Samuel Locke Ward Dunwich Piano Recital samuellockeward.bandcamp.com/album/dunwich-piano-recital Samuel Locke Ward hasn’t had an album reviewed in Little Village in over a year. Given that he released 12 full-length albums in 2014, it may be reviewer exhaustion to blame. But if we’re going to end this critical shutout, Dunwich Piano Recital is a great place to […]
Samuel Locke Ward
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Bassturd returns to Gabe’s this Saturday (in the form of Bumping Uglies)
An Iowa rock blowout featuring The Bumping Uglies and friends takes over Gabe’s this Saturday at 10 p.m. The Bumping Uglies’ Dan Butler (formerly of Iowa City…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Bob Log III returns to the Mill this Thursday for a one-man Delta blues dance party
Bob Log III returns to The Mill to bring his skronked-out Delta blues dance party this Thursday. Iowa City’s most prolific son, Samuel Locke-Ward, will be playing with his…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Lame Years project proves that more Samuel Locke Ward is always better
On Dec. 1, as the clock hit midnight, Samuel Locke Ward posted Back from Heaven onto his Bandcamp page. A stadium-rock-in-miniature album with…
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward – In Case You Have Doubt
Iowa City’s under-employed over-achiever Sam Locke Ward is back with the 6th installment of his year-long “album a month” project, proving once again that he must not sleep in order to have the time to be this prolific. This latest album highlights his obsession with R Stevie Moore and The Beach Boys, not as imitation but as homage. Sam’s songwriting process is akin to what happens to obsessive Twitterers and Facebookers: If you write all the time, you increase in fluency and shorten the distance between the ideas in your head and their manifestations in the real world.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward – Major Surgery at Discount Rates
Major Surgery at Discount Rates finds Samuel Locke Ward in full power pop mode. After some eerie organ pulses, “Uninspired” leaps off the starting line.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward – Panther Puss
For his second in a year-long series of monthly releases, Samuel Locke Ward has dipped back into more familiar territory. After the top-40-skewering electro-pop on his January release, 7 AM New Year’s Day, Locke Ward leans heavily on his trusty acoustic guitar and Casio keyboard for a 16-song collection of weirdo pop-ditties on Panther Puss.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward- 7 AM New Year’s Day
Samuel Locke Ward 7 AM New Year’s Day samuellockeward.bandcamp.com The normally prolific Samuel Locke Ward, no longer content with releasing two recordings per year, has embarked on an ambitious project: write, record and release an album each month for a year. On his first shot across the bow, 7 AM New Year’s Day, Locke Ward […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Prairie Pop
On The Beat: What shows are in store for the winter migration
Iowa City has been pretty quiet over the past few weeks. That tends to be the case when a big chunk of the population migrates to Chicagoland (or wherever), and another chunk goes into hibernation. We all must accept the fact that less people in town means fewer shows. That is not to say that […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Iowa City Song Project
Iowa City Song Project maximumamesrecords.com As a teenager hungry for a scene larger than the veritable cultural island of Bellevue, IA, at night I would arrange and rearrange my radio antenna to try to capture KUNI to get a glimpse of the world of music around me, which included bands from Iowa City. It […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Samuel Locke Ward – Double Nightmare
Samuel Locke Ward Double Nightmare samuellockeward.bandcamp.com I was introduced to the insanity of “Big Lizard In My Backyard” by The Dead Milkmen sometime in the 80’s. The irreverent, usually scatological humor and unpolished performances on the album seemed to have dislodged the chromosome that would have prevented me from being able to enjoy the hometaping […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Iowa City Weekender: October 11-14
Welcome to this fresh edition of the Weekender. With the exception of Thursday night’s Alloy Orchestra show at the Englert, everything is local this week. With a couple of eerie film screenings and a new Samuel Locke Ward release called Double Nightmare, the season of spookiness is officially upon us. Hold on tight. THURSDAY Alloy […]
