Plenty of dicks have lived in Iowa City over the years, but only one Cockette. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lendon Sadler was part of a notorious San Francisco drag troupe named the Cockettes, which filmmaker John Waters affectionately referred to as a bunch of acid freak bearded Marxist drag queens. Since that […]
Kembrew McLeod
Posted inPrairie Pop
Rabble-rousing inside the FCC: Media’s mischief maker started subverting paradigms as a kid right here in Iowa City
Nicholas Johnson — who is likely the only Iowa City native who ever appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone, in 1971 — foreshadowed his career as a troublemaking FCC Commissioner when he was an adolescent boy in the mid-1940s. “My first experience with radio was Allied Radio in Chicago,” Johnson recently told me. “This […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Lisa Jane Persky brings her photos and stories of ’70s New York to Iowa City
Writer, actress and photographer Lisa Jane Persky is surely the only participant in the early CBGB punk scene who also appeared in When Harry Met Sally. After moving to Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, she met several colorful characters — from Divine and Debbie Harry to Lance Loud and Yoko Ono (the latter of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Prairie Pop: Looking back on David Bowie’s love affair with experimental theater
The weekend after David Bowie’s death, the Starman’s spirit descended on Iowa City, sprinkling magical fairy dust during The Mill’s David Bowie Karaoke Party and Glam Costume Contest. A benefit for a local homeless shelter that raised $1,700, this lively event embodied what made Bowie such an enduring artist: spectacle. It’s no secret that David […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Interview: Richard Hell on his new collection of essays, ‘Massive Pissed Love’
“Fuck Rock and Roll (I’d Rather Read a Book),” Richard Hell sang in 1974, back when he played in the band Television. He also co-founded two other influential New York punk groups—The Heartbreakers and The Voidoids—something that tends to overshadow Hell’s half-century involvement in the publishing world. “I’ve always loved books,” he told me over […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
The Pioneers of Disruption: Negativland members open up about deceased member Don Joyce, future projects
Negativland’s Don Joyce lived and breathed sound collage—’til his heart stopped beating on July 22, 2015 at the age of 71. “I’ve been more interested in what’s already out there than creating some new, so-called ‘original,’” Joyce told me in a 2003 interview at his home studio in a seedy part of Oakland, California. “I […]
Posted inPrairie Pop
Interview: Questions for Laurie Anderson from a Two-Year-Old
When my son, Alasdair, was two, he embraced an unlikely children’s entertainer: Laurie Anderson. It began when he found her 1982 debut album, Big Science, in my vinyl collection and asked about it. After watching the “O Superman (For Massenet)” music video on YouTube, he moved on to her “Sharkey’s Day” video and then the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
The Yes Men bring anarchy, comedy and political activism to Iowa City
Film Screening and Q&A: The Yes Men Are Revolting FilmScene (via The Bijou Theatre) — Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 3 p.m. (Free) Using humorous deceptions to get their political points across, the Yes Men have regularly made headlines since they joined forces in 1999. Today, Mike Bonanno and his partner in crime, Andy Bichlbaum, bring […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Quick picks
The Pitchfork Music Festival is taking over Chicago’s Union Park this weekend (July 17-19). And with three stages, three days of music and upwards of 50,000 attendees, deciding where to spend one’s time is no simple feat. But fear not! Below, you’ll find some of LV‘s top Pitchfork picks, so crank up that Spotify playlist, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
Interview: El-P talks sampling and making peace with his musical life of crime
“I have nothing planned for the future. Right now I’m just letting the universe decide,” Run the Jewels’ MC and producer El-P told me last …
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Interview: Shabazz Palaces’ Ishmael Butler on the group’s new studio space, his time with Digable Planets and more
Grab an old hip-hop 12-inch, grind the vinyl into dust, roll it up in a page from Ishmael Reed’s Mumbo Jumbo and smoke it. The ensuing synesthetic experience…
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Younger – Self-titled
The self-titled debut by Iowa City trio Younger nicely balances intricate arrangements with more hooks than a box full of fishing tackle. Many of their songs contain verse-chorus-verse-defying breakdowns and changes, though without sounding busy or proggy, like on the album’s lead track, “Street Rat.” Similarly, “Clash” begins with a lilting guitar riff and rumbling bass line that propels the first two verses before switching gears halfway through—slowing the tempo and descending into a spiral of three-part harmonized, interlocking bah-bah-baaaah vocals.
