Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “Clarity” is the twentieth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the closing chapter from a piece I published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. To gain a better sense of what this broader series is, I suggest starting from the beginning […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links My concern in discussing treatment in public like this is that I might somehow discourage someone who needs help from seeking that help. That’s part of my decision to explain a different side to Alcoholics Anonymous, from a perspective I didn’t have ten years ago. If […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “Adaptation” is the eighteenth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the eighth chapter from a piece I published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. To gain a better sense of what this broader series is, I suggest starting from the beginning […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
I don’t remember where I read or heard this, but it’s been said that getting sober and telling people about it like it’s something to be proud of is like walking into a room of unsuspecting people, unloading a machine gun, missing everyone, and asking for a pat on the back because you didn’t kill […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “We shall get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we’ve always had,” notes the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. “Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness.” I can’t stress enough how true it’s been for me that isolation isn’t merely a byproduct of my […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Nestled soundly in the world of DIY, Sterling Bidler works within a musical space that might be best categorized as industrial. Incorporating electronic music within a heavy landscape of drum and guitar, his sound is at times abrasive, but one that makes more sense when recognizing his approach is built off influences ranging from Death […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Influenza / Singled Out, Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Singled Out is a feature focusing on the stories behind a song, as told by the artists who made it. In this edition, Wxlley discusses the origins of the track “Bussin” and the purpose behind its creation, noting that he used it as a way to check in with himself to see if he could remain […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Influenza / Singled Out, Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Singled Out is a feature focusing on the stories behind a song, as told by the artists who made it. In this edition, Jasey Rebarcak discusses the first track to be released from Lady Revel‘s forthcoming album, Mood Music, which is set to drop September 15. The song, she says, carries themes of overcoming pain […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Influenza / Singled Out, Iowa, Music.
Singled Out is a feature focusing on the stories behind a song, as told by the artists who made it. In this edition, Lily DeTaeye discusses “Hive Mind,” the title track from her latest release, detailing the patterns in her life that surrounded the creation of the song and how they relate to a broader […]
Published in The Blog. Tags: Photos.
Hiking and trail photos shot August 31, 2023 at Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby, Illinois.
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links I’ve heard it said that the best diet is the one you’re actually willing to do. In recovery terms, there is no single best way to get or stay sober, there’s only the plan for recovery you’re willing to try. A decade or so ago I […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “Reconsidering Alcoholics Anonymous” is the fourteenth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the seventh chapter from a piece I published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. To gain a better sense of what this broader series is, I suggest starting from […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links What is a relapse? The question is straight forward, but the interpretation is where things become a little more opaque. Not to start things off in too dry a manner, but the Alcohol and Drug Foundation does well in defining it, explaining, “A relapse happens when […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “All or Nothing” is the twelfth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the sixth chapter from a piece I published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. To gain a better sense of what this broader series is, I suggest starting from […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “I do it every ten seconds,” writes Russell Brand in Recovery, “It could be a part in a film, a passing stranger or a can of Diet Coke—’If I get that, I’ll be alright,’ I think, not those words, it’s quicker and more insidious than words. […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Iowa, Music.
The following is a directory of shops that sell vinyl, CDs, cassettes and more in the state of Iowa, as well as music venues, clubs, bars, and other event spaces that host concerts across the state. For a more detailed introduction to the state’s record stores, read this Little Village article titled, “Iowa’s record stores […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Mark Rushton is both a recording and visual artist. This simple set of labels is a fine way of providing an overview of the “what,” but it fails to express the mammoth scope of his body of work. Since he began experimenting within the medium around the turn of the century, Rushton has amassed a […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
While regularly releasing music on his own, Dirt Nasty Beats has also been mixing it up across a variety of different genres and styles over the past several months in the collaborative realm. Working with artists both in and outside of Des Moines, where he’s based, a few notable credits from this phase of his […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Influenza / Singled Out, Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Singled Out is a feature focusing on the stories behind a song as told by the artists who made it. In this edition, director Jazz Niehaus provides commentary on the video for “Heat Stroke” by Annie Kemble. Having co-written the song with Annie, Jazz explained the inspiration which informed its lyrics and provided a foundation […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Composed and arranged in connection with a Melinda Jean Myers-choreographed UI Dance Company piece, Right Here is the latest release among a prolific string of work from Iowa City‘s Lex Leto. Over the past few years you may have seen or heard Lex via their work with Penny Peach, the Christine Burke Ensemble, or most […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
DRXCULV is a Des Moines-based MC and producer, and his new album, SUBURBAN NIGH+MARE, is aptly titled, bearing a deeply embedded sense for the nightmarish terrors provoked through everyday life. There’s a heavy flavor of collaboration throughout the release, featuring the likes of Chino Vivid, Lil AR, HXD, King Luu, and fellow Blackshoe Inc. crew […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
At 18 tracks, SKUNKWORKS is a sprawling release which does well to contradict prevailing trends catering to receding attention spans. This isn’t to say HU$H is remotely ignorant to the musical landscape around him, but only that he incorporates it into a mode which best reconciles with his own creative identity. Having already released a […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
This week’s edition of the Iowa Basement Tapes radio show covers the bases of the underground, featuring noisy punk, hardcore, sound collage, electronic psych, thrash, and indie rock. The show is a passion project of filmmaker, writer, and composer Kristian Day, and began broadcasting on KFMG in Des Moines in 2018. It’s since expanded its […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Of the many hats Kelly Plumber has donned over the years, it’s his role with the Iowa Musicians Project that introduced us. Somewhere along the way in preparing for an interview with Ames scene mainstay Bryon Dudley, a comment jumped out at me from another interview mentioning how Dudley donated a copy of each of […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “A Crisis of Identity” is the tenth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the fifth chapter from a piece I published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. To gain a better sense of what this broader series is, I suggest starting […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links A few months into my new job working the overnight shift at the in-patient treatment center, the facility experienced its first ever on-campus death from overdose. It occurred while my shift was just getting started. A patient had snuck in some drugs and they killed him. […]
Published in The Blog, villin. Tags: Interviews, Iowa, Music.
Billed as “a podcast where two music lovers come together to explore the landscape of the music industry across the Midwest,” Midwest Mixtape issued five episodes this May capturing interviews with a diverse cross-section of musicians. Created by Emily Postlethwait and Natalie Novak, the project was borne out of the pair of friends’ mutual appreciation […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links “Untreatable” is the eighth part of a project called Terminally Unique. It features what was originally the fourth chapter from a piece I first published in 2013 called Believed to Be Seen. For more background on what this series is, I suggest starting from the beginning with the […]
Published in Terminally Unique. Tags: Podcasts, Recovery.
Listen to Terminally Unique via… YouTubeSpotifyApple PodcastsAmazonPandoraAdditional Streaming Links There’s such a thick residue of resentment I see in myself in that last chapter, but I don’t think it I can be too critical of the perspective I had. Addiction can be wildly confusing and it can be frustrating from the perspective of someone going […]
Published in Strays. Tags: Nashville.
A decade agoOverlooking it allThe city is what it wasAs it isAs it never was. It has changedEverything doesAs time takes hold itSo tooChanges the view.Hillside.