You are browsing the archives of 2010 March.

Just because we’re planning a festival which begins on Monday the 29th, doesn’t mean the  relatively small market that is Iowa City holds it’s breath in anticipation. In fact, it appears the contrary is true. If one solid week of readings, live music, and talks isn’t enough for you, get started a few days early. [...]

Booker T. has a storied career, Meat Puppets had several roundabout run-ins with popular culture, Greg Brown is the biggest thing from Iowa after Slipknot, but there are few acts on this year’s (stacked) Mission Creek Festival bill as hard to write about…or even describe as Acid Mothers Temple. Let’s start with the few things [...]

While my co-host and I were busy compiling a mix of Iowa City stalwarts on the Mission Creek bill for our show Corn-Fed Music, KRUI was putting together a pretty righteous Mission Creek mix of their own. The mix includes a healthy mix of local talent (most of whom we missed) and national acts and [...]

I am a rather short woman. Fellow writer John Schlotfelt is a rather tall man. Not only is he tall, but he chooses to wear his frizzed hair in a huge orange afro. I always thought of him as “that jackass who blocks the stage” at concerts. That was the case until the Fruit Bats [...]

Few songs are as legendary as “Green Onions” by Booker T & the MG’s. Not just legendary as a soul song, but as a music phenomenon. (How many other all-instrumental songs have become so well-known in recent music history?) While only peaking at number 3 on Pop Charts, the song has been in over 20 [...]

My co-host, Ben, and I have culled together an hour of music from many of the finest musicians in Iowa City. They have more than location in common though: they’re all taking part in this year’s Mission Creek Festival. We broke you off with a preview of the mixtape this evening on our show, Corn-Fed [...]

A personal essay from Brian Johannesen about drinking buddies Brighton, MA. Brighton, MA is one of those bands that I will always go see. This mostly because of a somewhat special relationship I have developed with their shows over the past couple years. The first time I saw them was at one of the first [...]

To be completely honest, I’ve always been a bit turned off by the music of Xiu Xiu. Call my taste mundane, but many experimental artists tend to roll off my ears with few triggered synapses — especially when the songs make me want to kill myself from bleak lyrics and desperate screaming. But, like most [...]

Yet another dispatch from Brian Johannesen. On most days, the first thing I do when I wake up is roll around, moan, whine, bitch, eventually get out of bed, scratch my belly, stretch, yawn, sit down at my computer and then turn on the song “Good Morning Coffee,” the sixth track on Greg Brown’s 1985 [...]

With David Bazan, two things are always brought to light: his work with Pedro the Lion and his battle with religious endeavors. Nearly every discussion of him shows these points — like relating Michael Jackson to little boys or Tiger Woods to Perkins waitresses. But Bazan makes it easy for us to talk about these [...]