The key to both of these efforts is the number 100. Do unsigned indie bands who are self-releasing their CDs really need to press more than 100 copies of their record? Especially when they can always simply press 100 more? Yes, there are exceptions, specifically local bands that have a fan base that regularly sells out TWR, but those are few and far between. The other exception has to do with sending discs out to radio or media — specifically bands that have deals with promotion and distribution companies or that plan to go out on multi-week (months) tours. I think Kyle’s label idea is spot-on; and I have no doubt that Mike will sell out his tri-disc release…

Column 199 — Homegrown Ambition
Two local musicians redefine DIY.

Talk about going the extra mile — here are two examples of local CD projects that take the DIY concept to a whole ‘nuther level.

Let’s start with Kyle Harvey, who along with Conor Oberst is one of the city’s most beloved songwriters. Harvey has never been afraid to quietly unbutton his shirt, grab the closest sharp implement and gouge a gaping hole in his chest, then reach in and grab his hot, beating heart and place it directly on his sleeve, covering his audience with a fine spray of pain. OK, that’s a rather stark image, but it fits the music on Truth Is the Color of Teeth, a droning, atmospheric 7-song opus best played with the shades drawn.

I first heard the recording four years ago as a 10-track CDR handed to me only a few months after Harvey’s debut album, The Holidays in Spain, was released. At the time, I assumed Teeth also would be released in the coming months. But it never was. The reason is a typical music industry story.

“I had a fairly decent-sized indie label interested in it,” Harvey explained over a beer at Jake’s in Benson. “They said they loved it and wanted more stuff. This was in the fall of ’04, and the label said, ‘Let’s talk again in the spring because we’re really backed up.’ I sat around thinking it was a good opportunity, but nothing ever happened.”

After waiting a couple of years, Harvey considered releasing Teeth himself. “But I thought, what’s the purpose of releasing it now? It felt dated to me.” Since the album was recorded, Harvey has been married — and divorced. Most of the songs are about a time when he moved to Nashville and the relationships he left behind. Well, he’s been back now for years, living a musician’s life in Benson. So why release this time capsule now?

“Quite a few people said they were interested in hearing it,” Harvey said. “And it’ll be the first album released on my new label.”

The label is called Slo-Fidelity Records — a play on the term low-fi. “It’s all home recordings, not necessarily low fidelity stuff, but homemade music,” Harvey said, adding that each release will have a limited run of 100 copies. “I know I can sell 100 copies of my CD for $10. I’ll take the $800 I make off of it and dump it back into the next release.”

Which will be Under Water Dream Machine — a project by singer/songwriter Bret Vovk, slated for release Dec. 12. The third Slo-Fi release is the debut of singer/songwriter Adam Hawkins’ project, It’s True. Harvey plans to put out one new CD per month. It all starts with SF-001, which is being celebrated at a free CD release show Nov. 26 at Burke’s Pub, a neighborhood bar in downtown Benson. “I figured the album is DIY, the show should be, too.”

Another example of DIY ambition is the self-release of No Blood Orphan’s new CD, Your First Is Your Last. Ambitious because it’s a triple-CD package that includes a new studio album, a live album, and a 21-track comedy concept album, all wrapped up in a handsome screen-printed tri-fold package available as a limited run of 100 sets.

No Blood Orphan frontman Mike Saklar said it’s something old, something new and something weird. The new material shows where the band is today, having grown from a trio to a five-piece that includes Steve Bartolomei, guitars; Chris Esterbrooks, keyboards; Shawn Cox, bass and Marc Phillips on drums. The 15-track live disc, called Let It Boot, includes tracks recorded at Sokol Underground, O’Leaver’s and Saklar’s basement between 2004 and this year. “It’s material from our first two EPs, which are out of print,” Saklar said. “It seemed like the best way to make that music available again.”

And then there’s the weird: The Beast Chronicles. Described as “symbolic-satiric relief,” longtime Saklar followers will see it for what it really is — an ode to Saklar’s early days when he was known as a metal guitar god in bands like Ritual Device and Ravine. Beast hums with the classic minor-key drive and dirge you’d expect from stereotypical metal bands on tracks like “The Lonesome Death of the Beast Master” and “Beastruption.”

“The comedy album — it’s something that I don’t know if the whole band really ‘gets,'” Saklar said. “There’s a beast and a servant, the beast punishes the servant, the servant kills the beast and they reunite in heaven. It symbolizes the absurdities of the music industry.”

Both Cox and Phillips, on hand during the interview at eCreamery, just sort of nodded their heads and smiled at Saklar’s explanation.

“Not everyone is going to get into three CDs,” Saklar said. “We’ll be lucky to get them to listen to the first disc. I just hope they put them on in the right order.”

That “right order” would be the new stuff, the old stuff, and then the comedy stuff. “If someone put the Beast Chronicles in first, it might make them mad,” Phillips said.

Listeners can buy just the new material for $8, while the 3-CD set will sell for $10. Both will be available at the CD release show Saturday, Nov. 22, at The Waiting Room. Joining No Blood Orphan will be Jake Bellows, Brad Hoshaw, Landing on the Moon, Steve Bartolomei and Ben Brodin — that’s a lot of music for a $2 cover. “The show will be like a huge house party,” Saklar said. “It’s gonna be fun.”

All right, so where’s The Reader‘s Top 20 + 15 list? Well, I do have the list, but I haven’t seen what they printed — there could be some differences, specifically with the “+15” part. So until I see a printed version, I’m holding off on publishing anything online. It’ll be here tomorrow. In the meantime, go out and find a copy of The Reader‘s special “Music Issue,” which should be dropping around town this evening.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

There’s a good reason why I’m showing you this list a day before the actual Reader Top-20 List is released and in print. Every year I usually write a companion column about how stupid and unnecessary “best of” lists are, while at the same time saying that they can be fun if you don’t take them seriously (which is hard to do if your band didn’t make the list). Here and here are the past examples of that column.

This year I didn’t write a column/comment about the list because: 1) I dedicated this week’s column to two CD release shows going on Saturday and next Wednesday, 2) I killed myself this weekend writing the “guitars” cover story along with a handful of band profiles, and 3) I didn’t think I could improve on what I’ve already said about lists — they piss off more people than they please, they’re also dreadfully entertaining and generate heated discussions. Certainly that was the case when The Reader writers got together and hammered out the list this year (and every year). I know there are bands on the final Reader list that I don’t agree with, but ultimately it’s all about the art of compromise (plus, I know I can print my own list on this site).

Keep in mind that “Top 20” means something different to everyone. To me, it’s the 20 most significant and/or “important” local bands performing in Omaha over the past year, not necessarily the bands that I like the most or think are the best (though most of them are). This year, The Reader switched things up and made “the next 15” the bands to “watch for in 2009.” That’s not how I approached it, however, so my next 15 are the ones that didn’t make it into the Top 20.

So in the spirit of disclosure, here it is, in alphabetical order. Again, THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL READER TOP 20 LIST; this is what I submitted as my list:

The Top 20

Brad Hoshaw
Brimstone Howl
Conor Oberst
Eagle*Seagull
The Faint
Filter Kings
For Against
Flowers Forever
The Good Life
Malpais
McCarthy Trenching
Midwest Dilemma
The Monroes
Neva Dinova
The Show Is the Rainbow
Son Ambulance
Thunder Power
Tilly and the Wall
UUVVWWZ
The Whipkey Three

The Next 15

Black Squirrels
Box Elders
Domestica
Fromanhole
Little Brazil
Mal Madrigal
Outlaw Con Bandana
Perry H. Matthews
Sarah Benck and the Robbers
Satchel Grande
The Shanks
Shiver, Shiver
Simon Joyner
The Stay Awake
Talkin’ Mountain

I’ll probably post The Reader‘s list tomorrow, and you can see how much we differed. It wasn’t by much.

***

A couple shows are going on tonight that may be of interest to you. At The Waiting Room Fat Possum Records band The Heartless Bastards (from Cincinnati) are playing with The Whipkey Three. $10, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., Brooklyn band The End of the World is playing with Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova). $7, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I’m home sick today, but not too sick to blog, apparently…

Bombardment Society rolled out a set of new music Saturday night at O’Leaver’s. It’s the third band I’ve seen in the past week working on new material that’s better than the last stuff they’ve put out. I know bands are supposed to improve over time, but it’s still a surprise when it actually happens. Bombardment’s new material is heavier but more coherent, more streamlined, more tuneful, i.e., they’re playing songs. Part of the credit goes to bassist Lincoln Dickison sitting at the core of the action. The weight is unavoidable. I caught the last couple songs by Perry H. Matthews. It didn’t even sound like the same band — very prof. Now if they can only get their act into the studio…

Pitchfork is finally reporting about that Azure Ray reunion — old news. The new news is that both Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink have new solo albums on the way. BTW, Tim Kasher has been added to that show, along with Andy Lemaster. Tix are still available — too bad it’s at the Troubadour.

When Slumber Party Records launched about a year ago, the label was poised to be the city’s hot new thing with the hottest new bands. And then… nothing. After a year of nothing, Slumber Party appears to have launched a new website (at least it’s new to me) at slumberpartyrecords.com. The site includes news (Capgun Coup’s West Coast tour got cancelled due to “van troubles”), show calendar (Bear Country, Capgun Coup and Honeybee will be playing at The Bemis “Open Studios” event this Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. All three bands are current musicians-in-residence), and promises of new “weekly things” on the site including videos and downloads. They even have a new “press” site, but I can’t tell you about it because you ain’t press.

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s transgender pop diva Edie Sedgwick with The Stay Awake and Perry H. Matthews. $7, 9 p.m. I’m feeling better already…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

There’s nothing more annoying than seeing someone texting during a show, I know this. That’s why I usually hide in a corner if I need to type out notes on my iPhone — I don’t want the band to think I’m so bored or jaded that I’m passing the time SMS’ing or Twittering or whatever (which reminds me of a story I heard about a Kansas City duo who were out on a coffee-shop tour. Their biggest problem — most people in the coffee shops didn’t know (or care) that they were going to be playing a set on a given afternoon/evening, so the duo often played to rooms filled with people drinking coffee, reading and listening to their iPods. Can anything be more demoralizing to a performer than someone sitting five feet away listening to an iPod?).

I mention this only because I did tap out some notes during last night’s O’Death show at The Waiting Room, but it didn’t matter where I stood because there were so few people there — maybe 40, which seems empty in TWR (especially when no one gets out of their chairs). O’Death wasn’t complaining — the band’s frontman, who looks and sounds just like David Cross (but with more hair), said they played to six people the night before in Iowa — and that all six were in the opening band. Life on the road can be lonely, especially on your first trip “out west.”

I got there halfway through the opening set by Lincoln bluegrass band Triggertown — these guys are amazingly good. The combo included banjo, guitars (one horizontally), fiddle and a guy playing a washtub bass or “gutbucket” (upside down washtub, large mop handle, string tied from top of handle to center of washtub, really all you need). Gorgeous three-part harmonies, including from the fiddle player who looked like a younger, cuter version of Amy Pohler. There are quite a few quasi-traditional country and bluegrass bands playing around here these days — Triggertown is on top of my list (at least until The Shorttimers get back together).

Triggertown was traditional bluegrass. O’Death was anything but. They did have a fiddle, banjo and guitar, but also a rhythm section that looked like they walked off the cover of Metal Hammer magazine — long-haired and shirtless with plenty of snarl and tats (and gut), they supplied a metal attitude to O’Death’s bluegrass folk rock, that during its hardest moments sounded like DeVotchKa meets Primus with banjos. In fact, those moments were a bit too proggy for my taste. The best parts were when they pulled back and played more linear numbers that accentuated traditional structure along with their harmonies. I have no doubt that their high-energy set would have gone over better in a more-crowded room, say at O’Leaver’s or The 49’r, where 40 people is a packed house and you’re playing right inside the crowd. O’Death in front of 300 would be a sweat-soaked party, but the only way I’m going to see that is if I go to Brooklyn, where I’m told they have quite a following.

* * *

These days it seems any night that you get home alive is a good night. Eight murders so far this month, including a few in my neighborhood makes for lots of looking out the corner of your eye when dark-windowed SUV’s drive by. The recent rash of shootings also means more cops on the streets — or at least more visible cops. No one knows for sure what’s going on, but it’s spooking people, as it should. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t use that ATM located in the heart of Dundee where someone was shot and killed a couple nights ago. It makes going out at night a little more… interesting.

Speaking of which…

I think it’s safe to say we’re in the middle of another punk revival here in Omaha, judging by tonight’s shows, most of which are punk-oriented in one way or another. O’Leaver’s, Saddle Creek Bar and The Waiting Room are all hosting punk shows that will be fighting for the same crowd. Someone is bound to lose. I doubt that it’ll be The Waiting Room, which is hosting a Guinness Book of World Records event — The World’s Tallest Mohawk. The night is a benefit for Locks of Love and Project Nightlights, and will, in fact, feature a big friggin’ mohawk sported by Eric Hahn of The Filthy Few. There also will music by The Filthy Few, along with Bloodcow, ’80s punk pioneers Cordial Spew, Live Wire and Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. $7, 8 p.m.

Over at O’Leaver’s, the sound isn’t so much punk as revival garage rock with Brimstone Howl, who just got back from a European tour. Opening is Minneapolis band Blind Shake. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally, over at The Saddle Creek Bar, it’s more punk by way of The Shidiots, The Upsets, Jealous Lovers and Officially Terminated. $5, 9 p.m.

Not in the mood for punk? Slowdown Jr. is hosting Fancie, Alas Alak Alaska and Lurk Late. $6, 9 p.m.

Saturday night Bombardment Society rolls out a shitload of new material at O’Leaver’s. I’m sure someone else is playing, but I don’t know who. Brendan? $5, 9:30 p.m.

As they used to say on Hill Street Blues: Be careful out there…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I wrote this week’s column in conjunction with The Reader‘s cover story on Obama, a collection of where-were-you comments from writers and others, limited to 150 words. Here’s what I submitted:

We’d talked about the possibility that he might actually lose. It resided there in the back of our heads, an inkling of dread. Teresa was worried that the pundits, who had ordained him weeks earlier, had in fact jinxed him, like a sports announcer confidently proclaiming only moments before the field-goal kicker takes the field: “He’s made 49 in a row, and if he makes this one — at a distance no further than an extra point — a perfect 50 and a new NCAA record!”

We all know what happens next.

Well, it didn’t happen this time. Nothing was going to jinx this outcome — even though our worst fears seemed validated when “that other one” led for about a half-hour as the very first results came in from a southern-tier bible-belt state. As the night wore on, the networks’ multi-million-dollar JumBoMaps turned blue along the northern edges, dripping slowly downward, and it became obvious that there was no stopping it.

That comment leads into this:

Column 198: Next Big Thing
What does Obama sound like?

Seeing as our cover story this week is about the new president, I wanted to write something in the spirit of the moment, but at the same time, blend music into the equation. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

While watching the holograms on CNN last Tuesday night, having tired of the gee-whiz back-slapping on MSNBC, I wondered what the soundtrack for an Obama administration will sound like. Certainly it couldn’t be any worse than what we’ve been suffering through for the last eight years. It used to be that troubled times produced great music that defined a generation, while good times produced flaccid, empty pop. Or maybe that’s just a cliché.

The turmoil of the ’60s and Viet Nam gave us Dylan and Hendrix and all that “freedom rock” that lingers today in Cadillac commercials and on classic radio stations. When Viet Nam ended, along came the go-go ’70s and disco — a coke-fueled thump-thump-thump-a-thon that coaxed people into polyester and onto the dance floor. It was, essentially, brainless and disposable.

But as the decade waned and the economy began to tank — not only here but around the world — a nation woke up with a coke hangover, broke and jobless and angry. The next generation looked at all that polyester and excess and was rightfully sickened. Punk rock was born, with its snarling fuck-you lyrics and gruesome safety-pin fashion. Punk was revolutionary, if not short-lived.

After its initial shock wore off, punk quickly became passé. The world moved on to the ’80s and the conservative comfort of Reagan and Wall Street and the self-centered Me Generation. With it came vacuous, neon-colored faux-glam hair metal. Meanwhile, a ’70s phenomena called hip-hop slowly began to build a following and invade the national culture, never really being taken seriously by critics who thought “rapping” was a gimmick and a fad that would fade before the end of the ’80s. How very wrong they would be.

So, with the market crash of ’87, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the rise of another recession, America grew tired of Reagan’s conservative bullshit. Hair metal was torn from the screens of MTV by grunge — a kinder, gentler punk drenched in self-loathing and nihilism. Shortly after the arrival of Nevermind came the arrival of Clinton. Happy days were here again, and with it came the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync and the slow decline of America’s taste in music.

As the century came to a close both fat and happy, GW showed up to lead us from 9-11 and into a “war on terror” fought on two fronts — three if you count the war fought against his own citizens’ personal freedoms. These last two years should have been the time when this generation’s version of protest or punk or grunge emerged to give voice to anger and dissent. But it never happened. Sure, grampa Neil did his usual anti-government album, but no one listens to Neil anymore. Our own Conor Oberst briefly caught the nation’s attention on The Tonight Show with his rant “When the President Talks to God,” but it, too, was cast aside and ignored. If you listened to the radio, it seemed like no one cared what was going on, as long as they could tune into American Idol and cast their vote for this week’s haircut.

Where was the revolution we all yearned for? Why didn’t anything happen? Maybe it was because this next generation never felt the pain. They didn’t know anyone fighting “over there.” Iraq is a television show that people quit watching after the first few seasons. Economic downturn? Other than the market crashing every other day and the price of gas rising to ridiculous heights, then falling again, no one noticed. Or no one cared. The next generation is stooped in comfort and convenience. It’s too easy to isolate the world’s problems into sizable, media-friendly chunks that can be turned off and ignored with the push of a Playstation button.

Or maybe they just decided to take matters into their own hands… and vote.

Obama is this generation’s protest song. He’s the new punk, the new grunge, the new Dylan we’ve been waiting for. His lyrics have galvanized today’s youth better than any song ever could. He’s got the words down pat, now he just needs to find a tune to go along with it. Let’s hope it has a beat you can dance to.

An addendum to last week’s column: Reports are circulating about the 7 percent cut in Omaha World-Herald staff that went down yesterday. The layoffs include 15 newsroom staff. I haven’t been able to confirm any names. These are indeed dark days for the folks in print media…

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room, Brooklyn folk-punk band O’Death plays with Lincoln band Triggertown and a 4-piece version of Midwest Dilemma fresh from the road. Here’s a rave review of a recent O’Death show. Sounds pretty good to me, especially for a measly $8, 9 p.m.

* * *

Also, for those with Twitter, Lazy-i is now Twittering at http://twitter.com/tim_mcmahan. Consider it a social media experiment. I know I do. Comments will be mostly music in nature — brief reports from live shows, micro-comments on music playing on the iPhone, tinyurl links to relevant content, etc. Follow me by clicking the “follow” button.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Nothing like a charity event to bring out a crowd on a Tuesday night. Actually, I didn’t talk to anyone who really knew who Lori Wirth is, though all sympathized with her horrendous plight. With around 200 on hand and folks throwing extra green into the pot she’ll at least have a little more cash to help get the bills paid.

I got there just before Ladyfinger took the stage (Notice that, anymore, no one mentions the “NE” that’s supposed to be tacked onto their name? I doubt that anything “legal” has been resolved, just a general reticence by the fans to acknowledge the ridiculous lawyer tag). The set was mostly (if not all?) new material that they just recorded as the follow-up to Heavy Hands. As much as I liked that record’s plodding, crack-of-doom indie-metal, this one will be a better. The songs are more focused melody-wise and riff-wise, while maintaining their singular devotion to the head-pounding rhythms. There was some strange (as in different) stuff going on as well — a clear shift from their usual straight-four shriek rock — drop-outs and breaks, parts where only Mach and drummer Oakes were playing, insidiously sexy riffs by Massey layered beneath the melee. I assume the separation will be more noticeable on the recording, and hopefully, so will the vocals. Machmuller’s voice was mired in the mix, its anonymity helped along by his own mumbling way of singing that can twist instantly to shrieks when everyone comes in on the chorus. We’ll see. Saddle Creek will be putting out their new record probably early next year.

Little Brazil frontman Landon Hedges has successfully entered the ranks of the “Beard-o’s” — his scraggly facial hair now fully, crazily realized into something that only Gimli the Dwarf would be proud of. I’m sure he was tired of being mistaken for a 14-year-old version of Bobby Brady. Now Landon looks like a less-bald version of AJ Mogis or like a wizened clock maker (or bomb maker) thanks to his tiny eyeglasses that hang on the very tip of his nose. I’ve always fancied LB as an indie-pop band defined by a traditional emo style (yes, I said emo) and Hedges’ boyish croon. Like Ladyfinger, last night they played new material just recorded at ARC for a release on their new label, Anodyne, in February. Also like Ladyfinger, this record will probably be better than the last one, thanks to simpler song structures. Though there’s still a lot of Sturm und Drang, I have a feeling that Son (that’s the new album’s title) will consist mostly of simpler pop songs, pulled together into a concept arc about fatherhood, or so I’m told. We’re going to have to wait for a lyric sheet to find out. Even though Hedges sings more clearly than the majority of Omaha’s harder rocking acts, it all gets lost in the mix, except for a brief moment during one song when the music broke to nothing and Landon speaks the lyrics. But even then, I don’t know what he’s talking about. I can’t wait to find out.

Ladyfinger and Little Brazil make a great pair. Members of both bands are longtime friends, almost like family. If I was a booking agent, I’d figure out a way to get them on the road together — a dynamic double bill consisting of two acts from successful indie labels. You’d think it would be a sure thing.

* * *

After I got home last night I watched a DVR’d rebroadcast of Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (If you missed it, it’s online here). Conor wore his new trademark Panama hat, surrounded by the usual cast of long-hairs. Overall, the appearance was uneventful, other than the fact that whatever song they played isn’t on the new album, a vinyl copy of which O’Brien held up during his rushed introduction. Oberst’s TV appearances are so numerous these days that they’ve become matter-of-fact, no longer gee-whiz events (no one I talked to at the bar last night even knew he was going to be on). It’s these numerous appearances that probably will keep him off Saturday Night Live. I’ve been told that SNL has an exclusivity arrangement with their “special musical guests.” I don’t know if I believe that, but I do know that they strive to present something unique. Looks like my annual SNL predictions will never come true…

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

I don’t know who Lori Wirth is but she sure has a lot of talented friends. Wirth suffers from cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant. Proceeds from tonight’s show at The Waiting Room — featuring Ladyfinger, Little Brazil, It’s True and Kyle Harvey — will help pay for the surgery. Great show, great cause. $7, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

Matt Cox has managed to pull together a solid following for his acoustic singer/songwriter balladry. About 20 of those followers showed up Friday night at The Barley Street Tavern where Cox was backed by a full band — bass, drums, electric guitar. This was the first time I’ve seen him with or without a band. Cox has a bluesy style and a voice that reminded me of Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album — laidback and tuneful. The band sounded like it’s played together for years, with guitarist Ben Zinn adding gritty slide licks that made everything sound that much bluesier.

Seems like The Barley Street is trying to fill a void that’s opening with O’Leaver’s doing fewer and fewer shows (There are only three O’Leaver’s dates in November, according to their myspace page). Both rooms have a similar capacity and PA set-up. The difference lies in what they book — O’Leaver’s has always had an indie / garage / rock history, while BST seems to focus on acoustic singer/songwriters in the Kyle Harvey / Brad Hoshaw vein. I like going to both clubs for the same reasons — the relaxed vibe. Plus, it’s cheap.

Last night Between the Leaves played for around 30 people at an early show (8 p.m.) on Slowdown’s small stage. BTL consists of vocalist Stephen Sheehan (ex-Digital Sex), guitarist Richard Schultz, and the newest leaf, noisemaker Evan Blakley. It’s been a couple years since I’ve seen the original duo on stage. Not a lot has changed. They played a few songs from their debut album as well as covers by Dead Can Dance, Tim Buckley, Jefferson Airplane and Depeche Mode. Blakley’s feedback machine/noise box (I have no idea what it’s called) provided a layer of atmosphere without getting in the way of the music — a nice, needed addition. Schultz’s acoustic guitar (and keyboards) were first rate, and Sheehan’s voice has managed to stand the test of time, sounding as well as it did when I saw him in DS back in the early ’90s. Overall, the set was cast in dark tones and shadows — as if Sheehan was reliving moments best remembered alone and with eyes shut. Instead, here he was surrounded by friends who likely lived these moments alongside him. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday night.

* * *

NYC rockers Earl Greyhound returns for an under-the-radar show tonight at Sokol Underground with Wasilla band Portugal. The Man and Halifax band Wintersleep. $12, 9 p.m.

–Got comments? Post ’em here.—

There’s a feature story on Conor Oberst in Filter (here). I mention this only because this is the first detailed story with Oberst since his solo record came out earlier this year. He talks about all the usual stuff, UFOs, Mexico, the new album, but also mentions Britney Spears, Omaha and again reiterates that there has been no falling out with Saddle Creek. I’ve never read the printed version of Filter. Actually, I’ve never even seen a copy. I might try to find one this weekend. I’ve had a subscription to Rolling Stone for eons, and have put up its shift to celeb-gossip just because it’s Rolling Stone. But I can’t put up with its recent print-format change from its classic slightly oversized print edition to a new standard-size slick format. If I wanted to read Us magazine I’d buy Us magazine. So I’m searching for a replacement. Maybe it’ll be Filter…

* * *

Speaking of rumors… I’m hearing that there’s a new music venue being put together — down in the Mutual area — by a guy with a history of opening successful restaurants. More to come when I find out more…

* * *

All right, let’s look at the weekend music calendar…

Friday night (tonight!)

Danielson is at The Waiting Room with Cryptacize — both bands are affiliated with Sufjan Stevens (Sufjan apparently was once part of Danielson). Opening is our very own Talkin’ Mountain. $10, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Capgun Coup with Boo and Boo Too, and Perry H. Yuppies (they explain it here). $7, 9 p.m.

Over at The Saddle Creek Bar, it’s Chicago folk/bluegrass/rock band Haywood Yards with Lincoln acts Tsumi and Son of 76. $5, 9 p.m.

And finally, over at The Barley Street Tavern, it’s The Matt Cox Band. $4, 9 p.m.

Saturday night

The Diplomats of Solid Sound — including The Diplomettes — will be playing at The Waiting Room with Satchel Grande and The Third Men. Expect a flat-out party. $7, 9 p.m.

Also, Scott Severin’s band is playing at The Barley Street with Western Electric. $4, 9 p.m.

Sunday night

Stephen Sheehan (ex-Digital Sex) has rejoined with Richard Schultz as Between the Leaves, a project that self-released a collection of songs earlier this decade. Joining them for the reunion Sunday night at Slowdown Jr. is filmmaker Evan Blakley. BTL plays at 8 p.m., opening for Kansas City accordion combo Alacartoona and Schultz’s other band, the Miracle Men. $5, 8 p.m.

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The rumors of Niz’s departure from the music section of the Omaha World-Herald actually began at least six months ago. I flat out asked her about her status back then, and she denied that a change was imminent. And then a few months ago, I started hearing about people “from the outside” applying for her job. It seems none of them passed muster. I don’t know anything about Kevin Coffey except that publisher John Heaston told me Coffey did a brief internship at the Reader and used to edit The Creightonian (He graduated from Creighton in 2006). He got his start at the World-Herald in ’06 working on their online media. And now he assumes the position of Music Reporter. Will we be seeing him at shows (other than those at The Qwest)?

Column 197: Chasing Ghosts
A changing of the guard at the OWH.

I heard from a friend of a friend that Niz Proskocil has left the music beat at the Omaha World-Herald.

I couldn’t get an actual, dyed-in-the-wool confirmation from Niz because she had to run it past her editors, and after almost a week, still nothing. These kinds of staff changes aren’t reported by the paper unless the position in question is editor-in-chief or a rung beneath it. Changes in lower-rung jobs, like beat reporters, are treated as gossip. It’s the kind of inside poop that the editors figure no one would — or should — care about. They’re wrong, of course. The politicians and businessmen who are studied and dissected by these journalists obviously care. As for the rest of their readers, well, unless it involves the Huskers, does it matter who’s writing the stories? Not really. Other than the name on the masthead, news is anonymous. Readers remember the headline, not the byline. An exception to the rule is columnists and critics, who are defined by their unique style and opinion. But that guy covering City Hall or the western Iowa education beat — he’s a ghost.

The music beat must be a thankless job at dailies, looked down upon by the reporters doing “the important stuff,” whatever that is. The type of reader who wants to know about this weekend’s CD release shows probably doesn’t read the World-Herald. The editors know this and act accordingly, which is one of the reasons why we only get the weekend edition at my house.

There are those among us, however, who have followed the World-Herald‘s music criticism for a long, long time. For me, it started with Steve Millburg, who mainly wrote about movies. He was a critic during — or just after — the downfall of Peter Citron, a guy remembered more for charges involving child porn than for his years and years of writing restaurant and movie criticism, something Citron did well, though no one will ever admit it. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore, now that he’s dead.

Millburg held a place of prominence in the long-defunct World-Herald Sunday Entertainment section — a smart, self-contained weekly guide that included movie, music, book and art reviews, travel information, a TV guide and a crossword puzzle. Later in the week, long after the rest of the Sunday paper had been thrown away, the Entertainment section remained on the coffee table. Whether it was economics (maybe) or just a bad decision (probably), the World-Herald did away with the Entertainment section years ago, integrating some of its contents into the rest of the Sunday paper, while placing the weekend listings and band features in Thursday’s wispy Go! section.

So while my dad painstakingly studied the want ads and mom read the Living section (the sports section went unread), I grabbed Entertainment from the Sunday stack. Millburg usually had a column and a page of capsule reviews. Sometimes he wrote about music too, but that was rare. Though the rest of the OWH was a blank recitation of facts, Millburg wrote with a voice. Along with Citron’s, it was the first voice I ever read in a newspaper. It would be a voice that would be in the back of my mind throughout college.

A quick Google search reveals that Millburg is now living in Birmingham, Alabama, writing novels and doing the occasional freelance assignment.

After Millburg was Roger Catlin, a younger guy with plenty of attitude who wrote about bands like Elvis Costello and The Cucumbers. Roger didn’t last long at the Herald. Today he writes a television column for the Hartford Courant.

Next in the barrel were Jim Minge and Tony Moton — the first OWH reporters that I remember seeing at rock shows. Moton left the World-Herald in ’99 and went on to write screen plays. Minge, as we all know, now runs the City Weekly.

They were followed by Christine Laue. Though Minge and Moton tried to cover local music, it was Laue who really made it a focus and a cornerstone of the just-created Go! section back in ’01. Niz took over after Laue was moved to the fashion and pop culture beat. Today, Laue writes about condos and shopping centers.

Niz continued to cover local music even after the World-Herald pointed her squarely in the direction of the Qwest Center and its county-fair touring bands — which are, after all, what the editors assume the majority of their readers care about. They’re probably right, even though the real story — the one that defines Omaha nationally as an indie music Mecca — is taking place in small bars and local venues where tomorrow’s stars are honing their craft.

A couple weeks ago, the rumors about Niz became reality, as her byline disappeared from Go! and reappeared in the Money section. Her replacement appears to be Kevin Coffey.

There is significance to this changing of the guard. As a musician once told me after an interview — it’s nice to get featured in the alt weeklies, but to be in The Omaha World-Herald, well, “my parents read the World-Herald.” It’s a “big deal.” So while that musician will use my Reader story for packaging material, the World-Herald story will be cut out and framed; it will be read 20 years from now by his children.

Whether he knows it or his fellow reporters know or his editors and publisher know it, Coffey has one of the most important jobs at the World-Herald, at least in the minds of the army of musicians, club owners, record shop proprietors and everyone else who makes a living in this town from music. All eyes are on you, Kevin. Let’s see what you’ve got. Don’t let them turn you into a ghost.

* * *

XYZ Affair tonight at The Waiting Room. I really dug their recordings. Their live set? Well, when they came through here in February, it was somewhat disappointing. Here’s my review of that show:

Finally, the headliners, XYZ Affair, a four-piece that brought more than its share of hubris to the stage. As one guy said to me, this is what Weezer would sound like if they were a bunch of jocks. I didn’t dislike them quite that much. I mean, who can dislike a band that starts its set with an a cappella version of the intro to Prince’s “7”? Frontman Alex Feder doesn’t really sound like Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard as much as John Darnielle backed by a bar band. Flamboyant, yes, and with plenty of falsetto. Not bad, not terribly memorable. I have no doubt that their common-man pop sense will some day land this unsigned band on a major label.

I wonder if they’ve down-scaled their cheesiness over the past year. We’ll find out tonight. Opening the show is Omaha/Des Moines/Omaha transplant Adam Haug. $7, 9 p.m

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