#brooks strause

Laura Stevenson – Claustrophobe (Stream)

More than four dozen items into today’s review of the past week of music and there’s still more than a dozen things left to cover. That’s absurd. It’s also indicative of just how consistent 2015’s been in terms of great new releases. Whether it was a pair of music videos from Pity Sex and Will Butler or what essentially amount to attention-snagging previews from Heavy Looks and Chris Sutter‘s…

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pp8zd_g-Ms)

Fri Jan 31 Brooks Strauss w/Emily Mollman  @ the Octopus on the hill in Cedar Falls

Tues Feb 4 Josh Ritter @ the Englert in Iowa City

Wed Feb 5 Robert Ellis w/Dylan Sires & Neighbors @ the Mill in Iowa City 

Wed Feb 12 Man Man @ Gabes in Iowa City

Tues Feb 18 Ladysmith Black Mambazo  @ the Englert in Iowa City

Wed March 5 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings w/ Valerie June @ the Englert in Iowa City 

tlogotowa 006

brooks strause - acid casual cs (2013)

I am in the middle of several things right now:

1) One delicious americano

2) A PB&J

3) A series of goodbye mixtapes for my best friend who is moving away to Minneapolis on Saturday

4) A detailed history of my experience of this insane summer

But I had to stop everything and post immediately about:

5) This BRILLIANT(!!!!!!!!) album, Brooks Strause's My Foreign Right Hand.  I've been slow on the uptake, but after this first listen I am his fast-devoted fan. Seriously, every track on this record is solid, and not only that, each has its own personality and place within.

My first sighting of this Iowa City musician was in March at the event that introduced me to the Iowa music scene, Gross Domestic Product, a one-night celebration featuring local music acts. He was sitting on a chair playing to a large crowd all by himself in a top hat, a black puritanical-looking suit and boots, if my memory serves me. Maybe he only looked puritanical because he had a really long beard at the time.

Anyway, his appearance was striking but even more so was his piercing gaze and his gravel-grating voice. Half of the crowd was just socializing-- who knows why they came to a musical event just to talk loudly over the music-- but halfway through the set, when the shouters were ruining one of his more intimate songs, he asked them ever-so-angrily to please take their conversations to the other room. I'm not sure it helped, but lots of us cheered our support for his request and I suppose a lot of the offenders were offended by his bluntness. But he gained my R-E-S-P-E-C-T that night, because who needs charisma when your music rocks? I've seen him live once or twice since, playing with his talented band (which includes the lovely Skye Carrasco [ http://skyecarrasco.bandcamp.com/ ]) and they are a fun set to see, creating a variety of atmospheres from cabaret-punk to hungover Midwestern alt-blues.

For some reason I haven't gotten around to the album until now, but I can't get enough of it. It's not often an album excites me like this on the first listen, and this is even better because he's a local fixture. Hopefully when they go on tour this fall they'll make some waves for themselves throughout the states. I cannot WAIT to see this band again (probably not until the Maximum Ames festival, where they'll be playing with other locals and the likes of the Mountain Goats (!!!)) and buy this record on vinyl. Yeah, it's that good. Listen and love it here: http://brooksstrause.bandcamp.com/