Future Island’s Sam Herring in full shimmy mode during SXSW 2014. The band plays Saturday night at Waiting Room Outdoors.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This will go down as the year’s busiest weekends musicwise, at least from an indie music perspective. Yeah, you’ve got Lincoln Calling going on as well as two outdoor shows in Omaha, but you also have a slew of shows at other venues, all of which is going to require making some tough choices.

For those of you who aren’t afraid to drive to Lincoln, Lincoln Calling is very likely on top of the list. The festival continues tonight (no doubt hampered by those pesky Huskers) and Saturday night. The schedule is below and the cost remains $34 for Friday and Saturday (per day). Three-day passes are $59 (plus $8 fees). Get the full skinny at lincolncalling.com.

Friday
The Bourbon
Angel Olsen
Julie Byrne
UMM

Duffy’s Outdoor
Beach Fossils
El Ten Eleven
Closeness
Josh Hoyer
Evan Bartels
Oquoa

Zoo Bar
Universe Contest
Gerardo Meza & Friends
Those Far Out Arrows
Kait Berreckman

Bodega’s Alley
Future Punx
Sego
I Forgot to Love My Father
Once A Pawn
Jacob James Wilton
Number One Hit Kids

The Bay
Kemba
Cakes Da Killa
Jewels and Thalia
Ria Gold

1867 Bar
Eu1ogy
Bogusman
Arc Flash
CBN
Stiff Middle Finger
Screaming Plastic
Edem Soul Music

Night Market
Bazille Mills
Ashley Buck
Histrionic
Pleiades and the Bear
Wagon Blasters

Saturday
The Bourbon
Charli XCX
Flint Eastwood
Plack Blague

Duffy’s Outdoor
(Sandy) Alex G
CupcakKe
Pile
Digital Leather
David Nance
Flowers Forever

Zoo Bar
John Moreland
Brad Hoshaw
AZP
Jagaja
Andrea Von Kampen

Bodega’s Alley
Ghost Foot
Nation of Language
See Through Dresses
Ro Hempel Band
AllSortsOfGood

The Bay
PUP
Yana
The Bad Ideas
Uh Oh
Boner Killerz

1867 Bar
Hovvdy
Crumb
John Freidel
Ojai

Night Market
The Ambulanters
Briner
Bokr Tov
Sleep Sinatra
The In-Betweens

* * *

Meanwhile, back here in Omaha, One Percent Productions is putting on two nights of outdoor shows with acts that make it seem like a mini Maha Festival. The location is at “Waiting Room Outdoors,” which is just outside of Jake’s on Military Ave. between Maple St. & Binney St. The space will have booze tents, concessions and a food truck.

Tonight’s headliner is Fleet Foxes, whose 10 Questions interview you read right here. Opening band is Canadian act Nap Eyes. $36, 7 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) the headliner Future Islands — one of most entertaining live indie acts I’ve seen in recent years thanks to the showmanship of frontman Sam Herring. Yeah, he has some crazy dance moves, but he goes above and beyond all that to capture the audience’s attention. This Future Islands show is loaded. You also get co-headliner Explosions in the Sky and the nasty beats of Holy Fuck. Chapel Hill act Jenny Besetzt opens at 5:30 p.m. $35.

What else is happening this weekend?

Tonight the indie-metal rock of Pro-Magnum returns to fabulous O’Leaver’s. It’s been too long since these guys have played at The Club. Opening is Ghost Foot. $5, 10:30 p.m. (after the Husker game).

Also tonight, Austin indie-noise act Vampyre headlines at Brothers Lounge. Joining them are Church of Gravitron and Lincoln’s Dirty Talker. $5, 9 p.m.

And let’s not forget Porchfest is tonight. Bands include Jack Hotel, Matt Cox, The Bottle Tops, McCarthy Trenching, Midwest Dilemma, Picklegrass, The Shineys, The Bedrock and Scott Severin, among others. The line-up and schedule are here.

Saturday night it’s back to Brothers Lounge for the return of Navy Gangs, with Future Punx and Nathan Ma and the Rosettes. $5, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Phoenix act Pro-Teens headlines at O’Leaver’s with Chaca and Sgt. Leisure. $5, 10 p.m.

Finally Sunday night, the legendary Marshall Crenshaw plays an early evening show at The Slowdown. Bottle Rocks open. This starts at 5 p.m. Tickets are $22 Adv/$27 DOS.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A couple weeks ago when it was announced that Charles Bradley had canceled his upcoming tour dates — including the Sept. 29 Lincoln Calling appearance — I figured the show would go on without a second headliner that day (Angel Olsen already is slated). But just like that Lincoln Calling lined up a replacement in the form of Beach Fossils.

The Brooklyn band that records on hot label Captured Tracks is part of a family of cool indie bands that includes DIIV, Wild Nothing and Heavenly Beat. You might remember them for their role in the ill-fated HBO series Vinyl (They were The Nasty Bits, fronted by “Kip Stevens” a.k.a. James Jagger (as in Mick’s son)). Not a bad get for a last-minute addition. And I do mean last minute — Lincoln Calling is the weekend after next weekend. Find out more at lincolncalling.com.

* * *

Two shows tonight.

At Reverb it’s hot new indie act Vagabon. Pitchfork calls the Brooklyn act fronted by Lætitia Tamko “an Indie Rock Game Changer.” I wouldn’t go that far. Instead, she carries on a tradition of great songwriting that starts way back with Liz Phair and stands side by side with today’s best, such as Speedy Ortiz and Hop Along (who I’m most reminded of). Our very own game changer, See Through Dresses, opens along with Nnamdi Ogbonnaya. $12, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Simon Joyner is hosting a show at his house featuring singer/songwriter Ralph White. White was a member of well-loved punk bluegrass outfit Bad Livers. He plays a wooden six-string banjo, violin, button accordion and kalimba. Simon says his music is “in the spirit of appalachian avant garde country bluegrass music.” Screaming Plastic (cello/guitar improv) and L. Eugene Methe (solo singer-songwriter pop) are opening. Doors at 7:30 and show starting at 8 sharp. Cost is a donation of $5-$10. Simon and Sara’s house is located at 4216 S. 22nd St.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Lincoln Calling

Last Friday the folks at Lincoln Calling (i.e., Hear Nebraska) announced the final line-up for this year’s event Sept. 28-30. “Closeness, Oquoa, Flowers Forever, Darren Keen, The Ambulanters will join headliners Charli XCX, Best Coast, Angel Olsen, along with Charles Bradley, Frankie Cosmos, Pup, (Sandy) Alex G, John Moreland and so many more of the country’s top emerging artists,” according to the press  release.

It is, indeed, a loaded ticket, with something special every night, Thursday (Frankie Cosmos, Navy Gang, Best Coast); Friday (Angel Olsen, Charles Bradley, UMM) and Saturday (Pile, Charlie XCX, Digital Leather). It’s going to make it hard for us Omahans to pick one night to drive down there. Day passes are $29 for Thursday and $34 for Friday and Saturday (per day). Three-day passes are $59 (plus $8 fees). Do the math.

Here’s the full line-up w/venues:

Thursday
Bourbon Theater
Best Coast
Cayetana
Twinsmith

Duffy’s Outdoor
Palehound
Wand
Post Animal
Acid Dad
Matt Stansberry & the Romance
Salt Creek

Zoo Bar
Mount Moriah
Ian Sweet
McCarthy Trenching
The Artichoke Hearts

Bodega’s Alley
Malcolm London
R.O.E.
M Shah
HAKIM
Maddog & the 20/20’s
Stathi

The Bay
Frankie Cosmos
Navy Gangs
Thick Paint
Sean Pratt

1867
Street Sects
Cult Play
Crease
Darren Keen
Low Long Signal
Verse and the Vices
Bomb Earth

Night Market
Jens Lehman
Karmen Delancey
Indigenous AK
Bach Mai
Orion Walsh

Friday
The Bourbon
Angel Olsen
Julie Byrne
UMM

Duffy’s Outdoor
Charles Bradley
El Ten Eleven
Closeness
Josh Hoyer
Evan Bartels
Oquoa

Zoo Bar
Universe Contest
Gerardo Meza & Friends
Those Far Out Arrows
Kait Berreckman

Bodega’s Alley
Future Punx
Sego
I Forgot to Love My Father
Once A Pawn
Jacob James Wilton
Number One Hit Kids

The Bay
Kemba
Cakes Da Killa
Jewels and Thalia
Ria Gold

1867 Bar
Eu1ogy
Bogusman
Arc Flash
CBN
Stiff Middle Finger
Screaming Plastic
Edem Soul Music

Night Market
Bazille Mills
Ashley Buck
Histrionic
Pleiades and the Bear
Wagon Blasters

Saturday
The Bourbon
Charli XCX
Flint Eastwood
Plack Blague

Duffy’s Outdoor
(Sandy) Alex G
CupcakKe
Pile
Digital Leather
David Nance
Flowers Forever

Zoo Bar
John Moreland
Brad Hoshaw
AZP
Jagaja
Andrea Von Kampen

Bodega’s Alley
Ghost Foot
Nation of Language
See Through Dresses
Ro Hempel Band
AllSortsOfGood

The Bay
PUP
Yana
The Bad Ideas
Uh Oh
Boner Killerz

1867 Bar
Hovvdy
Crumb
John Freidel
Ojai

Night Market
The Ambulanters
Briner
Bokr Tov
Sleep Sinatra
The In-Betweens

* * *

Tonight at Reverb Lounge it’s Kevin Morby, who’s Ten Question survey you read here last week. Morby’s new album City Music (Dead Oceans, 2017) is very good indeed, especially if you’re a fan of Kurt Vile-style songwriting. Shannon Lay opens at 9 p.m. $12.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Matthew Sweet, Tomorrow Forever (2017, Honeycomb Hideout)

What goes into writing a “hit song,” a song people will sing along to or remember or select for a play list or mix tape? It’s something I’ll have to ask Matthew Sweet if I ever get a chance, but I have an idea how he’ll answer: “I don’t know. If I knew, I’d have written more hit songs.”

“Come Correct,” the 13th track on his new double album Tomorrow Forever (2017, Honeycomb Hideout) and the last song on Side 3 has all the makings of a hit song — the crack rhythm track, chop guitar, a simple melody, sing-along lyrics. It’s a great song that stood out the first time I listened to the record. You can imagine it playing on your favorite FM channel… 20 years ago, back when there was such things as a hit record.

It’s not the only good song on the album. Tomorrow Forever is a return to form for Sweet and maybe his most accessible collection since 100% Fun or that Japanese “thank you” record, 2003’s Kimi Ga Suki. Old time fans will want to know how it compares to Sweet’s magnum opus, 1991’s Girlfriend. It holds its own, though it’s not quite as accessible or an obvious classic (only time will tell).

If you’re not familiar with Sweet’s sound, it’s sort of a power-pop amalgam of The Byrds with Big Star with Teenage Fanclub with The Posies with Sweet’s unique high-end, nasal voice. You could say there’s a ’90s flair to the music. His style hasn’t changed much since Girlfriend, but then again, why should it?

The only thing holding this album back is the lyrics, which too often are overtly obtuse or speculative — they’re too spacey and ungrounded, as if trying to be psychedelic. On the other hand, almost every song on Girlfriend was memorable thanks to lyrics that something anyone could identify with — love songs loaded with pain and/or redemption. “Come Correct” of this new one scores because the lyrics are obvious and real: “Don’t dance don’t dance / Get your head out of the sand / I don’t want to be in anybody’s band.”

The same holds true for tracks like “You Knew Me,” “Carol” and “Country Girl.”  But not so much for all those time travel/inter-dimensional songs, like opening track “Trick,” or “Entangled” and “Hello,” which have a ephemeral, hippy-ish quality wherein afterward you wonder what Sweet was trying to say (if you remember the lyrics at all).

In some of his past albums (and live performances) Sweet’s guitar noodling veered dangerously close to jam territory. Not so here, where the clear, simple arrangements keep the songs focused, as if Sweet was trying to write as many hit songs as possible. There’s more than a few on Tomorrow Forever, which is more than you’ll hear on most albums reviewed in Pitchfork. Rating: Yes

I only hope Sweet uses the same restraint when he plays The Waiting Room this weekend. The last couple times I saw him perform he and his band were more focused on rocking than trying to capture the subtleties of his best songs.

* * *

As if Lincoln Calling wasn’t big enough, this morning they announced another wave of 67 bands for the festival that runs Sept. 28-30 in Lincoln (duh), including Pile, El Ten Eleven, Mount Moriah, Umm, See Through Dresses and Digital Leather. They’re also now selling day passes that run from $29 to $34. 3-day festival passes are $59. Find out more at lincolncalling.com.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Wilder Maker, “New Streets” b/w “Only Child” (2017, Saddle Creek)

First of all, I’m a sucker for record clubs. I belonged to the Sub Pop Singles club for years; I joined Matador’s record club for a short while, and now Saddle Creek is doing its version of a record club with its Document series, and so far, they’re two for two.

Says Saddle Creek: “The Document Series is comprised of an exclusive record featuring unreleased music from artists outside of Saddle Creek’s roster, along with a specially curated zine highlighting the artist’s hometown / music scene.”

Brooklyn five-piece Wilder Maker has been around since 2012. Led by Gabriel Birnbaum, this is solid, tuneful songwriting (as you’ll hear when you listen to the  track, below). Call it pop indie, it has more in common with ’70s FM rock than anything on Sirius XMU, where it’s bound to get some airplay.

They’re apparently pals with Sam Evian, who recorded the tracks at his Figure 8 studio, which might explain the Saddle Creek connection, as Evian released his last album on Saddle Creek last year.

As is probably the intent, after buying the preorder, I checked out Wilder Maker’s last release, 2015’s Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire, Vol. III on Bandcamp, a sleepy six-song EP which bears little resemblance to the Saddle Creek single but is interesting in its own (perhaps too) laid-back way.

In addition to being more upbeat than the EP, the single features Katie Von Schleicher on lead vocals rather than Birnmaum’s growl-y voice. And so, Saddle Creek can add another to their list of strong female-fronted releases that includes Hop Along and break-out act Big Thief.

I’m kind of liking this one-at-a time (actually two-at-a-time) approach to physical releases. Would I like a full-length by Wilder Maker? Sure, if all the tracks were this good. I’m not sure if singles make economic sense for the label or the band (these singles clubs have a way of evaporating over time) but for me, good things come in small packages, sometimes.

* * *

I have seen the initial line-up announcement for this year’s Lincoln Calling festival, which is slated for Sept. 28-30. You will be seeing it, too, sometime today, whenever Hear Nebraska decides to release it (probably any moment now). It is impressive. There are at least four Maha-quality headliners and a plethora of second-tier indie stars. Keep your eyes peeled to lincolncalling.com. Or just watch your social media feeds…

* * *

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.