CD Review: Jennifer Lopez's 'Rebirth'

CD Review: Jennifer Lopez's 'Rebirth'

Jennifer Lopez's 'Rebirth': Aidin Vaziri | Quick, name one good reason Jennifer Lopez is famous. Is it because of her roles in what should have been direct-to-video movies like "Jersey Girl" and "Angel Eyes"? No, although who can forget her erotically charged performance in "Gigli," when she pointed to her crotch and said, "It's turkey time! Gobble gobble gobble!" Does her star shine so brightly because of all the hit songs she's performed, like "Jenny From the Block" and, oh, er ... well, it's hard to think of another, but wasn't there one about how P. Diddy can't buy her love? It's certainly not because of her signature perfume, "Glow, " nor the J. Lo clothing line, which makes the women's department at Sears look absolutely chic. Although, let's give credit where it's due: She does a pretty fabulous job keeping tabloid pages filled with all her disaster-prone relationships. Bennifer? Yeah, that was a lot of fun. All things considered, it should come as no surprise that Lopez's fourth album, "Rebirth," is underwhelming on every level. Yes, songs like "He'll Be Back" and "Step Into My World" are painstakingly crafted by R&B super-producers Tim "Timbaland" Mosley and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, respectively, but not one leaves a lasting impression once the CD stops spinning. Lopez's third and current husband, Marc Anthony, manages to re-create the icky soap opera vibe of the pair's Grammy performance on "(Can't Believe) This Is Me," while even Moby could have invested more sexual heat into the breathy "Step Into My World. " The single "Get Right," sampling the saxophone from Maceo and the Macks' "Soul Power '74," nearly ignites -- until you find out Lopez lifted the sample, melody and lyrics from Usher's "Confessions" discard pile. The woman is shameless, and maybe that's the only explanation anyone needs. We're all curious to see how far she can go with so little to give.

Pop Quiz: Ian Brown

Pop Quiz: Ian Brown

Aidin Vaziri | Ian Brown was the lead singer for the Stone Roses, one of the most influential British guitar bands of all time. When the band split in 1996, Brown decided to give up music and go into gardening. When that didn't work out, he launched a solo career, only to have record company troubles and a brief spell in jail for an air-rage incident combined to prevent most of his releases from reaching America. But that's changed with his fourth and latest, "Solarized," which hits stores this week.



Ian Brown
Q: Does 95 percent of your life revolve around weed?
A: Me and my girl met through weed. I was in New York and I went up to this apartment to buy marijuana and that's where she was. It was a hunt for marijuana that led me to her.
Q: Tell me honestly. What's No. 1: weed or music?
A: Well, you know, both come together. They're inseparable. It's all about vibes. When you're in the studio, you're playing songs over and over and they've got to have vibes, otherwise they're getting binned.
Q: OK then, what are the albums everyone should listen to when they're high?
A: "Electric Ladyland" by Jimi Hendrix. The Bob Marley box set. The James Brown "Star Time" box set. "Black Caesar" is also pretty good. And then "The Best Dressed Chicken in Town" by Dr. Alimantado.

The Heavenly States: Diary From Libya

The Heavenly States: Diary From Libya

The Heavenly States in Libya: Aidin Vaziri | Oakland band Heavenly States was determined to perform in Libya, to become the first band to play there since Moammar Khadafy took power. It wasn't an easy task, but they did get their wish. Here's a diary of their experience.

Pop Quiz: Kings of Leon

Pop Quiz: Kings of Leon

Aidin Vaziri | They've been described as the hillbilly Strokes. And if that isn't reason enough to fall in love with Kings of Leon, here are a few more: They look like they were beamed here from 1976. Three of them are brothers, one is a cousin. Sometimes they have moustaches. Before their Pentecostal evangelist father settled in Nashville, their whole family slept in the backseat of a car. Their second and latest album, "Aha Shake Heartbreak," is so good, U2 has invited them on tour. And, finally, there's this interview with 17-year-old guitarist Jared Followill.



Jared Followill of Kings of Leon
Q: Have you met U2 yet?
A: Yeah, we met them in the U.K. We did a television show with them there and hung out a bit.
Q: How does Bono's wig look up close?
A: I don't know. His hair looked pretty real when I ran my fingers through it. It felt healthy.
Q: So you're going to be playing football fields?
A: Yeah, I think I would rather just be playing football.
Q: What? Think of all the 40-year-old women who are going to be hitting on you.
A: Now that part I do not mind.

Preview: Noise Pop 2005

Preview: Noise Pop 2005

Noise Pop 2005: Aidin Vaziri | Who needs muddy fields and flooded Porta Pottis when we can depend every year on Noise Pop to turn our city into one big indie-rock stomping ground? This year's festival -- the lucky 13th -- could be the most exciting yet, mixing up the usual big-name underground guitar acts with French folk chanteuses, pixielike harp players and a whole bunch of robe-wearing Texans spreading good cheer. We caught up with some of this year's Noise Pop stars and talked to them about the festival experience. The consensus? You can leave the sunscreen at home. Click here to read the interviews with Rogue Wave, Keren Ann, The Walkmen, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Ditty Bops, Parchman Farm, Robbers On High Street, Inara George, A Girl Called Eddy, Two Gallants, Louis XIV and Hot Hot Heat.

Live Review: Bright Eyes

Live Review: Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes: Aidin Vaziri | Conor Oberst has released six albums, launched his own record label, toured with R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen, romanced Winona Ryder, sung with Emmylou Harris and, earlier this year, simultaneously released a pair of wildly different CDs that both went straight into the Top 20, making him rub shoulders with pop giants like Usher and Kelly Clarkson. On Tuesday, playing a sold-out show with his band Bright Eyes at the Berkeley Community Theater, the Nebraskan singer-songwriter celebrated his 25th birthday. He should be pinching himself, but Oberst merely looks confused. He shuffles on stage as if he just got off work restocking the shelves at Whole Foods, wearing high-water jeans and a ragged gray hoodie. He lets his floppy hair hang in his face and, when he's not taking enormous swigs of beer or fiddling around with the microphone stand, enigmatically mumbles things like, "This is a song about driving." He goes out of his way to suppress any hint of charisma, even though the reams of press he has built around his two latest releases, the folksy "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and experimental "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn," suggest that beneath the cool exterior he secretly longs for John Mayer's life.

Review: The 47th Grammy Awards

Review: The 47th Grammy Awards

A Long Night: Aidin Vaziri | The first five minutes of the 47th Grammy Awards Sunday just may have been the worst five minutes in the history of mankind. Not just because they featured the Black Eyed Peas dressed like break-dancing scarecrows or Gwen Stefani and Eve slaughtering the "Fiddler on the Roof" song or Los Lonely Boys gnashing their teeth over playing "Heaven" for the 8,783rd time or Maroon 5 just being there. No, these five minutes stood out because they ended with all of the above collapsing together in a whirlwind of bad fashion and a nausea-inducing jam session. Let's get this party started? More like, let's kill ourselves. How Franz Ferdinand ended up in that mess is as big a mystery as Queen Latifah's red satin dress. By the end of a very long night, 107 awards were handed out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with the biggest handful -- eight -- going to the late Ray Charles. He was lucky to have missed the show.

Pop Quiz: The Finn Brothers

Pop Quiz: The Finn Brothers

Aidin Vaziri | Having sold millions of albums between their stints in Crowded House and Split Enz, Tim and Neil Finn have reunited once again as the Finn Brothers for a new disc, "Everyone Is Here," and semi-acoustic tour of the states. Apparently, they keep forgetting how much they hate each other. Fortunately, we are here to remind them.



Tim Finn of the Finn Brothers
Q: What would you say is your favorite thing to fight about?
A: Um, a lot of it has to do with the usual unexplained feelings that come up between brothers. It's kind of an identity thing, where you think you're figuring out who you are, and suddenly your brother comes along and just his very existence challenges your sense of being. So it's nothing too specific. It's just kind of annoying sometimes to have your siblings around.
Q: I don't know if it helps, but I personally think you have better hair than he does.
A: Well, it took me a while to get to that as well. The thing is, our dad has really good hair, and it's sort of a sore point with Neil because he can see that I have dad's hair. In rock 'n' roll, let's face it, it's one of the top three things to have.
Q: That's right. To be an awesome band you need, in this strict order, good tunes, good hair and good shoes.
A: I think shoes are important as well. I always feel good in a nice pair of shoes.

Matmos: The Sounds of Science

Matmos: The Sounds of Science

Human fat and rat cages never sounded so good: Aidin Vaziri | The inventory for this particular show is tame when compared with some objects the musical and life partners have used in the past: They've found sonic inspiration in everything from rabbit pelts and rat cages to the pages of bibles turning and on-set dialogue from gay porn films. After a decade of doing this, they feel like they're just getting warmed up. The group's breakthrough 2001 album, "A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Heal, " is made entirely of the noises of plastic surgery, setting real-life rhinoplasty cracks and liposuction whooshes to a captivating techno groove. In lesser hands, it could rankle. Daniel and Schmidt, however, are dedicated to constructing songs that are not only fun but equally intellectual and beautiful. "I think of what we do as collaborations with objects in the world, and it's their sounds, that's why people find it compelling," Daniel says over a cup of tea at the kitchen table. "Human fat sounds compelling going through a tube in the same way that when you're a kid, playing with your pudding sounds great. You don't have to be a maestro of chocolate pudding or human fat to get off on these sounds. They're exciting unto themselves."

Layla's Swinging '60s Photo Show

Layla's Swinging '60s Photo Show

Pattie Boyd: Aidin Vaziri | Even before she became the subject of lovelorn classic rock staples like George Harrison's "Something" and Eric Clapton's "Layla," Pattie Boyd made a lasting impression. The blond bangs, the cherry-red lips, the iconic Vogue covers: No one better defined high style in the 1960s. For those who have always wondered what the world looks like through the eyes of one of the beautiful people, there is good news. She took pictures. On Valentine's Day, the first public exhibition of Boyd's photographs, "Through the Eye of a Muse," opens at the San Francisco Art Exchange. Now approaching 60, she still can't figure out what made these men who were seemingly at the very height of their creative and commercial powers simply fall at her feet. "It's an obvious question for you to ask and an incredibly difficult and elusive question for me to answer," Boyd says. "I just happened to be there, I suppose, is all I can say."

Pop Quiz: Nanci Griffith

Pop Quiz: Nanci Griffith

Aidin Vaziri | In Nashville, they call her the queen of folkabilly. She's written hit songs for Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris and Kathy Mattea. And she's released 15 studio albums, netting no less than five Grammy nominations. Now, with her latest, "Hearts in Mind," Nanci Griffith is taking on the whole world. Well, at least some of its politicians -- those she doesn't think are so hot. OK, mainly George W. Bush.



Nanci Griffith
Q: You've made an album that's about love and war. Couldn't you have settled on something easier, like drinking and gambling?
A: I don't know. My friend, the late Harlan Howard, always said truly great songs are about three chords and the truth. So that's what I set out to do.
Q: So what's the truth?
A: For me, I love love.
Q: You had to make a whole album to figure that out?