Imagine Dragons “Smoke + Mirrors” Interscope Part of what made Imagine Dragons’ first album so much fun was its ability to be everybody and nobody all at once. You could [...]

Angle “Definitive Bedtime Stories” Independent   Des Moines does not have a great hip-hop scene. It is not for a lack of trying, it is just difficult to grow a [...]

Mint “Murder” (EP) Independent This winter, after its annual hibernation period, Mint returns to the local music forefront with a new EP. Consisting of three new songs and an extended [...]

Bob Dylan “Shadows in the Night” Columbia   Bob Dylan must be getting bored with just being a legend. Seemingly bereft of any good, new ideas, Dylan has chosen to [...]

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard “I’m in Your Mind Fuzz” Heavenly/Castle Face/ Flightless   There is a lot about this band to feel dubious about. With a name like [...]

Meghan Trainor “Title” Epic Meghan Trainor’s 2014 single, “All About That Bass,” is this generation’s “Mambo No 5.” It is catchy, it has a good hook and was everywhere for [...]

Sleater-Kinney “No Cities to Love” Sub Pop The fact that we are now living in 2015 and there are still people in the world who don’t know about Sleater-Kinney makes [...]

Charli XCX “Sucker” Asylum Records The odds are that if you know of Charli XCX, it is for her credits on Icona Pop’s “I Love It” and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” [...]

Peace Love & Stuff “Too Lonesome to Cry” Independent   Much like with the Love Songs for Lonely Monsters album last year, there has been a lot of built-up anticipation [...]

  Unknown Component “Arbitrary Ambiguity” Independent   Unknown Component is entirely the work of Ames-based Keith Lynch. At the end of the day, I don’t know if the things Lynch [...]