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Roots of Rhythm by Elizabeth Zimmerman The first song on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Roots Of Rhythm, “The Journey,” is just her voice and piano. It brings Judee Sill immediately to mind. It combines pleasant, subtly modulated vocal style with an intricately worked melody and introspective lyrics. She presents to the listener as an inviting, fascinating mystery. […]
Red State Handshake by Elizabeth Moen Elizabeth Moen shared her first “blatantly political” song in a video posted to Facebook in the weeks following the Aug. 10, 2020 derecho. More than six months later, that demo has evolved into a fully realized single, incorporating the talents of two other Iowa artists. Little Village caught back […]
THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium is here! Virtual theatre in full swing! The 2021 Spring Gallery walk with accommodations for social distancing and mask requirements! The annual PS1 Art Auction, featuring the work of over 50 artists! I’m talkin’ bout DOGS IN SWEATERS, reader! If you know of an upcoming virtual, outdoor or […]
There’s a setting used in some of the ambient noise interstitial scenes between videos in Meka Jean’s “visual long play,” Still (a) Life, released at the end of January. It first appears between tracks two and three, “Distortion” and “Too Good for You.” It’s within the abandoned frame of a building, likely in Alabama, where […]
THE WEEKENDER Your weekly editor-curated arts compendium is here! Fascinating conversations, stimulating readings, live performances from the comfort of your couch and more abound, so there’s no excuse to spend another weekend just waiting for the weekend to end so the week can begin. If you know of an upcoming virtual or safely distanced event […]
We’re in a pandemic, in case you haven’t noticed. And in a pandemic, especially as the parent of a toddler, time (to put a fine point on it) gets a bit — slippery. So on this past rather innocuous Tuesday night, when Ghost Creek premiered, I accessed the website at “about 7” rather than at […]
The music scene in Iowa in the ’80s was vibrant. Inspired by similar regional scenes nationwide, bands across the state were springing from their garages, basements and practice spaces ready to storm the stages of bars and dorms everywhere. The beacon for this movement locally was the ever-present KUNI studios evening music programming, which regularly […]
On a stage that resembles a blueprint for adolescence at its cruelest, the protagonist Amy’s origin story in TCR’s Out of Bounds unfolds before the audience in a frustrating, unrelenting-battle-against-the-system fashion. Slut-shaming. Victim-blaming. Mean girls (of all ages) galore. With a showtime of 90 minutes, the 10-act production brings to life a 14-year-old girl’s trauma […]
Some of Grant Wood’s most well-known paintings depict Midwesterners wielding metal tools, from plows to garden hoes to, of course, pitchforks. Less known is that Wood worked with metal himself. As a child, he served as an apprentice at a Cedar Rapids metal shop, and was later commissioned by a number of local homeowners and […]
A 2018 study by sex toy company EdenFantasys revealed that 40 percent of respondents considered themselves kinky, with over one-third claiming a specific fetish. Still, there’s an overwhelming dearth of affirming literature out there: There’s a lot of exoticizing, quite a bit of shaming, but very little normalization. Enter Kink, a new anthology out Feb. […]
The mythology of “the Heartland” (also called “Middle America” or the “flyover states”) is usually rooted in archaic abstractions such as “traditional family values” and conservative ideals. These parts of the American landscape are described as if they are closed off by narrow boundaries, with rigid attitudes imposed upon the diverse populations inhabiting them. As […]
Better Times (Are A Comin') by Steve Grismore If the music collection in your head includes the work of the late Ornette Coleman, there is a reasonable chance you have it filed under “weird” or “difficult” or even “unlistenable.” That may be true even if you consider yourself a jazz fan. Coleman, a multi-instrumentalist best […]
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Little Village is an independent media company based in Iowa City. In print since 2001, our mission is to create visibility for the communities, businesses and events that define our region. Support Little Village →