by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Washed Out is playing tonight at The Waiting Room. The one-man Sub Pop band (a.k.a. Earnest Greene) is known for its dreamy electronic synth rock. His music has been associated with the so-called “Chillwave” movement. What is Chillwave? Well, wiki defines it as “a genre of music whose artists are often characterized by their heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers, looping, sampling, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic lines.” That’s a rather broad definition that doesn’t say much, and would seem to exclude some of the acts that Washed Out most reminds me of, including Roxy Music and 10cc.

NYT‘s Jon Pareles calls Chillwave “recession-era music: low-budget and danceable” because it’s usually just one guy and his laptop, which is what this will be tonight (UPDATE: Derek Pressnall of Icky Blossoms, who opened for Washed Out last night in Lawrence, said the band is touring as a 4-piece). Is it worth $14 to watch one guy stand behind a keyboard rack and a Macbook and sing along to pre-recorded synth/audio loops? I guess it depends on how much you like his music. Check out the SoundCloud file below and decide. I do know that Washed Out played a sold out show at the House of Blues in Chicago last Friday with Tune-Yards, and just played at Lollapalooza, and that he’ll be opening for The Shins starting in the latter half of September.

Opening for Washed Out tonight is Omaha’s own Underwater Dream Machine, which is worth $14 on its own. Show starts at 9.

Washed Out – Amor Fati

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/23390854″ iframe=”true” /]

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Tomorrow: Desaparecidos

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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.