Fetal Pig are soon to head out to Flat Black Studios in Iowa City to record songs both old and new. If all goes well, we will end up with a totally insane record with no definite plans on how it’s to be released

Why Make Clocks will once again be on the bill with Mark Mallman at Vaudeville Mews, Wednesday, November 10 at 7:30 pm. So is Black Ambient Manifesto.

Unable to put the time together to rehearse with a live drummer, and not wanting to do a guitar-songwriter-folkie set, I spent money on a software drum machine to run on my laptop, meaning Distant Trains is back! I’ll be opening Rhonda Is A Dead Bitch’s‘s release party for the Laos 12″ EP, also at Vaudeville Mews, 9:30 pm Saturday November 20. You should seriously consider picking up this RIADB record they’ll be flogging, not only because it’s got good music on it (look around elsewhere on this site for videos of a couple of its tracks), but also, it has gone through hell to get to you — first the pressing plant had plates come out bad and get broken, then the first batch of the records got mistakenly delivered to Jason Warden’s now-vacant former residence, left on the front porch, where they were absconded with by persons unknown — who apparently, upon opening the boxes and apprehending the contents, graciously returned them to where they had found them the following day. A really nifty band called Golden Veins will be in the middle slot, you should definitely check them out too, they’ve got folks from Beati Paoli involved.

Speaking of release parties, there’s one coming up for the hotly anticipated Samuel Locke Ward and the Boo-Hoos/Mumfords split 7″ at the Blue Moose Taphouse in Iowa City, 10pm on Friday, November 12, and probably not long before they get the record up for mail-order.

I’ve listened to this thing a few times in download form. The band is from Spain. The A-side sounds like a mixture of Om and Hawkwind with a big sludgy bass sound, and the B-side sounds like Popol Vuh with a big sludgy bass sound. If you want the 7″ though, you pretty much have to mail-order it from this label in the Czech Republic, so it will cost you. The B-side is instrumental and I’m pretty sure the first verse on the A-side ends with the words “just like Geddy Lee.”

Canyons, the new band put together by Des Moines songwriter Gabe Cordova, made its debut last night at Vaudeville Mews, and sounded good despite Gabe’s voice being a tad bit under the weather. Dan remarked to me that they sounded rather like Palace Brothers. Crystal City‘s winsome folk sounds got the night started, and following Canyons we were treated to really nice atmospheric electro-pop sounds from Beach House territory by Portland duo Hosannas. One guy in the place was breakdancing to them. I left too early to catch Seedlings.

The Seed Of Something, one of Des Moines’ youngest active bands and most promising in their age bracket, have become even younger on average with their recent switch in drummers — reportedly, the new member isn’t even in high school and already a solid player. The new lineup makes its debut at the Mews on Friday opening the all-ages Bad Cop show, doors at 5pm.

Samuel Locke Ward reports being robbed in Detroit last weekend. According to a Facebook posting, “Smash and grab happened during the show. Joe Jack [Talcum] and Chris [Ford] got their laptops stolen. Ipod, GPS, phone chargers, groceries, medicine… Everyone is fine. We still have our gear and the van. Got the window fixed and we are back on track and on the road still. We are doing good even.” Still, I feel for these cats. Losing one’s electronics sucks, as does losing one’s meds.

Seattle-area post-doomsters Roareth are to be short-lived. I found these guys interesting because you don’t usually hear of a band making their recorded debut with a single 45-minute track. It’s damn good too — the CD copies are sold out but you can still grab a download. Reportedly, a member of the group is moving to Los Angeles to take a job at Southern Lord Records, and the bassist, his wife, is of course going with him. Details at The Obelisk.

If you know of Nate Logson, it’s probably either as the trumpet player from Christopher The Conquered’s band whose stage antics rival those of Christopher himself, or from the Ames Progressive. Recently he put together his own band, Mumford’s, and their live shows and YouTube videos thereof have brought them some appreciation. Well, pretty soon you’ll know him for his songwriting, if “The Way That I Live,” Mumfords’ half of the split 7″ with Samuel Locke Ward & the Boo-Hoos (and I think possibly the first recorded things they’ve released?) is any indication of what he’s capable of coming up with. I couldn’t get it out of my head the other day. It’s this laid-back acoustic number with light horn flavoring that turns out to be a kind of first-person account of the experiences of a serial killer. The lyrics are hilarious, too. For their part, Sam and company turn in three quick infectious punk rock gems, of the kind of way that only Sam can write punk rock. Bonus fun factoid, the Boo-Hoos include Petit Mal guitarist Chris Ford, namesake of the Conquered one.

The records arrived at Sam’s just the other day and will be available by mail-order after his current tour with Joe Jack Talcum. If you can’t wait that long to hear it, stream and/or download the tunes here.

Fabulous Iowa indie rock band The Wheelers have made available a download of their now out-of-print 2009 5-song EP “Milwaukee Black & Tan” over here at bandcamp.

As linked to by Mr. Locke-Ward himself on Facebook earlier today, the soon forthcoming split 7″ EP by Samuel Locke Ward & the Boo-Hoos (Sam backed up by members of Petit Mal and Lipstick Homicide) and Mumfords (the awesome new thing headed up by Pennyhawk/Christopher The Conquered trumpet man Nate Logson) can be streamed & downloaded at bandcamp… or at this nifty little widget below, one of bandcamp’s amenities.