Christopher the Conquered: I Am Christopher (Grand Phony Music) Review
It’s been four years since Chris Ford's Christopher the Conquered has released a full length album, and on that one he gave up on...
Gloom Balloon: So Bergman Uses Bach… (Grand Phony Music) Review
This year has been filled to the brim with calamities for musicians across the globe, with temporary and all-too-often permanent closings of music venues,...
Jordan Mayland: The Color of My Soul (Birdroom Studio) Review
One of the fun things about following Jordan Mayland’s musical trajectory is that the guy has covered virtually every genre of music out there...
Album Review: Contakta EP
Contakta is a new Iowa group based in Des Moines, a project based on the singing and songs of Diana Weishaar, the featured singer...
Gloom Balloon: Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom Underneath the Stars and...
One of the things that Patrick Tape Fleming does perhaps better than anyone is to write confessional songs that are heartfelt, but not whiny,...
Album Review: TIRES, LP1
TIRES will always have a special place in Ames’ heart because the band started here at the tail-end of the legendary Liberty House era...
Album Reviews: Wisconsin Roundup
Brett Newski: Land Air Sea Garage (Make My Day Records)
Brett Newski is a singer/songwriter out of Milwaukee who’s toured large chunks of the world...
Goat: Requiem (Sub Pop) Review
This past summer, after poring over the first two albums by Swedish psychedelic Afrobeat revivalists Goat for the past four years or so, I...
The Workshy (Self-Titled) Review
Former Ames jam band The Workshy moved to Colorado a few years ago, and have been keeping busy playing gigs, teaching music lessons, learning...
7 Overlooked Albums of 2016
2016 has been a pretty incredible year for music, depending on what you’re into. We’ve had “surprise” albums from Beyonce and Radiohead, Guns ‘n...