Tonight, it feels like New York in Elray’s. Maybe it’s the absence of live music for so long? Or maybe it’s the unexpected blend of looping pedal, expansive jazz bass […]
Iowa City music
Video premiere: Penny Peach, ‘Laurelz’
Two weeks ago today, Penny Peach (a.k.a. Elly Hofmaier) dropped a debut EP, Brain Gamez, that you won’t want to miss. But I’m not going to steal the thunder from […]
‘Blackness is many things’: Meka Jean breaks down the ‘partitions of identity’ in new visual LP
There’s a setting used in some of the ambient noise interstitial scenes between videos in Meka Jean’s “visual long play,” Still (a) Life, released at the end of January. It […]
Video premiere: Jim Swim, ‘Softee Boy’
Two years ago, LV reviewer Lucas Benson described Jim Swim’s In It With You EP as “a blend of hip hop, Nick Drake bootlegs, a book of poems by Rumi […]
Track premiere: Brian Johannesen, “Corona of Springfield”
In Iowa City songwriter Brian Johannesen’s new single “Corona of Springfield,” one of two new tracks he dropped today, a child — the narrator in fact — is born in […]
Elizabeth Moen debuts song criticizing Gov. Kim Reynolds’ disconnection from small-town Iowans
A new song shared by Elizabeth Moen on Monday afternoon takes aim at Gov. Kim Reynolds’ response (or lack thereof) to the needs of Iowans. It is the Iowa City […]
The Mill is closing after nearly 60 years in Iowa City
A longtime Iowa City institution is officially closing its doors after 58 years, according to a Facebook post on the business’s page Thursday afternoon. The Mill is known for its pizza and spaghetti, vintage pew seating, vine-draped patio and, of course, its performance space.
Independent musician Ace Jones hones his craft on the Iowa City Ped Mall
Guitar in hand, foot tapping a tambourine, Ace Jones is a one-man show for all who pass through the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. This is where the Marion-based artist has come for years to practice his set in a low-pressure environment. “It’s a great place to just work on songs, or I’ll freestyle a song and see if it sounds good,” Jones said.
No music, no problem: Area bars and restaurants that provide a space to eat in peace
“Don’t worry; they don’t have a band tonight. I called ahead to make sure,” my husband said about the restaurant where we were thinking of eating that evening. Though we’d […]
Video premiere: Good Morning Midnight, ‘Josie’s Experiment’
Little Village is pleased today to premiere the video for Good Morning Midnight’s “Josie’s Experiment,” a driving, melodic tune that’s the perfect capper to sophomore album ‘Both Neither and Both.’
Album Review: Kevin Gordon — Tilt and Shine
As I write this, it has been one year since the passing of one of America’s greatest songwriters, Tom Petty. It’s appropriate, then, that I’m writing a review of another “songwriter’s songwriter.” And, like Petty, Kevin Gordon’s formative years were spent in the American South.
Letter to the editor: A response from a guilty artist to ‘Let’s retire the $5 show’
I want to thank Luke Tweedy for his Sept. 29 letter to the editor. Artist compensation is an incredibly important subject that isn’t discussed in concrete terms nearly enough. I spend quite a lot of time thinking about it while I sit at a desk working a job I don’t really care about, dreaming of a day when I can support myself entirely on my art.