Zola Jesus at The Waiting Room, Oct. 11, 2017.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A very sparse crowd last night for Zola Jesus at The Waiting Room; which wasn’t surprising. I remember seeing her five years ago at SXSW with a friend (who also was at last night’s show). The SXSW show was packed — shoulder to shoulder. I remember my friend saying Zola Jesus would have a hard time drawing in Omaha, and he was right… five years later.

I got there just in time to see/hear the last 15 minutes of one of the openers, John Wiese. The act was basically this guy sitting in the dark on stage plugging away at a computer that made loud static noises, layered tones and other dramatic sound effects. Some folks said it sounded like the soundtrack to a horror movie. I thought it sounded like someone working on his car. I wanted to yell, “OK, try it again…”

Zola Jesus came on at around 9:15. A trio, frontwoman Rosa Danilova was flanked by a guitarist and violinist. No drums, no bass. All of that was handled by programming and pre-recorded tracks, which I assumed were controlled from the sound board.

When I saw Zola Jesus five years ago, the music was entirely ethereal, ambient compositions, very drone-y. By contrast, last night could have been a dance party — dark, pop songs driven by big beats, thick bass and Danilova’s amazing voice that (to me) recalls early Sinead O’Connor. The set was broken up by gorgeous slower numbers, like album highlight “Witness,” which Danilova said was about suicide. Actually, her new album, Okovi (2017, Sacred Bones) dwells on death, though you wouldn’t know it by the beats.

Five years ago I thought Danilova could become the next Gaga. Now I’m thinking she could be a better, more human version of St. Vincent, sans guitar of course. I guess we’ll see in another five years.

* * *

Tonight there’s a slew of events, some of which don’t have a live music component.

Film Streams, for example, is showing a special memorial screening of Nik Fackler’s feature motion picture, Lovely, Still, in honor of Martin Landau, who passed away a few months ago. The program starts at 7 p.m.

Also this evening author Richard Boch, the doorman at the legendary Mudd Club in the early ’80s, is doing a Q&A with our very own Scott Severin, who was a Mudd Club kid back in the day. You’ll be hearing lots of stories about NYC debauchery in a time when kings like Bowie and Lou Reed ruled the Lower East Side. The event is being held at Hi-Fi House and is free and open to the public. Starts at 8 p.m.

And after all this, there’s a great show at fabulous O’Leaver’s tonight. Indie band Whispertown plays with High Up. $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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

That Scott Severin gig I mentioned in my column a couple weeks ago… turns out it will be the last show ever at Venue 51.

Sevs tells me the club has decided to close its doors and that the July 18 show will be the grand finale. Located at 1951 St. Mary’s Ave., the venue only opened last year. Sevs tells me the place is actually closed right now and won’t open again until that show on the 18th, even though their online calendar shows bookings through August and there’s no mention of their closing on their Facebook page (though the last timeline entry was June 28).

I have to admit to never stepping foot in the club, mainly because it never booked the kind of music I listen to. Actually, it rarely booked bands I’ve even heard of.

Severin is just one of the performers playing the July 18 “last waltz.” Joining him will be touring artist Melissa Greener, and local singer/songwriters Michael Campbell, Pat Gehrman and Logan Krug. Event info here. 

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Speaking of upcoming shows, if you missed The Everymen last Sunday (read about them here) fret not, as the band is headed back (to O’Leaver’s again, no less) Aug. 18.

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Paul Hansen of Pro-Magnum wrote to let me know that this Saturday night’s Pro-Mangnum show at fabulous O’Leaver’s is going to be his ad hoc bon voyage party. I’ll let him tell you:

“We are playing with Maps for Travelers. More importantly, from a personal standpoint, this is my last show with the band as I’m leaving Omaha to start graduate studies in Louisiana. Before I depart we are doing this last show and going back into ARC to finish our record with Ben Brodin.  Even more importantly, it’s a Saturday in July and everything pretty much sucks.  To quell the suckiness we are setting up a hot dog/brat bar before the show. $5 bucks gets you into the gig while a handshake and a smile gets you unlimited hot dog access (none of that Kroger brand bullshit either, we are talking Just Good Meats). Yet even more exciting is that we will have a fuck-ton of different toppings to load your dog and or bratwurst with. 

In summation:

Show purpose: Funds for recording.

Why I care: Last show, sentimental, leaving a drunken community I have enjoyed being apart of.

Why anyone else should care: The hot-dog bar

But why would we buy mass quantities of hot-dogs and or brats if we are trying to save, not spend money? Sometimes, Tim, money isn’t an object and the hot dog wins.”

This one will be insane. $5, 9 p.m. Hot dogs. Pro-Magnum. O’Leaver’s. You summer has just been made.

* * *

Sunday night Ceremony (Matador Records) returns to Slowdown Jr. Opening is Angel Dust and Forced Order. $10, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile over at The Waiting Room Sunday night, Bon Iver member S. Carey plays at The Waiting Room with The Pines. $12, 9 p.m.

That’s all I got. If I missed anything, put it in the comments section. Have a good weekend!

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

In this week’s column, I touch base with Omaha singer/songwriter Scott Severin about Time Out New York’s list of New York City’s Top 10 All Time Greatest Rock Stars. Never one to mince words, Severin provides insight and Technicolor from the perspective of someone who lived there when it was all going down punk-wise. KISS and Richard Hell fans beware.

You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here. Many thanks to Scott for sharing his unique, relevant viewpoint.

* * *

Huffington Post premiered what it says is a NSFW (though I’m not sure why) video by The Hussy for their cover of Digital Leather’s “Studs in Love.”

Director Shane O’Neill said in the HuffPost article, “It’s hard for me to get excited about something unless there’s at least a trace element of something funny, and hearing Bobby whine that he likes hairy asses still makes me giggle. I wanted the video to reflect the song’s spirit of hyper-masculinity crossed with absurdity. And I wanted to make a pun on the word ‘stud.’”

Check it out at here at HuffPost.

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There’s a special night of music happening this evening at Almost Music in Benson. New Zealand legends The Renderers are topping a stellar bill that includes The Bruces (this is the farewell show for Alex McManus as he and his family head north) and Simon Joyner and The Ghosts, who will be playing material from the band’s upcoming album.

And if that wasn’t enough, Brad at Almost Music is offering 20 percent off all used vinyl tonight. $5 minimum donation, 7 p.m. start time.

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Lost amidst all the hub-bub about Arcade Fire’s release of Reflektor today is the fact that Maria Taylor’s new one, Something About Knowing, also dropped via Saddle Creek Records. I didn’t receive a promo of this one for whatever reason, so like you I’m checking it out for the first time via the MSN Listening Booth. Very poppy. The reviews so far would have us believe it’s a collection of lullabies and/or reflections on motherhood. Still waiting for the big online pubs to come out with their reviews, but here’s All Music‘s and some smaller pubs’ reactions:

All Music gave it 3.5 stars. From the review: “...retains many of the hazy dream pop undertones that informed her earlier work, while introducing a more streamlined, radio-ready patina…”

Best Fit gave it 5 out of 10. From the review: “…While it would be cruel to compare this release to sitting through 40 minutes of a stranger showing you baby pictures, that might be the most potent warning for those unaware of what awaits them here…“

Meanwhile, Reflektor is up on Spotify, where I’ll listen to it this afternoon. Pitchfork when apeshit over it yesterday (a 9. 2, here), which is all it takes these days. Well, that and the mega media blitz the band is currently undergoing, from The Colbert Report to SNL to NPR.

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Scott Severin is doing a set tonight at The Barley Street opening for Michael Wunder and the Uninspired along with John Larsen. Severin grew up in New York City during a time when Lou Reed was very much on the scene. Expect some sort of tribute to Lou by Severin during his set, which makes it more than worth the $5 cover. 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Scott Severin and I got into an online discussion via Facebook about his new album recorded with his band, The Milton Burlesque, called Birdhouse Obbligato, the disc that’s being celebrated tonight at a free show at The Waiting Room. Severin insisted that the CD is an excellent example of indie music, while I argued that there was nothing indie about it.

Scott Severin and the Milton Burlesque - Birdhouse Obbligato

Upon reflection Severin was right and I was wrong. Birdhouse is an indie album — it’s not associated with a major record label, which is “indie” by its most generic definition. In fact, the album is really indie in that it’s not associated with any record label as Severin paid for its recording (with Joel Petersen at Enamel Studio), mixing and mastering (by Tom Ware), pressing and, conceivably, its distribution. The term is “self-released,” which sounds like a euphemism for being “born again” or having reached a higher mental state — “I’ve been self-released.” We need a better term for projects like Severin’s, since more and more music — whether created by MTV stars or van-imprisoned bands — is going to be self-released as labels erode and provide fewer reasons for anyone to use their services.

So, Birdhouse Obbligato is indie from a business perspective, but from a music perspective — how indie has become defined as an aesthetic — it doesn’t quite fit, at least not in my opinion. Instead, the record falls under a more conventional rock ‘n’ roll definition. It rocks just like the rock music I remember from the ’70s and ’80s; it has an old-fashioned, comfortable FM radio vibe.

I wouldn’t call it “retro,” since that would imply that the artist was purposely targeting a specific style from a bygone era. Only Severin — or a guy who’s lived a life in music like Severin — could write and record an album that sounds like this. There is a matter-of-fact honesty in the approach — a modern band of teen-agers or 20-somethings who grew up with indie music simply could not pull this off without sounding kitschy or phony or “ironic.” But then again, it’s unlikely that someone from that group would want to write this kind of music to begin with. Severin’s sound harkens back to a simpler — arguably better — time when verse/chorus/verse/key change/chorus was the modus operandi. A song like “I Don’t Know,” with its heavy metal chops, Jerry Lee Lewis piano riffs, and cock-rock guitar solo, predates the dawn of grunge, and something tells me Severin wouldn’t want it any other way.

And then there’s the more mellow “Farshtaist,” one of those songs that — after hearing it for the first time — you wonder if it always existed. It’s timeless in the same way that songs we grew up listening to on FM radio seemed to have always been there, and will likely be there after we’ve all gone deaf and senile. The best track on the album, it could easily fit onto any MOR playlist — MOR, as defined in Wiki, is “broadly popular music, but not technically avant-garde; generally, it is strongly melodic and often features vocal harmony technique and orchestral arrangements.” The modern equivalent is the “Soft AC” format.

Severin is not breaking new ground with this album, and I doubt that he wanted to. Instead, Birdhouse Obbligato is a collection of rockers and ballads by a man that is content simply getting his ideas and melodies recorded for all time. In the end, this is who Severin is, and he should be proud of that.

* * *

So tonight’s marquee draws are two CD release shows. The biggest is Scott Severin and the Milton Burlesque at The Waiting Room with Big Wheel (Sarah Benck) and Platte River Rain. 9 p.m. and absolutely free.

Meanwhile, over at O’Leaver’s, it’s Lincoln’s The Sleepover, with Techlepathy and Fortnight. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Lawrence indie band Cowboy Indian Bear is playing in the Stir Lounge at Harrah’s Casino in Council Bluffs with the one and only Jake Bellows. $5, 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.