Soil Compilation

Sports
Around the Big Ten – Week Four

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Week three of college football was the final tune-up for the Big Ten before the conference schedule began. This week, we’ll talk about Iowa’s 55-0 victory over Northern Iowa, Northwestern’s final game before moving into Ryan Field, and the Southern California showdown between USC and Oregon.

Music
Gin Blossoms Live at Hy-Vee Ampitheater

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On a cool night, somewhere in between the last days of summer and first days of fall, the finale to the Hy-Vee Ampitheater’s inaugural season took place. Starring Arizona’s Gin Blossoms, hundreds turned out on their feet for the band in North Liberty’s newest venue.

Sports
Around the Big Ten – Week Three

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Week two of college football gave us a pair of early Game of the Year candidates. Unfortunately for the Big Ten, those games came at their expense. This week, we’ll take a look at Iowa’s cathartic win over Iowa State, Oregon’s early-season struggles, and Ohio State’s meltdown against Texas.

Music
Album Review

Review: Chiddy Bang – Breakfast

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By Keith Evanson Hip-hop duo, Chiddy Bang, have taken their underground hype into the mainstream. After nonstop touring, mixtape releases, and record label signings, they have now settled down to release an official album. Band members, Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege and Noah “Xaphoon” Jones Beresin, use a successful formula to stimulate the ears of as many listeners as possible. Combining elements of hip-hop, electronica, and indie, they have displayed how versatile rap music can be. Xaphoon Jones shows a lot promise as a producer, there is no doubt about that. He has made a lot of interesting choices in the samples … Continued

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Review: Heartless Bastards – Arrow

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By Gabrielle Pawlikowski Say what you want about the Heartless Bastards, but don’t deny Erika Wennerstrom’s vocal talent. As the only consistent member in the band’s ever-changing lineup, Erika’s masterful singing never fails to enrapture. And don’t let the name of the band fool you – these bastards are in fact full of heart. The band’s fourth release, Arrow, is firmly rooted in southern blues rock – gritty yet sentimental. Also their debut from Partisan Records, the album falls short lyrically. But its stripped- down instrumentation showcases Erika’s voice, and that’s enough to guide any music fan through the ten … Continued

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Review: Cursive – I Am Gemini

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By Shari Jaffri After many hiatuses, members leaving, calling it quits several times, several triumphant albums, solo explorations (or at least for frontman Tim Kasher, a.k.a.The Good Life) and the likes, it can’t be denied that Cursive has been through a harrowing journey since their first debut in 1995. With their managing to stay intact as a band definitely deserving of a solid thumbs up, Cursive once again takes the concept album route, a familiar road which they have taken many times after winning critics over with past concept album releases, The Ugly Organ (2003) and Happy Hollow (2006). The … Continued

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Review: The Pines – Dark So Gold

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By Mike Saponaro The changing landscape of the Midwest and its loss of the yeoman farmer carries somber tones that resonate well with Iowa natives The Pines. Band members David Huckfelt and Benson Ramsey are well-versed in traditional music, and their newest album Dark So Gold incorporates contemporary indie-folk instrumentals and stark-country vocals. While not all listeners will enjoy the alt-country feel, fans of southern-folk bands like Lost in the Trees and You and Your Effects should appreciate the distinctive mix of acoustic guitars, banjos and haunting lyrics. The album’s instrumental tracks “Moonrise, IA” and “Grace Hill” convey ethereal and … Continued

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the pines dark so gold

Review: Porcelain Raft – Strange Weekend

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By Shari Jaffri Mauro Remiddi, or better known as his moniker Porcelain Raft, is a multi-talented man. With an impressive repertoire right down his belt having traveled to many lurks of the world (the dashing Italian lad has worked off Broadway, joined part of a traveling circus in Germany and was part of a choir in Korea — imagine that), Mauro unremittingly stuns with his first full-length album, Strange Weekend. Released by the label Secretly Canadian, Strange Weekend is a wonderful and magical collection of songs. It begins with the woozy track, ‘Drifting in and Out’. With an opener like … Continued

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Review: A Place to Bury Strangers – Onwards To The Wall

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By Gabrielle Pawlikowski A Place To Bury Strangers’ eighth EP, Onwards To The Wall, is a fifteen minute maelstrom of industrial noise. Against a percussive backdrop of repetitive pummeling, distorted guitars ferociously wail and Oliver Ackermann croons of lost love in a manner so bleak it is almost deadpan. The result: a visceral unleashing of emotion that is both defiant and triumphant. The EP is drenched with the band’s characteristic use of feedback and reverb, stemming from effect petals custom made by Ackermann. The innovative effects are tightly coiled to create five nuggets of post-punk inspired melodies wrapped in an … Continued

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APTBS

Review: High Highs- High Highs EP

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By Keith Evanson If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. Lately, this has been the case in the indie world. Musical acts Rubblebucket, Cults, and Battles can all testify to this statement, as they have gone from dominating the New York City music scene to now conquering the rest of the country, as well as the blogosphere. High Highs have a lot to be happy about. The past couple of years they have taken over the New York underground music scene. At SXSW last year, they completely killed their set. Now they have just … Continued

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Review: Lana Del Rey – Born to Die

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By Keith Evanson Video Games. This one single song has started a whirlwind of buzz, praise, criticism, and controversy within the music blogosphere concerning an artist that, prior to its release, flew under the radar. The song itself is beautiful sounding to me—elegant harps and strings surrounded by an angelic vocal, and a fantastic chorus built on a lovely melody. To put it plainly, I think the song is great. The music video is perplexing, though. It features Lana’s ginormous lips mouthing the lyrics in a sultry, sexy manner, which isn’t too unusual to see in modern pop videos. What … Continued

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Review: Bright Giant – Kings & Queens of Air

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By Keith Evanson Straight outta Des Moines, Iowa, Bright Giant exists to fill your ears with fuzzy distortion and crunchy guitar licks. Front man Josh Davis, who founded The Josh Davis Band, an alt-country band active in the early 2000s, has now broken out of his country shell (mostly), and created a new monster: Bright Giant. The local band released a 5 track EP in the summer of 2010, and since then they have been writing new material for their breakout album, “Kings and Queens of Air.” I can’t really describe the LP more accurately then by simply stating the … Continued

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Bright Giant