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, […]
Album reviews
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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, […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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. […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
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 […]
