Pop Quiz: Clay Aiken

Pop Quiz: Clay Aiken

Aidin Vaziri | We realize that Clay Aiken is not everyone's favorite "American Idol" runner-up. But the 29-year-old North Carolina native is the only one who sells millions of records, stars in a major Broadway show, gets to sell stuff on QVC, runs a foundation for children with disabilities and inspires fans to make homemade T-shirts that read "Clay shakes my ovaries a thousand different ways." This week, Aiken releases "On My Way Here," his first album of original material since his 2003 double-platinum debut, "Measure of a Man." We spoke to him by phone from New York a few days before he wrapped up his five-month stint in the Tony award-winning musical comedy "Spamalot."

Clay Aiken
Q: Why do so many people hate you?
A: I have no idea why they hate me, and I sure don't have any idea why they love me. I'm completely clueless all the way around. In some ways, I'm sure, to a lot of people I represent that dorky kid in high school and middle school that everybody thought was a loser. And now there are plenty of people in the world who are bitter because that dorky kid became successful and they did not. It's kind of threatening when that nerdy guy you've been making fun of for all those years has somehow become famous.
Q: You've obviously given this some thought.
A: I've been thinking about it for a long time.
Q: Does it make you sad?
A: Ah, I don't care. Whatever. I've been around people who are too cool for me for almost 30 years now. I don't know. I don't think I'm very threatening, but I do threaten the notion that you must be good-looking and athletic and cool in order to be successful. I kind of screwed that up for some people who thought they were going to fly by. Continue reading.

Reviews: Madonna, Craig David

Reviews: Madonna, Craig David

Madonna 'Hard Candy': Aidin Vaziri | She never ceases to amaze. After we witnessed the cheapo shampoo commercials, the trying-too-hard S&M cover art and her waxlike appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (left), the odds were pretty good that Madonna's 11th studio album would head straight for the Amazon clearance store. After all, just last year Duran Duran roped in Justin Timberlake and Timbaland in the hopes of giving its fatigued synth-pop sound a shot of virtual Botox, and the group hasn't been heard from since. At 49, the Material Mom does her fellow '80s megastars one better by employing those guys, plus Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. If only she had a track from Tony Kanal, "Hard Candy" would pretty much be a Gwen Stefani album, built around seamless club-ready tracks such as "Give It 2 Me," "Heartbeat" and the lushly produced "Incredible." Less contrived than "Confessions on a Dance Floor," this album has dispensed with the tightly controlled experimental grooves of the past decade in favor of a straight-up dance record that brilliantly allows a group of high-end producers to pull Madonna and her vapid lyrics into the new millennium. It certainly makes for her most fun release in ages, if not her most age-appropriate. On the thumping "Give It 2 Me," she declares, "Don't stop me now, don't need to catch my breath/ I can go on and on." It's entirely possible she actually means it this time.

Craig David 'Trust Me': Aidin Vaziri | Remember Craig David? Nearly a decade after the slick British pop phenom failed to crack America with a debut album stuffed with holographic R&B hits such as "Fill Me In" and "7 Days," he returns defeated. His fourth album doesn't so much fizz with the liquid two-step rhythms and Spanish guitars of his early years but instead shuffles along on the back of tired ideas. Eleven years after P. Diddy sampled the song for "Been Around the World," David rediscovers the thump of David Bowie's "Let's Dance" single for the album's centerpiece, "Hot Stuff." The rest falls evenly between horn-heavy club fodder ("6 of 1 Thing") and heavily cliched midtempo ballads ("Don't Play With Our Love," "Awkward") that make Leona Lewis sound like Black Flag.

Vetiver Looks Back

Vetiver Looks Back

Vetiver does covers CD, 'Thing of the Past': Let's face it: Lots of indie-rock acts have made less-than-riveting covers albums in recent years. But with "A Thing of the Past," San Francisco's Vetiver may potentially have one to eclipse the rest, combining the band's languid folk rock with a compelling cross section of source material from songwriters including Townes Van Zandt, Hawkwind, Loudon Wainwright III, Iain Matthews and Norman "Spirit in the Sky" Greenbaum. It's probably because the band never intended to make a covers album in the first place. "After the last record I did, I put a band together to tour," Vetiver front man Andy Cabic says. "Since we had never recorded together, and I didn't have anything ready to go, I just thought doing something like this would be a good way to get something out this year." Continue reading.

Live Review: Shelby Lynne at the Fillmore, 05/01/08

Live Review: Shelby Lynne at the Fillmore, 05/01/08

Music review: Whole lot of love from Lynne: Aidin Vaziri | Playing the Fillmore can have a strange effect on people. On Thursday, Shelby Lynne seemed genuinely overwhelmed by all the history lining the walls of the room. "We've never been in here before, so I'm really, really happy to be here right now," the 39-year-old country-soul siren said. It made sense. Her music is deeply steeped in rock 'n' roll history, pulling equally from Al Green, Hank Williams, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley and Tammy Wynette. So it was OK that she kept telling the audience how thrilled she was to be there, even when she got a little carried away and gushed, "I'm a Fillmore virgin!" Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: KT Tunstall

Pop Quiz: KT Tunstall

Aidin Vaziri | There's a good reason KT Tunstall has been inescapable since releasing her 4 million-selling debut album, 2004's "Eye to the Telescope." Not only is the Grammy-nominated Scottish singer-songwriter capable of knocking out brilliant pop tunes such as "Suddenly I See" and "Black Horse & the Cherry Tree," she's also like the Sheryl Crow you actually want to party with. Her latest release, "Drastic Fantastic," includes the hit, "Hold On."


KT Tunstall
Q: Have you ever considered cutting out the middleman and writing your own romantic comedy?
A: What, so I can just do the soundtrack? I haven't, but that's a really good idea. I much prefer the music gets used on a TV program (rather) than selling tampons or something.
Q: Actually, I think I heard "Hold On" in a tampon commercial today.
A: Oh, come on. That was Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love."
Q: You wrote "Suddenly I See" about Patti Smith. Did she like it?
A: I don't know. I haven't had any connection with her. In some ways, I'm absolutely terrified to do so. It would be pretty heart-wrenching for her to say, "Nice to meet you, KT. That song is really lame. Can you stop saying it's about me?" Continue reading.

Reviews: Estelle, Portishead

Reviews: Estelle, Portishead

Estelle 'Shine': Aidin Vaziri | The story goes that Estelle Swaray met her future record-label boss, John Legend, outside of a Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n' Waffles restaurant in Los Angeles. Seven years later, the 28-year-old West London singer delivers her staggering American debut, an impassioned collision of old-school soul, top-shelf hip-hop and major pop sparks. Kanye West, Mark Ronson and Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green all join in, but they keep a respectful distance as the singer tears it up on tracks such as the George Michael-quoting "No Substitute Love" and the astounding iTunes chart-topper "American Boy." Not since "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" has there been a more surefooted, adventurous or exciting soundtrack for block parties. Rihanna can officially step aside.

Portishead 'Third': Aidin Vaziri | It's hard to imagine anything darker and more turbulent than Portishead's first two albums, genre-busting missives that spun evocative songs out of cracked film scores, loping hip-hop beats and the haunted voice of Beth Gibbons, left. Eleven years later, the British group returns with the conveniently titled "Third," a set that is significantly more inspired than its title and static cover art suggest. The blueprint has been put through the shredder, with only Gibbons coming out the other side in recognizable shape. Nausea-inducing strings now dominate the score, which also employs primitive rhythms and spaghetti-Western guitars in songs such as "Silence" and "We Carry On." While it's impossible to penetrate on the first two dozen listens, you get the feeling it's the kind of album people will be hailing as a classic after the next 11 years pass. So why not jump ahead of the line and do it now?

Tina Fey: To Surrogate, With Love

Tina Fey: To Surrogate, With Love

Tina Fey takes on pregnancy in 'Baby Mama': Aidin Vaziri | Tina Fey knows you don't think of her as a leading lady. "When we made 'Mean Girls,' I was very aware that my part should be small and you need movie stars to make movies, so we got all these beautiful young girls to do it," the "Saturday Night Live" alum said by phone recently about the 2004 big-screen comedy she scripted. But after scoring a hit with the Emmy-winning NBC sitcom "30 Rock," the 37-year-old writer, producer and actor is making the jump with her new PG-13 film, "Baby Mama," which opens Friday nationwide. Written by Michael McCullers and co-starring Amy Poehler, both of whom worked with her at "SNL," Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a career-minded single woman with fertility issues who hires a seriously mismatched surrogate to carry her child. It's a bit like "The Odd Couple" meets "The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy." It's also a lot funnier than you might expect. Fey talked to us about taking the lead.

Q: How much of Tina Fey is in Kate Holbrook?
A: Well, it's sort of a more conservative version of myself. She's a little better educated and classier and more preppy.
Q: And her taste in home decor?
A: Much earthier, greener, nicer.
Q: How about men, do you find your character's interest, Greg Kinnear, attractive in real life?
A: That's kind of a loaded question. I think empirically he is very handsome.
Q: Did you get to pick your leading man?
A: A little bit, yeah. When we found out we could get a super legit actor like Greg, we were very excited.
Q: Who else was in the running?
A: Let's see, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christian from "Project Runway."
Q: I can't believe you settled on Greg.
A: I know. He got really lucky. But I believe he was the studio's first choice. Continue reading.

Glen Hansard: Love, Actually

Glen Hansard: Love, Actually

It's a 'Swell Season' for Hansard, Irglova: Glen Hansard clearly remembers the moment John Travolta tore open the envelope at this year's Academy Awards and called out his name. The only problem is he doesn't remember anything after that.

"Everything goes blank for two hours," Hansard says. "The whole thing is a blur." Taking the stage to accept the best original song trophy with his "Once" co-star Marketa Irglova for "Falling Slowly," the 37-year-old Irish musician doesn't recall telling the audience how the independent film was shot in 17 days on two Handycams on a budget of a hundred grand. He doesn't remember Irglova getting cut off by the producers for a commercial break before she could speak, only to be brought back out by host Jon Stewart to make the evening's most impassioned speech. He doesn't even remember handing over the Oscar statue to his mother, who took it home and won't give it back.

All Hansard, who also starred in "The Commitments," knows is that after 18 years of playing music with the rock band the Frames, he's now headlining bigger rooms, selling more records and getting recognized in more random places. "Government officials suddenly know who I am," he says. Continue reading.

Duran Again: A Video History

Duran Again: A Video History

Duran Duran: A Video History: Aidin Vaziri | Thanks to a bunch of videos that prominently featured models icing their nipples, wild tiger ladies stalking through the jungle and singer Simon Le Bon accidentally blowing up the Eiffel Tower, Duran Duran became the most popular group of the early MTV era. But what about all the other promo clips the band shot as it stubbornly persevered through its 30-year career? Here are the ones that reveal the most about the saga leading to the band's 12th studio album, "Red Carpet Massacre."

PLANET EARTH (1981) The pirate shirts and flowing genie pants unfortunately didn't stick, but this oddly futuristic clip from the group's first self-titled album captured the perfect post-apocalyptic vibe for the early '80s. Continue reading.

It's Mark Kozelek's Month

It's Mark Kozelek's Month

Songwriter's return: Aidin Vaziri | The new Sun Kil Moon album, "April," heralds San Francisco singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek's return to, well, writing songs Five years after releasing the group's first album, "Ghosts of the Great Highway," and following it up with an idiosyncratic disc of Modest Mouse covers, the 41-year-old musician says he had more than enough new material when it came time to record the 76-minute disc, which is highlighted by extended guitar solos and meditations on mortality. "There was just a buildup of experiences, getting older, the loss of a friend, many things," Kozelek says. "I could feel the songs building and the dam broke." The album, which features appearances by Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, is out on Kozelek's own Caldo Verde label.

Pop Quiz: Goldfrapp

Pop Quiz: Goldfrapp

Aidin Vaziri | People who know Alison Goldfrapp as the gold lame-adorned electro kink-pop siren have been thrown for a loop with her fourth album, "Seventh Tree," a trawl through lush English folk lullabies and soothing psychedelia. What brought on the change in the risk-taking woman (and her lesser-known musical partner Will Gregory) often credited with leading the way for Madonna's most recent spate of stylistic reinventions? We got her on the horn to find out.


Alison Goldfrapp
Q: Do you ever regret saying bad things about Madonna, even though she loves you so much she's started dressing like you?
A: I've never said anything bad about Madonna. I think people have decided I must have said something bad.
Q: You said, "She has made a career out of using other people." And then you said, "I can't get passionate about the music she puts out there."
A: I said I don't particularly like her music, which I don't. That's just a taste thing. I'm not being horrible about her. I also think she's a fantastic self-PR woman. That's not a criticism; it's just an observation. She's good at sussing out who's the latest cool thing and taking people with talent to help her with her talent. I think she's an amazing woman. I love her fearlessness of being able to do whatever she wants to try doing. But I'm not a fan of her music just because she says she likes what we do.
Q: Doesn't it bother you that she steals all your ideas?
A: It doesn't really bother me. Everybody borrows from everybody. Whatever. Life's too short to worry about that sort of thing. Continue reading.

Reviews: Mariah Carey, In The Name of Love

Reviews: Mariah Carey, In The Name of Love

Mariah Carey 'E=MC2': Aidin Vaziri | The best thing Mariah Carey did was go bonkers on MTV, where she handed out popsicles, shed clothes in front of a live audience and, for once, came across as a normal human being. Seven years after the incident, she's regressed to the Teflon pop princess she was in the early '90s, capable of knocking out an endless stream of midtempo R&B ballads without revealing any real emotion. "Put me on the floor/ Wrestle me around/ Play with me some more," she sings on "Touch My Body," a single from her new album that sounds just like her last hit, "We Belong Together." The lyrics suggest a filthy throw-down, the clinical production of a sexual harassment suit. Her gravity-defying vocals have been processed to death on otherwise promising cuts such as "I'm That Chick" and "O.O.C." If the CD sleeve didn't prominently feature her name and face, you would never guess that it was the owner of one of the most beguiling voices of the past two decades who was singing on top of the politely thumping beats. Meanwhile, even the creative directors at Hallmark would thumb their noses at "Bye Bye," a sentimental song that seems to have been made exclusively to be played at funerals. The stripped-down "I Wish You Well" is nice, though, with Carey belting it out in full glory, accompanied by only a piano and a small gospel choir. Which proves that if you're going backward, at least go somewhere interesting. It's not rocket science, Mariah.

'In The Name of Love: Africa Celebrates U2': Aidin Vaziri | It's hard to believe this didn't come out two decades earlier, when both U2 and Africa were pressing concerns for the pop world. Not that it matters; acts on this album such as Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians and Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars have mostly chosen to stick with songs from the Irish band's vintage years anyway. Bono may work hard raising awareness about the troubled continent, but its musicians repay him fully here by giving his songs new life. Ba Cissoko puts a transcendental spin on "Sunday Bloody Sunday," Vusi Mahlasela comes up with a version of "Sometimes You Just Can't Make It on Your Own" that's even more hair-raising than the original and the Soweto Gospel Choir's minimalist take on "Pride (In the Name of Love)" makes a good case for sending all of U2's music to church. Vampire Weekend is probably so bummed it wasn't invited to the party.

Review: Kylie Minogue

Review: Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue 'X': Aidin Vaziri | So much for Kylie Minogue's long-awaited domination of the United States: As her latest album belatedly arrives here, she's decided not to do any interviews or tour but to simply let it drop and disappear much like the last one. Which is a shame, because despite the abundance of formless disco beats and its slightly impersonal nature - especially in light of her recent cancer battle - "X" is still an incredibly innovative and fun piece of work, something that could clearly brighten the corners of the current Billboard Top 200. Fizzy, slinky, starry-eyed songs like "Wow" and the glam-tinged "2 Hearts" offer easy thrills, while the Serge Gainsbourg sampling "Sensitized" is epic in every way. Best of all is the soft-focus R&B of "All I See," a summer jam so breezy its creator should rightfully be singing it on every beach on the continent.

Pop Quiz: The Naked Brothers Band

Pop Quiz: The Naked Brothers Band

Aidin Vaziri | The Naked Brothers Band is just like the Monkees, except its members actually write their own songs, there are only two of them and real-life brothers Nat and Alex Wolff are 13 and 10, respectively. Actually, they're nothing like the Monkees - what am I talking about? The musical siblings do have a hit tween television show on Nickelodeon, and they are about to release their second album in less than a year, "I Don't Want to Go to School." It includes originals such as "I'll Do Anything" and "Three Is Enough."

The Naked Brothers Band
Q: What's your favorite thing to fight about?
Nat: Nothing!
Alex: Like, stupid stuff. What was it yesterday? I don't even know why we were so mad.
Q: Did you know there are a lot of old-time bands with brothers who fight all the time, like Oasis, the Black Crowes and the Kinks? Do you hope not to talk to each other someday?
Nat: No, not really.
Alex: Because of the show and the album and stuff, we've actually gotten much closer.
Q: I understand you like the Beatles.
Nat: Yeah. We're gigantic fans.
Alex: They're the best. My parents loved the Beatles, so they got us into it.
Q: What did you think of how that one 17-year-old guy on "American Idol" said he never heard of the Beatles and messed up all the words to "We Can Work It Out"?
Nat: He didn't know the Beatles? No way! We don't really watch much TV. We're pretty busy.
Q: How often do you get mistaken for the Jonas Brothers?
Nat: It's happened once or twice, but not that much. I had it one time. This kid was just sure we were the Jonas Brothers.
Q: How often do you get mistaken for Hannah Montana?
Nat: Not too much, surprisingly. Continue reading.

Leona Lewis Unleashes Her 'Spirit'

Leona Lewis Unleashes Her 'Spirit'

'X Factor's' Leona Lewis releases 'Spirit': Aidin Vaziri | In March, Lewis became the first British woman in 20 years to top the Billboard charts with her hit "Bleeding Love," more than two decades after Kim Wilde held the same position with a cover of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On." In Britain, Lewis' song was the biggest-selling single last year, and "Spirit" became the nation's fastest-selling debut album ever, having since moved 2.5 million copies worldwide. She says she framed the page honoring her in the Guinness Book of World Records: "It's such a big achievement!" Things are happening fast for the green-eyed pop phenomenon, who says she stays in touch with the friends she made while working at Pizza Hut just a few years ago - but not too fast. Lewis walked away the winner of the 2006 season of "The X Factor," England's answer to "American Idol," using her enormous voice to draw comparisons to big-time yodelers such as Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and, mostly, Mariah Carey. After pronouncing her "the best contestant I have ever had across any of these shows," Simon Cowell, rather than knocking out a quick cash-in collection, dedicated himself to meticulously building Lewis into the perfect pop beast during the past two years. Somehow, she survived the ordeal. "He never said anything bad about me," she says. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Ludacris

Pop Quiz: Ludacris

Aidin Vaziri | Chris "Ludacris" Bridges is taking a break from recording his sixth studio album, "Theater of the Mind," to open a franchise of the upscale Asian restaurant Straits with Bay Area chef Chris Yeo in his hometown of Atlanta later this month. What made the actor and Grammy-winning rapper get into the restaurant business when his calendar is already filled with rhyming and starting feuds with Oprah Winfrey, conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly and PepsiCo? We called him up at home to find out.

Ludacris
Q: How do you think origami sea bass is going to go over in the Dirty South?
A: Man, I think it's going to go great. I really do. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing this.
Q: If I came in and asked you to recommend a dish off the menu, what would it be?
A: Man, there are a lot of different dishes. My favorite is the lollipop chicken. The chicken satay is good. Curry dishes. There are a lot of dishes. I just can't think of them all off the top of my head.
Q: Why not just open a fast-food chain called Chicken 'n' Beer?
A: Man, I wanted to make a place where people could come and feel like they're in a different place in the world. We're basically bringing Singapore to Atlanta.
Q: Are you going to be in the kitchen messing around with a cleaver and apron?
A: No. I'm not going to do that. I'll be tasting the food. I actually have a chef who went and trained at the original restaurant, so he'll be there. Continue reading.

Reviews: Sun Kil Moon, Leona Lewis

Reviews: Sun Kil Moon, Leona Lewis

Sun Kil Moon 'April': Aidin Vaziri | It's been more than 15 years since Red House Painters' demo tape found its way into record stores, and the defunct group's singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek is still chasing the same childhood memories, contemplating the same lost loves and dreaming about the same San Francisco streets. On his third outing under the Sun Kil Moon banner, Kozelek, left, returns with an album of rare warmth and immediacy, where intensely personal lyrics hang on hazily magnificent melodies. Driven by luminous guitar flourishes and his world-weary voice, the songs on "April" rank among his most personal yet. "My thoughts will pause, my throat will swell/ When her name is spoken," he sings on "Moorestown," one of the disc's prettiest moments. Alternating between epic Neil Young-style guitar blowouts - a handful of the songs come in around the 10-minute mark - and gently swaying folk ballads, Kozelek has managed to reinvent himself by returning to the very same spot where he started, with youthful scrapes now turned into real scars. Kozelek plays April 26 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

Leona Lewis 'Spirit': Aidin Vaziri | Leona Lewis is about to become inescapable. Backed by Simon Cowell and Clive Davis, endorsed by Oprah and already the titleholder for the fastest-selling British debut album ever, the photogenic 23-year-old singer arrives in the United States as a fully functional pop object. Producers Dallas Austin and Jam & Lewis help ignite the throbbing R&B ballads, dignified gloom and gravity-defying vocal gymnastics on "Spirit," a collection of songs that effectively updates what Mariah Carey was doing in 1993 with added studio luster. The first single, "Bleeding Love," co-written by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, is the best thing offered; the rest of the windswept tunes helpfully reveal how Lewis clinched "X Factor," Britain's version of "American Idol."

Live Review: The Black Keys at the Warfield, 04/02/08

Live Review: The Black Keys at the Warfield, 04/02/08

Black Keys on verge of new territory: Aidin Vaziri | After putting out four albums of standard-issue retro blues-rock to little fanfare, the Akron, Ohio, duo finally seems ready to step out of the shadow of fellow Midwestern drums-and-guitar combo the White Stripes. The group's latest outing, "Attack & Release," is made up of material Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney were working on with soul legend Ike Turner before he unceremoniously kicked the bucket in December. Recorded by Gnarls Barkley mastermind Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton in a real studio rather than the usual basement, the album, in a refreshing turn of events, sees the group slathering its primitive stomp with lush flute, synthesizer and banjo flourishes. "Attack & Release" has created enough buzz to almost put the Black Keys in the same position Modest Mouse was a few years ago when its music began to reach beyond the usual indie kids and connect with NPR listeners and boozed-up snowboarders alike. But dressed like a lumberjack with a hefty beard to match, Auerbach didn't seem particularly intent on re-creating the multifaceted sound of the album or recruiting new fans, offering up instead the usual unforgiving barrage of yelps, humdrum lyrics and swampy throwback riffs. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Moby

Pop Quiz: Moby

Aidin Vaziri | After providing the soundtrack for numerous car commercials for the past decade, Moby gets back to his ecstatic dance-music roots with his stellar new album, "Last Night," which attempts to capture the thrills of an entire night out in just an hour. If nothing else, the disc should permanently detonate the image of the man born Richard Melville Hall as a clean-living, intellectual, dogmatic vegan and devout Christian. Well, for the most part, anyway. He called from his apartment on New York's Lower East Side to fill us in on his latest after-hours adventures.


Moby
Q: There was recently a story going around that you were doing so many drugs that you had to go through therapy.
A: Those were two unrelated things. I had a long clean-and-sober period. I went about nine years without drinking and doing drugs, and in the mid- to late '90s, when I sort of got back off the wagon, I kind of got back off the wagon with a vengeance. I found myself really drinking way too much and taking too many drugs and staying out too late and doing all sorts of bad things. That was also around the time I started going to therapy. I guess maybe they're related, but until you mentioned it I never saw the two things as related.
Q: So what's the lesson here? Everything in moderation?
A: Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever learned that lesson. I understand on an abstract level how that could be the case. I would never advocate excess, but I would say, in my case, there's a lot to be said for excess. Again, for better or worse, a lot of my literary and musical heroes have been people who also pursued things to excess.
Q: Haven't most of them died?
A: Yeah. We all die eventually. Continue reading.

Review: R.E.M.

Review: R.E.M.

R.E.M. 'Accelerate': Aidin Vaziri | Masochists, idiots, people born without heads? It's hard to imagine who still cares about R.E.M. these days. After a string of albums so inconsolably mediocre they were starting to make people think they had vastly overestimated the grandeur of the Athens, Ga., band's flawless first decade (they hadn't), there is no way anyone actually expected an about-face from its 14th studio album, "Accelerate." While several optimistic reports have suggested otherwise, the truth is that the new disc is ultimately another disappointment. Is it better than its predecessor, 2004's lifeless "Around the Sun"? Yes, but so is that song that has a bunch of dogs yelping along to "Jingle Bells." With the guitars turned up, arrangements condensed and Michael Stipe (left, performing in Texas on March 12) once again sounding awake, "Accelerate" certainly tries to make up for the quality-control free-fall of the past few years. Produced by Jacknife Lee (co-producer of U2's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"), it sounds crisp and features a couple of standout moments, including the midtempo "Hollow Man," which finds the singer actually sounding repentant: "You have placed your trust in me/ I have gone upside down." But in the willfully noisy, lyrically trite tunes that dominate the disc, such as "Living Well Is the Best Revenge" and "I'm Gonna DJ," the band merely sounds as if it's grasping at relevance while delivering what is, in fact, its ninth- or 10th-best release.

Tina Dico Goes West

Tina Dico Goes West

Dico tours stateside: Aidin Vaziri | Like Sia and Jose Gonzales, Tina Dico first gained international fame as a guest vocalist for the English down-tempo duo Zero 7. But the Danish singer-songwriter, now living in London, has a thriving solo career back home, where she has won Grammys, released four solo albums and racked up multiplatinum sales. With her latest, "Count to Ten," she hopes to convince people in the States that she's not all whispered vocals and slow-motion electronic burbles. "It was a bit of a detour for me to do the Zero 7 thing," said Dico. "It was such an adventure to start my touring career at the very biggest venues, straight into the caviar and Champagne. But musically it was far more electronic than what I do myself." Her new, self-produced record is especially raw, with songs like "On the Run" and "Sacre Coeur" mixing warm acoustic passages with dark-hued beats. "It seems a little more honest and mature and to the point," Dico said. "I've taken the songs from the very first chord to the mastering. It feels very deep."

Pop Quiz: Steve Miller

Pop Quiz: Steve Miller

Aidin Vaziri | Steve Miller wasn't all that crazy about Seal's cover of "Fly Like an Eagle." "I was real disappointed because I thought it was kind of just like my version," he says. "But I wasn't that disappointed because I think he sold a million and a half copies." Not that Miller needs the help. Since penning a string of hits, including "Space Cowboy," "Rock 'n' Me" and "The Joker" in the '70s, the Steve Miller Band's songs have been blasting nonstop out of car stereos, jukeboxes and karaoke bars.

Steve Miller
Q: You kind of stopped making albums in the '80s. Did you think you weren't good-looking enough to get on MTV?
A: Television does make me sweat. You know, during the '80s there was a very hard campaign against groups from the '70s, so I took a break after "Abracadabra." I was off the road for about five or six years, and that's when I found out I wasn't really happy unless I was writing music, playing music, having a band, performing and doing those things. It took a while to figure it all out.
Q: Do you remember any point in the past 40 years when your songs weren't on the radio?
A: No, I don't. I've always lived in little towns where there's really not much radio, but I'm always surprised when at the end of the year I get my ASCAP rewards and the airplay has gone up, like, 20 percent more. It just doesn't make any sense, but some psychologists did the research for the radio station owners, and I must have been lucky because they keep playing me.
Q: The best part is that you're totally unrecognizable to the general public.
A: I can generally go to my own concert, stand in line and buy a ticket, and nobody would know who I am. It really is like that, and that's a good thing. Continue reading.

Review: Gnarls Barkley

Review: Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley 'The Odd Couple': Aidin Vaziri | There are rumors about people flying to Thailand to request full lobotomies in the hope of eradicating "Crazy" from their lives. That hasn't discouraged Gnarls Barkley from returning with a second album of songs built on the same basic formula: futuristic hip-hop beats, Cee-Lo Green's sad-sack Stax vocals and an irresistible retro-soul sheen. There are variations, to be sure. Some of the tracks on the Grammy-nominated duo's new disc are faster ("Run"), slower ("Surprise") or a touch more ominous ("Charity Case") than the prototype, but you have pretty much heard this stuff without actually having heard it. And for all the unbridled creativity on display, it's still hard not to walk away without smelling the vague stench of novelty in your hair.

Pop Quiz: Danity Kane

Pop Quiz: Danity Kane

Aidin Vaziri | The drama goes well beyond the screen for Danity Kane, the platinum-selling girl group born out of the third season of Sean "Diddy" Combs' MTV reality series, "Making the Band." Recently, Aubrey O'Day called to fill us in on all the commotion that led to the group's sophomore album, "Welcome to the Dollhouse," which includes the club-friendly new single "Damaged." The San Francisco native also took on some of the better tabloid stories that have trailed her on her fast rise to fame.


Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane
Q: Last summer you told TMZ, "I don't really know what's going on with Danity Kane." Did you and your band mates nearly come to blows?
A: We had a lot of internal problems at that point in time, from a manager who quit on a text message to a financial adviser who was on the front cover of the newspaper going to jail for tax evasion. We were out on the road and didn't have any tour support. So when you're not seeing your family for months at a time - and you're starving and everything seems to be falling apart - you start to look inward, and it's Q: There were some stories going around for a while that you were pregnant with Diddy's love child. Are all the rumors about you that good?
A: I've heard a lot, but I don't think I should say them. The pregnancy rumor with Puff was the first big thing, and after that it kind of skyrocketed. To me, it gets to a point where it's just that you have to laugh at it. If you don't, it ends up eating you up inside. At the end of the day, I know the only person I have to answer to is myself. Continue reading.

Reviews: Nine Inch Nails, Now! 27

Reviews: Nine Inch Nails, Now! 27

Nine Inch Nails 'Ghosts I-IV': Aidin Vaziri | Nine Inch Nails stunned its fans by dropping its latest album online two weeks ago. Following Radiohead's pay-what-you-want lead, newly free agent Trent Reznor (left) offered the first nine of the 36 songs from "Ghosts I-IV" as free downloads with a PBS telethon-style opportunity to upgrade to the rest of the set for $5, add a CD for $10 or buy a series of packages with all kinds of extra content starting at $70. Unfortunately, the 2,500 copies of the "ultra-deluxe limited edition" box for $300 sold out before we even had a chance to fire up the computer. Just as well, since "Ghosts" is hardly a conventional Nine Inch Nails album in any sense. It's a two-hour, four-part suite made up of 36 instrumental tracks flitting between melancholy piano passages and bursts of white noise with lots of funky interludes in between. What's missing is Reznor's voice, that primal instrument that over the years has so brilliantly brought together the industrial clatter with wounded proclamations such as, "I will make you hurt." Without the black-clad front man working himself into an absolute lather, this sprawling set seems not only unfocused but also unfinished. There's a good album somewhere amid all this ambient landscape, aching for someone to howl all over it. But without the military rule of an actual record label pushing him, Reznor has failed to find it.

'Now! That's What I Call Music 27': Aidin Vaziri | Everyone thinks pop music is busted because record stores are closing, labels are folding and radio plays only 20-year-old songs by Billy Idol and Tears for Fears. But this latest chart sampler proves that things have never been better. The 20 tracks are nothing less than epic - Britney Spears' "Piece of Me," Timbaland and One Republic's "Apologize," Kanye West's "Flashing Lights," Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" - even Fergie's "Clumsy." Sorry. All that's missing is Gwen Stefani's stratospheric remix of "Now That You Got It." Even in the glory days of 1998, these compilations were saddled with some filler thrust forward by a third-rate ska band. Here, even the so-called rock tunes, such as Paramore's "Crushcrushcrush" and Boys Like Girls' "Hero/Heroine," are laced with heavy pop sugar. Does anyone have a transformer that can make me a teenage girl again?

Live Review: The Ting Tings and The Duke Spirit at the Rickshaw Stop, 03/10/08

Live Review: The Ting Tings and The Duke Spirit at the Rickshaw Stop, 03/10/08

A taste of what's in store at SXSW: Aidin Vaziri | The Duke Spirit offered up a set of sinister, seasick tunes like "My Sunken Treasure" and "The Step and the Walk," coming across a bit like an old Siouxsie and the Banshees record played at half-speed. "More Brits in the building, can you handle it?" singer Liela Moss asked at one point, somehow making the greeting sound like a threat. "You're lucky you got all the good ones." No doubt, the Ting Tings are one of the most exciting imports of the year. The Salford duo's shouty electro-pop singles, like "Fruit Machine" and "Great DJ," are decent enough but hardly hint at their breathless live show. As singer-guitarist Katie White flailed across the stage and drummer Jules de Martino kept the rhythm behind a pair of mirrored aviator glasses, the group tore through a delirious set that included all their previously released material (there's not that much yet), plus a new song that sounded like the White Stripes covering New Order. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Chris Thile of The Punch Brothers

Pop Quiz: Chris Thile of The Punch Brothers

Aidin Vaziri | Why didn't someone think about mixing bluegrass, jazz and classical music together sooner? Chris Thile, former mandolinist and singer for the Grammy-winning band Nickel Creek, is doing it with his new outfit, Punch Brothers, and the result is totally mind-blowing. Maybe part of the lure of the group's first album, "Punch," is the emotional 40- minute, four-part opus called "The Blind Leaving the Blind," which documents Thile's divorce from his fashion-designer wife, Jesse Meighan, after just 18 months of marriage. Or maybe it just has to do with the virtuoso's complete disregard for musical rules. We caught up with Thile backstage at "The Tonight Show" and asked him.


Chris Thile
Q: Have you run into any good celebrities in the green room?
A: I haven't really scoped it out. I know we are on with two striped hyenas, a mountain lion and two baby leopards, one of which I've already petted. Those are a couple of our co-stars.
Q: Are you feeling like you need some cuddly creatures in your life after the past few years?
A: Let's see: There was the dissolution of my ill-fated marriage. There was the riding off into the sunset of Nickel Creek. But I was actually glad that something finally started to happen. My life had gone so well the first 22 years, it was high time something happened that made me feel something aside from the pleasure of getting the metronome up to 180 beats per minute.
Q: Do you think divorce made you a better artist?
A: It made me a more dedicated artist. It made me realize my relationship with music is indestructible. I feel like I'm a growth on the body of music, whether it wants me there or not. That became even more apparent to me during the breakup and afterward. Continue reading.

Live Review: A Fine Frenzy at Cafe Du Nord, 03/04/08

Live Review: A Fine Frenzy at Cafe Du Nord, 03/04/08

A Fine Frenzy proves she's for real: Aidin Vaziri | A year of hard touring - this was her fourth or fifth Bay Area appearance - has only brought A Fine Frenzy back to one of the smallest venues Alison Sudol's seen since she first hit the road. Despite supporting Rufus Wainwright, doing Letterman and Leno, and getting her songs placed in series like MTV's "The Hills" and ABC's "Big Shots," the porcelain-skinned Seattle native's album has failed to get the kind of traction that typically keeps the major labels happy. Her personality and charm should be more than enough to carry her for now. And if that doesn't work, she's got "Almost Lover," the song that has been her persistent almost hit since the album's release last summer. There's a new radio-friendly remix of the lovely fluttery tune that's currently streaming on A Fine Frenzy's MySpace page that seems primed for an iPod advertisement, so maybe Virgin hasn't given up hope. Continue reading.

Review: Goldfrapp

Review: Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp 'Seventh Tree': Aidin Vaziri | Her robotic disco stylings apparently made a big impression on Madonna, who took cues from both her brittle digital music and perverted fashion sense. Now former Tricky collaborator Alison Goldfrapp and studio partner Will Gregory are out to throw the Material Girl and everyone else for a loop, offering an album that replaces sleazy dance grooves with ruminative acoustic guitars. It doesn't sound like a wise career move on paper, but one listen to the sublime "A&E" and it's hard to argue against it. On "Seventh Tree," Goldfrapp goes organic, lending her smoky voice to a selection of atmospheric down-tempo pop tunes, such as "Little Bird" and "Happiness," that are beautiful beyond compare. And if it all proves a bit too tame for those who are used to hearing her songs in bondage clubs, rest assured that in her most recent promo photos the singer is seen hugging a gigantic owl.

Pop Quiz: Tommy Guerrero

Pop Quiz: Tommy Guerrero

Aidin Vaziri | Much to the chagrin of public servants and the administration of the old McAteer High School near West Portal, Tommy Guerrero spent most of his youth shredding the streets of San Francisco with the famous Bones Brigade skateboarding crew. Retiring from the sport in 1995, he helped found Real/Deluxe Skateboards and eventually returned to his first love: making music. This year, the new father celebrates a decade of making bluesy lo-fi instrumental funk with "Return of the Bastard."

Tommy Guerrero
Q: You're a huge Herbie Hancock fan. Were you the only person in the world who was happy to see him win a Grammy?
A: I hope I wasn't the only one. I didn't watch the Grammys but was seriously blown away when he won. It was like subreality. Have you heard the album? It probably has Christina Aguilera on it.
Q: It has Norah Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae. Close enough.
A: See, it's like the Santana thing. That's the only way; it's got to be completely accessible to win something like that. That's my assumption, anyway.
Q: Have you ever won a Grammy?
A: No, I haven't gone triple platinum either. When I first decided to do this, I just hoped the label would make its money back, the $1,500 or whatever. That was my hope.Continue reading.

Review: Jack Peñate

Review: Jack Peñate

Jack Peñate 'Matinee': Aidin Vaziri | He may be only 23, but on his devilishly melodic premiere album Jack Peñate joyously channels the lush, hyperactive soul of ancient British pop acts such as the Style Council, Housemartins and Aztec Camera. For people with a certain nostalgic bone, "Matinee" is really a work of wonder; a disc piled high with wind-chime rhythm guitars, percolating ska rhythms and unapologetically lush falsettos. On the album's best tunes - "Spit at Stars," "Torn on the Platform" and "Learning Lines" - the hopelessly romantic singer breaks through life's dark clouds with such urgency that you know that, as much as he's enthralled with the sounds of the past, his head and heart belong squarely to the future.