Everyone’s getting ready for SXSW, including Eagle Seagull, who will be playing a last-minute show at O’Leaver’s tonight with The Stay Awake and Lincoln’s Pharmacy Spirits. The show starts at 9:30 and it’s free.

* * *

Consider this an early head’s up: Robert Thornton (The Wagon Blasters, Now Archimedes!, Past Punchy and the Present, Culture Fire, Clayface Regular) let me in on the details about his new band, Students of Crime, which will have its world premier April 17 at O’Leaver’s, playing with The Third Men. Thornton says the “students” joining him are drummer Brad Smith, who played in Fischer and Now, Archimedes!, Dan Stewart from Jimmy Skaffa on guitar and Marc Phillips (Carsinogents) on bass. Something tells me it’s gonna be loud.

* * *

Tomorrow’s column is Pt. 2 of the SXSW preview, featuring comments from The Mynabirds, Thunder Power, UUVVWWZ and Eagle Seagull.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Digital Leather is about to explode. I say this after seeing the new line-up in action Friday night at a packed O’Leaver’s. The five-piece played a set that tore the place apart. I credit a different approach to their sound from what I heard a few months ago at The Waiting Room — that set took DL songs and ratcheted them into straight-up garage rock/punk, losing all of the subtleties heard on the band’s albums. The result was rather formulaic, kind of boring and “samey.”

That’s all changed with this new line-up. Now with a second keyboard player (frontman Shawn Foree also plays keyboards), the band has pulled back the arrangements to make room, unveiling the melodies heard instead of brashly trodding upon them. The new sound is more post-punk than garage, probably more authentic to what Foree has been doing on recordings. It’s certainly more balanced without taking away any of the energy, judging by how the crowd was rocking to “Styrofoam” and set closer “Studs in Love,” which Foree introduced by saying “I hate this fucking song. I wish I never wrote it.” With a full beard, Foree is starting to resemble an indie version of Jim Morrison circa Morrison Hotel. One things for certain, with the extra keyboard, he’s now free to get more involved on stage and with the crowd — he’s a natural performer. After the last song and before leaving O’Leaver’s “stage” he threw a shout-out to his new keyboard player, Annie Dilocker (ex-Sweet Pea, ex-Hubble) saying “Give it up for fucking Annie. She doesn’t know what she’s in for, but it’s gonna involve a lot of penises.”

DL already has a head start on finding wider exposure, having been managed by the late, great Jay Reatard and being signed to indie stalwart Fat Possum Records. Now comes another bout of SXSW, and then subsequent touring. This is a band that won’t be ignored, and will be the next bunch of locals to break through to the other side — if they survive their hard-living lifestyles. We’ll see what condition they’re later this week in Austin.

* * *

Speaking of Digital Leather, the band’s SXSW interview for Spinner just went online here. Among the highlights are Foree’s love confessions for The Fall, Echo and the Bunnymen and Prince, as well as a retelling of a night in Lafayette that involved the onstage use of a “marital aid.” Watch out, Annie!

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Chris Crisci’s other band, Appleseed Cast, takes the stage with Dreamed. $12, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

How about six straight hours of music tonight? It starts at The Hole down at 712 So. 16th St. (the old Diamond Bar) with a very eclectic line-up: Godshamgod, Conchance, Well-Aimed Arrows (ex-Protoculture), Rainbow Party, and Perry H. Matthews. If you’re a post-punk fan, you’ll never find a better time to check out this new all-ages venue. No booze! $6, 7 p.m.

Who knows how long that show at The Hole will last, but figure it’ll be over before 11. Next stop is The Brothers Lounge, where tonight Conchance, Her Flyaway Manner and Broken Spindles will be performing as a fund raiser for the Donut Hill Skatepark Project. $5, 9 p.m. More info on the Donut Hill project page in Facebook.

Last stop is O’Leaver’s, where Digital Leather has its SXSW send-off show with Lafayette, IN, band Boy Toys. According to a Facebook message from DL received yesterday, this show won’t start until 11, and Digital Leather won’t go on until midnight. Still, O’Leaver’s lists a 9 p.m. start time. Hopefully, it really is starting late. $5.

That’s not all. There’s a great show tonight at Slowdown Jr. tonight with Bazooka Shootout, The Rouge, The Photo Atlas and headliners Landing on the Moon. $7, 9 p.m.

Saturday night is just as busy show-wise. The big one is Box Elders, Baby Tears, The Yuppies and Well Aimed Arrows at The Waiting Room. As I mentioned yesterday, those new Box Elders 7-inches won’t be available, but those Baby Tears singles probably will be (and they’re worth picking up). $7, 9 p.m.

Also in Benson, singer/songwriter Brad Hoshaw is celebrating (suffering?) his 30th Birthday at The Barley St. Tavern with Landon Hedges (Little Brazil), Kyle Harvey, Matt Cox, Nick Karl, Hubble, Rock Paper Dynamite, the amazing Son of 76 & the Watchmen (from Lincoln) and, hopefully, a few tunes by Brad himself. $5, 8 p.m.

Finally, Sunday night at The Barley St. Tavern is the It’s True send-off party. The event will include the playing of their unreleased album in its entirety, a screening of footage from a documentary being made about the band by John P. Campbell, and a live performance by It’s True. Only 65 tickets to this event will be available, at $15 each. For more info, go to the event’s Facebook page.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I’ve got some bad news for folks who were looking to pick up a copy of that Box Elders limited-release 7-inch on HoZac Records at The Waiting Room Saturday night. The band e-mailed me yesterday to say that there was a water-main break at the pressing plant. Among the damage was their record’s pressing plates, which now have to be remade, so they won’t have copies in hand until their April 5 Slowdown gig (opening for The Black Lips). Sometimes the waiting is the hardest part.

* * *

As part of SXSW’s pre-festival coverage, Spinner posted an interview with It’s True that evolved into a series of “It’s True” or “It’s False” questions. Among the truths are dismembered snakes, taser play and love letters to fans from the road. Check it out here.

* * *

There’s a lot going on tonight in Benson. At The Barley Street Tavern Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear will be in the house along with Kyle Harvey and Landon Hedges (Little Brazil). Quite a line-up. $5, 9 pm.

Down the street at PS Collective it’s the duo of Whipkey and Zimmerman along with All the Young Girls Are Machine Guns and Addison Wright. $5, 9 p.m.

And then there’s the big Flobots show at The Waiting Room with Maxilla Blue. Who is Flobots? They’re a Denver band that combines hip-hop, indie rock and humor/dread. They sort of remind me of Cake. Actually, more than sort of. $15, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

This is part one of a two-part column previewing South by Southwest. Part two will feature Mynabirds, Thunder Power and UUVVWWZ, along with anyone else I can track down (Eagle Seagull, Brimstone Howl).

Column 262: Austin Bound, Pt. 1
Little Brazil, It’s True, Digital Leather talk SXSW.

I used to think that South By Southwest’s legendary role as facilitator of the great rock ‘n’ roll dream was a load of you-know-what.

Just look over the list of bands performing March 17-21 at the annual music festival in Austin (located at sxsw.com). Most of them — almost all of them, actually — are already signed to a record label, have plenty of “representation” in the form of publicists and booking agents; and some are downright huge (Metallica, for example, played last year). Any thoughts of SXSW being some sort of rock ‘n’ roll casting call where a young band is “discovered,” signed and processed, and set upon a road of excessive sex and drugs, well, that was a thing of the past, right?

Then I went last year, soaked in the showcases, and found out that there was more to SXSW than unlimited free beer, bad PA’s and terrific Mexican food. There were plenty of unsigned bands (or bands signed to microscopic labels) who were grabbing the attention of indies such as our very own Saddle Creek Records, who I later discovered signed Rural Alberta Advantage and Land of Talk after seeing them play in Austin.

Still, there had to be more to it if poverty-level musicians were willing to lay out literally thousands of dollars in tip money to travel to Austin with the bravest hope of just not getting lost in the sideshow. What do they want from SXSW? That’s what I asked a handful of local bands that got invited this year.

Among them, Little Brazil, who has performed officially and unofficially at SXSW for five of the past six years. This year the band’s itinerary includes playing a showcase for Anodyne Records — their label. Little Brazil guitarist Greg Edds said there’s more to SXSW then trying to get signed. “Performing holds endless opportunities to expand your career in different avenues,” he said, pointing to the army of publicists, music distributors, and booking agencies on hand. “Your performance might also garner the attention of one of the many company owners looking to hand out product sponsorships. Who can so no to free gear?”

Radio reps also can be in the crowd. “If they happen to enjoy your set, you’ve gained a push with the music audience they influence,” Edds said. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s an important gamble, minus the addiction.”

So what’s come of their past SXSW odysseys? “Only time will tell on how those performances have affected our careers,” Edds said, “but we’ve made a nice impression with the locals as well as making new fans that attend the festival and live on different coasts.”

Karl Houfek, who plays keyboards for local unsigned band It’s True, said this is his first year to be invited to play in Austin. What do they think they’ll gain from the experience? “We have no idea,” he said. “I guess SXSW is one of those things that we look at as a benchmark of sorts, and that we’re excited about doing, but we’re still not convinced it really means anything. Actually, I think, for the most part, and this applies whether you’re a shit band or not, if you’re invited to play SXSW, you’ve worked hard… so I think, at the very least, it means that.

“We’re not on a record label, so I guess the great hope is that maybe people we’re interested in talking to (booking agents, labels, publicists) will come watch us play and express some interest in partnering with the band in some capacity. But, we also realize that the most likely scenario is that we’ll just play our set, get some polite applause, and walk down the street and have a few beers with Little Brazil.”

Houfek said that if their van doesn’t break down on the way to Austin, the trip will cost the band over a grand for gas and lodging alone. The Reader is “sponsoring” them, so that’ll help (probably). They’re also playing a SXSW send-off show at The Barley Street Tavern March 14, “so we’re hoping that raises a bit of scratch.”

Digital Leather frontman Shawn Foree said he sold Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore a record a couple years ago at SXSW, but other than that, he has no idea how his past festival experiences have helped him. “Mostly it seems like SXSW is an opportunity to have other bands hate you because they aren’t playing,” he said.

Foree, whose amazing new album, Warm Brother, was released on indie label Fat Possum, isn’t looking for a new home. “Really, I just hope to have fun this year, to see my friends from around the country, eat real Mexican food and play music,” he said. “There are plenty of other bands who spend all their time worrying about big label attention.”

Moneywise, he said bands are offered two payment options for performing: either $250 “no matter who you are,” or a wristband that gets you into the clubs. “We’ll take the cash,” he said. “Most of the cool shows don’t even require wristbands anymore.”

Austin is just another stop on Digital Leather’s spring tour. The band will be playing in Tulsa on St. Patrick’s Day, and then will have to drive nine hours to get to Austin, get their rooms and get one hour to rest before their first gig.

It’s a grind, but Foree said despite what he said before, SXSW is still an opportunity to play in front of a lot of people and get a taste of how the music business works. “It’s a fickle world operated by soulless vultures.”

Next week, The Mynabirds, Thunder Power and UUVVWWZ.

* * *

So who are these folks interested in seeing at the festival?

Karl Houfek: “Off the top of my head, I’d say that personally, I’m excited to see Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene, Thurston Moore, Local Natives, er..The XX, maybe? Kyle’s got a crush on Meiko, so he’ll probably wander off by himself to go see her and not tell anyone…but I’m onto you, Harvey! Oh, and I recently saw that Hole is playing…I’ll be very tempted to go see whether or not Courtney Love flips out on people.”

Shawn Foree said he and his band are “excited to see Wizzard Sleeve. I kinda want to see Uffie, who we are playing with one night.”

Greg Edds said Little Brazil will be in Austin for 48 hours. “And believe me, that is just enough time to permanently do damage to your liver and grow financially incapable of buying life’s necessities,” he said. “It’s hard to plan for something like this, but it’s good to start out with a nice blue print, with 15-30 minutes between each artist to improve spur of the moment decisions. We’re looking forward to hearing; Band of Horses, the Antlers, Local Natives, Spoon, Ray Davies, Joan of Arc, Midlake, the Walkmen, Maps & Atlases, and of course supporting the many Omaha artists that were asked to play SXSW.”

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

A couple people had told me off to the side that Brimstone Howl was playing at South by Southwest this year, but I wasn’t able to confirm it, until now. Though the gig doesn’t appear on their Myspace or Alive! Record pages, it does show up in the Sched Unofficial Guide to SXSW 2010 — the ultimate must-have online scheduling tool for official and unofficial gigs at SXSW. According to Sched, Brimstone Howl has an official gig Thursday, March 18, at 11:30 p.m. at Jaime’s, 802 Red River St. The listing also appears here on sxsw.com. That brings to eight the number of Nebraska bands playing at this year’s festival. Not bad. I’ll be interviewing three of those bands — Little Brazil, Digital Leather and It’s True — in tomorrow’s column, which is part one of a two-part series previewing the festival.

* * *

Tonight at The Barley Street Tavern Lincoln singer/songwriter Ember Schrag plays with Midwest Dilemma and a couple other acts. $5, 9 p.m. Check it out.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I had mentioned to the guy next to me in the crowd at the Fishbone/English Beat show Friday night that it was one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever seen at Slowdown, and he pointed out an interesting scientific fact of physics and biology: Old people are just “bigger” than young people.

Or as someone else in the crowd put it, “Tim, tonight you’re the young, skinny guy.“

I knew the gig would draw an older crowd, but I wasn’t prepared for the overall vibe, which felt like a mix of, say, a suburban Omaha wedding reception with a Council Bluffs casino. Lots of folks in their 40s, 50s and even a few in their 60s, but you know what? — all of them were having a great time. They loved this music and they weren’t afraid to show it (unlike too many crowds at Slowdown these days). That meant giant guys dressed like Yogi Bear dancing a grind alone back by the bar. It meant lots of older New Jersey-looking women in leather jackets and pumps rushing around with whiskey sours in their well-manicured paws. It meant a night when the line out of the Men’s Room far exceeded the line out the Woman’s (Maybe it’s growing problem, not a going problem). You know the story.

Fishbone was onstage when we got there at around 9:15. They looked older but sounded the same as I remembered from MTV in the late ’80s. I’ve never liked Fishbone, and last Friday night’s set didn’t change my opinion, but I have to admit they put on a great show, and the band sounded tight, especially when they pulled out that bari-sax. The highlight was when frontman Andre jumped off the stage for a brief crowd surf — it’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of those. Click the thumbnail on the left to see a larger picture of Fishbone at The Slowdown, taken by photographer John Shartrand.

After a long break, the English Beat were next. Blond, trollish frontman Dave Wakeling still had that sandpaper voice (that’s beginning to slide into Colin Hay territory). The band also sounded good — that’s what months of casino tours can do, along with playing the same catalog night after night for decades. I waited through five songs for “Mirror in the Bathroom” before giving up.

* * *

I ran into Jake Bellows outside The Brothers Lounge on Saturday night, where he told me his new website, jakebellows.com, has just launched. From the site, Bellows will release new songs — one per month. “I’m going to sell them for $1.29, and then take them down and replace them when they’ve been up for 30 days,” he says on the website homepage. You can find this month’s song by clicking on the “Music” link in the top nav. It’s “Should You Ever Change Your Mind,” a gorgeous track that features Jake’s guitar and swaggering croon. So is jakebellow.com the way all music will be sold in the future? Maybe.

* * *

Also, here’s an early heads up for a rare show at The Brothers Lounge this coming Friday night. Conchance, Her Flyaway Manner and Broken Spindles will be performing on the Brother’s “stage” as a fundraiser for the Donut Hill Skatepark Project. $5, 9 p.m. More info on the Donut Hill project page in Facebook.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Before I get to the weekend calendar, here’s a very brief review of Goodnights, the new pizza/bar in the southeast corner of the Slowdown complex. I had dinner there last Saturday night and was impressed by the service, the decor and the pizza. The restaurant looks like what you’d expect Slowdown to look like if it were a pizza place — in other words, cool, modern, slightly minimal architecturally, with good lighting, a big central bar, plenty of booths and tables, and large flat-panel TVs throughout the room. The night we were there the panels displayed Apolo Ohno and other Olympic coverage. Goodnights’ No. 1 downside: Their house music, which is horribly bad mall rock or something you’d hear in a West Omaha meat market. It almost made me lose my appetite.

But who cares about the decor? It’s all about the pizza, right? Before we could order, the waiter came by with a list of $4 “specialty shots” and begged us to buy a couple. I declined, but he was persistent, and in the end… I didn’t buy any shots. I asked why they were so pushy about shots, and he said it was all “part of the fun,” or something like that. And shots are fun, until you realize you have no way to get home after dinner because you’re blasted.

Other than a shots menu, Goodnights has a pizza menu (online at goodnightsomaha.com) — which only lists pizzas, no appetizers, which was fine by me (though I wouldn’t mind a small dinner salad or even an order of garlic bread. Actually, maybe it isn’t fine with me). Pizza is available by the slice or 14-inch and 18-inch rounds. We tried the 14-inch “barbeque brisket” pie, which features smoked brisket and pepperoni bathed in barbecue sauce with onions, cilantro and mozz cheese. The pizza arrived almost immediately — great service, and lots of it, judging by the half-dozen or so uniformed waiters who had nothing to do (because there was only about 10 people in the restaurant — on a Saturday night).

Goodnights pizza is thin-crust, similar to Zio’s but much better because they pre-bake the crust before adding toppings, and then bake it again — just like how I make my own homemade pizza. So unlike Zio’s greasy, soggy crust, it’s nice and firm and tasty. The crust was the best part of the pizza. The brisket was good, too, but everything was overpowered by the sauce, which was too sweet and too abundant — way too much sauce for a BBQ pizza. With beer and tip, the bill was around $30 total, not bad.

So where does Goodnights fit into the Omaha Pizza Matrix? I’d rank it above Zio’s and the national chain pizza joints, but below LaCasa (which is top dog on my list). It sits just slightly above Pizza Shoppe and Sam and Louie’s. So, definitely worth your attention. It’s better than nearby Union Pizza, which started out strong when it opened a year or so ago, but whose pizza quality has steadily declined thanks to skimpy toppings and under-cooking (at least the last few times I’ve ordered from there).

* * *

So why the restaurant review? Because tonight would be a good night to try Goodnights, before or after the English Beat concert at Slowdown (Goodnights is open until 1 a.m.). The show sold out weeks ago, which I guess shouldn’t be a surprise considering vintage ’80s bands appeal to such a large majority of Omaha music fans. I’ve always thought English Beat was a B-level ’80s band, but still fun with hits like “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Save It for Later” and “I Confess” and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a little “Tenderness.” But you already know this if you have tickets, and if you don’t, you’re screwed. The show starts early — 8 p.m. I’ll be getting there at around 10 to avoid openers Outlaw Nation and Fishbone — a band I’ve never liked.

No tix? Head to O’Leaver’s (where I’ll probably end up after Slowdown) and see The Dinks (according to O’Leaver’s tweets, they’ve changed their name to Saudi Arabia) with Perry H. Matthews, La Casa Bombas and Watching the Trainwreck. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night is looking rather sparse. Midwest Dilemma is playing down at Slowdown Jr. with Mother Culture, Anniversaire and Wrestling With Wolves. $7, 9 p.m.

The Hole is hosting punk shows both Friday and Saturday nights. Tonight features local heroes Hercules with California band Battle, Borealis, Worst of Times and the legendary Cordial Spew. Tomorrow night at The Hole (which is at 712 So. 16th St. (the old Diamond Bar)) it’s An Airbag Saved My Life, Suicide Blondes, La Casa Bombas, The Prairies and Anestatic. All shows start at 7 p.m. and cost $6. No booze!

Sunday night Thunder Power has a show at O’Leaver’s with Underwater Dream Machine, and Madison band Icarus Himself ($5, 9:30 p.m.). “This will be our first local show of the year and kind of our pre-SXSW warm-up,” said Thunder Power’s Will Simons in an email. “We have a few new songs, a revamped lineup (new drummer Jeremy Stanoshek of bands like Kite Pilot, Coast of Nebraska, Magic Kiss) and have trimmed down to a quintet from a six-piece. We are also about to release a 10-inch split-EP with the 1959 Hat Company (Toledo, OH) on Slumber Party, out March 9. It will be our third release on the label.”

In addition, Simons said April 5 will see the release the band’s first single “Take a Hike” in the UK and Europe, followed up by the release of an extended EP sometime this spring/summer on a label called Mono Music.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I caught most of last night’s Laura Veirs show at The Waiting Room. The gig started at 8 instead of 9 I guess because Veirs looked to be about eight months pregnant in her navy polka dot dress, her guitar balanced over her soon-to-be brood (see photo). When I got there at around 10, Veirs and her band, which included a violinist and two guys who traded off bass, guitar, keyboards and drums, were already at it. The reason I dropped in at all was because the songs on her Myspace page reminded me of early Suzanne Vega circa Solitude Standing, one of my all-time favorite albums, and sure enough, Veirs kept up that similitude with her voice right down to her phrasing. Where her and the band veered from the Vega course was in the three- and sometimes four-part harmony; and sometimes 5-part if you included the crowd of around 50 that was trained to add “ewws” and “ooh”s and “aaahs” to one song. Afterward, Veirs said we knocked Minneapolis from the fifth-place position in their Worldclass Crowd Participation Sing-along Competition (She was just being nice). Gorgeous stuff, right down to a cover of one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs, “Never Going Back Again.”

* * *

Back to SXSW coverage. I know, who cares? Especially if you’re not going. But I am, and I’ll be covering it extensively for this site (daily blog reports, Tweets, Facebook updates) and The Reader starting March 18.

The news: It’s True announced its SXSW showcases:

Friday, March 19 at BD Riley’s (Official SXSW Showcase) 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 20 at Lovey’s Loot (w/Thunder Power) 2 p.m.

It’s True also is hosting a listening party for their new CD Sunday, March 14, at The Barley St. Tavern. Still no word on who is releasing their album. The gig also will act as a “send off” party for SXSW, so show up and buy something to get them on their way.

* * *

Digital Leather also announced its SXSW sched.

–Thursday, Mar 18, 2010 8 p.m. – Shattered Records Showcase w/ Hunx and His Punx, Wizzard Sleeve, Fucked Up +more
–Friday, Mar 19, 2010 2 p.m. – At Beerland w/ the Spits, Tokyo Electron, King Louie
–Friday, Mar 19, 2010 6 p.m. -At the Mohawk Patio w/ The Cool Kids, Uffie + more
–Saturday, Mar 20, 2010 6 p.m. -At Parade of Flesh
–Saturday, Mar 20, 2010 12:00 a.m. -At Beerland Digital Leather playing as Destruction Unit
–Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 8 p.m. -Beerland

(I’m looking hard at that Mohawk Patio gig — one of my favorite spots last year.

* * *

Little Brazil was interviewed at Spinner.com as part of their official SXSW media coverage. The Q&A with guitarist Greg Edds is right here. Greg talks Austin survival tips, and includes this gem: “Now I know why fanny packs are coming back in style. You don’t want a man-bag because that’s still too bulky, but I might dive into the fanny this time around.” Dive into the fanny? Nice, Greg.

* * *

Add Lincoln’s Eagle Seagull to the list of Nebraska bands at SXSW. They’re scheduled to play at The Ghost Room March 18 at 9 p.m.

So, the current list of Nebraska bands in Austin this year: It’s True, Digital Leather, Thunder Power, The Mynabirds, UUVVWWZ, Little Brazil and Eagle Seagull. Are there any more?

* * *

2009 SXSW standouts Box Elders won’t be in Austin for the festival this year because they’re going to be on the road opening for The Black Lips. Before meeting up with the Lips, Box Elders will be headlining a few shows including March 13 at The Waiting Room with Baby Tears, Yuppies and Well-Aimed Arrows (ex-Protoculture). They’ll meet up with the Lips March 17 in Charlotte, NC, and will follow them to the April 5 show at Slowdown, and close out the Lips tour April 10 at the legendary 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA.

That’s quite a coup for the trio. Another coup is their new 7-inch, which is coming out on red-hot Chicago label HoZac Records. Says the band: “HoZac dudes have been helping us out for a couple years, they’ve booked most of our Chicago shows. The 7″ is part of their singles club. 400 went to folks that joined the club and we get 75. I think they’ll go pretty quick. The Waiting Room show is gonna be the only Omaha show we’ll have them. The Antiquarium is going to carry 10 or so copies.” Get ’em while they’re hot.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I left out Lost in Translation, whose soundtrack included songs by Air, My Bloody Valentine, Death in Vegas and a very young Phoenix. Great flick.

Column 261: Waiting Through the Credits
Some (indie) soundtracks are stinkers.

With the Oscars this Sunday night, I thought I’d write a column about indie music in movies. The problem: Most movies that use indie music aren’t very good. In fact, they usually suck.

I go to a lot of movies, at least one or two a week. And I go to theaters, I don’t just “Netflix it,” like everyone else does these days. But sometimes I have no choice. As research for this article, I Netflixed (500) Days of Summer because a friend of mine said it had a great soundtrack filled with lots of indie songs. And she was right, it did. Great tunes by Regina Spektor, Feist, Doves, Black Lips, The Smiths, even Hall and Oates. But the movie again proved my theory — it wasn’t very good.

Part of the reason it sucked (for me, anyway) had to do with lead actress Zooey Deschanel, who I despise since she began whoring for Cotton, the Fabric of Our Lives, and after she appeared on Top Chef as a crazy I-can’t-eat-anything gluten-intolerant, Dinner-at-Moosewood-thumping vegan, further emphasizing my theory that movie stars shouldn’t appear on reality TV or game shows unless it’s Matchgame ’79. After watching the film, I got the feeling Deschanel’s bitch character probably wasn’t too far from her real-life persona. But I’m probably wrong, I’ll never know. The movie will forever dash any goodwill she earned from Elf.

It should be a red flag whenever a movie uses indie songs. It’s as if the producers are making a desperate stab at attracting a “younger demographic” or is reaching for much-needed “indie cred” — something that cannot exist in Hollywood films, even those from so-called “independent studios.” Real indie productions can’t afford the publishing rights to good indie songs.

Zach Braff’s Garden State for example, has a good soundtrack (The Shins, Iron and Wine, Nick Drake), but it’s a horrible film. Juno, with a soundtrack that features Kimya Dawson/Moldy Peaches, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, is pretty bad (though I’m the only one in America who thought so).

From this year, there was Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, a movie I could never bring myself to see or even Netflix after watching its embarrassing trailer featuring lovable nerd Michael Cera (of Superbad fame). The movie has songs by Vampire Weekend, Army Navy, We Are Scientists and creepy Devendra Banhart. Still, it wasn’t enough to get me to see it.

From ’09, Sam Mendes film Away We Go with John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph used a handful of pretty songs by Alexi Murdoch along with tracks by The Stranglers and Velvet Underground. It was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Also from last year, the insipid Adventureland (with tracks by Husker Du and Replacements), and the cloying, disappointing Where the Wild Things Are, which featured Karen O and her Yeah Yeah Yeah band mates.

Then there was Fantastic Mr. Fox, with songs by Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker as well as some well-chosen tunes by Burl Ives and The Rolling Stones woven into a score by Alexandre Desplat. What director Wes Anderson does with the fantastic Fantastic Mr. Fox is what he does with all his films — he makes the songs an integral part of the film. The Royal Tenenbaums, one of my all-time favorites, has a soundtrack that perfectly complements its content, with songs by Elliott Smith and a lot of very un-indie bands like Nico, The Velvet Underground, The Clash, The Rolling Stones and The Ramones. From Rushmore to The Darjeeling Limited to the reinvention of Bowie in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Anderson remembers old songs that we’ve forgotten and reminds us how good they are.

In fact, masters like Scorsese, Lynch and Tarantino forego modern indie music for classics that emphasize the film’s period and mood. For better or worse, Paul Thomas Anderson used a handful of Supertramp songs for the soundtrack to 1999 epic heartbreaker Magnolia while reintroducing Aimee Mann, someone I had forgotten about since her ‘Til Tuesday years. She is now one of my favorite singer/songwriters, though I don’t know if she’ll ever match the work heard in that movie, which was hands-down one of the best uses of soundtrack material since Harold and Maude.

Any list like this also has to include Cameron Crowe, whose use of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” in Say Anything is iconic, along with his grunge-infused sound track to 1992’s Singles. All of which was dashed by Almost Famous, a movie I loathe thanks to the painfully embarrassing use of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Thank you, Goldie Hawn’s daughter, for ruining that song for all eternity.

Perhaps my favorite soundtrack-loving director is Jonathan Demme. His soundtracks to both Something Wild (New Order, Steve Jones, Sonny Okosun) and Married to the Mob (Q. Lazzarus, The Feelies, Brian Eno) are as cool — or cooler — than the films themselves. And since were going back to the ’80s, I’ve got to mention Valley Girl, the 1983 Nicolas Cage vehicle that introduced an unsuspecting world to The Plimsouls, The Payolas, Sparks, The Psychedelic Furs and Modern English.

Which brings us back to the Oscars. In the end, the best soundtracks are in films where the music not only is part of the story line, it is the story line. Examples include 2006’s Once, and from this past year, Crazy Heart, a soundtrack with songs by T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham and the late Stephen Bruton whose performance will win Jeff Bridges his first Oscar.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Laura Veirs with Seattle band Cataldo and Portland’s The Old Believers. Veirs, who used to be on Nonesuch, released her last album, July Flame, on her own Raven Marching Band Records. Her music will appeal to fans of Suzanne Vega, Azure Ray, St. Vincent and Neko Case, among others. Very pretty stuff and well worth the $10 cover. Show starts at 9.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—