In interviews with R.E.M. around the time of their ‘92 album Automatic For The People, the band commented that it was difficult to write good uptempo…
Michael Roeder
Michael Roeder is a self-proclaimed “music savant.” When he’s not writing for Little Village he blogs at playbsides.com.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Greg Brown – The Iowa Waltz, 30th anniversary edition
It is apropos that I’m writing this while sitting in a quiet corner of a warm house during the holidays, revisiting Greg Brown’s 1981 album The Iowa Waltz with…
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: The Pines with Dave Simonett and Erik Koskinen – “Highwayman” Single
It was Glen Campbell who first approached Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson about recording a version of the Jimmy…
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Har-di-Har – Hard Parent/Thick Child EP
In the laundry, shorts and t-shirts remind me that summer is over. After a brief mourning for the lost season, I banish them to wash not to be seen again until next spring. After much resistance, I resolve to switch the thermostat to “heat” as if it was the last defense of the impending colder weather.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Love Over Gold – Fall to Rise
Love Over Gold is the name of a new collaboration between Pieta Brown and Australian singer-songwriter Lucie Thorne, who met during a tour of the land down under a couple of years ago. The two became fast friends, and, after some correspondence and planning, they formed the group named after a Dire Straits song.
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Album Reviews: The White Elephant – Fly
The White Elephant The White Elephant (“Fly”) www.thewhiteelephantband.com The history of distortion effects on guitars dates back to what is usually considered the first rock and roll song, “Rocket 88.” […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Pieta Brown and Lucie Thorne bring Love Over Gold to CSPS Wednesday
Pieta Brown is bringing her latest music project, Love Over Gold, to the grand CSPS stage in Cedar Rapids Wednesday. The two-piece project consists of Brown and…
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An interview with Mickey Hart
Although most people know Mickey Hart as one member of the “Rhythm Devils” percussion section of the Grateful Dead (along with Bill Kreutzmann), he has had a notable solo music […]
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Album Review: Radoslav Lorkovic – Clear and Cold Remastered
I’ve mentioned on these pages before that my first time in a bar underaged was seeing Bo Ramsey and the Sliders playing Potter’s Mill in Bellevue, IA.
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John C. Reilly interview: Bring it back home
Actor John C. Reilly is known for his breadth of comedic and dramatic roles in movies like Magnolia, Step Brothers, Cedar Rapids and The Aviator. He is also known for […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
An interview with Joey Burns of Calexico
Little Village caught up with frontman Joey Burns as he was waiting for a table at the restaurant Cochon in New Orleans during a visit for a performance at Jazz Fest. Check out the full interview after the jump…
Posted inAlbum Reviews, Arts & Entertainment
Album Review: The Men from…BEYOND! – Surf Solaris
My first exposure to the L.A. punk scene was through the soundtrack to the 1984 movie Repo Man. This scene would be documented much more extensively in the movie The Decline of Western Civilization, but there is some overlap. I watched Repo Man when it aired sometime in the 80’s on late night USA Network when I was in my early teens and it opened a whole world up to me–junk culture, beer swilling angry punks and aliens. The soundtrack has the amazing Iggy Pop theme song and bands like The Plugz, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, Fear and Suicidal Tendencies.
