Sleater Kinney and Opinions on Death Cab for Cutie

sleater

Riot grrrl pioneers Sleater-Kinney have reunited after a decade-long hiatus to release a blistering new album. They stop by the studio for a performance and a career-spanning interview.

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The original manuscript to Don McLean's 1971 hit "American Pie" sold to an anonymous bidder at Christie's for $1.2 million – enough cash to buy a new Chevy and maybe even finally saturate that levee. McLean has always been cryptic about what his lyrics mean, but the 16-page document may offer some clues. Greg reads the song as a crash course in rock ‘n’ roll history of the years between Buddy Holly's death and the writing of the song.

There's still another chance to bid on some pop memorabilia, however: the estate of Davy Jones is putting several items belonging to the late Monkees singer on the auction block in May. If you're lucky, you might be able to snag some of his gold records, guitars, or costumes. But Jim is most excited about the tambourine for sale – after Linda McCartney of Wings, Jones may be the most famous tambourine player in rock.

Sleater-Kinney

Carrie Brownstein, Corrin Tucker and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney had released their most critically lauded album to date, The Woods, in 2005 when they decided to put the band on indefinite "hiatus." Now, 10 years later, they have returned with a critically acclaimed new album, No Cities to Love, and sold out shows across the United States. Greg sat down with Carrie, Corin and Janet earlier this year and talked about the Riotgrrl origins of the band, why exactly they decided to go on hiatus and why it was important to them to make such a high energy new album. Greg and Carrie Brownstein also talked about her new found fame as 1/2 of the comedic duo with Fred Armisen in {tag:

Portlandia}.

Kintsugi Death Cab for Cutie

Kintsugi

Alternative rock mainstay Death Cab for Cutie has been going through some tough times lately and it's reflected in their latest record. Kintsugi is all about lead singer Ben Gibbard's divorce from actress Zooey Deschanel. Plus founding member, guitarist and producer Chris Walla announced he would be departing from the band in 2014. Greg thinks that the turmoil within the band makes this feel like a solo record and the new producer didn't make much of an impact. While the album had the potential to be melodramatic, it luckily wasn't. The band just needed to get this record out of its system and Greg gives it a Try It. Jim enjoys Kintsugi more than Greg, and likes how the band has brought in more electronic sound and keyboards. He finds it to be another fine collection of songs and gives it a Buy It.

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