JGDC by histo A near-fatal lung infection gave multi-instrumentalist Donald Curtis a sense of urgency to follow his passions for music and form Histo, according to the band’s bio. The prefix “histo” medically refers to body tissue, but it also can mean “structure” or “set upright” (as in a histogram bar chart) — either of […]
Album Reviews
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Bella Moss — ‘Midwestern Daydreams’
Debut albums are always about moving boxes, and Bella Moss’ debut album Midwestern Daydreams is full of them. Throughout, this seven-song set feels like a “summer’s surely over” album delivered here at the blustery start of spring. “Change” is the not-so-secret word in these songs, and Bella Moss sings about loves losing their effect and […]
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Album Review: Byrn D. Paul — ‘The Great Vehicle’
The Great Vehicle by Byrn D Paul Byrn D. Paul is one of those musicians on a wavelength entirely their own. He plays guitar, cello, violin, oud, koto, pedal steel guitar and modular synthesizer on The Great Vehicle. On previous releases he positively shreds on the guitar, but this latest album is not about virtuosity. […]
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Album Review: Jad Fair and Samuel Locke Ward — ‘Happy Hearts’
Happy Hearts by Jad Fair and Samuel Locke Ward Cross-country collaborations with punk-rock legends are nothing new for Sam Locke Ward. His glorious work with Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE, etc.) under the SLW cc Watt moniker has been covered in this publication before. At the same time those albums were unleashed on an unsuspecting public, […]
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Album Review: Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops — ‘Manic Fever’
Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops – Manic Fever by Greg Wheeler & The Poly Mall Cops You didn’t realize you were waiting for this moment. But I promise you, you were. Later this month, on March 24, just a couple weeks ahead of their appearance at Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival, Des Moines […]
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Album Review: Ramin Roshandel & Jean-François Charles — ‘Jamshid Jam’
Jamshid Jam by Ramin Roshandel & Jean-Francois Charles Since the 1960s, it seems the University of Iowa School of Music has loosened up about what is allowed and appropriate music for which one can get a Ph.d. Composition — in a good way. There’s always been a raffish, crusty side to the department going back […]
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Album Review: Sylvee & the Sea — ‘The Less I Needed the Better I Felt’
The Less I Needed the Better I Felt by Pieta Brown Pieta Brown says time she spent in Tucson and the friends she made there sparked a music career. These friendships continue to this day as she works with AZ legends like Howe Gelb from Giant Sand and Joey Burns and John Convertino from Calexico. […]
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Album Review: Seth Avett — ‘Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown’
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 […]
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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 […]
