Aidin Vaziri | Interviews, Reviews and More: July 2008

31 July 2008

Pop Quiz: Paul Weller

Aidin Vaziri | Paul Weller has just made one of the best albums of his career, which is quite amazing, considering that he started doing this more than three decades ago as the front man for seminal British punk band the Jam (a.k.a. the Greatest Band Ever). While most of his contemporaries have succumbed to death and making music with pan flutes, Weller has mostly stayed on course through the pop-soul years of the Style Council and his Britpop solo career. If all goes well, "22 Dreams" will finally get Americans to rediscover his genius, sadly overlooked around these parts since "My Ever-Changing Moods" scraped the charts.

Paul Weller
Q: Did you think you would be doing this when you were 50?
A: No. I couldn't even imagine being 50 anyway, regardless of what I would be doing or not. It's old, isn't it?
Q: If you could go back, what would you say to yourself when you started out in 1977?
A: From my standpoint now? Just keep on keeping on. Through the good times and the bad, you just have to keep at it. But I kind of knew that. There was always a pretty strong work ethic in what I do anyway. I think even at 18 or 19 I thought I wanted to improve as a songwriter and get better at my craft. That hasn't really changed.
Q: So you wouldn't maybe say, "Try not to wear a loincloth in the Style Council promo photos in 1984"?
A: No, not at all. I would be all for it. I would say this is exactly what you should do and stand the consequences. They're all rites of passage. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes on the way; that's part of life. It's part of growing up. The only difference for me is I got to do it in public. Continue reading.

Review: Black Kids, 'Partie Traumatic'

Black Kids, 'Partie Traumatic': Aidin Vaziri | Few people heard it, but Black Kids' "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" was one of last year's classic singles, a dizzying rush of adrenaline and noise strapped to a rocket-powered melody. The Jacksonville, Fla., quintet's first full-length album offers more frenetic blasts, such as "Hurricane Jane" and "I Wanna Be Your Limousine." Yes, reports that suggest they sound like Robert Smith fronting the B-52's are accurate. And, yes, not even former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, fresh from producing Duffy, can make them sound like competent musicians. But that only goes to make "Partie Traumatic" everything a first album should be: absurd, joyful and stuffed with songs that make you want to swing from the chandeliers in your underwear.

Live Review: Jon McLaughlin at Great American Music Hall

McLaughlin singing a more determined tune: Aidin Vaziri | "Hollywood is just another place I don't belong," Jon McLaughlin sang, a few songs into his set Tuesday at the Great American Music Hall. The 25-year-old Midwesterner wasn't just feeding the audience another empty rock 'n' roll line. He got firsthand experience when he performed a tune from the Disney movie "Enchanted" at this year's Academy Awards. Overnight sales of his debut album, "Indiana," jumped 1,514 percent on Amazon.com, but true success apparently still lies out of reach. The San Francisco venue was at about half capacity when McLaughlin and his perfectly chiseled four-piece band took the stage. Not that the singer was bothered. The words above, plucked from a new tune called "The Middle," came across more like a challenge than a complaint. Continue reading.

Film Review: CSNY 'Deja Vu'

'CSNY: DéjÀ Vu': Aidin Vaziri | The scene is Atlanta, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour has arrived in town the day of a major terrorist threat. A heavy storm outside has delayed the concert for more than an hour, but that's nothing compared with what's brewing inside the Philips Arena. The '60s counterculture icons have reassembled to tour behind Neil Young's hastily recorded new album, "Living With War," which is filled with songs indicting the government over the occupation of Iraq. This is the first stop in a genuine red state. Backstage, Young is dressed in fatigues and is in a typically defiant mood. "I'm happy to walk out on this stage," he says. Continue reading.

20 July 2008

Live Review: Coldplay at HP Pavilion

Coldplay - maximum music: Aidin Vaziri | The group appeared in 19th century military garb inspired by the album's cover artwork, a painting by Eugène Delacroix depicting French revolutionaries. The tattered jackets seemed to have a transformative effect, especially on poofy-haired singer Chris Martin, who soaked through his shirt even before the pounding opener, "Violet Hill," was over and continued to fall over himself, racing between instruments and lurching about on one leg throughout the rest of the evening. He put in as much effort as Justin Timberlake and at least 15 backup dancers combined. The other band members - guitarist Johnny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion - seemed energized by the material as well, not only making new tracks like "Yes," "Chinese Sleep Chant" and "Lost!" loom larger than life, but by bringing renewed vigor to old favorites such as "Clocks" and "Politik." Continue reading.

Review: Beck's 'Modern Guilt'

Beck 'Modern Guilt': Aidin Vaziri | They might be responsible for some of the most dependable party starters of all time ( "Devil's Haircut," "Crazy,"), but when Beck and Gnarls Barkley's Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton come together in the studio, the confetti doesn't exactly fly. "Modern Guilt" is introspective and impenetrable. It finds the flaxen-haired Los Angeles singer obsessing over conspiracy theories and environmental upheaval while the producer pumps out fuzzy psychedelic riffs, stomping rhythms and floating harmonies. Songs cut out abruptly, Beck sounds largely distracted, and, at just 35 minutes, it all seems somehow unfinished. Yet, epic songs such as "Replica," "Chemtrails" and "Volcano" are not only the songwriter's best in a long, long time, but also the source of a much-needed creative reinvention.

Pop Quiz: Emmylou Harris

Aidin Vaziri | At 61, Emmylou Harris remains as busy as ever. She has just released her first new studio album in five years, "All I Intended to Be," which includes covers of songs by Billy Joe Shaver, Patty Griffin and Merle Haggard. In the meantime, Harris recorded an album with Mark Knopfler and provided her heavenly harmonies for new projects by Elvis Costello and Conor Oberst. And more than 30 years after being introduced to the genre by cult hero Gram Parsons, Harris was this year inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Emmylou Harris
Q: How did you manage to survive the '70s?
A: One step at a time, I guess. They were an incredible time for me. I met Gram Parsons. I got my record contract. I made my first record. All of a sudden, people started coming to hear me play. I found my vocation. I met Brian Ahern, who became my husband, and we had a child together. So the '70s were a great time for me. I even survived the hairdo.
Q: Is that your biggest accomplishment, keeping your fans despite your bad hair?
A: Yeah, because I didn't change my hair until the '80s. I look back at these pictures, and I know it doesn't help that we all looked like that.
Q: How would you describe your brief time with Parsons?
A: Well, it was an amazing, intense time of discovery. You know, discovering country music and using my own voice. I had a folk voice, and I had been singing folk music. But Gram wanted me to sing country. Singing harmony with him led me to this whole other world I had no idea about. It was like finding my way home. It was an extraordinary year. Continue reading.

Scene Report: American Idol Season 8 Auditions

Thousands audition for 'Idol' at Cow Palace: Aidin Vaziri | Thousands of people are huddled together under dark skies. They are hungry. Some are shivering in the cold, while others cover their heads with ragged blankets. A few stand apart from the pack, mewling. Someone is wearing a chicken suit. It's not a scene from the apocalypse. Then again, maybe it is. Early Thursday morning - very early - auditions for the eighth season of "American Idol" kicked off at the Cow Palace. According to an "Idols" spokeswoman, about 7,000 aspiring Kelly Clarksons and Chris Daughtrys (you assume no one wants to be Taylor Hicks) converged on the oppressive Daly City venue for what appeared a lot a like, well, a cattle call. Continue reading.

13 July 2008

How To Survive Life As A Jonas Brother

OH, BROTHERS!: Aidin Vaziri | Shrieking girls, swarming paparazzi and purity rings! Being a member of the Jonas Brothers, the Disney Channel's latest singing tween megastars, just might be the hardest job in the world. But Kevin, 20, Joe, 18, and Nick, 15, - currently on a sold-out, 46-date North American tour to promote their new movie, "Camp Rock," and its accompanying soundtrack - have learned to survive in just five easy steps.

PROTECT YOUR EARS: Everywhere the Jonas Brothers go, so do the screams. Comparisons to full-scale Beatlemania are not as far-fetched as they sound, especially to the New Jersey siblings, who have to endure the constant screech of prepubescent girls. "We have earplugs that we wear when we're onstage," Kevin says. "But when we're off, we just kind of cope with it. It's better than not having it there." He should know. Just a little more than a year ago, the trio was dropped by Sony after its premiere album, "It's About Time," failed to woo the tweens despite a punishing tour schedule. "We would play for two people in rock 'n' roll clubs all across the country," Kevin says. "So we're really thankful for our fans now." Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Feist

Aidin Vaziri | Leslie Feist has been on tour for a very, very long time. But thanks to a steady stream of love from Apple, Starbucks, Verizon, Stephen Colbert and, well, fans of romantically minded indie pop served with a perfectly cut fringe, her most recent album, "The Reminder," continues to pull people out of their homes and into enormous venues more than a year after it was released. The 32-year-old Calgary native plays Saturday at Berkeley's Greek Theatre. We caught up with her on the phone from Montreal just before her final round of touring.

Feist
Q: Have you been paying rent on various apartments this whole time?
A: Well, I still have a place in Paris and I actually ended up getting a place in the woods in Canada. So, I have a home.
Q: You might have a home, but what you really need is a good accountant who tells you to wait until you get off the road before buying a place on a Canadian nature reserve, especially in this terrible market.
A: I guess so. Are you available?
Q: These are the things that keep me up at night: "Is Feist maximizing her assets?"
A: Maybe you can write some songs for me, too. Continue reading.

Review: Alison Moyet and Yazoo

Alison Moyet 'The Turn' and Yazoo 'In Your Room': Aidin Vaziri | Alison Moyet is on the road with Yazoo, the electro-pop duo she fronted more than 25 years ago. But her seventh solo album, originally released last year in Britain, confirms that, despite the lack of recent chart action, her talents aren't entirely confined to the 1980s. Her booming voice remains a thing of wonder, no doubt enhanced by a run in the West End production of "Chicago." Predictably, Moyet's new material has a strong theatrical bent, slipping from smoldering torch songs ("One More Time") to weepy cabaret ballads ("The Man in the Wings") and old-school chansons ("Home"). In fact, it's only a dismal, by-the-numbers attempt at modern disco on the album-closing "A Guy Like You" that genuinely makes one long for the plink-plonk simplicity of her old band's classic "Nobody's Diary." Conveniently, Mute has reissued all of Yazoo's notable recorded output in the boxed set "In Your Room," also out last week. Containing four discs that include the remastered copies of both of the band's albums - 1982's "Upstairs at Eric's" and 1983's "You and Me Both" - and an additional set of rarities and remixes, plus a DVD containing old videos and new interviews, it has twice as much stuff as anybody actually needs. But the group's two proper releases hold up remarkably well, especially considering that they were built entirely around Moyet's still-developing vocals and Vince Clarke's primitive synthesizer compositions. In fact, you could argue that nothing Clarke did in the intervening years with Erasure quite measures up to the sublime genius of "Don't Go."

Live Review: American Idols Live at HP Pavilion, 07/08/08

Where's Simon Cowell when you really need him? Aidin Vaziri | The shrieks filled the room well before the first spike of Archuleta's hair rose from beneath the stage, with the singer sitting behind a fog-shrouded piano for a low-key cover of Robbie Williams' "Angels." The 17-year-old crowd favorite seemed genuinely terrified by his surroundings and struggled to get his fragile voice heard above the din, even as he boldly mashed up Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" with Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls." Season 7 winner Cook seemed just as overwhelmed but worked hard to compensate with exaggerated rock bluster and effusive gratitude. "I've waited 25 years to stand right here," he said, bowing his head as audience members held up signs that read "Marry Me" and "Cougars for Cook." He's certainly a capable rock singer, not all that different from Chris Daughtry, but Cook's decision to throw all those chugging riffs and sweaty metal vocals behind limp songs by Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson and Diane Warren seemed like the kind of thing that would have got him a round battering on the actual "American Idol." Where is Simon Cowell when you need him? Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Foals

Aidin Vaziri | Did you sleep on one of the best postpunk acts of the year? Well, it's not too late. Fronted by the brilliantly named Yannis Philippakis, Foals went from playing house parties in their native Oxford, England, to joining the increasingly eclectic roster at Seattle powerhouse label Sub Pop with a fantastic first album, "Antidotes." Featuring songs propelled by shouted choruses, spiky guitars and fluid tribal rhythms, it almost makes up for the band members' geometric haircuts and bad fashion sense. Catch Foals at the Sub Pop 20th anniversary festivities in Seattle

Yannis Philippakis of Foals
Q: What does it feel like the first time you walk into the Sub Pop office? Do you get a sense of the history, or does it just smell like old flannel?
A: You do, yeah. Definitely. And it just makes it all the more real because, up until that point, we had only met a few people and stuff. We just bumped into Mark Arm from Mudhoney, and I grew up listening to his band, so that's pretty weird.
Q: Do the old grunge guys just hang out in the lobby waiting for people to recognize them?
A: I wouldn't know, but I just saw him, and that was cool. Continue reading.

Making The D-List With Kathy Griffin

No celebrity off-limits for comic Kathy Griffin: Aidin Vaziri | Kathy Griffin never turns off. Before we even exchange greetings, she begins ripping into some of her favorite fellow television personalities. "I believe Oprah Winfrey and Ryan Seacrest are trying to kill me," she says. "Something is going on where the two of them are out to take over the world, and they must be stopped." Then the 47-year-old comedian mentions how much she hates the Jonas Brothers: "Now we have a gay Hanson in suits, and I'm supposed to be happy about it?" And it doesn't take long before she turns on her interviewer. "I feel like I'm talking to an autistic child," she howls. Hello, Kathy. Continue reading.

Review: N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D. 'Seeing Sounds': Aidin Vaziri | The Neptunes spent the first half of the decade producing gigantic hits for Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z and Britney Spears, but Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo have consistently failed to deliver that golden touch to their own outfit, N.E.R.D. A rap and rock hybrid featuring vocalist Shay Haley, the group offers a third release that suffers from many of the problems that ultimately tanked its predecessors: too many gimmicks, too few songs and the conspicuous absence of a decent front person. The album has its sugar-rush moments in tracks such as "Everyone Nose" and "Spaz," but even the band seems bored by the songs midway through, abruptly shifting tempos and styles before jumping onto the next idea. Meanwhile, resurrecting the self-indulgent late '80s sound of Terence Trent D'Arby's second album on "Happy" doesn't do anyone favors.

Live Review: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Greek Theatre, 06/27/08

Unlikely Krauss, Plant duo transcends roots: Aidin Vaziri | Rock's golden god was never meant to play second fiddle to, well, a bunch of fiddlers. He rarely let his voice slip past second gear. Meanwhile, he still employed all his old moves, only now they're delivered in agonizing slow motion. And there were even a few dazed and confused moments. "It's great to be back here tonight," he said at one point. "Actually, I've never been here before." Worse still, he didn't spend nearly enough time onstage. He wasted a good chunk of the concert dodging around the wings, sipping tea and doing who knows what backstage. All that didn't matter, though, when he let it rip on "Fortune Teller." In that moment, you could actually see what keeps Jimmy Page's hopes alive for a Zeppelin reconciliation. Continue reading.