Hey y’all, it’s Bandcamp Friday again. That means if you buy your downloads from Bandcamp today, Bandcamp will waive its fees and give all it’s money to the artists. An added bonus: Some labels, like Saddle Creek Records, also are waiving their cut, which means even more money for the artists. (Speaking of which, you might want to check out the new Land of Talk album, Indistinct Conversations, which just came out on Saddle Creek and got a whopping 7.7 from Pitchfork, who said about the album, “Low-key emotional intensity abounds in these stark, sketch-like reveries.” Indeed it does.

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Some other stuff to consider on this Bandcamp Friday:

Stephen Sheehan, who we all remember from the band Digital Sex and his solo work, also once was in a band called The World, which formed way back in 1989 and featured the rhythm section of golden age punk icons Mousetrap — bass player Craig Crawford and drummer Scott Miller — along with Digital Sex guitarist John Tingle and keyboardist Maureen Evans-Hansen. The band recorded a number of songs in 1990 that were never released and now have resurfaced 30 years later as The World (unreleased tracks – 1990). The four-song EP was restored, mixed and mastered by Tom Ware at Ware House and is being released today via Bandcamp. Check it out and read about the history of the band and buy the download.

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Uh Oh’s Joe Champion and Mari Crisler have a new 6-song EP called Joe & Mari Sing The Hits. The collection has two originals and four covers, including covers of songs by Alex G, Waxahatchee, Better Oblivion Community Center and Joe Frusciante. “Our music is always free but any cent that is donated via Bandcamp will go directly to The Union For Contemporary Art, a North Omaha nonprofit ‘founded on the belief that the arts can be a vehicle for social justice and greater civic engagement.'” Get it here. Kind of reminds me of one of my all-time favorites, Timbuk 3.

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What else have I been listening to that you can buy today at Bandcamp?

Fontaines D.C., A Hero’s Death
https://fontainesdc.bandcamp.com/album/a-heros-death

Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
https://perfumegenius.bandcamp.com/

Waxahatchee, St. Cloud
https://waxahatchee.bandcamp.com/album/saint-cloud-2

D É S I R, Solar – (Ambient electronic, from Omaha!)
https://queenofwands.bandcamp.com/album/solar

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Well, it’s another rather reserved Benson First Friday. If you’re in Benson tonight, drop on by the Little Gallery, 5901 Maple St. (the east bay of the Masonic Lodge building) where there’s actually two shows happening:

Outside there’s the Tiny Art Show, a benefit for women who run Nebraska, which is “women-power miniature art, made by amazing female artists of Omaha. We will also have a merch pop-up of all of our fan-favorite tees, totes, tank tops and more.” Inside it’s the New American Arts Festival: Oria Simonini and student work. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Strict face mask policy and limited access to the facility.

And that’s all I got. Have a great, masked weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Once again, Bandcamp is waiving its fees today on all sales to help artists trying to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. So today your purchases at Bandcamp mean even more to your favorite bands. Saddle Creek Records and a lot of other labels are also passing along digital revenue to their artists.

Here some other great Bandcamp pages to check out and buy-buy-buy stuff:

— SPEED! Nebraska — Home to recordings by the likes of Wagon Blasters, Mercy Rule, Frontier Trust and The Mezcal Brothers, among others, as well as a ton of super-cool merch like the brand new SPEED Nebraska T-shirt shown above.

— Max Trax Records — Home to Little Brazil, Leafblower, Pro-Magnum and a ton more, as well as more sweet, sweet merch. Omaha’s third biggest label? Probably not, but pretty cool.

— 15 Passenger — Home to Cursive, Criteria and campdogzz as well as the wee lad Tim Kasher. Lots o’ digital and vinyl and cool merch, because you need something cool to wear to O’Leaver’s.

— Simon Joyner — Simon always has special deals on Bandcamp Fridays. This time it’s a CD of Hotel Lives Demos from 1999-2000, limited to 100 copies, and a CD of an unreleased 6-song EP collaboration with The Bruces called A Pleasure Then, from 2003, limited to 75 copies. Tons more.

— Dereck Higgins — The Omaha legend has a mountain of music available, including his just-released 4-song EP STRENGTH.

— Digital Leather — Shawn Foree is nothing less than a diabolical genius if not a musical one, and you can’t go wrong by buying any of his releases.

— Flight School — Did I use the word “genius”? It’s a word I reserve only for the truly gifted, like Einstein, Picasso and Flight School. Don’t get lost down this rabbit hole of a website without spending some money.

— Matt Whipkey — I think it’s safe to say Matt not only is talented but also prolific, based on this page. Tons of music reaching back to his days with The Movies and Anonymous American all the way to his latest project, the incendiary Unexplained Death.

— David Nance — Including David Nance Group, a ton here from his ground-breaking Peaced and Slightly Pulverized to his take on Beatles for Sale. Weird fun!

I’m sure I missed someone/something. If I missed your Bandcamp page, put it in the comments section…

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Tonight is what I’m guessing to be the first Benson First Friday during these Days of COVID. A number of Benson galleries are giving it a try using capacity limits, mask requirements and basically no food and drink inside the galleries.

Among those participating is The Little Gallery, 5901 Maple Street (the east bay below the Masonic Lodge building), which tonight is hosting the opening of Silent Spring, a group show featuring new work created under quarantine by Joe Addison, Alex Jochim, Caitlin Little and Trudy Swanson. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. If you go, you might find this masked man sitting outside somewhere.

That’s it for the weekend. Hard to believe it’s July and we still don’t have live rock music, but that’s just the way it goes. Keep wearing a mask when you go in public and we may get live music back on our stages sooner!

Have a great weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.