Life on Mars opened the show to a modest crowd, playing a brief five song set of physical garage rock. The band consists of Iowa music veterans Tim Werhli, Zach Westerdahl, and Ryan Garbes.  Their experience was especially evident when they catapulted themselves into extended intro and outro jams. Life on Mars will be playing at Trumpet Blossom Cafe on November 30th, opening for Bill Orcutt (formerly of Harry Pussy).

When Wet Hair took the stage next, Mr. Garbes moved his small drum kit from center stage to stage right. The Iowa City mainstays played a relatively quick set, which mostly consisted of songs from their latest De Stijl release Spill Into Atmosphere. The trio have clearly gotten used to playing those songs together. They kept them loose, and mixed organic playing with sometimes inorganic sounds.

With Wet Hair’s carnival-esque, organ-meets-kraut-rock sound still ringing in our ears, Tyvek took the stage ready to obliterate our minds. Tyvek is a lot of things — a hardcore band that doesn’t give a fuck about giving a fuck, an industrial rock group from Detroit, a lo-fi punk trio that named themselves after a construction materials company. Live, though, they sounded like the punk band you started in high school, except actually good. The threesome seemed to be having the most fun at The Mill that night (and that’s really saying something, as every song was followed by raucous, deafening applause), making on-the-fly changes to the set-list and gleefully fucking up the beginnings of their songs. In the end, Kim Gordon’s frequently cited quote — “People pay to see others believe in themselves” — possibly fits Tyvek better than any other rock band playing today.

The post Show Review: Tyvek with Wet Hair and Life on Mars @ The Mill — 11/10/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

KRUI’s music director Max Johnson and website editor-in-chief Kendall McCabe recently visited New York City to attend the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon and participate in the CMJ College Radio Day. Read about all their adventures in the Big Apple right here!

Wednesday

Kendall: On Wednesday, one of my favorite panels was “Non-Traditional Catalysts of Breaking an Artist”. The panel discussed tools like college radio stations, SoundCloud, Twitter, Facebook, and how bands and management can use these to their advantage. The discussion definitely left me with a lot to ponder. Here at KRUI, we’re on the opposite end of things, booking in-studios and reviewing new albums. The panel reminded me of the hard work and planning that goes into promoting an artist before the CD ever comes in the mail here. Not only did the talk expand my view of the music industry as a whole, it reminded me how powerful college radio stations are all over the world in terms of breaking and promoting independent artists who might otherwise not receive much exposure.

Max: My favorite panel on Wednesday was “The Microphone and Pre-Amp”. I’m very interested in recording, and the panelists offered a lot of creative ideas. One idea I specifically liked that they discussed at length was using two different microphone sources. It was interesting to hear about using two microphones to record, while having one really compressed sound mixed with another mic with a clean sound.

Kendall: Wednesday night we visited Webster Hall to see Yukon Blonde, Hey Rosetta!, and The Jezabels. Hey Rosetta! kept my attention, though they did sound a little bit too inspired by the Arcade Fire, circa 2006. I liked that they had a violinist and cellist who added a really nice string texture to their otherwise standard indie-rock songs. The auxiliary percussion added a fun, jangly vibe which also aided the group’s compositions from slipping into monotony.

Australia’s The Jezabels played last and tore it up. As the band took to the stage, the crowd surged forward to better hear frontwoman Hayley Mary’s impressive vocal range in action. (My first thought? “Isn’t it dangerous for her to sing like this every night?”)

The band’s sound is a bit of a 90s goth throwback, but modernized to fit within today’s alternative music scene. The crowd was extremely entranced— if not simply by the music, then by the dazzling light show or perhaps even by Hayley’s subdued, Lady Gaga-style outfit.

The post 2012 CMJ Music Marathon Dispatch: Wednesday appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Trouble Lights is an electronic pop duo from Fairfield, IA. Adrien Daller and Philip Rabalais (both of whom contribute their respective talents to a myriad of other groups) have been working together for quite awhile, but “The Endless Prom” is their first proper release as a pair.

Philip Rabalais is most well known for his beat-making work in the electro-punk band Utopia Park. Yet he’s also working on a project with Darla Murphy called Animal, and his work has appeared on albums by Little Ruckus and Zoe Boekbinder.

Adrien Daller is perhaps one of the most well-trained singers in the state — having worked in musical theater in England and even singing “God Save the Queen” for the Queen of England.

That these two creative forces have found each other is proof of Iowa’s growing cultural clout, but let’s move on to the record itself.

First and foremost, the track sequencing is tremendously important. Although any “concept” is more or less absent, this is still clearly an album, with a purposeful ordering. There’s no narrative, but the tracks are sequenced in such a way as to allow for the listener to imagine their own contexts.

It’s that very balance between the audience and the artist that reveals one of “The Endless Prom” central questions — that is, the question of mass appeal versus personal connection.

The topic, which runs underneath the whole album, is particularly noticeable on stand-out track “Fire Night.” The song is addressed to an unnamed “you,” to whom Adrien sings, “You watch yourself become someone else,” instantly blurring the line between her and the listener. This conflation of “singer” and “audience” is at the heart of the record (and perhaps at the heart of all pop music, but that’s a conversation for another day).

On “Safe With Me,” by far the best song on altogether fine album, moves away from the “you and I” language of most of the rest of the album. Instead, the lyrics address a “little boy” and a “little girl,” promising to keep them safe. That the lead single exists in the world of children is indicative of another theme of the album — regression. Pop music is inherently regressive, of course, but the genius of Trouble Lights’ music is how it uses regression as a shifting framework, letting the artist appear to regress and therefore allowing the audience to simply enjoy the music.

Regression is also central to the creation of the album. In a recent interview with Iowa Music Buzz, Philip alludes to this, saying, “I want to forever be this 13 year old nerd kid, making beats on my computer. Adrien is always this anxious, emotional teenage girl singing her heart out.”

But the great thing is, this is not regressive music at all. Adrien’s performances are clearly informed by her extensive vocal training. Phil’s production is clean, but never sterile; inventive, yet always accessible. But the duo are still chiefly concerned with the universality of pop music, what it means to make and listen to popular music, all the while creating personal connections with ever-growing crowds.

“The Endless Prom” is available for pre-order now at Maximum Ames Records and will be released on September 25, 2012.

The post Album Review: “The Endless Prom” by Trouble Lights appeared first on KRUI Radio.

On Saturday, September 1 the Heligoats squeezed in a visit to the KRUI studios after recording a Daytrotter session and before their show at Gabe’s. The Washington-based group has a forthcoming album, due out the end of October 2012.

Full interview audio:

Check out The Heligoats’ video for “Fishsticks”, a KRUI favorite:

The post In-Studio: The Heligoats — 9/1/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Peaking Lights, the enigmatic, Wisconsin-based, husband-and-wife dub pop duo, are getting winding up for their new record, Lucifer. Their last record, 2011’s wonderfully trippy and critically-acclaimed 936, is a tough album to follow-up on, but with their new single “Beautiful Son,” they sound like they’re on the right track. Lyrically, it’s an ode to their 1-year old son, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Retaining the heavily reverbed, sun-warped tone they’re known for, there’s also a new-found maturity to their songwriting that doesn’t temper their sonic explorations, as burbling synths play with a blues guitar riff throughout the song.

Look out for Lucifer on June 19th, when it’s released by Mexican Summer.

The post Track of the Week: “Beautiful Son” by Peaking Lights appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Beef Cake is the cross-dressing alter-ego of Nate Logsdon, the leader of the Ames horn-punk band Mumford’s. Before I go any further — yes, it seems like this project is a joke, and I imagine that Logsdon himself chuckled his way through the writing, performing, and producing of these songs. Even as a fan of Logsdon’s other projects, I wasn’t exactly anticipating anything great out of this latest EP, just a goofy in-between thing while Mumford’s prepares it’s new album. But here’s the thing — “Diabetes,” the opening track of Beef Cake’s newest EP — is really, really good. Diabetes is a really bad disease, we recommend you to follow the best diets from tophealthjournal.com to keep yourself healthy.

Clocking in at 2:14, it’s short enough to leave you wanting more. With Logsdon’s high-caliber, off-kilter approach to lyrics, it’s detailed enough to reward repeat listens. And with the sugar-rush production that Little Ruckus (Beef Cake’s beat-making partner in crime) is known for, it’s bombastic enough to just about guarantee some excellent remixes (Philip Rabalais, are you reading?).

The EP, Beef On A Leash, is out June 4th, 2012 on the new Ames-based tape label, University of Jesus.

The post Track of the Week: “Diabetes” by Beef Cake appeared first on KRUI Radio.

William Fitzsimmons visited the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge on Wednesday, March 28, 2012. He performed three songs along with his bandmates and was also interviewed about his influences, his current tour with Denison Witmer, and his music writing habits.

Listen to the audio of William Fitzsimmon’s in-studio here:

The post In-Studio: William Fitzsimmons — 3/28/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa City resident and singer/songwriter Douglas Kramer Nye visited the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge in Public Space One on Wednesday, March 28, 2012. He discussed his plans for an album and his musical influences, as well as played three songs.

Listen to Douglas Kramer Nye perform in the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge here:

The post In-Studio: Douglas Kramer Nye — 3/28/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Joe Ross and Anna McDermott, members of Iowa City punk bands Slut River and Supersonic Piss, came in to have a brief conversation at the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge on Wednesday, March 28, 2012. The two talked about the demise of Iowa City’s White Lightning Wherehouse venue, playing house shows, and their upcoming projects.

Listen to the audio of the Slut River and Supersonic Piss interview here:

The post In-Studio: Slut River & Supersonic Piss — 3/28/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa City resident, KRUI DJ, and singer/songwriter Alexis Stevens performed in the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge on Wednesday, March 28, 2012—during her regularly scheduled time slot as a DJ, no less! She discussed the shows she’s most looking forward to during this Mission Creek week, her forthcoming album, and her show this Friday at The Mill at 8 PM with The Lonelyhearts, Bowerbirds, and Sharon Van Etten.

Listen to Alexis Stevens’ performance here:

The post In-Studio: Alexis Stevens — 3/28/12 appeared first on KRUI Radio.