Sinners & Saints by Cedar County Cobras There’s a moment in Cedar County Cobras’ “Bessie Smith’s Last Ride” when nearly a century of American history collapses into a few verses. The song takes as its starting point Smith’s death following a car accident on Highway 61 near Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1937, a tragedy long surrounded […]
Album Reviews
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Album Review: DEĀ EX MACHINĀ — ‘APO/THECARY’
APO/THECARY by DEĀ EX MACHINĀ Nothing is more frustrating than a tired cliché, especially one that happens to be true. Take “the only constant is change,” which is made anew when refracted through the lens of a burgeoning artist. Torina Gedler, a Des Moines-based synth-pop musician playing under the moniker DEĀ EX MACHINĀ, provides that […]
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Album Review: Landyn Zane — ‘Coming Attractions’
In 1973, both David Bowie and Elton John debuted iconic looks along with new albums: Bowie the lightning-bolt face paint of the glam rock singer’s Aladdin Sane and John the rhinestoned jackets that would become his live-show signature after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Cedar Rapids native Landyn Zane references both costuming choices with electric blue […]
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Album Review: Phantom Threat — ‘Phantasmagoria’
In the five and a half decades since metal began to find its footing as an established genre, metal bands have gone to increasingly great lengths to answer the question: how does one make the most intense music possible? One such band is the Quad Cities death metal outfit Phantom Threat, who released their latest […]
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Album Review: Matt Terronez — ‘Tell Me A Story’
Matt Terronez wants to tell you a story — one of true love, heartbreak and conflicted feelings. It plays out across the 10 tracks, or perhaps chapters, of his debut solo album, Tell Me A Story. But make no mistake, this is anything but the start of Terronez’s story, or his music career. Terronez came […]
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Album Review: Teller Bank$ — ‘Hate Island’
Hate Island by Teller Bank$ It’s often said that art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. Des Moines rapper Teller Bank$’ latest album does just that. Hate Island finds a distinct way to express pain and trauma while delivering an unforgettable and endlessly intriguing work of art. I knew I was in for […]
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Album Review: Younger — ‘Y3K’
Y3K by Younger Amid the magic of Day Party, the latest evolution of Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival held April 25, Iowa City rock band Younger debuted much of their latest album, Y3K. Inside the warm embrace of Trumpet Blossom Cafe, the audience hung on every quivering drumbeat, grizzled guitar shred and endlessly catchy hook […]
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Album Review: Mark Haugen — ‘Maybe Next Year’
Maybe Next Year by Mark Haugen “There are anchors and balloons, tell me which one are you?” This was the first lyric to spring from Mark Haugen’s latest album cycle. Releasing “Anchors and Balloons” as the lead single of Maybe Next Year was a thoughtful choice; the song’s lyrics tease the world of the full […]
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Album Review: Jacob Lampman — ‘Jacob Lampman’s Ego Death’
Jacob Lampman's Ego Death by Jacob Lampman When singer-songwriter Jacob Lampman and his cohort take the stage and you spot the upright bass, flute, mandolin, electric and acoustic guitars, you may ask yourself, “What kind of music am I about to hear?” The instrumentation conjures up bluegrass or folk, but the sounds that emanate from […]
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Album Review: OHYUNG — ‘IOWA’
IOWA by OHYUNG My first recollection of meeting Lia Ouyang Rusli was at a Feed Me Weird Things show she performed at as OHYUNG. I had been asked to provide lights and haze. I didn’t completely know what to expect outside of a request for strobes. If you want strobe lights, you’re already after my […]
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Album Review: Hambone and the Maple Babies — ‘Hootenanny’
Have you heard of “word painting”? It’s the musical technique in which instrumental choices illustrate the lyrical ones — and vice versa — in a positive feedback loop. Synergy at its finest. Skilled word-painters create something unique, something a purist musician or lyricist couldn’t create when exclusively focusing on one or the other. Iowa City’s […]
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Album Review: Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops — ‘Slimephone Surveillance’
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?
