MONO returned to Iowa City after just over a year touring on 2016’s Requiem for Hell. The crowd was oddly thin, but appropriate: it was perhaps the quietest that I had heard Gabe’s during a show. The band was illuminated with a quiet red light, and throughout their set the band seemed to play around its steadfast glow. The light was warm, and evoked a sense of patience that let each band member’s instrument enter into, and exit from, each song. The distinct contribution of each performer could be acknowledged and recognized. Both the band and the audience were equally engaged at the occurrence of sound as it sprang forth from the stage: All present were enraptured at its production, in its occurrence.
Music Reviews
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Orchestra Iowa brings gusto and grace to John Williams’ beloved film scores
When I spoke with Maestro Timothy Hankewich a few days ahead of Orchestra Iowa’s presentation “John Williams: A Night at the Movies,” he was insistent about one thing. The audience should come to the Paramount Theatre in costume. So Saturday night, I donned a Superman t-shirt and grabbed my reviewing notebook and a pen. With […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A hushed full house at The Mill for the Pines, Dead Man Winter
The Mill was the perfect venue on April 19 for a Wednesday night of atmospheric delicacy, performed for a hushed full house. The Pines, local legends transplanted to Minnesota, framed the night with a sense of intimate delicacy. Their first songs, without percussion, allowed the audience to focus on the twining of harmonies and whispered vocals that generated a sense of intimacy.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Aesop Rock’s flawless delivery enthralled fans at the Blue Moose
I walked into the Blue Moose on Monday toward the end of Sandman’s set, listening to him close with what sounded like a prayer before prefacing the onset of Aesop Rock, whom he compared to Mozart as the pinnacle of creativity in the twenty-first century. Although I had never attended a rap performance before, I […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: JCϟjp — Self-titled
JCϟjp JCϟjp jcjp.bandcamp.com/releases JCϟjp by JCϟjp The name JCϟjp is an unpronounceable acronym of the group members’ names, Justin Comer and Jason Palamara. Palamara is a violinist and electronic musician currently working as a lecturer at Iowa State University. Comer is a saxophonist and electronic musician who is one of the people behind the eclectic […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Josh Fina — Feel Me EP
Josh Fina Feel Me EP www.kindgesturerecords.com Electronic dance music’s natural habitat is a dark room with the sound system turned up until the bass hits you in the solar plexus and your fillings vibrate. The Feel Me EP attacks that milieu with a subtlety and gentleness that seems out of place on the dance floor. […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Black Mountain builds an unhurried tension in their June 15 show at The Mill
The opener for the solid summer Wednesday evening crowd at The Mill this week was Majure, who preceded his reputation (signifying mostly a certain laziness on my part, as a Google search took me instantly to his profile). It was my second solo drum show, and while Majure lacked the explosive charisma of Glenn Kotche […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: Blake Shaw — Listen Hear
Blake Shaw Listen Hear www.blakeshawbass.com Listen Hear is the latest release from Iowa City composer/musician Blake Shaw. Recorded at Flat Black Studios, Listen Hear is an incredibly accessible jazz album featuring a strong quintet of players with Shaw on the upright bass, Dan Padley on guitar, Nolan Schroeder and Ryan Smith on respective woodwinds and […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: The Milk Carton Kids become adorable as they adore each other
I was first introduced to the Milk Carton Kids when they opened for Over The Rhine at the Englert on Sep. 24, 2013. It was a Tuesday. I had spent the weekend watching my grandfather, whom I loved deeply, die and become deposited in earth next to his wife. Given that context, the Milk Carton […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album Review: FireSale – Furry Noises
FireSale Furry Noises firesale.bandcamp.com/album/furry-noises FireSale is a band made up of players currently finishing bachelor’s degrees at the University of Iowa College of Music. They share that musical pedigree with alumni Euforquestra, whose frontman Matt Grundstad joins with them on their song “Don’t Ya,” on their 2015 album, Furry Noises. Their music is an amalgam […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Album review: Christopher the Conquered – I’m Giving Up on Rock & Roll
Listening to Christopher the Conquered’s new album I’m Giving Up On Rock & Roll, I can’t help but compare the epic, theatrical sound of the album to Springsteen’s Born to Run and Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell. The pilgrimage that Christopher and producer Patrick Tape Fleming (of Poison Control Center) took to Memphis, to divine some of the magic that comes from the legendary Ardent Studios (where many of the hot Stax Records came from) brought forth a well of R&B gold.
Posted inAlbum Reviews, Arts & Entertainment
Album Review: Bob Bucko Jr – I Did What I Could With What I Had
Unless you are a devotee of uninterrupted streaming, or 5-disc CD changers, you know that there’s an eerie silence that lingers after an album is over. It can shock you out of your reverie, demolish whatever translated worldview your music of choice has created for you. It’s how you realize that the world around you is lacking…
