by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Saddle Creek Records has a history of discovering amazing talent and then somehow losing it to other record labels. One recent, unfortunate example is indie powerhouse Big Thief, who broke to a huge national audience with their debut studio album, Masterpiece in 2016, and the follow-up, Capacity, the following year, both released on Saddle Creek.  But the band moved to legendary indie powerhouse 4AD Records with the release of U.F.O.F. in 2018.

Now Indigo De Souza, another rising indie star who got her start at Saddle Creek Records, has ditched the label after 2023’s All of This Will End, and today announced her full-length, Precipice, will be coming out July 25 on Loma Vista Recordings. Check out the first single, “Heartthrob,” below. De Souza will be doing limited touring, including performances at Pitchfork Festivals in London and Paris. 

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With Saddle Creek still in mind, today some news about Desaparecidos member Ian McElroy a.k.a. Rig 1. The former Omahan now New Yorker dropped a new single today, “Old Gaia,” that also features Brad Greenberg a.k.a. BrightA. It was released by Flower Moon Records, a label run by Maria Taylor of former Saddle Creek Records act, Azure Ray fame. Check it.

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Saddle Creek got a shout out in the New York Times in a feature story about the Rilo Kiley’s “Resurrection” published this past Tuesday (link behind firewall). The article traces the band’s rise with the release of arguably their best album, The Execution of All Things, in 2002, and follow-up, More Adventurous, in 2004, both released by Creek. The band split with Saddle Creek for 2007’s Under the Blacklight, which came out on Warner Bros. They broke up a year later.

Now Rilo Kiley’s back and on the road again (including a show at the Astro Amphitheater Sept. 17), supporting last week’s reissue of Execution, again on Saddle Creek Records. The Times article states there’s a “greatest hits album” coming out on Saddle Creek; but are they talking about the reissue? Can’t imagine the Times being inaccurate…

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Just a head’s up: As I was perusing upcoming shows on The Slowdown website, I noticed one of the few shows I was looking forward to seeing at the venue — Hurray for the Riff Raff — has canceled their July 15 show. No reason was given for the cancelation, as the tour continues to Chicago July 17…

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One show that’s not cancelled is tonight’s Nada Surf concert at The Waiting Room. Described as an indie band, I’ve always thought of them as alternative, having scored a hit back in ’96 with the Weezer-ish track “Popular,” off their High/Low album, released on Elektra. Man, it must be weird singing that song almost 30 years later. The band has always made Omaha a tour stop, going back to the early 2000s. Chattanooga duo The Cle Elum opens the show at 8 p.m. $25. 

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Rig 1, a.k.a. Desaparecidos’ Ian McElroy, has a new single and album coming…

by Tim McMahan,Lazy-i.com

Desaparecidos keyboardist Ian McElroy’s hip-hop project, Rig 1, released a new single yesterday, “Kindest Brother.” The track comes from his upcoming album, Separation Illusion, which drops Nov. 3 on Maria Taylor’s Flower Moon Records. The song was written by McElroy and Neva Dinova frontman Jake Bellows.

The track will be released as a double A-sided 7-inch b/w “Real Hot Boy,” a track that features Maria Taylor, Mike Bloom and Josh Rawson (Felice Brothers). In fact, the album’s credits is a “who’s who” of early century Omaha Indie music glitterati and includes Todd Fink and Clark Baechle of The Faint, Nik Freitas, Blake Sennet of Rilo Kiley and Kirby James Fairchild (Granddaddy, Modest Mouse). 

To me, McElroy’s Rig 1 delivery has always been more like spoken word over trip-hop rhythms rather than straight up hip hop, like listening to slam poetry to a beat track. Check it:

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Tonight at Pageturners Lounge in Dundee indie trio Ojai headlines. The band consists of singer/songwriter Michael Hulstein with Micah Renner on bass and Tanner Rogerson on drums. Sounding like a pop-rock version of Wilco meets Harry Nilsson, they just played the opening slot at Petfest 2023 (and are probably still recovering from heat stroke).

Joining Ojai is touring singer/songwriter Al Oleander — on the road supporting her debut album, Easy Crier, a record who’s backing band included members of The Felice Brothers. Something called Stick With It opened at 8 p.m. No cover, but a $10 donation is suggested. 

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A few bits from the in-box.

Rig 1, a.k.a. Ian McElroy of Desaparecidos fame, has a new record coming out May 13 on Team Love. Titled North of Maple

, the album includes contributions by Clark Baechle, Jacob Thiele and Dapose from The Faint, Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) and Orenda Fink; and is produced by Andy LeMaster (Now It’s Overhead). The album release show is May 14 at Bowery Electric in NYC, so get your plane tickets now. The first single, “Duality,” is below:

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Protomartyr is a band I (luckily) fell across a couple times this year at SXSW, and it turns out, was one of my favorites. Much to my surprise (and pleasure) I notice they’ve been booked to play Slowdown Jr. May 15 (It’s an Eyeball Production). If you have even a passing interest in post-punk, you need to attend this show.

Anyway, yesterday Protomartyr was featured in AV Club‘s “Pioneering” series where they were interviewed about The Stooges and performed a cover of “Down on the Street” at the Michigan Union Ballroom (why that location is significant requires watching the video). Check it out below:

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I considered Matt Whipkey’s and Brad Hoshaw’s split 7-inch release party to be Record Store Day, specifically their performance for hundreds of line-waiters outside of Homer’s before the shop opened last Saturday.

Instead, they’ll both be performing tonight at Whipkey’s weekly Wednesday night performance at the Harney Street Tavern (Whipkey Wednesday), and are calling it their record release show for “I Miss You” b/w “Sorry,” which will be available for purchase at the show. 9 p.m., free.

Also tonight downtown, Provo band Desert Noises (SQE Music – yep, that’s The Faint’s label) plays with John Klemmensen and the Party at The Hive, 1207 Harney St. $7, 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. Copyright © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.