Live Review: Fiona Apple

Live Review: Fiona Apple

Years of silence have hardly dulled Fiona Apple's intensity. She's back, wielding it like a sharp knife: Aidin Vaziri | Apple, now 28, still looks like she could flip out at any moment. When she isn't sipping tea behind an enormous piano, she stands in the spotlight with her shoulders stiff, eyes locked on some ghost on the horizon, knees twitching gawkily in time to the rhythms. Her knuckles look red and swollen as if she has just been punching the walls backstage. The new songs from "Extraordinary Machine," her third album, are especially intense. Which is to say they sound even more thunderous and emotionally ravaged than Apple's older tunes like "Limp" (lyrical kicker: "It won't be long till you'll be lying limp in your own hand") and "Sleep To Dream" ("I got my own hell to raise"), one of the few tracks she pulled from her triple-platinum 1996 debut album, "Tidal." She introduced the barbed "Oh Well" by announcing, "Boy, was I having a bad day when this song was written." Is it merely a coincidence that her ex-boyfriends like magician David Blaine and director Paul Thomas Anderson have all but disappeared? There's a thrilling sense that we're all headed for revelation together. Not only does she make it through the entire 90-minute set and belt out an acoustic version of the album's title track during an encore, but for just a brief second, it actually looks like Apple might be trying to fight back a smile.

R.I.P. CDs

R.I.P. CDs

Consider the alternatives to compact discs: iPods, satellite radio and hours of free or cheap digital music to download legally. Begone, bright discs and pesky cases! Begone!: Aidin Vaziri | They're overpriced, ugly and don't even make good rearview mirror ornaments. Now that we know they are also potentially poisonous to personal computers, thanks to Sony BMG's rogue copy-protection technology, there's really no reason to buy another compact disc ever again. With sleek iPods rapidly becoming the hi-fi system of choice, satellite radio offering hundreds of specialty stations, and the Internet overflowing with all kinds of free and cheap legal digital music, suddenly the thought of owning an awkward polycarbonate plastic-coated disc that holds only an hour of tunes by just one artist seems positively prehistoric -- even if it comes with a hastily produced "bonus" DVD. It's clearly time to move on. Think about it: No more nails-on-chalkboard-style skipping. No more secret tracks that scare the stuffing out of you 15 minutes after you think an album has stopped playing. No more fumbling around with those impossible-to-unwrap jewel cases. It was fun while it lasted. The music industry has declared war on its customers. Now it's time to fight back. Click here for the 10 best ways to get the most out of the next musical revolution.

Pop Quiz: Aqualung

Pop Quiz: Aqualung

Aidin Vaziri | When Matt Hales named his band Aqualung, he had no idea he had just adopted the title of the most famous album by flute-soloing classic rockers Jethro Tull. Then, earlier this year when he lent his song "Brighter Than Sunshine" to the soundtrack for the Ashton Kutcher/Amanda Peet film "A Lot Like Love," he had no idea anybody would actually hear it. Now that the track is a big hit and Aqualung is all over the place, the piano-playing British songwriter is paying for his mistakes. Fortunately, his American debut, "Strange and Beautiful," featuring tracks culled from recordings released in the United Kingdom in 2002 and 2003, is good enough to stand on its own.


Matt Hales of Aqualung
Q: Why would you sacrifice a good song for an Ashton Kutcher movie?
A: I'm still licking my wounds.
Q: Do you think you can digitally go back and take his and Amanda Peet's face out of your video for "Brighter Than Sunshine"?
A: No, I guess not. It might be a pointless exercise. I don't really care, really. For a long time they were supposed to be the stars of that video, which would have been even more hilarious. Sadly, we had to make do with their pictures.
Q: Has anyone at your shows demanded to see you play a flute solo while bouncing on one leg?
A: No. That hasn't happened at all. Not even in jest. I imagine a lot of people who are into Aqualung the band don't even know about Jethro Tull. They seem to be a much bigger deal with elderly DJs and classic-rock writers. I know there were people at the label who were worried for a while that people would think I was a tribute artist. There was also one review on Amazon where they were angry: "The new Jethro Tull album is s -- . It doesn't sound anything like their old stuff. There are hardly any flute solos."
Q: Congratulations on not hearing about Jethro Tull for the first 30 years of your life.
A: It doesn't really exist here. I don't know why you guys are fixated on '70s rock. I just thought it was a nice word. And then it suddenly turned out I was calling myself "Ticket to Ride," or "Layla." I really didn't know.
Q: That's the one thing we need to fix about this country.
A: Yeah, forget the foreign policy issues. You should focus on the Jethro Tull issue.

Pop Quiz: Rob Thomas

Pop Quiz: Rob Thomas

Aidin Vaziri | Having served as front man for platinum rockers Matchbox Twenty and songwriter to senior stars (hello, Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger and Willie Nelson!), Rob Thomas is now checking off the "successful solo artist" box on his lengthy to-do list. It's right under "Marry a gorgeous model." With the single "Lonely No More" and a No. 1 solo debut, "Something to Be," he's well on his way.


Rob Thomas
Q: Of all the people you've written songs for, which one would you write for again?
A: I think any of them. Because all the success I've been fortunate enough to have with Matchbox, I've never had to do a paycheck gig for writing. Everyone I worked with was either because I was a huge fan or I wanted to learn something from them, I haven't had a bad experience. I only wrote one big hit out of the band, "Smooth."
Q: When you were writing songs for Mick Jagger's last solo album, did you think, "Man, this is totally going to suck"?
A: No, for what? I loved his record. It's hard, man. If you're Mick Jagger and you are steeped in the Stones, he's not allowed to touch pop and reggae because people would be like, "What are you doing? Where's Keith?"
Q: That doesn't seem to be a problem for you.
A: As much as I love my band, we're not the Stones. Our biggest criticism has been that we're a "faceless" band, but that turned out to be a blessing because we still managed to have successful music and play arenas and not be associated with a time or a scene.
Q: I don't know if you heard, but there was a rumor about you and Tom Cruise.
A: Yeah, that was funny.
Q: But we all know you prefer Brad Pitt.
A: Or Johnny Depp. If all of a sudden I woke up one day and switched teams I would have so many more choices than Tom Cruise. He's a good actor, right? But he's not necessarily the best-looking actor

Review: Scott Stapp

Review: Scott Stapp

Scott Stapp "The Great Divide": Aidin Vaziri | It briefly looked as if we were free of the infernal mountain-man groaning of Scott Stapp. His band Creed came to a dramatic end last year, after selling 24 million albums in the United States, and rumors of infighting and breakdowns were flying. He disappeared. Flowers bloomed. The pop charts suddenly became a brighter place. Ah, but it turns out we're not getting off that easy. Stapp returns with a solo debut that simply re-creates his former outfit's carefully sculpted arena rock, complete with lyrics lifted from inspirational posters depicting kittens hanging off tree limbs. "Hush now darling don't you cry/ Every little thing gonna be alright," he grunts on the not-so-"Sublime," while first single and title track "The Great Divide" predictably finds him groveling about past mistakes to a loved one. Don't we all deserve an apology?

Pop Quiz: Death Cab for Cutie

Pop Quiz: Death Cab for Cutie

Aidin Vaziri | Death Cab for Cutie might be best known for providing just the right tune at the right moment for TV shows like "The O.C." and "Six Feet Under," but the Bellingham, Wash., group has been writing the soundtrack for numerous real-life scenes since 1997, when it was just a front for singer-guitarist Ben Gibbard (also the man behind the electro-pop side project the Postal Service). After four buzz-generating independent albums, the band made the major-label leap with its latest CD, "Plans," and a dreamy pop single, "Soul Meets Body," that's perfect for your own personal crying scene.


Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie
Q: Is Death Cab for Cutie on a mission to make lite rock cool again?
A: What's really at the core of what we're doing right now is to try to bring back that smooth, early- to mid-'70s soft-rock style that was all over radio. We also want to bring AM radio back. We want to make it a viable bandwidth again.
Q: Every band needs a good cause like that.
A: There are a lot of soft-rock bands that hide behind the guise of indie, like Belle & Sebastian and Kings of Convenience. We're all purveyors of this movement.
Q: If Kings of Convenience are the new Simon & Garfunkel, what does that make Death Cab for Cutie?
A: We're more the Paul Simon solo era.
Q: But you haven't even gone to Africa.
A: That's true. We haven't been dredging the depths of Africa for our musical palette. When our creative well runs dry, we'll just go and drain somebody else's. The problem is, Paul Simon already pillaged Africa, pillaged South America and made a couple of really great records -- but what continent can we go to? I think the only continent that we have to pillage from is Antarctica. I don't think they even necessarily make music down there.

Cheat Sheet: Feist

Cheat Sheet: Feist

Who Is Feist?: Aidin Vaziri | Leslie Feist is a singer-songwriter who has been melting hearts for a year with her stunning major-label debut, "Let It Die." Where did she come from? As far as career debuts go, Feist's wasn't the most promising. Going by the name Bitch Lap-Lap, she rapped in Spanish, wore 1980s aerobic suits and worked a sock puppet as the sidekick to saucy electro-clash stars Peaches and Chilly Gonzales. Um, why?"I was a little s -- and they took good care of me." So what does her album sound like? Imagine the emotionally vulnerable songs of Joni Mitchell updated with subtle beats, soft synths and a slight cocktail-jazz twist. The first five songs, including the single "Mushaboom," are originals detailing the end of a relationship. The rest are torchy covers of tracks by the Bee Gees, Ron Sexsmith and Françoise Hardy. At Canada's Juno Awards this year, "Let It Die" helped Feist clinch the best new artist and best alternative album trophies.

A Soldier's Story: James Blunt

A Soldier's Story: James Blunt

So Blunt: Aidin Vaziri | James Blunt lets out a long sigh at the very mention of his resume. But it's simply too good to ignore: Before becoming a chart-topping sensitive singer-songwriter in the United Kingdom, where this year his debut album, "Back to Bedlam," has sold more than Coldplay's "X&Y," Blunt was a captain in the British Army, leading 30,000 troops on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, serving as one of the queen's mounted bodyguards, and even guarding the Queen Mother's coffin at her funeral. For one thing, the tousle-haired Blunt contends, "I'm not that sensitive." (Although after a little prodding he will concede, "OK, I do admit I sing like a girl.") Then there is the fact that the 28-year-old Hampshire native never intended for anyone in the music business to know about his military past. He says his record company cajoled him to include a few interesting details in his official biography before the release of "Back to Bedlam" in the hopes of setting him apart from the likes of Damien Rice and Jamie Cullum, and he relented. It's a decision he's regretted ever since. "I thought it was a curse from day one," says Blunt. "To me, it was just a day job. I'm just glad I wasn't a banker because otherwise the interviews would be really boring." Besides, how many "No. 1 With a Bullet" headlines can someone take?

Pop Quiz: Burt Bacharach

Pop Quiz: Burt Bacharach

Aidin Vaziri | You know things are bad when Burt Bacharach is pissed off. The composer behind easygoing, easy-listening staples like "The Look of Love" and "Walk on By" is not taking it so easy on his latest album, "At This Time," which includes guest spots from Dr. Dre, Elvis Costello and Rufus Wainwright. Angered by the Iraq war and the crash-and-burn politics of the United States, the 77-year-old songwriter, who for the past 50 years has depended on others to pen his words, is ripping off his polo sweater and writing his first batch of lyrics ever. They're not pretty, either: "Who are these people that keep telling us lies and how did these people get control of our lives?"


Burt Bacharach
Q: They finally made you angry.
A: Yeah, you know. Here's a guy who wrote love songs all his life, never rocked the boat. But at this time in his life, or my life, I find that it's just impossible not to say something. I'm stupid in so many areas, but you just have to be aware to see all the things wrong. As I was writing, things kept getting worse.
Q: During the Vietnam War, Watergate and Reaganomics, you responded with "What's New, Pussycat?," "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)." What happened?
A: I was a nonpolitical guy. I was in my own world of writing songs. I didn't like what was going on in Vietnam, but I wasn't so involved. I didn't like the Nixon administration. I didn't like people who lied. But did it occupy my time? No. Then again, there has never been a time like this. The world has changed forever, I do believe.
Q: This is the first time you've written lyrics. Did you go back and listen to Bob Dylan and the Clash for inspiration?
A: No, not at all. This is just what came out. It's me. It's what I'm hearing. It's what I'm feeling. It's what I'm reading. It's what I'm thinking. I had no choice. It doesn't matter if I know how to rhyme properly. It's not about the rules. It's about what I feel in my heart.
Q: Well, you've certainly come a long way from "What the World Needs Now."
A: All my life I've written love songs or songs about heartbreak. This album is a continuation. I'm still writing love songs about heartbreak. Only instead of being about a person it's about a situation. It's about the hurt that I feel for the country and the world. So there's an umbrella of love trying to shine through. This is the most honest album I've ever made.

Review: T. Rex

Review: T. Rex

T. Rex "The Slider": Aidin Vaziri | It seems like the classic T. Rex albums are passed off every few years to another label for a reissue. With Rhino, they've finally fallen into the right hands. Out of the latest batch -- which also includes expanded versions of 1974's blunted "Zinc Alloy," 1977's slick "Dandy in the Underworld" and an incomplete singles compilation (what, no "Bang a Gong"?) -- this deluxe edition of 1972's "The Slider" is the one to grab. The bounty of rare and unreleased music that pads out the original album is a thrill. As well as acoustic demos and bonus cuts, a second disc includes an entire alternate version of the seminal glam-rock album, with the hits "Metal Guru" and "Telegram Sam." Of course, the raucous, aspirational original is all anyone really needs. Just ask Devendra Banhart, Billy Corgan, Noel Gallagher, Morrissey or any other musician who has been using it as a handbook since day one.