Tonight at Sokol Underground, Maria Taylor and Statistics with Taylor Hollingsworth. We know about Maria and Denver, but Hollingsworth is a mystery. Apparently he's a southern boy who lives down in Birmingham, which might explain the Maria connection. His new CD, Tragic City on Brash, is somewhat straightforward rock a la Teenage Fanclub or Matthew Sweet sung in pure nasal by a kid who, judging by the photos, looks like he's about 17. Very tuneful, very hooky. The show starts at 9 and will cost you $8. This is the last date on this tour, so expect some surprises as well as a sizable crowd of friends welcoming back their conquering heroes.

Tomorrow night Fromanhole takes the O'Leaver's stage once again with touring bands Billing, Montana's 1090 Club, Des Moines' The Autumn Project and San Diego's Tenebre. $5, 9:30. And that's about it for the weekend. No shows on Sunday this week. Get some rest.

The Stepford Five, A New Design for Living (Reverbose) -- Typical by-the-numbers jangular indie rock by a Columbus, Ohio, four-piece, complete with chiming guitars (good) and limp, uninspired vocals (not good). The brooding "Getaway Car" is the best of the bunch, but it's only 95 seconds long. In the end, we've heard this all before. Rating: No.

Column 35 -- From Russia with Rock
Indie is anything but old hat in Moscow.

Imagine being back in the '80s when indie music was just beginning to break. That's what's happening right now in ol' Mother Russia, where an unjaded music scene is discovering new sounds not at their record stores or on the radio, but on the 'net.

So says Omaha musician Craig Korth, who just returned after spending almost a month in Moscow with musician pal and local legend Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life). The trip was a vacation of sorts, with travel and lodging provided by a close friend of Korth's who works for an international brand management firm. Korth and Kasher spent three weeks soaking in the sordid tackiness of modern-day Moscow, a place where after 10:30 at night a typical bar becomes a brothel loaded with hookers. "After awhile, we didn't go out much," Korth said.

When they did, they frequented a movie theater/restaurant/night club called 35mm, where with the help of a promoter-friend of Kasher's, they ended up playing a couple gigs toward the end of their stay. More on that in minute.

Korth said perhaps the trip's biggest surprise was how the youth of Moscow have embraced indie rock. "It's a new thing there," he said. "They're like sponges, soaking up everything on the Internet. They were telling me about American bands that I never heard of."

Korth said the rock clubs -- which resemble comfortable American dive bars -- blare '70s punk acts like The Ramones alongside cutting-edge indie music, while the kids discuss acts like The Constantines, Bloc Party and Dismemberment Plan. "They're absolutely zealous about finding and getting this music," he said. "They are explorers in every sense of the word, cut off from the rest of the music community except for the Internet, which is available everywhere."

How pervasive is it? One evening while Korth and Kasher were having a drink outside a club a kid walked up and began singing one of Kasher's songs. "That was weird," he said, "especially when you consider Saddle Creek doesn't have a distributor over there, and Russia is a wasteland when it comes to CD stores."

Just as surprising were the more than 200 music fans that turned out at 35mm the night Kasher and Korth played a gig on the club's main stage. Korth, who said he's recently soured on the tired American music scene, was renewed by the crowd's wide-eyed enthusiasm. "There's no jadedness among them," he said. "They weren't standing around with their thumbs up their asses. They were into it and weren't afraid to show their appreciation."

Korth joined Kasher for about half of his hour-long set, playing Good Life songs he had learned while on tour with the band. "While we were playing, members of the crowd kept placing these little notes at our feet written in English with simple phrases like, 'Please play longer.'" Korth kept the notes as souvenirs of a night that he won't forget.

That gig, and a Kasher solo set played at the venue's cafe the night before, were among the highlights of Korth's trip. The lowlights included struggling with the guttural Russian language, the New York-style high prices and the endless search for decent food. Then there was the constant state of paranoia brought on by omnipresent police and military. His fear would end up being justified when Korth and another friend were shook down for cash by the police. Lucky Kasher was left unscathed. "The constant feeling of nervousness wore us out in the end."

Korth is now back in the states, working on songs for a new album as well as trying to find a job. Kasher, meanwhile, is living in New York City. Neither plans on going back to Moscow anytime soon, Korth said. They're just happy to get out of there with their lives and their memories. "I choose to forget about the stuff that I didn't like."

The Maria Taylor interview just went up (read it here). She talks about the possible break-up of Azure Ray and that band's future, making her new solo album 11:11 and performing with her bro and sis. Was there a definitive answer to the Azure Ray question? Not really. She said she and her cohort, Orenda Fink, are still very close friends, but when I proffered the idea of perhaps a co-headlining tour where both do a solo set and then come together at the end and do an Azure Ray set, she said what amounts to "that would defeat the purpose though, wouldn't it?"

Among the stuff that didn't make it in the story was our discussion about Omaha. When I first interviewed Maria in 2002 she and Orenda had just moved to here. I asked her after all that time if she had any regrets? "I still love it," she said of Omaha. "I have so many great friends here. I'm actually not there very much. I've been traveling a lot, I go visit friends in New York and family in Birmingham. It's my home base. I live in Dundee and I love it." Yeah, but didn't I hear an interview on KCRW about a year after you moved here where you guys were saying you were having second thoughts? "I think that was Orenda. You can put me anywhere and I would be OK. Orenda had a hard time adjusting to the weather and the personality of the city. She hated it, but now she's stuck (having just married The Faint's Todd Baechle now Todd Fink). She's warming up to it. The snow gets to me and I hate being cold. To me, a place is all about the people who are there." But don't you miss Athens? "All of our friends moved away. Athens is a college town, so people don't stay there. Andy (LeMaster, Athens native and member of Now It's Overhead) is rarely there. Sometimes I miss the time that I spent there, though." Maria Taylor plays Sokol Underground Friday night with Statistics and Taylor Hollingsworth.

Tonight, our old, wigged friend Scout Niblett drops in at O'Leaver's with non-wigged Kyle Harvey. Both for only $5. This one could get crowded.

Brazilian Girls, self titled (Verve Forecast) -- Highly lauded critical darlings for their electronic/bossa/reggae style I think of these New Yorkers as Air meets Sade with a slight island lilt. Terrific upon first exposure, but a little goes a long way. The best parts are the dance tracks ("Don't Stop," "Sirenes de la Fete") that make up a lot of it, but there's little here that I'd care to hear again. Rating: No.

Not much going on, and no shows tonight. A quick glance at the web: Here's a piece from Pitchfork about the futility of releasing albums that uses Bright Eyes as an example. Interesting quote: "Keep someone plugged in and happy, and they're yours. But let them lie, and they'll start to wonder: whatever happened to you, anyway? Did you move back to Omaha or something?" Here's a nice Maria Taylor piece that you could think of as a preview for my Maria Taylor piece that runs in Lazy-i tomorrow. Interesting quote: "She and Oberst are also both fiercely loyal to their Saddle Creek family, which Taylor notes is becoming increasingly attacked by haters." It does? Roger Waters has a new opera and he's performing in in NYC (read). "The 61-year-old songwriter told the US audience Ca Ira was 'sort of reiterating The Wall,' Pink Floyd's seminal album, with its themes of 'powerlessness in the face of loss.'" You can hear the whole thing next year... in Rome.

Lismore, We Could Connect or We Could Not (Cult Hero) -- Great programming, great low-fi electronics; cold, uninteresting songs sung by a woman with a voice of an adenoidal robot. Sort of a limp Postal Service meets Gerty or Hooverphonic, but without their melodies or direction. Repetitive. Rating: No.

Well, late on today's blog entry because I was busy putting together an interview with Maria Taylor that'll be online Wednesday, not to mention a column about rock in Russia that'll go online Thursday. Busy busy busy. Just like 1 Percent Productions, which has a big show tonight with Von Bondies at Sokol Underground. If I go, I'll be getting there early (9 p.m.) to see Philharmonic on a big stage (worth the $10 by itself). One Percent just sent out its latest update that includes announcements of a second Faint show Aug. 16 with Orenda Fink and The Mariannes opening. Then there's Sleater-Kinney Oct. 12, booked down in the Underground. Methinks it'll have to be moved upstairs.

The Keep Aways, self-titled (Chair Kickers) -- Like Belly or The Muffs meets Joan Jett, this screeching Duluth-based girl-powered punk has the tooth-numbing guitar work to make it rock, and rock it does. The blazing chop guitar is a syncopated wall of fuzzy noise. "Standards" starts fast and just goes faster. "Hey Song" is the Joan Jett anthem she never made, clocking in at under 2 minutes. In fact, none of these go far past 3, which is as it should be. Rating: Yes.

I received a communiqué yesterday from a very good source telling me that the Rolling Stones has been booked to play in Omaha Jan. 29, 2006. No specific venue was stated, but considering the time of year, the only realistic facility would be the Qwest Center. Is it a done deal? Well, there's nothing confirming this information on the Qwest Center events page, the official Stones tour page or the unofficial Stones page, but my source has never been wrong. His information, however, could change and this concert could never happen, such is the complicated world of rock and roll. If it happens, figure on tickets with a face value of $150 to $300, if you can get them. I suspect if this is true you'll be reading about it in the Omaha World-Herald or hearing about it on the radio the day it's confirmed. Probably the only show more exciting is tonight's Fromanhole show at O'Leaver's. This one has been confirmed and tickets have a face value of $5 (if you can find them).

Phosphorescent, Aw Come Aw Wry (Misra) -- Vocalist Matthew Houck has the same broken, craggy Peter-Brady-at-puberty voice as Okkervil River's Will Sheff, and some of the music is even reminiscent of Okkervil's, but this Athens band takes things even further from a twangy, rural-route standpoint. The tinkling piano waltzes are infused with both old-fashioned brass and newfangled electronics. Think of it as a trip-hopped bluegrass swing album with more than its fair-share of Van Morrison-style dirges. Sure, the dirges can get heavy at times (the barely moving, thick as molasses "Dead Heat"), but when the harmonies are rich it can be a slow glide into waltz heaven (the ethereal "South (Of America)". Dark and surreal, Aw Come Aw Wry is the hip soundtrack to your own funeral. Rating: Yes.

So after losing all evening at the track (Horseman's Park -- I'll be there again tonight and tomorrow, it comes but once a year, you know) I trotted down to Sokol Underground for The Show Is the Rainbow's Homosexual Mohawk CD release show. Since it was only 11:15 and four bands were scheduled to play, I figured I'd get there in plenty of time to see TSITR's AKA Darren Keen do his thing. But as I walked up to the place, the promoter, who was busy on his cell phone, told me Keen's set was already half over and would be all over in a few minutes. Sure enough, Keen and his band were on stage belting out their new mega-fast punk explosions. As advertised, each song was a minute or less long. Call it spunky-new wave-metal-punkcore, with Keen throwing in a few tasty metal guitar licks here and there. No real stage hi-jinx other than Keen's between-song banter, which usually lasted longer than the songs themselves. It was kind of like VH1 Storytellers on meth. The crowd of 125 ate it up, and the whole thing was by 11:30.

Here's what's happening in your world musicwise this weekend: Tonight it's hoe-down/blarney rock with FortyTwenty (the hoe-down part) and The Killigans (the blarney part) at Sokol Underground. $7, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night: Omaha mathy noiserock ensemble Fromanhole is at O'Leaver's with Minnesota's Self-Evident and Iowa's Save A Bum Foundation. $5, 9:30 p.m. Sokol Underground/1 Percent are hosting three bands I know nothing about (which means they're probably metal or hardcore) Escaping Sobriety, Red #9 and Donky Punch -- no price or band description on the 1 Percent site.

Sunday night the I-don't-know-them-so-it-must-be-metal rule applies again at Sokol Underground with Nodes of Ranvier, Barter the Trigger, The Fall of Athens and Damiera. $8, 9:30 p.m.

Make Believe, self titled EP (Flameshovel) -- The latest by the Kinsella brothers (Tim and Nate). Intricate art-noise that rarely fails to grate. In all fairness, the keyboard-bass-driven "Temping as a Shaman," jammy "Witchcraft" and Karate-esque "Abracadabra - Thumbs!" are about as close as these Kinsellas have gotten to approachable (listenable) music in years, but it's still a reach-too-far toward the abstract. Better than Owls, but what isn't? Repeated listenings are rewarded with a tension headache. Rating: No.

Column 34 -- Another Shot of Oxygen, Please
You don't have to be stinkin' drunk to rock.

While interviewing Omaha musician Dereck Higgins last week, the question of smoke-free, alcohol-free venues came up.

Higgins had played a couple shows earlier this year, including a gig at O'Leaver's, that were far from stellar. Part of the reason was that Higgins has never felt that his music is conducive to a bar setting "People are there to get drunk and get laid," he said. "They're not focusing on the music."

Fine, but if you're a rock musician (or in Higgins case, an ambient pop musician with British prog overtones) where else is there to play but in a bar? Ask yourself when was the last time you saw a band (not a cover band, not a blues band) perform outside of a club or festival setting? The under-21s aren't the only ones with something to complain about -- there are very few places to see live, original rock music without being smoked out or boozed on.

Thanks to singer/songwriter/popster Richard Schultz, Higgins found an outlet at the Omaha Healing Arts Center. The venue was hardly new him. He performed there back in June 2003, playing bass alongside one of his personal musical heroes -- The Chameleons' Mark Burgess. Situated in the heart of the Old Market, Healing Arts is a combination health food store, restaurant, yoga gym and massage/physical therapy outlet.

Unlike the usual smoke-hole booze huts I frequent, Healing Arts is a veritable oasis. The converted warehouse-style building sports a main room that feels like a New Age church, with high, beamed ceilings and a skylight that stretches 30 yards or so along the entire room. Sure, everywhere you look are portraits of yogis and other spiritual types, and you can't deny the distinct "hippy vibe," but hey, who can argue with such a tranquil setting?

For last Saturday night's gig, the stage had been set up along a wall halfway down one side of the long room. Schultz had strung Christmas twinkle lights along the rigging, stretching the green plastic chords overhead to the opposite wall. It gave the place a sort of urban, outdoorsy feel.

First up was a band of youngsters called One Mummy Case -- youngsters that is, except for Higgins, who played bass in the band. With two teen-aged multi-instrument lead singers, a keyboardist and drummer, One Mummy Case is the next generation of Simon Joyner/Conor Oberst singer-songwriters, sporting styles that are similar to both. The hour-long set was remarkable for a first-ever gig, the band playing to a room filled not only with music fans, but with family (moms and dads) and friends. Talk about pressure. Regardless, you'd think these guys had been performing on stage for, well, months at least, especially considering that a few of them looked no older than 15. Where else but a no-alcohol place like Healing Arts could a band like this perform?

Healing Arts proprietor Sandy Aquila said the 200-capacity room is available for just about any gig, including the typical all-ages rock show. Even punk shows? "I'm interested in working with people who are looking to make things more harmonious or healthier," Aquila said. "That doesn't necessarily mean pretty, beautiful music; it can still be raunchy rock and have a positive message." On the other hand, druggies or "negative people" need not apply.

But despite having approached a number of local promoters, Aquila hasn't had much luck booking the room, which rents from $400 to $600 a night. The reason: It's smoke-free and booze-free. "In the end, it all comes down to money," she said.

A half-hour after One Mummy Case finished its set, Higgins' own band took the stage. It was quite a contrast from his one-man karaoke bar shows. The band, which included John Friedman on guitar, Bill Eustice on bass and Jeff Tegtmeir on drums, turned Higgins' usually spacey, keyboard-driven ambient movements into full-out rock songs, showcasing Higgins' skills on scorching guitar solos. It was a nice night of music and even nicer to be able to go home from a rock show and not have to fumigate my clothes.

A tasty new interview with Darren Keen a.k.a. The Show Is the Rainbow went online this morning (read it here). Darren talks about ending his feud with Saddle Creek (old news) and his Homosexual Mohawk band (new news) and rethinking his life as an arena rocker. I got most of the pertinent stuff in the story (The Reader's version will be a couple hundred words lighter), except some comments about doing his own booking. Keen did what a lot of local bands refuse to (or are afraid of or are too lazy to do) -- for the last couple years he booked his own tours. And no, it wasn't easy. "I've spent hundreds of hours doing it, it could be thousands of hours. I can't tell you how many tours I've booked at this point. I started by playing within eight hours of here (Lincoln) and then building another rung around that and then another. You play a lot of the wrong places. Right when I get to the point where I can really do it all myself, I get a booking agent."

Keen also compared the Lincoln and Omaha scenes. The biggest difference: "In Omaha, you have a lot of people really concerned about 'making it' and how they're going to find booking agents and sell records. For Lincoln bands, it's all about the music." He also talked about getting his car broken into in New Orleans June 25 and having 150 TSITR CDs stolen along with joggers, t-shirts and other merch. "It was a kicker," he said. "It was the first time I had money to pay a year and a half of rent. Instead I had to buy a year and a half of merch. It was devastating at first." You can help out poor Darren when he plays at Sokol Underground tomorrow with Beans and a couple other bands.

Tonight, however, is Richard Buckner at Mick's with Anders Parker in a show that'll probably sell out. $10, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, down at O'Leaver's, it's The Plus Ones (ex-members of Mr. T Experience and Pansy Division) with The Goddamn Rights. $5, 9:30.

Jane Francis -- Skeletons for Tea (Eskimo Kiss) -- From Saxapahaw, N.C., by way of Lucinda Williams. I haven't heard this kind of hippy folk since Cindy Lee Barryhill. Whatever happened to her? Rating: No.

Whenever anyone asks me what bands I'd like to see come through Omaha, the list is pretty small: Red House Painters/Mark Kozelek, Yo La Tengo, and my favorite of all, Silkworm. I was never able to get anyone interested in bringing Silkworm to Omaha, probably because for whatever reason, they're virtually unknown here (even though they once played The Cog Factory (which I missed)). Now it'll probably never happen. Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist was killed in a car accident July 14 in Niles, Ill. According to a post from group member Tim Midgett on the band's official Web site, two other people in the car with Dahlquist were also killed. "They were behind a car at a light," Midgett wrote. "A young woman, bent on doing injury to herself, ran into the back of the car at a high rate of speed. Evidently, all three guys were killed instantly." Now Billboard.com is reporting that the woman who caused the accident was allegedly suicidal, and is being accused of deliberately causing a high-speed crash. Sad news indeed.

Look for an interview with The Show Is the Rainbow online here tomorrow.

The Brunettes -- Mars Loves Venus (Lil Chief) -- Sweet-as-candy boy-and-girl indie pop songs by way of New Zealand that bear more than a slight resemblance to Tilly and the Wall or Tegan and Sarah (this generation's K Records/twee pop). These naive love songs with deceptively simple arrangements (don't be fooled) could be the soundtrack to your own personal Summer of Love... if you're 15. Brass, tinny guitars and a sweater full of la-la's provide that trendy, retro feel though there's more to it in a snarling '60s sort of way. Just enough garage to remind me of Elvis C's first album, and that's a good thing. Rating: Yes.

While interviewing Dereck Higgins last week we talked about his shows late last year at, among other places, O'Leaver's. Higgins played with only a prerecorded CD, his guitar and his voice, and the results were less than stellar. "I don't like playing alone," he said. "There was a bit of me feeling that this is fucking karaoke, even though I recorded all the parts." But another problem was that Higgins has never felt that his music is conducive to a bar setting "People are there to get drunk and get laid," he said. "They're not focusing on the music."

Fine, but if you're a rock musician (or in Higgins case, an ambient pop musician with British prog overtones) where else is there to play but in a bar? Ask yourself when was the last time you saw a band (not a cover band, not a blues band, not jazz guys) perform outside of a club or festival setting? The under-21s aren't the only ones who have something to complain about -- there are very few places to see live, original rock music without being smoked out or boozed on.

Thanks to singer/songwriter/popster Richard Schultz, Higgins found an outlet at the Omaha Healing Arts Center. The venue was hardly new him. Higgins performed there back in June 2003, playing bass alongside one of his personal musical heroes, The Chameleons' Mark Burgess. Situated in the heart of the Old Market, Healing Arts is a combination health food store, restaurant, yoga gym and massage/physical therapy outlet. Unlike the usual smokehole booze huts I'm used to attending, Healing Arts is a veritable oasis. The converted warehouse-style building sports a main room that feels like a New Age church, with high, beamed ceilings and a skylight that stretches 30 yards or so along the entire room. Sure, everywhere you look there are portraits of yogis and other spiritual types, and there is a distinct "hippy vibe," but overall, it's really just a nice, tranquil setting.

For Saturday night's gig, the stage had been set up along a wall halfway down one side of the long room. Schultz had strung Christmas twinkle lights along the rigging, stretching the green plastic chords overhead to the opposite wall. It gave the place a sort of outdoorsy feel. First up was a band of youngsters called One Mummy Case -- youngsters that is, except for Higgins, who played bass in the band. With two teen-aged multi-instrument lead singers, a keyboardist and drummer, One Mummy Case is the next generation of Simon Joyner/Conor Oberst singer-songwriters, sporting styles that are similar to both. The hour-long set was remarkable for a first-ever gig, the band playing to a room filled not only with music fans, but with family (moms and dads) and friends. Talk about pressure. Regardless, you'd think these guys had been performing on stage for, well, months at least, especially considering that a few of them looked no older than 15. Where else but a no-alcohol place like Healing Arts could a band like this perform?

A half hour later, Higgins own band took the stage. It was quite a contrast to the one-man karaoke-style bar shows. The band, which included John Friedman on guitar, Bill Eustice on bass and Jeff Tegtmeir on drums, turned Higgins' usually spacey, keyboard-driven ambient movements into full-out rock songs, showcasing Dereck's skills on a number of scorching guitar solos. With a band behind him, Higgins was clearly more relaxed and confident, and is songs never sounded better, though I missed the mult-tracked harmonies (Come on, Eustice can sing, can't he?). It was nice to go home from a rock show and not have to strip off my smoke-infused clothes.

Tonight, it's back to the smokey confines of Sokol Underground for a showcase of Omaha and Lincoln bands including Back When, Mr. 1986, Paria and Father. $7, 9 p.m.

Bob Mould -- Body of Song (Yep Rock) -- No one loves ol' Bob more than I do. Since Workbook, Mould has created some of his most interesting and lyrically moving material, either by himself or with those Sugar boys.

That said, Body of Song is a curiosity of sorts. Mould has decided that good songs and his own voice just ain't enough, so he's enlisted the most annoying technological accouterment of modern dance music, the vocoder, just like the one Cher used on her madly successful dance albums. I gotta believe its just residue from 2002's Modulate and its supporting tour, where Bob played mad scientist with the beat box.

Thankfully, the dancing Bob with the robot voice shows up sparingly on Body of Song. Mould instead mixes styles that span from the Husker days ("Best Thing") to Workbook ("Gauze of Friendship") to Sugar ("Circles") to File Under: Easy Listening ("Missing You"), only skipping the beautiful bleakness of Black Sheets of Rain (I guess because Bob's a popster now).

The dreaded vocoder pops up on "(Shine Your) Light Love Hope," a track that unnecessarily electroplates textures over Bob's voice while adding plenty of sweaty thump-thump-thump dance beats. It doesn't work, at least for this old-school fan. How would the track have sounded sans technology with straight-up rock drums? We'll never know. We only get a slight synth line added to the guitar roar on "Paralyzed," but "I Am Vision I Am Sound" is yet another trip down the runway.

Ah, but then there's the good parts. "Days of Rain" is a straight-up back-beat rocker, unrestrained and chiming with the same vulnerable vocals heard on Workbook. "Best Thing" is the kind of Mould that everyone's been waiting for, complete with the line "You just lost the best thing you never had." "High Fidelity" is a sappy, traditional guitar ballad that no will be expecting, while "Missing You" flies atop a layer of Mould-on-Mould harmonies and a brash mid-song guitar solo.

Yeah, it would have been better without the electro-dance stuff, but overall it's the best Bob has done since File Under… Rating: Yes.

Adam Richman -- Patience and Science (Or Music) -- Songs like second track, "Suck It Up," try to meld early Bob Mould riffage with Richman's Guster-esque vocals and rhythms, which means this is a pop record that's trying to rock and, for the most part, succeeds. Richman's earnest whine can get close to precocious at times, but the clean rhythm section keeps it pumping ahead in classic indie (pop) rock fashion. Richman's lyrics are the same ol' boy/girl relationship bleatings that don't add much to the discussion. Track "Mary-Ann" is Richman's H&O "Rich Girl" with lines like "Mary-Ann shows up wasted at my door / Mary-Ann takes my bed leaves me the floor / Mary-Ann you're such a whore." Okay, we get it. Despite trite lyrics, the CD holds up on its hooks, riffs and that clean, crisp rhythm section. It's summer rock, it's kinda cheesy, and it's a step down from Guster, but it'll do. Rating: Yes.

Summer at Saddle Creek
A first look at the label's summer releases.

Coming off last year, a few of us know-it-alls laughed in our best Muttley wheezes at the prospects of poor Saddle Creek Records. "They blew their load in '04," we said, pointing at the CDs released by most of their best-selling artists, including two of their (current) Big Three. Sure, there were those duo Bright Eyes releases in January, but other than that, what was there to look forward to in '05? A few of us (actually, just me) hypothesized that the label had expected its Slowdown project to go down this year, and purposely kept the release load light. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

With summer burning hot on our backs and August just around the corner, Creek again finds itself with a plethora of releases from new artists and second-tier statesmen that could draw as much revenue as the '04 contingent. Here's an early look at what's headed down the road.

Orenda Fink -- Invisible Ones (Release: Aug. 23) -- The other half of Azure Ray takes her shot at a solo project with better results. While both Fink's and co-hort Maria Taylor's CDs are more upbeat and interesting than anything they put out together, Invisible Ones raises the bar even further. "Bloodline" is hot ambient rock, like a laid-back Faint track, maybe because Mr. Fink (the former Mr. Baechle) plays guitar and keyboards on it. "Les Invisibles," with its mock choir, jazz flute and Fink's droning melody, sports the same dreaded undertone as Tricky's "Christiansands" with Fink playing the Bjork role. "Animal" is downright tribal, while the "Dirty South" is downright filthy. They aren't all departures. The mewing "Miracle Wonder" and "Easter Island" could have come off the last Azure Ray CD along with "Blind Asylum," in spite of its cello-plucking accompaniment. So which is the better of the two? I'm not saying.

Mayday -- Bushido Karaoke (Released: June 21) -- Is it me or is this the most upbeat thing Ted Stevens has recorded under the Mayday moniker? Damn right it is. I wouldn't call it rock, as much as honky-tonk or blue-grass or just plain fun. "Continental Grift" is as funky as these white guys get. "Old World New World" is a banjo-pluckin' skipper, while "Father Time" recalls a dusty Ennio Morricone soundtrack sung by rednecks. It's probably no coincidence that Stevens' voice resembles David Byrne's since his songs do as well (albeit with a twang). Yee-haw.

Broken Spindles -- Inside/Absent (Release: Aug. 23) -- Mr. Lexus commercial himself starts his new one sounding like that same Lexus commercial -- all noodling-keyboard-spider-web-tinkling spook -- before floating into the thump-thump-thump electronic pulse of "This Is an Introduction" -- a track that proves Joel Petersen's atonal vocals are no longer mere novelty. In fact, they're a necessity, adding Depeche-Mode drama to dance-floor poser "Please Don't Remember This" and Faint-outcasts "The Distance is Nearsighted" and "Painted Boy Face." For contrast, Petersen returns to the creepy Lexus-tinkling a few times too many, but not enough to bring down the disc. Too laid-back for the runway, Inside/Absent confirms that Broken Spindles is more than a Faint side project.

Criteria -- When We Break (Release: Aug. 23) -- Easily the most commercial-flavored CD Creek has ever released, When We Break is pure FM-ready back-break indie rock in the vein of such scorchers as, say, The Jealous Sound, Jimmy Eat Word or (dare I say it) Cursive. The diff is in Stephen Pedersen's soaring bird-call melodies and the stutter-step, boot-on-your-neck, five-beat rhythms that have all the subtlety of a drunken waltz on meth. A.J. Mogis has emerged as Pedersen's Michael Anthony harmony-wise (though he more closely resembles a shaggy Walter Becker). Because the hooks are easier to find and less dissonant than Cursive's, more modern-sounding than The Faint's and more radio-ready than Conor's, this one could turn Creek's Big Three into The Big Four.

What's missing? Cursive's The Difference Between Houses And Homes (Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001), slated for release Aug. 9. Why? Because I haven't heard it yet. The 12-song collection includes two previously unreleased tracks and 10 from out-of-print 7"s. Consider it a prelude to what lies ahead, as Cursive brushes the dust from its shoulders and reenters the fray in 2006.

Now online, a feature story on legendary Omaha musician Dereck Higgins (Read it here). The story focuses on Higgins' new CD, Dereck 2, which he'll be performing at a gig this Saturday night at the Omaha Healing Arts Center. Some of you may have seen Higgins' performances this past fall with only his guitar and a drum machine. Well, he's formed a band for this show that includes John Friedman on guitar, Bill Eustice on bass and Jeff Tegtmeir on drums. Also on the bill are rock upstarts One Mummy Case (of which Higgins also is a member), and Omaha power popster (popstar?) Richard Schultz and the Miracle Men. You'll save three bucks if you make your reservations for the show now at 345.5078. Otherwise it's $8 at the door.

Tonight it's Epitaph recording artist Motion Picture Soundtrack down at Sokol Underground with The Working Title, Veda and This is Me Smiling. 9 p.m., $14.

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The last time I saw the Femur they were a small band of three or four musicians pounding out proggy noise with the exuberance of a child begging for attention. And they got it. They deserved it. Their sound has grown a lot in the past couple years. So has the band. Once a trio, last night no less than eight musicians were on stage playing everything from trombone to trumpet to violin. Still, its frontman Matt Focht, guitarist/vocalist Mike Elsener and drummer Ben Armstrong who are at the core of the outfit, orchestrating all the beautiful noise in a much more traditional fashion then when they started. Let me put it this way, instead of straight-up indie prog, Femur -- who always carried a burden of influences on their songwriting shoulders -- at one point sounded like the reincarnation of The Band playing an obscure Mott the Hoople tune with the help of Consafos guitarist Billy Talbot Jr. (the progeny of Crazy Horse's Billy Talbot). It was one of many highlights that included a fine mix of songs off Hysterical Stars (the new one) and Ringodom of Proctor (the old one), as well as a cover of Elvis Costello's "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding?" It was all good.

Femur is probably the first among the current-day indie flock that epitomizes that sunshine, good-times, Sunday-in-the-park-stoned sound of classic roots and prog rock '60s and '70s bands like Blood Sweat and Tears, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, King Crimson and The Nice. And they do it seemingly without even trying. My problem with the scores of neu-retro acts like The Shins, New Pornographers, and Of Montreal is that while their music is catchy and kitschy, their obvious retro-adulation is clearly orchestrated and always forced. Femur sounds like Femur because that's what Femur is. Sure, it's obvious that they grew up listening to their great-uncle's record collection, but the honesty, purity and hippyness of their sound is impossible to deny. They're at Knickerbocker's in Lincoln tonight again with Kite Pilot and Consafos.

In the Old News Dept: Saddle Creek Records will be releasing the next full length by San Francisco duo Two Gallants. I (and most of Omaha it seems) knew about this for months, but try as I might no one from Creek would confirm it. Hmmm... Two Gallants... What did I say about their show last January when they opened for Rogue Wave at Sokol Underground? "Two Gallants, a drum-and-guitar duo, opened the show with a set of long, three-quarter-time ballads that married Arlo Guthrie with Janis Joplin (sort of) to create a nasal-esque folk-blues 'explosion' that seemed to go on and on. Every tune felt three minutes too long, but I guess the guy had a story to tell." Now I remember those guys. They wound up playing in Omaha a second time, and that's when they caught Creek's ear, or so I'm told. On paper, they seem like an ill fit for a label that has little use for obvious retrograde noodling (if you don't count The Faint), but who can argue with Creek's record of success? It's also been pointed out that this is the first band signed with absolutely no ties to any other band on the label. They'll be playing the Saddle Creek Records' CMJ showcase at The Bowery Ballroom in Sept. 16, and will be headed back to Omaha for a gig with Holy Ghost Revival Sept. 30.

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What a way to start a week, eh? Head of Femur, Consafos and Kite Pilot at Sokol Underground. The new Femur CD has been out for a while and I've yet to hear a track from it. On the other hand, I have heard Tilting at Windmills, Consafos latest. It's a laid-back, twangy sort of thing, acoustic and lean, somewhat stark, somewhat lonely. Even the rockers, like "Seneca," with its Neil Young guitar lead, wilts as it lilts, bending downward upon Stefanie Drootin's girlish vocals. Meanwhile, "Angel from Hell" feels like a dreamy carnival ride of a lullaby, leaning this way and that on its woozy waltz-time beat. Consafos should be an interesting contrast sandwiched between Kite Pilot's new-wave pop and Femur's over-the-top prog-rock explosion. $7, 9 p.m.

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About a week ago Todd Grant called to tell me about a reunion show for his old band, Compost, explaining how he'd managed to talk guitarist Matt Rutledge and bassist Mike Fratt into playing together one last time at Mick's in Benson. An hour after our chat, Grant left a message on my answering machine saying that it would be his last performance ever, that he was hanging it up. I didn't give the comment much thought and never called him back to pursue it further. Little did I know that he might have been telling the truth.

Compost never played a note last night at Mick's. I won't go into all the gory details, other than to say that while the band was doing its sound check, Grant made a number of insulting comments about Mick's owner Michael Campbell over the microphone. Whether he was kidding or not, the crowd didn't like it and began yelling four-letter epithets back at him. The next thing you know, Grant was calling out someone in the crowd, and then charged off the stage after him, swinging his guitar over his head. At first I thought he was goofing around -- just Todd being Todd -- but then a table went over and things started breaking. From my vantage point at the back of the packed room, I couldn't see what happened next. A crowd converged around Grant, and he was quickly escorted out the back exit of the club to much cheering and jeering, while Rutledge and Fratt packed up their gear with their heads down.

I'm not sure exactly what went down moments later behind the club and then in front of it, when I heard pounding on the front window. It was a weird, intense situation. People were running back and forth from one end of the club to the other. And then the police arrived. I'm told Grant wasn't arrested. From the look on Campbell's face I'm sure he won't be playing at Mick's again anytime soon.

Afterward, Rutledge said, "Well, I guess you got a spectacle tonight."

"Yeah," I replied, "but I would have preferred to have gotten the music."

It would be an understatement to say that Todd Grant has proven to be a volatile performer -- a risky bet for any show promoter or club owner. He's been involved in similar altercations at O'Leaver's and Duffy's within the last few months (The O'Leaver's incident, Grant told me himself, involved him swinging a microphone stand at a table, sending broken glass flying that hit at least one patron. He says he doesn't remember doing it). There aren't that many venues left that will even allow Grant on their stage. That said, if in fact we have seen the last of Todd Grant as a performer, it'd be real shame. His performance opening for Dolorean last March at Sokol Underground backed by Tim Kasher, Dan Crowell and Mike Brannan was something special, and I'm told the recordings he made with that band at Artery Studios are remarkable, though it sounds like we'll never get a chance to ever hear them.

Back at Mick's it didn't take long for things to get settled and Jeff Carlson's new band Sonata Form quickly took the stage, announcing "Todd Grant has left the building," which received a round of applause. I caught four or five of Carlson's songs -- more on his music at a later date. I high-tailed it down to O'Leaver's to catch the very tail end of Criteria's set. O'Leaver's had been cleared of all its tables and chairs to make way for the SRO crowd. If you got there late you probably didn't see a thing, but you could certainly hear it. O'Leaver's used the show to break in their shiny new PA, and frontman Stephen Pedersen felt the brunt of it on his lips, thanks to some kind of electrical problem that resulted in him getting shocked all night. All the microphones had towels wrapped over them held tight with duct tape in a desperate effort to dampen the electrical charge. Apparently that still didn't help much. Regardless, what I heard sounded like the usual Criteria rock set -- bold and angry. Now the band is off to Europe and London for a tour in the aftermath of yesterday's bomb attacks.

Meanwhile, back in Omaha, the weekend's shows look pretty light. Tonight Mal Madrigal gets a chance to try to tame O'Leaver's red-hot mics when they open for Luke Temple ($5, 9:30 p.m.). There's also a hip-hop show down at Sokol Underground featuring Buck Bowen and Surreal ($7, 9 p.m.). Nothing's jumping off the calendar for Saturday and Sunday nights. The Zoo Bar in Lincoln is hosting its anniversary show Saturday featuring Charlie Burton and Forty Twenty. Sokol Underground is hosting a metal show that night as well with Bloodcow. Looks like Sunday is a day of rest.

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The headline says it all. As mentioned Tuesday, Compost is/was singer/songwriter Todd Grant, guitarist Matt Rutledge (The Third Men, The Sons of...), bassist Mike Fratt (Goodbye, Sunday) and drummer Mark Quinn. Mick's website is now calling it an "acoustic reunion." Compost will play second. The headliner is former Gladhands/Fifth of May frontman Jeff Carlson's new band Sonata Form (which also includes Quinn). Opener is Bunny Geist. $5, 9 p.m. For what it's worth, Grant left a message on my voicemail saying this will be his last performance.

Meanwhile, Criteria is playing a free show at O'Leaver's. I'm not sure why it's free, since they could pack the place at $5 a head. Guess they figure they'll be making enough dough on their upcoming Euro-America tour, and that this would be a fine way to give back to their Omaha friends. No opening acts. O'Leaver's has said this will be an SRO event -- no seating. That means if you're not standing up by the stage, you won't see a thing. Perhaps they'll move the band to a different area of the bar, but I highly doubt it. It should be a crush scene. I'll be at one (or maybe both) shows.

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Column 32 -- The Border Wars
Which side are you on?

A couple weeks ago I got into a late-night Internet argument with local musician Matt Whipkey (of Anonymous American) about the plusses and minuses of bands playing bars located west of 72nd St. -- the proverbial line of demarcation that historically divides Omaha the City with Omaha the Suburbs.

It's the old cliché: Depending on which side of 72nd you frequent, you either dine at chain restaurants or at small bistros, shop at strip malls or at mom-and-pop retailers, listen to cover bands or dig original music by original artists. Argue all you want if the line should exist, but exist it does. And oh how those who live on either side refuse to cross that imaginary border.

Whipkey had wanted some hype for a gig his band was playing at Shag, a new club at 114th and Dodge (the former Funnybone location). I had to laugh. You want people to take your band seriously when you play west of 72nd? The only thing out in the land of strip malls is cover bands and meat markets.

Whipkey didn't flinch. Before you go shooting your mouth off, see for yourself, he said, adding that Shag owner Terry O'Halloran is trying something different. Besides, it would be good for me to step outside of my usual indie enclave of O'Leaver's, Sokol Underground and The 49'r. And, honestly, it ain't so far away.

He was right. It took only 10 minutes for this proud citizen of Dundee to make his way past the monolithic overpass construction to Shag's sleepy strip mall with its seemingly endless parking. The lot was so well-lit that I could have driven "the good car" -- something that's not recommended if parking on one of the dim-lit back alleys that surround Sokol Auditorium. Once inside, another oddity -- the bar didn't stink of 100 years of smoke and stale piss. And instead of stark, beer-sign glare, Shag's tiki-influenced interior glowed with warm, ambient light cast by giant rose-colored ceiling shades. Instead of having to stand all night to watch the bands, I sat in a luxurious (faux) leopard-skin high chair. And talk about innovation: Shag has this gimmick where young women called "waitresses" actually bring you your drinks! Huh?

Performing on this Sunday night along with Anonymous American was local original band The Ointments. Guitarist/frontman Reagan Roeder, bassist Kyle Harvey (an accomplished singer songwriter in his own right) and drummer Landon Hedges (frontman of indie band Little Brazil) pounded out a style of power pop that merged Television, Matthew Sweet with Teenage Fan Club. The West O crowd of more than 100 ate it up, just as they devoured Anonymous American's Stonesy, twangy, alt-country rock. Both acts were a far cry from your typical cover band.

O'Halloran said Shag's bread-and-butter is its Thursday-through-Saturday crowd who come to unwind over vodka drinks, music videos and the hope of catching a little opposite-sex action. He indulges himself with live music on Sundays -- usually national touring blues bands -- but is experimenting with local original acts as long as they're not too edgy. "Anonymous American is non-offensive, quality music, and is as good as any national touring act," he said. "Hiring local original bands brings in people who haven't been to the club yet." People like me.

Shag's not alone in this brave, new world. The Spotlight at 120th and Blondo and The Prestige Club at 152nd and West Maple are both straying from the cover-band formula by booking local original acts, trying to fill a void created by the closing of The Ranch Bowl and the long-forgotten Music Box. Could this be the beginning of a Western migration?

O'Halloran is skeptical. Also the operator of Murphy's Lounge (the old 18th Amendment), he explained that West Omaha's high rent and high overhead demand the kind of revenue that only cover bands (and their beer-guzzling following) can draw. "In East Omaha, the rents are lower, the overhead's not as high and having a huge draw isn't as important."

And then there's that crazy 72nd St. border. "The reason why the Saddle Creek guys are opening their club north of downtown is because that's where their fans are," he said. "The stigma about east and west of 72nd Street is probably accurate."

Some clichés, it seems, are hard to shake.

First, a brief glance at the weekend. I caught just about 8 minutes of The Doobie Brothers at Memorial Park last Friday, and I must say, they sounded rather good. My vantage point was below stage right as I waited for them to finish and for the fireworks to begin. Note to self: Always view fireworks from this vantagepoint -- they were going off right over my head.

Sunday night was a long one. It started with a trip to West O to check out Shag -- you'll read more about that tomorrow when I post this week's Lazy-i column. On stage was The Ointments -- a trio featuring singer-songwriter Reagan Roeder on guitar/vocals, singer-songwriter Kyle Harvey on bass and singer-songwriter Landon Hedges on the skins. The result is guitar-fueled power-pop a la Matthew Sweet or (in a couple instances) Teenage Fanclub. Sound good? It would sound even better if the songs had better hooks. While all three are competent musicians, the songs fell flat and were generally forgettable -- which was surprising coming from three talented singer-songwriters. They were followed by what I'm told was a two-hour set by Anonymous American (or two one-hour sets, as Whipkey says he was planning a break in the middle to sell merch). I caught most of the first set, and as always Whipkey and company delivered high energy Stones-meets-The Boss-meets-altcountry rock, complete with the Whip's trademark drumset dives.

I took off at around 11 and hightailed it to O'Leaver's where Baltimore's The Wilderness was about to take the stage in front of 30 people tops. Despite the thin crowd, the band played a potent set of feedback-driven, guitar-chime rock driven by throbbing tribal drums and lead singer James Johnson's John Lydon-style chant vocals. Johnson, looking like David Cross but with (a little) more hair, did a weird T'ai Chi-style slow-motion dance, at one point wrapping himself around a post and laying on the ground pounding his palms to the floor. Weird, in an early David Byrne sort of way. I guess you had to be in the right mood, and I was, while the guy next to me hated it.

Kite Pilot, featuring new drummer Jeremy Stanosheck, was next. I'd heard from a couple people that their last O'Leaver's gig was spotty and off-kilter. They sounded pretty spot-on, however, Sunday night, unveiling a couple songs from their upcoming CD, which were something of a departure from the stuff on their EP. The opening song, for example, was launched by full-on screaming by Austin Britton before moving into more traditional territory. Another sported numerous time- and key changes that at first felt awkward before it all pulled together in the end. I'm guessing their new music will be more challenging for the traditional listener to grasp; it'll also likely be more rewarding. We'll see when the CD becomes available later this fall.

And now glancing toward later this week -- Thursday to be precise -- when two interesting shows will be taking place concurrently. First, influential '90s-era LinOma band Compost will reunite at Mick's in Benson for one night. The line-up includes guitarist/vocalist Matt Rutledge (The Third Men), bassist Mike Fratt (Goodbye Sunday), drummer Mark Quinn and guitarist/vocalist Todd Grant. Headlining the show is Sonata Form, a new project by Jeff Carlson, formerly of '90s power-pop act Gladhands.

Meanwhile, the same night down at O'Leaver's, Criteria will be playing a last-minute set (apparently by themselves). Frontman Stephen Pedersen says it's a free show. I'm guessing it's a tune-up before the band takes off on a European tour for a couple weeks, eventually swinging back to the U.S. for a handful of dates with The Appleseed Cast.

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I doubt this will ever even be seen by anyone in time, but there are a couple shows worth checking out tonight (which were brought to my attention by a number of people). First, at O'Leaver's, is Jagjaguwar band Wilderness with Omaha favorites Kite Pilot and NYC band The Internet. For whatever reason the show has gone unnoticed (probably because O'Leaver's didn't list it on their site and no one was responsible for promoting it). $5, 9:30 p.m. Meanwhile, at new venue Shag, 707 N. 114th St., Anonymous American is playing with The Ointments (Reagan Roeder, Kyle Harvey, & Landon Hedges). $5, 9 p.m. See you at one or the other...

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Tonight is the big Three Dog Night/Doobie Brother(s) shindig at Memorial Park, about four blocks from where I live. That means coming home from work to experience a parking/people nightmare -- crowds of tourist-like idiots carrying lawn chairs and coolers, and lots and lots of cops. Sound like fun? It's the price you pay for living so close to the park. Of the two bands, Three Dog Night appears to have the most original members. They're on a tour that takes them to various casinos and hotels across America (That's what you have to look forward to, Conor). It looks like only four of the original Doobie Bros. will be performing tonight -- one of the drummers and three of the guitarists/vocalists -- this looks like the pre-Steely Dan-style line-up (no Michael McDonald, no Jeff "Skunk" Baxter). I don't expect much, but regardless, the crowd will eat it up and the fireworks should be good.

Later tonight, a couple interesting shows: Fingers Cut Megamachine and Gnome Slaughterhouse are at Ted & Wally's ($5, 11 p.m.); while Evil Beaver and Members of the Press are at O'Leaver's ($5, 9:30 p.m.). Saturday at Sokol Underground it's The Narrator, Gnome Slaughterhouse and Latitude Longitude ($7, 9 p.m.) while at Lincoln's Duffy's Tavern it's a Speed! Nebraska showcase featuring Ideal Cleaners, The Monroes and Bombardment Society ($5, 9:30). Sadly, I can't find any Sunday shows, which sucks because we all have the next day off. Come on, bands, step up!

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