You are browsing the archives of 2007 October.

With a Daniel Clowes-ian brand of humor (or maybe it’s just Robert Crumb), one of our favorite local bands, Skursula, begins a new comic strip. You can check out entries every week by dropping by their Myspace page. The first entry we caught wind of (posted here for your convenience) is ridiculously hilarious. And oh… [...]

Thanks to John, author of the review below this post, for pointing out that there seems to be a new ft (the shadow government) video floating around the internets. This Youtube video starts off with a clip from a British costume drama and gets better from there. It’s one more piece of evidence pointing to [...]

A dispatch from John C. Schlotfelt:
At approximately 12:30, following three of Iowa City’s finest noisenicks (Secret of Use, lwa, and Racoo-oo-oon), I had what might be called a religious experience.
Headliner Yellow Swans made a warm bed of hiss-laden dissonance (something like speakers exhaling feedback) and chest-rumbling drones, then the Portland duo introduced an angelic eye [...]

This Monday (October 29th), the Picador presents a trio of excellent bands in the “noise” and “experimental” genres of music. Those are difficult terms — I mean, if you’re in a “rock” band, it can really sound like a million different things so what the hell does “noise” or “experimental” really mean? Nonetheless, here are [...]

So, Halloween may not actually be until Wednesday, but it’s never too early to dust off your costume, right? Of course, there will be plenty going down for you to sink your claws into this weekend, so good thing you stopped by the Freak for us to break it down. There is definitely something for [...]

Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello at Carver Hawkeye Arena - 10.24.07
First off, props to the University of Iowa’s Scope Productions for showing us what Carver Arena really is: the perfect (and surprisingly intimate) venue for larger bands to play when passing through Iowa City. The sound was great and the view of the stage seemed [...]

Right now, yes right now, a killer conference is going down on Iowa’s campus. It’s called “From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle Class Performances”. Curated by Profs. Vershawn Young and Bridget Tsemo, this conference features readings of personal essays and academic papers and performances of theatrical monologues on black topics. The first day has come [...]

Take a minute to check out this video that recently popped up on YouTube. It reveals, in typically cryptic fashion, the new record from Iowa City’s own experimental/punk noisemakers ft(The Shadow Government), out next month. No apparent release date for The Black and White Album yet, but it will be out in CD format on [...]

While you may already be thinking ahead to that other concert this week, tomorrow night Phil Elverum is coming into town to play under his Mt. Eerie moniker. Elverum is the man behind The Microphones, and from what I have heard he puts on extraordinary (and often all-ages) shows. So come out early [...]

I may just be noticing this, but has anybody else seen the members of the band that plays the Monday Night Football theme song? Let’s break this down…
1 Bassist
1 Drummer
5 Guitarists
Excuse me? Five? Does this strike anybody as superfluous for a 90 second song that plays once a week? Holy Christ! Brian Setzer is [...]