by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Saddle Creek Records announced this morning that it’ll have four vinyl releases for Record Store Day, April 21, 2012, including three 7-inch singles.

Of the 12-inch variety, there’s Cursive’s Burst and Bloom EP, back on vinyl for the first time in years, pressed on RSD-exclusive yellow, white and black marbled vinyl limited to 1,500 copies. Very cool.

Ah, but what I’m excited about are the singles, which they’re calling “7-inch previews” since all preceed full-length releases by the bands:

Icky Blossoms — “Babes” b/w “Chicas,” a Spanish version of the A-side, pressed on colored vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies.

Mynabirds — “Generals” b/w non-album track “Fallen Doves.” The 7″ features silk screened sleeves hand spray painted and numbered by frontwoman Laura Burhenn herself. Covers are available in five different paint colors, and limited to 1,000 copies on black vinyl.

PUJOL — “REVERSE VAMPIRE” b/w demo version of “PSYCHIC PAIN.” The record is pressed on colored vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies.

As an added bonus, each release comes with an mp3 download code, so you can listen to them on your “portable electronic device.” I love 7-inch singles, and wish-wish-wish Saddle Creek would develop a singles club like Matador has now and Sub Pop used to have…

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Believe it or not, I subscribe to Rolling Stone and have for years, though I don’t know why when these days they devote too much space to TV and teen film stars (Hey, how else am I supposed to keep up on the Twilight saga?). Anyway, yesterday RS emailed me that they’ve digitized every back issue, dating back to the iconic Nov. 9, 1967, debut with John Lennon on the cover. They call it Rolling Stone All Access, and the service is free if you’re a subscriber. We’re talking full scans of full pages of each issue, including the advertising, which can be as entertaining as the articles and reviews.  The archive even appears to be somewhat indexed , though I haven’t had a chance to really kick the tires on their search engine. However, when I searched for Cursive, up popped the April 3, 2003, issue, with the 4-star review of The Ugly Organ. For those interested in rock music history, All Access alone is worth the subscription price.

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Tonight at Slowdown Jr. a huge five-band bill featuring punk folkies Andrew Jackson Jihad, along with Cheap Girls, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, The Sidekicks and Roar! $15, 8 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tomorrow I’m off to Austin to cover a few days of SXSW for The Reader… and for Lazy-i.com. Here’s how the coverage will work: The daily “updates” will be posted at thereader.com (I’ll post a link to it here daily). However, my photos from the previous day’s adventures will appear right here the following morning (if I’m not being held in custody). The final wrap-up will, of course, appear in the printed edition of The Reader (and online there and here).

In addition to my coverage, The Reader also will have daily posts by Reader Music Editor Chris Aponick and Hear Nebraska owner/operator Andy Norman — all exclusive. That’s what you get when you provide the badges. Not included in the deal, however, is Twitter/Facebook. So for updates and comments from SXSW throughout the day — including photos — follow me at twitter.com/tim_mcmahan — Fun!

This year’s Omaha presence at SXSW is… respectable. Saddle Creek will have a showcase Friday night with Mynabirds, Big Harp and Icky Blossoms. Other Creek acts in Austin include PUJOL and Two Gallants. In addition, Depressed Buttons has a gig on Saturday, but that’s about it for official SXSW performances. Sounds like a couple other local peeps will be performing, but they’ll be playing unofficial shows not part of an actual SXSW showcase — not it matters as most people can’t tell the difference between an official and unofficial event.

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Sales numbers for Cursive’s I Am Gemini are in, and they’re a bit surprising. According to Mike Fratt, general manager at Homer’s, first week sales of I Am Gemini were 4,300 physical units, 1,250 digital for a total of 5,550. Fratt was surprised at the low percentage of digital sales. Wonder if it has anything to do with the album’s fantastic combined vinyl/CD packaging?

Fratt said 2nd week sales were off all charts (on neither top 200, nor Heatseekers chart), and off digital, which would mean fewer than 360 physical and fewer than 1,000 digital.

One more stat of note: I Am Gemini was the first Saddle Creek release that wasn’t made available on Spotify the week it was released, and last I looked it still wasn’t.

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Before I head out of town, I’m contemplating attending tonight’s big show at The Waiting Room — New Lungs will be unveiling some new material when they headline a show with Millions of Boys, Swamp Walk and Places We Slept. Quite a lineup, and the price is right: FREE. Show starts at 9 p.m.

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Finally, I keep running into people telling me they sure do miss my column not realizing that I still write a column, but that it’s exclusively published in The Reader and not here. With that in mind, I’m going to post links to my weekly column right here in Lazy-i, though I won’t be posting the actual text.

And I’m starting today with a link to last week’s column, which is particularly timely since it talks about the Equal Employment Ordinance being voted on today by the Omaha City Council. Read that column right here.

See you in Austin.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Saddle Creek SXSW game plan is beginning to take form. We now know that The Mynabirds and Big Harp are both going to Austin this year. Glancing at their Saddle Creek tour calendar, Creek’s newest recruits, Icky Blossoms, is slated to play at Austin’s Waterloo Records March 15 as part of a showcase. And PUJOL was invited to SXSW a long time ago.

On the other hand, we know that Cursive won’t be there. Neither will Bright Eyes after last year’s appearance. Still, Creek’s presence is pretty strong, and who knows who else will join the party. The label has yet to announce if it will be hosting an actual showcase (though I assume it will).

Another familiar face, former Omahan Jake Bellows, tweeted that he’s headed to SXSW. And local band Blue Bird continues to be in the running for a SXSW spot as part of this promotion. Beyond that, I can’t see anyone else from Omaha making the trip this year… so far.

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Looks like Kansrocksas has gone belly up, for now. Organizers are saying (here) that they’re taking a year off while the Kansas Speedway undergoes a construction project, and that they’ll be back better than ever in 2013. I’ll believe it when I see it. Rumor has it that their “successful inaugural” year lost north of a million dollars.

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Tonight at Slowdown Jr., it’s the return of Tennis. The band first came played the Slowdown Jr. stage in August 2010 (review here). That was the couple’s third show ever. They returned in February 2011 (interview here). And now they’re back again supporting a new album, Young & Old, produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. They’ve lightened their retro jukebox sound for something more streamlined and indie. The result (at times) is reminiscent of The Sundays (or at least Aliana Moore is beginning to sound like Harriet Wheeler). Betsy Wells opens. 9 p.m. $10.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.