Sofar Sounds in Omaha; Father John Misty in April; Coolio in December; Halfwit album teaser

A couple weeks ago, we announced the house show production company Sofar Sounds would bring their work to Omaha for a Nov. 13 house show. Sofar produces living room, basement and studio shows with local bands around the world. Their mission statement notes their interest in curating an intimate live atmosphere for a selected audience of concert-goers.

On Nov. 13, three bands will play a house in Omaha, though the lineups and locations are kept under wraps until the last minute. To attend the show, would-be audience members fill out a brief RSVP and questionnaire on Sofar’s website and wait for an invitation.

Yesterday, Sofar Omaha posted an anagram of the lineup as a clue on their Twitter account. It’s three bands in one sentence, so it’s pretty difficult unless you’re looking for a specific band’s name to pop up.

Check in after the show next week for our coverage of the event.

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After making one of the most highly-regarded albums of 2012, singer-songwriter Father John Misty (aka Josh Tillman) announced a new album yesterday, plus a national tour that stops in Omaha. He also performed on Letterman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIFrG_6fySg

His sophomore effort, I Love You, Honeybear, will come out in February on Sub Pop Records, and FJM will play at The Waiting Room on April 8. Tickets are $20 and go on sale Nov. 14 at noon.

Always the devious and cantankerous over-explainer, Tillman said in the press release, the new album:

“… has a decidedly more soulful presence than Fear Fun, due in no small part to the fact that I am truly singing my ass off all over this motherfucker. The album is really characterized by the scope and ambition of the arrangements. Nearly every tune is augmented by something special, be it orchestral strings, a mariachi band, questionable electronic drum solos, ragtime jazz combos, soul singers, or what have you. I’m pretty sure there’s a sitar in there somewhere. Blammo.”

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Sometimes it’s an unexpected treat and sometimes it’s downright sad when once-popular national acts swing through Lincoln on a late-career tour. How Coolio on Dec. 5 at Vega will shake out remains to be seen.

The 51-year-old rapper is best known for his song “Gansta’s Paradise” and making TV appearances in the opening credits of Nickelodeon’s Kenan and Kel and on Futurama as the voice of Kwanzabot.

Coolio’s most recent album, From the Bottom 2 the Top, was released in 2009. RSVP to the show here.

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After an absolutely barebones music video three months ago and an EP released with little fanfare earlier this fall, Lincoln garage-punk band Halfwit is back with another cryptic piece of media. This time, it’s an album teaser.

It’s 30 seconds of Halfwit’s performance at Devil’s Night at The Bourbon last week, followed simply by: “new album coming soon.” And that’s it. You can suppose the band says everything they need to say in the video. No “Hey friends, we’re excited to release an album, watch this video about it” because if they weren’t excited they wouldn’t do it.

As a band musically concerned with trimming the fat off anything with the Halfwit name, the use of social media is almost begrudging. They’ll make you a video, but bedamned if they’re going to bother deleting the cumbersome URL text when they post it on Facebook.