As you may have seen yesterday, Bear Country will be no more.
Why? Aaron Markley of Slumber Party Records and Bear Country weighed in.
"Bear Country isn't what it used to be. We consider it to be completely different, actually, so we decided it was time to move on," Markley said. "Yes, a new project is in the works. I'm sorry I can't really say more about it now."
The band has more shows booked, at least according to Facebook, including a date March 12 at Slowdown and another on April 21 at Slowdown opening for Rural Alberta Advantage. I bet that's where we'll see the new band name and sound and what have you.
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In other Slumber Party Recordsnews, Omaha four-piece Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship is set to drop "Hanga-Fang," which was recorded by Mark McGowan and mixed by AJ Mogis.
Noah's Ark will host a release party at the Waiting Room on Feb. 25. Shortly thereafter, the band's going on a nice little tour.
Before then, head to Noah's Ark's Facebook page and listen to tracks "Opener" and "Warm Eyes."
As I always say, I think it's a good thing when Omaha bands venture outside of the same usual in-town venues and actually build some buzz on the road. Having a hometown audience is good, but your band's going to need those people in other towns to build a real following.
The band hits the road with fellow Omaha band, The Yuppies, in March. Dates below!
2/25: Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room (Hanga-Fang release party)
3/18: Iowa City, IA @ White Lightning
3/19: Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
3/20: Bloomington, IN @ Clark on Clarke AKA The Blue Room
3/21: Saint Louis, MO @ Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center
3/22: Memphis, TN @ Poplar Lounge
3/23: New Orleans, LA @ TBA
3/24: Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlie’s
3/25: Denton, TX @ HOUSE SHOW!
3/26: Kansas City, MO @ The Brick
If you were anywhere but The Sydney last Friday, you missed out on a good show.
OK, yeah... there were probably other fun things going on. But I found myself amid a mob of folks packed into that little Benson bar to see Ideal Cleaners, The Fucking Party and Little Brazil.
Ideal Cleaners rocked, as usual. They're always enjoyable and played a pretty lengthy set, which I was happy about.
The Fucking Party screamed a lot. Honestly, I wasn't really into them and was perfectly OK with the fact that they only played a handful of songs. I think the crowd agreed with me. The near-stage area cleared up and the bar (at the other end of the room) suddenly got busy.
As for Little Brazil, they kicked things off with seven brand new songs. I thought the melody and the music were driving the songs more than the vocals, which is what I thought the case was most of the time on the band's fantastic 2009 album "Son."
Meg Morgan (drummer Oliver Morgan's wife) filled out the lineup on keyboards from early in the set. Some people took it as big news of some kind, but it's really no surprise. The band's music has evolved from punk to indie rock and the keys/piano/organ just fleshes out that sound.
Hell, "Son" had its fair share of keyboards on it and songs like "Brighton Beach" sounded fantastic live with Morgan there to play her parts.
But, rest assured the keyboards aren't taking center stage. The songs are still dominated by Greg Edds and Landon Hedges' guitars. Morgan just fills out the melody.
I'm excited to see where these new songs take them. They haven't started recording yet, but a trip to ARC should be coming soon.
Looking forward to it.
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Almost forgot to mention, the whole shindig was a party to launch HearNebraska.org. If you haven't been there yet, get to it. Seriously, where have you been?
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Bear Country is shutting down.
I loved the band's latest effort, "Frozen Lake." It's fraught with simple melodies, very folky, but one of the prettier albums I've heard in a long time. I still can't get enough of "Coolie Trade," the first song on the album.
Alas, the band's last show ever will be at the Sandbox on Feb. 18 19, according to this Facebook event post.
But fret not. According to Slumber Party Records, "we’ll be seeing these guys around with something new very soon."
Well, it's the last day of 2009. In the spirit of such things, I'm going to let you know about what I thought about the year in music.
If you haven't seen it yet, The World-Herald ran with my best albums of 2009 column a few weeks ago. Mal Madrigal or Bear Country may have slipped into that list had I done it a little later. Maybe they'll make it in next year.
Tomorrow, check out Omaha.com/music to read my take on the best stuff of this whole decade. The online piece is expanded from the version that's going into the paper.
Today, check out my favorite songs of 2009. This is a sampling and not nearly everything I liked. For example, I love that Brad Hoshaw album, but I can't for the life of me find my copy, so I didn't add one of his songs to my list. You should go listen to him anyway.
Here they are, my favorite tracks from 2009:
Japandroids, "Young Hearts Spark Fire"
The line "I don't wanna worry about dyin'" is so brutally honest that it makes you stop and worry for a second. Then when the lyrics turn to "sunshine girls," your thoughts do to.
Monsters of Folk, "Whole Lotta Losin'"
I liked the Monsters best when they were playing fast and loose, like on this tune. I also like when they were collaborative, trading off verses and singing harmonies.
Conor Oberst, "Slowly (Oh, So Slowly)"
Like the Monsters, my favorite stuff from Conor's solo projects are when he doesn't make more Bright Eyes songs, but instead rocks out a little bit, playing it loose and fast. He does so here and does so very well.
Pete Yorn, "Social Development Dance"
Yorn's true tale of meeting a friend then, years later, finding out she died after the fact is heartwrenching. Special recognition goes to him for the line, "Googled your name in quotes, got no results," which comes off much less cheesy than it sounds on paper. (Side Note: Yorn recorded with Mike Mogis at his Omaha-based ARC studio.)
Phoenix, "1901"
You've seen it on the Lexus commercials, but it's even better in its whole version. And who hasn't lived the line, “I'll be anything you ask and more"?
Little Brazil, "Brighton Beach" Tim McMahan put "Separated" on his year-end list, but my favorite is definitely this one, the song that sets up the relationship between the main characters that the rest of the album proceeds to tear apart. (I can't find anywhere to embed this song from, so go to their MySpace and check it out there.)
Meat Puppets, "Sewn Together"
Way better than most of the stuff they were famous for in the mid-'90s. Even more impressive after reading their story of breakups, drugs, arrests, prison and reuniting.
The Aliens, "Sunlamp Show"
I'm a sucker for the Beta Band (especially that scene in "High Fidelity") and this song is right up that same alley.
Miike Snow, "Burial"
I have no idea what the lyrics are, but the melody there makes me bob my head every time. There's a remix of this song by DJ Mehdi that's phenomenal, but the original is quite good too.
Silversun Pickups, "There's No Secrets This Year"
I'm not even sure what that title means, but it feels like they're right. Oh, and Brian Aubert's fuzzy guitar and high-pitched, Billy-Corgan-esque vocals are pretty great too.
Miles B.A. Robinson, "Shake a Shot"
This songs simple guitar and MBAR's mumbling vocals meander their way into a pretty sweet song.
Jay Z, "Run This Town" (feat. Rihanna and Kanye West)
This might have been my song of the year, except that Kanye's part is kind of terrible. Actually, I don't like it at all. So, this is 2/3 of an amazing, incredible song. The other 1/3 is crap.
Weezer," (If You Are Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
Rag on them all you want ("'Raditude' is no 'Pinkerton,' man!"), but this song is still pretty fun. And I have a penchant for parenthetical song titles.
Ben Kweller, "Sawdust Man"
How does this guy write these strangely-timed piano lines? They don't feel right, but they sound so good. Also, the lyrics about leaving work, meeting up with your baby and heading for a night on the town are pretty great.
Telekinesis, "Coast of Carolina"
Chris Walla of Deathcab produced this one, a full band album made by a drummer. And a damn good one at that. The guitar on this track rocks.
Rural Alberta Advantage, "Drain the Blood"
It was hard to pick a favorite on this album, but "Drain the Blood" just sounds cooler. Also, if it weren't a cover, I would have picked their version of "Eye of the Tiger."
Matt Whipkey, "If I Was Your Man"
Dreaming about being with the girl always brings up uneasy feelings. Whipkey's song about it is perfect, mixing dreams about the perfect life tinged with the realization that it's not going to happen.
Bear Country, "Dandy Andy"
Any song that has the line, "The toilet is my favorite place to shit in," and makes it sincere is a great tune in my book.
O+S, "We Do What We Want To"
Orenda Fink's dreamy vocals mix some dream-like music on this tune she did with the Scalpelist (a.k.a. Cedric LeMoyne of Remy Zero).
The Avett Brothers, "I And Love And You"
A great song exploring three simple words with much more complicated meanings to them.
