Landlady at O’Leaver’s, Feb. 10, 2017.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Friday night’s Landlady show will likely go down as my first top-5 music moment of 2017. Fronted by Adam Schatz a.k.a. Brown Sugar of the band Man Man, the five-piece played a striking set of proggy indie rock that recalled Schatz’s other band and, for me any ways, acts like Les Savy Fav and Head of Femur. Landlady’s sound is inventive without being disjointed, melodic but sonically adventurous. And there’s nothing quite like Schatz’ voice, a high, cooing nasal delivery that bounces and jumps along with the acidic, almost afrobeat-style rhythms.

Drummer Ian Chang is one of the best stickmen I’ve seen under O’Leaver’s record collection, a marvel of poly-rhythms, he kept the sound boiling as Schatz and company rifled through a set of tunes off the bands’ last couple of albums. Highlights were a raging version of standout tracks “Electric Abdomen” and “Driving in California,” both off stellar new album The World Is a Loud Place (Hometapes, 2017).

At set’s end, Schatz brought up a small horn section, who stayed for the epic closer, a 10-plus-minute performance of “Above My Ground” where-in Schatz climbed above the crowd, leading them in a chorus of “Always, always, always…” that built to a climatic release. Well, you can see and hear for yourself in the following clip recorded from my phone for Facebook Live.

I’m told this was one of first times that opening act Thick Paint has performed as a full-blown band. Joining Graham Patrick Ulicny was a second guitarist, Icky Blossoms’ Sarah Boehling on bass, and two drummers.

Thick Paint at O’Leaver’s, Feb. 10, 2017.

The product was proggy goodness reminiscent of early Talking Heads. Like Schatz, Ulicny has a unique, high-end voice like no one else around here. The only set-back was that the band only played four songs because they’re so new together. We all want more, Mr. Ulicny.

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More about the above video: I am, again, pleasantly surprised at the audio quality one can capture from a handheld iPhone 7. I figured the mics would be blown out, but this doesn’t sound bad at all.

I had someone tell me I should do these iPhone recordings at every show. I don’t for a number of reasons, the first being it’s probably illegal, at least without the band’s permission. Second is that it’s got to be rather annoying for the band to see some guy holding a camera while they’re playing. And third, I’d rather just enjoy the music. Still, if I can sneak one song onto Facebook Live by bands that I know won’t mind, I will. Follow me at facebook.com/mcmahan.

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Arbor Labor Union at Milk Run May 28, 2016.

Word went out over the weekend that Milk Run is leaving its current location at 1907 Leavenworth. In fact, this weekend’s shows were the last at that specific venue, which hosted its first show Nov. 6, 2015.

Sam Parker, one of the founders of Milk Run, confirmed the rumor, saying the all-ages performance space will move to a new location with cheaper rent.

“It’ll be before the end of of the month. Possibly as early as this week,” Parker said. “It’ll be in the midtown area.”

Tried as I might, I could not pry the new location out of Parker. He said the owners will make an announcement this week “when they’re ready.” He did say the new space will be “roughly the same size” as the old Milk Run space. He also said expect the same sort of progressive, indie-flavored bookings.

Milk Run is one of the few places in town that consistently books out-of-town indie, post-punk and progressive bands. I was hoping the new place would be a tad larger than the crackerbox space on Leavenworth. We shall see soon enough…

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Is Spotify changing the way we listen to albums?

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Finally, my answer to that burning Facebook question: “List 10 albums that have made a lasting impression on you as a teenager, but don’t think too long about it.”

My answer is in this month’s Over the Edge column in the current issue of The Reader, on newsstands now or online right here. Not only do I provide my list, but I talk about why few people under the age of 30 are able to make their own list, and how Spotify is changing the way I listen to records. Read it online here.

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Punk rockers Wolf Dealer made a video for their latest song, “Too Old to Die Young,” featuring skateboards and pizza. It was filmed on a stupid smartphone, says frontman Jason Steady.

Wolf Dealer are playing this Saturday, Feb. 11, at Milk Run with Karen Meat from Des Moines, IA, “who are the best band in the world,” Steady says. “Bradley, their Omnichord player and co-songwriter, used to live in Omaha and was in the best line-up of Talking Mountain in the golden years when we released that vinyl album, but failed miserably.” More on that show later.

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O’Leaver’s sent out their upcoming schedule, and among the shows currently flying under a lot of people’s radars is Friday night’s gig featuring the band Landlady. Turns out Landlady is a project by Adam Schatz a.k.a. Brown Sugar of the band Man Man. Now I’ve got to change my Friday plans…

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Tonight is the big Dawes show at The Waiting Room, which is being promoted as “An Evening with Dawes,” which I guess is an easy way of saying there are no opening acts. If you haven’t already, read my Ten Questions with Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith before you go to the show. Tickets are $25, starts at 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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.