Heather Gabel, one-half of the Chicago-based industrial EDM duo HIDE, has an affinity for the haunting, empowering and confrontational. You may have seen Gabel between flashes of strobe lights and clouds of dry ice in the Yacht Club basement during Mission Creek Festival 2019: glimpses of black-smudged lips yelling […]
Feed Me Weird Things
Psychedelia spirals into the Trumpet Blossom
Louise Bock’s intense dreamscapes
Egyptian musician Nadah El Shazly on her fight against ‘musical political correctness’

There are songs of great sadness, written in the early 20th century by Egyptian Arabs and recorded mechanically. They’re written in a forgotten style, slightly grating on the ears, but evoking a sense of melancholy and nostalgia. These are the sounds which guide the latest musical ventures of experimental multi-instrumentalist Nadah El Shazly […]
Digging up the ‘underground,’ DIY music scene in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids

From singer-songwriters to heavy metal bands, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids breed a wide variety of musical acts. Dozens of artists make up the local music scene, but not many receive the recognition of concert-goers in the area. Naturally, the local DIY scene — united by the “do it yourself” idea that art shouldn’t have barriers to entry, and that anyone, regardless of skill or status, should be free to make art and share it as they please — tends to operate underground while the artists are often shrouded from curious music fans. Some local venue owners are working to change that […]
Five questions with: Bill MacKay

Feed Me Weird Things Vol. 3, Edition #11 brings the brilliant guitar improviser Bill MacKay from Chicago to Iowa City on Thursday, Sept. 27. MacKay lives on the unexpected razor’s edge between jazz and experimental folk, stylistically, but his guitar is conversational in a sense typically only associated with the blues. […]
No Mo’ FOMO: This weekend’s hottest shows, in summary
Review: Nils Frahm’s show was riveting, and a big feather in the Englert’s cap
Nils Frahm brings one-of-a-kind sound and two tons of gear to the Englert Theatre
Photos: Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar stops in Iowa City

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Chris Wiersema’s Feed Me Weird Things listening series hosted another night of music and literature at Trumpet Blossom Cafe Thursday, Sept. 21. The real treat of the evening was Mdou Moctar, who traveled all the way from Niger and is in the middle of his first ever United States tour. In addition to Tuareg […]
Feed Me Weird Things preps to kick off Volume Two

Feed Me Weird Things, Vol. 2, Ed. 1: Robert Noyes w/ Alexander, Haunter Trumpet Blossom — Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 9 p.m. Having concluded the first volume of Feed Me Weird Things (FMWT) on Aug. 12, Chris Wiersma, curator of the series, pauses for the brief transition before Volume Two commences on Wednesday, Aug. 16 […]
Interview: A chat with curator Chris Wiersema ahead of the Tuesday kickoff of Feed Me Weird Things

Feed Me Weird Things is the newest curation effort of Chris Wiersema, the soft-spoken but large-bearded part of Witching Hour and Mission Creek responsible for keeping Iowa City immersed in unusual sounds from around the world. Wiersema organized this series in terms of volumes and episodes, and each installment promises to be a unique event, with an emphasis on range rather than continuity (see full lineup below). […]