Aidin Vaziri | Interviews, Reviews and More: September 2007

30 September 2007

Review: PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey 'White Chalk': Aidin Vaziri | Polly Jean Harvey is best known for standing behind a guitar and shrieking things like, "Lick my legs. I'm on fire!" That's great, but in her eighth full-length studio album, the British songwriter is in a typically defiant mood: She has decided to sit down at a piano and prove she can do tender intimacy, too. Even though songs such as "Broken Harp" and "Silence" essentially sound like home demos recorded in the toilet, they make quite a strong case for Harvey's versatility. Like their accomplices on this 11-track, 30-minute set, they are lovely things, lifted by ghostly melodies and gruesome lyrics about love gone bad. The high-pitched voice Harvey uses throughout the disc, though, could make grown men weep - and not always for the right reasons.

Pop Quiz: Ronnie James Dio

Aidin Vaziri | We don't really know the logistics, but the band called Heaven and Hell that is playing at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord tonight is actually just Black Sabbath fronted by Ronnie James Dio. This makes sense because Dio took Ozzy Osbourne's place in the band in 1979 and Rhino recently released a new compilation commemorating his green streak with the heavy-metal overlords called - wait for it! - "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years," along with a Heaven and Hell live CD/DVD recorded at Radio City Music Hall. Confused? We took all this business up with Dio, who has in recent years unwittingly run for president, appeared on film alongside Jack Black and the "South Park" kids and become widely recognized as the man who popularized the heavy-metal devil-horn salute.

Ronnie James Dio
Q: Were you inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Black Sabbath?
A: No.
Q: What? They even let Sammy Hagar sneak in with the real Van Halen.
A: Well, let's ask this question: Was it really the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's choice or somebody else's? I'm not surprised at all. They deserve to be in there. The four of them invented heavy-metal music. A lot of people will argue that Ronnie deserves to be in there, too, because he resurrected their career, and that's true, but I honestly don't care.
Q: Do you think it would help if you had your own reality show?
A: Reality shows are really the dead end of your life: "Let's do a reality show, so I can make some money and make a complete ass out of myself." I'm too proud for that.
Q: I'm sure your fans appreciate that. Nobody wants to see the guy who sang "Holy Diver" washing his drawers.
A: No. I know they don't want to see that. I've had so many people care about me, and I think they would like to keep me on the pedestal they put me on, not that I deserve to be on it. Continue reading.

25 September 2007

Live Review: James Blunt at Golden Gate Park, 09/23/07

The sun comes out for James Blunt, but heaven knows he's miserable now: Aidin Vaziri | As if there aren't enough reasons to hate James Blunt - his inescapable karaoke bar staple "You're Beautiful" being the first that comes to mind - it now appears he controls the weather. The minute the warbly British singer-songwriter stepped onstage to play his headlining set at Alice's Now and Zen Fest on Sunday, the clouds miraculously parted on an otherwise dreary day and beams of dazzling sunlight fell on the audience at Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadow. What can't this guy do? Wearing a scruffy beard and furrowed brow, Blunt arrived with a set of musicians that looked suspiciously like Wings and immediately laid into one of his countless reedy ballads. By the third song he'd thrown out "You're Beautiful" and inadvertently dismissed a good chunk of the audience. It was a brave move considering the festival's past headliners (Duran Duran, Seal, Tears for Fears) had hits to spare. But Blunt, clearly disenchanted by his fortunes, judging by the barbed lyrics on his new album "All the Lost Souls," merely did it to make a point. "I know some of you came here to have fun," he said, introducing "Goodbye, My Lover." "So I'm going to play a really miserable song." Continue reading.

Live Review: Morrissey at the Fillmore, 09/23/07

Morissey Live: Aidin Vaziri | At the Fillmore, Morrissey showed you could do misery without being a miserable bastard. The show was the first of a four-night residency at the Fillmore. The former Smiths frontman bound onstage with an arched eyebrow and jutted hip, vigorously reclaiming "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" from Mark Ronson's crossover retro-soul clutches. "Welcome to an evening of utter contempt," he offered by way of introduction. For the next hour-plus, Morrissey and his young five-piece group charged through a tempestuous set jam-packed with fatalistic classics: "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side," "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want," "How Soon Is Now?" After Morrissey soaked through two shirts, the show ended, as all the best ones do, with the singer topless and rolling around on his back while the audience fought back its tears. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Arctic Monkeys

Aidin Vaziri | We caught up with Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner just a few hours after his band lost out on this year's Mercury Prize in an upset victory for the glow-stick-waving rave revivalists the Klaxons. Despite winning the award last year for "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" - the fastest-selling British premiere album of all time - Turner didn't seem too upset. After all, his band had just headlined the Glastonbury Festival and has graduated to arena status on its current U.S. tour, and its knotty second album, "Favourite Worst Nightmare," is doing just fine, thank you. Besides, the Monkeys probably would have lost to Amy Winehouse anyway.

Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys

Q: How does it feel to lose the Mercury Prize to a novelty band?
A: A novelty band? Do you not like the Klaxons?
Q: No. I mean, yes. It depends. How well do you know them?
A: We have the same producer. We know them a bit.
Q: What I actually meant to say is they're No. 1. But don't you think you should have won?
A: Yeah, I think. I'm really proud of this album more than I am of our first one in terms of the sound of it and everything. It's just one of them things, isn't it? To win it two years in a row, it would be greedy. Continue reading.

Review: Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters 'Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace': Aidin Vaziri | They listened to the Eagles and Steely Dan. They passed the time by holding a beard-growing competition. And at least two members were home in time to tuck their toddlers into bed every night. Yet somehow the Foo Fighters' sixth studio album sounds just like all the others. Despite a push to change things with an acoustic instrumental detour here ("Battle of the Beaconsfield Miners") and a moody piano ballad there ("Home"), the Gil Norton-produced disc mostly falls back on the same radio-friendly arena rock that the band has been relentlessly turning out since the beginning of time, with tracks such as "The Pretender" and "But, Honestly" sounding virtually interchangeable with all the other Foo Fighters hits clogging the alternative airwaves.

Stone Free: Joss Stone Plays Against Type

Joss Stone is a free thinker who's not into being 'miserable': Aidin Vaziri | Stone, 20, is not like the other poster girls for the British neo-soul invasion. She doesn't have a substance-abuse problem. She doesn't cancel her tours. She doesn't even beat up her boyfriend. This, it seems, has caused major critical antipathy. In the past few months, Stone's work has largely been eclipsed by the tabloid shenanigans of her contemporaries such as Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. "They want me to be miserable," Stone said, after hosting a benefit party for VH1's Save the Music foundation at the Kiehl's store in the Westfield San Francisco Centre earlier this month. "I don't really know how to do that." Continue reading.

17 September 2007

Live Review: Colbie Caillat at the Fillmore, 09/15/07

MySpace phenom Colbie Caillat sells out the Fillmore: Aidin Vaziri | MySpace has proven itself a great place to meet perverts and catch up with people you hated in high school, but its value as a music-marketing tool remains largely up in the air. Yes, Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys supposedly sprang to life thanks to the behemoth social-networking site, but the fact that 98 percent of the people reading this right now just saw those names for the first time kind of negates their success. Colbie Caillat may prove to be an exception. The 22-year-old Malibu native was working at a tanning salon last year when a friend helped her post a couple songs, including "Bubbly" and "Tailor Made," on her MySpace page, where she quickly racked up more than 10 million plays and acquired nearly 200,000 new friends. In July, Caillat's first full-length album, "Coco" (Universal), was released on an old-fashioned record label, making a Top 5 premiere on the Billboard charts. Even when she bravely threw out "Bubbly" before the encore and then struggled to fill the hourlong set with what sounded like a bloodless cover of Bob Marley's "One Drop" ("This song has an island beat, reggae feel to it," she said), they loudly cheered her on just as they would any other friend in their Top 8. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Cisco Adler of Whitestarr

Aidin Vaziri | He's been seen in the tabloids running around with Paris Hilton and Mischa Barton. Pictures of his shockingly disproportionate genitals are all over the Internet. And his father is Lou Adler, the famous '60s producer who worked with the Mamas and the Papas and Cheech & Chong and put on the Monterey Pop Festival. Now Cisco Adler is hoping to become famous in his own right, as the lead singer of the grubby Malibu rock band Whitestarr. The band, which stars in the new VH1 reality series "The Rock Life," has just released its latest album, "Fillith Tillith."

Cisco Adler
Q: You're famous for going commando. What are the major drawbacks of life without underwear?
A: I've found none.
Q: What about the sweat?
A: I'm not the sweatiest guy. I'm not very hairy. I'm not very obese. So it's working out well. I'm sure, at some point, I'm going to be hanging down to my ankles.
Q: And that's a bad thing?
A: No, it definitely isn't.
Q: Are you tired of talking about the size of your privates in the press?
A: Um, yeah. I definitely am.
Q: That's all I wanted to ask about that.
A: Thank you, I appreciate it.
Continue reading.

Gunther: Pleasure Man

Aidin Vaziri | When Günther and the Sunshine Girls arrived in the United States last year for a handful of shows at various colleges, things went exceptionally well: Students rushed the stage at Princeton; they demanded two encores at UC Santa Barbara; and at Williams College, they practically tore down the walls of the venue. At Yale, the Swedish Euro-pop sensations closed their sold-out set to huge cheers, with the front man imparting his personal motto, "Always remember: sex, love, champagne and respect." The group was paid $16,000 for its troubles. Which just goes to show you can never underestimate the power of a self-styled Swedish playboy with a cheap mullet, stick-on mustache and 4-year-old Euro-pop hit called "Ding Dong Song (You Touch My Tralala)." Continue reading.

Review: KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall 'Drastic Fantastic': Aidin Vaziri | Like "Everybody Loves Raymond" reruns and miniature cupcakes, KT Tunstall has become unavoidable. If you didn't hear the songs from her Grammy-nominated 2004 "Eye to the Telescope" on the radio, you certainly heard them elsewhere: "American Idol," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Ugly Betty," the mall, the car wash - take your pick. The Scottish former busker's follow-up album is a bigger and brighter proposition, conjuring the seamless production and grand folk-rock melodies of peak-period Fleetwood Mac (with fewer beards and less weird sexual tension). Songs such as "If Only" and "Hold On" may seem bland at first, but it's ultimately impossible to resist their jangly guitars, free-floating choruses and seductively bluesy refrains. Go on: Pull the blinds, grab the hairbrush and take off the pants. No one will know you're singing along to "I Don't Want You Now."

11 September 2007

Pop Quiz: Slash of Velvet Revolver

Aidin Vaziri | The release of the new Velvet Revolver album, "Libertad," was preceded by tales of infighting, death, arson, rehab and - most worrisome - producer Rick Rubin's beard. But to hear guitarist Slash (a.k.a. Saul Hudson), 42, talk about it, making the follow-up to 2004's double-platinum- selling "Contraband" was just business as usual for the band made up of former members of Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland.

Slash
Q: There are some stories that suggest that making this album was kind of crazy. Which one is your favorite?
A: I don't know what the crazy stories about the making of the record are. It wasn't anything crazy.
Q: You went on an OxyContin binge and ended up in rehab. That's pretty crazy.
A: Yeah. It was like a three-month type thing. No big deal.
Q: I know that's kind of like a typical summer vacation for Lindsay Lohan, but it's still kind of a big deal.
A: Being off the road is dangerous for me. When we're working, I'm always good. But in between, I get a little bit stir-crazy and I get in trouble.
Q: Is that because you don't know how to do anything except be Slash?
A: Yeah. I'm working on it, though. I've got two kids and a wife, so I'm trying to be good. I've been doing this since I was 18 years old. It's like if you were standing in one place and spinning in a circle and then you stop and you're a little discombobulated. That's sort of what it's like for me when we tour for two years and then just come home.
Continue reading.

Live Review: Devendra Banhart at the Palace of Fine Arts, 09/07/07

Live Review: Devendra Banhart at the Palace of Fine Arts: Aidin Vaziri | Wearing a hefty beard, size 26 trousers and a tie, Banhart focused almost exclusively on songs from his fifth studio album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon. If you have heard it you know it sees him shaking off the minimalist folk stylings of his earlier releases in favor of something much more expansive. He sings in five languages, veers wildly from samba to psychedelic rock, and channels everyone from Dave Brubeck to the Doors, often in the same song. "If anyone wants to hear an old song just yell it out," he said at one point, pausing just long enough to let the room erupt in a chorus of titles. "And we won't play it." Continue reading.

First Taste: A Fine Frenzy

A Fine Frenzy: Aidin Vaziri | Good things are happening for A Fine Frenzy, the musical alias of 22-year-old Los Angeles singer-songwriter Alison Sudol. "Almost Lover," the first single from her debut album "One Cell in the Sea," is all over the radio. She has a cameo in the season premiere of "CSI." She got to spend the summer touring with Rufus Wainwright. And there also was an anxiety-inducing appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." "Nothing is more nerve-racking than that," she said, calling from a recent tour stop. "It's kind of a dream." On Saturday, Sudol will appear with Brandi Carlile as part of the VH1 "You Oughta Know" tour at the Fillmore. The cable station has been a big supporter of her dreamy folk pop."It just seems like things have really skyrocketed since they got behind the album," said the self-taught piano player who grew up listening to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and the Beatles before discovering Coldplay. "Just the reaction from the audiences has suddenly gotten a lot noisier and more enthusiastic."

02 September 2007

Pop Quiz: Devendra Banhart

Aidin Vaziri | Later this month, Devendra Banhart returns with a new album called "Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon," featuring more than a dozen new songs and guest spots from the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson, the Strokes' Nick Valensi and actor Gael Garcia Bernal. But more important, it has a dog in it. The disc, produced by Noah Georgeson, also finds the onetime San Francisco folksinger expanding on his bare-bones sound with lush touches of reggae, soul and samba. But, once again, we would like to point out that it has a dog in it.

Devendra Banhart
Q: Where are you living these days?
A: In L.A. Outside of L.A., actually, in Topanga Canyon. We have bunk beds and a Jacuzzi and a studio and lots of wild animals hanging out.
Q: What kind of wild animals?
A: We have king snakes and raccoons and gerbils, salamanders, a lot of squirrels, which I feel are underrated in the animal kingdom, you know, by the way humans perceive them.
Q: Squirrels are probably my favorite animal.
A: No way.
Q: OK. My favorite varmint.
A: What's your favorite animal?
Q: Tiger.
A: Have you heard about tigercorns?
Q: Not yet, but the rhythm intro to your song "So Long Old Bean" actually sounds like some kind of unicorn.
A: Oh, beautiful. We bought those unicorn hooves in Norway from a dealer.
Q: I know there are a lot of guys in your band who look like animals, but would you ever consider having a real animal on your album?
A: What kind of animals are you implying my band members look like?
Q: Sasquatch.
Continue reading.

Review: The Cinematic Orchestra

The Cinematic Orchestra 'Ma Fleur': Aidin Vaziri | It might not mean much to the average Nelly Furtado fan, but merely suggesting that the fourth album by the Cinematic Orchestra evokes the landmark works of obscure figures such as Alpha, Air and Talk Talk could cause a minor stampede to the nearest record store. The bruised elbows and bloodied noses will be well worth it. This shape-shifting British outfit's mastermind, Jason Swinscoe, has come up with a stellar piece of work, an album that matches jazz-inspired mood pieces and twilight piano ballads with just a few well-placed vocals from Lamb's Lou Rhodes, Fontella Bass and Jeff Buckley sound-alike Patrick Watson. Just try to make it through the closing "To Build a Home" without losing your breath.

Live Review: Michael Buble at Oracle Arena, 08/25/07

Canadian crooner Michael Bublé at Oracle Arena: Aidin Vaziri | Michael Bublé has a line for every occasion. Facing a sold-out crowd at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on Saturday, the 31-year-old Canadian crooner cast his puppy-dog eyes around the far reaches of the arena. "It's really a pleasure to play such an intimate venue," he said. When introducing his smooth rendition of Billy Paul's 1970s soul classic "Me and Mrs. Jones," he gazed warmly at the cougars in the first few rows. "I'd like to dedicate this to all the married women in the audience (squeal!) who cheat on their husbands with younger men." Then, taking time out to thank the people who have helped make him a left-field pop sensation over the past few years - mostly Target shoppers, actually - Bublé offered this indebtedness: "You should see the house I just bought." Listen closely and you could almost here the sound of slot machines dinging in the distance. Between making fun of the weary husbands in the audience and batting away the impromptu come-ons from their overheated wives, the former wedding singer proved that he's still at his best when he just shuts up and let's the music do the talking. Apart from his own songs like "Home" and "Everything," which unfortunately make him sound like a testosteroned-up Celine Dion, every track Bublé ripped out of the Great American Songbook seemed to inspire pandemonium. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Brandi Carlile

Aidin Vaziri | Brandi Carlile is the star of this year's VH1 You Oughta Know tour. The Seattle singer- songwriter's second album, "The Story," was produced by Grammy-winner T Bone Burnett (Counting Crows, Roy Orbison) and includes a collaboration with the Indigo Girls called "Cannonball." The video for the title track and first single was featured earlier this year on an episode of ABC-TV's hit drama "Grey's Anatomy."

Brandi Carlile
Q: So, are you ready to step out on your own?
A: I think I can handle it.
Q: You've played a few shows, haven't you?
A: Yeah, I've played a couple. I've played for a long, long time. I've been touring nonstop like this for three years now, opening and headlining, playing festivals and one-off shows. It's back and forth. But this one is going to be a big one for me. I can't stand it. I can't even sleep. I wish it was tomorrow.
Q: You're that excited?
A: Yeah. I feel like I'm 10 and going to Disneyland or something.
Q: Are you planning some kind of extravaganza or just your regular show?
A: I realize I've got to change it up. I can't go out and keep playing the same show. I'm going to play a few new songs. I'm going to play piano and electric guitar. I don't know what else, but I'm sure it will come naturally. We're bringing out a new drummer, too.
Q: Do you mean a new and improved drummer?
A: Well, it depends. We're always trying to improve.
Q: I'm just trying to help you sell a few tickets. Continue reading.

Review: The Brand New Heavies, 'Hottest State'

The Brand New Heavies 'Get Used To It': Aidin Vaziri | Time stands still on the first Brand New Heavies album with N'Dea Davenport since 1994's "Brother Sister." On this CD, initially released last year, the British acid-jazz band that scored a hit with "Never Stop" has lost much of its emotional kick, offering up clunky, nondescript soul jams like "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" and the title track, "Get Used to It." The passing of time has rendered the group's polite brand of funk blander than ever, with "Let's Do It Again" and "Right On" capable of clearing the floor even in a cruise ship disco. Davenport, meanwhile, seems merely resigned to be here after her brief solo career failed to set the world alight.

'The Hottest State: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack': Aidin Vaziri | Don't know Jesse Harris? You certainly know "Don't Know Why." Here, the New York singer-songwriter who wrote Norah Jones' languid hit lends his compositional skills to the soundtrack for "The Hottest State," directed by Ethan Hawke and based on his novel, which features a stellar cast of singers. Though there are no surprises in store for those already familiar with Harris' lilting, soft-focus folk rock, people like Willie Nelson ("Always Seem to Get Things Wrong"), Feist ("Somewhere Down the Road") and especially Emmylou Harris ("The Speed of Sound") make his gentle songs sound fairly spectacular. Jones returns the favor on the heavy-eyed "World of Trouble," and Bright Eyes ("Big Old House"), the Black Keys ("If You Ever Slip) and Argentine newcomer Rocha ("Never See You") drop by to make sure nobody dozes off before the end credits roll.