The Buzz Around Persephone's Bees

The Buzz Around Persephone's Bees

The buzz gets louder for Persephone's Bees with a swarm of high-profile achievements: Aidin Vaziri | Angelina Moysov, singer and keyboard player for Persephone's Bees, runs a pale, unpolished fingernail along the edge of a promotional copy of her band's soon-to-be-released major label debut. "See that?" she says, pointing to the minuscule copyright text at the perimeter of the disc. "It says Columbia. That's the same as Bob Dylan." These are exciting times for the 7-year-old East Bay band that has as much reverence for rock's rich past as it does its sci-fi future. There's a new album called "The Notes From the Underworld," scheduled for release later this year. Produced by Eric Valentine, whose previous clients include Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind and Good Charlotte, if it goes double platinum, it will probably be considered a disappointment. The group's song "City of Love," a crafty slice of Brill Building teen pop with a kraut-rock twist, meanwhile, is prominently featured on the "Bewitched" motion-picture soundtrack alongside heavyweights like R.E.M., Talking Heads and Frank Sinatra. "In the opening scene of the film, you see Nicole Kidman's legs and hear my voice," Moysov says. Then there is that freshly minted record deal with one of the biggest imprints in the music industry, home of everyone from Beyonce to David Bowie to the Dixie Chicks to, yes, Dylan. "I just had to sleep with a couple of people," the singer jokes.

CD Reviews: Alanis Morissette, Damien Rice

CD Reviews: Alanis Morissette, Damien Rice

Alanis Morissette 'Jagged Little Pill Acoustic': Aidin Vaziri | It feels so different now. When Alanis Morissette first released "Jagged Little Pill" -- the biggest-selling album by a female artist ever -- it was a revelation. She sang frankly about indulging some unnamed lover with oral sex in a movie theater; she crammed entire chapters from her angry and bruised diary into vitriolic three-minute rock songs; she blatantly misused the word "Ironic." If it weren't for that crazy yodel that made her sing "rain" like "rah-yay-eee-ain," the 1995 release probably would have sold way more than 30 million copies. But it's almost impossible to hear the songs the same way now, and not because she is marking the 10th anniversary of the album's release by stripping away the electric guitars and looped drums, resuscitating all-too-familiar songs like "Hand in My Pocket" and "Forgiven" with tasteful flourishes of flamenco guitars and maracas. No, it's because a few years ago it became fairly well known that most of the songs were written after the fallout of her relationship with actor Dave Coulier. Yes, you do -- he played Uncle Joey on '80s television hit "Full House," and more recently he was a cast member on "The Surreal Life." The guy who did the Bullwinkle impressions and made scissors with his fingers when he said, "Cut. It. Out." She got all worked up over him? She wrote these songs for the guy who was upstaged by Bob Saget on a weekly basis? The one with the mullet? It really makes this "Pill" that much harder to swallow.

Damien Rice 'Unplayed Piano': Aidin Vaziri | This isn't the long-awaited follow-up to Damien Rice's heart-cracking 2003 release, "O," but rather an iTunes-only single written to expose the plight of Burmese political activist and piano player Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. The sad state of global affairs aside, the song itself is staggering -- a windswept duet with musical partner Lisa Hannigan that begins with a deceptively gorgeous melody before delivering the operatic kicker, "Unplayed pianos/ are often by a window/ in a room where nobody loved goes." The Irish songwriter is operating at his gut-wrenching best and -- after that liaison with Renee Zellweger and lousy disc of B-sides -- proving he hasn't completely lost the plot.

Pop Quiz: Brendan Benson

Pop Quiz: Brendan Benson

Aidin Vaziri | Brendan Benson is the new Loretta Lynn. Not because he wears lots of frilly dresses and has big hair but because he's earned the rather vocal endorsement of fellow Michigan native and friend Jack White of the White Stripes, who once declared him the best songwriter, like, ever. Unfortunately, that and an instantly likable new album called "The Alternative to Love" haven't done much for Benson's bank account, which has been suffering ever since he sold about 15 million records less than the Spice Girls and was dropped by his former label, Virgin. If the wide-eyed title track from the new disc, on V2, doesn't change his fortunes, nothing will.

Brendan Benson
Q: You've been the "next big thing" for about 10 years now.
A: It's funny, because I get a lot of compliments from guys in bands without selling a lot of records. I guess it's sort of flattering.
Q: If they actually had to pay for CDs, maybe you would be platinum by now.
A: Totally.
Q: I know it's romantic to be an unknown songwriter. But don't you secretly wish you could be as big as Justin Timberlake?
A: I don't wish I could be as big as Justin Timberlake, for sure. But after not having any real success, the notion of being a cult artist does become more and more romantic to me. It's all I have to fall back on, I guess. So, sure, I'll accept.
Q: Maybe if you worked on your choreography.

Live Review: Anger Management 3

Live Review: Anger Management 3

Catching the whiff of Eminem, 50 Cent onstage isn't rosy, it downright stinks: Aidin Vaziri | Shortly before ridiculing Michael Jackson by putting on a surgical mask and throwing baby dolls into the audience from a second-floor ledge, but before pretending to vomit into a toilet bowl at the thought of having sex with Mariah Carey and donning a suit and tie for his own mock funeral, Eminem stood at the edge of the stage at San Jose's HP Pavilion on Tuesday performing his signature hit, "The Way I Am," while, to the riotous delight of the audience, two giant inflatable hands, with middle fingers firmly extended, jiggled at either side of him. It takes a lot of work to impress 13-year-old girls. Appearing in an urban wasteland that looked like it was designed by Disney (complete with an overturned police car, graffiti-covered trashcans and the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty), and with members of G-Unit at his side dishing out only the best bits from his filthy nursery rhymes such as "Candy Shop" and "Disco Inferno," 50 Cent seemed more like the crotch-grabbing life of the party than the hardened gangster that has taken nine bullets.

Live Review: Kings of Leon

Live Review: Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon play like royalty but stand around like bumpkins: Aidin Vaziri | This time last month, Kings of Leon were just coming off a national tour as the supporting act for U2. You'd think watching one of the most powerful, passionate live bands on the planet night after night would have made an impression on the young Southern rock quartet. If so, you'd be dead wrong. Kicking off the first of three shows with the Secret Machines at the Fillmore on Monday, however, the audience found a half-empty room and four skinny men who seemed far too inconvenienced by the prospect of actually entertaining a crowd. Yes, front man Caleb Followill did shuffle his feet a bit for the first few songs but then seemed to lose all interest until the very end of the two- hour set, when he slammed his microphone stand down, almost bludgeoning a bouncer. Guitarist Matthew Followill and bassist Jared Followill successfully incorporated their smoke breaks into the show. Drummer Nathan Followill, meanwhile, occupied himself with a mouthful of gum and blowing the occasional bubble. The trouble is, the band's two albums so far -- 2003's "Youth & Young Manhood" and last year's "Aha Shake Heartbreak" -- are some of the best, most exhilarating releases in recent memory, brimming with filthy guitar licks, big honking choruses and precisely dropped bursts of cowbell. Forget Africa, Bono. Your work's still not done here.

Pop Quiz: Esthero

Pop Quiz: Esthero

Aidin Vaziri | It's been seven years since Esthero released her quarter-million- selling debut CD, "Breath From Another," and then seemingly disappeared. After grappling with writer's block, television addiction and seeing her head- spinning sound co-opted by Nelly Furtado and the Black Eyed Peas, she finally returns with a new CD, "Wikked Lil' Grrrls," featuring Sean Lennon and OutKast's Andre 3000. We asked the Canadian singer about the delay and her pirate girlfriends.

Esthero
Q: There were a lot of rumors about you while you were gone. One, that you were supposed to be the short, loud chick in the Black Eyed Peas.
A: Fergie? I love her. I adore her. No. I was a guest on one of their songs, and I'm a member of their collective. I never wanted to be in the band. No one asked me to be in the band. That's just my family. It was like people forgot I actually have my own career.
Q: Well, when you take seven years off ...
A: They thought I was out of a job? I just wanted to be alone and live life and gather ammunition. It was very deliberate.
Q: There were rumors of breakdowns.
A: I definitely had my own struggles, but it was just about trying to find my way and find my sound. There was a point when I didn't want to write or do anything. I wanted to take time off and be a hook girl.
Q: Wait, did you say hooker or hook girl?
A: I wanted to be that girl who sang hooks on everybody else's s -- and got paid and had no ego. I didn't want to be in charge.
Q: People also said you went broke.
A: I lost my house. I mean, I'm not wanting now. I'm not suffering. When you take that long, finances get tight. You're only supposed to take a year and a half to make a record.
Q: Losing your house didn't make you want to work a little faster?

CD Reviews: Dukes of Hazzard, Iggy Pop

CD Reviews: Dukes of Hazzard, Iggy Pop

The Dukes of Hazzard 'Original Motion Picture Soundtrack': Aidin Vaziri | Let's face it, nobody is buying this for the crusty redneck anthems by Molly Hatchet or the Charlie Daniels Band. Any self-respecting Lynyrd Skynyrd fan wouldn't go near an album that includes the James Gang's "Funk No. 49." And what about '90s stalwarts the Blues Explosion and Southern Culture on the Skids? Their fans don't have the kind of disposable income that supports train- wreck compilations, and they don't really have that many fans to start with anyway. No, the main selling point here is Jessica Simpson (left), just as the only reason people are going to pay to see the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie in theaters is not so much for the comedic gunpowder of Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott but to see her in those small denim shorts on a really big screen. For what it's worth, Simpson gives Nancy Sinatra's signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walking" a stunning demographic-crunching makeover, complete with futurist hip-hop beat, brink-of-orgasm vocals and a whole new middle part that veers from new-country fiddles to a wholly unnecessary rap bit with a verse about Uncle Jesse. That's why people are buying this album. Well, either that or Willie Nelson's bestiality jokes.

Iggy Pop 'A Million In Prizes: The Anthology': Aidin Vaziri | Considering that Iggy Pop's last good album was "Lust for Life," released in 1977, the entire second disc of this 37-track compilation only serves to poke huge Swiss cheese-style holes in the streetwalking cheetah's legacy. For every blast of primitive punk brilliance like "The Passenger" or the Stooges' "No Fun," there is a grizzly rebuttal like the cola jingle "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" or -- horror of horrors -- "Candy," the 1990 duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52's. It's like engaging in a sweltering one-night stand and waking up with a ring around the finger and a poodle in the backseat. And that's before suffering through the DVD, "Live From Avenue B," recorded during Grandpa Punk's ill-advised introspective period.

Pop Quiz: Jason Mraz

Pop Quiz: Jason Mraz

Aidin Vaziri | How is Jason Mraz celebrating the release of his new album? By dropping his pants. The Virginia singer-songwriter recently stripped down for a Jane magazine photo shoot, posing at a rustic country house, to get the word out on his second studio release, "Mr. A-Z." The follow-up to his breakthrough debut, "Waiting for My Rocket to Come," was produced by Steve Lillywhite (U2, Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band), and Mraz has spent the summer as the opener on Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Tour."

Jason Mraz
Q: Isn't it a bit early in your career to start posing nude?
A: Posing nude? I don't know. I pose nude every day.
Q: You didn't even bother waxing the chest hair.
A: I am au naturel. I wouldn't worry about that. I feel like anybody that makes art, even you as a writer, we are all naked in some way. Every time we reveal something, we might as well be naked.
Q: What a bunch of hogwash.
A: The bottom line is, clothes are silly, aren't they?
Q: Yes, but most of us don't get physically naked until we need the cash.
A: Yeah, I'm just going for it. I don't think I even got paid for that shoot, to be honest with you.
Q: I'm sure you'll get paid in album sales.
A: Absolutely.
Q: Do you always keep your boots on?
A: Only when I'm sitting on the front steps.
Q: I hope you were sitting on a towel.
A: Nope, no towel.
Q: You could get dry rot.

Pop Quiz: Ray LaMontagne

Pop Quiz: Ray LaMontagne

Aidin Vaziri | A few years ago, the soft-spoken Ray LaMontagne was just about to start another early morning shift at a Maine shoe factory. At 4:30 a.m., his clock radio woke him up to Stephen Stills' "Treetop Flyer," and in a Ferris Bueller moment, LaMontagne decided to blow off work and search out the song on the singer's 1991 album, "Stills Alone." Through that he discovered folkies like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and chose to dedicate his life to following in their footsteps. So far, so good. The 31-year-old songwriter's first album, "Trouble," has been getting all kinds of critical applause and steady radio play.

Ray LaMontagne
Q: How do you expect to get on MTV with a beard?
A: We'll see. First of all, if I'm never on MTV, I will not be disappointed in my life. It is not going to make or break my day. It's not a goal of mine to be on MTV at all.
Q: I think the last person they allowed on there with a beard was Kenny Loggins with "Danger Zone."
A: No, no, don't forget the Spin Doctors. That guy had a beard.
Q: You could always get one of those Backstreet Boys-type beards, where you just shave two lines coming out of your nose and going into your ear.
A: I'll think about it.
Q: Somehow your album is doing well despite the facial hair.
A: I guess so. I don't know.
Q: No, your songs are actually on the radio.
A: I kind of want to throw up when I hear them.
Q: I think Britney Spears has the same reaction, but that's because she's terrible. What's your problem?
A: I just can't stand the sound of my own voice.
Q: Yet you thought it was fine to subject the public to it?

CD Reviews: Kraftwerk, Esthero

CD Reviews: Kraftwerk, Esthero

Kraftwerk 'Minimum-Maximum': Aidin Vaziri | If Bob Dylan is so great, how come he's never written a song like "The Model"? Roughly 21 percent of the population knows what he was talking about when he sang, "The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind." And most of them have hair past their elbows. Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans, vegans and cannibals, skateboarders and roller-bladers -- everyone -- joined in a group hug and just for a few minutes saw things eye to eye when in 1978 Kraftwerk crooned, "She's a model and she's looking good/ I'd like to take her home, that's understood." And English wasn't even the band's first language. The legacy of the German synthesizer quartet is so great that, for better or worse, its influence has reached everyone from David Bowie and Missy Elliott to New Order and the Chemical Brothers. Most recently, Chris Martin admitted that his band Coldplay's song "Talk" was built around a borrowed melody from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love." This double-disc live set, recorded last year, meanwhile, isn't so much a tour souvenir as a source guide to the finest electronic music of the past century: "Tour de France," "Autobahn," "Pocket Calculator" and the rest. Of course, the most exhilarating thing about it is that each track sounds as if it were transmitted back here from the next century, all glistening blips and robotic vocals, digital ripples and very human soul. And to think it was all made by four balding men with laptops. Genius.

Esthero 'Wikked Lil' Grrrls': Aidin Vaziri | On her quarter-million selling 1998 debut, "Breath From Another," Esthero sang, "Music is the man that made a woman out of me." But just like a typical male, it left the 26-year-old Toronto singer depressed, broke and uninspired. Seven years later, Esthero, who plays Friday at the Fillmore, finally gets around to issuing a follow-up that is both bitter and triumphant. She calls out R. Kelly, MTV and the rest of the music industry in the fiery opening track, "We R in Need of a Musical Revolution," then almost immediately goes bossa breezy on the Sean Lennon duet "Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)." But, give or take the odd spoken-word track, this is the kind of incongruity that's actually fun.

Lay Latte Lay: Bob Dylan & Starbucks

Lay Latte Lay: Bob Dylan & Starbucks

Bob Dylan in an exclusive deal with Starbucks? Why not? After all, everybody must get coffee: Aidin Vaziri | After that Victoria's Secret commercial, it was hard to imagine what else counterculture icon Bob Dylan could possibly do to insult his fans. As it turns out, for a guy who looks as if he regularly forgets to shave in the morning, he's pretty resourceful. This week, it was announced that Dylan, known for his socially and politically charged lyrics, had signed a deal to distribute "Live at the Gaslight 1962" exclusively through Starbucks, the multi-tentacled coffee shop chain that, while offering excellent workplace benefits to its employees, is frequently accused of devastating the environment, exploiting Third World farmers and wrecking small businesses. Almost immediately, people on Dylan discussion boards were hurling fresh accusations of selling out at their hero. "I think it's just a shame really," one dismayed member wrote at fan site Expecting Rain (expectingrain.com). "How sad and disappointing to hear Dylan giving into corporate slavehood!" another protested. But at least one still believed in the singer's insurrectionary powers: "It's easier to take something down from the inside." Talk about wishful thinking.