* Rock Paper Dynamite have scheduled an EP release show for Saturday, January 19th at the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St., but it’s up to the local rock band’s fans to make sure the band has a new CD to unveil at the show. The band is looking to raise $2,000 on Kickstarter.com to fund the production, mastering and manufacturing of the band’s latest batch of songs. The band has already raised more than half of the goal. The deadline to meet the goal is Saturday, December 8th.
* The Nebraska Brass is celebrating 25 years of playing by releasing its fifth compilation of songs and will sell the new disc, Nebraska Brass 25, at all upcoming shows. The $15 CD includes Nebraska Brass’ version of songs by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Claude Debussy, Scott Joplin, Sergei Prokofiev, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
* The Brownville Concert Series will close its 2012 season Christmas Gala finale, showing Friday, December 14th through Sunday, December 16th at the Brownville Concert Hall in Brownville. Broadway singer and director Eric Michael Gillett created the show, which features LaTanya Hall, Marieann Meringolo, Scott Tucker and Jeff Kubeta. Tickets are $17. For more information, visit brownvilleconcertseries.com.
* If New Jersey’s best emerging band hurtles its way through a sweaty, skillful, guitar-fuelled set of emotionally-charged, cathartic indie punk but most of Omaha’s so-called indie music scene is too busy attending shows by R.E.M. cover bands or seeing local bands that rely on tap-dancing gimmickry, then did such a show actually occur? Yes, it did, but most of Omaha missed out on Titus Andronicus at the Sokol Underground, 2234 South 13th St. Still the band treated about 100 attendees to a marathon set of an hour and 45 minutes on Wednesday, November 22nd. It’s a show that’ll be in the top ten of the year for me.
* Here’s hoping that the Faint will still have copies of their current tour-only four song vinyl EP when they arrive back home in Omaha Friday, December 14th. The EP’s lead track Evil Voices can be streamed on the band’s Facebook page, though rest of the tracks are not available digitally. The band recorded the four songs just prior to this tour at their own studio, Enamel, with producer Mike Mogis. The song is a return to a dancefloor ready indie rock/electronic hybrid after the band’s last full-length, 2008’s Fasciinatiion, saw them messing with more experimental prog-dance textures.