After receiving countless complaints from people “going blind” trying to read my blog/website, last night a new, improved and easier-to-read version of Lazy-i.com was quietly launched to an unsuspecting world. Designed by über-genius Donovan Beery of Eleven19.com, the new site uses WordPress technology to better organize and simplify content, allow for easier sharing of stories/blog entries in Facebook/Twitter, and allow for easier reading on a browser or mobile device. Pretty snazzy, eh?

While the design has changed, the content remains the same: Feature interviews, reviews and news with a focus on indie and the best music Omaha has to offer, just like when it all began in ’98. Which is a great segue to telling you that all the old content in the old format continues to live online (for now), and can be found linked under the right-side nav beneath the heading “The First Decade.”

So take a look and give me your feedback, either below this blog entry or in the Forum (i.e., the webboard). This is Lazy-i’s first site redesign in 12 years. Hopefully it’s good enough to last until the next one, which isn’t slated until April 2022.

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Not much to report from this past weekend. I did catch Fang Island at Slowdown Jr. Saturday night and was marginally impressed, if not a tad disappointed. Yeah, the band is blowing up on the strength of its full-length debut, but I found their live presentation somewhat flat and monotonous, especially compared to the record. With their style of metal-flavored prog rock — and a name like Fang Island — I expected something more theatrical than the usual bunch of sloppily dressed guys slouched over their guitars, grunting. Whatever happened to showmanship?

It was yet another strange crowd at Slowdown. Outside on the patio I was cornered by a couple guys who said they were drawn to the “apocalyptic themes” of headliner Red Sparowes’ music, who then went on to tell me how the world is controlled by a league of evil multi-national corporations (Coca-Cola among them) that are using governments (including the United States) as pawns in their evil plot for world domination. I merely nodded, remembering that I, too, was young once. When I discovered that they were Creighton Poli-Sci majors I tried to change the subject to basketball and the just-breaking news that Dana Altman was leaving Creighton to coach at Oregon, but both said (in unison) “We don’t have time for childish endeavors like basketball and college sports.” I merely nodded again, and headed back inside…

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This week: Jeremy Messersmith in Wednesday’s column, and an interview with The Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn Thursday…