Friday, December 29, 2006 |
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Hyannis at SCB; Outlaw at O'Leaver's tonight; Whipkey/AA, Fear of Music tomorrow...
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Lot of shows this weekend. Tonight it's Hyannis with Nik Fackler (The Family Radio, filmmaker extraordinare) and Baby Walrus (which may be Le Beat) at The Saddle Creek Bar. $5, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, down at O'Leaver's, it's Outlaw Con Bandana with Chris Yambor, The Tall One Behind and Death and Flowers. $5, 9:30 p.m. Tomorrow night it's Matt Whipkey and Anonymous American at Sokol Underground for their CD release show, along with Sarah Benck and The Robbers. $7, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, Mick's is hosting the Joe Budenholzer Annual Tribute Night. This year, Joe and his band (consisting of local musicians) will be performing Talking Heads' Fear of Music in its entirety. The show starts at 9 p.m. with a performance of Back World songs (Budenholzer's project), followed by Fear of Music, then the stage will be open for local musicians to come up and jam. $5. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 10:46 AM |
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Thursday, December 28, 2006 |
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The Year in Review; Win a copy of the Lazy-i Best of 2006 comp CD!, Lazy-i in Des Moines; ? at O'Leaver's...
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This version of the 2006 Year in Review is unabridged (vs. the version in today's issue of The Reader, where I was forced to cut about 500 words). Included in the story is the annual Top-10 CDs list as well as a list of the best shows of '06. Read it here. While you're there, make sure you enter to win a copy of the coveted Lazy-I Best of 2006 Compilation CD! All you have to do is e-mail me (tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and you'll be entered into the drawing. Tracks include songs by Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Junior Boys, Ladyfinger, Röyskopp, The Terminals, Two Gallants, Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men, Cursive and more. Details and track order are right here. Enter today! Deadline's January 17. And speaking of "best of" lists, Kyle Munson of The Des Moines Register has put together his annual list, which also includes his annual critics' panel that included yours truly. Check it out here. There is a show scheduled tonight at O'Leaver's, I'm just not sure exactly who it is. According to their website, it's McCarthy Trenching, but according to SLAM Omaha it's The Slats and Beati Paoli. Either way, it's $5 and starts at 9:30 p.m. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 10:49 AM |
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006 |
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Column 107 -- Matt Whipkey loses his anonymity...
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I'm shifting some things around. The Year in Review article will appear tomorrow to give me a little more time to put it all together. Instead, here's this week's column, about our old friend Matt Whipkey who I've been covering for more than six years, all the way back to when I panned his solo EP, The Innocence, which I called a "collection of overwrought coffee-shop folk." He'll never forgive me for it. He went on to front The Movies, before forming Anonymous American, a band that's released at least two albums, including last year's Lonely Town. Now Whipkey has separated himself from the band -- in name only -- for the release of their new CD, Don't Be Late. That separation actually began on Lonely Town, an EP that featured three AA tracks and three Whipkey solo tracks. Still, the name remained intact until now. Whipkey explains it all below, and it makes sense.
Whipkey and the band are celebrating the release of Don't Be Late Saturday night at Sokol Underground with Sarah Benck and The Robbers. $7, 9 p.m. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:23 AM |
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Tuesday, December 26, 2006 |
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The day-after-Christmas blues; some recent mail...
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Things are kind of quiet 'round these parts after the holidays. We're heading into that after-the-holidays dead-zone void musicwise after this weekend. Newswise, there's not a lot to report, so I thought I'd take a quick look at the mailbag. -- A reader who goes by the name RJ Sak wrote me with his top-10 list, which included MC Lars, Fiona Apple, Basement Jaxx, Three-6 Mafia and Hayes Carll, who topped it at No. 1. He's "The real deal," says Sak. "Found him playing a bar in Austin. His music and lyrics confirmed my hometown hunch: Saddle Creek Records is finished. The whole 'I'm-a-sensitive-nervous-little-tea-pot' routine was cute. But when the kiddos outgrow their Batman undies and Superman PJ's, the party is over. Time for Hayes and I to watch some football and change the air filter." Ouch! I listened to a couple Hayes tracks on Myspace. His stuff is on Lost Highway and reminds me of BJ Thomas. Not bad, though I don't know how his music is related to Saddle Creek, which doesn't do this sort of thing. No reason to lash out, RJ, just change the channel quietly. Speaking of top-10 lists, mine will go online as part of the annual Year in Review article tomorrow morning. -- Matt Beat, of local band Electric Needle Room, writes to confirm that Omaha radio is indeed a-hurtin'. Says Matt, "...Here I come to Omaha and, I must say, I was VERY disappointed. Sometimes I wonder if I was destined to come here and somehow start my own station -- it was something I always wanted to do, for I loved radio the three years I was in the business." Good luck with that one, Matt. If you or anyone else gets the bread together to create a broadcast college-style radio station in this market, they'll have at least one volunteer to give them a hand. -- Todd Hanton wrote to give me a head's up that Kite Pilot will be back in January, performing as a trio. The band has written six new songs along with two others they wrote with Austin Britton before he moved to the West Coast. Kite Pilot has gigs lined up at O'Leaver's Jan 5 (with red hot local band Cloven Path and Latitude Longitude), and the Saddle Creek Bar Jan 19 (with Eagle*Seagull and Landing on the Moon) and Feb. 23 (with Spring Gun and Adam Weaver and the Ghosts). -- Finally, Greg Edds of Little Brazil writes to say his band has one of their new tracks posted on their Myspace page. "The track is called 'Shades.' The record, Tighten The Noose, has been pushed up to a Feb. 6th release date," says Edds. Little Brazil also have a gig slated for Sokol Underground Jan. 22, opening for The Appleseed Cast and Asobi Seksu. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:28 AM |
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Sunday, December 24, 2006 |
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Live Review: The Good Life...
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Was the three-day Eastern Nebraska Tour a sell-out like it said on the T-shirts (with a question-mark added)? They didn't sell out in Lincoln and last night's show, while close, probably didn't (but I don't have the numbers either way, at least the SCB show sold out). That said, it was still a remarkable set from a band that has taken their live show from being something of a snooze to a real killer. The Good Life unveiled seven new songs (at least) that take their sound to a different place than the circus-barker off-Broadway theatrics of Album of the Year (which is the best soundtrack to a musical that was never staged). In interviews with me and Niz at the OWH, the band talked of stripping it all down for the next album. After what I heard last night, that seemed to mean building songs around Steph Drootin's simple, melodic bass lines. Throughout the evening she was the center of my attention, the backbone to every new song. Drootin led the charge with one arm figuratively around Roger Lewis' crisp, kicky drums. Ryan Fox added tasty chits of guitar while Kasher did his usual soulful emoting (in terrific voice) -- this time, with less frown and more wide-eyed wonder. The up songs were downright poppy (and brief, around three minutes, no more), while the slow numbers were bluesy and laid-back, slouching forward on Drootin's bass, which leaned with the posture of a low-down reggae band. Clearly the band has decided to edit everything down to the bare essentials. The effect is the most straight-forward, cohesive music that Kasher has created with either band (the other being Cursive). Gone is the over-the-top shimmering drama that characterized (and sometimes cluttered) the songs (especially on the pre-AOTY/Lawyers material). Lyrically, Kasher's narratives nonchalantly get to the point, with no filler and plenty of clever double entendres to keep you smiling at just how clever he can be, telling stories of love debauched with regret (usually). The contrast between old and new was startling and, for me, downright abrasive. Or maybe it was just the preponderance of more bombastic, dramatic selections from the back catalog that filled out the night's set list. I don't think I was the only one who recognized how the two styles didn't quite mesh. After playing two new songs, Kasher started an older one only to stop dead in his tracks after the first phrase. He wanted to take a moment to thank the crowd, saying (I'm paraphrasing here, I didn't take notes) "I don't really like performing, I like writing songs. So I'm still getting used to doing this. Sometimes after shows, someone asks if I liked the set and I usually say that I wasn't really feeling it. But tonight I'm really enjoying myself." It was a charming -- if odd -- moment that felt prompted by the sheer awkwardness of the gear-grinding shift between new and old, casual and dramatic. With the new music, Kasher no longer oversells his angst. It's as if he doesn't care if you get it or not, he's just gonna lay it out there for you to fill in the blanks. There is no effort to make you feel sorry for him because he no longer feels sorry for himself. This matter-of-fact style is more simple, more pure, more honest - and to me, more tuneful. This seems to be where Kasher wants to go from now on. After playing the first "oldie" last night, he responded to the crowd by saying "I'm glad that you applauded less for that one than the new ones." The crowd laughed, but after a few moments, Kasher added, "I'm serious." I think he was. If I don't see you tomorrow, Happy Holidays from everyone at Lazy-i. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 8:25 AM |
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Saturday, December 23, 2006 |
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The Good Life Pt. 3; Pitchfork's top-50...
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The conclusion of the three-part mini-series known as The Good Life's Eastern Nebraska Tour is performed tonight at Sokol Underground with Drakes Hotel and Mal Madrigal. $9, 9 p.m. It's the last significant show before Christmas, so get it in while you can. In other indie music news, Pitchfork has posted their annual top-50 for the year (read it here). There are a few surprises, one of which is that Joanna Newsom wasn't No. 1. A glance at the various lists around the 'net indicated that Ys is maybe the most-lauded album of the year. It didn't even make my list, though, which goes online next Wednesday along with the usual Year in Review story that you've all been waiting for. And for the first time in a while, no Creek band made the Pitchfork list (but I may be wrong about this -- were any Creek releases in the '05 Pitchfork list?). See you at the show (I'm really gonna make it this time). --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 6:13 AM |
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Friday, December 22, 2006 |
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The Good Life Pt. 2; Adam Weaver tonight...
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Well, I parked the Sidekick over at Kelley's Hilltop and made my way to the Saddle Creek Bar last night at around 10:30. I got as far as the front door. Looking through the windows, I could only see the backs of people pushed to the pool tables. Above their heads, Ryan Fox was on stage, presumably playing the opening set with Art in Manila (Fox is in a death-struggle with Mike Tulis for the honor of being the hardest working man in the Omaha music scene, playing sets last night with both Manila and The Good Life). I turned to a couple guys standing outside the door smoking and asked what the chances were of me getting an quick beer inside. They just laughed. Having had a grueling week, I didn't feel like standing in a crush mob for two hours. Besides, I could see The Good Life Saturday at Sokol Underground... Or if I lived in Lincoln, tonight at Knickerbockers where Domestica was opening along with The Golden Age. $8, 9 p.m. What else is going on this holiday weekend? Tonight, Adam Weaver and The Ghosts play at Mick's with a slew of Omaha singer-songwriters including the irascible Kyle Harvey and former Kite Pilot member Austin Britton, who one assumes is in town for the holidays. Your $5 cover goes to support the Mosaic Community Development. Starts at 9. As mentioned above, The Good Life play at Sokol Underground Saturday night with Mal Madrigal and Drakes Hotel. $9, 9 p.m. And then it's Christmas Eve. Whoop! Whoop! --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:32 AM |
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Thursday, December 21, 2006 |
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Column 106 -- Wishing in Stereo; the amusing Ladyfinger, The Good Life Pt. 1...
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Every year as part of its hard-hitting coverage of the holiday season, The Reader does a "holiday wishes" article where they go out and ask local celebs (The Mayor, Todd & Tyler, whoever will talk to them) what their "wish" is for the new year. This was my contribution to the theme -- a reflection on what we have, topped off with a pointless wish that'll never come true...
The always amusing fellows from Ladyfinger were interviewed for British e-zine Drowned in Sound in support of the release of Heavy Hands over there Jan. 29. I think Chris took the interview a bit less seriously than Ethan, judging by this exchange.
Read the whole thing here. Tonight is the first of three nights of The Good Life's Eastern Nebraska tour. It kicks off at The Saddle Creek Bar at 9 p.m. with openers Art in Milan (formerly Art Bell) and Coyote Bones. $7. See you at the show. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 3:39 AM |
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006 |
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Roger talks The Good Life; Conor names his baby Cassadaga...
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Ran into Roger Lewis on the phone the other day. He was getting ready to go to work at Homer's. In addition to selling records, Roger also is the drummer for The Good Life, Neva Dinova and his new band, Artsy Golfer. The main topic of conversation: The upcoming three-day Eastern Nebraska tour for The Good Life, with starts tomorrow night at The Saddle Creek Bar before heading to Knickerbockers and finally closing out at Sokol Underground Saturday night. Roger said he and the band are headed into the new Mogis studios in fun, funky Fairacres in January to craft "the perfect 10-song record" to be released in August. The Good Life, he said, is officially the first band to record at the new studio. Mike Mogis will produce and AJ may track and do some recording. "I've looked inside," he said of the new studio space. "It's really nice, kind of overwhelming. It's one of the nicest studios I've ever seen." Fans will get a sneak-peak at the new Good Life material during the tour. "We're gonna play a bunch of new songs the next three nights and mix in some old ones also," Lewis said. "Practice has been an ordeal since right now we have so much work to do, trying to prepare 30 songs and get ready for the studio at the same time. It can be kind of nerve-wracking." Don't expect a huge change in the band's musical style. "I feel like this record is more organic. We're trying not to have as many overdubs. It'll just be the four of us creating music." And it probably won't be a concept album. "It's just a collection of songs, that's the vibe I'm getting now." The usual road work will follow the CD release. "Touring may not be as intense; we'll support it the best we can," Roger said. "It won't be as it has in the past." That's probably a good thing, since Lewis is knee deep in his other projects. Neva Dinova is slowly working on their next record. "We'll record most of it ourselves," Lewis said. "We're taking time to learn how to do that." Then there's Artsy Golfer, a new project with Ryan Fox, Steph Drootin and Alan Tanner (who also plays guitar for Maria Taylor). They had one of their first shows a couple weeks ago at Sokol Underground. "It went over really well. It kind of reminds me of an early '90s rock band. We're gonna try to work on that as much as possible, time permitting." So why three Good Life shows at three different venues? "The original idea was to do four shows in Council Bluffs to present the new songs," Roger said. "Then we thought about doing one big show at Sokol upstairs, but we figured we'd have to put on a real show, so we nixed it and decided to go with the three shows. We're calling it our Eastern Nebraska Tour. We're printing up T-shirts and everything." * * * Bright Eyes news exploded on the Web around lunch time yesterday when Billboard reported that Conor Oberst has decided to call the next full-length BE album Cassadaga. After the announcement, hundreds of Google searches ensued to try to figure out what the word means. Top of the list is the site for Cassadaga, Florida: "Known as 'The Psychic Center of the World,' Cassadaga continues today as the premiere psychic community and is home to some of America's finest psychics." Nice. The new album, due out April 10, includes guest appearances by M. Ward, Gillian Welch and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Quasi), and will be preceded by the six-song Four Winds EP, due out March 6. You can hear the first track from those sessions online at www.thisisbrighteyes.com. Starting in February, Oberst will be spending most of '07 on tour. By the way, according to Billboard, Wide Awake and Digital Ash have, combined, sold more than 622,000 copies. * * * Tonight at O'Leaver's is Mike Tulis' Rock Movie Night, this month featuring Haack: King of Techno. More details here. Starts at 9:30 and it's free. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 4:46 AM |
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Monday, December 18, 2006 |
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Missed opportunities...
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Three of the biggest shows of the year this past weekend and I made it to, well... none of them. I'm not losing interest folks, really. It's the holidays and on top of everything else, I'm under ridiculous deadline pressure from The Reader, and then there's the whole "buying presents" thing that still needs to be addressed (X-mas is one week from today, in case you were wondering). I would have loved to have seen Bright Eyes and Simon and The Faint and The Terminals this weekend, I even had passage worked out, but it just wasn't happening. That, of course, didn't stop you from going. I heard from a number of people that all the shows were nothing less than spectacular, but especially The Faint's back-to-back shows, the band having brought in even more equipment to beef up their sound and visuals. They are, it seems, destined to become an arena band, the type of act whose concerts are events, spectator sports, life-altering experiences. Both The Faint and Bright Eyes are expected to explode on '07, with new records and big tours in the making. We may not see them come through these parts again for a long time, which makes missing these shows all the more painful, but... you gotta do what you gotta do. I can almost guarantee I won't be missing The Good Life this week, and you shouldn't, either. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:22 AM |
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Friday, December 15, 2006 |
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Bright Eyes Benefit SOLD OUT; Terminals at O'Leaver's...
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Briefly... Tonight's Bright Eyes gig has been sold out for a couple days now. Bright Eyes' frontman Conor Oberst has put together an impressive backing band for the evening that includes Mike Mogis, Nate Walcott, and Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink --- this will be one of the few times they've been on stage together since Azure Ray "went on hiatus" in the summer of 2005. The audience will get a sneak peek at songs from Bright Eyes' forthcoming full-length, due out on Saddle Creek Records in April. Opening is The Bruces and Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men. If you didn't get tickets to tomorrow night's Faint concert, at least you'll be able to enjoy the opener tonight when The Terminals take the stage at O'Leaver's with Spread Eagle. 9:30, $5. That's all for now! --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 10:47 AM |
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Thursday, December 14, 2006 |
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Column 105 -- Hanging with the cool kids; Ambulette, Little Brazil, Artsy Golfer tonight...
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I had four people read this column before it went to press and got back four different viewpoints on the topic. Most thought Adam was right when he said fashion -- or what a performer looks like -- plays a central role in who gets "in" and who doesn't. Where's all this fashion that everyone's talking about. Do they mean the high-end fashion as presented by the bands on Saddle Creek Records? You ever see Oberst or Kasher perform? They are the epitome of non-fashion. Oberst always looks like he's rolled on stage wearing whatever he wore all day -- usually a long-sleeved shirt or a hoodie that was picked up at a thrift store. Kasher? Same thing. The Faint, on the other hand, could be construed as a fashion band. But, geeze, any other Creek band consists of a lot of guys that look like they slept in their clothes and haven't combed their hair before. Do you really think fashion played a role in Creek signing Ladyfinger or Eric Bachmann or Neva Dinova? Does anyone really think that the guys behind One Percent Productions consider how a band looks before booking them? Come on, folks... Now, does a band have to be a friend of a friend of a friend of the One Percent guys to get their attention? Wouldn't hurt, but it ultimately doesn't matter as long as 1) your music is good, and/or 2) you can draw a crowd to your shows. If you have those attributes and you want to play on one of their shows, it's probably just a matter of time. Quality has a way of floating to the top. If you build it, they will come, so to speak...
Tonight at Sokol Underground, Ambulette with Little Brazil and Artsy Golfer. Ambulette is Maura Davis (Pinebender), Stephen Howard (Pinebender), Matt Clark (Pinebender, White/Light, Joan of Arc), and Ryan Rapsys (Euphone, Heroic Doses) sounding like, to me, like Bettie Serveert meets a guitar-driven version of Metric. Little Brazil likely will be unveiling a number of songs from their upcoming album, slated for release on Mt. Fuji early next year. Artsy Golfer looks like a conglomeration of personnel from a ton of Omaha bands. According to their myspace page, the band consists of "Droot, Fox, Lew and Tan." Come out early tonight and figure out what that means (I'm stuck on Tan). 9 p.m., $8. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 4:27 AM |
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006 |
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The Year-end Blues, A Eux Autres X-mas, The Grammy's...
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-- Not much today. Seems like every "year in review" list is due this week, which puts me behind desperately trying to remember what music was good this year. It was, in fact, an off year for indie (and music in general). What's it all mean? To find out you'll have to wait for the annual Lazy-i Year in Review story, which will go online next week. -- Former Omahans now Portlandites Eux Autres wrote to say that they've got a new Christmas song online that warmly reminisces about coming home for the holidays. The track is significant in that, unlike 99 percent of holiday songs by rock bands, this one is actually pretty good. Called "Another Christmas at Home," one can only imagine that the line referring to a tavern "where the Champaign's on tap" refers to The Homy Inn, where Cold Duck has flowed like an unbreakable urine stream for as long as I remember. You can check out the mp3 file here, or go to their Myspace page. -- Did you realize that the Grammy nominations were announced last Thursday? Does anyone care anymore? Glancing at the list, I can see reason for apathy. Just take a look at that "Album of the Year" category: Dixie Chicks (will win), Gnarls Barkley (should win), John Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers (someone, please, put these guys out of the misery), and Justin Timberlake -- uninspiring to say the least, but what else is new? In the "Best Alternative Music Album" category you got Arctic Monkeys (flash in the pans), The Flaming Lips (getting old, real old), Gnarls Barkley (hipster favorites), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (weak followup to their debut), and Thom Yorke (*yawn*). What are these supposed to be alternatives to? Remember when The Grammy's meant something to someone other than music retailers? -- What else? Lots of shows the rest of the week, starting tomorrow with Little Brazil, then Bright Eyes, two Terminals performances and two Faint concerts. I should be exhausted by Monday. Look here tomorrow for this week's column, where courageous singer-songwriter Adam Weaver asks: "What does it mean to locally 'make it' in the Omaha music scene?" Oh boy... --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:25 AM |
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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 |
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Live Review: Danny Pound Band, 4th of July; The Faint SOLD OUT...
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Catching up with the weekend, a few over 50 were on hand for 4th of July/Danny Pound Band at The Saddle Creek Bar Saturday night. 4th of July, a 6-piece who, along with DPB, are from Lawrence, played a ballsy set of roots rock that reminded me of The Reivers (sort of). They'll be opening for The Faint Sunday night along with Tilly & the Wall, which should be an interesting clash of styles. The band includes Adrianne Verhoeven of Art Bell (Orenda Fink's new band... connect the dots), though I was surprised that she mostly sang harmonies, leaving the vocal heavy lifting to frontman Brendan Hangauer. Danny Pound announced from stage that it was his 33rd birthday (after midnight) and was treated to shots and beers and a nice round of applause. DPB is a straight-forward roots rock band (is that what we call alt country these days?) with distinctive indie overtones fueled by Pound's muscular songwriting chops. Clever lyrics, clever melodies, laid-back style, very cool indeed. Unfortunately, there was no reprise of early Vitreous Humor material -- I guess Danny didn't read the article! (just kidding). The always-changing sound system at SCB continues to improve. Whatever problems they had with the vocals in the PA seem to be fixed -- no more tinty hollow sound. Regardless, owner Mike Coldeway says he and his sound guy will continue to tweak the system, adding some new equipment before the big Good Life show there Dec. 21. Bottom line -- no matter what they do there's going to be someone who complains about their sound, just like there have been complaints about The 49'r and O'Leaver's PAs for as long as I can remember. Only Sokol Underground goes unscathed (and deservedly so). Speaking of The Faint, both shows this weekend are now sold out, according to the One Percent Productions website. Scanning through the Internweb, I found this here review of their Dec. 2 show at The Showbox in Seattle. I had no idea that the tour was being sponsored by Camel cigarettes. From the review: "It's Saturday night at the Showbox and the whole place has been turned into a showroom for Camel cigarettes. They missed the memo about the smoking ban and have redecorated with glowing backlit signs, stand-up displays with freebies, and projections on the wall complete with requisite warnings from the Surgeon General. In the upstairs bar, the seating area has been transformed to a V.I.P. lounge with walls of LCD televisions broadcasting sexy scenes of the joys of smoking." Wonder if we'll get the same treatment at Sokol Auditorium. In addition to The Faint's usual sexy aerobics soundtrack, expect to hear at least four new songs from their upcoming follow-up to 2004's Wet from Birth, including "The Geeks Were Right," a performance of which has found its way onto YouTube (check it out here). --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:30 AM |
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Friday, December 08, 2006 |
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Live Review: The Who, The Pretenders; the weekend ahead...
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There's one thing to be said about arena concerts. They're punctual. The Pretenders started right at the stroke of 7:30, just like it said on the ticket. We shouldered our way through the crowd trying to find our seats as The Pretenders dug in with opener "The Wait." I really need to learn how to buy tickets to Qwest shows. I thought we would be sitting along the edge of the first balcony, plenty high over the crowd, looking down over the stage. Instead, the 75-year-old usher pointed us to the very bottom row, essentially a step up from the floor seats. I hate floor seats because people stand up the entire time, which means you have to stand up, too. And since our seats were basically floor seats, that meant we'd have to stand up all night, or at least for The Who portion of the show. No one stood up during The Pretenders set even though Chrissie Hynde and her band probably sounded no different then they did during their '80s heyday. Wearing a crazy top-hat, elbow gloves and leg warmers, the 55-year-old Hynde tore through a set of the usual oldies, songs whose names I don't know because I was never much of a Pretenders fan. The only time the crowd got into it was during "My City Was Gone," where a few folks did a modified bump-and-grind in their seats. Thankfully, it was hard to see with the lights out, the only thing illuminating the arena was the stage and a giant "Pirate Radio" skull-and-crossbones logo that hung over the stage. The Prentenders played for just under an hour and did no encore. When the lights came up I finally got a look at the crowd. Just about every seat was filled (the upper tier had been curtained off), and I realized I was in the presence of the hippy culture. Not the lazy slobs and college kids who drive around the country following Phish or Widespread Panic -- these were real hippies, the original hippies, the pot-baked, acid-caked youth of the '60s who remember listening to "I Can See for Miles" while driving to a commune in a peace-sign-festooned VW Microbus. Those peace signs are long gone now, replaced with tacky yellow ribbon car magnets; the microbuses replaced with Lexi. The hippies have been transformed into bankers and principals and aging soccer coaches that would look just as home at a Bluejays home game. Sure, there were a few of them who had kept up their hippy charisma, but somewhere along the way, hippy chic had turned into biker chic, complete with leather vests and Sturgis T-shirts. Then there was the infirm. This might be the first concert I've been to where paramedics rushed an aged fan away in a wheel chair while an old lady with an eye-patch looked on, concerned. Unlike the typical indie show, we were easily among the youngest 20 percent of the audience. Nice! And so, at around 8, The Who finally took the stage -- and what an elaborate stage it was. Like any typical arena show these days, huge screens were placed above the stage to allow fans in the back to get a good look at Roger Daltrey's bloated, sweaty face. Roger struggled the entire evening. After the first song, my partner in crime turned to me and said, "He sounds horrible," but I knew he hadn't lost his pipes because he sounded fine on their new record (though they can do wonders in the studio these days). It was after the fourth song that Pete Townshend told the crowd that Roger was suffering with a horrible cold, but "would do his best to get through it." "It'll better as we go," Roger said. But it never really did. You could hear the layers of mucus in Daltrey's throat bubble up in a hoarse cackle during the first line of every song. High notes were completely out of the question, as were Daltrey's signature screams (though he managed to pull one off during the peak of "Baba O'Riley"). Meanwhile, Townshend never looked, sounded or performed better. He may be one of the more under-appreciated guitarists in rock history, especially considering what I saw last night -- just some amazing stuff, complete with his trademark windmill riffing. It's no surprise that the crowd preferred hearing the old classics vs. songs off Endless Wire. The band knew this, though they played just about every song off the record, including a rushed, medley version of "Wire & Glass," the CD's "mini-opera." The crowd was respectful, if patient, often sitting down during unfamiliar songs, only to stand up again when they heard the chiming opening chords of another classic. It's easy to forget just how big The Who's repertoire is until you consider the songs that they didn't play over the course of the two-hour concert. Among the missing were "Squeeze Box," "Magic Bus," "Long Live Rock," and "I Can See for Miles." But all the really big ones were there, "My Generation," "Behind Blue Eyes," "You Better You Bet," "Eminence Front," "Who Are You," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "My Generation," and opener "I Can't Explain." Throughout the set, five large movable screens presented a variety of edgy support graphics. Sometimes they were set up in an unbroken chain end-to-end to providing pano-like images. Other times they were broken up, each showing a different image, while the large screens above the stage focused on Daltrey or Townshend or the rest of the band, which, by the way, was pretty good. I'm sure die-hard fans think Entwhistle is irreplaceable, but Pino Palladino did just fine. The drummer, Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey, however, was no Keith Moon, (though he wore a striped T-shirt just like Keith's). And though Who concerts are legendary for being ultra LOUD, this one wasn't. Ear plugs seemed unnecessary. Maybe the band (and especially Townscend) realize that the crowd has out-grown teeth-rattling performances. After about an hour and a half, the band left the stage, only to return for an encore that included a medley of songs from Tommy, Daltrey gasping to get through "Pinball Wizard," while Townshend absolutely shined on a raucous version of "Underture" that was the night's highlight. It was definitely worth the price of admission, though I couldn't help but wonder how much better it would have been had Daltrey been in better shape… * * * The weekend's looking this way: -- Tonight at O'Leaver's, Darren Keen takes the stage with Talkin Mountain and Family Unit. $5, 9:30 p.m. -- Saturday night is Danny Pound Band with 4th of July at The Saddle Creek Bar. $5, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, down at O'Leaver's its Outlaw Con Bandana with Black Squirrels and Kickass Tarantulas. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 9:04 AM |
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Thursday, December 07, 2006 |
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Danny Pound talks Vitreous Humor; The Who tonight...
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This story will get the usual feature treatment (photos, etc.) later. Since I'm press for time, I figured I'd just drop it in the blog for now. I saw Danny Pound when he played at O'Leaver's last September and was surprised at the number of people in the crowd who remembered Vitreous Humor. Pound was surprised to hear that as well, and couldn't really figure out why that old band had so many fans up north. I bought the aforementioned single down at The Antiquarium back then, and perhaps that's how the band got such good circulation. I know that Dave Sink was a big fan of Zoom, another Lawrence band that was around during that same era. Zoom was, indeed, amazing. I still vividly remember when they played at The Capitol Bar downtown (did Mousetrap open?), it was like watching an intense math-rock orchestra, each guitarist (I think there were three?) side by side by side tensely concentrating, watching each other, watching for the breaks, focused, the epitome of intricate post-punk. Zoom put out a couple albums, but the one that got around was Helium Octipede, released on the Tim Kerr label in 1994, produced by Greg Sage of The Wipers. Though the recording seemed excessively muddy to me, the songs were all there. Zoom was short-lived. I don't think they ever came back to Omaha, and as Pound says, I don't think Vitreous Humor ever made it here once, though The Regrets played here a couple times. Anyway, The Danny Pound Band plays with 4th of July (Adrianne Verhoeven of Art Bell), this Saturday at The Saddle Creek Bar. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $5.
Tonight, of course, is The Who at The Qwest Center. According to the tickets, the show starts at 7:30 and to my knowledge, The Pretenders are the only opening band. If someone hears otherwise, let me know on the webboard. Look for a review sometime tomorrow morning. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:24 AM |
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Wednesday, December 06, 2006 |
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Column 104 -- Defending The Who...
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Day after tomorrow, folks. Plenty of tickets still available.
Townsend did a series of e-mail interviews in support of this show, including one conducted by The Reader's super-talented assistant managing editor Tessa Jeffers that'll be in this week's issue. Do not miss it. And don't miss this show. They'll likely never be back this way again. Tomorrow, The Danny Pound Band's Danny Pound talks about The Danny Pound Band and whatever happened to Vitreous Humor. Fanboys of the Omaha/Lawrence golden days of '90s indie post-punk take note. Anyone remember Zoom? --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:06 AM |
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Monday, December 04, 2006 |
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Live Review: Robot, Creep Closer; Lemonheads tonight; Slowdown photo update...
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Three days after the fact, here are my thoughts on Robot, Creep Closer at The Saddle Creek Bar Friday night: Obviously these guys grew up listening to The Pixies, and conversely to the band famous for ripping off The Pixies, Nirvana (though there weren't many noticeable Cobain-isms). That means there were a lot of chug-a-lug bass lines ripped to shreds by powerchords, lots of quiet/loud/quiet architecture, and the usual pop-rock touches. Missing was the weirdness that The Pixies brought to everything they did -- even listening to their albums, you never knew where they were going next. RCC, on the other hand, is purposely predictable, probably as a product of trying to be a crowd-pleasing punk band. You may win friends that way, but not idiot critics who have heard this sort of thing before. Glancing back, that sentence sounds a bit harsh, and might leave you thinking I didn't like these guys. I did, they were okay, I just wish they'd go out on the limb a little more, take a few more curious turns, take a few chances. They certainly have the instrumental chops to go wherever they want. They even had a keyboard player, even though you couldn't tell by listening -- she was completely buried in the jangly mix, which is a shame. And finally, here's an updated pic of the Slowdown construction project (click on the thumbnail to see it big). I know I was supposed to update this weekly, but the weather has been gnarly over the past few weeks. Amazing how much they've gotten done. This "pano" shows that they've apparently started on the condos on the property's north side while they slowly begin closing in the theater on the south side. Can they get it buttoned up before the first snow? --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 10:44 AM |
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Friday, December 01, 2006 |
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Robot, Creep Closer, Bear Country tonight; The Monroes, Ladyfinger tomorrow...
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Gad, I hope it warms up. It was too cold and I was too tired to make it out to Black Keys last night. Anyone go? The cold and fatigue won't stop me this weekend, though. Here's the run-down as I see it: Tonight at The Saddle Creek Bar, Cory Kibler and his band, Robot, Creep Closer, take the stage along with Humland and Gypt. Cory sent a copy of their latest CD, She Beeps, which I'm listening to as I write this. It sounds sorta grungy, sorta Pixies-ish, lots of power chords, very indie. In a nice, handwritten letter, Cory tells me that the band "consider The Pixies, Spoon, Cursive, Modest Mouse and AC/DC as influences." His letter says the openers tonight are actually Her Flyaway Manner, though that's counter to the SCB website, unless HFM is really Gypt. Humland, he says, is "Matt Mortinosky & ex-Marianas & ex-Keller Hamilton" -- I'm not sure what the last part means. $5, 9 p.m. Meanwhile, tonight down at Sokol Underground, it's Bear Country with Cap Gun Coup and The Skull Krushers. An all-local line-up? I don't know. $7, 9 p.m. Tomorrow night it's The Monroes with The Diplomats of Solid Sound at The 49'r -- it's always a fun night when Speed! Nebraska is in the house. $5? Around 10 p.m. Meanwhile, tomorrow night down at Sokol Underground, the return of Ladyfinger with Back When and Mal Madrigal. If the show follows the One Percent online listing, Back When is the headliner. An all-local lineup? You bet. $7, 9 p.m. Parking warning: There's a River metal show upstairs that starts at 7. See you at the show. --Got comments? Post 'em here.-- |
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posted by Tim at 5:30 AM |
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