Greg Brown Hymns to What is Left gregbrownmusic.org Following a nearly-aborted album in 2011 (Freak Flag, which I reviewed in LV issue #103) Greg Brown was quoted as saying, “I enjoyed it; even though it was a bitch—what with the lightning, mixing problems, etc.,” he admitted, “it got me interested in recording again, and I […]
Album Reviews
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Album Review: Error – Self Titled
Error Error erroria.bandcamp.com/ The debut EP from Iowa City’s Error is ear-piercingly awesome. It’s doubtful there is a fifteen-minute experience your mom would hate more. The hardcore trio’s self-titled re- cording kicks off with a few ominous, dron- ing strums of a guitar, when the drum kit joins in, they ratchet up the speed and […]
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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 […]
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Album Review: The White Elephant – Self Titled
The White Elephant Self Titled thewhiteelephantband.com Brothers Ron and Tim Coleman and Chris Rohr of The White Elephant grew up in Wapello, IA (pop 2,067) in the Southeast corner of Iowa. Where many from similar small towns in the Midwest might choose other less productive extra-curricular activities, these guys chose to form a band in […]
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Album Review: Iowa City Song Project
Iowa City Song Project maximumamesrecords.com As a teenager hungry for a scene larger than the veritable cultural island of Bellevue, IA, at night I would arrange and rearrange my radio antenna to try to capture KUNI to get a glimpse of the world of music around me, which included bands from Iowa City. It […]
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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 […]
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Album Review: Unknown Component – Blood v. Electricity
Unknown Component Blood v. Electricity www.unknowncomponent.com Keith Lynch, the man behind Unknown Component, may cringe when I draw an easy comparison between his latest release and the work of Radiohead, but I make the comparison lovingly and without claims of derivativeness. Unknown Component has all the elements in place for a great alternative rock album: […]
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Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward – Double Nightmare
Samuel Locke Ward Double Nightmare samuellockeward.bandcamp.com I was introduced to the insanity of “Big Lizard In My Backyard” by The Dead Milkmen sometime in the 80’s. The irreverent, usually scatological humor and unpolished performances on the album seemed to have dislodged the chromosome that would have prevented me from being able to enjoy the hometaping […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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Album Review: Tuff Jerks – Self-titled
Tuff Jerks Self-titled http://tuffjerks.bandcamp.com/ Listening to the new record from Tuff Jerks makes me really want a Miller High Life. While I fully respect the sawdust tang of Pabst Blue Ribbon, it fails to fill me me with the same schmaltz Miller High Life does. I view High Life as the ideal beer for dancing […]
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Album Review: Dave Olson – No October
Dave Olson No October daveolsonmusic.com “What’s that place that she came from? A little town a couple miles from where the plane of Buddy Holly went down.” – Dave Olson, on “Buddy Holly” “Buddy Holly” with its Clear Lake reference wraps up No October—the latest album from Dave Olson, a Twin Cities-transplanted former Iowa Citian. […]
