Sorry about not updating yesterday. I was busy writing a piece on Eux Autres, which will be online tomorrow, and finishing this week's column focused on The 49'r, which hits the site on Thursday. At the same time, my e-mail has been getting buried with "reminders" from labels and press agents about the upcoming CMJ festivities as if I could take a week off my job and fly to NYC to cover it for Lazy-i. To be honest, I'd much rather go to CMJ than SXSW, though something tells me the logistics involved in attending CMJ are much more complicated (and expensive). Among the showcases of interest for us Omaha folk:

-- Saddle Creek night at CMJ. According to the Creek's recent e-mailing: "Saddle Creek Night at CMJ will be held at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday, September 16, and feature Orenda Fink, Maria Taylor, Criteria, Two Gallants, and a surprise guest. Tickets will be on sale Aug. 24." Wonder who the "special guests" will be, considering both Conor Oberst and Tim Kasher are now living in New York? To me, the most interesting part of this is the Fink/Taylor showdown that's bound to happen on stage. Cat fight! Just kidding. Actually, I wonder if they'll do a couple songs together. Judging by my interviews with them earlier this year (linked here), the odds of that are almost nil.

-- Team Love Records Showcase at The Knitting Factory, Sept. 17. According to Press Here Publicity: "Team Love is a record label started by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, who believes music should be free for all to have it. And oh, what music it is." The schedule: Mars Black, 6 p.m.; Neva Dinova, 6:50 p.m.; Willy Mason, 7:35 p.m.; Craig Wedren, 8:25 p.m.; David Dondero, 9:15 p.m.; Tilly and the Wall, 10 p.m. Lots of questions surface with this one. Is Neva Dinova on Team Love now? (Not likely). Is Willy Mason performing music again? He quit touring quite a while ago for personal reasons. He supposedly released a new EP, Hard to Lie Down, on Radiate/Virgin Records Aug. 8. His U.S. website, willymason.com, is no longer functioning. And where's Team Rigge?

-- My pick for CMJ if I was going? The Merge Records Showcase at Rotko Sept. 16, featuring Richard Buckner, Tenement Halls, Annie Hayden, Portastic, Crooked Fingers and The Rosebuds. The night before, you could catch The Arcade Fire at the Central Park Summer Stage. Oops... it's already sold out.

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