Have you heard of “word painting”? It’s the musical technique in which instrumental choices illustrate the lyrical ones — and vice versa — in a positive feedback loop. Synergy at its finest. Skilled word-painters create something unique, something a purist musician or lyricist couldn’t create when exclusively focusing on one or the other. Iowa City’s […]
Local album reviews
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops — ‘Slimephone Surveillance’
Smartphones are everywhere, and you can still catch a glimpse of a flip phone now and then, courtesy of the “dumphone” resurgence. But have you considered the slimephone?
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Album Review: Doc Bullfrog — ‘Like We’re Supposed To’
Like We're Supposed To by Doc Bullfrog If surf music can exist in the landlocked, agricultural haven that is the Midwest, then Doc Bullfrog is the embodiment of Midwest surf. It’s evident that the Iowa City band knows a thing or two about bouncy beats, clean guitar tones and spring reverb, creating their own indie […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Jinnouchi Power — ‘Home’
It can be difficult finding a sturdy, writerly hook for the idea of “home.” What new things can be said about finding your place in this world? Well, as it turns out, there’s still plenty that you can *sing* about home.
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Album Review: Weary Ramblers — ‘Driftwood’
Driftwood by Weary Ramblers For Iowa duo Weary Ramblers, music isn’t just what they do — it’s how they stay connected in a world that often demands too much from body and spirit. Their new studio album, Driftwood, released October of last year, is a portrait of two artists who have found sanctuary in their […]
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Album Review: The DZ Combo — ‘It’s Just Your Turn’
It's Just Your Turn by The DZ Combo Have you ever been served dinner by a friend with a passion for food? Every course is presented with love and a desire to open your mind and heart to new and exciting experiences. The album It’s Just Your Turn by Dubuque-based quartet the DZ Combo is […]
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Album Review: Kinji — ‘Thunderhead’
In the same way nature’s counterpart forewarns of dreariness and thunderous disruption, indie musician Kinji’s newest EP Thunderhead starts as the calm before the storm, only to break open, laid bare to the elements, oozing out luscious, melancholic aural landscapes.
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Album Review: Strange News — ‘Liar’s Curse’
Liar's Curse by Strange News It is reasonable in an increasingly unreasonable world to crave nostalgia. As AI and surveillance technologies continue to invade our lives and each day’s news cycle is more absurd than the last, sometimes you have to sit back and pretend it’s 1974, when tech billionaires were mere fantasy and people […]
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Album Review: Calmer Feeling — ‘Pianos in the Fields of Color’
This is one of the few times I can compare a song to the music you might hear in a swanky therapist’s office and mean it as a compliment. “Waiting Room” off Pianos in the Fields of Color transports you into a world of familiar serenity.
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Album Review: Astro Brat — ‘Astro Brat’
Like a lot of people, undergrad was a formative time for my musical tastes. If I were to let you scroll the wheel of my iPod in the mid-aughts, chances are you’d find something that could qualify as “dance-punk.” I’m talking about groups like Bloc Party, Le Tigre, The Rapture, !!!, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem. There’s a special place in my heart for bands that lean into grooves while still maintaining an edge.
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Album Review: Bryon Dudley & Ira Rat — ‘City Dead’
City Dead by Bryon Dudley & Ira Rat I want to begin by saying that Bryon Dudley and Ira Rat describing their album City Dead as “Zombi Giallo” immediately grabbed my attention. Was the title specifically an homage to the 1980 Lucio Fulci classic City of the Living Dead? A delightful review of said film had […]
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Album Review: Patricia Holly — ‘Satin Sashes’
With a stage name like Patricia Holly, a Christmas album seems to be a no-brainer. Name synergy aside, the Des Moines-based jazz and Americana artist is wholly up to the task of a new holiday effort; her signature vintage sound glides effortlessly between dazzling big-band-style orchestrations and a jazzy, moody piano bar, guided by a […]
