by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Bright Eyes announced a handful of tour dates yesterday. You can see them right here. The interesting omission (other than a Nebraska show) is how the dates end on March 17 (in Nashville). And we all know what’s going on that weekend. Could Conor and the boys be contemplating a mammoth, heroic return to the South by Southwest Music Festival? It would be a great way for Saddle Creek to lock in one of the larger venues — such as Stubb’s — for a showcase. Stubbs is where PJ Harvey and Metallica have performed in years past. A Bright Eyes appearance might be enough to get me to return to Austin again this year.

BTW, I don’t know who’s in Bright Eyes these days other than Conor, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott, but washingtoncitypaper.com reported today that Laura Burhenn will be a member of Bright Eyes, at least on this upcoming tour. Laura, who’s in The Mynabirds, played on the upcoming The People’s Key, slated for release Feb. 15, along with Andy LeMaster (Now It’s Overhead), Matt Maginn (Cursive), Carla Azar (Autolux), Clark Baechle (The Faint), Shane Aspegren (The Berg Sans Nipple), and Denny Brewer (Refried Ice Cream). How many more of those folks will comprise the core Bright Eyes touring band?

Read more about Laura’s other project — omahype.com — in tomorrow’s column.

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In other news, our old friends, the Ames, Iowa band Poison Control Center, announced today that it’s releasing a limited edition 7-inch single on New Years Eve. What makes the item interesting is that it’s a plastic plate single. “Yes, I said PLASTIC PLATE SINGLE!,” says the press release. “All 100 limited edition 7-inch Plastic Plates were cut by hand. Cutting a vinyl record on a record lathe is one of the oldest methods of sound recording.” And so on.

I thought they were being cute with the “plastic plate” thing until I went to lathecuts.com, who’s making the record. The Olympia, Washington company’s website says: “In the future, Lathecuts.com will offer cheap one-sided flexible picnic plate records custom made for you in quantities as low as 20, with no setup fee and a short turnaround time.” Go to lathecuts’ owner label website — piaptk.com — and you’ll see a large offering of “picnic plate” 7-inches from bands like Christmas, Electric Sunset and Black Prairie.

Sayeth piaptk (which stands for People in the Position to Know): “Over the summer, we’ve been focusing on putting the new record lathes to work making one-sided flexi singles out of picnic plates. The ‘tonal coloring’ and slight loss of fidelity that these records have hopefully adds to the experience and gives the songs a new flavor. You are helping to save a poor innocent picnic plate from the indignity of being used to hold hot wings and then carelessly discarded.” I think we’re seeing an entirely new sustainability model for the record industry!

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Tonight is Homeless for the Holidays Pt. 2 down at Slowdown Jr. The lineup includes Jake Bellows, Landing on the Moon, Beauty in the Beast, Lincoln’s Pharmacy Spirits and Panda Face. Show starts at 9.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.