January 7, 2012
Review of Bryon Dudley's Surface Tension EP:
Bryon Dudley is a local musician, recording engineer and music fan who has played in many Ames rock and pop bands over the years, including Strong Like Bear, Otter, Sinema and a brand new shoegaze project Liana. He also has consistently recorded solo projects over the years, allowing himself to veer off the rock path and explore more experimental sounds and ideas.
His new EP “Surface Tension” is a wonderful and enveloping mixture of Dudley’s rock and experimental tendencies. The awesomely off-kilter opening track throws you for a bit of a loop as a robotically dispassionate female voice recites a prose poem over a mellow groove.
By the second and third tracks, though, we are firmly back in rock territory: sweet guitar licks, vocal harmonies, classic pop songs structures. The song “Surface Tension” transitions from a catchy set of verses into a heady breakdown in the middle, featuring an atmospheric saxophone solo, then expertly builds the tempo back up to the pace of those original catchy verses.
The EP ends on an experimental note with a bass-driven track that opens with a solid groove that never wavers. Multiple beats, including a surprisingly versatile percussive scratching sound reminiscent of live turntabalism, play against the bass and lead to a wave of noisy guitar tones that wash over the beats without overpowering the groove.
Dudley lined up a bunch of great music friends to play on the album, such as Rachel Dudley, Jordan Mull, Kate Kennedy, Al Clarke, Matt Dake and Kai Tanaka. The result is a local music gem with an unusual and very satisfying form: two killer rock tracks bookended by tasteful experiments from the edges of pop music.
“Surface Tension is available through iTunes or Des Moines label Sleep on the Floor.
-Nate Logsdon
December 13, 2011
We're jubilant to announce that we are working with Bryon Dudley on his first solo release, Surface Tension EP. Listen to "Silver Linings" below.
October 2, 2011
The River Monks have embarked on a lengthy tour with Elizabeth Arynn and will be back in Des Moines on October 15 to play Vaudeville Mews with Bradley Unit. Awesome show at People's with William Elliott Whitmore on November 2 as well. Dates below.
October 3, 2011 @ Rachael's Cafe (Bloomington, IN)
October 4, 2011 @ Vanderbilt University WRVU Radio Session (Nashville, TN)
October 4, 2011 @ National Underground (Nashville, TN)
October 5, 2011 @ House of Pride (Murfreesboro, TN)
October 6, 2011 @ Preservation Pub (Knoxville, TN)
October 7, 2011 @ Lander University (Greenwood, SC)
October 8, 2011 @ Conundrum Music Hall (Columbia, SC)
October 9, 2011 @ Joyce's House (Marietta, GA)
October 11, 2011 @ The Frame (Memphis, TN)
October 13, 2011 @ Maxine's (Hot Springs, AR)
October 14, 2011 @ The Front Porch (Springfield, MO)
October 15, 2011 @ Vaudeville Mews (Des Moines, IA)
October 20, 2011 @ Peace Tree Brewery (Knoxville, IA)
October 21, 2011 @ Adams Street Cafe (Creston, IA)
October 22, 2011 @ LOCUSIC Launch Party, Bombay Bicycle Club (Clive, IA)
November 2, 2011 @ People's w/ William Elliott Whitmore (Des Moines, IA)
December 2, 2011 @ Science Center (Des Moines, IA)
December 3, 2011 @ Maintenance Shop (Ames, IA)
September 5, 2011
New reviews for The River Monks and Blutiger Fluss from Des Moines Music Coalition:
Drawing from folk influences as well as indie rock and pop, Jovials is the kind of album that any avid music fan can listen to all the way through without boredom or disappointment. The album clearly highlights the music talent of each member, as the instrumentals in each song are not only incomparable but also clean-sounding and recognizable to any ear. Ukulele, guitar, and various percussion instruments especially stand out, just to name a few.
With catchy lyrics and harmonies that incorporate female and male vocals alike, each song has a unique feel that sets it apart from the other tracks. Listeners will not catch themselves falling into a lull with this album, and it is simply a refreshing listen great for any music fan. The album is fitting for The River Monks, which draws on their name that was inspired by a group of monks that fished in the Des Moines river long ago. The sound is rather organic and natural, not forced or overdone. The album has a peaceful and calm tone to it, but not in a put-the-listener-to-sleep sort of way. It instead has the feel of a lazy Sunday afternoon spent lounging and relaxing on a sunny patch of grass.
Overall, Jovials is a great album that any music fan will enjoy simply because of its stand-out qualities and the passion behind each track. Support Des Moines' ever-growing local music scene by having a listen to The River Monks, some of the pioneers of our city's music movement.
Images of Saturn fill the various panels of the album, and true to its name, Rings of Saturn, brings the listener exactly what it advertises, a trip to outer space through sound blended together in a way that both hooks the listener and keeps them interested in what is going to occur next within each song. For fans of music constantly pushing the boundaries of genre, Rings of Saturn is difficult to classify, and so unique that it tickles the curiosity of anyone interested in sounds and what is considered electronica.
For a listen that is unlike any other, pick up Blutiger Fluss's third conceptual album (the other conceptual albums that they have released also incorporate specific aspects of space). The sounds are indescribable and vary greatly within each of the four songs on the album. With funky names like "Janus" and "Epimetheous" the listener comes in to each song blind, with not a clue what sound will resonate first. Rings of Saturn is a release on the local record label called Sleep on the Floor and can be purchased at sleeponthefloor.com. Blutiger Fluss's album sets them apart from all other local bands in terms of the sounds they create, along with the mood that the music overall instills in listeners. Rings of Saturn is pioneering the way for other experimental bands in the local area.
August 24, 2011
Two new reviews for Distant Trains:
Distant Trains is the solo project of Iowa musician Chuck Hoffman, who plays in Des Moines band Why Make Clocks, among other varied musical projects around the state. Web developer by day, rock and roll animal by night, Chuck is the sort of musician who keeps the Iowa rock scene exciting: he knows everyone, has been in a band with almost everyone, and he’ll be down front at your show grinning and head-nodding, even if he has to work in the morning.
Congratulations On Your Suicide is a departure from the last CD-R I heard by him, which was a collection of sunny, up-tempo pop songs, roughed up with lo fi samples. Hoffman’s bass guitar dominates this album, both as a pure sine rumble and as a fuzzed out lead instrument. The songs owe a debt to sludge-rockers like Soundgarden and the Melvins, but Hoffman is more of a surrealist, incorporating cruddy samples of evangelists on the monumental “DDDE,” which sounds like the fade-out of the Beatles “I Want You” played at the wrong speed. “ABX” combines a herky-jerky drum machine beat with a muffled vocal before breaking down into rumbling and whispers.
“When did you finally realize you were grown?” Hoffman asks at the beginning of “62MF” and it’s an open question. There’s nothing childish about Congratulations’ songwriting; Hoffman has an ear for satisfying riffs that develop and modulate, and while he loves his distortion pedals he never uses them to screech or scream. He retains a childlike affection for the direct sensual pleasure of sonic texture–loud, soft, distorted, pure, all dancing together.
Distorted bass guitar with clean drum
programming and wandering keys on top. Plus vocal. “Take Care” is like a
doom metal version of Soul Whirling Somewhere. And the bursts of bluesy
guitar, I should not be enjoying this. The production can be summed up in
two words: clean scuzz. Just like the early work of one of my favorite
bands, Idaho. “Desert” is probably more like Queens Of The Stone Age, maybe?
I enjoy the distorto-bass guitar-forward songwriting, vocals waaaaay off
over there in the semi-background. The elements are familiar, but the
picture is still pretty.
-Ian C Stewart
May 28, 2011
From Sonic Curiosity
This release from 2010 offers 70 minutes of cosmic electronic music.
Blutiger Fluss is: Jeff Hutchison (on synths, keys and effects) and Jim Duede (on synths, keys, guitar, and effects).
Blutiger Fluss has harnessed modern technology to recapture the mood of 70s era Euro electronics with flowing atmospherics tempered by dreamy melodics.
Mild texturals are utilized to generate an environment of celestial characteristics which serve as a foundation for additional harmonics. The temperament created by this substructure is one of gentle cosmic vistas, expansive in scope yet deeply moving in their fundamental simplicity.
Meanwhile the auxiliary electronics serve to establish a more melodic presence with fluid chords and darkly churning tonalities, all contributing to evoke a panorama of interplanetary locale. The listener is transported into an orbital position where sparkling pulsations approximate the majestic sweep of Saturn's rings, while the basic undercurrent maintains an awe-inspiring vantage of high altitude, gazing down upon the stately clouds of the far-flung planet.
Instead of agile keyboarding, the chords are established and coaxed into eternal sustains. The tracks are long, affording the songs to gradually coalesce into somber structures of noble mettle.
Devoid of rhythm, this music exudes a spacey disposition with streaming harmonics and serene passages of tenuous definition. Sidereal effects enhance this otherworldly milieu, resulting in tuneage with a strong appeal to aficionados of outer space.
April 30, 2011
Read the excellent review from Nate Logsdon at Ames Tribune. Thanks Nate!
The new album from the Des Moines band The
River Monks is a crisp, clean and gorgeous collection of
breezy acoustic pop songs. Their style of pop has a depth by
the element of Americana and folk music in their sound. All
the members of the four-piece have some serious folk chops:
each tone of every instrument on this record is clear,
bright and balanced against the other instruments.
The record is also notable for the richly layered vocal
harmonies that grace the songs. The lead vocalist and
primary songwriter, Ryan Stier has a well-defined upper
range, which at times may remind you of Sufjan Stevens or
Elliott Smith. His voice blends very well with the voices of
his bandmates; the harmonies are an instrument of their own.
The River Monks represents and celebrates Des Moines with
pride. Their name references the French meaning of the
phrase “Des Moines,” and their album cover is graced with
the outline of the state of Iowa. I love it that more and
more bands are consciously promoting the state of Iowa and
the musical culture we have here.
The River Monks are also representative of a particular
style of indie folk/pop that is thriving in Des Moines right
now. You could almost call it the Des Moines Sound.
Excellent acts like Cashes Rivers, Canby, Seedlings and
Parlours have some serious traction in the scene, and they
all share a taste for clean-sounding tones, soaring melodies
enriched by lovely vocal harmonies and a clean, polished
finish. The River Monks will head out on tour in May to
support their new record, and I have no doubt they will
leave behind a good impression of Des Moines and Iowa
wherever they go.
April 8, 2011
From the recent Cityview:
Admittedly, I’ve been captivated by Des Moines-based Sleep on the Floor’s impressive catalog thus far, giving every indie-rock album it has sent my way in the last couple of years good reviews for good reasons. Owner Austin Semerad has a knack for recording quality records by talented local bands, and The River Monks’ “Jovial” is no exception thanks in large part to its highly textural, spacious, indie-rock-folk sound that defies the stigma of home recordings. On “Jovials,” singer-songwriter-guitarist Ryan Stier, Joel Gettys, Ryan Frampton and newcomer Drew Rauch (with help from other local musicians) deliver 14 creative, contemplative tracks (“Pelica,” “Of Snow,” “Winter’s Backdrop” and “Yellow Blue & Green”) that demonstrate unconventional song structures and musical knowledge to good effect on this intimate, intelligent offering from Sleep on the Floor.
Wow. Thanks Michael!!
April 2, 2011
From futuresequence:
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Weathers has released numerous solo works and collaborations over the past few years. He is one half of Full Spectrum records, the other being Andrew Marino, however this LP is released on Sleep on the Floor.
'We're Not Cautious' features Weathers own guitars, banjo, organ, percussion, voice, and electronics talents together with seven other musicians thus forming the ensemble, and extending the breadth of instrumentation to include cello, guitar, flute, sax, voices and more electronics. With so many component parts it is difficult especially for the new comer, to predict what we might hear. Thankfully We're Not Cautious is an album which will take you by surprise, for it is one that picks you off your feet and suspends all expectations or constraints you may have of how these instruments 'should' be played and sound.
Whilst there is certainly a strong vein of twanging guitar and plucked banjo, and an equally strong leaning towards an Americana aesthetic, Weathers and troup move things into a more experimental environment. Drones are intertwined with cello and violin, electronics and samples blend with guitar and effected vocals. Whilst some experimental works can feel disparate or cold, this is quite the opposite. Weathers' compositions seem to describe scenes or memories of light, and more precisely, of the sun. In fact every track creates wonderful nostalgic images of eyes watering from staring at the sun (Face Up to the Sun), or the end of Summer, and beginning of autumn/fall (Left Arm Sunburnt (Iowa Mix)).
Weathers also brings a tongue-in-cheek feel with lyrics such as 'who will rock the cradle when I'm gone?', and a ramshackle rendition of tradition gospel song 'Down to the River to Pray' also featured in the Coen Brothers film 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'. This is followed by the emotive banjo and strings on 'Ecstatic, Unchanging' - which rises, and seems to settle into itself before stuttered and electronically effected vocals add a ghostly tone but very real urgency. The track plays out the same chord progression with slight variations and ever increasing tension before ebbing away.
Even in the final minutes of 'To Burn Yourself Completely' the track reprises for two minutes of almost no sound, demanding the listener to listen hard, to participate. The first half of last track Seaworthy, being solely of loosely recorded live banjo and voice unpredictably ends with quiet electronic synth drone.
A tremendous amalgam of instruments, electronics and voice, all composed and played with an adventurous, yet tender nature. I can not recommend 'We're Not Cautious' highly enough, this will be my sound of the Spring, and quite possibly the Summer too.
March 15, 2011
New Blutiger Fluss review:
“Rings of Saturn” is the fourth release by the Des Moines, Iowa-based duo Jeff Hutchison and Jim Duede, and their third concept album surrounding a planet. The music on the four lengthy tracks embarks on an instrumental ambient/space journey in which the cosmic atmosphere remains the key element. The expansive, slightly minimal soundscapes soft soar along, with only occasionally a melodic line intervening with the morphing pads. The heritage of classic ‘70’s electronic music though still shimmers through the veins of the duos music, while at the same time implementing bits and pieces of abstract/experimentalism. In my opinion, the best spaced-out dimensions are acchieved on the third track “Magnetosphäre”, featuring some very nice swirling and pulsating textures with a psychedelic edge.
March 8, 2011
The River Monks' debut album Jovials is officially released today! They're keeping busy with lots of upcoming shows so don't miss a chance to see them put on an amazing live show!
February 28, 2011
Andrew Weathers Ensemble's album We're Not Cautious is officially released tomorrow! Check out their upcoming shows. And it's only a few more days until The River Monks' CD release party at Vaudeville Mews!!!!
February 12, 2011
Seachange
Check out the new Andrew Weathers Ensemble track above which appears on the upcoming We're Not Cautious.
February 11, 2011
Pelica
Right above you can listen to the song "Pelica" from The River Monks' debut album Jovials!
February 6, 2011
New song available to stream from Andrew Weathers Ensemble's album We're Not Cautious.
February 5, 2011
Above is the artwork for the cover of The River Monks' upcoming album Jovials! Love it!
January 29, 2011
Listen to a short teaser track from Andrew Weathers Ensemble's We're Not Cautious above.
January 28, 2011
The new album from space duo Blutiger Fluss is out now! Order it here at this site. Also check out the crazy fractured artwork above for the upcoming Andrew Weathers Ensemble album, called We're Not Cautious, which gets released March 1.
January 22, 2011
Check out the spacey artwork for the Blutiger Fluss album Rings of Saturn. Release date is January 25 (this Tuesday!) so don't forget to preorder your copy here and utilize the current buy one, get one sale!*