With a violinist/accordionist that looks like a Bolshevik, a bass player who switches between a stand-up and a Christmas-tree-light adorned tuba, and a Theremin-playing frontman who yodels more than sings, Devotchka is as eccentric as you want them to be, right down to their cover of "Venus in Furs" that makes you think the Velvets could have been from an Eastern Block country.

There is an ethnic, Russian flair to most everything they do, a flair that the crowd of around 220 obviously came to see and hear. Sprinkled throughout the room, girls jumped and kicked in a sad, Americanized version of a Barynya folk dance, complete with obligatory squatting and foot stomps (Most of the guys did the usual immobile slouching, hands in pockets). When the accordion came out and the sousaphone was at full sail, the place turned into a Ukranian dance hall powered by the band's polka-flavored bounce. On the other hand, when the band took a more-modern less-ethnic approach, they turned into a Hungarian (by way of Denver) version of The Arcade Fire, thanks to the frontman Nick Urata's yodel croon and the music's soaring, layered sound, reminiscent of the better moments off Funeral.

I was told that these guys weren't an indie band. And I might have believed that if it weren't for drummer Shawn King - who, though surrounded by music played in a foreign language, still cracked the set like a first-rate (indie) rocker. King was astounding, even when he put down the sticks, picked up a trumpet and followed the rest of the band into the crowd for a pseudo-mariachi number. Great fun. I left after an hour, just as the band closed their set with the Morricone-flavored whistler theme from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack.

Tonight at Sokol Underground, The Black Keys with Brimstone Howl and Dr. Dog. This show was originally scheduled for Sokol Auditorium, but poor ticket sales drove it downstairs. Needless to say, the show is nearly sold out, so if you don't already have tickets, go to the One Percent Productions site and click on the Purchase Tickets link. They'll run you $17. If you plan on walking up, I suggest you get in line early (and bundle up, it's cold outside).

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 103 -- Two Years (and counting)
A look back on the second anniversary

The end of the year for music fans means endless retrospectives of the past 12 months written with great pomposity, and lists upon lists upon lists upon lists of "the best blah-blah-blah of '06." We complain, but we love looking back if only to say "I told you so," conveniently forgetting the blind missteps, and hoping you forgot them, too. That said, let this be the first of those retrospectives for '06, as we celebrate the second year of Lazy-i in The Reader and look back with great aplomb to update the past year's columns.

Presto! Change-o! (2/1/06) -- A description of the new Presto! Studios in Omaha, gleaned from an issue of Tape Op Magazine. Saddle Creek Records executive Jason Kulbel tells me that the building that housed the Lincoln Presto! Studios now sits empty following tracking last fall for the upcoming Bright Eyes record. The new studios, located near 69th and Dodge Sts., are coming to life. As I type this, the facility's "B Room" is being used for the final mixing of said Bright Eyes CD. By the way, the name Presto! apparently will die along with the Lincoln studio.

Scars for All to Hear (2/16/06) -- A profile of Outlaw Con Bandana's Brendan Hagberg. The band currently is recording its fifth release, Faeries and Rewards, with producer Ted Stevens between Cursive world tours. "We are also attempting an EP by hook or crook during the down time," Hagberg says on his myspace page. Look for both records in early '07.

Band of Brothers (2/23/06) -- A profile of them thar Thornton boys -- Bob and Will -- and their band Past Punchy and the Present. Since the column, Past Punchy has become rather dormant. Instead, Bob's new band, Now Archimedes!, has established itself as the hottest new punk band in town.

Not for The Faint of Heart (3/22/06) -- Wherein your fearless columnist reported about the possibility of The Faint leaving Saddle Creek Records for American Recordings, a rumor that Creek label chief Robb Nansel confirmed. Since then, The Faint has begun working on the long-awaited follow-up to 2004's Wet from Birth in their new studio. Asked if the record will come out on Saddle Creek, Kulbel gave a two-word answer: "No comment."

Living in Fun City (6/22/06) -- The Omaha World-Herald took umbrage to my attack on their declaration -- made after this summer's Bright Eyes concert in Memorial Park -- that Omaha is "Fun City." An OWH editorial, cleverly titled "The Quest for Coolness," referred to "a local blogger" who is "beside himself that anyone could possibly consider Omaha a Fun City." Pity they didn't have the stones to either mention The Reader (where the column also appeared) or my website's address. But like I said last week, The OWH doesn't acknowledge non-OWH-controlled local media sources in print. As for their editorial: If the paper and the Chamber of Commerce think the answer to Omaha's "quest for coolness" is to bring in more national-chain retail outlets like Cheesecake Factory and Williams-Sonoma instead of supporting home-grown businesses, then they clearly have no idea what "cool" is.

Unlikely Underdog (6/29/06) -- Amid a cloud of negative buzz, the column was an early defense of Cursive's new release, Happy Hollow. The record, which I still consider to be the band's best effort in their storied career -- continues to split fans down the middle between those who love it and those who don't. Regardless, the album sold 9,700 copies in its first week of release, enough to place it at No. 96 in the Billboard top 100. To date, Happy Hollow has sold more than 27,000 copies, according to Kulbel.

Urban Legend (7/6/06) -- A profile of local rock band An Iris Pattern's quirky, mysterious frontman, Greg Loftis. Since the column, Loftis reports that An Iris Pattern has been asked by world-renowned fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger to be the first band on his new record label. Stay tuned.

Flyover Country (6/1/06) -- The premise: Top-drawer national indie bands are beginning to pass by Omaha because cheapskate concert-goers won't pay more than $10 for tickets. In fact, '06 will be remembered as one of the better years for stellar acts hitting our stages, including such bands as Yo La Tengo, Joanna Newsom, M Ward and Gillian Welch. Lately, however the crowds are staying home. One Percent Productions' Marc Leibowitz, who along with partner Jim Johnson is responsible for most of Omaha's indie shows, says ticket prices alone aren't to blame. "It's more likely the combination of higher ticket prices and over-saturation of shows," he said. "There are a ton of shows that are all slightly overpriced. But when we talked about ticket prices (in June) it was just for Omaha, and this downturn in attendance is happening in a lot of other cities as well."

The Kids Aren't All Right (8/3/06) -- Wherein I ask the question: Where have all the new indie bands gone? Leibowitz says they're right here, you just have to look for them. Among them: Coyote Bones, Bear Country, Spring Gun, Domestica, Art Bell and Hyannis.

And so on… Thanks to everyone who provided their insight, inspiration, information -- and most of all, ideas. These are the things that keep Lazy-I going. Now onto year three…

Here's an early head's up about Wednesday night's Devotchka show at Sokol Underground. A little bird close to the show tells me that opening band McCarthy Trenching will, in fact, be the all-star line-up featuring Maria Taylor, Steph Drootin and Conor Oberst. We saw this lineup open for M Ward Sept. 6. Fact is, Dan McCarthy is just as good when he's playing with his non-all-star lineup His music is lilting, folky waltzes with a hint of Neil Young in the guitars. Oberst might throw in some harmonies, but he'll mostly just concentrate on being a faceless accomplice. Devotchka has become a hot property after contributing music to the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack. Last time they came through they drew a few hundred -- this time it could be a sell-out, especially with the added star power.

Moving on... Here's a well-written review from The Dallas Morning News of Cursive's Nov. 25 gig at The Gypsy Tea Room. I generally don't agree with the writer, who can't help but pigeon-hole Cursive as an emo band. His comparisons to Fall Out Boy betray him -- Cursive doesn't have much in common with that band, so if he went to the show expecting that sort of performance he was destined for disappointment. Says he: "But with little exception (the raucous, whippy solo break on "Martyr" being one), its activity level didn't measure up to a normal emo act, almost as if it chose not to expend the energy lest it lost its rep as the Emo Band With Indie Clout." Right. I can't imagine anyone wanting a rep like that.

Tonight, Minneapolis trio The Slats, sounding like a cross between The Cars and Guided By Voices, takes the stage at O'Leaver's with Des Moines' Beati Paoli. $5, 9:30 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Art Bell is Orenda Fink's new band with Adrianne Verhoeven of The Anniversary and 4th of July. The last time I saw the band (back in July) it also featured Dan McCarthy on keyboards, Ryan Fox on bass, Steve Bartolomei on guitar and drummer Corey Broman (Little Brazil, ex-Kite Pilot, ex-Son, Ambulance). The One Percent Productions site says Fink and Co. are currently recording a new album with Joel Petersen of The Faint. Wonder what label will be putting that out... Also on the SCB bill is Drakes Hotel & Jake Bellows -- a steal for just $5. Starts at 9.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 102 -- For 'Biggest Oversight' by an awards show…
The nominees are…

Before I get into this, I must tell you that I'm one of those hallowed few who have been asked to be a member of "The Academy" for the Live Music portion of the Omaha Entertainment Awards. And I also must explain that The Reader is one of OEAs' media partners, if not one of its chief organizers. So one could yell "Bias!" at these words, but one would be incorrect, as I hold no allegiance to the organization and have just as many gripes as you about the Nominees list published last week. Instead of griping for gripe's sake, however, I wanted explanations.

So I picked up the phone and called Tony Lange, the guy responsible for how the OEAs are being conducted. Lange comes to Omaha from Cincinnati, where the CEAs are in their 8th year. He said they were the boilerplate for the OEAs, right down to how bands were nominated. Anyone (as in you) could have submitted a nominating ballot, and Lange said around 2,000 of you did -- not bad for the first year. A five-person committee (of which Lange is a member) developed the categories with the help of a few others who were brought in to "broaden the knowledge base."

That brings us to the nominees and my list of gripes, first and foremost being the inclusion of South Dakota blues act Indigenous under the category of "Traditional / Indigenous" music. Anyone who's ever heard a lick of the band's Stevie Ray Vaughan blues-hammer aping knows that they don't belong in this category, and that South Dakota ain't Omaha (or Nebraska).

Clarification No. 1: Any performer from a 75-mile radius of The Holland Center was eligible for nomination, which explains why all those Lincoln bands are on the list (but doesn't explain why the awards aren't called the NEAs (N as in Nebraska instead of O as in Omaha)).

Lange admitted that, yes, Indigenous isn't from Nebraska, and no, they don't play indigenous music, and yes, the whole thing was a mistake. "That's one that slipped by us," he said. "We'll take the blame. It's a result of me not growing up here. It should have been caught."

Some of the categories, however, were tougher to explain. Why, for example, group "hard rock" and "metal" together? Everyone knows they're different genres. Apparently not everyone. "I know there's death metal and speed metal and hate metal," Lange said. "Next year we may consider separating the categories."

"Next year" also applies to including a "Singer/Songwriter" category, an omission that is the awards' biggest oversight, as Omaha is known nationally as a singer/songwriter town. Lange had no real explanation for this, other than to say he wanted to include the category but that other committee members preferred naming it "Adult Contemporary." This, of course, makes no sense, but "that's what you get when you deal with a committee."

Lange is not apologetic about the "Cover Band" category. "Cover bands are the core meat of the local entertainment business," he said. "Their art is just the same as anyone else's. Remember, this award is based on entertainment."

Complaints about who got nominated falls squarely on you, the voter, and your favorite bands' inability to "get out the vote." Lange admits that there always will be acts that simply aren't comfortable lobbying for themselves. That may explain why local jazz legend Luigi Waites was overlooked under the "Jazz" category or why Breathless wasn't nominated under "Hip-Hop/Rap." It also explains why there are no punk bands under the "Punk" category. Would a real punk band lobby for votes? Go ask Johnny Rotten.

For the first go-'round, the list of nominees isn't horrible, especially under categories "Alternative Indie" (rightfully dominated by Saddle Creek Records acts), "Folk Americana Roots," "Hard Rock" (I'm leaving metal out of it) and "Live Music Event." The full list is available online at oeawards.net. Yes, there are omissions, but hey, give them a break, it's the first year.

The most glaring omission is in how the local media have covered the event. Yes, The Reader is a sponsor, right along with NRG Media on the radio side. That shouldn't preclude the great, gray Omaha World-Herald from covering an event that has the full support of the Chamber of Commerce and a plethora of important local arts organizations.

The fact is, the OWH has historically put its own needs in front of its readers when it comes to covering anything that's sponsored by rival media, whether it be an alt-weekly newspaper, radio or local TV station. They need to let the paranoia go and realize what everyone else already knows: They don't have any competition. No one's going to steal away any of their potential advertisers and/or readers, certainly not The Reader. Acknowledgement of the OEAs by the OWH and other media is critical if this thing is ever really going to get off the ground. But I'm afraid that the polarizing, Citizen Kane mentality of local media will never let that happen, even for an event that's designed not to make money (OEA is a 501c3, nonprofit organization) but to celebrate this city's talent. Let's do this, before all that talent finds a more grateful place to play.

Tonight at O'Leaver's, Iowa City citizen Ed Gray takes the stage. Gray is something of a legend in the low-fi folk circuit. His first serious recordings involved John Crawford (Head of Femur, Grey Ghost), violinist Tiffany Kowalski (Lullaby for the Working Class, Mayday, Shelley Short), and producer Alex McManus (The Bruces, Bright Eyes). On his new record, Gray plays with a crapload of Omaha musicians that are usually seen orbiting around Simon Joyner. It's a folkie treat in a style that is right at home with Simon and Outlaw Con Bandana. Hear for yourself at his myspace page. That said, it makes sense that he's playing with Simon tonight, who, according to Ed, will be backing him along with the rest of the band, which he refers to as The Wind-Up Birds. Don't know if this is a different line-up than we usually see in The Fallen Men or not, but there's one way to find out. $5, 9 p.m.

But first, this member of the Academy for the Omaha Entertainment Awards will be venturing west, to Shag for the OEA showcase. The show starts at 7 and will include performances by Anonymous American, Scott Severin and a host of others (the schedule is here), while the American Music Awards are broadcast over Shag's television screens. I suspect this will be a surreal event and that I and the rest of the Academy will be plied with booze, whores and drugs in an ill-fated attempt by the nominees to garner our votes. Fun!

There are a ton of questions that arose when the OEA nominees were announced last week, which I'll attempt to answer in tomorrow's column. Look for it, and a reflection on tonight's festivities.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 101 -- And Now a Song from our Sponsor
Commercials go indie…

I'll let you in on a little secret: I dig watching sports on TV. Football, baseball, basketball, you name it. I know it isn't cool from an indie perspective to admit to such a steak-and-egger sort of past-time, but at any given moment during the season I generally know where the Yankees stand in the AL, and I cry right along with everyone else in the Big Apple when the Knicks inevitably skid to the bottom of the Eastern Division (Damn you, Isiah!).

The problem with watching televised sports, however, is having to put up with all the commercials, and Sunday Night Football is easily the worst. Why? Because during every time-out, you're force-fed John Mellencamp's ode to America in the form of a Chevy truck commercial. Once upon a time, Little Johnny Cougar wrote real songs -- stuff like "Jack and Diane," and "Pink Houses." Not anymore.

Artists whoring their music to Madison Avenue is nothing new. Even such upstanding, well-respected musicians as U2 have gleefully traded in their flesh-and-blood to sell a few iPods. If Reverend Bono does it, it must be okay, right? Certainly it's a no-brainer for someone like Mellencamp, whose flat-lined career was in the same place as Bob Seger's when Seger let Chevy turn "Like a Rock" into a commercial.

But these days, it isn't just the county fair circuit that's grabbing the cash. Earlier this year I heard Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On" used to sell Jaguar XKE's. And it wasn't just incidental background music -- the commercial was produced like a rock video prominently featuring the song along with tight, quick cuts of a shiny new Jag. When they replayed the spot about five minutes later, I immediately thought, 'Well, there goes that song."

Then last night the whoring reached a new low. On screen was a commercial for Outback Steakhouse. Amidst the weird buzzing didgeridoo noise was the melody from Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)." But instead of Kevin Barnes singing "Let's pretend we don't exist / Let's pretend we're in Antarctica," some poor schmuck sang "Let's go Outback tonight / Life will still be there tomorrow" while animated cave drawings danced gleefully around a steak.

My first thought: "Those idiots! Don't they know that Barnes will sue their asses off when he finds out that they so blatantly ripped off his song?" Then I went online and found out that Barnes was in on the whole thing. Pitchfork reported that Barnes had given Outback's ad agency permission not only to use the song, but to rerecord it with new lyrics.

"We thought it would be totally amusing to hear their take on one of our songs as a jingle," he told Pitchfork. In this case, "totally amusing" means receiving a check worth a few thousand bloomin' onions.

Can you blame them for selling out their music? Fact is, in the case of both Of Montreal and Spoon, more people heard those songs on those commercials than will ever hear them on the radio. What price can you put on that kind of exposure?

When you live in a town like Omaha -- a city with no real college radio station -- TV commercials may be the only way to hear new music over the airwaves. And I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't admit that I've searched out a song used in an ad.

Case in point: The latest commercials for Geico featuring that loveable caveman that gets no respect. He first appeared on TV having lunch with a high-powered ad exec who apologized for the insensitivity of the company's "so easy a caveman can do it" commercials. "I didn't know you guys were still around." Caveman's response: "Maybe you should do some research." Classic.

In the new ad, our caveman (Who I'm sure is now headed for a sitcom career) stands on a moving walkway headed toward his departure gate in an airport when he passes yet another insensitive Geico airport display ad with the same catchphrase. Meanwhile, in the background plays a cool, simple, Casio-powered song that is, quite frankly, absolutely infectious.

Two seconds after entering "Geico Caveman Commercial" in Google, I discovered the song was "Remind Me" by Norwegian Euro-dance duo Röyksopp -- an act I'd never heard of, and likely wouldn't have without this commercial. Like Trio's "Da Da Da" song -- which went unnoticed for 15 years until it was used in VW commercials in the mid-'90s -- "Remind Me" also is destined to become an international smash that never would have been discovered if not for some savvy ad exec picking the song out of the ether and placing it in the commercial.

Like it or not, the same can probably be said for the new Mellencamp song. Without its Chevy connection, it never would have made it out of the blocks. Now it's fueling his next world tour.

I'm back from Dallas, and here's The Slip interview I promised Monday. The story ended up focusing on the band's inability to shake their "jam band" status that they developed early in their careers. Believe me, they, uh, dislike jam bands and the jam band scene, which they made perfectly clear in their interview. In fact, their manager sort of warned me that it was a sore topic with the band and that they'd be a bit unresponsive to questions about the whole jam band thing. But once we got started, the topic dominated the discussion. As I say in the story, judging from their new album on Bar/None, The Slip sound more like a traditional indie rock band influenced by Death Cab and Built to Spill than a jam band. One would hope that constant touring and the strength of their new album, which just came out, will help them get past being thrown in with noodlers like Widespread Panic and Phish. The show is tomorrow night at Sokol Underground with The Lovely Feathers and The Bon Savants. $10, 9 p.m.

The problem with going out of town all week is trying to catch up. Column 101 is ready to post, but I don't have the time to do it this morning, so look for it tomorrow morning.

Tonight at O'Leaver's you got Outlaw Con Bandana with A Poet Named Revolver and "The Antiquarium Staff" -- no idea who that could be -- along with Good with Guns. I have a feeling this could be a night of good eclectic music. $5, 9:30 p.m.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Well, I've got this great interview with The Slip that I'm dying to put online, but y'all gonna have to wait until Friday to read it because I'll be out of town for the next few days on biz (You can always find it in The Reader). That means no updates over the next few days. I still haven't had a chance to write a live review of last Saturday night's Eagle*Seagull/Coyote Bones show at the Saddle Creek Bar (it was a good one), and I don't have time now, either. That said, I probably picked a pretty good week to be out of town. The only thing I'm going to miss is Book of Maps/Thunder Power/Hot Sick tomorrow night at O'Leaver's (though you shouldn't). I'll probably be back in time to catch Unwed Sailor/Adam Weaver and the Ghosts Thursday night (also at O'Leaver's). Have a good week and I'll talk to you Friday.

Post 'em here.--

This is one of the more rambunctious weekends for shows in quite a while. Four humdingers at four different venues. If Omaha were Lincoln, all of these would be mere walking distances from each other and we could stumble from one to another lost in an indie rock music haze. But instead, we're in Omaha.

Let's do this in alpha order, just so's it doesn't appear that I'm showing any favoritism.

Down at Sokol Underground, Brimstone Howl takes the stage with Bazooka Shootout, Alaphabet, & I Miss America. The Howl are flying high these days, what with signing to Alive Records and working with the guy from The Black Keys. No idea who the other bands are, and various research tools (Google, Myspace) come up with nothing. Still, $5 is a cheap price just to see Brimstone on a big stage before the band explodes to national notoriety. 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Saddle Creek Bar, Coyote Bones wraps up a nice little tour that took them to the East Coast and back. Playing along is Eagle*Seagull (who, one would hope, will be unveiling some new material) and Neva Dinova frontman Jake Bellows. $5, 9 p.m.

Just over the hill at The PS Collective (6056 Maple St. -- part of The Pizza Shoppe), Shelter Belt is celebrating the release of their new CD, Under The World Awhile, with Omaha jazzman Luigi Waites & Paul Sim, The Masses, Fizzle Like A Flood (who's coming out of retirement for this show), and Lincoln's Papers. Shelter Belt kicks it off with an instrumental set at 6 p.m. and the thing runs all night (or at least to midnight). This one's free and will be packed (with musicians, if no one else).

Finally, over at The 49'r, The Third Men take the stage with The Pendrakes. It's been quite a while since T3M have played, so maybe we'll get treated to a few new tunes and a new cover song. Niner shows start around 10 and will run you up to $5 (though I don't know how much they'll be charging tonight).

Choose wisely.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

What can be made of the fact that Cursive only drew 800 last night at Sokol Underground? Some might say that the number is significant in its diminutiveness, a bellwether of sorts of the lagging interest in either the band and/or indie music in general. Maybe, maybe… But I'm not so sure that it means anything. Cursive just played the same venue in July -- had I gone to that one I probably wouldn't have went last night, either. And then there's the $14 ticket - the highest price I can remember for a Cursive show, probably due to all the opening bands (who I missed, btw, due to Rutgers). Still, one would hope that a band like Cursive could sell out Sokol Auditorium even at that price, especially when you consider such unfortunate, lame shitmeisters like Hinder easily sell out the place at a higher price. Like everyone else in this scene, I blame radio for our area youths' poor taste in music. They've been indoctrinated to believe growling, talentless swine like Kottonmouth Kings and Slipknot are "important" music worth their time and money. Like I've always said, you play anything on the radio over and over and over and the listeners will find something they like about it, which explains why that wretched piece of novelty shit by Psychostick is actually selling (and some would say, also explains Tilly and the Wall).

But I digress…

It was a different sounding Cursive than I've seen over the years, a more restrained, almost adult-contemporary version. The 8-piece came out at around 11 amid a cloud of dry-ice smoke. The line-up included a 3-piece horn section (one of them doubled on keyboards) and a cellist. By god, it bordered on being a lounge act. The sound was certainly more refined than when only the four members play. That version is rowdier, noisier, much more dangerous, and unconcerned if a little thing like melody gets lost in the jangular din. Even when Gretta Cohn was in the band, you rarely could hear her despite the fact that she was plopped down right up there front and center, obscenely straddling her instrument.

Last night's cello player got stuck somewhere way in the back, but you could hear every stroke of her bow (Every time I heard Cohn play, she might as well have been playing a cardboard cut-out of a cello). Whether it's their new songs or the arrangements or the deft touch of the soundman, utter noise no longer dominates the ensemble. Cursive has become less metal and more mellow, for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. I noticed early in the set that a stone sober Tim Kasher was doing a lot of finger-pointed pontificating along withother weird hand gestures while he sang (At one point, he sang while holding the back of his right hand against his left cheek. Try that right now and imagine how odd it looks). It didn't dawn on me until about halfway through the set that the only way he could be doing all those gestures was by not playing his guitar. Ted Stevens now is the dominate guitar player, and maybe always has been, though I remember Kasher being much bolder with his ax in the old days.

All that instrumental restraint meant that Kasher was much more out front with his vocals, which have never sounded better -- maybe because this was the first show of the tour and he's well-rested. Kasher showed his full vocal range, from the low death rattle to the usual Robert Smith-ian howl, to the classic bluesman grunt to a girlish falsetto complete with high-pitched squeal. Rarely has he sang with such broad, emotional range.

The set, however, seemed short, though the band mixed it up pretty well with material from the last three albums. Songs off Happy Hollow rightfully took the lead. For me, the new songs ("Big Bang" "Dorothy…" "Bad Sects") were the night's highlights (but then again, I love the new album) along with the few from Domestica ("Lament for Pretty Baby," "Night I Lost the Will to Fight"). There were a couple weird interpretive numbers that bordered on noodling, and a few songs that I didn't recognize where Kasher seemed to be wandering.

Keeping with the restraint theme, even Kasher's between-song monologues -- which can go on for five minutes or more -- were kept to a minimum. There was only one real rant about five songs in where he declared his unconditional love for Nebraska, saying that if you're from Nebraska, it's okay to say it sucks, but if you're not, than fuck you, or something along those lines. Kasher said he feels safe in Nebraska "but not in some sort of weird, racial way." (I'm paraphrasing.) He later introduced the band but skipped the core line-up, only saying "these guys are trying their hardest to smile tonight." What the hell did that mean?

Tonight we all have to squeeze into The 49'r for The Terminals CD release show with The Shanks and Now Archimedes! I see from perusing the Star City webboard that CDs will be in hand and available. I suggest you go to the show and buy one along with a copy of The Shanks' new 7-inch. You may also want to pick up a record player at Sol's or Best Buy while you're driving around… you'll need it.

--Got comments? Post 'em here.--

Column 100 -- Metal Machine Music
The Terminals turn up the noise.

I was driving west on I-80 headed to Lincoln doing close to 90 because everyone else was and you either keep up or get run right off the road. No one told me about all the construction, the constant "Stay In Your Lane" warning signs that flipped past as the road jerked indiscriminately in odd directions, the left lane mere inches from large concrete barriers designed to keep semis and large SUVs from jumping into oncoming traffic. Lord only knows what hitting those could do to something like my Mini Cooper, which has a wheelbase akin to a rollerskate and the suspension of a go-kart. Every time my tiny tires found a piece of grooved pavement, it jerked the Mini in the wrong direction, either toward the deadly barriers or the adjacent lane crowded by a fleet of Voyagers, Caravans and Ram-tough Dodge SUVs that towered over me, blocking my view.

Meanwhile, blaring on my car stereo was the new CD by The Terminals, the band I was headed to Lincoln to interview. I'd seen them a number of times at O'Leaver's and The 49'r, playing hep-cat cool retro garage punk spiked by Dave Goldberg's gospel-infused organ twirls, frontwoman Liz Hitt's snarling, jagged guitar riffs and Brooks Hitt's beefy stick work. Fun stuff.

The CD, however, sounds nothing like that. Instead, most of the songs sound like a room filled with industrial power tools -- jack hammers, grinders, band-saws -- tearing through a concrete wall while an angry monkey pounds on a metal slab with a stone hammer. The recording is blown-out and raw. By the time I arrived at the Hitts' Lincoln home, my back was as tight as an iron rod and I could already feel the tension-pain in my neck that would haunt me the following day.

To say that The Terminals are not entirely thrilled with their Dead Beat Records debut, Forget About Never, would be an understatement.

"The first time I heard it I was furious," Goldberg said. "I called Liz with a list of complaints and got to No. 1 before she hung up. There are parts of the record that border on migraine-inducing industrial noise."

The story behind the recording began when Liz sent a handful of 7-inch records to Tom Spencer, the label chief at Dead Beat Records, hoping to get him interested in Brimstone Howl, another band on Hitts' and Goldberg's Boom Chick label. She also threw in some Terminals recordings just for kicks. "They were quite impressive," Spencer said of the Terminals. "So I told the band that I was interested in doing their debut album. After deciding on the track list, we got Andy Caffrey from The Horrors to record the album, and it turned out great."

Caffrey, Liz said, is "hot shit, and we accidentally made the mistake of telling Tom we knew him."

The band recorded the album live at The Zoo Bar when it was closed. Amps were placed in the bathrooms while the drum set was on stage. "(Caffrey) ran everything into this fucking box of noise and what came out the other side became the record," Liz said. "Getting Caffrey to record it was Tom's way of getting us credibility with these (types of) bands."

"With Andy, you take the good with the bad," Brooks said of Caffrey. "He has a weird view of things. He's the most over-the-top guy doing this kind of recording."

"The aesthetic is similar to other stuff you hear on Dead Beat," Goldberg explained. "The audience they're catering to are total speed freaks that enjoy that type of thing because they're always in that state of mind."

"Uh, I don't know if trashing our record during the interview is the way to go," Brooks added sheepishly. The fact is, the band actually likes the record, and so do I. The recording is almost artsy in its brazen, abrasive approach. The wall of static punk rock is aggressive and unnerving, and ultimately, very cool.

Goldberg said it took a few spins before his hatred for the recording turned into admiration. "Some of it is awesome. I'm pretty sure that people in Europe that are fans of this style of recording will go ape-shit over it. Most bands wouldn't put it out, and that aspect of it I enjoy. It is, dare I say, controversial."

He is concerned, however, that the stark contrast between the record and their usual live sound could result in some confusion, if not disappointment. "I'm afraid that people who are into the record will see us live and say 'What's this shit?' and by that same token, people who like us live will buy this record and say 'What's this shit?'"

Replicating the record's sound, however, is out of the question. "It would take a lot of expensive or broken equipment for us to sound like that on stage, Goldberg said. "Perhaps we should start poking holes in our PA speakers."

Omaha fans will get a chance to check it out Friday, Nov. 10, when The Terminals celebrates the official release of Forget About Never at The 49'r with Now, Archimedes! and Boom Chick artist The Shanks, which also will be celebrating the release of their "Cut Me" 7-inch single. For those of you driving down from Lincoln for the show, you may want to wait until you get home to listen to the CD, for your nerves' sake. Drive safely.

Before we get to the news, just a quick reminder that it's election day, which means you need to get your lazy ass to the polls and vote. I can't remember the last time an election was more important. Check out the Douglas Co. Election Commission website to find your poling place and to see a sample ballot. Do it, people.

Onward...

Anonymous American frontman Matt Whipkey is on the mend after injuring himself Oct. 20 in a bizarre scissors accident in his bedroom. "It's hard to explain what happened," Whipkey said. Apparently he was using a pair of scissors to cut plastic zip ties that were holding together a bundle of guitar cables. "I got to the second to last tie and was holding it with my left hand and cutting with my right hand," he said. "The scissors slipped and stabbed into my left index finger on the palm side underneath the knuckle. It severed the tendon in that finger."

As a result of the injury, Whipkey couldn't bend his finger at the knuckle. "For a professional guitar player, it's as big a nightmare as it gets, right up there with losing your hand," he said. Whipkey went under the knife right before Halloween to have the flexor tendon repaired and now has a huge scar on his finger beneath a cast that he'll wear for the next month. Rehab is ongoing and it will take several months before the finger is easy to move. He has plenty of motivation to get back in playing shape with a 30-day solo tour scheduled to begin Jan. 10 and a CD release show slated for Dec. 30 at Sokol Underground.

Although the prognosis is good, Whipkey's doctor tells him he'll never play exactly like he did before. Time will tell. "It's difficult to watch people play guitar now, especially at shows. It's maddening," he said. "I gained massive perspective on life as a result of the injury."

***

The first news about Bright Eyes' forthcoming LP is finally hitting the interweb. NME reports (from something they read in Spin) that the follow-up to I'm Wide Awake/Digital Ash will be a rather dark and stormy affair. "The apocalypse is a prevalent theme in my new songs," Oberst said. "There's a feeling in the world right now like everything is unravelling, but maybe that's not a bad thing. I'm not convinced that the human race is good for this planet anyway." Sounds like there will be some tsunami and hurricane-flavored country psychedelic folk rockers in the batch, along with songs about "telepathy" (unless Oberst was pulling Spin's chain). Read the full NME item here. Omahans will likely get a sneak preview of the new material at the Dec. 15 Bright Eyes/Simon Joyner/Bruces benefit concert at Sokol Auditorium. Tickets went on sale last Saturday, so if you wanna go, you better click on this here One Percent Productions link and buy some tix before it sells out.

***

It's a busy Tuesday night musicwise, with two very hot shows going on around town. The Saddle Creek Bar will be hosting Starlight Desperation, Virgasound and This Blush ($7, 9 p.m.), while a few blocks away Ontario band Tokyo Police Club and Bombardment Society will be playing a rare Tuesday night show at The 49'r (No idea on the price for this one, though it'll probably be around $5 and will start around 10).

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Her child-like voice has been compared to everyone from Kate Bush to Lisa Simpson. I fancy it as a quirky cross between Latka Gravis' wife Simka on "Taxi" (played by Carol Kane) and Melanie (who sang "Brand New Key"). Even more unique than her voice, however, is her instrument of choice, a full-sized harp just like the kind you've heard in orchestras or will hear at the pearly gates (if you've been good). On her new five-song, 55-minute EP, Ys (pronounced "ees"), Newsom coos, howls, shrieks and cheeps in all her baroque glory, backed by her gentle, bouncing harp and a whole slew of strings, woodwinds and brass. It's weird, wonderful and mysterious, like the soundtrack to your last puffy-clouded dream.

You've got to love the ambition of a band like Anathallo. The 7-piece outfit did choreographed interpretive dance moves, foot stomps, snaps, hand claps, played a variety of percussion instruments (including marching-band bass drum), flugelhorn, trombone, two tinkling xylophone things, as well as the usual bass/keyboards/drums, constantly shifting from instrument to instrument like an indie Blue Man Group, each member also singing pretty harmony vocals. It was lovely, like listening to a Sufjan Stevens Christmas album. Unfortunately, the lead vocalist doesn't have Stevens' vocal chops, and the songs, though appropriately lilting, lacked in substance. And you can't help but ask yourself: Do they just sound like Sufjan Stevens or are they trying to rip him off? The resemblance is too keen to be a coincidence, though I'm sure no malice was intended. And while Stevens drew a near-capacity crowd when he and his band played here last year, only 50 showed up at Sokol Underground last night. But it was a devoted 50. Two girls standing next to me annoyingly sang along to every weird lyric Dashboard Confessional-style. I had to move.

Tonight's hot ticket is tractor-punk band FortyTwenty and The Filter Kings, which features Lee Meyerpeter of Bad Luck Charm, at The Saddle Creek Bar, 1410 N. Saddle Creek Rd. The Saddle Creek has a number of good shows lined up for November, all listed at their new website (at www.saddlecreekbar.com), which features a handy gig calendar. Tomorrow night at the SCB Adam Weaver and The Ghosts play with Jon Hardy and the Public and Spring Gun. Next Tuesday is Starlight Desperation with Virgasound and The Blush. And then Coyote Bones, Eagle*Seagull and Jake Bellows are lined up for Nov. 11, while Ladyfinger plays there Nov. 18 and Drakes Hotel Nov. 24. Not bad, not bad. As I've said before here, I like SCB. It's close to my house, you can usually find a place to park nearby, the PA is first class, the beer is cheap, and there's plenty of places to sit or stand and watch the bands. I'm even told that food is served there, too, though I've never seen a menu. Yes, I'd like this place to join O'Leaver's and The 49'r and Mick's as important mid-town music venues. But for that to happen, SCB will have to continue to book decent shows every weekend, and make it even harder for people like me to choose between all those venues. Tonight's Filter Kings/FortyTwenty show is $7, so is that Starlight Desperation show next Tuesday. The rest are just $5. All shows start at 9 p.m.

A quick rundown of the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow night, Hyannis plays at O'Leaver's for their first "bar gig" ever. Could be an achievement or a train wreck. Playing with Hyannis is Tomato a Day and Nicholas Hugg. $5, 9:30 p.m. And then, Sunday, the weekend's biggest show, Sean Na Na at O'Leaver's. I'm hearing that the bar is closing sometime after the dinner hour, when it'll be cleared out for a sound check, then reopened around 8 or 8:30. The show is slated to start at 9:30 and last I heard there was no opening band. Will Sean Na Na draw as well as Har Mar Superstar did the last time he played at O'Leaver's? The jury is still out on that one, but I think it probably will even if only Tillmann's friends show up (He has lots of them around here). So, if you're interested, you better get there early.

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Column 99: Local Heroes
These four Omaha releases are keepers.

If the folks at The Reader are telling the truth, this will be the last time that this column will be dedicated to album reviews, as plans call for reintroducing a page of CD reviews sometime in the very near future (Hooray!). What better send-off then to review four just-released local albums, all of which deserve your hard-earned rubles.

Bright Eyes, Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) (Saddle Creek Records) -- This compilation of junk drawer b-sides, limited-pressing EPs, unreleased tracks and other obscura is worth it (to me, anyway) if only for rereleasing "Drunk Kid Catholic" -- a song that reminds me of my favorite live BE moment from spring of 2001 when Conor and crew opened for Low at Knickerbocker's. Originally released as a UK single, I've only found this track as an illegal download. Now I'm legit. Add to that the inclusion of his Britt Daniel collaboration "Spent on Rainy Days" from the split EP Home, which, before it was reissued by Post Parlo, was going for a pretty penny on e-Bay, along with just about every other out-of-print Bright Eyes rarity. Thematically, all this old stuff (though, thankfully, nothing released before '99) dwells heavily on drinking and women and the pain that comes with both. In the end, the rocking tracks out-gun the teary acoustic numbers (but isn't that always the way?). So yeah, it's a no-brainer for Bright Eyes fans, but taken as a whole, the collection stands up with the best of his stuff. Now when is Saddle Creek going to rerelease that Water cassette?

Simon Joyner and The Fallen Men, Skeleton Blues (Jagjaguwar) -- Forget all that talk about his wonky voice and his brilliant lyrics, first and foremost, this is a band album. Standing alongside The Fallen Men, Joyner has finally released his inner-rock star, emerging cautious and slightly broken in a cloak originally tailored for the likes of Dylan. In fact, in a lot of ways this one reminds me of Dylan's last couple of albums, cluttered and dense with musicians allowed to do their thing while their master tells tales of dark nights and loneliness. Easily the most tuneful collection Joyner's ever released, the best moments come when the band's allowed to stretch out, like on opening track "Open Window Blues" with its rolling bass that recalls The Doors, and the gorgeous string-laden "The Only Living Boy in Omaha," wherein Joyner sings "Jimmy says there's no God in the sky holding him for ransom," in a way that instantly recalls Lou Reed. It's not all roses. Just to remind us where he came from, Joyner ditches the band for the 10-minute closer "My Side of the Blues," which is a struggle no matter how you slice it. Should have kept the band in the room, Simon. Maybe you should from now on.

Hyannis, Hyannis (self released) -- It seems appropriate to follow Oberst and Joyner with a band that surely was influenced by both, though they may not know it. No question that these youngsters are a product of the Omaha indie scene circa now. Acoustic songs like "Ronnie" and "People Just Love" have that same acoustic hippy lilt that we've come to know from Neva Dinova, whereas "Timeline" and "Colorado" are pure modern-day Bright Eyes (without the lyrical depth). But maybe more than the usual club of Omaha indie scenesters, Hyannis recalls an aesthetic more in common with early Pink Floyd and Haight-Ashbury psychedelic rock that precludes their existence by, oh I don't know, a couple decades. With 13 tracks and over 40 minutes, it may be a tad bit too ambitions for a debut (which is a nice way of saying that it gets kind of boring toward the end). Are they the next generation of Omaha indie? Time will tell.

Shelter Belt, Under the World Awhile (self released) -- Maybe the biggest surprise so far in a year desperately in need of some surprises, Under the World… is a giant leap forward for a band that could easily have been written off after 2004's overly long cheese factory called Rain Home. This time, frontman/vocalist Jesse Otto loses any and all comparison to Kenny Loggins, purposely throttling back his vocals so as to not get in the way of songs that reflect a sound that's more modern than anything they've tried before. You could argue that tracks like the hand-clap-powered "Dry" and Timberlake-esque "So Sweet (I Have to Dance to Keep You Crying)" too obviously target radio except for the fact that these guys know they'll never make it to nationwide FM without a miracle (though FM could do (and almost always does) much, much worse).

I have been known to get shit for liking Guster. In fact, I've gotten shit about it from certain members of the local music scene literally for years. But the fact is, I've always liked the band and respected what they do and how they do it. Guster easily could have been absorbed into the hippie jam-band circuit and spent the next 20 years mailing it in for a bunch of stoners who travel around to gigs in shitty VW vans looking for an excuse to get loaded every night. Instead, Guster has consistently tried to further their sound, working with producers like Roger Moutenot (known for his work with Yo La Tengo, among others). They've also always tried their best to entertain their fans, and achieved it every time, including last night, even with one of their core members almost down for the count.

Actually, I wasn't really in the mood to go to Guster last night. I was still kind of whipped from Monday night's Twilight Singers show (I don't know how the One Percent guys do it every night). But three or four songs into their set and I was happy I made the cold drive down to Sokol Auditorium. Guster's injured player was singer/guitarist Adam Gardner, who (as co-frontman Ryan Miller announced from the stage) has been suffering from pneumonia. Miller said the band had talked about canceling the entire week of shows, but Adam insisted on playing Omaha. The effects of his illness were obvious. Gardner was off pitch most of the evening and could barely carry his few vocal lines. This put Miller further into the spotlight, and he handled the duties with panache, singing better than I remember him ever singing.

The first half of the set was weighed down with songs from the new album. I'd like to tell you that they carried as well as the usual chestnuts, but they didn't, and it wasn't just a case of the crowd not being familiar with the material. Ganging Up on the Sun is probably the weakest Guster album in terms of straight-out, unforgettable hooks. No single song has that great-out-of-the-box quality of the best tracks from the last two records (There is no "Fa Fa" or "Barrel of a Gun" or "Amsterdam" or "Careful" in the bunch).

It was interesting to see where new guy Joe Pisapia fell into the line-up. He's billed as the "multi-instrumentalist," when in fact he spent most of the evening on bass, and to be honest with you, I prefer Guster without that added low end. The few times Pisapia strapped on an electric guitar were impressive - the band rearranged a number of songs to make room for him to spread out on solos, and he shredded every one of them. The other nitpick is how much time percussionist Brian Rosenworcel spent behind a full drum kit vs. his usual bongo set up. Most of the new songs appear to be written for the drum kit. I can't say that I blame him for shifting to sticks knowing how he bludgeons his hands every night, but for me, that bongo sound is part of what defines Guster, and I hate to see it go. Combine the added bass with the drum set, and Guster's usual buoyant sound becomes weighed down in low-end, especially in a hall like Sokol that's somewhat boomy to begin with.

That's a lot of complaining, when in fact, last night's set was a lot of fun. Miller is a true entertainer. His combination of wit and a new short haircut makes him come off as a cross between Timothy Busfield and Andy Dick. When it came to the end of the evening, he asked the crowd if they wanted the band to leave the stage for the obligatory "good night, Omaha" pause or to simply stay on stage and go right into the encore, which everyone knew was coming anyway. The crowd of around 700 opted for them to stay, so at the end of the set he said, "Good night, Omaha!" followed moments later with "Thanks for sticking around for the encore."

* * *

I don't own a cell phone so I don't have a clue how the billing works. Sean Tillmann owns a cell phone. And apparently his "plan" charges him mucho dinero for calls to and from Canada, which explains my rather short feature on Sean Na Na. In retrospect, I don't know what more we could have talked about anyway. I'd heard he'd was burned out with doing the Har Mar Superstar schtick, but that apparently ain't the case. He also has a new album in the wings, but no real date has been set for release, at least no date he was willing to tell me. I can tell you that this show will be madhouse packed. Everyone in Omaha loves Sean Tillmann, but few love him more than the guys that run O'Leaver's, who are running this show Nov. 5. Want in? Get there early. You've been warned.

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