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1 week ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Cover the Mirrors is Ben Kweller’s seventh album and his first since the tragic death of his son at 16 due to a car accident. How does someone continue after such a tragedy? Only those who have experienced such things know. I’d like to think that Ben Kweller found solace in the creation of this new record. Cover the Mirrors is a sad record, but also a joyous piece of musicianship.
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2 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Better Dreaming takes notes from classics like Talking Heads' Speaking in Tongues and the works of Animal Collective, but with Tune-Yards' own unique spin. The record showcases Tune-Yards' musical abilities to great effect — from funk, electropop, a cappella to soul, this album is a buffet of genres. And yet it never loses the overall sound/vibe that Tune-Yards has established. The art rock vibes are strong with this one.
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3 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Greenbelt Music Festival — May 16 & 17: CliveFeaturing a good blend of local and touring acts in the Americana/roots vein, Greenbelt is fun for the whole family. Located in Clive right off the Greenbelt trail, it’s a great way to kick off summer festival season. Acts this year include The Devil Makes Three, Shovels & Rope, Hiss Golden Messenger, Flash In A Pan and many more. Gays and Faes — May 30 — Jun. 1: DecorahTo start off Pride month we have Gays and Faes happening in Decorah.
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3 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Arcade Fire released some of the best albums of the 2000s and 2010s. Two of those are Funeral, which is a classic album that has inspired many different artists and The Suburbs, which won the group Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammys and is easily one of the best rock albums of the last 15 years. 2013's Reflektor saw the band trying some experimental ideas, which received critical success. Since then, things have been a little underwhelming.
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1 month ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
In 2022 Car Seat Headrest was on the road touring — as one does in a band. Frontman Will Toledo came down with COVID and it morphed into long COVID. The band canceled the remainder of the tour and it was unclear if they would even continue as a group. Toledo was bedridden and developed a histamine intolerance. While dealing with all this he started work on what has become the band's latest release, The Scholars.
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1 month ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
When a band releases a self-titled album it’s usually their debut, but that's not the case here. This is the fourth studio release from Lucius. For many bands, album four is a turning point, and that’s how this record reads. It’s a level up for a band that was already operating quite efficiently. While listening to the record I got the feeling that the band members can read each other's next moves in a pitch-black room. The band is polished and composed of masterful players.
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1 month ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Sometimes you wonder why a successful band’s frontperson goes on to make solo music. TV On The Radio is one of the more renowned indie bands of the last 20 years, with a collab with David Bowie, a track in Breaking Bad, and headlining performances at some of the biggest fests around, to name just a few of their accomplishments. But the band's been pretty quiet since the release of 2014's Seeds. Sometimes bands need breaks and sometimes it lasts a while — nothing is worse than burnout.
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2 months ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
The 1970s was a turning point that saw the end of the idealistic ‘60s. Among the major events of the decade were the messy finale of the Vietnam War, Watergate, women’s liberation, the oil crisis, environmentalism, Star Warsand the Iranian hostage crisis. These events shaped the decade and teed up the ‘80s fallout. Hippies were still around, but the end of the ‘60s marked a conclusion for the poignancy of the movement. Disco, punk, metal, prog-rock, even hip-hop were all born in this decade.
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2 months ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
Michelle Zauner, who performs under the moniker Japanese Breakfast, has had a wild couple of years. After the success of her 2021 album Jubileeand memoir Crying in H Mart (which spent 60 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list), Zauner moved to South Korea to study Korean at Sogang University’s Korean Language Education Center. While there, she also spent time working on her latest album, which released March 21.
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Mar 2, 2025 | 
iowapublicradio.org | Anthony Scanga
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been awarding best score and original song Oscar Awards for about as long as the academy has existed. With the 97th awards ceremony happening March 2 we looked at score winners and nominees from the past and found many iconic scores that never won — and even more that were never nominated, but should have been. Here's our list of scores that should have, but didn't get, Academy Awards.
