It will be a celebration when Greg Brown performs two retirement shows at the Englert this month. A lot of reverence will be there too, as a town gets the chance to pay tribute to one of its musical patron saints, hearing for a final time many beloved songs straight from their maker’s mouth. Seth […]
Album Reviews
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: SLW + BBJR — ‘Bubblegum Necropolis EP’
Bubblegum Necropolis EP by SLW + BBJR Iowa is beautiful: a land of verdant cornfields, ball diamonds, quaint small towns and Shire-like rolling hills. But the realities of life are grim: the mask of “Iowa nice” all too often hides a deep core of red-state intolerance. Those acres of corn are nurtured by chemicals that […]
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Album Review: Kyle James — ‘Climbing’
Climbing by Kyle James When Des Moines-area native Kyle James released his debut solo LP Datum in February last year, I was impressed, but disappointed. Not because the album was anything less than stellar. Across seven delicately composed instrumentals, James showcased everything he presumably learned studying jazz at Western Michigan University over the past four […]
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Album Review: Emery Clair Comer Hart Taylor — ‘Undustrial Devolution 1 & 2’
Undustrial Devolution I by Emery Clair Comer Hart Taylor Justin K. Comer and his friends who play on Undustrial Devolution 1 & 2 are on the vanguard for free improvisational music in Iowa. That means they’re somewhere out in a cornfield where the other footprints stop, striking out in random directions. There’s focused intent here, […]
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Album Review: Goyf and Bodiah — ‘Goyf/Bodiah Split’
Goyf/Bodiah Split by Goyf/Bodiah You don’t have to spend much time digging to discover talented contemporary artists in Iowa. Whether you’re a hardcore, a hip-hop head, an indie-folker or a stoner-metal enthusiast, you’re bound to find something to satisfy your particular niche in one of the state’s population hubs. When it comes to searching for […]
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Album Review: Jinnouchi Power — ‘Kaleidokoi’
Kaleidokoi by Jinnouchi Power A peek at the cover art of Jinnouchi Power’s recently released album, Kaleidokoi, offers a visual clue to the textured, hypnotic jazz/rock tracks that lie inside. The brightly colored koi encircled by clouds and lightning bolts look like whimsical madness, but with a collective goal. On first listen, Kaleidokoi evokes a […]
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Album Review: BCJsPS — ‘Myth Arc’
Myth Arc by BCJsPs BCJsPS Myth Arc is a collection of pieces improvised over two days in Chicago by Brian Penkrot, Justin Comer and Jason Palamara. Myth Arc is more noisy and chaotic than Comer’s last release; it combines violin, clarinet, laptop synthesis, sampled sound, hand percussion and drums in polyrhythms that shudder with energy. […]
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Album Review: Elizabeth Moen — ‘Wherever You Aren’t’
Wherever You Aren't by Elizabeth Moen When Elizabeth Moen and her band rolled into the AudioTree Studios in Chicago in mid-December 2019, she had just wrapped up a whirlwind back-to-back 18 shows in Italy in November following the release of two new singles, “Headgear” and “Ex’s House Party,” originally planned for her fourth album. Already […]
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Album Review: Penny Peach — ‘EGO PARTY’
EGO PARTY by Penny Peach Have you ever been invited to an Ego Party? Me neither, but I bet they get real loud and standoffish and are filled with folks who are never unsure behind the wheel even when given the murkiest of driving directions. On Penny Peach’s new album, her first full-length and the […]
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Album Review: James Tutson — ‘Happy’
Fans of James Tutson’s lovely voice, guitar stylings and well-crafted songs will be more than happy with his new release, a six-track recording called Happy. The album, which features Tutson’s longtime collaborator Tyler Carrington on keys and drums and Blake Shaw on bass, is of a piece with his previous work. The songs are R&B […]
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Album Review and Q&A: Teller Bank$ — ‘The I & I’
The I & I by Teller Bank$ The album opener to The I & I by Teller Bank$ finds the Des Moines-based rapper reflecting on the practical value of processing his trauma through his art. In “Friends,” he comments on the market forces which encourage work that perpetuates negative stereotypes: “I had to swing my […]
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Album Review and Q&A: Allegra Hernandez — ‘Gift Exchange’
Musician, guitarist and educator Allegra Hernandez returned to Des Moines in 2018 after their stint at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota was cut short when the school closed. That time afforded them a solid basis in music theory and performances at Twin Cities venues like the venerable 7th Street Entry. Hernandez […]
