Reviews, Contests and Kasher | News Roundup

by Michael Todd

Let's sum up this week. Lincoln is halfway through the local music mecca that is Lincoln Exposed, and Omaha is gearing up for the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards this Sunday. Blue Bird competes to win a spot at SXSW, and a well-known indie music blog gives glowing reviews to Conduits and Digital Leather.

So this is what the good life sounds like. Dive in to this week's news roundup below, but first mark your calendars for these upcoming shows and events:

Lincoln Exposed
Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m.
$6 per night at The Bourbon, Duffy's Tavern and The Zoo Bar
Limited (100) Edition (3-color) screen prints for Lincoln Exposed will be for sale at Bourbon Theatre tonight and Saturday for only $5.

Omahype Presents: Campy V Day Rock 'N' Shop
Saturday, Feb. 11, from 6 to 10 p.m.
Free to attend at CAMP Coworking in Omaha

Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards
Sunday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m.
$25 at the Hilton in North Downtown Omaha: tickets here

HN Presents: More Machine Now Than Man, Bad Speler, The Machete Archive, Public Access and DJ Brent Crampton
Sunday, Feb. 12, 9 p.m.
$5 at House of Loom in Omaha

SYFFAL Reviews Conduits and Digital Leather

Indie music blog SYFFAL showed Nebraska some love by posting reviews of Conduits' and Digital Leather's respective forthcoming releases. Both review writers administered nine stars out of 10 to Conduits' self-titled album due out March 20 and Digital Leather's Modern Problems, coming next week on Feb. 14.

Here are some of the good notes:

Conduits: "Immediately upon singer Jenna Morrison’s first notes I knew that this record was on another level. Sure they have the shoegaze thing going on, but it was this soaring moment where Morrison makes fucking sure that we aren’t all just staring at our dirty shoelaces. She grabbed me with her voice and threw me off a fucking cliff. Channeling Beth Gibbons, she took my hand and we flew, gravity be damned."

Conduits: "It’s in a place like Omaha, where a real American revolution is going to take place."

Digital Leather: "You still get the brilliant melodies, the luscious choruses and epically infectious songs wrapped up in the slight warp and drag effect that makesDigital Leather’s music seem like it is a long lost cassette that you played the shit out of in the 80s. The effect is as comforting as it is quaint."

Digital Leather: "When you throw in lo-fi Pavement meets Nirvana-esque Door, or my favorite track on the album, "The Man With No Emotion," you get a real sense of the genius of Digital Leather. Modern Problems, at least for me, shows huge growth and development, and has me even more excited about this bastard than I was a few months ago."

Blue Bird Plays in Many Maurices, Hopes for SXSW

Omaha's Blue Bird are continuing their campaign for votes in the Maurices Hometown Sound contest. The band sits in third place, and voting will end on March 4. Maurices stores are playing music from all four finalists. The winner will earn a spot in the Maurices showcase at South by Southwest and a trip to Los Angeles for a video shoot.

Vote here.

The A.V. Club Denver Interviews Cursive's Tim Kasher

Good read of the week: The Onion's A.V. Club in Denver did a Q&A with Tim Kasher about I Am Gemini in advance of the album's Feb. 21 release. Check it out here, and take note of the recent and upcoming releases just below.

RECENT RELEASES

Freidelic by Green Trees
Free Spirit : Lost Soul by Stonebelly
Competing For Your Love by Millions of Boys
First by Water, Then by Fire by Orion Walsh

UPCOMING RELEASES

Modern Problems by Digital Leather | Feb. 14
I Am Gemini by Cursive | Feb. 21 | March 1
Dude Won't Die by Dude Won't Die | March 3
Recordando Los Maestros by Son Del Llano | March 10
Conduits by Conduits | March 20
The Mynabirds | No date set
Thunder Power | No date set
Lucas Kellison | No date set

Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. If he missed any new or recent releases, or if you have news for HN, reach him at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.