Local music lovers, this one’s for you. We’re only days away from Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the all-Iowa music fest happening in Des Moines. This Saturday night, get ready to catch up to a dozen performances all taking place at three venues: Gas Lamp, the Cave and Teehee’s Comedy Club. Performances will be happening simultaneously […]
local music
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Musicians dive deep into complex industry topics on Crumbs
With so much uncertain right now in the music industry — musicians, both world-renowned and local, canceling all their live events; venues around the globe postponing or canceling events as far out as September and beyond — musicians and industry professionals Ryan Joseph Anderson and Brian Johannesen have started a new livestreamed talk show that […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Kevin ‘B.F.’ Burt, International Blues Challenge champion, reflects on Iowa’s rich blues history
Kevin “B.F.” Burt is unstoppable. Burt was the second Iowan to win an award at the festival, the first Iowan to win in the Solo/Duo category and the first artist in the festival’s 34-year history to sweep the solo categories—he also won the Solo/Duo Cigar Box Guitar Award for most promising acoustic player and the Lee Oskar Harmonica Award.
Posted inCommunity/News
The best and worst of 2017
Last year’s Dumpster fire has spread to the landfill. But there were some good parts. Little Village contributors weigh in on the highs and lows of 2017.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City band Aseethe is taking its minimalist metal sound back on tour
Aseethe, the Iowa City band made up of Brian Barr and Eric Dierks, has been kicking around the Midwest heavy music scene for a few years now, with an evolving sound based around Barr’s exploration of the raw sound of guitar, synth and samples. Having caught the ear of Thrill Jockey owner Bettina Richards, they went from selling her a T-shirt, to Thrill Jockey distributing their 2015 EP ‘Nothing Left Nothing Gained,’ to releasing their current record, ‘Hopes of Failure,’ on the label.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Support the ACLU and local music this Friday
The music site Bandcamp announced this week that on Friday, Feb. 3, it would be donating its share of all proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In a post on its website, Bandcamp founder and CEO Ethan Diamond condemned last week’s Executive Order limiting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, writing: “Like […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Reviews: Younger – Self-titled
The self-titled debut by Iowa City trio Younger nicely balances intricate arrangements with more hooks than a box full of fishing tackle. Many of their songs contain verse-chorus-verse-defying breakdowns and changes, though without sounding busy or proggy, like on the album’s lead track, “Street Rat.” Similarly, “Clash” begins with a lilting guitar riff and rumbling bass line that propels the first two verses before switching gears halfway through—slowing the tempo and descending into a spiral of three-part harmonized, interlocking bah-bah-baaaah vocals.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Mirror Coat – Whispers
“Shoegaze” was the genre of a group of late ‘80s and early ‘90s bands primarily from the U.K. who shared a common musical esthetic. Part Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” and part Britpop, the sound was distinguished by its use of layers of effects. The name “shoegaze” came from the observation…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Listen up: Younger premiere “Like A Wave,” the first single from debut LP
Iowa City rock band Younger, featuring local indie veterans Amanda Crosby, Rachel Sauter and Sarah Mannix (from Emperors Club, The Wandering Bears and others) are preparing for the release of their self-titled debut LP, engineered by Pete Becker. “It’s a killer fucking record that is currently changing my life.” wrote Becker in an email — […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Milk Duct Tape – Styrofoam Tombstone
KFMH (99 Plus!) out of Muscatine was the default radio station for a lot of Iowa blue-collar rockers back in the day; it was hippy-dippy enough for Deadheads, hard enough for headbangers and eclectic to a fault. Milk Duct Tape creates the kind of music that would have…
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Ritmocano – Familia
Latin jazz collective Ritmocano is an all-star lineup of the Iowa jazz community, headed by percussionist and one of my former UI instructors, James Dreier. On Familia, Ritmocano’s most recent album, he demonstrates his abilities playing multiple percussive instruments, from the congas often found in Afro-Cuban music, to the Batá drums of West Africa.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Volcano Boys – Self-titled
On paper, Volcano Boys looks like another project from the prolific Jordan Mayland (Jordan Mayland and the Thermal Detonators, Keepers of the Carpet, Nuclear Rodeo, Electronidoll and Tires), who is the principal vocalist and songwriter. But the blending of talent from Wolves in the Attic and Mantis Pincers member Trent Derby (drums, percussion and vocals), Eric Moffitt (guitar) and Tom Reneker (bass), gives Volcano Boys a sound reminiscent of retro-’90s alternative guitar rock.
