Cityview | Central Iowa's Independent Weekly

Midwest Marauders

Central Standard Records proves quality music can come from Iowa

When most people think of Iowa, hip-hop is not one of the first words that comes to mind. And when you add in that some white folks from Des Moines decided to start a hip-hop label, you might even hear some chuckling. Central Standard Records (www.central-standard.com) founders Joe Williams, Luke Driscoll, AKA Aeon Grey and Mindy Hoskin-Driscoll have heard this all before. But when people crank up albums from their artists and their heads start bobbing and bodies start moving, they get the last laugh.

“The idea started because I was helping Luke with some musical stuff as a friend,” said Williams, who ran the Ames-based label Bi-Fi Records. “It kind of became more enticing to just create our own label rather than have someone else do it.”

The decision to start the label ultimately came down to another decision that was out of their hands.

“I was applying for a job that would make my quality of life a lot different,” Williams said. “I told Luke, if I got the job we are starting a label… and I got the job.”... Read More>>

Barcus hangs up; Register screws up; IPERS is down

So when it’s clear David Adelman has finished out-of-the-running for a Des Moines city council seat in last week’s primary, he calls the two who beat him — and who will face each other in a runoff — to congratulate them. Skip Moore was kind and gracious, Adelman reports, asking about his family and making some small talk. Leisha Barcus, Adelman says, said she was too busy to talk, that she was busy celebrating her victory — and hung up on him.

An Adelman endorsement could make the difference in the runoff between Barcus and Moore. Asked by Cityview after the snub, Adelman said he didn’t know whether he’d come out for a candidate in the Dec. 1 runoff. Read More>>

Jennings finds humanity in the contrasts of ‘Blood of Man’

Mason Jennings admits that his new album, “Blood of Man,” is his darkest and his lightest album. In reality, it might be the 34-year-old, folk-rock Minnesotan’s most human album because it captures the highs and lows of a spectrum of people, ranging from carefree children, to working parents, to murderers.

“I think the record is about polarity and trying to free myself up to have full freedom of expression,” said Jennings via telephone from his Minnesota home. “I think it has to do with making the dark songs as dark as they can be and the light ones as light as they can be… to stretch the contrast out a little bit.”

The singer-songwriter-guitarist took several artistic licenses to create the kind of thematic, instrumental and lyrical contrasts that characterize the electrified “Blood of Man.” For starters, he took cues from his sons, ages 3 and 6. Last Christmas, while decorating the tree, his eldest son curiously asked about one of the ornaments sporting an electric guitar. Jennings, an established acoustic artist, was horrified at the thought that his son didn’t recognize an electric guitar, so he ran downstairs and returned with his wife’s vintage electric hollow body guitar, plugged in and tore into The Who’s “My Generation.” The jamming continued for two hours with the kids dancing around the room, and Jennings recalling the freedom of his youth and the electric guitar.

Smokey Row wows Sherman Hill

On my last trip to Seattle, a sassy concierge gave me the following directions: “Go straight by 12 Starbucks and turn left at the 13th Starbucks. Your restaurant will be half way between the fourth and fifth Starbucks after that.”

Sometimes you win a war by losing battles. That’s the case with Des Moines’ coffeehouse culture.

Before the mid part of this decade, central Iowa did not fit the expansion profile of industrial coffee chains Starbucks and Caribou. That helped independent coffeehouses grow distinctive personalities. Java Joe’s nourished the independent music and art scenes. So did Zanzibar’s, which also supported fresh and local farms and artisan bakeries. Grounds for Celebration developed their own gelatos. All those places roasted their own beans. Amici brought an almost fanatical Italian expression to the scene with Tuscan machines, Bolognese roasted beans, Udinese china and an exceptional Sicilian wine list. Half a dozen other independent coffeehouses served distinct neighborhood or cultural niches, like Mars (Dogtown), Cup o’ Kryptonite (comic books) and The Break Room (pet owners). Read More>>”