When the tunes are coming out of Salt Lake City, it’s hard to resist a little comparison: “I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock and roll.” Trace Wiren has that in common with Donny and Marie, that’s for sure. However, she’s also a little bit folksinger, a little taken with the blues, and a whole lot fresh. Download “Trouble at Home” now and start preparing your summer roadtrip mix.
Kids These Days
We’re all about the collective thing here at 3hive, intentionally subverting capialistic dominance within the U.S. economic system and all that… you know, sharing the sharing. Kids These Days are sympathetic to the cause, offering free MP3s and proclaiming themselves “card carrying members of the White Whale collective,” a Vancouver-based musicical syndicate comprised of, among others, 3hive vet Mohawk Lodge. While the tunes these kids are playing won’t shatter any socio-political hegemonies or even urge you to paste a “Subvert the Dominant Paradigm” sticker on the bumper of your car, they are pleasant, melodic, poppy and fun.
Immaculate Machine
Neal took me on my first snowboarding experience a few weeks ago, and on our way to the fake-snow-covered landfill that is skiing in SE Michigan, we listened to CBC Radio 3. What a cool show! (And a good way to get my mind off of impending pain. Actually, Neal is a GREAT teacher, and while I never managed to actually turn the snowboard on purpose, I didn’t hurt anyone either.) Immaculate Machine got spun, and I was sold quickly on their late ’80s new wave sound. Plus, I bet they don’t snowboard on other people’s old garbage in British Columbia.
Joe’s 2005 Year-End List
The Sweet Hurt
There’s an aspect to The Sweet Hurt’s bio that’s, well, sweetly endearing. After going through the ususal personnel problems that bands have, there emerged an opportunity to play a show that pushed Sweet Hurt founder Wendy Wang “to get the band back together.” So, when I was a kid, I loved The Blues Brothers, especially the car chase scenes, and while The Sweet Hurt sound nothing like Jake and Elwood, I appreciate Wendy’s effort.
The Spectacular Fantastic
Sean accused me of being a squatter the other day in his Tessitura post, and he’s not wrong. Silly me, I just forgot about these folksy, rocking, old-fashioned easy-to-sing-along-with tracks from The Spectacular Fantastic. With a name as superlative as that one, you’d think it’d be hard to do — anyway, it won’t happen again. Start with “60 Cycles” and “I Love You,” (both from a fully-downloadable EP on the band’s website), then check out “Winter Song” and “You” (from a split single with the previously-mentione Tessitura). Then, in gratitude for all the free music, shell out a few bucks for The Spectacular Fantastic Goes Underground and start singing along yourself.
Links Fixed for The Weakerthans
Jason Anderson
Regular readers of 3hive know that, as silly as it sounds, we sometimes have problems figuring out the names of the bands we profile. Case in point: Is it Jason Anderson or Wolf Colonel? Greg says, “Who cares?” (Someone will, I’m sure, as I’m sure we’ll hear about it. For the record, I think it was the former and is now the latter.) He — Greg, that is — suggested Jason Anderson, and I’m okay with that, because the plaintive folk-pop of “O, Jac!” pairs nicely with the Michigan’s snowy forecast. Thanks, G!