mentioning today…

— The remaining headlining bands — three of them — are about to be announced by the MAHA Festival organizers, possibly as early as tomorrow. I’m willing to bet you’ll be surprised by at least a couple of them.

–Jake Bellows has a rocking new track posted on jakebellows.com called “If You Can Wait,” available for download for a mere $1.29. It’s well worth it. While you’re there, also download the amazing “Should You Ever Change Your Mind,” also just $1.29. This is the new business model, folks. Be a part of it.

— Finally, it came to my attention that the infamous lost full-length from Lincoln band The Golden Age is now available for free download right here. According to the site, The Golden Age was frontman Rob Hawkins, bassist Ian Aellio and drummer Tim Jensen, though when I saw them play at Sokol Underground in early ’03 opening for Simon Joyner (review here) there were six people on stage, and the word in the crowd was that these guys were destined to be the next band on Saddle Creek Records. Well, that never happened. TGA did release an EP called Calla Lily, but then just faded away. This full-length is worth checking out for more than history’s sake.

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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.