Greater Des Moines Music Coalition released the first part of 2013’s 80/35 lineup yesterday at 10 am. You don’t come to this blog for breaking news. I am aware of this. It’s why I didn’t throw out a post immediately after the 80/35 lineup announcement. Others broke the news, and you likely would’ve got it from other outlets then come here and read the same damn thing. I figured why not give this news 24 hours to sink into the public and then we can talk about it a bit without the either initial disappointment or initial excitement. And from my minor amount of research, there seems to be a little of the former and a lot of the latter.

Just in case you were under a rock yesterday and I AM breaking news, here is the initial lineup announcement:

FRIDAY: JULY 5
————–
> David Byrne & St. Vincent
> Yeasayer
> Tea Leaf Green
> Roster McCabe
> Kitty (Pryde)
> Euforquestra
> Dustin Smith & The Sunday Silos
> Annalibera

SATURDAY: JULY 6
—————-
> Wu-Tang Clan
> Deerhunter
> Umphrey’s McGee
> Wavves
> Mr. Baber’s Neighbors
> House of Large Sizes
> Jon Wayne & The Pain
> The River Monks
> Tires
> Trouble Lights
> Mumford’s

My first reactions are that having someone as legendary and even a little rare as both David Byrne and Wu Tang headline a festival as inexpensive as 80/35 is incredible. Wu Tang especially. Ghostface, RZA and Method Man could all be near the top of this festival solo, so to have them all together is just silly. Maybe I have been thinking a lot about money lately, but it sure seems like $50 for two days and two acts of that magnitude is just an incredible bargain. Throw in the rest, like Deerhunter, Yeasayer and one of my favorite bands in the world Wavves, and it seems like such an incredible no brainer.

I guess the big complaint I have seen is that Wu Tang is washed up, which is super annoying. Ghostface Killah has been releasing critically acclaimed albums for years. I get that we are six years plus from Fishscale, but c’mon, suddenly they’re washed up? Method Man, RZA and GZA have been doing solo stuff for a while, too. So it seems like a silly notion that this is some washed up band from the 90’s and not a legendary group with something to contribute artistically. I even saw someone say that it wasn’t indicative of where hip hop is in 2013, as if WU Tang wasn’t a huge influence on pretty much all of these people, everything from how to market yourself to actual performance. It is super silly to discard them as washed up. Nearly idiotic.

Now to the stuff I don’t like. There are a lot of jam bands. There are always a lot of jam bands, I guess it just seems that this year, there are a lot of well known jam bands. As far as stature goes, UM, Tea Leaf Green, Roster McCabe and Jon Wayne and the Pain are all big enough names that they may take up a spot for a bigger name band I would be more into. Now last year’s late announcements added shit like Jaill and K-Holes, so I am not too concerned and assume there will be more stuff to my liking. I am not as excited about the initial announcement as I was last year, but there is enough good to overcome the, uh, less good.

Oh, and good choices for locals so far. Giving Tires and Trouble Lights a spot on the fest seems like a no brainer and they seem like the two that will steal the show from all the national attention if given a chance. I’m excited for them and hope they get a good spot to showcase what they can do. As for the rest, just pure talent all around. I have zero complaints.

April 10, 2013
Categories: Iowa . . Author: Dave Murphy . Comments: Leave a comment

It has been one year since I started this blog. I celebrated by letting the domain name expire and then scrambling to repurchase it before I ruined everything. The talented women over at Band Bombshell, though, they had a much better idea than I did. They decided to throw a party. A birthday party is a much better idea. They also didn’t purchase a domain name. Also, a solid move.

So, go celebrate the one year anniversary of another of Iowa’s great music blogs. I like them very much. People would wonder why I would plug the competition, but I think considering anyone trying to promote the scene, and/or make their own type of art as competition is just stupid. We are all trying to achieve the same goal, only they go about it in a much different way than I. I am a little more self-centered. I like to talk about myself a lot more than others like to talk about me. Or talk about themselves, I guess. Full of cool Q&A’s and other neat journalistic type stuff, Band Bombshell is a great resource for those trying to learn about Des Moines and stuff happening in Des Moines.

Tonight at 10pm at Mews, they celebrate their first year. They do it in style with music from Gloom Balloon, Dustin Smith and the Sunday Silos and Volcano Boys. Should be a good time.

March 14, 2013
Categories: Iowa . . Author: Dave Murphy . Comments: 1 Comment

I tend to get pretty personal on this blog, because I think of this as much as my own personal blog and less as an all encompassing news source. There are lots of other people out there who do music news and journalism a whole lot better than I (For instance, check out Band Bombshell. They’re pretty awesome). Plus, I am pretty cheap and use this as my substitute for therapy and just make an unsuspecting public who just want to read about Poison Control Center or something deal with my neuroses.

Since it is my style, I sort of figured I would have to write a post discussing the sudden loss our family recently suffered, just because that’s what I do. When shit sticks in my mind it helps for me to try and work it out someway. But I have been staring at a blinking cursor for a week or so, and when I do write something I select all and destroy. I think it is because I can’t wrap my brain around what happened or why. I have yet to quantify my feelings in any sort of rational or verbal manner. The fact that a person can be there and then just not be there is an altogether new experience for me, and no amount of drafts I have written have really come across the way I feel. I think mostly, because I don’t know how to feel. I am sad for the loss, I am baffled by how life and death works and I am inspired by the life she lead and my desire to live a life that would make her the most proud. But I still don’t feel like my words can honor and express my feelings. My heart is broken so much that I think it broke my brain, as well.

So, I’m instead going to talk about this large breasted woman I saw at the mall today.

She looked like Cartman’s assistant from that episode of South Park where he’s Dog The Bounty Hunter only with dark hair. And a tattoo of a dragon on her right breast. It was mesmerizing.

Anyway, there are like a billion things I have missed in the last couple of weeks, so let me try and highlight a couple of them, since I think I can still handle that.

– Former Des Moines based singer Roxi Copland is in the running for a contest to help pay for her next album, and she actually has a real shot at this. Roxi is a hell of a talent, so if you could throw a vote her way, that would be swell. Also, she said if she got to fourth she would make a video of her doing a bikini clad snow angel:

So, she’s a good sport, too. Give her a vote .

– Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival announced their lineup and it is awesome. Grizzly Bear, Divine Fits, Deerhoof, Iris Dement, Thao and the Get Down and Jeff the Brotherhood highlight the multi-day, multi-venue fest. For more info click here.

– Several bands have released albums in the past, oh, month or so. I think the big two are MINT and John the Bastard. MINT is currently available on iTunes while you can grab John the Bastard from their Bandcamp. It is loud.

– I have a new piece up at Des Moines is Not Boring featuring Brant Williams of The Workshy. I censored myself in the final draft, but just know that where it says “Popeye Doyle” I meant to write “Johnny Wadd”. You can read that here.

-The link has a list to a bunch of cool shows, but none cooler than The Space For Ames Anniversary Party. 15 hours and 55 Iowa bands. That is pretty incredible. You should go for at least a little bit. More info right here.

-On the subject of Ames, one that I missed is the EP Release show of talented singer/songwriter Sean Huston. Tonight at DG’s Taphouse in Ames. Feel free to check out the EP here and be sure to grab a copy.

-If you are a long time follower of this blog, you know how much I love Gross Domestic Product. This year’s event will be held at Vaudeville Mews/4th St Theatre on April 13. If you’re a band and you’d like to play that event, send them some of your work. You have until February 11. More info for that right here .

-And speaking of DMMC, their annual Backstage Ball fundraiser is set for February 22 at Val Air Ballroom. The Backstage Ball helps fund all the cool shit DMMC does throughout the year, as well as gives them an opportunity to honor people who make the Iowa music scene better. This year’s honorees are Nate Logsdon and Chris Lyng from Mumford’s, Marco from Dark Mirror, volunteer and all around badass Becky Migas and two guys who are also way better at music journalism than I, Joe Lawler of Juice and Chad Taylor of Cityview. Oh, and me. They’re honoring me. That’s messed up.

I feel like I’m leaving some stuff out, but, eh, I did pretty well I think. I promise I will get my shit together soon.

February 7, 2013
Categories: Iowa . . Author: Dave Murphy . Comments: Leave a comment

My wife and I are having another kid who is due in late April. This time it is a boy. Despite his kick-ass onesie with an otter and a pun and having a penis so I can teach him about man stuff like football and spitting without feeling weird about it, I am nervous as fuck about all of this.

It seems weird, because my revisionist history tells me that before my daughter was born, all I could picture was all of the cool stuff I would get to do with her. I would teach her stuff about music and hockey and wrestling and whatever and she would hang on my every word and gaze up at me like a puppy and soak it all in and revere me; part teacher’s pet, part dachshund. For some reason, before the birth of Fat Noodle (we let his sister name him; what are you gonna do? She’s three. It’s our fault for giving her that much power) the stuff I am mostly worried about is the logistics. Where will he go to day care? How will we pay for it? What if they fight? How will I handle him being an annoying little brother like I was? What if he needs food? How will I pay for THAT? What if he wants to play hockey? He will want to play hockey and I won’t be able to afford it. I mean, I think I was nervous about a lot of this stuff before Lorelei was born, but it seems like it is rearing its ugly head way more. So, then I get nervous that all of my worry will make me a bad father towards him, or that I will end up resenting him for making me worry this much.

A weirder, more abstract worry that I have is that I really like my daughter. We are good friends. So, what if being some other dude’s father means I spend less time with her? Like, do I not get to hang out and play hide and seek with my favorite person in the world because now I have to watch over somebody else? This is such a dickhead thought to have, because clearly I will have to find time for both, and I will certainly like him as much as I like her. But man, what if I don’t? That could happen, right? I mean, what if he’s just a compete asshole? Or, what if he’s a good kid who gets driven to being an asshole because his dad loves his sister more? Heady stuff.

So, all of these things are stressing me out a bit. I was sick earlier this week, and I’m still not convinced that I didn’t will sickness upon myself just so I could lay on the couch for two days and not move and not have to think. But, two things are obvious: I need a new job so that I can afford this new person and I need to accept that I will love him unconditionally. I need to remember that he will be a different person from my daughter, and moldable and enjoyable in different ways. He is totally going to be the Owen Hart or Jeff Buckley reincarnate I had always dreamed of, or he won’t be and that’s cool, too. I guess. I always joked that Lorelei was going to be an Olympic gold medalist and then president and then the Pope. Now, I’ll have a kid that actually could be the Pope! Imagine, Fat Noodle I pontificating from his golden throne. What I need to accept is that I am an idiot, and having two kids will be awesome in a different way that having one kid was awesome.

But things are going to change and I have to accept that. Most days when I go to work, I write the letters D I F H on my hand, on the outside just above my thumb. It stands for “Do It For Her”. It is a reminder that sure my job sucks, but I don’t do it for me. I work hard and earn a paycheck to support people I love more than myself. I have to do things I don’t want to do to make my kid’s life easier. Now, all that changes is I have to change the H to a T, for Them. It will be a bigger challenge and it will be hard and I will have to do things I hate and I will forever worry. But dammit, if I can handle one, I can handle two, right?

Right?

Oh, right. Music.

I had a piece for Des Moines is Not Boring run yesterday about Gadema’s The Brighter Side of Nowhere. I like the piece and like the album, but man, did it just make me want to listen to Gadema’s Jim Kelly Acquisition again. You should go do that, too.

Is there a cooler song in the world than “Mr. Kelly”?

As for shows this weekend, well tonight is the annual Asklandaganza. Dubbed Ganza 666, go to Mews and see Poison Control Center, Derek Lambert and the Prairie Fires, Wolves in the Attic and Mantis Pincers. Every time Mantis Pincers plays, I feel it is the last time they ever will, and then I miss them. Then they play again and I am totally amped and I miss them again. This time, I was totally set to go, but I have to work, so I can’t. This will for sure be their last show now because I am that unlucky. So, go see Mantis Pincers while you can. More info is right here.

Saturday is packed. I think my pick if you could only go to one would be at Gas Lamp for The Melismatics . They’re a Minnesota band, and they are awesome. But Mews features an early show with HD Harmsen and Lesbian Poetry opening for the Canadian band Boats. Also, the late show is headlined by Sioux City Pete and the Beggars with Land of Blood and Sunshine and Trouble Lights, among others. And for those in Ames, you could check out the M Shop for Mumford’s, Peace Love and Stuff, Rebel Creek and Surgery. This happens to be Surgery’s album release show, so it is well worth your time.

So with Surgery’s album, that pretty much puts me at about a dozen albums I need to review. So come back Monday for some of that.

January 18, 2013
Categories: Iowa . . Author: Dave Murphy . Comments: Leave a comment