Craving some mid-Mission brain food? Iowa City-based lecture group Tuesday Agency (a full-service lecture agency representing the likes of Colson Whitehead, Ann Patchett, Khaled Hosseini, Jon Ronson, and many more) is serving up slices of literary genius, with extra cheese.
Mission Creek Festival
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Live Music Preview: 3/25 through 4/3
The Mission Creek Festival will soon be upon us, and Iowa City is holding its collective breath until it finally arrives. While Mission Creek’s main entrée is music (with healthy portions of literature and culinary arts), I won’t spend too much time explaining the festival here. That being said, much of this issue’s noteworthy live music doesn’t hit us until the fest starts on April 1.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Pallbearer
Pallbearer brings their crushing brand of doom-metal to this year’s Mission Creek Festival for a show at Gabe’s on Thursday, April 4. Since the release last year of their first full-length studio album, Sorrow and Extinction, they have become one of the most well-respected metal acts in the country
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Exitmusic
NYC-based duo Exitmusic will play Gabe’s on Saturday, April 6. The group’s songs of lost romance and haunting loneliness hit upon common themes, but singer Aleksa Palladino’s wavering vocals build tension and longing in a way that feels neither forced nor melodramatic. Together, the two musicians (Aleska Palladino and Devon Church) feature a strong theatrical style full of restrained guitar and subtle keyboard lines.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Julianna Barwick
Barwick loops layer after layer of her ethereal voice over understated piano and guitar samples. You’ve likely heard loopers before, but not like this. She takes the popular looping mechanic and elevates it to a level that borders on gospel, creating sweeping, meditative music that’s fit for a cathedral on the Seine.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Pete Swanson
Pete Swanson is, in a word, experimental. His music is a mash-up of industrial noise, pulsing electronic dance music and pure, minimalist expressionism. He draws from a varied and complex pool of musical subcultures, resulting in a product that often transcends more well-established music genres.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Détective
LA-based rock group Détective will be playing the Yacht Club on Wednesday, April 3. The group is comprised of former Guided By Voices bassist James Greer, alongside Guylaine Vivarat (former member of Useless Keys), and Chris Dunn. Together, they mix the hazy sounds of French surf-rock with catchy indie-pop hooks to make accessible, yet vaguely melancholic tracks.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Mucca Pazza
Chicago’s self-described Circus-Punk marching band Mucca Pazza will perform at the Englert Theatre on Saturday, April 6. This 30 piece band is known for their spontaneous live shows and ability to get audiences involved. The group prefer moving raucously through crowds (or busy offices, as seen in the video below) to stir up excitement, putting on a performance that’s as much for the eyes as it is for the ears.
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Your 2013 Mission Creek Festival guide
With numerous shows and readings taking place across multiple venues, trying to stay on top of the week-long Mission Creek Festival is no easy task. Stay ahead of the curve with our 2013 Mission Creek Festival guide. In this special Little Village insert, We discuss all of the festival’s must-see events plus a whole lot more. Won’t you join us?
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Zammuto
Nick Zammuto, former member of the now-disbanded duo The Books, will perform at the Yacht Club on Friday, April 5. Zammuto twists together various forms of instrumentation with digital and organic effects in such a way that they convey his feelings about moving on to a new, post-Books stage of his life.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Mister Lies
Columbia College student Nick Zanca, also known as mastermind producer Mister Lies, is scheduled to play a show at the Yacht Club on Thursday, April 4. He combines looping vocal lines with sweeping synth and sharp percussion and bass to create mesmerizing dance tracks.
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Mission Creek Festival Spotlight: Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down bring their folky, Indie-pop style to the Mill on April 2. Thao Nguyen has found fame creating lyrics that can be as biting as they are playful.
