Pop Quiz: Lee Hazlewood

Pop Quiz: Lee Hazlewood

Aidin Vaziri | The voice at the other end of the line is instantly recognizable -- the smoky cowboy baritone that answered Nancy Sinatra's sex-kittenish purrs on classic hits such as "Some Velvet Morning" and "Jackson." Diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 77, Lee Hazlewood breaks his long-standing retirement with what will most likely be his last album, "Cake or Death." On the disc, the man who also produced Duane Eddy and Dean Martin takes aim at Republicans, duets with a Swedish jazz singer and a German actor, lets his 8-year-old granddaughter, Phaedra, sing a track, and even offers up the original melody for "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." It's quite an exit.

Lee Hazlewood
Q: Do you think this album is a good way to go out?
A: Unless there's some miracle and I feel better, I don't think I'll do another one.
Q: But are you happy with it?
A: I don't think I've heard it since it was released in Europe, a couple of weeks before it was released over here. They sent me a bunch of copies, but I haven't even heard it. There may not even be anything on my CDs. I don't know. I haven't listened to it.
Q: Why not?
A: Why? I heard it enough putting it together.
Q: Beck. Nick Cave. Sonic Youth. You influenced all these people.
A: There are a bunch you don't even know, in countries you haven't been in. There are a lot of them. It came awfully late in my life, but I'm very proud of that.
Q: What did you think of Jessica Simpson's take on "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' "?
A: Well, I thought it was very profitable for me. That's what I thought of that. It made money.

Review: The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Review: The Good, The Bad & The Queen

The Good, The Bad & The Queen 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen': Aidin Vaziri | Damon Albarn is unstoppable. After conquering the pop charts with his cartoon band Gorillaz, the Blur front man scores again with this one-off dream project featuring former Clash bassist Paul Simonon, the Verve's Simon Tong and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen ("the most important musician of the past 50 years," reckons Brian Eno). Produced by Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, "The Good, the Bad & the Queen" is a lot more muted than you might expect from a group of this caliber, conceding only a few melodies that rise above the cinematic mood pieces. Call it hazy listening. Languid bass lines, subtle Afrobeat rhythms and barrelhouse piano rolls paint a rainy-day picture of modern London: "Drink all day because the country is at war," Albarn sings. It's the sound of defeat in the throes of victory.

Pop Quiz: OK Go

Pop Quiz: OK Go

Aidin Vaziri | OK Go was just another flailing Chicago power-pop band until a homemade video for its track "Here It Goes Again" appeared on YouTube. The one-shot promo from its second album, "Oh No," features the foursome performing an awesome workout routine across eight moving treadmills and, like its similarly synchronized video for "A Million Ways," which was filmed in lead singer Damian Kulash's backyard, became one of the most downloaded clips in Internet history, with more than 10 million views.

Damian Kulash of OK Go
Q: So do you think you're going to have to haul around eight treadmills with you for the rest of your life?
A: No. The treadmills don't travel. There's no way we could ever do that onstage in the state of sobriety that is required.
Q: But the treadmills are almost more famous than the band.
A: I promise we will entertain. There are just certain things you just can't repeat. For one thing, they're prohibitively huge. It would take two trucks to carry those f -- around.
Q: Aren't you worried people are going to demand refunds when they see it's just the band?
A: I don't know. It was a moment in time we don't want to tarnish by repeating too often.
Q: You can just be honest and say you were too cheap to keep paying the rental fee.
A: Well, we did have to give them back. But at this point it's just crossing one line too many. Then we'd have to get Cirque du Soleil to come on tour with us, you know?
Q: Did treadmill sales go through the roof after your video?
A: I don't know. As much as I would like to believe we have a huge impact on the world, it would kind of surprise me if anyone would go out and buy eight treadmills. That's a pretty stupid impulse buy.
Q: I have eight sitting right here.
A: Do you? Did you learn the routine all by your lonesome?
Q: Yes, and I have the broken arms to prove it.

Review: Luscious Jackson

Review: Luscious Jackson

Luscious Jackson 'Greatest Hits': Aidin Vaziri | With the unlikely backing of the Beastie Boys and box-fresh sound that threw together wah-wah guitars, soft-focus rapping and blissful girl-group harmonies, Luscious Jackson briefly seemed like the very definition of '90s cool. But as the decade drew to a close, the band fell apart, and so did its label, Grand Royal. If it weren't for this seemingly random compilation, you'd suspect the four street-smart Manhattan women would have been forgotten entirely. A lot of the material here has certainly dated itself, but what's surprising is how much of it still sounds vital -- the svelte "Ladyfingers," effortless rhymes of "Naked Eye," even a throwaway from the soundtrack to the 1997 film "A Life Less Ordinary" called "Love Is Here" that is as lean and funky as whatever the bloggers are flipping out over this week. Is it too early for post-grunge nostalgia?

Arrested Development: The Police At The Grammys

Arrested Development: The Police At The Grammys

Turn On The Red Light We saw it with our own eyes! And it was, eh, kinda boring. As predicted, The Police reunited after something like 97 years (actually, it was just four) for the opening segment of the 49th annual Grammy Awards. The once-blonde trio played its hit, "Roxanne." In a word, it was "jazzy." Sting missed all the high notes, which is pretty much missing the point of the entire song. But no other tunes were forthcoming. No "Every Breath You Take." No "Message In A Bottle." Not even a stupid medley with just the chorus from "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." The most surprising thing was how little all the members have aged. Seriously, it looked like 1983 up there. Especially if you were watching it on a black and white TV and pretended the drummer's hair wasn't gray. Oh, and it was kind of weird that Sting didn't break out in a lute solo while having Tantric sex with a tree from the Amazon jungle.

Here's are some of the other standout moments from tonight's show:

Next Time, Stick With "God" and Your "Manager"
After snatching the first award of the evening for best pop collaboration with vocals with Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett not only sent a shout-out to Target but claimed the department store was, "The best sponsor of my entire life." Is the old man really that hard up for cash that he's willing to whore himself out like that? And this was seconds after Wonder tearfully dedicated the prize to his late mother.

He's A Man of Few Words
Instead of blathering on about all the albums she's sold, movies she's appeared in and rabbits she's skinned to make her fur coats, Prince gave the best introduction ever with this: "One word: Beyonce."


Whistling Dixie
It's great that the Dixie Chicks swept best record, album and song for their Bush-bashing bravado. But, let's be honest, their music totally blows. Despite Rick Rubin's heavy-handed involvement, it still sounds like Fleetwood Mac on horse tranquilizers. And that's not pretty.

Like A Falling Star
The Corinne Bailey Rae-John Legend-John Mayer jam session/medley thing started out promisingly enough with the female Brit singer-songwriter delivering a sweet rendition of her new single, "Like A Star," on just an acoustic guitar. Then Legend stepped in and turned up the boring quotient a notch. But it wasn't until Mayer unleashed his full guitar wankery (complete with "orgasm face") that we were crossing our fingers for another one of those weird Prince commercials.

How Can You Soar With Eagles When You Jive Like Turkeys?
What was with the big honking Eagles tribute? Did somebody die? Like the Prime Minister of Good Taste? What's worse is the whole thing was performed by a bunch of country music people no one that lives within 800 miles of an ocean has ever heard.

Heap's Heap
The best hair of the evening clearly went to best new artist contendor Imogen Heap. It looked like she had been growing a full fern in there for at least the past six-months.

It's Christina's World
Christina Aguilera did a pretty remarkable job with James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's Man's World." She could have totally come in fourth place on "American Idol" with that.

You're Driving Me "Crazy"... Very Slowly
For some reason, Gnarls Barkley decided to take a perfect song - "Crazy" - and slow it down so much that it almost sounded like Seal's "Crazy." Were they pandering to Grammys' target-demographic - AARP subscribers? Speaking of which, did anyone catch Seal and Burt Bacharach onstage together? Burt looked younger and hipper than old Trousersnake.

Chris Rock, Introducing The Red Hot Chili Peppers:
"This next band had their c--- in socks long before Justin put his d--- in a box."

Pop Quiz: My Chemical Romance

Pop Quiz: My Chemical Romance

Aidin Vaziri | To finish their third and latest album, "The Black Parade," the members of New Jersey screamo giants My Chemical Romance had to battle depression, drug addiction and real-life ghosts. All in a day's work, says front man Gerard Way of the disc that owes its inspiration to Queen and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," contains the epic hit singles "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words," and even features a cameo by Liza Minnelli.

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance
Q: You recorded "The Black Parade" in a haunted house.
A: Right.
Q: You lost your girlfriend of six years.
A: Right.
Q: Your brother nearly had a mental breakdown.
A: Right.
Q: And you pretty much became homeless.
A: Yeah.
Q: Was it worth it?
A: That's a really interesting question. The answer is yes. I think that's OK. A lot of things come at a high cost emotionally. Was it worth it? Yeah, because what we made is so unique and the ultimate form of self-expression. It's one of the loudest self-expressing records. So I think anything we may have lost was completed by the record.

Reviews: Fall Out Boy, Sondre Lerche

Reviews: Fall Out Boy, Sondre Lerche

Fall Out Boy 'Infinity On High': Aidin Vaziri | Before even playing a note, the members of Fall Out Boy give you a thousand reasons to hate this album. There is the floating sheep in the starry bedroom on the cover. There are the clumsy comedy song titles like "Carpal Tunnel of Love" and "I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me and You)." And then there is the band itself, resembling a miniature roaming comic book convention, peering out of the pages of every single music magazine with bad glasses and smug grins. Things don't necessarily improve when the music starts. "Thriller," the first track on the MySpace rockers' fourth release, opens and closes with shout-outs from label boss Jay-Z, a luxury no doubt afforded by selling 2 million copies of the band's last release, "From Under the Cork Tree." But once all the gimmicks are exhausted and Fall Out Boy gets to doing what it does best -- crafting shatterproof pop melodies topped with ringing '80s guitars and clever lyrics -- things pick up fast. Propelled by hand claps and a delirious shout-along chorus, "The Take Over, the Break's Over" is a certifiable summer anthem that's merely out of season. "You're Crashing, But You're No Wave" sounds like vintage Morrissey after a case of Red Bull with verses on loan from Social Distortion. And then there's the synth-heavy "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," a terrifically brave attempt at crafting an O-Town comeback single gone astray. These plus a handful of tracks produced by, yes, R&B seducer Babyface prove that first impressions don't always count. And, in this case, neither do impressions No. 2 through 1,000.

Sondre Lerche 'Phantom Punch': Aidin Vaziri | Sondre Lerche has done it all backward. Signed at 17, until now the floppy-fringed Norwegian singer-songwriter was known for turning out records full of delicate melodies, lush string arrangements and easygoing jazz inflections. At the ripe age of 25, he's decided to ditch the coffee shops and go for the dive bars. Hooking up with Los Angeles producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, Belle & Sebastian), Lerche strips down the sound and turns up the guitars on his fourth full-length album, "Phantom Punch." The soft voice tempers the punky noise, for the most part, but short, sharp songs such as "The Tape" and "Face the Blood" fly on well-mannered adrenaline. And on "Well, Well, Well" he gives Blue Oyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) the Reaper" an unintentional power-pop makeover.

Pop Quiz: Sandra Bernhard

Pop Quiz: Sandra Bernhard

Aidin Vaziri | We were really excited to interview Sandra Bernhard about her smash off-Broadway show, "Everything Bad & Beautiful," which features the comedian-actor-singer-mother performing pop songs such as Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" with her band, the Rebellious Jezebels. But then she told us that wasn't the show she was going to perform at Bimbo's 365 Club. Which, in a way, is a thousand times better because the star of shows such as Showtime's "The L Word" and NBC's "Crossing Jordan" is always at her best when she's at her most unpredictable.

Sandra Bernhard
Q: So at this show you don't sing any Bob Dylan or Christina Aguilera songs?
A: No, but there are other songs. Why? Are you disappointed?
Q: Yes, because all the rest of my questions are about Bob Dylan or Christina Aguilera songs.
A: You can still ask them. I'm going to come twice.
Q: Will there be a lot of nudity?
A: There will be some scintillation. There always is.
Q: For some reason, I expect nudity with you.
A: Yeah, I'm sure someone will end up nude that night. There's skin, for sure.