Smartphones are everywhere, and you can still catch a glimpse of a flip phone now and then, courtesy of the “dumphone” resurgence. But have you considered the slimephone?
Elisabeth Oster
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Kinji — ‘Thunderhead’
In the same way nature’s counterpart forewarns of dreariness and thunderous disruption, indie musician Kinji’s newest EP Thunderhead starts as the calm before the storm, only to break open, laid bare to the elements, oozing out luscious, melancholic aural landscapes.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Patricia Holly — ‘Satin Sashes’
With a stage name like Patricia Holly, a Christmas album seems to be a no-brainer. Name synergy aside, the Des Moines-based jazz and Americana artist is wholly up to the task of a new holiday effort; her signature vintage sound glides effortlessly between dazzling big-band-style orchestrations and a jazzy, moody piano bar, guided by a […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Bootcamp — ‘Time’s Up’
Time’s Up by Bootcamp. Whenever Iowa City hardcore punk outfit Bootcamp sets off for the divey bars and dimmed basement venues of a tour, vocalist Juliette Enloe sets a phone lockscreen to a map of the U.S., with the state of Iowa circled in blazing red. The reason? Non-Midwest audiences never seem to know where […]
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Album Review: Sophie Mitchell — ‘What’s Left of Us’
What's Left of Us by Sophie Mitchell So rarely does an album break free from its auditory confines and spin itself into the most visceral, tender visual scenes, painting an achingly beautiful portrait of being in your 20s. But with Sophie Mitchell’s What’s Left of Us, you see it — all of it. See the […]
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Album Review: River Glen — ‘Poignant Folk-Pop’
Poignant Folk-Pop by River Glen There’s a certain cyclical nature to the poignancy of folk in popular culture. Turned to most in times of turmoil, folk music is perhaps the most durable music genre as a medium for both protest and comfort. Particularly provocative is folk’s inherent warmth, with full-bodied string instruments and vocals, in […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Bouquet — ‘Feel in Color’
Feel In Color by Bouquet Do you know what it’s like to “feel in color?” That’s the question on the minds of five-piece Des Moines band Bouquet on their latest EP. Across seven tracks, emotions are laid bare, bloody, jagged and raw, while still being hypnotically tender. Across platforms, the band describes itself as “emotional […]
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Album Review: Dearborn — ‘Memo for a Friend’
Memo For A Friend by dearborn There’s a particular atmosphere to a sleepless night. More than likely, it culminates in stumbling through a dark room and mental fog to turn on the TV, hoping bottom-shelf infomercials and reruns of yesteryear sitcoms quiet your mind. In those moments, when the rest of the world is asleep, […]
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Album Review: Sun Centauri — ‘Flux4D’
When Alyx Rush declares, “I need my space,” in the first atmospheric gasps of Flux4D, it would be easy to assume the aforementioned space only speaks to normal human conflict, bound entirely to Earth. Certainly, in a literal sense, each song is about the push and pull dilemma of whether to be entangled in the […]
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Album Review: Joytrip — ‘Leaving State’
Leaving things never has a natural conclusion. Leaving things means unresolved relationships, passion projects and bucket lists. And maybe, just maybe, that place, or person, or thing left behind is incomplete now. Maybe, the feeling is mutual. And maybe indie folk band Joytrip is leaving state, like their album title suggests, or maybe they are […]
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Album Review: The Shining Realm — ‘Talismandala’
Talismandala by Shining Realm “Welcome to the Hallucination we call Home,” beckons a calm, steady voice in its echoes and layers of slithering percussion and Eastern-influenced stringed instrument tapestries. Where is home? Well, at least for these 40-odd minutes, that home is the Shining Realm — both an Iowa psychedelic supergroup and a state of […]
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Album Review: Wolfskill & the Wild — ‘Feral Heart’
Take Me As I Am by Wolfskill & The Wild It may seem counterintuitive to first notice and bask in the silence of an album, when music is quite literally about the sound created. But something genius unfurls from the quiet as Wolfskill & the Wild’s Feral Heart comes into view. A good 10-second fade-in […]
