85 Decibel Monks Pool Cues tackfu.com 85 Decibel Monks is the Iowa City-based duo of Tack-Fu and Grover Beats. Their newest release, Pool Cues, is a 29-track instrumental odyssey with […]
A.C. Hawley
A.C. Hawley is around town. He rides a red bike. If you need him, he's reachable.
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Get your skank on: Reel Big Fish to play the Blue Moose
With flannel coming down the runways of high fashion labels, it’s safe to say that the 1990s have come back in full force. Many associate the ’90s with grunge music, but the other major musical force was ska. Sharing passing similarities with its Jamaican origins, the music’s high energy was extremely popular across the country, bolstered by labels like Moon Ska and Chicago’s Jump Up Records.
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Show Preview: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Stagnant Pools at The Mill Tonight
When I first saw the lineup for this show, I was slightly confused. Stagnant Pools is a dirgy, shoegaze-influenced pop band, which is the antithesis of what I remembered …
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Say yes to love: Perfect Pussy heads to Gabe’s this Thursday
Let’s get this out of the way now: Yes, the band’s name is Perfect Pussy. Yes, it is a questionable name and one that shocks. And, while it suggests ideas of cock rock and gross misogyny, it is misleading. Led by Meredith Graves, the music of Perfect Pussy is confident, aggressive and positive, which is evident in the band’s debut album…
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This Wednesday: Julianna Barwick to play Danforth Chapel
Last year — like every year for the last four — I worked as a producer during the Mission Creek Festival (Full disclosure: I worked Mission Creek Festival this year). This gives me the opportunity to check out as many bands as possible. One of the major experimentalists that was brought in last year was William Basinski, who is best known for The Disintegration Loops. While I remember what he looked like — long white hair, leather blazer — I can’t really remember what he sounded like…
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Brooklyn’s Pearl and the Beard set for Cedar Rapids
I don’t often write about folk bands, but Brooklyn-based Pearl and the Beard stand out from the rest of the folk-pop fold in a couple of different ways. The first is that they are not relentlessly cheery or obsessed with being cute and old-timey. While they do have their share of cute acoustic songs, just as many of their songs are dark and unsettling. The trio of Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price and Jeremy Styles use guitar, drums, keyboards and percussion to create a bit of modern menace in the otherwise bubbly world of folk-pop.
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The Grouch & Eligh: West coast hip hop heads to the Blue Moose Tap House
The Bay Area has long been a hotbed of hip-hop talent. Immediately recognizable artists like Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Shadow, Mix Master Mike, E-40 and…
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On the Beat: South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mombazo heads to Iowa City this Tuesday
Ladysmith Black Mombazo (LBM) is a band that is well-known throughout the globe. Having existed for 50+ years, they might be best known for assisting…
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On the Beat: Delorean head to the Mill this Saturday
Delorean is a four-piece band that made a big splash on the indie rock scene in 2010 when they signed to True Panther Sounds, an imprint of Matador Records. While they had been making music together since 2000, the deal with True Panther gave them a global audience, something that had been out of their reach for the decade prior. While every…
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On the beat: Man Man take the stage Wednesday at Gabe’s
Hailing from Philadelphia, Man Man started off sharing much in common with An Albatross, another band from their home state. While both bands put a premium on creating chaos and rampant experimentation, the underlying cores…
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Russian Circles is bringing its pounding post-rock to Gabe’s on February 4
If you ask fans of indie rock what they think of when they think of music in Chicago, there is a good chance that the genre post-rock will come to mind…
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Catchy hooks galore: Dent May to play The Mill next week
While his name sounds like a nom de plume, Dent May is the real name of this musician. May explores the commonalities of life — particularly love — and does it in inventive ways. On his debut album, The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele, he sang his light pop songs with the accompaniment of an ukulele.
