by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Reader‘s Top-20 / Next 15 list of the best local bands was not easy to derive this year.

As we do every year, the music reporting team at The Reader convened a few weeks ago at an Old Market restaurant/lounge with our lists in hand and then set about arguing back and forth over bands until a final list was agreed upon. Although there were many bones of contention that we gnawed on, there was one thing we all acknowledged: Man, the number of quality bands in Omaha has really dwindled. Adding to a general lack of new talent is the fact that a lot of bands and performers are just giving up and walking away from the music biz, which created one of the major argument points: Should we include bands that have broken up? I argued that even if a band disbanded sometime during the year it didn’t lessen its impact within that year — we are, after all, looking at the year that was, not that will be (that’s for the Next 10). But I lost the argument, and as a result, you didn’t see It’s True on The Reader‘s list even though the band made a sizeable impact during the first half of the year, including out-of-state touring and gigs at SXSW.

And, I would be willing to bet a body part that we haven’t heard the last of It’s True…

Anyway, it’s just a list. At the very least, it’s a good way to draw attention to a handful of artists who are making a mark locally and nationally. It’s just for fun (unless your band’s not on the list); and it gets people talking. I’ve been asked over the years about the selection criteria — the answer: It’s entirely subjective. Each writer approaches the selection his or her own way, and then it’s up to that writer to form a consensus among the other writers to include his or her bands on the list. At least 70 percent of a writer’s list matched the other writers’ lists — this isn’t rocket science. On the other hand, there were bands that were included on individual lists that reflect specific tastes and interests. For example, you won’t find any blues bands on mine. That doesn’t mean they don’t belong in the final draft. And so on. One oversight on my original list was Son of 76/Watchmen, who I simply forgot, but thankfully no one else did. Ain’t democracy grand? So…

Here’s the actual Reader Top-20 list:

Little Brazil
Talking Mountain
Southpaw Blues Band
Matt Cox Band
Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies
Darren Keen
Son of 76 & The Watchmen
Brent Crampton
Capgun Coup
Conor Oberst
Landing on the Moon
Satchel Grande
Cursive
The Faint
Digital Leather
Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship
The Mynabirds
Simon Joyner
Matt Whipkey
Box Elders

And the actual Reader “Next 10” list:

Conduits
All The Young Girls Are Machine Guns
Conchance
So-So Sailors
Honey & Darling
Baby Tears
Once a Pawn
Dim Light
Platte River Rain
Yuppies

And as an act of full disclosure, here is my Top 20/Next 10 list submitted to The Reader as part of this process:

1. Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst
2. Cursive/Tim Kasher
3. Digital Leather
4. Box Elders
5. Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies
6. Little Brazil
7. The Mynabirds
8. UUVVWWZ
9. Brimstone Howl
10. Mercy Rule
11. Conchance
12. Simon Joyner
13. Darren Keen
14. Talking Mountain
15. Landing on the Moon
16. Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship
17. Matt Whipkey
18. Capgun Coup
19. It’s True
20. Bloodcow

And here is my “Next 10”:

1. Conduits
2. So-So Sailors
3. Honey & Darling
4. Dim Light
5. Pharmacy Spirits
6. The Bruces
7. Yuppies
8. Baby Tears
9. Once a Pawn
10. McCarthy Trenching

I hope next year there’s a lot more arguing due to having so many more new bands to choose from. I’ll leave it at that.

* * *

It’s another quiet weekend of shows. If you’re in Lincoln, head over to the Hear Nebraska fund-raiser at The Bourbon Theater’s front room. Hearnebraska.org is a nonprofit website that’s yet to launch designed to support local music. I’ve heard none of the three performers’ music before (Sean Sparks and the Wounded Animals, Bandit Sounds and Orion Walsh), but what do you want? It’s a benefit, fercrissake. $5, 9 p.m. Here’s a video commercial about the event.

Tomorrow night is another benefit, this time at The Waiting Room for Lash LaRue’s Toy Drive. Among the bands slated to perform are Reader Top-20 band Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, along with Vago and “Next 10” band All Young Girls Are Machine Guns. Show starts at 9 and admission is either $10 or an unwrapped toy of equal value.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Nick Semrad of Little Black Stereo emailed to say that LBS is calling it quits. In fact, tonight’s show at The Barley Street Tavern is their last Omaha gig. Tomorrow’s Zoo Bar show in Lincoln is the band’s official “last show.”

I asked Nick what the story was behind the breakup. “Well, part of it stems from a guitar player moving to Nashville, and I’m headed to LA within the year to be a session player…” he said.

Despite their long history, I’ve never seen a full set by LBS. It’s not like I’ve gone out of my way to avoid them, it’s just been one of those things. Also playing LBS’s farewell show are Landing on the Moon, Lawrence band Cowboy Indian Bear and Barley Street regular Kyle Harvey. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

HearNebraska.org isn’t the only new effort designed to improve your online search for music news. The Reader is in the process of a bottom-up redesign of its website at thereader.com. I’ve seen the initial drafts, and they’re a huge improvement over what’s out there now. As part of the process, The Reader is asking folks to take a little survey and tell them what they’d like to see on their new site. That means you, so click here and fill the dang thing out. Watch for the new Reader website to launch in the very near future.

* * *

Lincoln music promoter and all-around good guy Jeremy Buckley says that if you want in on the discounted $30 pass that will get you into all of this year’s Lincoln Calling performances, you’ve got ’til the end of the day. The discounted tickets can be purchased online from etix, here. Tomorrow, the price goes up to $40.

There’s also a brand new Lincoln Calling website that just went online at lincolncalling.com that will answer all your questions about the festival, and includes performance schedules, venue and ticket info, everything.

Buckley also announced today that he just locked in a handful of additional bands and performers for this year’s festival, and they are:

Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic Guitar Duo

Blue Martian Tribe

Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies

Carrot Carrot

Conduits

Dirty Talker

Down With the Ship

The Envy Corps

The Filter Kings

The Flatliners

High Art

If Only He Had the Power

The Killigans

Landing on the Moon

Little Brazil

The Machete Archive

Masses

Midland Band

Mitch Gettman

Moustache

Pablo’s Triangle

Pecha Kucha Volume 3

Pharmacy Spirits

The Photo Atlas

The Renfields

Ted Stevens

Tempo

Vibenhai

The Vingins

Voodoo Method

Those additions bring the total number of bands and performers to around 100, which has got to make this the biggest music festival in Nebraska. Lincoln Calling is Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

* * *

There’s a lot happening tonight in addition to the LBS swan song concert:

Tonight at O’Leaver’s, noise-riot-punk brawlers Peace of Shit is headlining a show with Mosquito Bandito and The Spooks. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Sub Pop band Fruit Bats are playing at The Waiting Room with Nathaniel Rateliff and Hospital Ships. $10, 9 p.m.

And finally, everyone’s favorite messed-up art punk garage kids, The Yuppies, are playing at The Hole with Daikaiju (Alabama surf-rock), Ampline (Cincinatti rock rock), and Butchers. $5, 8 p.m.

* * *

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.

Like last week’s column, this week’s column is a retread of old blog content, due to the fact that all of The Reader‘s deadlines were pushed back four days because of Memorial Day. That means Column 273 is/was this review of last Thursday’s Thunder Power CD release show — ancient history, I know. By the way, a couple people commented on that review, including one that translated the alien-robot-language singing quoted in the story:

“Ar-ee op-bop whep bep bay / Op bet tee.”

Translated:

“Sorry ’bout winning this one… for the team…”

A clever line. I wonder if the rest of the lyrics are that good.

Week-early deadlines mean outdated columns. But I guess I shouldn’t be complaining about deadlines, considering the word on the street is that The Omaha City Weekly is ceasing publication. While I haven’t confirmed that directly from the horse’s mouth, one of the paper’s columnists — MarQ Manner — made the statement on Facebook, and a non-City Weekly editor said the same thing. If it is true, it’s the end of an era. The City Weekly has been around for a long time. Not as long as The Reader, but long enough to be a legacy in this town. Its closure would drop the number of weeklies from four to three (The Reader, Shout! and Go!). I’m sure the survivors are rejoicing, but anytime you lose a publication it’s one less outlet for readers… and writers. Manner said he intends to continue writing his column for Shout! I have no idea what’s going on with CW music critic Will Simons. Hopefully he also will land on his feet, though he’s plenty busy with his band Thunder Power, which just released an EP and is working on a full length. I’ve read and enjoyed Simons’ stuff for years. Just like I enjoy MarQ’s column and Kevin Coffey’s writing (and Niz’s and Christine Laue’s before him at The OWH). For a brief time, I taught a News Editing class at UNO in the evenings. I always told my students that despite the elbowing-though-the-crowd, get-the-story-before-the-other-guy competitive nature of journalism, as a writer I never felt as if I was in competition with anyone — especially fellow writers and critics. And I still don’t. You can only learn from other writers and their work. They should inspire you, not threaten you. We’re all trying to do the same thing — express ourselves and our opinions through the written word. I’ll leave the competition to the publishers, who have to duke it out for advertising dollars in order to pay our meager wages (and I mean meager).

Anyway… I’ll believe the CW is dead and gone when I don’t see it on the stands for more than a month. They went through a similar shut-down earlier this year, only to return from the dead.

* * *

There are two solid shows going on tonight. At The Waiting Room, it’s the Omaha stage debut of High Art, Darren Keen’s new project, which I wrote about in some detail right here. Also on the bill are stdz and DJ Kobrakyle. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, at O’Leaver’s, it’s Doom Town Records‘ crown jewel Baby Tears, with Capricorn Vertical Slum (ex-Vampire Hands) and La Casa Bombas. $5, 9 p.m.