David Huckfelt’s 2021 Room Enough, Time Enough gets its title from the name the Navajo used to describe their ancestral homeland, near where Huckfelt recorded the album in Tucson, Arizona. Its rocky landscape influenced the Western themes of the record. Being in Tucson allowed Huckfelt to take a more communal approach to recording the album, […]
Album Reviews
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Album Review: Awful Purdies — ‘The Great Unraveling’
The Awful Purdies’ new release, The Great Unraveling is a defining statement for these accomplished musicians who combine their strengths, with wearied joy, to perform miracles. The songs are timely and timeless. The album is proud but not boastful, strong but not brutal, both wise and playful. The sheer quality of the material and the […]
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Album Review: Soultru— ‘The Truth’ EP
The Truth: An Acoustic EP by SoultruTerrance “Soultru” Banks has been blending pop, R&B and hip-hop for years. For The Truth, the Davenport singer’s latest EP, he’s taken an unexpected step back: peeling back the production and sitting down for a set of stripped-down, unguarded acoustic songs. It’s a bold move for any singer to […]
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Album Review: Twin Wizard — ‘Glacial Gods’
Glacial Gods by Twin Wizard After a messy split from Dubuque stoner-metal powerhouse Telekinetic Yeti, drummer Anthony Dreyer forged a trans-Mississippi partnership with axeman Brad Van, a member of Madison kindred spirits Droids Attack. The result is Twin Wizard, whose thundering debut Glacial Gods had the ill fortune to drop on Friday the 13th back […]
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Album Review: Stephanie Catlett — ‘Caught Under Glass’
Caught Under Glass by Stephanie Catlett Stephanie Catlett surprised listeners with her 2019 EP Meet Me in the Dream, and fans of her initial work will be delighted to know that her 2020 LP Caught Under Glass (available today, Dec. 11) holds intricate poetic depth and a melodic sensitivity that expand on her initial promise. […]
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Album Review: Elizabeth Moen — ‘Creature of Habit’ EP
Liz Moen’s origin story, as relayed to me by Luke Tweedy of Flat Black Studios, begins before she recorded a single note. He said she decided to record an album of her own songs, and in short order she was at Flat Black with a band she had just formed. She came to that debut […]
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Album Review: Jim Swim — ‘Softee Boy’ EP
Softee Boy EP by Jim Swim When I first listened to this Jim Swim project, I wasn’t sure if this was all done by one creative or if there were multiple people — a rapper/singer just going over some instrumental tracks. I’ve heard a single or so here and there, but not enough to know […]
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Album Review: Ben Driscoll — ‘Unseen Danger’
UNSEEN DANGER by Ben Driscoll I don’t know if it’s a conscious influence, but the music and moody atmosphere of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks come immediately to mind listening to “Muleville,” the lead-off track on Ben Driscoll’s Unseen Danger. The tremolo guitar is an Angelo Badalamenti favorite, and the cooing backing vocals from Katherine Ruestow […]
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Album Review: Joel Sires — ‘Dog Years’
Dog Years by Joel Sires To paraphrase the famous Corinthians Bible passage, Joel Sires — songwriter and frontman for Cedar Falls band TWINS — set aside his “childish ways” for the songs on their last album, Dream On, out earlier this year. That new maturity on record is a result of woodshedding new songs at […]
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Album Review: Murnau — ‘Lungs’
Lungs by MurnauMurnau is a two-piece band from the small town of Morrison, Illinois, just a short ride up I-88 from the Quad Cities. Last year the band rose from the double obscurity of a square little town and an almost decade-long hiatus, releasing a compilation of old recordings (Static) and wasting no time in […]
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Album review: Various artists, ‘New Roots Grow — A Benefit Compilation For The CRANDIC Corridor Derecho Storm Recovery’
NEW ROOTS GROW: A Benefit Compilation For The CRANDIC Corridor Derecho Storm Recovery by Money Tapes I didn’t realize how much of what I’ve come to know as the Cedar Rapids area was about the trees. After the Aug. 10 derecho event cost the area an estimated 65% of its tree canopy cover, I have […]
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Album Review: The Mountain Goats — ‘Getting Into Knives’
The Mountain Goats (erstwhile Iowan John Darnielle with Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster) are indie folk legends of their own design, led largely by Darnielle’s singular and incessant creative churnings. Getting Into Knives, the Mountain Goats’ 19th studio album (and second of 2020) was recorded in less than a week at the beginning […]
