Goldenboy w/ Colloquialisms, the Noble Octopus | The Mill | April 10 | 9 p.m. | $8 | 21+ after 10 p.m. Goldenboy is fronted by Shon Sullivan, a native of suburban LA. His big break came as a multi-instrumentalist in Elliott Smith’s band, and Goldenboy grew out of that experience. “It started as […]
Music
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Live Recordings of Rhys Chatham/Rene Hell/Solid Attitude @ Gabes 3-27-2012
Adrianne Behning’s photographs of this show are here. A performance of Guitar Trio by Rhys Chatham is always a stunning, overwhelming, transcendent thing to experience. The composition itself is a schematic set of instructions for 3 or more guitarists, a process that Chatham directs from the stage as he plays himself. It has been his […]
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Show Photos: Rhys Chatham, Rene Hell, Solid Attitude @ Gabe’s – 3/27
Well, we’ve got the first night of Mission Creek under our belts, and aside from a little tinnitus and maybe a hangover, I think we’re all doing great. If you were at Gabe’s last night, you’re likely doing really well after that monumental performance from Rhys Chatham and his crew of Iowa City guitar wizards. But […]
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Album Review/Interview: Oberhofer – Time Capsules II
Brad Oberhofer| 7:00pm | Yacht C lub | $8 | 19+ Even though Brad Oberhofer makes sweeping swathes of ornate, indie-pop, he hardly comes off as the dramatic frontman–with heart stitched on sleeve–he presents on his debut LP, Time Capsules II. Oberhofer spoke fairly quietly, at a measured pace when we talked in mid February. The Novocaine from the […]
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Show Preview: Rubblebucket 03/21/2012-Gabes
Rubbelbucket | 8:00pm | Gabes | $8 General Admission Spring is here, so let’s have a party! And how better to celebrate its arrival than dancing to some bouncy, danceable and life affirming beats and horns at a show that’s guaranteed to get you moving and smiling? Fresh off the exhausting SXSW music festival circuit, the rapturous […]
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Album Review: Imperfekt – Tunes For Improvement
Imperfekt Tunes For Improvement MicHandRecordings.com Imperfekt is a hip-hop MC that produces his own beats. Though locally there are several examples—Rahlan Kay and Coolzey come to mind—it isn’t a common thing. MCs and producers tend to specialize, but in the decidedly un-hip-hop environment of Iowa, perhaps these guys feel like they’re on their own and […]
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Album Review: Human Aftertaste – Black Toad
Human Aftertaste Black Toad humanaftertaste.com DC Comics introduced us to Bizarro World, the cubical world where everything is the opposite of our world. The Bizarro aesthetic code was “Us love ugliness!” Human Aftertaste would, I guess, be the Bizarro Bieber. They’ve gone through various incarnations through the past several years but there’s a consistent commitment […]
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Album Review: Death Ships – Circumstantial Chemistry
Death Ships Circumstantial Chemistry deathships.bandcamp.com Death Ships w/ Mike Doughty, Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps // The Mill // Thurs, Mar. 29 Back in 2006 Dan Maloney and his band Death Ships were gigging regularly from his Iowa City home-base and gaining some notoriety. Life changes forced a do-over in Chicago which resulted in […]
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An Interview with Memoryhouse
Memoryhouse is a quickly rising band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Made up of friends Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion, their music is dreamy, hypnotic and reminiscent of a lazy day. I had a chance to talk with them when they played at The Mill with Chicago indie poppers Tiny Fireflies in support of their new release […]
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Conversation: All His Little Words: An Interview with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields
In anticipation of this spring’s Mission Creek Festival, Little Village invited Iowa City novelist and alt-country raconteur Jason T. Lewis to record a conversation about music and writing with Stephin Merritt of festival headliners The Magnetic Fields. Jason T. Lewis: What are you reading and listening to right now? Stephin Merritt: I’m reading a book […]
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Flyin’ South: Iowa City Bands Prepare for SXSW
The mighty SXSW festival celebrates its 25th year in Austin, Texas, Mar. 13-18. A model for multi-venue festivals like Mission Creek, SXSW runs over 2,000 performers on more than 90 stages…and those are just the “official” ones. Somewhere along the line SXSW went from an industry showcase to a spring break destination, and now, label […]
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An Horse @ Blue Moose March 11th 7:30 PM : Show Preview
An Horse is the rock duo of Kate Cooper (singer/guitarist) and Damon Cox (drummer/singer), who began their partnership as co-workers at a Brisbane, Australia record store. That might be why their songs display such carefully craft and stay away from gimmickry. They come close to what Truman Capote described as the goal of his writing: […]
