By Max Johnson Utopia Park is an electronic-punk band from Fairfield, Iowa. The band is composed of Dominic and Philip Rabalais, who are the two most sincere and genuine human beings on the face of the Earth. There. That should be enough for you to listen to them. But if you aren’t convinced… The songs on Utopia Park’s self-titled EP build toward epiphanies, but at the same time, they work as a regression from, not a progression towards, complexity. Vocals go from simply shouted to non-verbal screaming. Instruments pile on top of each other until you’re convinced you heard a … Continued
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By Max Johnson A friend of mine told me today that he doesn’t like Haley Bonar because she moved to Portland, away from the Twin Cities. He was joking, of course, although when I informed him that Bonar had, indeed, moved back to Minnesota after writing much of Golder, he didn’t seem particularly surprised. It seemed inevitable. Bonar’s sound – pillared by her pretty country-twinged voice, poetic lyrics, and travelin’-song guitar work – should remind more than a few Iowa Citians of another Minneapolis singer-songwriter: Caroline Smith. (Note: seeing Bonar live at The Englert on July 1st, will hopefully feature … Continued
Rank Artist Recording Label 1 Rosebuds Loud Planes Fly Low Merge 2 Cults Cults Columbia-In The Name Of 3 Wooden Birds Two Matchsticks Barsuk 4 Black Lips Arabia Mountain Vice 5 Arctic Monkeys Suck It And See Domino 6 Paleo Fruit of the Spirit Partisan 7 John Maus We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves Ribbon 8 William Elliott Whitmore Field Songs Anti 9 Marissa Nadler Marissa Nadler Box of Cedar 10 Woods Sun and Shade Woodsist 11 David Bazan Strange Negotiations Barsuk 12 Bodies Of Water Twist Again Thousand Tongues 13 Battles Gloss Drop Warp 14 Sea Pony … Continued
KRUI’s very own “Little Village Live” conducted an in-depth interview with symphonic folk group Horse Feathers right before their sold out show at the Englert Theatre. Listen to the Portland-based band perform favorites, both new and old, live at Public Space One in downtown Iowa City. [audio:http://krui.fm/assets/music/horse%20feathers%20in%20studio.mp3]
By Max Johnson Pennyhawk (straight outta Ames, Iowa) is lead by Kate Kennedy. Fans of Christopher the Conquered, Mumford’s, and Leslie and the Ly’s might be familiar with Kennedy. It’s interesting to note that she’s found herself in those three groups, all of which are fronted by huge, boisterous personalities. Pennyhawk’s latest release, the 4-song EP “Another Layer”, begins with the song “Timid Women.” Here, Kennedy channels a voice not at all unlike Leslie Hall – humorous, a little vulgar, and brimming with an “I-will-never-ever-care-what-you-think” attitude. The song establishes the honky tonk/gypsy folk sound to come. The last two songs, … Continued
The first Low Frequency Series announcement for the Fall – They Might Be Giants!
Rank Artist Recording Label 1 Battles Gloss Drop Warp 2 Sebadoh Bake Sale Sub Pop 3 Black Lips Arabia Mountain Vice 4 Paleo Fruit of the Spirit Partisan 5 Woods Sun and Shade Woodsist 6 Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche Mona 7 Art Brut Brilliant! Tragic! The End/Cooking Vinyl 8 Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues Sub Pop 9 Making Friendz Social Life Last Bummer 10 Balkans Balkans Double Phantom 11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. It’s A Corporate World Quite Scientific 12 EMA Past Life Martyred Saints Souterrain Transmissions 13 Rosebuds Loud Planes Fly Low Merge 14 Reatards Teenage Hate Goner 15 Vetiver … Continued
Iowa native William Elliot Whitmore will release his latest effort, Field Songs, on July 12. That same day, he will give an in-store performance in Iowa City at Record Collector. Preview the raw, folk ballad “Everything Gets Gone” from his forthcoming release right here on KRUI. William Elliott Whitmore – Everything Gets Gone by antirecords
By Neal Ternes The College Football Preview Show picks are back again with the Big East! This week we will be going team by team and explaining our selections. Neal: South Florida Lars: West Virginia For the second year in a row I have the Bulls as surprise picks to win the Big East. Skip Holtz is a phenomenal coach and I think this team will be light years ahead of where they were last season. BJ Daniels showed marked improvement as a passer in the new offensive scheme by the end of last year and I think the South … Continued
By: Neal Ternes Words and predictions for the non-AQ conferences and independents brought to you by Neal Ternes and Lars Headington of the College Football Preview Show. Neal’s Predictions: BLUE Lars’ Predictions: RED MAC West Western Michigan Northern Illinois* Toledo Toledo Northern Illinois Western Michigan Central Michigan Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Ball State Ball State Eastern Michigan MAC East Miami (OH)* Ohio Ohio Temple Temple Miami (OH) Bowling Green Kent State Kent State Buffalo Buffalo Bowling Green Akron Akron The MAC is top heavy in both of its’ divisions this year. Lars is more confident that NIU can recover after … Continued