Iggy Pop

The Hives

Review: The Hives’ Lex Hives

The Hives: Lex Hives

The Hives: Lex Hives (Disques Hives, 6/5/12)

“Go Right Ahead”

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In 2000, The Hives hijacked the garage-rock takeover with a two-tone wardrobe, the huge single/video “Hate to Say I Told You So,” and the very sharp studio album Veni Vidi Vicious. Exemplifying the Swedish indie scene’s knack for reinterpretation of retro genre details, the band also brought the charismatic energy of punk rock to the table. It didn’t hurt that the quintet cornered, shifted, and raced like a well-tuned hotrod. The Hives seemed poised to dominate the genre for the rest of the decade. But the hard-touring group only mustered one new full-length between 2004 and 2012, the glossy 2008 release The Black and White Album. Sue us if we feel a bit deprived.

Todd Snider

Guest Spots: Singer/songwriter Todd Snider’s favorite musical storytellers

We asked Todd Snider, to tell us about some of his favorite musical storytellers. What we got was a collection of musings on the writers and performers who have informed his stage persona, which is captured on his new double-disc live album, The Storyteller (Aimless, 2/1/11). Read on for some of “The Storyteller’s” favorite storytellers.

My Five Favorite Musical Troubadours
by Todd Snider

1. Bob Dylan

For me, when it comes to being a fan of a troubadour, I have to laugh with you before I’ll cry with you, simply because most troubadours expect you to cry over their journal entries with them. Most troubadours are awful people. Bob, however, is not. I think he’s America’s finest contribution to the world, of any kind. He does not have a song I don’t like, and while he doesn’t talk much on stage, when he does, it’s precise, funny, wise, and everything else. There really is no point in anyone else doing this troubadour thing. Hell, I once paid for a tape of Bob arguing on the phone…and I thought it was a great album.

Jesse Morris: The Subway Johnny Cash

The east entrance of the 24th Street rapid-transit station in San Francisco is almost perpetually caked in pigeon shit. The grime-patina floor and supposed-to- be-shiny metal subway turnstiles are mottled with the splatterings, creating a slimy/crusty minefield for commuters to navigate. On that stained floor, carefully wedged between the landmines, is a worn black guitar case with some loose change and a couple of bills staring up forlornly from a plush field of forest green.

Commuters descending the escalator toward this entrance see the case first as they approach. Then they hear the voice. And if it is their first time hearing it, their eyes grow wide. Or they wrinkle their brow. They ask themselves, “Is that a recording? Is there some kind of commercial being shot here?” It just sounds too real — too much like him. As they descend the escalator further, they see the source of that voice, and things get even more confusing. Because that sound — how could it be coming from that person?

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RTX: JJ Got Live RaTX

Led by vocalist Jennifer Herrema, formerly of noise rockers Royal Trux, RTX‘s JJ Got Live RaTX is a 1980s hair-banging dream, as Herrema shouts and snarls and guitarist Jaimo Welch grinds out smoking mountains of molten crunchy stuff.

Heroes Original Television Soundtrack Out March 18th

Heroes Original Soundtrack“For a long time music and comic dork like myself, this project has been a dream come true,” says Errol Kolosine, executive producer of the Six Feet Under soundtrack and now the original television soundtrack to Heroes, out March 18. To accompany the soundtrack, Heroes director Allan Arkush has also created five music video podcasts for Zunesters, available from Zune Marketplace in the weeks leading up to the album’s release. The soundtrack will feature songs from The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nada Surf, Imogen Heap, Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, David Bowie, and more.