Listening Station: The Roots, the Hives, Mum, Scissor Sisters, Crunk Classics

The Roots

The Tipping Point

I know, I know, two stars? For the Roots? What gives, hater? If there's any truism in rap (besides, of course, that Snoop is high and 50 Cent will shoot you for messing in his business), it's that it's not cool to dis the Roots. After a decade of handcrafting organic East Coast hip hop, the Philly collective occupies that privileged space inhabited by Parliament-Funkadelic and Luther Vandross--both untouchable in their respective genres.

The first thing is that the Roots are real. When all the other MCs were using all sorts of digital hocus-pocus to create their thumps, zerps and wikky-wikkies, the Roots employed a full-time beat boxer to bump their sounds. The Roots--particularly percussionist extraordinaire Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson--also play their own instruments, which increases their musical cred by at least a power of 10.

The second thing is that the Roots are true--or at least they sought out a greater truth than those rappers whose primary concerns were booty, bud and bling. Both 1996's Illadelph Halflife and 1999's Things Fall Apart begin with a sample of an unidentified scholar lamenting the perceived disposability of rap: "Inevitably, hip hop records are treated as though they are disposable. They're not maximized as product, not to mention as art." The Roots, on the other hand, sought to make hip hop that was resonant and important--not just a collection of throwaway singles.

The third thing is that the Roots are smart. Things Fall Apart was named after Chinua Achebe's classic account of African colonialism, and The Tipping Point after Malcolm Gladwell's study of trends and behavior in mass culture. While I cannot personally verify that the Roots read either of these books, it's reasonable to think that someone close to the band read them--a good sign at the very least.

Still, it's hard to deny that The Tipping Point is a big disappointment. The only remarkable tracks are "Star/Pointro" and "Boom!" and the former is only noteworthy because it samples Sly and the Family Stone's "Everybody Is a Star," which is totally wicked in its own right. As a whole, though, the record is more notable for its misses, including the second-rate Timbaland knock-off "Duck Down" and the 16-minute Afro-beat parody "Why? (What's Goin' On?)." It's a lackluster effort for sure, but more importantly, it's a betrayal of the Roots' musical foundation. Sad, but true.--Newt Briggs

The Hives

Tyrannosaurus Hives

The Hives are my new favorite band--again. The nattily dressed Swedish rockers created a buzz in 2002 with their over-the-top swagger (singer Pelle Almqvist introduced the band from the stage with "We are your new favorite band") and their hard-driving hits "Hate to Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender." Their new album is likely to ignite another wildfire.

On first listen, Tyrannosaurus Hives may not strike you as a four-star effort. But on the third or fourth time through (it's only 30 minutes long, so undue patience is not required), it becomes apparent that there is genius amid the jangly guitars. The Hives have refined their sound, shedding the hurtling-toward-Hades punk screamers in favor of crafted songs inspired by Devo, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. All 12 tracks are fast-paced, but subtle musical touches and clever hooks show a desire for distinctiveness.

There are four standout tracks, "Walk Idiot Walk," "Two-Timing Touch and Broken Bones," "B Is for Brutus" and "Diabolic Scheme," and two more that are plain good, "Missing Link" and "Love in Plaster." If the album lacks a song that equals the garage rock manna of "Hate to Say I Told You So," it makes up for it with its overall creativity and consistency.--Geoff Schumacher

Mum

Summer Make Good

Somewhere between the electronic spryness of Bjork and the ambient spatiality of Sigur Ros exists the music of Mum, another Icelandic musical entity seeking to beautify its music using unconventional means. The trio's third longplayer, Summer Make Good, finds a balance between traditional instrumentation and programmed elements, but among all the naturalistic re-creations and post-punk experiments, the music is more sensorial than it is affecting. There is no doubting the distinctive atmospheres and environmentally influenced tones--the band recorded in empty lighthouses and Sigur Ros' personal studio--as well as the creative manner in which tools such as glockenspiels, accordions and various stringed instruments are implemented. But aside from technical curiosity, there's not much here to pull you in. The warmth of the music is negligible, found mostly in the angelic crooning of Kristin Anna Valtysdottir, who evokes impressionistically. It's hard to say whether the music is contemplative or just underwritten. Either way, the emotion tends to get lost in the details.--Mike Prevatt

Various artists

Crunk Classics

Ah, it seems like only yesterday that crunk was a term for that barking brand of Southern hip hop that tossed actual rapping into the back seat in favor of crowd-pumping chants and hollas. Now the word--by most accounts, shorthand for "crazy drunk"--has torn through mainstream America with the fury of a thousand infomercials. By the time you read this, crunk will no doubt be the name of an energy drink, a clothing line and your friendly neighborhood street gang.

As if to remind us of crunk's roots, TVT records has busted out Crunk Classics, a growling primer on the roots of the genre, a distilled, chant-heavy monster of groove that's visceral and low-slung, marked by thunderpunch bass and leering synth lines. Crunk Classics offers a pleasant tour of hip hop's scraggly underbelly. A regiment of Casio horn-blasts take Trick Daddy through the skittering "Shut Up," while mini-supergroup Iconz bring to "Get Fucked Up" nimble rhyme skills that save the joint from snoreville. And what would a crunk album be without a dish from crunk's founding father Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, whose "Bia' Bia' 2" has in place all the elements for great crunk: throttling bass and ooka-booka rap delivered in Lil Jon's signature vox burned by whiskey and weed.--Andrew Kiraly

Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters

New York City-based Scissor Sisters are the latest American outfit to strike gold overseas prior to its official U.S. debut, which is one of the year's true pop pleasures. Steeped in the disco, glam and cabaret pop traditions, the Sisters--who boast openly gay members, something rarely allowed among the Big Five record companies--base their stylistically varied sound on the late '70s and early '80s, revealing influences from David Bowie and Elton John to Erasure and Pink Floyd (whose lighters-up anthem "Comfortably Numb" is uniquely envisioned as a club anthem here). There's some blatant nostalgia and camp flamboyance to overcome during the first few spins, but the band's astounding tunefulness hits immediately. First single "Take Your Mama"--about a coming-out night on the town with Mom and the boys--is one of the most fresh and infectious singles currently garnering radio airplay, and "Laura" exudes as much melody as it does sex appeal.--Mike Prevatt