Independent Iowa News, Culture & Events – music, government, listings, theatre, film, and local perspective
A hyperactive Jimmy Buffet breaks through the weed smoke and patchouli to win over fans of all ages – with gentle humor, loopy romanticism and mad skills on the gee-tar.
Joe McNertney Colloquialisms Mr. McNerty is one of Eric Rohm’s collaborators in The Noble Octopus, and like his label mate on the enigmatically named Pelletier Comes Alive! label, McNerty is not a shouter. Â This CD is anchored in the acoustic folk songwriting tradition, but also contains generous helpings of sonic experimentation. Â Some stuff he does […]
The Noble Octopus The Noble Octopus The Noble Octopus was started by Eric Rohn and friends at Grinnell College before moving to Iowa City. With the emphasis on clean guitar sounds and low-key vocals they recall the softer side of Yo La Tengo. The Steve Reich-esque looped guitar piece “Droplets and Isolations” immediately had me […]
Testifyi 2 The World www.myspace.com/testifyi There’s a lot of recording artists now that give credit to God for their success, but their music has nothing to do with religious themes. Testifyi takes a different approach: There’s nothing but religious themes on “2 The World.” Testifyi has mastered the style of modern hip hop; if you […]
As detailed here in the Daily Iowan, long time Iowa City Artist Virginia Visker was arrested a week ago on drug charges. She was in jail for nearly a week in Manchester, Iowa due to overcrowding at the jail, but was finally released a couple days ago. You may not think you know Virginia, but […]
Scheusch Scheusch www.myspace.com/scheusch Consider now, the guitar-drum duo, of which persuasion is Scheusch. If you leave out the bass player, you only split the door two ways. You don’t have to load a heavy bass cabinet, and you don’t need to deal with the guy who always gets basil when you send him out to […]
The White Tornado Seek Shelter www.white2rnado.com The White Tornado is keyboardist Bill Peterson, who’s been playing shows around Iowa City for some time. Seek Shelter, his debut record, showcases his facility with the piano and organ, not to mention his puckish sense of humor. Stylistically he’s not stuck in any one genre for long, but two […]
Kaspar Hauser The Sons www.kasparhausermusic.net Kaspar Hauser started in Iowa City and then moved to Chicago, but they’re back once or twice a year for shows at the Mill. They play guitar-based pop music, with no grand pretensions or sonic gimmicks. If you see them live, they look like they just finished a shift at […]
This Machine Lemming Nation You have to admire Marv Hain, for being true to his ideals, and his devotion to a musical form that’s been moribund for nearly 50 years, folk protest songs. His stage name “This Machine” is, I assume, an homage to Woody Guthrie, who wrote “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitar. […]
Po’ Girl Deer in the Night www.pogirl.net [audio:http://www.pogirl.net/deer/deer.mp3] Canada is, like, this whole other country. They apparently are secretly responsible for about half of the music we think of as American. Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen? All Canadian. Comes now Po’Girl–two women, Awna Texeira, and Allison Russell, one Torontonian, one Quebecois–sneaking across at Windsor, […]
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound Beat of Our Own Drum www.myspace.com/theuptownsound JC Brooks comes from Chicago, but recently played at the Yacht Club, and from all reports, burned the joint down. I wasn’t able to make it out to that show, but this CD gives me a strong idea of the sort of fireworks […]
Bonne Finken Soul on Display www.bonnefinken.com It takes some gut for a white girl from Knoxville, Iowa, to use “Soul” in her debut CD’s title. But Finken can, as they say in the parlance, bring it. She has a voice and delivery with the buttery depth of Annie Lennox, the effortless blues edge of Bonnie […]
Little Village is a free, independent and community-supported news, arts and culture publication based in Iowa City and covering communities throughout Eastern and Central Iowa. Little Village's free print magazine is distributed to over 800 pickup locations around the state, and paywall-free online stories are published daily.
Little Village HQ
623 S. Dubuque St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 855-1474
We'll send a verification code to %EMAIL%.
