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Category Archives: Eastern Iowa
Things related to the music scene in Eastern Iowa including artists related to Trailer Records.
Posted on December 26, 2022 by mike
As far as how this writer's year went, 2022 was not really notable as far as music goes. The industry was still trying to recover from the mess of 2020 and, in fits-and-starts artists seemed to get back to the business of live performance. A few reports of bands getting COVID and canceling dates, though it didn't seem like whole tours were really impacted. I saw one in-store performance by Iowa musician Dick Prall (who performs as DICKIE). There were a few other shows I was interested in, but the malaise of not seeing shows really set in for me, plus COVID is still a concern I have.
Vinyl record manufacturing was still on the blink with most releases seemingly pushed back from original release dates and in some cases pre-orders canceled entirely. Used vinyl prices continue to rise. This is likely due to the surge of new vinyl collecting during the lockdown in 2020, and also due to economic inflation across the board and rising oil prices (which records are made from, and the fuel for shipping them). Good used vinyl records are getting harder to find in the typical spots, and if the record is by a top-tier artist, the retailers are taking advantage of it. Considering the tough time independent retailers have in general, I don't really blame them. Clean copies of pre-owned records by the cast of regulars– Beatles, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and others have seen an all-time high. I bought a collection of 10 Bowie records that were between $20 and $30 apiece for very clean RCA re-pressings of his mid-70's titles. Thankfully, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin catalogs have been in print on vinyl for a few years now, and places like Walmart and Target stock them, so new collectors don't have to resort to early pressings if they don't want to.
Record Store Day returned to the non-Drop/two date version (April and Black Friday). My friends and I did the April RSD and bought quite a few titles (plus a ton of used). The RSD releases I bought were mostly reissues, so there won't be a lot of those on this list. Black Friday RSD was a bust as far as I was concerned. The list just didn't have anything I was interested in.
I continue to find myself purchasing a lot more from Bandcamp, both physical and digital releases, and my Top 20 list has a mix of both.
In no particular order, here are my Top 20 releases of 2022!
Makaya McCraven – In These Times Makaya McCraven is a drummer and producer from Chicago who is part of what I consider the new school of Jazz music. These are musicians who are drawing from the larger canon of Jazz, but are not afraid to fold in elements of current music (sampling, hip-hop, electronic music). Artists I think are also in this space are Jeff Parker, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington and Flying Lotus. For his album In These Times, McCraven is acting as band leader, pulling together other musicians to help deliver his compositions. The guitar on this album (as on some of his previous) is Jeff Parker. This is a beautiful record and one that I heartily recommend.
Toro y Moi – Mahal – This album might be the most-spinned this year for me. The super laid back chillwave style of Chaz Bundick (aka Chaz Bear aka Toro y Moi) is one I can't get enough of. The soft vocals and jazzy instrumentals land him squarely in the Sea and Cake space as well as his collaborators Mattson 2 (who are also on here). Summer vibes all year long.
Kendra Morris – Nine Lives Although this is her third album, I hadn't heard about her until Colemine Records started promoting the release (which is on Colemine sub-label Karma Chief). Her previous two albums gained press due to her involvement with Czarface/MF Doom (both released on Wax Poetics). This album is described as being "Neo Soul" and that pretty much nails it. She's got a huge voice that really cuts through the record. This record fits in with other releases on Colemine like the first album from Neal Francis and Monophonics. A real banger, for sure.
Monophonics – Sage Motel – Speaking of Colemine and Monophonics, Kelly Finnigan and company came back with a concept album of sorts surrounding vignettes of guests of a fictional seedy, but once glamorous hotel. I'd say the album is less of a concept album and more of an album with a running theme, so no worries of overwrought tales of blind pinball players or post war children who have mommy issues. It's more like White Lotus for the soul crowd. This video is AMAZING:
Elizabeth Moen – Wherever You Aren't – After a delay, Moen dropped her fourth full-length album in November. Since I reviewed it, I was lucky to have a lot of time with it before it came out. It's her best release to date with a lot more interesting details in the production including some new instruments. Read my review in Little Village here.
Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa – This album seemed to drop out of nowhere for me. I'm a very casual Spoon fan, so I'm not really tracking them with the same fervor that I do other bands. In fact, they seemed to release like three albums that I didn't listen to, for whatever that is worth. I must have seen an article or something mentioning the album so I checked it out. For their 2022 album, the band seems to be leaning into the rockier side of their sound. I found myself listening to this a lot over the summer.
Sylvee and the Sea (aka Pieta Brown) – The Less I Needed The Better I Felt – This was kind of a surprise release and kind of overlooked. Sylvee and the Sea is a supergroup of sorts featuring Pieta Brown, Don Was (president of Blue Note Records, and formerly of Was (Not Was)) on bass, John Convertino of Calexico on drums and CARM (of Y Music and Bon Iver) on horns. A collaboration recorded remotely by sending snippets of music around and letting the musicians record their parts with the instructions of not overthinking their contributions or creating charts. Kind of a freewheeling affair of instrumentals in the Pieta Brown vibe of not sounding like any particular genre or time.
The Less I Needed the Better I Felt by Pieta Brown
Bo Ramsey – How Many Miles – Another surprise drop came from Iowa country blues legend Bo Ramsey in the form of a digital EP. Never content to leave a song alone, Bo typically brings out retooled versions of his classic songs in a live setting. For this EP we have new versions of "Wounded Dog" with a searing guitar line by Mark Knopfler all the way through it, a laid back and softened take on "555×2" and a new take on "Blue Earth," the beautiful instrumental from Down to Bastrop. These versions represent the 2020's version of live Bo Ramsey. The other two tracks are new instrumentals in the vein of his 2016 album Wildwood Calling.
How Many Miles by Bo Ramsey
Revelators Sound System – Revelators – Revelators Sound System is a side project of M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger along with Cameron Ralston of Spacebomb House Band. This project is intended to be distinct from Hiss Golden Messenger, and in fact sounds only vaguely like the jam-adjacent works of that band. These are full-on jammy instrumental workouts with some dub worked in and sounds a lot more like 70's albums from bands who heard Miles Davis's Bitches Brew– an aural pastiche of improvised breaks. While it isn't HGM, I can hear how this informs what live Hiss Golden Messenger is becoming.
Hiss Golden Messenger – Wise Eyes: Live at The Neptune, Seattle, WA, 2/25/22, Greetings From Charleston!, Mystic What: Live in Kansas City and St. Louis – Continuing the releases of live shows to Bandcamp, Hiss Golden Messenger gave us THREE fantastic live shows this year. All three have Grateful Dead covers, which sort of tips the hat to what HGM's live shows are becoming, in my opinion. This band keeps getting better and better in live performance. Out of the three my favorite is Mystic What based on St. Louis and Kansas City shows from March of 2022. Some deeper cuts in this set. "Standing In The Doorway" was a really nice surprise. My favorite non-album track, coincidentally paired with "Cat's Eye Blue" on a Record Store Day 7″ "Live From Spacebomb." and a surprise cover of "Bird Song."
Mystic What: Live in Kansas City and St. Louis by Hiss Golden Messenger
Jeff Parker – Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy – This record is based on a residency that Parker and band did at the Enfield Tennis Academy which is a bar in L.A.'s Highland Park area. These are largely free improvised performances with some standards and original compositions peppered in. While the idea of an improv jazz album might turn most folks off, this group's use of melody and structure make this a very enjoyable music journey. The recording was made from open room mics, so we get the whole experience of the room complete with typical bar ambience.
Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble – II At this point, it seems that I'll buy pretty much anything that comes out on Tompkins Square. In fact, I hadn't heard of Chicago musician Elijah McLaughlin until Tompkins Square announced the pre-order in an email. Elijah McLaughlin's acoustic guitar work fits in the American Primitive space, but with his ensemble he creates layered and scenic soundtracks in a space similar to William Tyler's works. I quickly ordered his first album after I heard this album. Beautiful stuff.
Penny Peach – Ego Party – Penny Peach is often found delivering her amazing harmony vocals on other peoples' records (see: Anthony Worden and the Illiterati or Elizabeth Moen) but her string of solo recordings are worth checking out– her early works are largely DIY affairs but her last couple of album/EP's have had the full band treatment with her bendy, sneering and sometimes gutteral vocals front and center. She's kind of her own genre– a playful but often dark mixture of bratty Ramones punk, new wave and black metal. The droning distorted guitars smeared with Digitech Whammy pitch bending is fantastic.
Allegra Hernandez – Gift Exchange – Allegra Hernandez is a new artist I discovered this year through my gig as music reviewer for Little Village. This album is a fantastic mix of catchy melodic post-punk and fantastically epic guitar work. Read my review and interview with Hernandez for Little Village here.
Squalls – Live From the 40 Watt – In 2022 seminal Athens, GA bar band Squalls released a fantastic compilation of live recordings from the early 1980's (around the time of the performances in Athens, GA Inside/Out). Prior to this album, I was only really familiar with the songs on the soundtrack to that documentary, but this album shows the band in their element as a seasoned live act. Squalls are getting a reissue campaign of their studio albums, too, that are worth checking out. With the Pylon reissues, and the ongoing Love Tractor reissues, it's cool to see these Athens bands getting some love. Kilkenny Cats or Dreams So Real next?? Here's my article breaking down the live album.
Richard Thompson – Music From Grizzly Man – The brilliant soundtrack to the documentary about Timothy Treadwell done by Richard Thompson got the vinyl treatment this year. One of my favorite Thompson records is Strict Tempo, which is an instrumental record, and this soundtrack is a kind of compliment to that release. The Grizzly Man film is sort of hard to locate on the streaming services these days, but at least we have this soundtrack which also includes snippets of Treadwell talking.
Nathan Salsburg – Landwerk No. 3 – The third installment of the Landwerk series of guitar sketches by Nathan Salsburg came out this year. These albums started as a way for Salsburg to get some inspiration by utilizing samples of old 78 RPM records to provide loops of some instruments, and sometimes only the crackle. These are amazing records and I'm glad he is continuing this series.
Landwerk No. 3 by Nathan Salsburg
Diplo – Diplo – I was a big fan of Diplo's first solo full length Florida which came out in 2003 around the time he started gaining attention having worked with M.I.A. and others bringing his finely-honed beats and production to a continually-growing list of projects (Major Lazer, Jack Ü, etc). He wouldn't bring another project credited to himself out until he dropped the California EP in 2018 around Record Store Day. Positioned as kind of the spiritual follow up to Florida, I was curious to check it out. I loved the bubbly, an often moody electro pop and it became a regular play in my car. His 2022 self-titled full length picks up where California left off. I really love this album and he's been nominated for a couple Grammys, and it is deserved.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Live at the Fillmore, 1997 Boxset – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers captured at their peak. A legendary 20-night run at the Fillmore West in early 1997. The band wanted to step out of their regular album release and tour schedule and do something to reenergize them. This massive box set is a compilation of the last six nights of the run that were captured for editing to be use for radio broadcast. While the band didn't do the same setlist every night, there were some songs that were featured each night, and we can look at this box set as kind of representative of these shows. The box set is almost half cover songs, which is really fun, especially for fans like me who collect Petty.
I mentioned that I thought that they should do a box set of this run of shows in my article covering An American Treasure. I think this brings some hope that we'll see more box sets like this in the future. Maybe boxes based on the Fillmore runs in 1981 and 1999.
Life Moves Pretty Fast – The John Hughes Mixtapes Box Set – Under the category of everything eventually comes out on vinyl, we have this fantastic compilation of songs from the films of John Hughes. As someone who grew up with these films and also bought the soundtracks, this addresses some glaring omissions. For one thing, there was never a soundtrack to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and we finally get pretty much everything from that on this box set (leaving off stuff like "Danke Shoen," "Twist and Shout" and the theme to Star Wars is fine, I think) and it fills out some of the other soundtracks that were released (She's Having A Baby, Sixteen Candles). I was a little surprised that it wasn't organized by film, but the spirit of it was based on the mixtape trades that Hughes did with the music supervisors, and I guess makes it more listenable as a big mix of everything. I wrote an article about the release here.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, In The Bins, Little Village Magazine, Music, Retail, Reviews, Uncategorized, Vinyl | Tagged Allegra Hernandez, Athens, Bo Ramsey, box set, Colemine Records, Elija McLaughlin, elizabeth moen, Hiss Golden Messenger, Iowa, Jeff Parker, John Hughes, Karma Chief, Kendra Morris, little village magazine, Makaya McCraven, Monophonics, Nathan Salsburg, Penny peach, Pieta Brown, Revelators, Richard Thompson, Spoon, Squalls, Tom Petty, Toro y Moi, Vinyl | Leave a reply
Posted on January 6, 2022 by mike
2021 was a year that was framed pretty much as "the year after 2020." Every topic of discussion in 2021 seemed to be saddled with the context of the previous year. As I'm writing this, the topics still surround COVID, and lately the latest variant of that, plus vaccinations, and boosters.
All aspects of the music industry resumed with fits and starts. Concerts kind of resumed and kind of didn't. Artists needed to evaluate for themselves what kind of risk they were willing to put their fans in and themselves. At this writing I have not been to a concert since March of 2020. I had tickets for three shows this year that honestly I wasn't comfortable attending so I skipped them. This summer was looking better for outdoor shows, and maybe in 2022 I'll look closer at those kinds of events.
The vinyl record situation was worse than 2020. All of the manufacturing issues we saw in 2020 were still in effect and delays were commonplace just in getting the records pressed. This was compounded by shipping issues– records manufactured overseas were held up on shipping containers– my vinyl copy of the brilliant Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra was ordered in March and didn't ship until September! This was certainly out of Luaka Bop's control, but they did a really great job of keeping folks in the loop about where things were with the shipping. It was not a big deal for me since I had the digital stream and download for it.
Record Store Day resumed in 2021 as a two-date "Drops" one on June 21st and one on July 17th. This accomplished a couple of things. First, it would theoretically reduce the attendance (and lines) by splitting up the releases, and secondly it would help with the delays from manufacturing as well. The upshot of that was that the titles I wanted were moved to the 2nd Drop so I only needed to go to the 2nd one. That happened to be the Grand Opening of the new Davenport location of Ragged Records, too, so that was really great!
With all of that, let's get to the list! In no particular order, these are my favorite releases from 2021! It's interesting to me that all of these releases were available on Bandcamp, which is where I did the majority of my purchases in 2021. The first six in this list are all Iowa, or Iowa-adjacent acts.
Joel Sires – Dog Years – The debut solo EP from Joel Sires, frontman for Cedar Falls band TWINS came out in April. I reviewed it for Little Village in November of 2020, but delays with manufacturing the 10″ vinyl EP held the release until April. This release on the new Seeder Records label started out as a release based on the amazing solo shows Joel does in the area, but in an interview with KUNI recently, he said that he really wanted to have a full band on these songs, so he quickly assembled a band to back him producing a release that doesn't stray far from the last TWINS album's sound, leaning towards folk rock. A fantastic release from one of Iowa's best new songwriters.
Dog Years by Joel Sires
David Huckfelt — Room Enough, Time Enough – David Huckfelt released his second solo album in 2021. Since Huckfelt's other gig was over 10 years in The Pines, it's not surprising that his solo work sounds reminiscent of those brilliant albums. With Room Enough, Time Enough he continues his own musical path surrounding himself with brilliant sidefolks including luminaries Howe Gelb and Billy Sedlmayr as well as notable . The album has an overarching concept regarding land rights and the plight of native Americans. As a solo artist Huckfelt has expanded beyond the folk atmospherics of The Pines to a bold sound of his own. My review for Little Village Magazine.
Room Enough, Time Enough – Digital by David Huckfelt
Alex Ramsey – Bonsai – Speaking of The Pines, keyboard player and brother of Benson Ramsey, Alex released his debut solo record in 2021– a release that was a long time coming. He recorded it before COVID, but the mastering and mixing all happened during it. All of the instruments were played by Alex at home, but certainly doesn't sound like it. The album, as you might expect leans towards his keyboards and vocals, which makes it stand out from the catalog of The Pines. Delightfully complex record. You can read my review and Q&A with Alex in Little Village here.
Bonsai by Alex Ramsey
Hex Girls – Pop Fluff – Cedar Falls band Hex Girls returned with their second EP titled Pop Fluff, but the title was more tongue-in-cheek than an accurate description of what was contained inside. The band gained some polish by filling the group out with a dedicated keyboard player moving from their rough-and-tumble post-punk sound to something I think is more akin to the no wave sound of early Talking Heads and Television. The band's dedication to offbeat humor continues to make them one of the most interesting bands to come out of eastern Iowa. You can read my review from Little Village here.
Pop Fluff by Hex Girls
Anthony Worden and the Illiterati – How Could We Lose When We're So Sincere? – Iowa City band Anthony Worden and the Illiterati's 2021 album How Could We Lose When We're So Sincere? finds the band returning to the winning pop rock formula they used on their 2020 album Voilá– beautiful melodies and harmonies, polished production. Again, the secret sauce is letting Penny Peach take lead in spots. WOW. Killer formula. The constructs of the album are clearly influenced by a time when AM radio would bring the hit singles– a time sorely lost, I'm afraid. If you're a fan of Elvis Costello, Todd Rundgren or Big Star, I think there is enough here to satisfy. Plus this album is available on super limited edition vinyl– well worth occupying your turntable.
How Could We Lose When We're So Sincere? by Anthony Worden and the Illiterati
Penny Peach – brain gamez Speaking of Ms. Peach, she put out her debut EP in 2021. I described the record on Facebook as being, "a shoegazer cupcake with sludgy frosting." Thick distorted guitars provide a bed for Elly Hofmaier's powerful vocal acrobatics: swooping to dizzying heights, yodeling and dipping to growling metal. It's at once pop and dark.
brain gamez by Penny Peach
loess – totems – Somewhat unexpectedly, loess released their first album since 2017's brilliant Pocosin. Earlier in the year there were some photos in Ian Pullman's Facebook feed that hinted that there was some activity in the duo's camp and then the album kind of dropped with little notice at the end of September. totems continues the beautifully glitchy soundscape loess has been known for now 20 years on (wow). Some say that the sound of loess is derivative of the early works of Boards of Canada, but since BoC didn't stay in that mode long, and I welcome more of the pretty clockwork sounds.
totems by loess
Hiss Golden Messenger – Quietly Blowing It / O Come All Ye Faithful – In 2021 we got not one, but TWO new releases from Hiss Golden Messenger! In June, the follow-up to the fantastic Terms of Surrender came out. Titled Quietly Blowing It, it feels like a sequel to me as it shares the intimate emotion of the previous album. The band backing him is largely made up of his touring group and the locked-in grooves benefit from the road wear.
Quietly Blowing It by Hiss Golden Messenger
In October we were gifted another release in the form of a holiday album. O Come All Ye Faithful is a mix of holiday standards and original tunes. Not content with straight readings of perennial favorites, the HGM spin on songs like the title track and "Silent Night" end up being dramatically new readings: new keys, changed rhythm and melody. If you're not listening closely, these seem like HGM originals. Not a bad thing, and ends up being a really fresh addition to my expanding Christmas collection on vinyl. I ordered the "Peak Vinyl" variant which came with a 2nd LP called The Sounding Joy: Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Revelators on South Robinson Street which is a dub/remix record of some of the tracks from the album. Incidentally, The Revelators is a new side-project/collaboration with Cameron Ralston that is supposed to have a release in 2022 and will be dub and free jazz influenced.
O Come All Ye Faithful by Hiss Golden Messenger The Sounding Joy: Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Revelators on South Robinson Street by Hiss Golden Messenger
Elsa Hewitt – LUPA– Kind of an unexpected release from Tompkins Square in that it doesn't really fit the typical American Primitive guitar or archival releases they're known for. For me this release really establishes Tomkins Square as a curator of music– no matter what genre. Hewitt hails from the UK and her latest release is a jaw droppingly gorgeous blend of her vocals and electronic production. It seems like this release was overlooked by many this year.
LUPA by Elsa Hewitt
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises – This release is seemingly on everyone's Top list for 2021 and for good reason. It's a compelling blend of Floating Points electronics, sax (and vocals) from jazz legend Pharoah Sanders and lush orchestral additions by the London Symphony Orchestra. The main composition in multiple parts is titled "Promises" and is composed and scored by Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points. Sanders and Shepherd worked together in the studio, with the LSO part added later. Since the album is really one large work in movements, there are recurring themes throughout as you'd expect but the payoff for me is listening to the work as a whole. I'm always looking for new directions for jazz beyond the standards, and this album fits that bill nicely.
Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
Eleventh Dream Day – Since Grazed – One of the more surprising things about the latest from Chicago band Eleventh Dream Day is the how this band continues to be GREAT after 40 years. The formula of the band is pretty straightforward– strong garage rock with heavy Neil Young leanings makes for a sound that is both classic and uniquely fresh in the current landscape of rock bands. This album started as a solo Rick Rizzo album but morphed into an EDD album. Sprawling over 2 LP's it moves around stylistically. More so than their last couple of albums which were well-heeled rockers. After I picked this album up, I decided to revisit their earlier releases again.
Since Grazed by Eleventh Dream Day
Marisa Anderson/William Tyler – Lost Futures – Tyler and Anderson met while doing a tribute show to the late David Berman and became quick friends. The obviously have simpatico ideas about guitar music and Lost Futures cements that idea. I was less familiar with Anderson's albums than William Tyler's but listening to Lost Futures, it isn't possible for me to tell who is doing what– the two of them together creating a work bigger than the both of them. A wonderful addition to my growing collection of Tyler's work.
Lost Futures by Marisa Anderson/William Tyler
I Think Like Midnight – Interim Contingent – I Think Like Midnight started out as sort of a tribute to the defunct American instrumental rock band Pell Mell, and certainly their first album Warm Seclusion Structure achieved that goal in its intuitive understanding of the source music. It wasn't a cover album, but it sounded like what Pell Mell might have sounded like had they stayed together. Fast forward seven years and I Think Like Midnight has moved away from strictly being a guitar effort but holds tight to instrumentals. Every release from ITLM is worth checking out– cinematic and unique with enough obscure tips of the hat in the mix to keep music geeks searching for references. ITLM had planned to hit the studio to work on their next album, but these plans were derailed by COVID and Interim Contingent was birthed instead. This album leans heavily towards loops of electronics as the basis and as a result makes a really compelling argument for the band to work more in this arena. "Kit Lambert Begins To Dream" sounds like an outtake from the Wang Chung "To Live and Die in L.A." soundtrack. "Dot Outlier" sounds like Michael Brook– breathtaking and reverbby. This is a record any instrumental rock band should check out. Brilliant release.
Interim Contingent by I Think Like Midnight
Neal Francis – In Plain Sight – In Plain Sight is the second album from Chicago songwriter Neal Francis and the first on his new label home ATO Records. His first album Changes was on Colemine Records' subsidiary Karma Chief, which is how I first heard him since I follow all of the releases on that label. Francis's particular blend of Dr. John and Leon Russel funky keyboard-driven soul is earthy and real and it fuels his trajectory as one of the bigger independent artists.
In Plain Sight by Neal Francis
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Georgia Blue – Fulfilling a promise that Isbell made on election night in 2020 where if Georgia "turned blue" he recorded an album of covers of Georgia music. We have two tracks from R.E.M. ("Nightswimming" and "Driver 8"), James Brown, Indigo Girls, Gladys Night, The Allman Brothers and more. Anyone who's been to an Isbell concert is familiar with the covers he'll usually bring out– he's a fan of music. So, this album is a really great addition to the Isbell catalog. Plus, he does "Driver 8" which is my very favorite R.E.M. song. I picked up the blue vinyl version for RSD which is gorgeous.
Georgia Blue by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Surf Zombies – In Color – More tasty surf-influenced guitar rock from Iowa's premier guitar instrumental band. Can't get enough from Surf Zombies' modern take on surf rock.
In Color! by Surf Zombies
Nathan Salsburg – תהלים = Psalms – Nathan Salsburg is usually known for his albums of American Primative-influenced guitar work. For Psalms his inspiration was the joy he experienced as a child singing Hebrew at camp and a desire to bring that joy back to his own life. For this album he created wholly new arrangements of these to fit how he wanted to sing them. The resulting album is a beautiful testament to his spirituality and desire to share it. I love "Psalm 147."
Psalms by Nathan Salsburg
El Michels Affair meets Liam Bailey – Ekundayo Inversions – In 2019 Leon Michels produced UK artist Liam Bailey's album Ekundayo for Michel's label Big Crown. Michels is "El" as in El Michels Affair who is maybe best known for their Wu-Tang Clan instrumental covers albums. I was familiar with El Michels Affair, but not Liam Bailey or the Ekundayo album. I first heard about Ekundayo Inversions from an email from Colemine Records and the sample track was enough for me to decide to order it. Ekundayo Inversions is remixes and dubs of some of the songs from Ekundayo plus some interstitial skits. Plus, it has what is probably the last appearance of Lee "Scratch" Perry (R.I.P).
Ekundayo Inversions by El Michels Affair meets Liam Bailey
Jeff Parker – Forfolks – Just barely making 2021 is the latest from jazz guitarist Jeff Parker (it came out 12/10/21 digitally). I was pretty surprised about this release considering all of his work in 2020, including the BRILLIANT Suite For Max Brown. Forfolks is a strictly solo Jeff Parker record. Stripped down guitar and loops, but really big sounding ironically. Beautiful record.
Forfolks by Jeff Parker
Charlie Parr – Last of the Better Days Ahead – Duluth musician Charlie Parr's sixteenth album is on the legendary Folkways label after a brief turn on Red House Records. He's not braving any new territory here, but we get more of the amazing Piedmont Blues style guitar work and Parr's warm and human songwriting. Double LP!
Last of the Better Days Ahead by Charlie Parr
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Music, Reviews, Uncategorized, Vinyl | Tagged 2021, bandcamp, End of Year List, RSD, top 20, Vinyl | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Release) Aimee Mann – Bachelor No. 2 : 20th Anniversary Edition for Black Friday RSD – A Deeper Dive
Posted on November 8, 2020 by mike
Cover Art for the 20th Anniversary Reissue of Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2
I'm a sucker for earnest songs about heartbreak. Clearly.
When I watched Paul Thomas Anderson's film Magnolia, I was struck by the songs from Aimee Mann. Like many, I was familiar with her band, the MTV darlings Til Tuesday, but I hadn't really kept up. Though, there wasn't much to keep up with. The classic yarn of a band breakup followed by a couple of brilliant solo albums that her label didn't know what to do with caused her to crash land in 1999 with no label and a record in the can that wouldn't be released.
As the story goes, Paul Thomas Anderson was moved enough by the demos of this album to craft Magnolia around it and get some more songs from her. He connected to Mann through her husband Michael Penn who scored Anderson's first two films. She got an Oscar nom for "Save Me" (a song that was written for the film).
I rewatched Magnolia recently. A horrific storm called a "derecho" blew 130+ MPH winds across Iowa, removing over 65% of the tree cover of Cedar Rapids and knocking power out for days and cell service and internet for weeks. Once power was restored, my wife and I still didn't have internet and cell service was spotty, so we took to digging through our sadly-neglected collection of DVD's and Blu-Rays for stuff to watch. We hadn't seen it probably since I bought the DVD when it came out in 2000. The film's three hours is not an easy watch, and twenty years later the heavy-handedness of the story arc and plot devices seems almost dated. Considering this was Anderson's carte blanche film following the breakout success of Boogie Nights, it's apparent he was pulling out all of his directorial tools for this. The soundtrack and score of the film end up being an essential part of the narrative with songs belonging to the characters, the culmination of which is when the film pauses for the characters to sing "Wise Up."
This part of the film was a real lump-in-the-throat moment for me and how I became a fan of this soundtrack and Bachelor No. 2. I wrote an article back in 2008 proposing a mix people could make of the two CD's to make a perfect version of the album.
Bachelor No. 2 was released in May 2000 on Mann's own record label Super-Ego Records. It included "How Am I Different," "Deathly," and "You Do" from Magnolia. "Nothing Is Good Enough" appears on the soundtrack as an instrumental. Interestingly, "Wise Up" was originally intended for the film Jerry McGuire. A really great article breaking down the soundtrack by A/VClub by Alex McLevy makes the observation that in a literal sense the song says that the film "is not going to stop" until the characters wise up. Certainly the scene in the film where the characters sing "Wise Up" is a point of inflection.
According to the Wikipedia article on Bachelor No. 2, Mann secured a distribution deal after selling the album from her website and Soundscan data as of 2008 showed that 230,000 copies had been sold.
In 2006, Mobile Fidelity Soundlab corrected sin of this album not existing on vinyl by pressing a limited run of 200g half-speed mastered LP's based on the original US CD (which means it doesn't have "Save Me" on it in place of "Driving Sideways" as the UK version did). These days copies of this are running around $200 and I was keeping an eye out to see if any might show up for a deal.
Thankfully, Aimee Mann is reissuing Bachelor No. 2 for its 20th anniversary for Black Friday Record Store Day as a 2 LP expanded version taking the original album and adding the Magnolia songs at the end. (this approach makes sense since it is a reissue of Bachelor No 2 primarily, but I think my mix is more fun) as well as a re-recorded version of "Wise Up." Looking at Amoeba's website, it will be priced at a reasonable $34.98. This is being touted as an "RSD First" which means that it will be generally available after RSD, though it's hard to tell if the 4000 copies they're showing is the total of all of the pressings or just what is available for RSD.
It will be interesting to hear that new version of "Wise Up." If I had to guess, it probably removes the drum machine. In the press release she mentions that she "used a lot of drum loops" and nowhere is it more apparent than on "Wise Up." Though for me, that works great.
The Super Ego Records twitter account posted the packaging:
The packaging is really nice with what appears to be a version of the cover art that looks like someone practicing calligraphy over it. The green vinyl and labels are gorgeous.
Here is the track listing from The Vinyl District (which had it by sides).:
How Am I Different
Nothing Is Good Enough
Deathly
Calling It Quits
Driving Sideways
Just Like Anyone
It Takes All Kinds
Wise Up Re-record
Build That Wall
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, In The Bins, Music, Personal History, Retail, Vinyl | Tagged 20th Anniversary, Aimee Mann, Black Friday, colored vinyl, Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson, Record Store Day, reissue, RSD, soundtrack, Vinyl | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Release) TWINS – Dream On – New single "So Far Gone"
Posted on May 12, 2020 by mike
TWINS : Oustanding in their Field
It doesn't seem that long ago that Cedar Falls band TWINS released Square America, a manifesto of guitar riff-filled adolescent desire. It picked up from where 2014's Tomboys on Parade left off– pulling pages from Rockpile, Cheap Trick and Big Star's recipe books.
In those four years since the last album, TWINS sustained a lineup change and apparently a crash course in adulthood somewhere along the way. If you've seen TWINS or Joel Sires live in recent years you'll have noticed the songs have switched focus. The songs still hang on the fantastic hooks the band is known for, but now with some introspection and willingness to let Joel Sires's lyrics take precedent.
I was commenting to someone recently that the 2014-2016 shows seem like ancient history and even though the songs on their latest album Dream On (out June 5th) are new, Joel's been playing them out for, I think, over three years. So, for some of us these songs are already like our favorite worn in shoes. Familiar and cozy.
In some regards, this approach of working the songs out live before hitting the studio is a similar process to one Springsteen, an obvious influence, was doing during the heyday of E-Street. The band played many songs live before the album came out and the fans came to anticipate the songs on the albums. We don't see that a lot these days since the process for an album is typically in secret until BAM! The load is blown on release day and everyone is left to sort out if it was good or not while they collectively smoke a cigarette.
If you haven't seen the band in action recently, the addition of Ben Rendall on keys and Toby Sires on lead guitar fills the sonic landscape of the band nicely.
It's Time to Play B-Sides is honored to be able to debut the 2nd single from Dream On: "So Far Gone." Joel Sires says this about the song:
It was one of the last songs I wrote for the record. I had been catching up on the news and whatever new crisis was unfolding at the time was particularly disturbing, even though I can't tell you specifically what it was now, and had me worried about the current state of affairs and the future of our country. So I went downstairs and wrote this song in about five minutes without the intention of it being for the band or really for anything. Mostly just to make myself feel better. Nevertheless I played it for them and they took it in a whole different direction, sort of this swampy Stonesy groove you hear on the record was all their creation.
Be sure to pre-order Dream On from TWINS from their Bandcamp page (which includes vinyl!):
Dream On by TWINS
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Exclusive, Music, Vinyl | Tagged Cedar Falls, Dream On, Iowa, joel sires, Square America, Twins, upcoming release, video | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Show) Bo Ramsey Adds 2018 Tour Dates– Des Moines 3/9, Cedar Rapids 3/10, Fairfield 3/23 and more
Posted on March 8, 2018 by mike
Bo Ramsey has started adding dates to his 2018 tour calendar.
Which is good news for the many fans in Iowa who have been following his career. He wrapped up 2017 with a couple of shows: one at the Mill in November with a lineup that included new sidemen Matthew Bernemann on drums and Randal Davis on guitar in addition to original 90's Backsliders band member Marty Christensen on bass. A late December show at The Octopus in Cedar Falls replaced Bernemann with longtime drummer Steve Hayes. These were both amazing shows with Bo in excellent form and clearly really enjoying himself.
Bo is playing with different band lineups and he also pulled in some deeper catalog songs for those shows, and it will be interesting to see if they stay in. It's been a long time since I've heard songs like "On The Range" (from 1988's Either Way). These have been the first shows that Bo has brought out the songs from his 2016 album Wildwood Calling. These instrumental tracks have been used to open the sets and do a fantastic job of adding some mood and atmospherics to the show.
Bo is playing two shows this week. Friday will be at the Kum & Go Theater (at The Des Moines Social Club) in Des Moines with Erik Koskinen. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the show. Saturday will be at CSPS in Cedar Rapids. Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 at the door.
Later this month Bo will be playing the very cool Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield on 3/23 and supporting Greg Brown at the Englert on 3/30 (no solo set).
The next show on his calendar is at The Shitty Barn in Spring Green on Saturday, June 16th.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Media, Music, Out and About, Upcoming Show | Tagged Bo Ramsey, Cafe Paradiso, Cedar Rapids, csps, des moines, Fairfield, Iowa, Kum & Go Theater, Upcoming Show | Leave a reply
2017 to me felt like a transition year in many ways– personally, politically, culturally and certainly musically. For me personally 2017 will represent the year that my wife and I made the biggest steps away from 2011 when I was unemployed for eight months following a 13-year run in IT middle management. We bought a house after renting for over six years– the house hunt was a crazy one with lots of ups and downs. But we found a house that we love and it ends up being kind of perfect for being a place our grandson can come hang out and listen to records with Papa.
2017 was another year in a troubling pattern of musician deaths. The biggest of these is the unexpected passing of Tom Petty which for me was as big a loss as Prince was in 2016. I discovered Petty in 1986 with the release of Southern Accents. Although I had heard the big singles on the radio up to that, Southern Accents was released when I was searching for music that spoke to me. In that regard I look at Tom Petty as being "my Beatles." The Beatles were a big part of my musical rearing, but they were already broken up by the time I started striking out on my own musical tastes. Petty was someone whose career set a benchmark for everyone who made guitar driven rootsy rock and roll. Petty continues to be something I can put on at any time and never tire of listening to. I was fortunate to be able to see him during his 40th Anniversary tour this summer in Des Moines and it was kind of full-circle as I was there with my dad and my brothers– just about 30 years after the first Tom Petty concert we saw in Chicago.
As far as new notable albums for 2017, I'm kind of out in left field again. My other writing gig as album reviewer for Little Village Magazine ends up determining what I listen to the most at any given time as I crash-listen to new Iowa-based or related albums and that is reflected again in my list. That said, these are all really strong releases that hold up against the deluge of new major releases. Albums that others are including in their lists that I probably need to give at least a cursory listen to include the new Foo Fighters album Concrete and Gold, Queens of the Stone Age's Villains, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's The Nashville Sound, Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. Some releases that nearly made the list were the new National album, the new Fleet Foxes album, and the new War on Drugs.
Here's my Top 20 for 2017 (In no particular order):
Beth Bombara – Map & No Direction – Beth Bombara has been cranking out really solid albums for a while now. She's a gifted songwriter and musician and her releases are always really strong. With her 2017 album, she has taken her spin on folk, Americana and rock and turned the "rock" knob up a bit putting out a record that is up there with the best releases Sheryl Crow put out. Bombara is kicking off 2018 with her first tour of Europe which will give her more deserved exposure.
Pieta Brown – Postcards – Brown's latest album is a collection of "musical postcards" which are made up of collaborations with folks like Calexico, Mark Knopfler, The Pines and David Lindley. The resulting album still sounds like a Pieta Brown album which is always a good thing. You can read my interview with Brown for Little Village Magazine here.
Charlie Parr – Dog – Dog is Charlie Parr's second release for Red House Records and he's continuing the full band trend for releases. Dog doesn't have Phil Cook and friends behind him like Stumpjumper did, but the album still has the same energy and blistering slide guitar and picking we've come to expect from Parr.
Crystal City – Bartenderly – Iowa City's Crystal City is primarily the duo of Dave Helmer and Sam Drella who stylistically occupy an intersection somewhere between John Prine and Paul Westerberg. Their latest album Bartenderly is a celebratory salvo of headbuzz rock for the bruised blue collar. You can read my review for Little Village Magazine here.
Deer Tick – Deer Tick 1 & 2 – This couple of albums from Deer Tick is as close to a #1 as I'm willing to commit to on this list. Aside from John McCauley's stint in the supergroup of Middle Brother with Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit I really hadn't listened to any Deer Tick until this two LP release this year. The band took a four-year hiatus while the members did things like start families. They came back together and pulled a Use-Your-Illusion two album release this year. The band says that these are not to be considered as one release, but really it would be tough choice to only buy one of them. The band said that they were always kind of two bands: an acoustic folk band or an electric rock band. So, this is what we got, an acoustic album in Vol 1 and a rock album in Vol 2. These records are both full of brilliant songs– no filler (unlike the Guns 'n' Roses pair mentioned earlier).
SUSTO – & I'm Fine Today – SUSTO is a "friend of Codfish Hollow" band that's played there a few times and I managed to catch them during the first GARP Festival in 2016 and was really impressed. They played a few songs from this album, so I was interested in hearing it when it came out this year. & I'm Fine Today is an album that slides around stylistically with ease and comfort making this album musically more interesting than their previous releases to me. This album was on a very regular rotation for me in 2017 and one that I never get tired of spinning. The song that rips me up every time I listen to it is what I consider to be the spiritual successor to "Smalltown Boy" by Bronski Beat : "Gay In The South." Brilliant song.
Hiss Golden Messenger – Hallelujah Anyhow – If you've been following my Year End posts, it shouldn't be surprising to see this album on here, since M.C. Taylor has been a favorite of mine since before he launched Hiss Golden Messenger. His partnership with Merge Records and with Phil and Brad Cook (formerly of Megafaun) has created a music juggernaut: touring nearly incessantly and creating four albums in three years of head-nodding rhythm and groove albums which draw inspiration from the golden era of Van the Man and The Dead. Releasing Hallelujah Anyhow so soon on the heels of the double album Heart Like A Levee and Vestapol is counter-intuitive based on the typical album release/tour/album release cycle. Taylor said that when he and manager Brad Cook were talking about wanting to release an album right away, they thought it felt good to do it and Merge was amenable to the idea, and certainly it was the right time because this album fires on all cylinders.
Game Theory – Supercalifragile – Prior to his unexpected passing in 2013, Scott Miller of Game Theory and The Loud Family was working on a new album of collaborations. To be titled Supercalifragile, it was going to be the first album of songs under the Game Theory moniker since the 1988 album Two Steps from the Middle Ages (itself was reissued in 2017 as part of the massive Omnivore Records reissue campaign). Miller's wife Kristine took the mantle of finishing the album by taking the notes and her memories of what he had planned and called in friends, former bandmembers and collaborators in to finish the album. The songs were in varying degrees of completeness: some had demo recordings Miller had created, some just notes. The resulting album is bittersweet: equal parts official posthumous release and tribute to the fallen songwriter. I find it to be a fitting closure. You can read my post on this site here.
Grateful Dead – Cornell 5/8/77 – When the Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux announced that Cornell 77 was going to be released as a Dead Archives official release, I was really excited (as many were). Cornell was one of the first full Dead tapes I ever heard and was really amazed by how good it sounded– both performance and recording itself. I had pretty much been avoiding Dead tapes due to how much of a mixed bag they were. As luck would have it, one of the early peer-to-peer trading networks (pre-dimeadozen) had the full cache of the Betty Boards tapes, which included the legendary 5/8/77 show. These were early rips of the reel-to-reels done by a close-knit group of Dead fans who bought the contents of the storage facility that she'd let lapse. Eventually the Dead pulled electronic trading of soundboards, but I had the show I cared about downloaded. I managed to snag one of the 5 LP box sets of which 7700 were pressed used on eBay. It had a crumpled box corner, but the contents were in fantastic shape. They did a fantastic job of cleaning up this recording and somehow even fixing the first missing couple of minutes. The bootleg that circulated had spliced in part of an audience recording which created a really annoying transition. The box has has re-energized my interest in the Dead, and I've added some LPs to my vinyl collection and I'll continue to do that, I'm sure.
Ryan Adams – Prisoner B-Sides – 2017 brought the newest album from Ryan Adams titled Prisoner. It was his third release since his signing to Blue Note Records, and second album of original work (his full-album cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 was also on Blue Note). In many ways Prisoner was kind of self-titled part 2. Most of the songs to me seemed like outtakes from Ryan Adams. Pretty good, but ultimately just more of the same 80's influenced power pop mixed his trademarked Americana. For me, Adams is most interesting when he's experimenting, and to that end, the massive 17-track collection of "B-Sides" from Prisoner is far more satisfying a listen. He still brings on the Smiths-influence here, but I just like the songs more. The B-Sides were released as a box set of 7-inch singles (that I should consider picking up at some point) and digital download. I'd love to see the 17 tracks released as a 2 LP (hint, hint Blue Note).
Loess – Pocosin – 2017 brought the glorious reunion of Clay Emerson and Ian Pullman as Loess. Their particular spin on electronic music comes from the Boards of Canada and early Autechre diced up and distorted ambient influence. I have loved everything that Loess has put out and Pocosin was an exciting addition for me this year. You can read my article about the release here.
The Right Now – Starlight – Chicago R&B and Soul band The Right Now's third album came out this year and it veered a bit away from their more classic sound towards a sound very influenced by more recent disco and funk. While still fronted by the signature powerhouse vocals of Stefanie Berecz, the update is a welcome one as the push in this direction has inspired some of the best songwriting to date from the band. All Killer No Filler indeed! Here is my article about the release on this site. Here is an article about a remix from Starlight that has a 60 minute mix of songs that inspired the album, Here is an article I wrote for Little Village Magazine about a show at The Mill.
Gloom Balloon – Drying the Eyes of the Goddess of Gloom, Underneath the Stars and the Moon – Gloom Balloon is the moniker for Des Moines producer/artist/label head Patrick Tape Fleming. This album ends up being kind of the sonic brother from another mother of Christoper The Conquered's album I've Given Up on Rock and Roll. I love this record– it sits somewhere around The Flaming Lips and ELO for experimentation and bombast at times. My review for Little Village is a good place to start reading about what I think.
Har-di-Har — we will will you – Julie and Andrew Thoreen released their first full length album as Har-di-Har in 2017. They used to live in Cedar Falls, but relocated to St. Paul a few years ago. we will will you is an album that captures a marriage in a precarious state of doubt. The resulting album is a compellingly personal album featuring their signature vocal harmonies and spiderwebby chord and percussion infrastructure.
The Pines – Pasture II – The Pines returned with a second EP of covers. This time we get covers of a Bo Ramsey and a Pieta Brown tune. Read my review for Little Village here.
TIRES – LP1 – Phil Young is in a whole bunch of bands in and around Des Moines including The Wheelers. His instrumental side project TIRES put out their debut album in early 2017. It comes from the same "emergency rock" post rock space as bands like Trans Am and Cougar and I dig it a lot. The vinyl has a hand-screened cover, which is really cool. Here is my review for Little Village.
Colleen – Vol. 1 – Cedar Rapids synthpop duo Colleen put out their debut EP in 2017. Reminds me of Polica or Portishead. They have a new EP already recorded and should come out pretty soon. Read my review for Little Village Magazine.
NAOMI – Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish – Iowa band NAOMI is named after its lead singer and cranks out "snarky pop rock" which is as apt a description of the proceedings as any. A fun, anthemic guitar driven album that picks up where Avril Lavigne and No Doubt left off in the early oughts. Check my review for Little Village here.
Ryne Doughty – Date Night – Ryne Doughty has been crafting is particular singer-songwriter folk for a few years. I happened to catch him opening for The Pines at CSPS a while ago. He openly admits to worshiping at the temple of Greg Brown and that influence is obvious, but he's got his own style and really we don't have enough of the storytelling songwriters around. Read my review of Date Night for Little Village.
The Dawn – Wooly – The Dawn are the jam band ambassadors for the Quad Cities. Their latest album Wooly is the first for Cartouche Records and, I think is a bit of a departure for them. Wooly draws more R&B influences– specifically Prince into the mix which makes this album my favorite of their catalog to date. Here is my review for Little Village.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Media, Music, Out and About, Personal History, Vinyl | Tagged 2017, 77, Beth Bombara, Cedar Rapids, Charlie Parr, Codfish Hollow, Colleen, Cornell, Crystal City, Deer Tick, game theory, GARP Festival, Gloom Balloon, Grateful Dead, Har-di-Har, Hiss Golden Messenger, little village magazine, Loess, NAOMI, Pieta Brown, ryan adams, Ryne Doughty, scott miller, SUSTO, The Dawn., The Pines, The Right Now, TIRES, top 20, Vinyl | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Show) Pieta Brown Wraps Up The Year Bringing Sawdust Collective to CSPS, Friday 12/1
Posted on December 1, 2017 by mike
Friday night (12/1) Pieta Brown is returning to CSPS in Cedar Rapids. It's her last live show of the year and she's bringing Bo Ramsey and Marty Christensen as "Sawdust Collective." Pieta's shows at CSPS are a rare magical combination of artist, audience and venue and are some of the best shows I've seen of hers.
Her latest album, Postcards is a collection of long distance collaborations with artists like Mark Knopfler, Calexico, David Lindley, The Pines, and others– "musical postcards." In my interview with her for Little Village Magazine earlier this year, she said this about it:
It just came together really seamlessly and it just happened. I started reaching out to some people — kind of wishful thinking people I would want to record with. You know I was really touched and honestly really inspired and kind of encouraged by getting the energy and the super-willingness right back at a time when I was struggling to figure out how to even afford to move forward and make another album. So, it was cool timing. And, it was really neat to do it here and I had never really recorded like that either. Which is to say that all of my other recordings have been recorded in a few days in a row with a live band, with everybody playing together. Maybe rehearse the songs one at a time or maybe have a day of rehearsal and then go in and cut the songs. Very experimental and not a lot of room for getting it exactly right so to speak. [laughs] One thing that was cool was just singing by myself with my guitar — I just have never really recorded that way except for a track here or there.
Pieta and Bo did a Daytrotter session earlier this year focusing on songs from Postcards.
Pieta Brown with Sawdust Collective will be at CSPS tonight. Doors will be at 7PM and the show will be at 8PM. Tickets are $17 in advance and $21 at the door.
Tickets and information are at the Legion Arts website HERE.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Daytrotter, Eastern Iowa, Interview, Little Village Magazine, Music, Out and About, Upcoming Show | Tagged Bo Ramsey, Calexico, Cedar Rapids, csps, legion arts, Live, Mark Knopfler, Marty Christensen, Pieta Brown, Postcards, Sawdust Collective, The Pines | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Show) River Glen and Band with DICKIE and Beth Bombara at Dick's Tap & Shake Room 11/17
Posted on November 15, 2017 by mike
River Glen
We're in the days of indecisive weather and confused clocks. It feels deceptively like fall in the daylight but nighttime's dark, cold fingers close around the plants from summer extinguishing what optimistic reaching for the sun they had left. The days are shorter and even if you race home from a day at work, the dark is nipping at your heels reminding you that before long it will be settled in around you. A long winter's guest. As you pull the last of summer's shorts and tees from the wash– only to be banished to a drawer until the earth is warm– you wonder what you can do to stall the inevitable.
River Glen Breitbach is a member of the extensive and musical Breitbach clan from Dubuque. Performing simply as River Glen, he is a multi-instrumentalist that mixes a blend of Folk, Pop, Rock, and Hip-Hop and Friday night he's bringing a full band to Dick's Tap & Shake Room promising a sunny and warm respite from the impending weather. What I've listened to so far fits pretty well with artists like Keller Williams or Jack Johnson.
If that wasn't enough, two of my favorite artists are opening the show.
Beth Bombara
I've been following St. Louis singer/songwriter Beth Bombara's career since the beginning and three albums and one EP's worth of rustic and yearning Americana prove that she's in it for the long haul and a songwriter to keep an eye on. I was excited to hear her on SiriusXM's The Loft this summer! Her latest album Map and No Direction is a more rock-leaning record than the previous two, but shows how her songwriting fits pretty much any mold. She draws easy comparisons to Natalie Merchant, I think. I love the George Harrison-ish slide hooks in "I Tried."
Also opening the show is Dick Prall– daytime proprietor of Dick's Tap & Shake Room and nighttime purveyor of pristine pop as DICKIE. After a few albums as Dick Prall and The Dick Prall Band and Starch Martins, he relaunched with a new name and a self-titled biographical song cycle in 2015 which I said in my review for Little Village Magazine, "…has the introspective pop we're used to from Prall-—the head-hanging desperation, the wistful turn-of-phrase, the hopeful wishes all delivered in a brigade of earworm-wrangling hooks."
Maybe we can't completely avoid the cold, but with this line up on Friday night, we can stall it a bit as we listen to three really amazing musicians bringing their art to the stage at Dick's.
There is no cover, but it starts at 9PM.
Here is the Facebook event, so you don't forget.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Little Village Magazine, Media, Music, Out and About, Personal History, Upcoming Show | Tagged Beth Bombara, Breitbach, dick prall, Dick's Tap & Shake Room, Dickie, River Glen, Upcoming Show | Leave a reply
2016 was the 10th birthday of It's Time to Play B-Sides, as unreal as that seems. This blog started as an offshoot of the regular conversations about music I was having at work with my friends and co-workers. At the time there wasn't the proliferation of music sites that there are today, and informed or researched information about music was tough to find. With encouragement from my friends, I started this as a way to capture some of the tangents we'd get into at work. It also ended up being a return of sorts to doing a music website after shuttering the somewhat popular website I was running about DJ Shadow. The name of the blog came from the signoff post I made to the DJ Shadow boards and was also a line from "Burning For You" by Blue Oyster Cult which always represented the desire to dig a little deeper into music– to flip the record over and listen to the songs on the B-Side.
The focus of It's Time to Play B-Sides has morphed a bit over the years, some of it due to the amount of time I have to dedicate to writing on it, some of it is because I have focused a lot of my music writing since 2009 as a contributor to Little Village Magazine. This also explains why this list includes a lot of Iowa artists since that's what we review. That said, there are some really amazing bands in Iowa and even after I review the albums, they stay in regular rotation for me and earn spots on my list.
As many will note, 2016 was a really strange year for music– sadly, mostly notable for the striking number of losses: Glenn Frey, David Bowie, Sharon Jones, Greg Lake, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Merle Haggard, Maurice White, and Paul Kantner. The one that really hit me hard was the loss of Prince. Prince represented for me the first artist that I discovered on my own. Most of my formative music taste came from my father and that music is still a big part of the foundation of what I think is good in music. Prince came onto the larger music scene for me with Purple Rain, and from there I followed his career, and bands he worked with closely. I don't think that we'll see another artist quite as influential or as boundless in talent and genius again. I hope I'm wrong, but I feel like part of his ability to branch out was due to the fact that he hit it big during a time when the music industry was creating huge stars and he could afford to make some albums that were more daring and experimental.
The list below is in no particular order, but represent the albums that I listened to the most in 2016.
Bon Iver – 22, A Million – Justin Vernon got back on the horse. It really seemed like he wasn't going to do another record as Bon Iver– he was burnt out of the attention and visibility he got from his Grammy-winning second album. He debuted a couple of the songs at the inaugural Eaux Claires Festival in 2015 with a glorious live show. It took the prodding of his friend Ryan Olson (Gayngs, Polica, etc.) to make him finish (or even keep working on) it. The resulting album seems related to the last album, but the textures and production are unexpected and frankly jolting in comparison, which was exactly his intention, I think. Lots of samples, and heavily affected recording techniques. I expect that this album will influence a lot of artists going forward. At the root of the album is still the perspective of Vernon. His losses and heartbreaks, the stories
Kalispell – Printer's Son – Kalispell is the name of Shane Leonard's solo music when he's not working with other bands like Field Report and JE Sunde. Printer's Son is a beautiful record, period. From my review on playbsides: "Printer's Son is one of those rare records that is so completely imagined and executed that when you first listen to it, it seems to drop unexpectedly out of the ether. It's a record that defies any convenient genre classification. Elements of ambience and folk and jazz come together to help deliver a grippingly emotional and personal album."
Lissie – My Wild West – Rock Island-native Elisabeth "Lissie" Maurus becomes homesick and moves back to Iowa and self-releases an album based on the experience. Full of hooks, driving and anthemic, it's a great start to a career back home. Here's my review from Little Village.
King of the Tramps – Cumplir con el Diablo – A later addition to the list. King of Tramps from Auburn, IA packs a lot of classic guitar-driven rock remniscent of Black Crowes into their latest effort (which comes in a super-cool transparent vinyl version). Here's my review from Little Village Magazine.
Durand Jones and the Indications – Durand Jones and the Indications – New release on the fantastic Soul and R&B label out of Ohio, Colemine Records. In 2016, Colemine Records started a kind of subscription series where they email you upcoming releases to allow you to opt-in to the special first-pressing variations. This is a much better approach to this idea than the forced-in versions that are the trend today. They let you listen to the releases and you can decide to be part of the drop or not. One of the releases was the debut release of Durand Jones and the Indications on transparent blue vinyl. Fantastic classic R&B in the tradition of Stax/Volt and Otis Redding. Check out the video for "Make A Change."
Hiss Golden Messenger – Heart Like A Levee – MC Taylor's second full-length on Merge started as a project to create musical accompaniment to an exhibition of photographs taken by William Gedney in 1972 of an Eastern Kentucky coal-mining camp. Initially the songs were going to be based on the photographs, but eventually took their own direction. The album is distinctively HGM with Taylor expressing the developing perspective of a man coming to terms with balancing a family life and a music career. I've been a fan from before the first release as HGM and eagerly await the next releases.
Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Lines – I found out about Steve Gunn through his connection to Hiss Golden Messenger– a one-off collaboration called Golden Gunn. His 2016 release is his debut on Matador Records. To me, his music is influenced by the great UK guitarists like Richard Thompson and Michael Chapman (whose upcoming release 50, he produced and played on).
William Tyler – Modern Country – Nashville guitar wizard William Tyler, who works with a lot folks including Hiss Golden Messenger and Lambchop, released another album of his particular atmospheric guitar acrobatics. For me, his albums add a wide cinematic soundtrack to whatever I'm doing.
Scott Hirsch – Blue Rider Songs – Scott Hirsch is the silent partner in Hiss Golden Messenger, but for his debut solo album (which has been a long time coming, frankly) he delivers a breezy laid-back album that sounds like JJ Cale's best work.
Bo Ramsey – Wildwood Calling – Bo Ramsey returns with his first album since 2008's Fragile. This album, recorded in his kitchen is instrumentals showcasing his distinctive country blues style he is reknowned for. Read my review in Little Village Magazine.
The Pines – Above the Prairie – It's safe to say that any time The Pines release a new album, it will be on my favorite albums for that year. Their signature atmospheric take on folk and blues has developed slowly over the releases to the point where it is nearly its own genre. I can't think of any other bands that sound quite like The Pines. Read Matt Steele's review in Little Village Magazine.
Chrash – Things My Friends Say – Chris Bernat of 90's alt rock band Tripmaster Monkey released their first album of angular pop rock on Quad Cities indie label Cartouche. From my review in Little Village Magazine: "Things My Friends Say is an album that distinguishes itself in the landscape of new releases by the determinedly outsider approach to songs which, in the end, are damn catchy."
Freakwater – Scheherazade – This reboot of Freakwater was a long time in the works, but turned out one of the best albums in their catalog. Scheherazade is a more rich and expansive version of their sound thanks to the band, which includes Jim Elkington of seemingly every band related to Chicago. Read my interview with Janet and Catherine in Little Village Magazine (Part 1, Part 2).
Halfloves – (self titled) – The Iowa band The Olympics reboot with the guiding hand of Brendan Darner to create a dark pop record of singular vision and execution. Read my review in Little Village Magazine.
SIRES – Soul For Sale – Another rebrand/reboot of an Iowa band– this time the former Dylan Sires and Neighbors become SIRES and also work with Brendan Darner to create a moody masterpiece (I think I see a trend here). Fantastic record, though– from my review in Little Village Magazine, " They've crafted an album packed with smart, bright classic hooks as well as dark, lusty bombastic rhythms: an impressive juxtaposition in contrast."
Max Jury – Max Jury – After a run of amazing singles and an EP, Des Moines native Max Jury releases his debut album, and the anticipation built by the singles was justified. Max Jury is a jaw-droppingly solid album. From my review in Little Village Magazine, "a balanced delivery of Spector-esque wall-of-sound and an updated take on early '70s R&B and soul." It's too bad that it's going to take Jury moving to the UK and blowing up over there before his native country takes notice.
TWINS – Square America – More Sires, please. This seeming dynasty of anyone with the last name Sires cranking out amazing pop rock continues with Cedar Falls band TWINS, whose second album on Maximum Ames takes their guitar rock guns and point them at 70's big hitters like Cheap Trick and KISS. These guys continue to slug it out on bar stages, but could easily fill an arena with their big sound if given the chance. Read my review in Little Village Magazine.
Devin Frank – The Vanishing Blues – Devin Frank of Poison Control Center releases an album influenced by 60's psych. "With The Vanishing Blues, Frank has made a refreshing stylistic statement by using a sonic palate derived from psychedelic rock's dawning era — using bits of Syd Barrett, Donovan and the Zombies. This makes the album a delightfully unique and compelling standout in the landscape of releases this year." – from my review in Little Village Magazine.
The Multiple Cat – Intricate Maps – This was an album I feel like I waited a long time for. I first heard these songs when Pat Stolley brought the band to Mission Creek Festival in 2015 opening for The Sea and Cake at The Mill. Really fantastic album that is tough to summarize. Lots of vintage tones in the guitar sounds, but not really a retro record, "It's tempting to suggest that Stolley's use of these elements makes Intricate Maps somehow retro. However, this stitched fabric of sound is more than the sum of its parts. It is a polished work that both honors the tradition of alternative rock and puts a current spin on it with Stolley's signature production work." from my review in Little Village Magazine.
Christopher The Conquered – I'm Giving Up On Rock & Roll – Dramatically bold anthemic rock that can barely be contained in a record. Christopher the Conquered is a one-man tour-de-force of pop, funny poignent and self-aware. Here's my review for Little Village Magazine.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Interview, Little Village Magazine, Music, Out and About, Personal History, Reviews, Vinyl | Tagged 2016, Bo Ramsey, Bon Iver, Brendan Darner, Cartouche Records, Chrash, Christopher the Conquered, Colemine Records, Devin Frank, Durand Jones and the Indications, Freakwater, Halfloves, Hiss Golden Messenger, Iowa Bands, Kalispell, King of the Tramps, lissie, little village magazine, Matador Records, Max Jury, Maximum Ames, merge records, Scott Hirsch, SIRES, Steve Gunn, The Multiple Cat, The Pines, top 20, Twins, William Tyler | Leave a reply
(Upcoming Show) 2010 American Idol Finalist Crystal Bowersox at CSPS Friday 8/12
Posted on August 9, 2016 by mike
Though some would debate this, it's my opinion that American Idol's Season 9 in 2010 was the last season worth watching. The winning chemistry of American Idol to me was always a combination of the judges and the talent, and 2010 was the year that Paula Abdul was no longer a judge and in 2011, show creator and longtime judge Simon Cowell was gone. My wife and I– longtime followers of Idol– didn't tune in for Season 10.. Over the nine years that we watched, there have been standouts in the talent, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Season Five's edge-of-the-seat powerhouse of Chris Daughtry/ Katherine McPhee/ Kellie Pickler/ Elliott Yasmin, Jordin Sparks, David Archuleta, David Cook and Chris Allen. One of my favorites for that nine-year run was Ohio native, by way of Chicago Crystal Bowersox. Though most of the highlights of American Idol have been squarely Top 40 types, Bowersox was an honest-to-goodness songwriter who could play and sing. She, with her slightly crunchy hippy personae topped with questionable dreadlocks, came off somehow as an underdog contender that I had hoped would take the top honors, but complications related to her Type-I diabetes (of which she is a spokesperson) cost her the top spot (Though, it could be argued that taking the top spot doesn't always help your career– I'm looking at you Ruben Studdard and David Cook).
Since Idol, Bowersox has released three albums, with her most recent full-length All That For This released in 2013 and produced by reknowned Los Lobos member and producer Steve Berlin and features guest Jakob Dylan. Notably, she also shed her dreadlocks in 2013. Her most recent release is a self-released 7-track EP titled Promises. It's difficult to glean what her next steps will be in her career based on her website, but she's touring quite a bit. I'm certainly interested to see her live. Check out this great performance of the Leonard Cohen classic "Hallelujah."
Crystal Bowersox will be performing for the 2nd time at CSPS this Friday night with a small band. The show is at 8PM (the doors and box office generally open an hour before) at tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door (if there are any left). You can purchase tickets at the CSPS box office or online. Details at the Legion Arts website.
Posted in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Music, Out and About, Personal History, Upcoming Show | Tagged American Idol, Cedar Rapids, Crystal Bowersox, csps, Iowa, Live, Upcoming Show | Leave a reply


text:
ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process
Mitrajit Mukherjee, Sankaran Sundaresan, Richard Porcelli
The synergistic integration of the "green" solid acid catalyst with the novel reactor is expected to provide refiners with a cleaner-by-design alternative to produce a high-octane gasoline component to meet both state and Federal requirements. The successful development of this new "green" technology to produce alkylate. Alkylation of isobutane with light (C3-C5) olefins in the presence of a strong catalyst involved a series of consecutive and parallel reactions occurring through carbocation intermediates. By integrating optimized acid-sites with superior mass transport characteristics and a pore architecture that reduces pore-mouth plugging, Exelus has developed a revolutionary solid acid catalyst. The new catalyst system is easily able to achieve a quantum jump in performance over other solid-acid catalysts. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the ACS Fuel Chemistry Meeting (Washington, DC Fall 2005).
ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints
Dive into the research topics of 'ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Alkylation Engineering & Materials Science 100%
Paraffins Engineering & Materials Science 76%
Acids Engineering & Materials Science 60%
Catalysts Engineering & Materials Science 56%
Environmental technology Engineering & Materials Science 17%
Olefins Engineering & Materials Science 15%
Gasoline Engineering & Materials Science 12%
Mass transfer Engineering & Materials Science 11%
Mukherjee, M., Sundaresan, S., & Porcelli, R. (2005). ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process. ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints, 50(2), 797-799.
Mukherjee, Mitrajit ; Sundaresan, Sankaran ; Porcelli, Richard. / ExSact : Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process. In: ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints. 2005 ; Vol. 50, No. 2. pp. 797-799.
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title = "ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process",
abstract = "The synergistic integration of the {"}green{"} solid acid catalyst with the novel reactor is expected to provide refiners with a cleaner-by-design alternative to produce a high-octane gasoline component to meet both state and Federal requirements. The successful development of this new {"}green{"} technology to produce alkylate. Alkylation of isobutane with light (C3-C5) olefins in the presence of a strong catalyst involved a series of consecutive and parallel reactions occurring through carbocation intermediates. By integrating optimized acid-sites with superior mass transport characteristics and a pore architecture that reduces pore-mouth plugging, Exelus has developed a revolutionary solid acid catalyst. The new catalyst system is easily able to achieve a quantum jump in performance over other solid-acid catalysts. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the ACS Fuel Chemistry Meeting (Washington, DC Fall 2005).",
author = "Mitrajit Mukherjee and Sankaran Sundaresan and Richard Porcelli",
journal = "ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints",
Mukherjee, M, Sundaresan, S & Porcelli, R 2005, 'ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process', ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 797-799.
ExSact : Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process. / Mukherjee, Mitrajit; Sundaresan, Sankaran; Porcelli, Richard.
In: ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints, Vol. 50, No. 2, 01.12.2005, p. 797-799.
T1 - ExSact
T2 - Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process
AU - Mukherjee, Mitrajit
AU - Sundaresan, Sankaran
AU - Porcelli, Richard
N2 - The synergistic integration of the "green" solid acid catalyst with the novel reactor is expected to provide refiners with a cleaner-by-design alternative to produce a high-octane gasoline component to meet both state and Federal requirements. The successful development of this new "green" technology to produce alkylate. Alkylation of isobutane with light (C3-C5) olefins in the presence of a strong catalyst involved a series of consecutive and parallel reactions occurring through carbocation intermediates. By integrating optimized acid-sites with superior mass transport characteristics and a pore architecture that reduces pore-mouth plugging, Exelus has developed a revolutionary solid acid catalyst. The new catalyst system is easily able to achieve a quantum jump in performance over other solid-acid catalysts. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the ACS Fuel Chemistry Meeting (Washington, DC Fall 2005).
AB - The synergistic integration of the "green" solid acid catalyst with the novel reactor is expected to provide refiners with a cleaner-by-design alternative to produce a high-octane gasoline component to meet both state and Federal requirements. The successful development of this new "green" technology to produce alkylate. Alkylation of isobutane with light (C3-C5) olefins in the presence of a strong catalyst involved a series of consecutive and parallel reactions occurring through carbocation intermediates. By integrating optimized acid-sites with superior mass transport characteristics and a pore architecture that reduces pore-mouth plugging, Exelus has developed a revolutionary solid acid catalyst. The new catalyst system is easily able to achieve a quantum jump in performance over other solid-acid catalysts. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the ACS Fuel Chemistry Meeting (Washington, DC Fall 2005).
JO - ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints
JF - ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints
Mukherjee M, Sundaresan S, Porcelli R. ExSact: Novel solid-acid catalyzed iso-paraffin alkylation process. ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry, Preprints. 2005 Dec 1;50(2):797-799.

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ALIA Information Online Conference is the biggest event in information professional's calendar. The conference has been held since 1990 and attracts over one thousand influential professionals from all sectors of the library industry.
ALIA National 2016 Conference will be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre, Australia from Monday 29 August to Friday 2 September 2016.
The library and information profession is constantly changing and remains at the forefront of technology thanks to those businesses, organisations and libraries who are continually innovating and evolving their products and services. With information constantly at our fingertips, we are seeing amazing changes and innovations taking place with incredible speed.
The 2014 National conference will be the major event in the Australian Library and Information calendar in 2014. The conference will take place at The Pullman, Albert Park from Monday 15 September to Friday 19 September 2014 and will include an inspiring and relevant program of workshops, sessions and keynote speakers as well as exciting new social events and an extensive trade exhibition showcasing the latest developments from our corporate partners.
ALIA and the Information Online Program Committee would like to invite you to ALIA Information Online 2013.
The conference and exhibition will be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from Tuesday 12 February to Friday 15 February 2013.
Read more about ALIA Information Online 2013.


However; there is another way… It's by increasing your average order value and a simple way to do that is through upselling and cross selling your products.
How much of your company's data is stored electronically? This is not a rhetorical question. Really. Stop and think about it. Accounting records? Marketing databases?


text:
OR XL P1 #247: Report of Captain Lemuel B. Norton, Chief Signal Officer, June 1-July 30, 1864
in Part 1 (Serial Number 80)
Numbers 247. Report of Captain Lemuel B. Norton, Signal Corps U. S. Army, Chief Signal Officer.1
HDQRS. DEPT. OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA,
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SIGNAL OFFICER,
September 2, 1864.
MAJOR:*
On June 14 a signal tower, 125 feet high, was finished at Cobb's Hill, which tower commands a view of Petersburg, a street therein, a portion of the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad, and turnpike, considerable of the Appomattox and James Rivers and a part of the enemy's lines in our front. Communication was opened between this tower and all those points which communicated with the old stations at its base, and also with a station which was placed at these headquarters as soon as the tower was finished.
One June 1 a station of observation was established on the river-bank, near Spring Hill fort, and opposite Port Walthall, and a signal officer placed there to observe and report movements of the enemy on the Petersburg and Richmond Railroad and turnpike, and along their works in the vicinity of the Port Walthall Junction. This station afterward proved to be a very important one, from the fact that no trains of the enemy's troops could be passed either way over the railroad in daylight, or columns moved along the turnpike, without the information being immediately given to the commanding general. From this station
*Fort portion of report (here omitted) covering operations from April 19 to June 14, 1864, see Vol. XXXVI, Part II, p. 20.
alone, during the month of August, over 300 reports of observation were sent to these headquarters, the most of which were forwarded to the general commanding.
On the 7th a station was established at Hatcher's house (headquarters Tenth Corps then), which communicated with the station at General Ferry's headquarters, and through it by signals with the water battery, and the flag-ship in James River. The magnetic telegraph operated between these headquarters and Hatcher's house.
The signal party which left this department with the Eighteenth Corps on the 27th of May returned with that corps on the 14th of June, and opened the following stations:
On the 18th of June one at General Smith's headquarters, which communicated with the station at these headquarters until the Eighteenth Corps moved to a line half a mile east of Petersburg, when the station was abandoned and another opened at General Smith's subsequent headquarters at Fried's house.
On June 23, by direction of General Smith, two signal stations were placed along the line of battle of the Eighteenth Corps, one was placed near General Stannard's headquarters and the other near General Martindale's headquarters, and both communicated with corps headquarters at Fried's house.
On June 26 by direction of General Smith, a station was established at the 20-pounder battery, near the Walthall house, on the right of the Eighteenth Corps, communicating with the headquarters of the corps, and designed to enable General Smith to direct by signals the fire of the above mentioned battery.
During the month of July no new stations were established, but all of those operated during the month of June were continued, except the following: That a Fort Chase near New Berne, N. C., which was temporarily vacated, it being of little importance, except in the event of an attack by the enemy, upon the anticipation of which a signal party could be readily sent there. The stations at Battery Numbers 6, Spring Hill fort, and City Point, in the Army of the James, were also discontinued, the former in order to shorten the line of signals between the Appomattox and the James. The station at Battery Numbers 3 having become visible from Cobb's Hill tower by the cutting of timber communication was opened (over Battery 6) directly between those two points. The station at Spring Hill fort was abandoned, because the fort itself had become of little immediate importance, from the fact that our army had advanced beyond it. The City Point station was, on July 30, turned over to the signal detachment with the Army of the Potomac, to be operated by its officers, for the reason that said station at that date communicated but with different parts of that army and was of no importance to this.*
I have the honor, to be, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. B. NORTON,
Captain and Chief Signal Officer, Dept. of Va. and N. C.
Major R. S. DAVIS,
Asst. Adjt. General, Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina.
*For continuation of report, see Vol. XLII, Part I.
The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XL, Part 1 (Serial Number 80), pages 681-682 ↩
Tagged as: july 30 1864, june 1 1864, june 14 1864, june 18 1864, june 23 1864, june 24 1864, june 26 1864, june 7 1864, Official Records, war of the rebellion
james booth November 10, 2013 at 11:32 am
lemuel bratcher norton my grand father , is he related to signal corp lemuel norton civil war
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AF-2G24-S45 is an airFiber X Antenna. This is connected to an airFiber X Radio for transmission in the radio range frequencies. It mainly supports point-to-point transmissions but point-to-multipo..
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· Dr Allan Chapman – "The Civil Servant and the Sunbeam, Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, pioneer of solar physics'.
Should be an educational day. I've just been setting stuff up and putting out a vast number of books to sell. If you are turning up on the day, the first talk by Roger Salt is now starting at 10:45am. Even if you are not coming tomorrow to the Birmingham and Midland Institute, hopefully you'll be coming to the BAA Historical Section Meeting here on the 25th November 2017 (https://britastro.org/node/8445).


text:
CEC president regrets Ukraine war, highlights Christian gospel for peace
March 22, 2022 English, News, Peacebuilding and Reconciliation
On the occasion of the 3rd European Catholic Social Days, the President of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), Rev. Christian Krieger, deeply regrets the war in Ukraine, saying, "This time of the year, dedicated for inner questioning, has been disrupted by the return of tragedy of war, traumas and devastating effects to European soil that we thought belonged to the past."
He said the proximity of this war has shaken many political positions in Europe. Political doctrines, which remained unshakeable for decades, are reconsidered in a few hours and abandoned in favour of the contrary. Even church circles are not being spared this deep questioning and uncertainty. "The Gospel calls us to be agents of reconciliation and peacemakers," he stressed in his sermon, delivered at St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava with the Community of Sant'Egidio on 18 March.
Remembering all people and communities whose lives have been shattered by the tragedy of war, he prayed, "May the Gospel of peace bring comfort to wounded and grieving hearts, may it encourage those who are seized by mistrust and suspicion to meet one another, may it pacify our actions and our encounters, and may it strengthen our hope."
He reflected on the fragility of peace and the dire need for continuous efforts toward reconciliation to work on healing the wounded memories, while stressing that there is no peace without justice.
The CEC President said that "peace is given to us" as Christians. "The Gospel reminds us from its very first pages that peace is given to us in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. So, where human hatred and violence undermine peace, let us build on the Gospel message of peace that invites us to trust in God and build on our ability to mobilise for justice and peace," he added.
He also expressed gratitude for the invitation to participate in the European Catholic Social Days and contribute a sermon as part of an ecumenical prayer for peace.
The 3rd European Catholic Social Days were organised by the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), CEC's close ecumenical Catholic partners, among other bodies. The event, held from 17-20 March, was an opportunity for the churches to reflect on their mission in contemporary society.
Read full text of CEC President Rev. Christian Krieger's sermon
Learn more about 3rd European Catholic Social Days


text:
Size won't stop Bailey
Written on the 6 May 2015 by SWSAS
THE South West Sydney Academy of Sport recently competed at the 2015 ClubsNSW Academy Games on the Central Coast, in a weekend which was full of surprises.
One major revelation was the success of the Academy's Development AFL squad which saw the under 14's go through undefeated and the under 16's only lose one game and that was against the Western Sydney Elite GWS squad.
But the greatest surprise of the tournament was watching an explosive performance from the smallest athlete on the AFL field, SWSAS athlete Bailey Gray. Bailey may look small but his playing ability is larger than life.
Bailey faced the challenge of competing against athletes double his size but did not hide away from the challenge; instead Bailey rose to the occasion and put in performance after performance not to be missed.
The young mid fielder who plays for the South West Tigers was an unstoppable force across the weekend, with his fearless attitude placing him towards the top of the tackle count each game.
There's no doubt Baileys performance was one of the contributing reasons the under 14's squad remained undefeated for the entire tournament, with Bailey also scoring a number of goals to aid his team's success.
This was the first year AFL has taken part in the Academy Games and Bailey was more than pleased to be a part of it. The introduction of AFL proved a huge success and will grow into a highly competitive core sport of the Academy Games in years to come.
The Academy's program run in partnership with the Campbelltown Blues is looking forward to expanding its AFL program next year, by working closer with AFL NSW/ACT, the GWS Giants Academy and local clubs, to provide a wider range of AFL athletes the opportunity to participate.


text:
Q: How do we reduce the height of the list based on the state of its item renderer We have a requirement to show a list of appointment slots. So every hour of a schedule has a set of 10 min slots. The requirement is that if we click on a arrow button at the 8:00, 9:00 hour slot, the layout of the hour slots should change from a vertical list to a horizontal list.
For this we modeled the system as follows:
ScheduleComponent ->(contains) -> List (Hours of schedule)
The HourViewComponent is an Item Renderer, that displays the 10 mins slots based on the available appointments by using a Slots List (list of slots in the 8:00 hour).
For the Slots List we have a Slot View Component as an Item Renderer.
Now the issue is that when we click on the 8:00 slot we are able to change the HourViewSlot from a VerticalState to a Horizontal state. But The container height is not collapsing in the minimized state. It occupies the same size as the vertical layout!
We tried using variableRowHeight attribute.
We tried setting the rowHeight in the Item Renderer button Click event Handler but this causes all the items list row height to change. We want only the current hour height to change.
We are not sure now if List is the right component to use. Please Help.
link text

A: I think you're on the right track with List, item renderers, and variableRowHeight.  I suspect that the HourViewComponent is not recalculating its height or recalculating it wrong.  It may be that nothing you do in the event handler is triggering an invalidateSize call or that sizes are somehow calculated in the wrong order.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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