The Ills I Kill Me theillsrock.bandcamp.com This is by far the shortest release I’ve reviewed. It’s a lovely one-sided 7” EP put out by No Front Teeth Records in London UK. And it’s exactly the sort of hard, fast, stupid punk rock that should come out on a British Punk record label. With yelpy girl […]
Kent Williams
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Nerissa Campbell – Blue Shadows
Nerissa Campbell Blue Shadows crookedmouthmusic.com Nerissa Campbell is a Brooklyn NY Jazz singer and songwriter. Her connection to Iowa (LV tries to stay local, y’know) is through her husband, who’s from here; they come to Iowa frequently, and she’s played memorable shows in Iowa City, most recently at the Mill. Her music isn’t purely Jazz, […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Mint Wad Willy – The Fucking Sidewalk
Mint Wad Willy The Fucking Sidewalk Mint Wad Willy left Iowa City a couple years back after putting out a couple of CDs and are currently living and playing in Omaha. Their new record The Fucking Sidewalk is a change from their earlier album A History of Guns & Liars, which was mostly rock with […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Various Artists – Songs For The Sulking Shed (songs of Jason Hennesy)
Various Songs For The Sulking Shed (songs of Jason Hennesy) tuffjerks.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-the-sulking-shed This can’t really be a review, because this correspondent (aka Chaircrusher) has a track on this album. But it’s too remarkable not to… remark on it. Jason Hennesy, he of the Miracles of God, Sucka MCs and Tuff Jerks, turns 40 this month. To […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: The Emilees – Self-Titled
The Emilees Self-Titled theemilees.com/ Emmalee Hunnicutt and Emily Hall write and perform acoustic folk music. A lot of people do that, and many of them learn to do it well enough to build an audience. Tune in any Saturday to “A Prairie Home Companion” on Public Radio and you’ll hear someone who can play a […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Mox Narsky – All Else Fails
Mox Narsky All Else Fails purevolume.com/moxnarsky Michael Bednarsky was born in 1991, twelve or thirteen years after the rise of hip hop in the national consciousness, part of a generation who don’t know a world without hip hop. Mox Narsky’s fluency in the idiom reflects this history. The originators of hip hop were making it […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Big Box – Die Now
Big Box Die Now bigbox.bandcamp.com There’s a whole world of Metal music, and it’s a messy place. The last time there was a unitary ‘Metal’ genre was around the time Black Sabbath made Paranoid. These days, Metal shades off into Indie (Pearl Jam & Soundgarden were basically flannel-wearing Metal), Emo, Screamo, Punk and who knows […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Tallgrass – God, Sin, Whiskey and Women
Tallgrass God, Sin, Whiskey and Women facebook.com/Tallgrassband I hate country music. Sort of. If you drive around Iowa with just FM radio in your car, you hear a lot of what they call “country music” and that music is to the real music of the country folk of the United States what the Matterhorn […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: D.O.P.E. Clique – Blunt Force Trauma
D.O.P.E. Clique Blunt Force Trauma Iowa hip hop has an identity problem. As an urban phenomenon that has gone worldwide, the further it gets from big city African American culture, the harder practitioners need to work to find an authentic way to both stay true to the roots, and to represent their own experiences. D.O.P.E. […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Hott – Guaranteed to Destroy
Hott Guaranteed to Destroy www.hottguaranteedtodestroy.com Few bands have made such an immediate splash as Hott has in the Iowa City music scene. Partly it came from the participation of longtime Iowa City musicians Action Man (Ed Nehring) and Big Daddy (Kylie Buddin). Those guys were charter members of the punk/hardcore scene that exploded in IC […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Rahlan Kay – Relationships: A Sucka 4 Luv Story
Rahlan Kay Relationships: A Sucka 4 Luv Story reverbnation.com/rahlankay Beginning sometime in the late 90s, a loose confederation of Hip Hop MCs, producers and DJs began meeting Monday evenings at Vince Woolums’ (founder of the Rotation party crew) home. It came to be known as the Iowa City Beats & Rhymes Society. It was the […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Awful Purdies – Hiatus
Awful Purdies Hiatus www.awfulpurdies.com The women of the Awful Purdies combine many years of musical experience, compounded by six years of playing shows together. They all sing, play and write, staying close to the modern folk music vernacular. What gets me about the Awful Purdies is that they come together and create something seamless and […]
