Laurie Anderson isn’t solely responsible for me turning out a little bit weird, but she still played a significant role in skewing my worldview. I stumbled across her Big Science album not long after it was released, when I was an impressionable young teenager. This 1982 record contains her unlikely hit single “O Superman (For […]
Prairie Pop
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Prairie Pop: Who’s watching big brother?
Iowa native and UI alum Cindy Cohn is the Legal Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013, noting, “if Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn.” On Saturday, March 1—at noon in Meeting Room […]
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Prairie Pop: Power Ballads 101
Last year, Little Village turned over Kembrew McLeod’s “Prairie Pop” column to Umläut Nideldick—the legendary German song doctor and rock and roll life coach. Once again, we are proud to reprint Nideldick’s latest keynote address at the Eurovision Academy of Musical Arts (EAMA). Thank you, my fellow rockers! I am here to speak about what […]
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Pee-wee’s (remastered) Christmas Adventure: An interview with Paul Reubens
This year marks the quarter century anniversary of Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special, perhaps the most mind-bending holiday special ever aired by…
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
An interview with Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies
To paraphrase Grand Funk Railroad, Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian band—and a family band. It features siblings Margo Timmins on vocals, Michael Timmins on guitar, Peter Timmins on drums and longtime friend and collaborator Alan Anton on bass. Their quiet, hypnotic sound (imagine the Velvet Underground backing Patsy Cline) was cemented on their breakthrough 1988 album…
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Prairie Pop: A guide to the satirical hits inspired by A Modest Proposal
Few works of literature have loomed larger over popular culture than Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. This classic 1729 essay created the template for…
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Prairie Pop: The sound of money
Carey Mulligan has always wanted a killer line. In a 2009 interview with the New York Times, she wondered where all the good lines had gone, the ones she remembered from a youth spent watching family friendly action films like Indiana Jones. “Someone’s almost fallen off a cliff,” she said, “and then they don’t, and […]
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Prairie Pop: An interview with Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo’s brand of drone-rock is certainly hypnotic—narcotizing even—but their live shows are never boring. That has much to do with this threesome’s restless desire to switch up their act with each tour. I’ve seen them stage a variety show with comedians, perform straight-up rock shows in clubs, use a spinning wheel that lets […]
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Prairie Pop: Jump up and get down
Editor’s Note: Kembrew McLeod’s two-year-old son, Alasdair, is sitting in for our regular Prairie Pop columnist this issue. Like many adult music critics, he likes to coin genre names, and lately Alasdair has been obsessed with “Jump Music.”
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Prairie Pop: For those about to pop
Regular Prairie Pop columnist Kembrew McLeod has turned over this month’s edition to Umläut Nideldick—the famous German song doctor and rock and roll life coach. The following text is drawn from Nideldick’s keynote address at the 2012 conference of the Eurovision Academy of Musical Arts.
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Prairie Pop: Girls got game
In the classic Destiny’s Child song “Say My Name,” the protagonist suspects that her man is cheating on her because his voice has changed: “Every other word is ‘uh huh,’ ‘yeah,’ ‘okay.’ Could it be that you are at the crib with another lady?” The woman, voiced by Beyoncé, demands reassurance through spoken language. Fully rejecting the idea that “actions speak louder than words,” Beyoncé argues for the importance of words themselves and the voices that speak them. Who else is there? What is your voice hiding? And why can’t you just say my name?
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Prairie Pop: Jonathan Richman’s playground punk
Most proto-punk legends don’t write songs like “I’m a Little Dinosaur” or “Ice Cream Man,” but Jonathan Richman isn’t your typical rock ‘n’ roll dude. Since forming The Modern Lovers in 1970, he has made a career out of defying expectations.
