Sometimes I can’t make heads or tails of an album, and it’s a good thing. Those can be the albums that stretch your whole idea of what’s aesthetically satisfying about music. Then there’s Trophies by The Box Flower, known to his mom as Daniel Weston Payne. I can tell he’s an artist because the CD […]
2010
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Natalie Brown – Violin Crossings
Natalie Brown is an Eastern Iowa music staple–playing violin/fiddle in a number of notable bands in the area including The Trollies, with Nikki Lunden, The Mayflies and with local guitar legend Craig Erickson in their latest jamband Planet Pluto. She is classically-trained and holds a degree in violin performance, a master’s in music education and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
On the Beat: Hometown sound
In Everything But The Girl’s “25th December” (one of those great non-Christmas Christmas songs that end up on “indie xmas” mix tapes), Ben Watt sings about the quintessential winter feeling: regret. “I’m thirty and I don’t know nothing no more,” he whines in the way that only British people can whine, thinking about old friends, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Drummer Takes His Turn: An Interview with S. Carey
S.Carey will be appearing Friday, December 10 at The Mill. Show starts at 9PM S. Carey’s new album All We Grow is not what you’d expect from someone who plays with Bon Iver. If Bon Iver hugs the center line of popular music, S. Carey’s car is parked crooked on the shoulder with its blinkers […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Windows into Wartime
This is a book review, but it’s not about a book. Yes, it is a book insofar as it involves words printed on paper and some pictures and it’s bound and has a spine and you can hold it in your hands, but “book” doesn’t come close to describing Jesse Albrecht’s Objects for Deployment. In […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Your Town Now: The Month that was November 2010
Moods swung and curses were muttered throughout downtown as the 21 ordinance stood the test of a public vote. The scene outside the Sports Column–which was to host a victory party for the anti-21 crowd–spoke volumes: people sulked out, a young man got to speak to reporters and the joint was empty by 11. Previous […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Why I Blame Rush for the Tea Party
I read in an article this summer that the Canadian rock band Rush was filing a lawsuit against Kentucky senatorial candidate and Tea Party love-child Rand Paul. The power trio’s lawyers alleged that the Paul campaign’s use of their song “Spirit of the Radio” constituted copyright infringement. “Oh, the irony,” I thought, for the band, […]
Posted inCommunity/News, UR Here
UR Here: C'Mon Get Hokey
“Home for the Holidays.” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” It’s that time of year when the return home defines the season for many people. Songs, movies and TV specials during the holiday season relentlessly emphasize homecoming, for both comedic and dramatic effect. And our highways and airports testify to the culture’s real-life enactment of this […]
Posted inAstrology, Community/News
Astrology Forecast for December 2010
Astrology Forecast for December 2010 FOR EVERYONE ~ Put your cards on the table. There are major, inevitable, irreversible changes in the works and December brings them closer to reality. However, December will also bring a major, all but irresolvable standoff over these impending changes. At the same time, progress will stall out amidst epic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Talking Movies: Hausu
Once in a while we come across a piece of art so outlandish that it defies all our categories; something which brings our neat generalizations up short. Hausu is one such work of art for me, and I suspect I am not alone. If you haven’t seen it, it may very well be the most […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Townie Hawk: Hawk Blocked
Hey Ricky, You so Fine No denying, he’s got the numbers. Ricky Stanzi is a better QB than he was last year. With just four interceptions (vs. 15 last year) and a higher completion percentage, Ricky’s made marked improvements that are worthy of respect. In his final bowl game, his senior year, he’s our man. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Renovating Lives
The official ribbon cutting was still a few weeks out, but activity swirled around Shelter House Executive Director Chrissi Canganelli on this mid-November morning. We sat at a table in the common area, then made a “walk through” as she enumerated the assets of this new facility on Southgate Avenue. Staff was busy on the […]
