Jamie Lidell

Doors at 8 p.m., Wednesday, September 8

Jamie Lidell w/ Tony Castles
8 p.m., $15 adv.
Click here to buy tickets

Jamie Lidell on the web
Tony Castles on MySpace

Jamie’s a genuinely restless soul. He broke out of small-town England and has been a nomad ever since. His constant desire to progress—leaping and stumbling towards new discoveries—has defined his musical journey so far; and there’s no sign of it fading away.

Undoubtedly, Compass is his most eclectic album yet. Recorded in Los Angeles, New York and Canada, Jamie’s fellow travelers on Compass include Beck, Feist, Gonzales, Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and Pat Sansone of Wilco. Musically and lyrically this is very much A Jamie Lidell Production—reflecting not only his exhilarating, diverse tastes, but also a year of change, love, longing and arrival at a new place. When he takes to the road in 2010, he’ll be bringing a band again, but stripping it back; keeping it lean. For both newcomers and initiates, this will be an experience. And no, he won’t stop.

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

Doors at 8 p.m., Friday, September 10

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone w/ Otouto, Flowers Forever and Shipbuilding Co.
8 p.m., $5 for 21+, $7 for 18-20

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone on MySpace
Otouto on MySpace
Shipbuilding Co. on MySpace
Flowers Forever on MySpace

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone is the musical alias of 28 year old American film school drop-out Owen Ashworth. Ashworth began making music in 1997 after he realized that song-making was a far more cost-effective means of storytelling than film-making.

The first three Casiotone for the Painfully Alone albums were made using only battery operated keyboards and electronics recorded to 4-track cassette. With 1999‘s Answering Machine Music, 2001‘s Pocket Symphonies for Lonesome Subway Cars (now collected onto one CD), and 2003‘s Twinkle Echo, Ashworth defined a hybrid strain of raw, emotional, and very homemade synth pop that was instantly recognizable as his own. Claustrophobic two-minute character studies shuddered with reverbed beats, blown-out chords, and simple but infectous melodies, all layered beneath Ashworth‘s sometimes funny but always heartbreaking lyrics.

Believing he had taken his self-imposed set of limitations to their logical conclusion, Ashworth expanded his sound with 2006‘s Etiquette.

Etiquette removes the focus from a decidedly utilitarlian aesthetic to a broader production spectrum that finally gives Ashworth‘s personal, affecting song writing the space it deserves. In collaboration with producers and musicians like Jherek Biscoff (of The Dead Science and Degenerate Art Ensemble) and Jason Quever (The Papercuts and Pan American Recording Studio), the sound of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone has grown to include pianos, organs, strings, flutes, drums, and pedal steel guitars in addition to Ashworth‘s signature electronics and drum machines.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Doors at 9 p.m., Saturday, September 11

Bloodnut Productions presents:

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
Text by John Cameron Mitchell
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Trask
9 p.m., $10 for 18+
Click here to buy tickets for 9/11 or 9/12

This groundbreaking Obie-winning Off-Broadway smash also won multiple awards for its hit film adaptation. It tells the story of "internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Schmidt, a fourth-wall smashing East German rock 'n' roll goddess who also happens to be the victim of a botched sex-change operation, which has left her with just "an angry inch."

This outrageous and unexpectedly hilarious story is dazzlingly performed by Hedwig (née Hansel) in the form of a rock gig/stand-up comedy routine backed by the hard-rocking band "The Angry Inch."

Using songs and monologues, Hedwig tells her story, which began in the former East Berlin where as Hansel he meets Luther, an American GI who promises to take the young man to the States on the condition that he switch his sex. After the bungled operation, Luther abandons newly named Hedwig in a Kansas trailer park where she turns to music and meets geeky Tommy Speck, whom she takes under her wing and soon falls for. Tommy steals her songs, achieves rock star fame, and Hedwig is once again cast aside.

She decides to demand redress and stalks Tommy's world tour, performing in the T.G.I. Friday's that are situated next door to his stadiums. Hedwig describes her life's search for "The Origin of Love" and her other half. It's a rocking ride, funny, touching and ultimately inspiring to anyone who has felt life gave them an inch when they deserved a mile.

"HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH brings theater alive with the pounding sounds of rock 'n' roll and the funny sad voicing of a painful past…it is also an adult, thought-provoking musical about the quest for individuality…the kind of Rocky Horror Picture Show-style event that may inspire a rabid cult following." —NY Times.

"Sublimely trashy and surprisingly powerful." —LA Times.

"In the whole long, sorry history of rock musicals, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is the first one that truly rocks." —Rolling Stone.

"The most exciting rock score written for the theater since, oh, ever!" —Time Magazine.

CAST:

HEDWIG: Jon Dell YITZHAK: Matt Hegstrom THE ANGRY INCH: Christopher Kerr Jim Schroeder Nicholas Semrad DJ Bill Jon Cobb

THIS EVENT MADE POSSIBLE BY:

PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays)
Exotica
Outer Limits Web Design
The Bourbon Theatre
90.3 KRNU

Idaho at NU football

Saturday, September 11

Idaho at NU
11:30 kickoff, no cover

We had to miss the start of the 2010 Husker football season as we had the Gaslight Anthem rolling through town. But never fear as week two we'll be broadcasting the game as the Huskers take on the Vandals of Idaho.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Doors at 8 p.m., Tuesday, September 14

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. w/ Carrot Carrot and Crush the Clown 8 p.m., $5 for 21+, $7 for 18-20

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. on MySpace
Carrot Carrot on Facebook

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. is a project started by two professional men of music and leisure from Detroit, MI (Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott). Embracing many fringe musical styles while still maintaining an emphasis on quality songwriting, Epstein and Zott built from the ground up, recording in a basement without the benefit of expensive microphones or big-name producers. At the same time, they worked from the top down using drum machines and samplers - keeping the music danceable, interesting, and unique while not distracting. A harmonious collision, one might say.

On their debut release, Horse Power EP, one finds a quasi-psych mix of folk, hip-hop inspired drum programming, and effervescent pop within which Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. machines a series of chicanes, straightaways, washboards, and u-turns that when assembled make for quite the interesting ride. The music is easy to become infatuated with, as if they hooked directly into your pleasure receptors and refused to relent and also possessing an amount of depth that makes you want to become a loyal partner.

Maliakat Dan Singa

Doors at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, September 15

Maliakat Dan Singa w/ Gloves and Rock and Roll Combo
8:30 p.m., $5 for 21+, $7 for 18-20

From Tinymixtapes.com "On Malaikat dan Singa ("Angels and Lions" in Indonesian), Arrington de Dionyso effectively presents both his lion and angel within as equals. Fusing together the kraut-rocking, beastly beats he is known for with his apothecary of extended techniques (Tuvan throat singing, anyone?) creates an assault of psychedelic rock that is unparalleled in brains, brawn, and sentience. Arrington's strengths as a dynamic performer have never been captured so well on record as they are here. His voice is commanding and uninhibited. He puts his whole body behind his roarings, as would a lion, but retains a sensitive command to resonance and vibration. The entire release is sung in Indonesian, which alone takes brains and brawn. That being said, the music is not 'world music' but rather other-world music. It is evocative of indigenous music, but it is as if he aims to recreate that feeling of discovery rather than mastering the discovered."

Digital Love featuring Ryat

Doors at 9 p.m., Thursday, September 16

Digital Love w/ Ryat and Synth Invasion
9 p.m., $5 for 18+

Ryat on MySpace

Ryat is a producer/singer/multi-instrumentalist, who communicates her studio compositions and improvisations through a live looping set-up featuring composer/multi-instrumentalist Tim Conley. She has performed and collaborated with many including King Britt, Mark Guilliana, DJ Logic, Jniero Jarel, Taylor McFerrin, The Disco Biscuits, Calvin Weston, Billy Martin and many more. She has opened for many including, The Wailers, Flaming Lips, Ursula Rucker, and MEW. When not in a typical venue setting, Ryat will collaborate with multi-media/performance artists, film makers, as well as experimental electronic festivals.

The Derailers

Doors at 8 p.m., Friday, September 17

The Derailers w/ Cowboy Dave Band and the Amalgamators
8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 dos
Click here to buy tickets

The Derailers on the web
Cowboy Dave Band on the web
The Amalgamators on MySpace

In a career that has given rise to more than a decade’s worth of fine-tuned, highly anticipated and wonderfully received music, the Derailers continue to build the relationship between song, listener and dance floor.

Each album has been a mix of well-crafted original songs and cover songs so thoughtfully chosen and so representative of the band, fans think they are as original as the band themselves. Challenged by their fans to create a sound that mirrors the shuffle of happy boots on a hardwood floor, the Derailers have fed the hungry dancehall crowds with their classic country beats and a 60s pop sensibility. Fans continue to show their appreciation and admiration with requests for encores long after the last drink has been served.

In terms of sound, the Derailers have gotten smoother with age. As Hofeldt puts it, “I think we have retained the path we are going for. But we have certainly grown as players and allowed other influences to come in.” Their music celebrates the legacies of Buck Owens, George Jones, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich and the Beatles, while still being on the edge of today’s country music. Hofeldt describes his view of country music as, “finding out what love really is, versus what you thought it was when you were a kid.” For all the fans of the Derailers, love is all you need.