Pop Quiz: Best of 2006

Pop Quiz: Best of 2006

Aidin Vaziri | A look back at some of our favorite conversations from the past year.


Fiona Apple
Q: Was it nerve-racking playing with Coldplay?
A: It was the easiest thing in the world.
Q: Were there any Apple mix-ups backstage? Like, if someone said, "Hey, Apple!" would you turn around, but they were actually talking to Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's baby?
A: No. I heard she was actually at the show one day, but I never even saw the little girl.
Q: But it could have been possible.
A: It could have been possible. If I would have been in the same room, I would have turned around.

Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden
Q: Is there a point when you're going to stop putting zombies and skeletons on your album covers?
A: I don't think so. Why?

Lady Sovereign, miniature rapper
Q: Why don't you wear clothes that fit you?
A: Pardon?
Q: Is it because you're too embarrassed to shop in the little girl's department?

Nick Lachey, solo star and Jessica Simpson's ex
Q: Do you think getting a divorce is the best thing that happened to your career?
A: No, not at all.

Lionel Richie
Q: You've had 20 years to think about this: Why did the clay head come out so wrong in the video for "Hello"?
A: That's the joke. I spent the entire video walking around with the director, going, "It doesn't look like me." He kept saying, "Don't worry about it, Lionel." But I kept saying, "It doesn't look like me." So finally he turned around and said, "Lionel, she's blind. It's not supposed to look exactly like you."
Q: That's a terrible excuse. It looks like a football with a mustache.

David Gilmour, solo artist and Pink Floyd front man
Q: "Dark Side of the Moon" is one of the best-selling and most loved albums of all time. What would you change about it?
A: Oh, there's nothing I would change about it.
Q: It's like going back in time to the era of dinosaurs and stepping on a butterfly. The world would be totally different. There would be no laser light shows.
A: Exactly.

Chris Isaak
Q: Did you realize you liked the color blue so much?
A: Why, is blue mentioned in a lot of the song titles?
Q: "Blue Spanish Sky." "Blue Hotel." "Forever Blue." Do you want me to go on?
A: You know, one time I read that the most popular word in Elvis' song titles was "blue."
Q: Well, it is easy to rhyme it with stuff.

Pharrell Williams, celebrity producer and solo act
Q: What would happen if you were stuck on an island without a laptop and cell-phone signal?
A: I would probably be made to experience peace.
Q: That totally sucks. You wouldn't try to make a laptop out of coconuts?
A: You know what? I probably wouldn't last too long. I would have to have some kind of drum set or something.
Q: Actually, I think bananas make a good satellite.

Ashley Parker
Angel, former boy-band member and star of MTV reality show "There & Back"
Q: You were born on the same day as MTV. That's weird, huh?
A: Exactly to the day and the year. Aug. 1, 1981, is the day they launched as a network and that's the day I was born. So I feel this weird connection with MTV.
Q: Is that why you let them film you while you were broke, working minimum-wage jobs and living with your pregnant girlfriend at her mom's apartment?

Scott Stapp, solo artist and former Creed singer
Q: What's the problem with making a sex tape with Kid Rock?
A: It was just something that happened, and I would have liked for it not to be public and to stay in the dark. When it starts affecting people around you, then it's not something to be brushed aside.
Q: At least you learned one thing: not to have a video camera in the room.
A: You could say that again.
Q: That's a sign of maturity and growth.

Steven Seagal, action movie star and apparent Delta bluesman
Q: What do you put in the occupation box on your tax return: actor, musician or professional ass-kicker?
A: Well, my first love is music. I can say that. I make more money in the movies.
Q: Do you think some people come see you just because they think you're going to blow stuff up?


Davey Havok of A.F.I.
Q: Did you plan on releasing "Decemberunderground" on the totally evil date of 06/06/06? Are you into all that weird stuff?
A: It was actually for my grandmother's birthday. She turned 90 years old the day "Decemberunderground" came out.
Q: No other reason?
A: No. I just thought it would be a great birthday present. Honestly, no. It was a coincidence.
Q: So it's not true that you eat children and have sex with goats?
A: Actually, that's on 06/06/08.

Graham Nash of CSNY
Q: You somehow managed to avoid the stomach bug that downed David Crosby earlier this week.
A: So far, yes. He was actually quite sick at rehearsal yesterday.
Q: And he showed up anyway. It takes real dedication to vomit on your old bandmates.
A: A true friend will be vomited on.

Corinne Bailey Rae
Q: How many hours did you ride around on a bike in the video for "Put Your Records On"?
A: How many hours? It was quite a lot, actually. Three or four hours?
Q: Wow. Is that a new world record?

Mark E Smith of the Fall
Q: What do you think of all these new bands that sound like the Fall?
A: It disturbs me a lot, actually.
Q: How much would it take to get you to listen to a Franz Ferdinand album?
A: Me? All the way through? About $100,000.

Daniel Powter, singer-songwriter behind the hit "Bad Day"
Q: I read something recently that said after the next nuclear holocaust cockroaches will still be buying that record. Did you know that when you made it?
A: Dude, you are so eloquent. I can just tell you love this record. You're so nice.

Sean Lennon
Q: Do you call anyone for advice?
A: Do I ever call anyone for advice? That's a really stupid question, dude.
Q: It is?

Jerry Lee Lewis
Q: Trouble seems to follow you wherever you go. Are you ever nervous about leaving the house?
A: No, I don't worry about it. Well, I do worry about it sometimes. You're right. I do.
Q: You always survive.
A: Yeah, you've got to be a survivor.
Q: People around you don't always do so well, but you always pull through.

The Highs and Lows of 2006

The Highs and Lows of 2006

HIGH: Aidin Vaziri | Beck. The Fillmore (May). His new album wasn't due for a few months. He wasn't on any kind of official tour. And the show opened with a bunch of puppets miming his biggest hit, "Loser." How could Beck's ridiculously sold-out spring appearance at the Fillmore not be a major event? The funky Los Angeles singer- songwriter did not disappoint. Appearing onstage looking like a hippie minstrel with a guy named Ryan shaking maracas at his side and old bass player Justin Meldal Johnson back in the fold, Beck and his band hustled through an incredible career-spanning set that included classics like "One Foot in the Grave," "Lost Cause" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Other highlights: men in bear suits attacking each other, the musicians sitting down to eat dinner in the middle of the show and a big singalong that went something like this: "Vidal Sassoon! Sergio Valente! Marc Jacobs!" The puppets played along the whole time.

LOW: Lady Sovereign. Mezzanine (November). Having gone from selling doughnuts at Britain's Wembley Arena to getting personally signed by Jay-Z to Def Jam, 5-foot-1 British rapper Lady Sovereign (born Louise Harman) was set to conquer America with her first headlining tour. Her major-label debut, "Public Warning," had just come out and the single "Love Me or Hate Me," had inexplicably topped MTV's "Total Request Live." But on the opening night of the tour in San Francisco, she arrived onstage an hour late, cut her first song short, cussed furiously, threw down the microphone and then folded her arms and pouted as a sold-out crowd made a dash for the exits. It could have been worse: The following night in Los Angeles, she broke down in tears, calling the rest of the tour off the next day.

THE MOST OBNOXIOUS/LOVABLE SONGS OF 2006
Maybe there was some good music here and there. We're not sure. We were too busy getting smothered by a bunch of songs that were so obnoxious, sinister and naggingly unavoidable that we couldn't make it through the year if we didn't simply throw on our dancing shoes and surrender to their complete and utter evil. Damn you, Blunt!

Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy." This genre-busting single was great the first 5 million times we heard it. But just like "Hey Ya!," we would be quite happy if it went away for a long, long, long time.

James Blunt, "You're Beautiful." As if the high-pitched voice and mushy lyrics weren't enough, he had to go and take his shirt off in the video.

Gwen Stefani, "Wind It Up." This song samples "The Lonely Goatherd" from "The Sound of Music" and features yodeling -- over a hip-hop beat. Gwen's still popping the wacky pills.

Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack." He says he's bringing sexy back. Why, is it defective? Did he already take it out of the box? Will anyone else want it if it was pre-owned by a former Mouseketeer? And, most importantly, did it always smell like that?

Panic! At The Disco, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies." You might wonder what kind of band needs an exclamation point right there in the middle of its name. How about the kind that wears mime makeup and top hats and considers this a chorus: "It's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality."

Nelly Furtado with Timbaland, "Promiscuous." The earthy "I'm Like A Bird" singer got a J. Lo-style postpartum makeover and emerged all grunts and groans on this track. Oddly, no one has yelled, "Judas!"

Paris Hilton, "Stars Are Blind." Having conquered television, toiletries and, in varying degrees of undress, the red carpet, it only made sense for Paris Hilton to try her hand at pop music. The shocker? It's not that bad. Then again, we could also throw around a billion dollars and sound a bit like Blondie.

The Killers, "When You Were Young." After releasing the best synth-pop album of the past two decades, the members of this Las Vegas band grew beards, started taking black-and-white pictures and doing the ill-est Bruce Springsteen impression since John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

Fergie, "London Bridge." Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be anything more obnoxious than the Black Eyed Peas comes this detestable hybrid of Kelis, M.I.A., Gwen Stefani and urine-stained capris. Respect!

The Raconteurs, "Steady As She Goes." Sure, the day job may have been a little stifling, what with the uniform and all. But was it really necessary for Jack White to put the White Stripes on ice just to record songs that sound like they were written by Foghat? Sure, why not.

Review: Taylor Hicks

Review: Taylor Hicks

Taylor Hicks 'Taylor Hicks': Aidin Vaziri | Maybe we were a bit too hard on the guy. Just because he dances like an idiot, spits when he sings and looks a bit like Jay Leno doesn't mean Taylor Hicks is pure evil, does it? But the unlikely fifth-season champ of "American Idol" isn't going to win anyone over with this bland self-titled debut, a tribute to white middle-of-the-road soul men like Joe Cocker and Michael McDonald. Produced by Matt Serletic (Santana, Rob Thomas) and emblazoned with a huge frown, the album glosses over the crooner's clumsy quirks and instead offers up a businesslike mix of expected covers and underwhelming synth-blues originals in search of a bad '80s beer commercial to blare behind. Somewhere out there, an Alabama dive bar is missing its happy hour headliner.

The 2006 Feddy Awards

The 2006 Feddy Awards

What's a Feddy? Funny You Should Ask...: Aidin Vaziri | Oh, the indignity of it all. One day, you're consort to the reigning princess of pop, the next, you're Fed-Ex. It's the biggest postmarital tumble since Roseanne dumped Tom Arnold. But let's face it: Even on a good day, Kevin Federline is no Tom Arnold, and his future looks pretty grim unless someone comes up with a way to keep his name alive. Datebook may have the answer: In honor of Kevin Federline's enduring irrelevance, we are renaming our annual Least awards, honoring the most egregious moments in pop culture of the waning year. With that, dear readers, we give you the 2006 Feddy Awards, beginning, of course, with one to K-Why himself:

FEDELICIOUS Between buying cigarettes at gas stations, hitting the clubs in Vegas and neglecting his children, Kevin Federline somehow found time to finish his long-threatened rap album, "Playing With Fire." The critical reaction was pretty bad. The commercial reaction was worse. Few people bought it, and his tour was canceled almost as soon as it was announced. But Britney Spears took it the hardest. She filed for divorce within days of its release. Guess she didn't like the album.

NEWLYWEDS OF THE YEAR Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock somehow found enough time in their busy career schedules to get married something like 18 times over the course of a few summer weeks and do a huge photo spread for GQ magazine as "Newlyweds of the Year" before sobering up and realizing they had just married Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson. They split in November.

BOO-BOO OF THE YEAR Lindsay Lohan fractured her ankle and wrist and, while filming her latest movie, "Georgia Rule," suffered from exhaustion. That's Hollywood-speak for "Lindsay Lohan had to go to rehab three times this year." Allegedly.

CRACK HEAD OF THE YEAR Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards fell out of a coconut tree and onto his head, requiring brain surgery and forcing the band to cancel several shows. This proved the old notion: Keith Richards might be indestructible, but he's dumber than a monkey.

BAD YEAR Daniel Powter's mushy ballad "Bad Day" became the unofficial loser's anthem on "American Idol," playing each time a contestant's 15 minutes of fame were up. The song is playing everywhere Daniel Powter goes.

DRIVER OF THE YEAR The streets of Los Angeles get a little less safe every year. Following in the footsteps of fellow socialites/bad drivers Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie was nabbed for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol after maneuvering her black Mercedes SUV into the carpool lane of Highway 134 -- in the wrong direction. Can't these people afford public transportation?

FLASHER OF THE YEAR After her separation from Kevin Federline, Britney Spears went out of her house for an entire week straight without wearing any underwear. At least she didn't expose us to anything truly awful: more of her music.

BURNOUT OF THE YEAR Paris Hilton's debut album flopped. She got arrested on DUI charges. She was denied entry to the high-profile New York club Bungalow 8 after the MTV Video Music Awards. But, still, people wanted to follow her every move. There's nothing like Paris when it fizzles.

BOX OFFICE BOMB OF THE YEAR If only the actual movie was half as good as Samuel L. Jackson's reason for starring in it: "I took this job because it said 'Snakes on a Plane.' I didn't have to read the script: You got a plane full of snakes! That's all I need to know!"

HE WON SEXY BACK George Clooney was honored as People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive." Again. People magazine needs to get its fat butt out of the house more often.

FAKE DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR Sexy time! High five! Very nice! People couldn't get enough of "Borat," making it the biggest and most-talked-about comedy of the year. And they said Americans wouldn't appreciate naked man-on-man action.

LOVING THE ALIEN Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise not only revealed Suri's silent-birthed face to the world through a low-key Vanity Fair cover but also finally made the little bugger legitimate by getting hitched in Rome. Apparently, the 2,917th ring of Saturn was already booked on that day.

TANTRUM OF THE YEAR Faith Hill was caught throwing a royal tantrum by a backstage camera at the Country Music Association Awards when Carrie Underwood was named female vocalist of the year. We did the same thing when we found out Faith Hill was still making albums.

DEAD STAR OF THE YEAR Twelve years after his death, Kurt Cobain became the world's most profitable dead rock star by earning more than $50 million last year. Now who's the slacker?

COURTNEY LOVE MERIT AWARD In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine to promote her first book, "Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love," the widow Cobain claimed that she had her first hit of acid at the relatively mature age of 4. That explained a lot.

MOTHER OF THE YEAR Anna Nicole Smith. Let's just say they should have given her reality show just one more season.

LOSER OF THE YEAR Fulfilling a promise, Kirstie Alley lost 75 pounds and appeared on "Oprah" in a bikini. The world responded with just one question: "Who's Kirstie Alley?"

NOW HIRING The bad news: Temperamental supermodel Naomi Campbell was accused of assaulting two maids and one former assistant. The good news: Those positions are now open.

DOOFUS OF THE YEAR "Seinfeld" star Michael "Kramer" Richards exploded in a racist rant directed at hecklers at a comedy club in Los Angeles, only to have the performance caught on camera phone and spread around the world via the Internet. And we thought stuff like that only happened to George.

DRUNKEN DOOFUS OF THE YEAR When Mel Gibson was pulled over for drunken driving in July, he launched into an anti-Semitic tirade against his arresting officer. The movie star checked into rehab and later blamed alcohol for the outburst, telling Diane Sawyer, "Once you're loaded, you know, the balance of how you see things -- it comes out the wrong way." What, his anti-Semitic tirade would have been a lot more articulate if he'd been sober?

DIVORCE PETITION OF THE YEAR After their second breakup, Denise Richards filed divorce papers against Charlie Sheen that accused him of employing prostitutes, abusing drugs and threatening her with physical abuse. Um, she knew she was marrying Charlie Sheen, right?

BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE Try to follow this: (1) Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen split. (2) Saucy photos appeared in Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora's e-mail inbox. (3) A few days later, Heather Locklear filed for divorce from Sambora. (4) Three months later, Locklear's former best friend Richards hooked up with Sambora. (5) Locklear rebounded with comedian David Spade. If the plot twists were that good on "Melrose Place," it would still be on the air.

UPGRADE OF THE YEAR Kate Hudson left her hirsute husband, Black Crowes front man Chris Robinson, for "You, Me and Dupree" co-star Owen Wilson. In other news, this was the year Hudson apparently came to her senses.

MOST BORING COUPLE OF THE YEAR Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Rhymes with, "Blah, blah, blah, yawn, yawn."

DIVORCE OF THE YEAR, U.K. DIVISION Paul McCartney and Heather Mills pre-divorce proceedings have been plagued with scandal, tabloid dirty rumors, name-calling, pornographic photographs and outrageous charges of abuse. After years of dealing with Yoko Ono, it's probably like a walk in the park for McCartney.

HE'S JUST A LOVE MACHINE Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown also broke up after a 14-year marriage highlighted by drug busts and major blowouts. Now whom is he going to ask over dinner, "Do you think I can impregnate you tonight?"

NO DUH Lance Bass, a former member of boy-band 'N Sync, came out. The news that a former member of 'N Sync was gay came as actual news to about three people.

BAD DOGG After an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," rapper Snoop Dogg was arrested for the third time in as many months on charges of possessing a firearm and illegal drugs. Haven't the authorities ever tried to watch Jay Leno? He was underprepared, in our book.

GEOGRAPHY 101 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie decided to have their baby in Africa. It was the charitable thing to do: Americans were finally able to locate Africa on a map.

IDOL TALENT Taylor Hicks, a gray-haired oaf with elbow-jutting dance moves and a penchant for satin sports jackets, was named "American Idol." There's really no punchline necessary.

LADY MADONNA Amid an uproar from no one in particular, Madonna bought herself a Third World baby, then went on "Oprah" to defend her purchase with the most boring interview ever. We liked her much better when she was just trying to buy our love by taking off her clothes and humping anything that moved. Even Vanilla Ice.

REALITY BITES All out of ideas, the cable networks rolled out abysmal reality shows on Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter who, by sheer coincidence, was not in "Rocky III." If we wanted to watch the lives of a bunch of washed-up crazy people, we would just stand up and look out over our cubicle.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR David Hasselhoff, what a comeback! He was not only a judge on the top-rated television show "America's Got Talent," but he also divorced his wife, slashed a tendon in a shaving accident, got thrown out of Wimbledon, made a video called "Jump in My Car," was reportedly bumped off a flight to London because he was wasted, signed on for a part on the Vegas run of "The Producers" and came out with his own clothing line, Don't Hassel the Hoff. Wait, did we say "comeback"? We meant "jackass."

Pop Quiz: The Flaming Lips

Pop Quiz: The Flaming Lips

Aidin Vaziri | It's hard to think of a better way to welcome a new year than with the Flaming Lips, even if it is a day early. The Oklahoma cosmic rock band, which released the highly praised "At War With the Mystics" this year, typically begins its shows where others end: Balloons drop, cannons shoot confetti, puppets appear, grown men jump around in bunny suits and singer Wayne Coyne acts like the mad ringleader, walking over the audience in a giant space ball. You can only imagine what will happen on a special occasion, like when the band joins Gnarls Barkley and Cat Power on Dec. 30 at the Bill Graham Civic for a pre-New Year's Eve party. Coyne tells us what to expect.


Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips
Q: You're playing San Francisco the night before New Year's Eve. You got somewhere better to be for the real thing?
A: I think we were trying to do a couple New Year's shows and we couldn't decide between San Francisco and Los Angeles, but at the same time we were offered to be on the Oklahoma float in the Rose Parade on New Year's at 5 o'clock in the morning in Pasadena. So we thought, if we played New Year's in Los Angeles, we could be on the float two hours later.
Q: Is there anything people should know before coming to the show?
A: We are going to attempt a big UFO-landing entrance. It should be pretty crazy. We have to do at least one or two songs with Cat Power and Gnarls Barkley. So we're trying to work up one of these universal humanitarian songs. Maybe "Wonderful World." That's what you want to see.
Q: Should people wear knee pads?
A: Knee pads? Why knee pads?
Q: Just for general safety purposes.
A: Well, we always suggest if people want to dress up, a good quarter of the audience at any Flaming Lips show, without even being prodded, will dress up as their favorite superhero or monster or something. It really is the audience's night. We'll just be a loud little spectacle in the corner.

Review: U2

Review: U2

U2 'U218: The Singles': Aidin Vaziri | Why didn't they just call it "U2 for Dummies"? The track listing for this holiday cash-in package is almost as apathetic as its actual title, "U218," featuring only the band's biggest, boldest, most obnoxious hits. It's a merciless cut: Lesser singles such as "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and "Lemon" don't make it. Entire albums are ignored, including "Boy," "October," "Zooropa" and "Pop." The band's rich '80s output is condensed into just eight tracks, while the '90s only get two. What's left is a collection that is skewed heavily toward recent blockbusters ("Vertigo," "Beautiful Day"), arranged in completely random order. Meanwhile, a pair of new tracks -- the Green Day collaboration "The Saints Are Coming" and a familiar-sounding "Window in the Skies" -- are tacked onto the end to make sure long-suffering fans don't sneak by without paying the toll

Getting To Know: Joanna Newsom

Getting To Know: Joanna Newsom

Harping on Weirdness : Aidin Vaziri | She wears poofy medieval maiden dresses and sings 17-minute songs about winged creatures. Her new album features just five songs. And she could really use some work on her nails. Here are some other reasons why goth harpist Joanna Newsom is the best thing to happen to music this year.

SHE'S NOT LIKE OTHER POP STARS She's young, blond and popular with the bloggers, which might lead you to think, "Oh, she's just like Gwen Stefani!" But, in reality, Newsom is quite different from most of her microphone-accosting pop peers in that her instrument of choice is the harp, she sings long songs about birds flying into windows and seems to do all her clothes shopping at the Renaissance Faire. OK, maybe she is just a little bit like Stefani.

THE COVER OF HER NEW ALBUM IS QUITE 'INTERESTING' On the sleeve of her critically praised second album, "Ys" (pronounced "ees"), the 24-year-old Nevada City native appears in a painting by artist Benjamin Vierling. It depicts her sitting on a throne, wearing a garland of flowers in her braided hair, holding a sickle in one hand and a framed picture of a moth in the other and ignoring the blackbird with the red berry in its mouth that is standing in the window ledge directly behind her. What does it all mean? Well, upon closer inspection, possibly that she could use a good manicure.

HER VOICE IS A BIT ODD One of the hardest things to pin down about Newsom is her childlike voice. It has drawn comparisons, good and bad, to the likes of Björk, Kate Bush and "The Simpsons' " Lisa and Marge. The one clear thing about it is that it is uniquely her own and irks as many people as it mesmerizes. Making it through one of her concerts requires total devotion. Appearing with a six-member ensemble that includes banjo and accordion players, Newsom performs a dense 95-minute set that features the entire new album, plus a few choice cuts from the first done a cappella. Those who are on the fence about high-pitched, medieval-flavored, prog-folk songs with titles like "Monkey & Bear" and "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie" should probably just stay home and watch "Mad About You" reruns.

Pop Quiz: Metallica

Pop Quiz: Metallica

Aidin Vaziri | For a band that resisted the idea for so long, Metallica sure ended up loving music videos. Earlier this month, the venerable Bay Area hard rock band released its first promo retrospective, "Metallica: The Videos 1989-2004." The DVD set features 21 clips, starting with the single "One" and following the band's career straight through to its most recent release, "St. Anger." Along the way there are contributions from big-name directors such as Anton Corbijn, Samuel Bayer and Jonas Akerlund, plus a few unexpected cameos. We asked drummer Lars Ulrich to take a look back with us.


Lars Ulrich of Metallica
Q: Do you have a favorite clip?
A: I would say the "One" video has aged pretty well. It still plays pretty unique, so I'm obviously pretty proud of that.
Q: Is that because you're barely in it?
A: That might have something to do with it. It was literally like one of those things where we were in a warehouse in Long Beach for a couple of hours and it was, like, done, and all of a sudden, months later, this whole thing came out of us just standing there.
Q: What else do you like?
A: "I Disappear" plays pretty good. At least my 8-year-old thinks so, because Tom Cruise is in it.
Q: Tom Cruise was in a Metallica video?
A: Yeah. They asked if we would write a song for his movie ("Mission: Impossible II"), so I spent a whole day on the set with him in L.A., met John Woo, saw some of the footage and got the whole treatment, which was very cool. But we never interacted with him in the video. That was all cut together.
Q: Exactly how crazy was he at that time?
A: Tom Cruise? He's super cool. He instantly makes you feel like you've known him his entire life. He has that effect on you. I've seen him a couple of times since, and he always remembers my name. Good vibes.

Reviews: Sarah McLachlan, Mark Kozelek

Reviews: Sarah McLachlan, Mark Kozelek

Sarah McLachlan 'Wintersong': Aidin Vaziri | She could have saved a lot of time and money if she just sent all her fans nose hair trimmers. Instead, for her first proper studio album in three years, Sarah McLachlan offers up a ballad-heavy holiday release called "Wintersong." As if the title isn't chilly enough, the music inside is downright bitter. Working with longtime producer Pierre Marchand, the Canadian singer-songwriter (left, performing at the Nov. 29 Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center) makes a halfhearted attempt at updating yuletide standards with slight ambient sound effects and electronic splashes. The special effects do little to betray the lackluster spell cast by her gloomy vocals and dreary choice of seasonal material ("Silent Night," "What Child Is This," "O Little Town of Bethlehem"). Not even the more contemporary songs like John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and Joni Mitchell's "River" manage to culminate into anything more than hushed moodscapes. Meanwhile, an off-kilter take on "The First Noel/Mary Mary," which features distorted strings and ominous tribal rhythms, gives her an opportunity to dig deeper, but the ambition comes at the expense of warmth. In fact, there are hardly any cuddly moments on "Wintersong." Through all the brooding and moping, it's easy to suspect that McLachlan actually dreads tinsel, trees and snowmen. The gothic one-two punch that closes the disc with "In The Bleak Mid-Winter" and "Christmastime Is Here" would certainly seem to indicate as much. You can go ahead and blame her for the extra long lines at the return counter now.

Mark Kozelek 'Little Drummer Boy - Live': Aidin Vaziri | Mark Kozelek has released the best kind of holiday album, one that contains just a passing nod to the season with its title track. The rest of the double-disc set is made up of a generous helping of live recordings from his most recent solo acoustic tour, featuring songs that touch on nearly every phase of the pensive San Francisco singer-songwriter's career from the Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon to unlikely folk covers of AC/DC and Modest Mouse. The sound quality could be better, but Kozelek's world-weary voice is in top form as he serenely reinterprets classics such as "Mistress" and "Duk Koo Kim," tunes that are so sadly beautiful they can't help but warm the heart through even the coldest nights.

Pop Quiz: Aimee Mann

Pop Quiz: Aimee Mann

Aidin Vaziri | Aimee Mann doesn't do festive. Although on her new album, "One More Drifter in the Snow," the critically applauded singer-songwriter tries really hard, putting her acerbic wit to good use on holiday standards like "Winter Wonderland" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Best known for the Grammy- and Oscar-nominated "Magnolia" soundtrack -- which just edges out being known for (1) marrying Michael Penn, (2) constantly battling major labels and (3) fronting '80s one-hit-wonders 'Til Tuesday -- she is on the road with her first annual Christmas show.


Aimee Mann
Q: This is probably the most depressing Christmas album ever.
A: Well, I don't think so. That wasn't its intention. It was supposed to be very mellow and moody. People have different feelings about Christmas, and the feeling we tried to get was that feeling of, you know, when you're a little kid, there's a spooky element to Christmas.
Q: Your version of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" sounds like a threat.
A: I think that says more about the listener than the performer. It's almost one of those '50s Hawaiian Don Ho things. It's meant to be sweet and nostalgic.
Q: So is your take on "White Christmas," except it sounds like you're singing in a dive bar.
A: There's an element we did intend to have of that Sinatra album "In the Wee Small Hours."
Q: In fact, the only time it sounds like you're having fun is on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch."
A: I've always loved that song. That song is so awesome. I'm surprised there haven't been more covers of it.
Q: I'm not sure too many people feel the same way about the holidays as you do.

Reviews: Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z

Reviews: Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z

Gwen Stefani 'The Sweet Escape': Aidin Vaziri | Forget about the Middle East. If you really want to see a war, pull two strangers off the street and ask them how they feel about Gwen Stefani (left). Chances are, they'll be rolling around on the sidewalk, exchanging blows before the conversation even reaches No Doubt's back catalog. To her fans, she's an originator and icon, a perfectly pitched blond bombshell that can do no wrong, even when yodeling her way over a chunky sample from "The Sound of Music's" "The Lonely Goatherd" on her latest single, "Wind It Up." To Stefani's detractors, her voice is even more teeth-gnashingly horrendous than her material, and she is largely responsible for Fergie's solo success. We're not about to take sides (although we're definitely swayed by the fact that she's about a thousand times more fun than Beyoncé), but we will say this much: "The Sweet Escape" doesn't feel so much like a step forward for the new mom as an exercise in cleaning out the closet. Most of the tracks on her second solo album sound like leftovers from the first, "Love Angel Music Baby," which itself was a bit spotty. This results in musical atrocities such as the plastic hip-hop thump of "Yummy" and the painfully autobiographic ballad "Orange County Girl," songs that make "Harajuku Girls" suddenly sound respectable. But just when it feels like the matter is settled, she throws up a handful of dreamy new wave throwbacks like "Early Winter," "Wonderful Life" and "4 in the Morning," leaving the world so irretrievably conflicted that an intervention from Bono might be necessary.

Jay-Z 'Kingdom Come': Aidin Vaziri | You weren't really expecting to see Jay-Z playing bocce ball in Del Boca Vista anytime soon, were you? Just three years after his "final" release, "The Black Album," the New York rapper returns from an early retirement that saw his face popping up in more places than ever. Along with running his own label, building a clothing empire and collecting famous friends, he's also managed to pinch out this comeback effort. Jay certainly spent enough to make it feel like a major event, bringing together high-profile collaborators (John Legend, Beyoncé) and expensive beat-makers (Pharrell Williams, Dr. Dre). But all the money in the world can't disguise the fact that he's done self-congratulatory, name-dropping, booze 'n' bling songs like "I Made It" and "Oh My God" slightly better in the past. But the Chris Martin duet, "Beach Chair," is just weird enough to work. Or is it?

Pop Quiz: The Byrds

Pop Quiz: The Byrds

Aidin Vaziri | The best box set of the year? That's easy. The Byrds' "There Is a Season," a four-disc run through the archives of the California band's prime material, covering everything from the jingle-jangle Dylan covers ("Mr. Tambourine Man") and shimmering psychedelic rock classics ("Eight Miles High") to the songs that set off the whole cosmic country-rock movement (everything from "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"). Without them, there would have been no R.E.M., Wilco or, ahem, Eagles. The Byrds' original bass player, Chris Hillman, served as our tour guide through the package, which also comes with a DVD of vintage television appearances.

Chris Hillman of The Byrds
Q: The record company spared no expense on this box set. It even smells good.
A: I've probably rarely said this in 44 years, but they did a great job. It brings back the good memories, not the bad ones.
Q: So you're not going to use this an excuse to dump on your former bandmates?
A: No, I don't wish to waste energy on things that happened 20 or 30 years ago. We got to enjoy what I consider the very best part of the '60s. I was just the bass player.
Q: Just the bass player of one of the most influential American bands in the past million years.
A: The Byrds, as great as they were, my better work was with the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band, which you probably don't know. But even if I cured cancer tomorrow I would be known as an ex-Byrd.
Q: And the least famous one at that.